Amino Acid I.V. Therapy and Neurotransmitter Tests for Comedown Recovery - My Journal

[pmz]

So I saw a naturalpathic doctor today and we review greater methods into helping me recover from this so far 10 month long comedown.

Since most know my story Ill get to the details. (if you dont, you can view my old post from my profile)


1/23/14 - Saw doctor. Talked about issues and where my percentage of recovery. I would say Im at 75-80%. Maybe more, depending on the day.
First thing we are doing is a neurotransmitter test, that will measure Cortisol, DHEA, 5-HIAA, GABA, Glutamate, Glycine, Histamine, Norepiniphrine, PEA, Serotonin, and Taurine.
This is actually a simple urine and saliva test that I took home and will collect my own sample and mail into a lab that created the test, who will report back with the results. Results can take 2-4 weeks to get back. The cost of this test is $457 and insurance might even cover a percentage of this test. I have yet to call them to find out though.

I was asked to stop taking all my supplements that have a neurotransmitter effect for the next 4 days so the test can accurately measure what is my brains natural levels.
That means Ive stopped taking my St. Johns Wort, cortisol, etc.

I was also sent home with a few detox liquids that she wants me to take as this will help remove toxins from my body so it can heal easier.
I was given a detox formula that I place 15 drops of the liquid into water and repeat 2 times a day between meals.
I was also given a drainage formula that will help to improve the function of my kidneys and liver so that as the detox occurs my kidneys can optimally remove the toxins.
This was 3 different liquids I drop in water (5 drops each liquid) and drink this 3 times a day.

We talked about the I.V. Treatment. I scheduled 4 I.V.s so far, once a week for the next 4 weeks.

I have an appointment with the doctor again in 4 weeks to review the Neurotransmitter test.

1st I.V. is 1/28, 2nd is I.V. is 2/5, 3rd is 2/12, 4th is 2/20 where Ill be meeting with the doc again.

So far, todays visit cost $516.45. This did not yet include the cost of the Neurotransmitter test.

$300 for Initial visit
$70 for Tox-Ease Formula
$79 for Drainage Foruma
$55 for Interpretation Fee
+tax

Each cost of the IV is around $130. I was recommended I might need 10 IVs. Expected cost of treatment is just under $2000.

I will be reporting back with anything I notice.



On top of all this, Im researching on getting a Reverse Osmosis Water Filtration System. This type of filtration system is special, because it removes almost all contaminates in the water. The Brita and Pur water filters do not get rid of everything. One thing I am focused on filtering out is Fluoride. Fluoride is a toxic chemical that is in nearly all drinking water in the US. We are fooled to believe it is good for our teeth, when in fact it actually is damaging to our bodies, especially our brains. Fluoride is attracted to our Pineal gland, which is the gland that produces, Melatonin, Serotonin and DMT. I want this gland functioning as strong as possible as well as allowing my body to heal without having any contaminants from the water I drink. Ill report back the system I end up buying

 

[Inflorescence]

Wow expensive but worth it if you feel better for it. You should be careful just stopping taking St Johns wort dead, especially if you have been taking it for a while.
L-methionine
Milk thistle
1000mg ester vit C
Iron with b6 and b12
Gunpowder green tea

That does the job for keeping me functioning daily with magnesium and vit D thrown in for comedowns and occasional Valerian or melatonin (and etizolam but want to knock that on the head)

Water filter that goes on tap? been thinking about one of those too-more due to our water here tasting vile and spending a fortune on bottled.

 

[MindOverMatter1]

Never heard of anything like this and it is costly. I hope it works out for you but my initial reaction was skepticism...IV Amino Acids? It sounds like an overpriced health intervention but I could be completely wrong. Maybe with insurance coverage it would be a more reasonable cost. I'm really interested in seeing how this works out for you. Where did you hear about this treatment? What did the doctor say about it? Any links to research articles or medical journals on its benefits?

 

[MagickalKat777]

The only part of that which has any benefits is the reverse osmosis system - and that's only if you take a trace mineral supplement to get the minerals that you would get from natural water and the amino acid therapy can actually be quite helpful - provided that you need the amino acids.

Sorry but your naturopath is feeding you a line. And you way overpaid for Tox-Ease.

I've been down the naturopath racket before. I was "treated" for 6 months and saw an INCREASE in my symptoms, not a decrease.

The neurotransmitter test is garbage. Neurotransmitters exist all throughout the body. A simple saliva and urine test isn't going to give you any accurate indicators on anything.

Here's a great read as to why urine and saliva are useless. http://www.moodcure.com/pdfs/urinetesting.pdf

The bar standard for such testing is a spinal tap. Urine, saliva, and plasma are all completely unreliable.

Also note that isn't a big pharma propaganda site either. Its the site of an EXCELLENT book (which I need another copy of) which tells you how to naturally restore your amino acids and neurotransmitters based on symptoms. Its an excellent read and I totally forgot about it until now.

 

[pmz]

So its been 5 days since I saw the doc. Ill be starting my first IV today. For the past 2 days Ive been really tired all day. Im not sure if its the fact ive stopped all my supplements that have an effect on neurotransmitters or if its the fact that ive been taking these detox drops. I know anytime you force a detox, your body has detox symptoms. So it could be that. I went snowboarding sunday, felt fine all day, yesterday(mon) and today(tues) I feel like crap. So maybe its just because I wore my self out physically from boarding. maybe its a combination of all 3. Who knows.

Im still taking my iron, Vit D, and vit B. Just not stuff like theanine, or st johns, or inositol.

We'll see how I feel today after the IV.

 

[pmz]

SO I got my IV last night. It took about an hour to get done. The begining was not fun at all. Getting the IV inserted was actually pretty hard for me. I hate needles. But after it was over, I was able to calm down and chill. I felt during the IV, I was getting into a great mood and having fun with the staff. I only got administered vitamins and antioxidents this time. The doctor wants to see how I react to just that, and next week we will start the amino acids

They also took blood from me to check for a number of deficiencies and any conditions or diseased I have. Results will be in soon. I felt as if they were extremely thourough with their work and what they were trying to test for.

The break down of my bill:

Limited 15 min (problem Focused 15 min) CPT - I think is just the desc for seeing the doct and reviewing things - $75
25gm Vitamin C IV with add-ons - $125
IV Glutathione 1cc - $6
+ tax

Yesturdays total visit - $216.92

Next time I will not have to pay the $75 and I will only pay for the IV and Glutathione.

Total over all cost:
$516.45
+$216.92
=723.37


After I finished it felt like I drank like a 10 cups of coffee, I was very happy and energetic. No anxiety and in a great mood.
Today, I woke up well. Sleep was ok, but I had no fatique that I was experiancing the 2 days before. In fact, today I was in a great mood all day and had loads of energy and happy.

So far I think the IV was worth it. looking forward to my second dose. It feels like my body/brain was woken up a little bit from the IV. And all it was was a bunch of vitamin C and other vitamins and a antioxidant.

Will report as I feel changes throughout the week

 

[Dawglaw]

Spend your money on CBT. Homeopathy is quackery.

 

[angeleyes]

Great to hear that you are feeling a lot better PMZ. Honestly wishing you a speedy recovery man sucks to hear your still not 100% after all these months but hey it sounds like this could be what you were waiting for.

Happy to hear that you're doing a lot better after the first session, keen to hear how you go after #2!

IS THAT 25 GRAMS OF VITAMIN C BEING IV'd?!

 

[pmz]

Spend your money on CBT. Homeopathy is quackery.

I dont think you understand the amount of therapy I do. Im at least 4-5 hours of therapy a week.

Im in a residential inpatient program

 

[pmz]

OK, So I want to share an experience I had today. I did whats called a sensory deprivation chamber. I wont say what it is, just google it, its much much to describe.

for $25 I lay in this tank for an hour

This is the 4th time I did this, each time gets better as its something you need to learn how to relax into more and more each time.

It started off by me laying back in the water and I started to just relax, I focused on my breathing and tried to meditate. What happened next was something I experienced long before I ever got DP when I meditated and I was really happy it was happening.

In my head, I started to hear random sentences my consciousness like to put together. Kind of like hearing a song in your head, but sometimes Ill hear words and sentences. I always just thought it was my brain forming weird thoughts when I stopped thinking to my self.

but for some reason I did something I never done before. I stopped judging the things I was hearing. (oh BTW, this wasnt like hearing voices. Its more of like hearing your own inner monologue take a mind of its own when i stopped controlling it) I just started listening to the sentences a litter deeper. I started noticing that the words in the random sentences I was hearing started to have a pattern. Like there was key words I was picking up on that I felt like was significant for some reason.

I didnt try to figure anything or think about what I was hearing because that would stop the flow. Instead I just decided to pay more attention. Eventually it got very real.

The sentences started to morph into what I will call my genuine self. My inner monologue took a life of its own and started to tell me things I needed to hear. Like what Im going through it needed. It started telling me that I will get out of it, but not until I learn all the things It had to offer me. My life has gotten far better since Ive gotten DP. Im actually grateful for this experience. And it was telling me that I have so much to learn. It was telling me that all my fears and insecurities in life has always been holding me back from the things I really wanted. And that I need to learn to more genuine to my self and learn how to get the things I really want.

It got so intense, that I was actually able to ask my self a question and my "genuine self" was able to immediately answer back with nothing but confidence and lack of hesitation.

What I learned is that I know all the answers all along, I just hide behind fear and insecurities. And I limit my self and abilities due to a hesitation that has always been present in my life.

It was a very difficult experience to go through. It was like my "genuine self" was talking to my ego and ripping him a new asshole. I had alot of anxiety hearing what I heard. I wanted to run out of the tank and and the float, but my "genuine self" kept telling me to stay and that I have more to hear.

It ended when I got a knock on the door by the staff to tell me the session was over.

It was an amazing beautiful scary enlightening, trusting and spiritual experience.

I learned i need to not fight what im going through and just learn as much as I can from this experience.

I highly recommend anyone to experiment in a sensory deprivation chamber.

This will take a few days/weeks to really sink in.

Next week im going again!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[pmz]

Great to hear that you are feeling a lot better PMZ. Honestly wishing you a speedy recovery man sucks to hear your still not 100% after all these months but hey it sounds like this could be what you were waiting for.

Happy to hear that you're doing a lot better after the first session, keen to hear how you go after #2!

IS THAT 25 GRAMS OF VITAMIN C BEING IV'd?!

no that was gm. Not sure what that stands for. g is for grams.

Yeah man. I have no idea what is holding me back. I have no anxiety anymore. No socializing issues. I love to be around people. good days are the majority of my days. But there still is an emotional, cognitive and dissociative issue still holding me back. I barely let my shit bother me anymore.
I have no idea what it could be besides some physical issue with my head that need re-balancing.

 

[ScaredFirstTimer]

Awesome to hear about the tank!

It started telling me that I will get out of it, but not until I learn all the things It had to offer me. My life has gotten far better since Ive gotten DP.

Could you elaborate?

 

[pmz]

Ive learned about mindfulness, patience, acceptance, humility, hard work, and how to over come obstacles. And enjoying the simple things.

 

[FluxRider]

Hey pmz don't worry too much man your brain is a perfect machine and it will heal. Don't waste any money on bs homeopathic remedy. If those things actually worked it would be called "medicine".

That stuff like dawglaw said is straight quacker. How do I know? Because I got all those tests done you did too. THey're bs, it said my serotonin levels were fine literally a month after i took 1.2 grams of mdma.



At the time I took those tests I was freaking out and didn't know that it was the drug doing it to me. I though I had developed some natural serotonin imbalance or something. It didn't even occur to me for some reason that ecstasy could do such a thing to me because I had always used it with no problems before.

You will get better in time save your money on those vitamin c IV's.

 

[pmz]

Well its too late. I already sent the test in. It also test my adrenal hormones. Something has to be out of wack or else why would I be feeling like this. There has to be a logical explanation. I felt a bit better after the first IV. So we will see the next one goes this tuesday.

I have to see if it works.

Besides, my parents are covering everything. I couldnt afford this shit.

 

[pmz]

There has to be a reason why im still feeling with such a low mood. The doc things its adrenal fatigue. If so, the IVs will help speed up that healing process.

 

[zebrafish]

Hey pmz,

If you think you have an adrenal insufficiency problem, you should get a workup by an endocrinologist. Basically if you have adrenal insufficiency (fatigue), you do not produce enough cortisol in response to stress.

Signs of adrenal insufficiency include: fatigue, lightheadedness, muscle weakness, orthostatic hypotension (feeling lightheaded/dizzy when you stand up), weight loss.

I do think MDMA toxicity can lead to this in some people. Cortisol is released by the adrenal glands in response to ACTH production in the pituitary gland. ACTH is, in turn, released in response to CRH production by the hypothalamus. CRH release in the hypothalamus is partially regulated by serotonin. In addition, when taking MDMA, your pituitary pumps out ACTH like a madman, resulting in cortisol levels as high as 800% of normal values according to one study. This demand on the pituitary can cause a demand ischemia (lack of enough blood flow) to the pituitary gland resulting in an infarct of some of the pituitary gland.

If you think you have adrenal fatigue, you need to get your cortisol levels checked first. This can either be a serum cortisol level that is checked in the early morning, or by checking a 24 hr free cortisol level in the urine, in which they collect your urine over a 24 hour period. These two tests are the only real meaningful tests to check your cortisol. The saliva test is not an accurate test.

If your cortisol levels are low, then you need to know if its low because your adrenal glands or not working, or if its because your pituitary gland is not making enough ACTH. So the next test you do is a ACTH stim test, in which they give you a bolus of ACTH via IV, and see if your your cortisol levels respond by increasing appropriately. If they do not, then you now the problem is in your adrenal glands. If they do, then the problem is in your pituitary or hypothalamus. In order to test that, you then get a metapyrone test. Metapyrone will cause your adrenal glands to make less cortisol. Your pituitary gland should respond to this by making more ACTH. However, if you have pituitary insufficiency then your pituitary will not respond appropriately by releasing more ACTH, thus making the diagnosis of ACTH insufficiency.

Hypocortisolism can be easily treated, which is why I recommend you have these tests done if you are having these symptoms. They can prescribe you physiologic doses of hydrocortisone for this, and patients tolerate this pretty well. If this is what you have, then hyrdocortisone will be much more effective than amino acid replacement therapy.

 

[pmz]

Well I send out the adrenal function test. I'll get my results in a few weeks. There has to be an answer somewhere.

 

[zebrafish]

You should also have your thyroid function and testosterone levels checked. Both can cause depression, low mood, and poor energy as well. Both are also ultimately regulated by the hypothalamus which is under at least some serotonin control. TRH is released by hypothalamus which causes pituitary to release TSH which causes thyroid gland to release T3 and T4, which are thyroid hormones. GnRH is released by hypothalamus which releases LH and FSH in pituitary gland which results in increased testosterone production in testes. Both can be easily treated with hormone replacement therapy.

I think it's worth checking all this to rule it out. If your endocrine system is normal, then by diagnosis of exclusion you have to assume its serotoninergic neuronal dysfunction in the limbic system/prefrontal cortex. Then it's a matter of therapy and time to heal

 

[pmz]

thyroid is good. the test i send out i think does testosterone too. well see soon