Hunger Games: Back on the Chuck Wagon

I finished this month’s round of the Fasting Mimicking Diet (FMD) last Friday. This time around, in addition to the five-day prepackaged Prolon diet (click here), I added an extra two days of my own design. I once again found the five day FMD to be surprisingly easy to complete. As was the case last month, the third day on the diet was the hardest but even that wasn’t too terrible, just some hunger pangs and a few wistful thoughts of key lime pie. By the fourth day, though, any feelings of hunger had subsided, and days four and five were a breeze.

Since things went so well over the prescribed five days, I went ahead with my plans to push the boundaries and extend the length of the Fasting Mimicking Diet with an additional two days of even more draconian dieting. On day six I ate about 25 olives over the course of the day, and drank water and a glycerol based energy drink that’s supplied with the Prolon diet. Because Prolon’s glycerol concoction is mixed with water in amounts depending on the dieter’s weight, I had plenty left over from the previous five days to make up a few more batches for my extended version of the diet. One day’s worth of energy drink supplies about 100 calories, and 25 olives provides another 100, so on day six I consumed a total of roughly 200 calories.

On day seven I decided to go liquid only, and confined my intake to water and the energy drink. Even so, I felt absolutely no hunger, and the day was actually kind of anticlimactic. Don’t know what I was expecting, but after six days of extremely reduced caloric intake, adding a seventh during which I consumed only 100 calories presented no problems whatsoever. I wasn’t very active, but then again being stuck in a wheelchair doesn’t make for a very physically active lifestyle. Even if I were to drive my wheelchair 10 miles, the effort only requires a modicum of pressure from my left arm and hand. Not exactly a high calorie burning activity, thus the presence of the bowling ball I seem to be concealing under my shirt.

Speaking of which, over the course of the seven days I lost about 5 pounds, which is exactly what I lost during last month’s five day FMD. I expected to lose more weight given the extra two days of fasting, but for whatever reason my bowling ball seems loath to shrink. I may have to resort to hammer and chisel.

I broke my fast on day eight with a cheese omelette and a bagel and butter, thinking these items fairly easy to digest. Apparently, my body had other ideas, and about 20 minutes after finishing my meal I was hit with a giant wave of fatigue that forced me to bed, where I crashed for a solid four hours of deep, deep sleep. I suppose after seven days of hardly having to devote any energy at all to digestion, suddenly being confronted with an omelette and bagel gave my body quite the shock, and my “awake” circuit breakers were slammed off in order to muster up the oomph to deal with the introduction of some solid food. Dairy and wheat (gluten) might also have presented my body with some problems other foods wouldn't have, but I've never had a problem digesting either. In any event, lesson learned, I’ll break next month’s fast with a simple fruit salad.

As for any changes in my disease state, I think it’s still too early to tell. I did have blood tests taken after day five of this month’s FMD, so we’ll see if they show any discernible signs of changes in my body chemistry. At this point I plan on doing the diet for at least two more cycles, tinkering with the formula in consultation with my naturopath.

Oh, I did reach out to Prolon about discounting their diet kit for patients with chronic illnesses. I was told to send an email to the CEO, which I did but so far have received no response. I’ll try again in a week or so and keep everyone posted if I make any progress in this regard…

The Starvation Chronicles: Prologue

Starting Friday, May 19, I’ll be subjecting myself to a five day starvation diet, in an attempt to beat back the disease that is slowly but surely consuming me. In effect, I’ll be reducing my consumption of food to near starvation levels in order to stop my illness’s consumption of my bodily functions. Yes, I’ll be crossing the junction of function consumption.

As I’ve talked about before on these pages, I work closely with a naturopathic doctor who is employed at my MS clinic. She's is one of the sharpest people I’ve ever met, and is a heckuva nice person to boot.

She recently approached me with a rather radical idea, but one based on sound scientific research and her own clinical experiences – asking if I would be willing to try a Fasting Mimicking Diet (FMD), in which caloric intake is dramatically reduced for five days. I was already acquainted with research which demonstrated that such a diet had increased the lifespans of laboratory animals as much as 25%, and that it had the potential to positively impact chronic illnesses and even cancers as well. When my naturopath told me that she had seen some rather startling results in one of the first few MS patients she had convinced to try this diet, I was all in.

The diet is designed and marketed by a company called Prolon (click here), which supplies five days’ worth of plant-based foods that provide nourishment while tricking the body into thinking that no food is being consumed. Thus, the name Fasting Mimicking Diet. During the diet, food consumption is limited to specially formulated vegetable broths, nutritional bars, herbal teas, and snacks (such as a few olives). Each day’s “meals” come in their own individual box, filled with packets of that day's allotted foodstuffs.

The first day of the diet caloric intake is reduced to 1100 calories, and during the remaining four days this is further reduced to 800 calories per day. On day six regular foods are gradually reintroduced, starting with fruits, rice, pasta and other easy to digest items. For the rest of the month a regular diet can be resumed. Dr. Bates (my naturopath) would prefer me to try to stick as much as possible to a Mediterranean diet (low-fat, with lots of fish and veggies).

In scientific studies, the FMD diet has been shown to promote and maintain healthy levels of a variety of inflammatory and regenerative markers. In an animal model of MS, FMD reduced inflammation, suppressed autoimmunity, and promoted the regeneration of damaged nervous system tissues (click here). The diet appears to stimulate the body’s own stem cells. While all this sounds terrific, what really sold me was Dr. Bates telling me that she had seen verifiable improvements in the mobility of one of the first patients who had agreed to give the diet a go.

I figure that if worst comes to worst and I don’t get any disease benefit from this experiment, I'll lose a few pounds (I’m developing the physique of an elephant seal) and the diet will allow my body to detox. In addition, it’ll be kind of fun to take on the challenge (he says with a full belly). Besides, this will give me the perfect excuse to lay around and binge watch some cheesy 60s and 70s horror flicks (queue up “Gore Gore Girls”). For the sake of my wife, I think I’ll steer clear of any films having to do with cannibalism. I'd hate to have Karen wake up to find that she's missing a finger or two. I wonder how many calories there are in a finger? Gives a whole new meaning to the phrase "finger food".

So, I expect that over the next five days I just might experience a few pangs of hunger here and there. I might even get Jewish VD (Veak and Dizzy, said with a Yiddish accent). I’ll report back at the end of every day to tell you guys how it’s going, as long as I have the strength to guide my wheelchair to the computer and put on my voice recognition headset. Of course, if I do experience any benefit, it won’t be for several months, but I’ll keep y’all apprised of all such developments (hey, I managed to affect Yiddish and southern accents all in the space of four sentences!). I plan on doing the diet for at least two or three consecutive months.

Wish me luck…

Supplements, My Supplements

Arabic herbal medicine guidebook (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Using natural supplements to help treat MS is always a topic of much interest amongst patients. In the face of the sometimes daunting side effect profiles of the pharmaceutical drugs approved to combat the disease, the use of herbs and other natural substances, widely perceived as being more benign than the immunosuppressant/immunomodulating pharmaceutical products, holds great appeal for many dealing with Multiple Sclerosis. MS research headlines regularly trumpet one natural remedy or another as having been discovered to slay or at least tame the MS beast, and stories of miracle cures abound, percolating their way around the Internet. It can be awfully hard to separate the wheat from the chafe, so to speak, making the whole topic of herbal remedies a great big ball of confusion.

I’m very fortunate that the MS clinic at which I’m a patient, The International Multiple Sclerosis Management Practice here in New York City (click here), has on staff a naturopathic doctor specializing in the treatment of neurologic illness. Dr. Deneb Bates is one of the sharpest physicians of any specialty that I’ve had the pleasure of working with during my experience as an MS patient, and with her guidance I take a variety of herbal remedies and concoctions designed to alleviate my symptoms as much is possible. I can’t say that the witch’s brew of natural substances that have become part of my daily routine has put the brakes on my disease progression, since my illness seems intent on defying any efforts to rein it in, but I hope they may have at least slowed my progression a bit, and I’m certain they’ve at the very least helped to dampen some of the symptoms of my condition.

Before I spill the beans (ha ha, just a little natural supplement humor) on the rather long list of supplements I take, let me first state that mine is a very atypical case of MS, if it is even MS at all. I’ve been poked and prodded by some of the world’s best MS specialists, and none has been able to come up with an absolutely definitive diagnosis for whatever it is that ails me. Clinically my disease presents like Primary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis (PPMS), but many of my test results leave physicians scratching their heads. In fact, after some disagreement, my neurologist and I have settled on calling my disease PPMS with the caveat that in my case those initials stand for the “Peculiar Paralysis of Marc Stecker”.

Additionally, I have several complicating factors that make me an especially difficult patient to treat. I have a wide array of endocrine problems, stemming from autoimmune thyroid disease and an increasingly faulty pituitary gland (also possibly due to autoimmune problems). My many hormone imbalances can result in symptoms that mimic those of neurologic illness, such as fatigue and muscle weakness, making it sometimes hard to figure out just what physical defect is causing which misery.

I also suffer from Avascular Necrosis (also called AVN), which is a very rare side effect of intravenous steroid use. AVN causes the bones in the major joints to perish, at which point they quite literally crumble and, as you might imagine, cause immense pain. I have AVN in both hips and both shoulders, which means that I’ve been living the last five or six years with the equivalent of two broken hips and two broken shoulders. To call the condition painful would be a gross understatement. If my overall health were better I’d have had both hips replaced years ago, but due to the ravages of MS and all of my hormonal deficiencies undergoing such major surgery would be extremely risky. Instead, I live each day gritting my teeth through pain that varies from uncomfortable to excruciating to, well, there really are no words for it, though at times long and creative strings of obscenities attempt to fit the bill. In order to try to keep my AVN pain down to a roar, I’m on very strong anti-inflammatory medications as well as the occasional opioid painkiller, all of which can cause problems of their own, such as liver and kidney toxicity.

Lastly, careful screening of my cerebral spinal fluid by my MS clinic’s on site laboratory has shown that I have extremely high levels of oxidative stress and extremely low levels of natural antioxidants in my central nervous system, the combination of which may be contributing to my ongoing neurodegeneration. Oxidative stress occurs as the result of the body burning nutrients to create energy, the process of which releases nasty little molecules called free radicals that can smash through cell walls and damage vital tissues and organs (click here). Think of these free radicals as the body’s equivalent of the noxious exhaust fumes put out by an automobile engine when it burns gasoline. The human body is normally equipped with natural antioxidants that soak up many of these free radicals, but even in the healthiest people some antioxidant supplementation isn’t a bad idea. In my case, with my natural levels bizarrely low, it’s just about requisite that I try to boost these levels with antioxidant rich supplements.

As you’ll see, many of the natural supplements on my list are anti-inflammatories and/or antioxidants, which can be helpful to all MS patients (a major component of the MS disease profile is inflammation, after all) but are especially so in my case due to my problems with AVN and low levels of natural antioxidants. Some of the other items on my list are targeted at helping kidney and liver function, which can be compromised by many of the medications MS patients take to help control their symptoms. None of these supplements should be taken without first consulting your doctor. Don’t be fooled into thinking that anything thought of as “natural” is without the potential to do some harm. Indeed, some of these supplements are strong medicines, and can adversely interact with pharmaceutical meds, making it vitally important that their use not be embarked on as a do-it-yourself adventure.

Okay, with that rather long prelude out of the way (is it no wonder I shy away from twitter? I don’t think I could say hello in 140 characters) here is the list of natural supplements I take each and every day, in no particular order. I’m intentionally not including the dosages to discourage folks from simply taking these things willy-nilly, without first consulting a physician. Please don’t hate me…

Vitamin B Complex - Vitamin B comes in many forms, most of which play an important role in the function of the central nervous system and metabolic processes (click here). In fact, people with severe vitamin B deficiencies are sometimes misdiagnosed as having Multiple Sclerosis. Since the most obvious symptom of my disease is a slow and steady decline of neurologic function, making sure my body is well stocked with Vitamin B just makes sense.

Green Tea Extract - as the name implies, this stuff is derived from green tea, which is tea in its unfermented form (unlike black tea). Green tea is among other things an extremely effective antioxidant, and has been shown to be helpful with cognitive functioning (click here). You could likely get the same benefit from drinking 5 or 6 cups of green tea a day, but given my bladder frequency/urgency issues, if I were to go that route I’d have to spend the better part of my day in the bathroom, and might, in fact, never stop peeing. So, I choose to take the stuff in pill form instead.

Curcumin - curcumin is the active ingredient in tumeric, the spice which is the basis of curry powder. Curcumin is both a very strong anti-inflammatory and antioxidant (click here), and is purported to have a very long list of health benefits. Interestingly, countries with a curry rich diet often have very low rates of autoimmune diseases, but of course other factors may come into play.

Milk Thistle - milk thistle is a flowering plant related to the daisy family, and is very effective in helping to maintain proper liver functioning (click here). Since I take many medications that are metabolized in the liver, my liver function has always been of great concern to my physicians, and milk thistle has been effective in keeping my liver enzymes within the normal range ever since I started taking it. Before I started taking milk thistle, blood tests would often reveal my liver enzymes creeping above acceptable levels. So, milk thistle, good stuff.

Pellitory of the Wall (Parietaria) - what milk thistle does for the liver, this stuff does for the kidneys. Because of the problems in my hips and shoulders, I take a very powerful, prescription only nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory (NSAID) which helps keep the pain in my joints to manageable levels. Unfortunately, this drug can wreak havoc on the kidneys, and my pain management Dr. is always hyper concerned about checking my kidney function via blood tests. Before I started taking Pellitory of the Wall my kidney function tests would often veer into dangerous territory, but after consulting with my naturopath and starting on Parietaria my kidney function numbers have all fallen comfortably within normal ranges. My pain management doctor. was so shocked by this reversal in kidney function levels that he insisted on calling my naturopath to find out more about the stuff. Pellitory of the Wall has also been used traditionally to treat urinary tract infections, rheumatic elements, and some circulatory system problems (click here). Again, good stuff.

Licorice Solid Extract - one of my endocrine problems is low levels of cortisol, one of the body’s natural steroids which is manufactured by the adrenal glands. Licorice is very effective in helping to maintain adrenal function (click here), and taking it has in fact increased the level of cortisol circulating in my blood. Licorice solid extract is a concentrated form of natural licorice and is very effective in helping to deal with fatigue, which is a well-known and very problematic MS symptom. This stuff isn’t to be fooled around with, though, as it can raise blood pressure and heart rate, in some people to dangerous levels. Be aware that most licorice candy has little if any real licorice in it at all, so eating lots of Twizzlers won’t have the same effect.

Eleuthero Solid Extract - although Eleuthero is sometimes referred to as Siberian Ginseng, this root is only a very distant cousin to the more common Asian and American ginsengs. In naturopathic terms, Eleuthero is considered an adaptogen (click here), a substance used to keep the body in balance. Eleuthero is purported to help with stress-related conditions, colds and respiratory infections, immunologic functions, and fatigue, among other uses (click here). I’m taking it because I have a long history of chronic sinus infections, as well as to try to counteract my usual host of endocrine problems. I’ve found that Eleuthero does seem to help with my MS and/or endocrine related fatigue.

N Acetyl Cysteine (NAC) - NAC is an amino acid that is a powerful antioxidant (click here). The substance is a precursor to glutathione, which is the body’s own natural and most powerful antioxidant, used to combat all of those nasty free radicals that result from the body metabolizing food into energy. As I mentioned previously, tests of my cerebral spinal fluid have shown me to be severely deficient in natural antioxidants, so, in theory, I stand to benefit from as much antioxidant support as I can get. NAC is also known to have antibiotic and perhaps antiviral properties.

L-lysine - L-lysine is an “essential” amino acid that cannot be manufactured by the body. It’s considered very effective in helping with the symptoms of osteoarthritis and is supposed to have prominent antiviral properties (click here). Many researchers believe that a virus or viruses play some role in the MS disease process. L-Lysine also plays an important role in the production of hormones, antibodies, and enzymes. The stuff additionally aids in the production of collagen, which is essential for the health of bones and skin, and it shows up in many skincare products.

Boswellia Extract - Boswellia is also known as frankincense, which, according to the Bible was one of the gifts the three wise men brought to the baby Jesus. Hey, if it’s good enough for the baby Jesus, it’s good enough for me. I’m hoping that if I take enough of it I may someday be able to walk on water, which would really be a miracle since I currently can’t even walk on solid ground. Boswellia is a powerful anti-inflammatory agent, and it also has anti-oxidative properties (click here). Like some of the other natural supplements on this list, Boswellia has also been shown to have germ fighting properties. Inflammation, oxidative stress, germs, BAD. Boswellia, GOOD.

Vitamin D - by now, I’m sure most MS patients have heard of the importance of vitamin D in helping to potentially ward off the disease in those who don’t already have it and perhaps dampen its impact on those who do (click here). Depending on the level of vitamin D in a patient’s blood, it’s pretty much generally agreed that most patients should be taking some amount of Vitamin D supplementation. Careful, though, as taking too much vitamin D can be toxic, so you don’t want to overdo it.

MitoQ - this supplement is basically a supercharged version of CoQ10, a very powerful antioxidant. MitoQ is specifically targeted at mitochondria, organelles that are known as the “powerhouse of the cell” which play a vital role in metabolic processes. Recently, some studies have shown MitoQ to be remarkably effective in treating the mouse model of MS (click here). As with all MS research done on mice, the results of these studies should best be taken with a few grains of salt, since the mouse model of MS is an absolutely horrible stand-in for the human version of the disease. That said, MitoQ’s antioxidant properties alone make it a good option for someone like me who has been shown to be sorely lacking in natural antioxidant levels.

Magnesium Glycinate - repeated blood tests have shown me to have low levels of magnesium, a mineral which is important to the health of cells, nerves, muscles, bones, and the heart (click here). Additionally, magnesium has laxative properties, which make it a good candidate for those of us suffering from the all too common MS pooping problems. Or, more correctly, lack of pooping problems.

Krill Oil - krill oil is a form of fish oil, made from shrimp like creatures called, you guessed it, krill. Like fish oil, krill oil is rich in omega-3 fatty acids, which have been shown to lower cholesterol and are also suspected to help ease MS symptoms (click here). The major advantage that krill oil has over fish oil is that the stuff made from krill doesn’t lead to fishy tasting burps and an unpleasant aftertaste. One of my longtime mottos as always been “whenever possible, avoid fishy burps”, so krill oil helps keep me true to my credo.

Well, there you have it, 14 dietary supplements that are part of my daily routine. Please consult your physician before starting any of the above-mentioned supplements. Mother Nature can be a beautiful maiden, but one not without teeth.

Most MS patients probably don’t need to take nearly as many supplements as I do, but since I have problems compounding my problems, it’s my hope and belief that at least some of the supplements are contributing to making my life more livable. As I stated previously, in addition to my neurologic problems I also have all kinds of endocrine dysfunctions as well as crumbling bones in my hips and shoulders, so I can certainly use all the help I can get.

Yes, when it comes to MS, I hit the triple jackpot – my initials are MS, I have MS, and I am a mess. Thank you, universe…

Adventures Outside the Box: Attempting a Naturopathic Treatment

Dioscorides’ Materia Medica, c. 1334 copy in Arabic, describes medicinal features of cumin and dill. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Since my disease has proven to be extremely difficult to treat (I've always been something of a problem child), I'm quite open to new ideas about possible therapeutic options, as long as they make some scientific sense and don't present too much downside. I recently came across a research study (sent to me by a fellow MSer) that led me to investigate and then start a naturopathic program of medicinal herbal supplements, under the guidance of the terrific naturopathic doctor that is part of the team at my neurologist's clinic, the International Multiple Sclerosis Management Practice here in NYC (click here). Before I get into the details of this treatment regimen, please allow me to first provide a little background.

One of the most intriguing MS drugs now in the approval pipeline is BG-12, an oral drug that has been shown to be quite effective throughout a series of rigorous clinical trials (click here). Developed by biotech company Biogen, makers of Tysabri and Avonex, BG-12 differs from all other approved MS disease modifying drugs in that it does not directly suppress or modulate the immune system, mechanisms of action which are the reason why so many of the current drugs have daunting side effect profiles. Rather, BG-12 works by stimulating the body to produce enzymes that are strong anti-inflammatories and very effective antioxidants, thereby presumably protecting the body against the debilitating effects of oxidative stress, a biologic process that can lead to the damage and death of cells in the central nervous system (as well as other tissues throughout the human body).

BG-12 is a derivative of a natural product (it's an ester of fumeric acid, which is found in some mushrooms, lichen, and moss) that has been used generically in Germany for years to successfully treat psoriasis. I'm not sure how Biogen was able to patent this molecule and make it into what I presume will be a tremendously expensive drug, but we saw the same thing happen with 4-AP and Ampyra. All of this is fodder for a Big Pharma rant that I won't get into now.

Oxidative stress occurs as the result of the natural process of mixing oxygen and nutrients together to produce the energy needed to sustain animal life. One of the byproducts of this process are free radicals, unstable atoms or molecules that can damage or destroy healthy cells in the human body if left unchecked. Free radicals can be likened to the biologic equivalent of the exhaust fumes produced by automobile engines when they combine oxygen and gasoline to produce the energy necessary to propel a car. Just as you wouldn't want to breathe in too much of the exhaust coming out of your car's tailpipe, you don't want too many free radicals banging around inside your central nervous system doing irreparable damage.

Under normal circumstances, the human body has a variety of mechanisms in place to combat the effects of oxidative stress, by mopping up and containing free radicals before they can do much harm. In patients suffering from any one of a variety of neurologic diseases, though, it appears that the levels of oxidative stress become too great for the body's natural defenses to handle, which results, at least in part, to the damage in the brain and spinal cord seen in such diseases as Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson's, and Alzheimer's. The reasons behind these high levels of oxidative stress remain unclear, but if they could be positively identified we'd likely only be a few clicks away from tremendous advances in effectively combating some horrendous illnesses.

Okay, enough with the scientific mumbo-jumbo, let's get to the good stuff. As I mentioned in the opening paragraph, about six weeks ago an MS friend sent me an e-mail containing a link to a study which showed that a dietary supplement called Protandim was more effective than BG-12 at stimulating the production of the same antioxidant enzymes as Biogen's soon to be approved MS drug, at least when tested in a petri dish (click here). Surprisingly, the study was sponsored by none other than Biogen! I'd never heard of Protandim, but a quick Internet search divulged the ingredients included in each Protandim capsule (click here).

Intrigued, I sent a note containing this info to Dr. Deneb Bates, the naturopathic doctor specializing in neurologic disorders who is part of the treatment team at the MS clinic where I'm a patient. Dr. Bates quickly got back to me, saying that she was a big fan of all of the stuff contained in Protandim, but that the dosages of the individual ingredients in each capsule of Protandim were too small to likely have a therapeutic effect on patients suffering from debilitating neurologic diseases. Dr. Bates suggested that I could try taking each of the ingredients individually, in dosages high enough to perhaps make a difference. First, though, she wanted to consult with my neuro, Dr. Saud Sadiq, to make sure he'd be on board with the plan. Dr. Sadiq checked my files to go over the results of some comprehensive analyses of my cerebrospinal fluid that his research lab had done a few years ago, and found that my markers for oxidative stress were tremendously high, therefore making me an especially good candidate on whom to try this experiment. So, with everyone in agreement, I started on the following program of supplements, beginning about a month ago.

Before I go ahead and detail the treatment regimen Dr. Bates came up with, I must advise anybody who would like to follow a similar treatment plan to first consult with their physician, because many of the following ingredients can interact with the wide variety of medicines MS patients typically take to control their symptoms. For this very reason, rather than start all the supplements at once, Dr. Bates wanted me to begin them a few at a time, so that we could judge which components were causing whatever negative side effects might crop up. With this in mind, on week one I started taking:

♦ Curcumin (500 mg, 3X/day)-Curcumin is a component of tumeric, a spice commonly used in curries and other Asian recipes. Curcumin has long been used for medicinal purposes in Ayurvedic medicine, the traditional medicine that has been practiced in India for about 2000 years. It has many purported beneficial qualities, and has been shown to be an effective anti-inflammatory as well as a strong antioxidant (click here).

♦ Milk Thistle (250 mg 2X/day)-Milk Thistle is a flowering plant in the daisy family that has been shown to have liver protective and antioxidant properties (click here). Before starting Milk Thistle, blood tests showed that my liver enzymes were somewhat elevated, likely because of the pharmaceutical cocktail I take to combat my neurologic symptoms and some other potentially serious health issues I'm dealing with. After only one month on Milk Thistle, my last blood test showed that my liver enzymes had fallen dramatically. Yay, Milk Thistle.

I didn't suffer any ill effects from the Curcumin or Milk Thistle whatsoever, so on week two I started:

♦ Green Tea Extract (250 mg 2X/day)-Green Tea Extract is purported to have antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-carcinogen properties (click here). Dr. Bates suggested that rather than take Green Tea Extract in capsule form, I could drink 8-10 cups of green tea a day, but I informed her that if I did that I would have to take up permanent residence in my bathroom, as I very likely would never stop urinating. Much better, for me at least, to take the stuff in capsule form.

♦ Bacopa (200 mg 2X/day)-Bacopa is a perennial flowering plant that has long been used in Ayurvedic medicine. Tests have shown it to impact the oxidative stress process, and Bacopa also exerts a positive influence on memory and mental acuity (click here). Tests also suggest that Bacopa may also be neuroprotective against Alzheimer's disease (click here).

I didn't suffer any negative side effects from the Green Tea Extract or Bacopa, so on week three I started the final ingredient, one which Dr. Bates was a little more wary of:

♦ Ashwagandha (500 mg 2X at bedtime, starting out taking only one capsule first to judge the effects)-Ashwagandha is sometimes called "Indian ginseng", because it is used in Ayurvedic medicine much the same way that ginseng is used in traditional Chinese medicine, to treat a wide variety of diseases. Ashwagandha is thought to be an adaptogen, a medication that normalizes physiological functions through the correction of imbalances in the neuroendocrine and immune systems (click here).

Unlike my experience with the previous four ingredients, I did have a hard time with Ashwagandha. Dr. Bates had me start out slowly, taking only one capsule a night, and by the second day I felt extremely sedated and very weak, with many of my neurologic symptoms noticeably ramped up. After consulting with Dr. Bates, we decided I should simply stop taking the Ashwagandha, since the goal of our experiment is to make me feel better, not worse. I was disappointed to have to stop taking the stuff, though, because of its many purported positive qualities. Dr. Bates did single Ashwagandha out to be the most potentially problematic ingredient of the bunch, and I'm glad we saved it for last and started slowly. The scientific name for Ashwagandha is Withania Somnifera, and somnifera means "sleep inducing" in Latin. Boy, in my case at least, they weren't kidding…

It's too soon to tell whether or not this adventure in naturopathic medicine is having any positive neurologic results, although my wife thinks I seem a little bit stronger. As I noted previously, my liver enzymes have come down significantly since I started taking Milk Thistle, so that's one benefit I'll definitely chalk up to the herbal medley. Dr. Bates told me she has several other neuroprotective and/or antioxidant supplements she wants to add to the mix, and I have an appointment with her in a couple of weeks to go over these. I will of course keep everyone updated if more mojo gets added to the brew.

I have to admit I was a little bit skeptical about all this going in, but the liver enzyme results can't be denied. The health of my kidneys has also been of major concern because of some of the pharmaceuticals I have to take, and recently my blood test markers for kidney function have been creeping near or above the normal threshold. Dr. Bates started me on a tincture called "Pellitory of the Wall" (eerily reminiscent of "Eye of Newt"), and after only three weeks my latest blood tests showed that these levels, too, have fallen back well into the normal range, a change so dramatic that my pain management doctor seemed stunned when the test results were faxed to him (I was there when he got them), and repeatedly insisted that he needed to call Dr. Bates to find out exactly what she had given me.

Although all of these herbs and other substances sound like something from a witches brew, I can assure you that to date I've found no evidence that Dr. Bates is a witch. I've had my eyes peeled for signs of black cats, broomsticks, and flying monkeys in her office, but so far my investigations have come up empty. She did once briefly turn me into a salamander, but I got better (apologies to Monty Python).

Again, I don't recommend anybody start this program without first consulting with their doctor, as some of the ingredients may be contraindicated by medications you're taking or some underlying condition you may suffer from. It's easy to think, "Oh, herbal supplements, what harm can they do?", but my experience with Ashwagandha definitely was a negative one, and the effects that herbal remedies have recently had on my kidney and liver enzymes were swift and dramatic. Remember, too, that marijuana and magic mushrooms are also "herbal remedies", and those certainly can pack a wallop. Not that I'd know anything about that…