These things help me. What helps you?

[skyhawk172]

Eight years agao I was damaged by a cholesterol lowring drug. It wasn't even a statin. Yet I suffered the same effects those on statins have. Today I am 80% better but have residual muscle damage, and unable to exercise like before the drug.

In the eight years I have discovered things that help. Things that give relief. Things that pick me up and help me feel like a normal person at least for a while bfore slipping back into a state of Fatigue and weakness.

What are those things? Clearly they all have one thing in common, which I beleive stimulate the cells mitochondria. Here they are:

T3 THYROID HORMONE: Adding T3 thyroid hormone picked me up and out of bed and had me doing projects around the house. Taking T3 away sent me spiraling down back to fatigue and weakness. T3 has profound effects on Na,K, ATP and cells mitochondria.

CAFFIENE: This is of course a stimulant as well, and I note a subtle impovement with coffee.

SUGAR: When I hit a low with fatigue and weakness, blood sugar is always normal. Yet hard candy will pick me up from the sugar rush, and my muscles impove only for the duration of the sugar.

COKE: Combining caffiene and sugar is even better. I rarely touch sodas, but If I get into trouble I will drink some just to get me home.

HYPERBARIC: SCUBA DIVING down to a depth of 35 feet for about 20 minutes. This increases nitrogen and oxygen in the blood breathing compressed gasses under pressure. I feel like a normal person untill the effect wears off, and then the fatigue sets back in. (Likewise just the opposite is to go high into the mountains of colorado. At 9,000 ft I have great trouble with my muscles. Descending to 5000 feet offers partial recovery.)

[skyhawk172]

Oops! I forgot one other, and its very importatnt.

TESTOSTERONE: After my experience with the cholesterol lowering drug, The doctors found my Testosterone levels in the basement. (180 ) Using transdermal testosterone creams gave my muscles an incredible boost. I could now lift weights without any negative consequences. I could lift for several rounds with the weights, and go back for more lifting again. Take the testosterone away and I fall back into chronic muscle fatigue.

Do you see the relationship to all the things I have mentioned? They all stimulate muscle cell activity. T3, Testosterone, Hyperbaric conditions, Sugar.

I would be interested in hearing from others in what helps them.

[David Staup]

skyhawk172,


I have come to believe that the key to many of "our" problems is ATP depletion due to malfunctioning mitochondria
I googled each of your helpers and ATP production and guess what...they ALL came up as positives for atp production...See quotes and links below

I started using an ATP suppliment two weeks ago and have been experimenting with doses, timing, and activity (exercise) levels and have seen better results from the direct ATP replacement than from all other forms ATP enhancement to date. I'll post more in a couple of weeks when I have more data



T3 increases oxidative enzymes and Mito ATP production

*http://ajpendo.physiology.org/cgi/reprint/280/5/E761.pdf




Caffeine increases ATP concentration and mitochondrial membrane potential

Moreover, mitochondria isolated from ECs treated with caffeine showed an increase in ATP concentration



Testosterone treatment to gonadectomized male rats brought back the parameters to normalcy whereas the same to the female rats enhanced the enzyme activities and ATP contents to the level of control male rats


Sugar:
The ATP molecule is composed of three components. At the centre is a sugar molecule, ribose (the same sugar that forms the basis of RNA). Attached to one side of this is a base (a group consisting of linked rings of carbon and nitrogen atoms);


These results suggest that HBO treatment induces an increase in the ATP levels of muscle tissue with normal mitochondria. Thus, HBO might have some beneficial effects in the treatment of heteroplasmic mitochondrial disease, where normal and defective mitochondria coexist.

[skyhawk172]

Thanks David!

There is one physician that heard my story of what helps, and he commented "I beleive you have a mitochondrial problem." That was back in 07. Now I am beginning to wonder if he was right.

And if a person does have a mitochondria problem, How can it be diagnosed? Is there a test? How can It be proved?

[David Staup]

Bobby'

you can use the following locator from the MDA site:

*http://mda.org/locate/

the following is a partial qoute from an MD on another forum from it you can see a pediatrician may be a good place to start:

The other possibility is statin damage. There are many mitochondrial experts who have become quite interested in statins, due to all the patients that are finding their way to them. Many of the mitochondrial damages seen commonly in statin patients are, under circumstances of normal congenital causes, only seen by pediatricians - never by doctors treating adults.
Which, perhaps, is one reason so few doctors recognize statin damage early enough to prevent disabling damage.
the full text is here (fourth down):

*http://www.cardiofiles.net/moderately-elevated-cpk-reading-meaning-116646.html


if you decide to go this route let me know and I'll send you some studies that might be helpfull when you go to the doctor....understand that there is no cure... the only result you can hope for is learning what suppliments will help....non-drug induced mito patients take a "mito cocktail" that is similiar to what many statin victims take....a big part of which is designed to facilitate the production of ATP ...

David