Hey Naveed Aslam,

Part of your question didn’t came along, so I’ll answer your question the best way I can. If you have a dust mite allergy, your immune system thinks dust mite proteins are harmful invaders. It tries to get them out of your body by releasing histamine, which causes dust mite allergy symptoms. Reducing the amount of allergens will help reduce the symptoms. Easy practical things he can do are:

he can ventilate areas by opening windows once a day

Washing sheets, blankets and pillowcases at 60 degrees (this will kill dust mite)

Using hypoallergenic pillows

Vacuum and clean the house every 2-3 days

Remove dust

Remove carpeting if that’s an option

Flushing sinuses with a prepared saltwater solution (saline) can help reduce thickened mucus in the sinuses by flushing out irritants. If you’re making the saline solution yourself, make sure the water is contaminant-free by using distilled or boiled water.

Some supplements can help with the histamine produced by the immune cells. Usually, I recommend my clients to use between 500-1000 mg of Quercetin daily for a few weeks and see if this helps reduce symptoms. Bromelain can increase the absorption of Quercetin. Quercetin Supplements combined with bromelain can therefore be beneficial. Be aware though: Quercetin is contraindicated in people using antibiotics, and blood thinners. If your brother uses one of these medications he should NOT be using quercetin.

Stinging nettle leaves can make histamine receptors less sensitive and help as well. Because its mode of action is different from quercetin, the 2 can be a powerful combination.

Nutrients that support the immune system could play a helpful role as well. The most important nutrients are vitamin D, vitamin A, B vitamins, zinc and vitamin C.

I hope this helps!

Hey @Toujan Al Shurafa,

Elevations in antibodies usually mean there is some form of auto-immune activation. What kind of auto-immune issue the test doesn’t tell, but a doctor could help you there.

From a functional medicine perspective, the next step is finding out what could contribute to the development of auto-immune disease. There is a great movie in the B Better library that goes in-depth on what these thyroid markers mean and what other tests you could consider.

Just click here!

Hey @Annie Sye,

I understand why you are worried. Unfortunately, I don’t know any substance that blocks THC. According to some research, CBD can slow down the THC peaks because it binds to the same receptors, but as a result, the THC stays longer in the system.

The research however shows mixed results.

The best “cure” is to help him understand that THC can worsen his condition and that he is taking health risks.

Sometimes it could help to understand people’s need for spiritual experiences. What is it he hopes to get out of the experience? Is he seeking some form of healing? Is he seeking deeper insight into himself?

If you know what moves him, you could perhaps find better alternatives that might help him better.

Hey @Sara Almansoori,

Based on these labs I can understand why you would feel tired. However, the weight loss would be unexpected.

These labs show that your brain tries to activate your thyroid by releasing TSH. It does that by producing a lot of it since your thyroid seems not to respond very well. It’s like your brain is trying to yell to your thyroid gland “Do something!”. That’s why you see elevations in TSH.

The thyroid gland for some reason is not responding to that. The hormones fT4 and fT3 that help run your metabolism are low. Especially fT3 is low, which is the active form of thyroid hormone. fT4 is a precursor for fT3.

This could be the reason why you feel tired, but most people with a slow thyroid complain about gaining weight.

Based on these labs doctors will usually prescribe more thyroid hormones, not less.

Do you know what reason your doctor had to prescribe fewer medications?

Hey @Reshmika Chandrashekar,

I’m glad you’ve reached out! These labs can tell us quite a bit. Some values on these labs are a bit more subtle and could be easily missed. I will focus on your labs and give you some ideas on what you could do. Since I’m not based in the UAE, I can’t answer all your questions unfortunately.

Iron

Your labs show some signs of low iron. All your iron markers are at the low end of the reference range making it harder to transport oxygen (which is necessary for burning fat). The lab starts with the haemoglobin values. They are on the lower end of the reference range as well. In some cases, people can already experience symptoms of anemia (dizziness, brain fog, poor concentration, tiredness, cold hands & feet, shortness of breath tingling sensations in the arms/legs, etc). Perhaps some symptoms sound familiar. The amount of red blood cells (RBC count) is also on the lower end. This in combination with the suboptimally low hemoglobin makes anemic symptoms more likely.

Iron is also a necessary mineral for optimal thyroid function, but I’ll come back to that.

Reasons why Iron could be low:

Not enough iron in the diet

Problems with absorption (low stomach acid or a chronic simmering infection. In the last case the body tries to sequester iron away from the blood bacteria and viruses use iron as well to multiply)

Iron loss due to: 

Heavy menstrual periods (blood loss causes the body to have to make new quantities of red blood cells quickly episodically, and without sufficient stored iron, the body will struggle to make larger, healthy RBCs).

Recent surgery or injury causing significant bleeding.

Excessive vitamin A supplementation

Thyroid Hormones

Your free T3 and free T4 are at the low end of the reference range as well. There is an overlap in symptoms with anemia. Hair loss, constipation, and thinning of the eyebrows… these are symptoms that differ from anemia. With a sluggish thyroid, you might be more sensitive to cold as well. The difference is that you might feel cold in the entire body instead of the hands and feet only.

Useful follow-up labs to rule out autoimmune issues is measuring your thyroid antibodies. I’ll give you a link to a movie where you can learn all about what thyroid markers paint a more complete picture of your thyroid health. Just click here.

Signs of insufficiencies from certain nutrients are present as well. I’m talking about the next nutrients: zinc, vitamin B6, folate and B12. Using a supplement could be helpful. Make sure the B vitamins are present in the bioactive form by choosing a B complex or a multivitamin containing methylated B vitamins. A good B vitamin complex I often recommend to my clients is Basic B from Thorne.

Immune function

Just like the amount of red blood cells, the amount of white blood cells is low. We need the same nutrients to produce white and red blood cells. I’m referring specifically to vitamin D, B vitamins, and vitamin A Low RBC and WBC count can sometimes be an indication of mercury present in your body. Do you have amalgam fillings?

Exposure to mercury could also lead to candida overgrowth. In this case, the overgrowth could have a protective function since candida can absorb mercury.

Your eosinophils (a type of white blood cells) are elevated. There can be many reasons for this. Something going on in the gut can be a reason! However, keep in mind that eosinophils can also elevate when you have allergies, athma or are exposed to parasites.

In the case of an infection, iron supplements might make infections worse, so be careful.

Mold

You’ve mentioned it already: since you’re suspicious of mold, I would follow your intuition here. If you can’t get rid of mold at the moment, reducing your exposure to it is a big win. Make sure you vent your home daily. Providing your immune system with the right nutrients is helpful as well. If you’re trying to detox: detoxing should be done when you’re body is in a place of strength. If you’re experiencing a lot of debilitating symptoms, I would recommend you work on these first before you add detoxifying supplements to the protocol.

What you can do to help detoxification is drink a lot of water, focus on food-based approaches and make sure you aren’t constipated.

I get the sense you’ve already explored our mold course, however, if I’m mistaken, I would recommend you watch it entirely. Just click here to get there.

I hope this will help you a step further. Let me know if you’ve got any questions!

Hey @Yasmin Kottait,

I’m sorry to hear your 13 months is struggling, but you are already doing a great job with the vitamin D, probiotics and vitamin C. With antibiotics, I usually recommend a blend that also contains the protective yeast species S. Boullardii. Yeast is not so much affected by the antibiotics. The drugs do, however, wipe out the bacterial competition which can allow yeast to thrive/surge.

You can find more information on how to choose probiotics HERE if you are unsure if you’ve chosen the right formula.

If you are worried about the coughing: with pneumonia I wouldn’t recommend using something like cough medicine even if it’s natural. The phlegm comes from the longs and coughing helps the body to get rid of the infection.

I’m not exactly sure how long he is experiencing symptoms. Usually with treatment, most types of bacterial pneumonia are cured in 1–2 weeks. During that time, make sure he drinks enough and he gets enough rest!

I hope he gets well soon!

Hey @KK,

When it comes to workout tips for your son, the most important tips are quite simple: make sure he hydrates well and make sure he replenishes his electrolytes. Listening to his body is also important. If he feels fastly fatigued or sore and tired during his workout he should definitely take it slow. Taking pre-workouts might dehydrate him as well and I wouldn’t recommend them.

If he likes intense workouts and you’re afraid his health might suffer again. You could explain to him that continuously giving it all in the gym might even lead to lesser results. I’m not opposed to heavy workouts, but I do tell my clients that if they start working out after a long break, they risk starting heavier as needed. This is because when you return to your workout routine, you already have the experience of how working out should feel.

However, the body isn’t adapted to this lifestyle anymore.

Another downside is that if he is focussed on building strength and muscles he is going to make progress in the future more difficult.

The body adapts to the way you’re training. If the start is aggressive and the body adapts to this, you need a different training stimulus that ‘shocks’ the muscles into developing more strength and muscle growth. If you’re giving it all you’ve got from day 1, it becomes much harder to shock muscles in the future.

A more easy start will have the benefit that there is more room to shock the muscles and he might see better muscle growth and strength development during the year.

As he progresses in his training, the body will also be better able to handle the stress of intense workouts because the body will try to adapt to his new lifestyle.

He could also pay attention to how he feels after a workout. Once you are done with the strength training workout, you should feel tired, but not exhausted. This might be different if he competes in sports, but if his main goal is to build strength and grow muscles, this is perfect.

Extreme workouts will cause longer recovery times. Being “under recovered” is why a lot of people who work hard in the gym don’t progress in the gym.

I hope these tips will help him to give the results he wants while staying healthy at the same time!

Hey @Annie Sye,

It’s hard to judge Hoffer’s train of thought. However, I can tell that I wouldn’t recommend trying out some of these dosages of supplements yourself.

Dosing supplements & why it is hard to recommend protocols

The upper tolerable limit for Selenium, for example, is 400 mcg. Above these dosages, people can experience symptoms. I can imagine that supplementing with higher dosages can be considered if someone is deficient in selenium. But you will need to know for sure if you’re considering these dosages.

The same story for vitamin B6: 1000 mg of vitamin B6 is not without risk. Even much lower dosages aren’t without risk. High dosages of vitamin B6 can cause irriversible nerve damage. Vitamin B6 is also necessary for neurotransmitter production. Since Schizophrenia is a disease in which neurotransmitter imbalances are often documented, high dosages of B6 can influence that balance. Especially because with Schizophrenia glutamate imbalances play often a role, adding vitamin B6 could worsen that imbalance.

Don’t get me wrong: I think vitamin B6 can be a good supplement, but start low and slow with the dosage and I see many potential benefits. Still, with my clients I would always recommend the low & slow approach (5mg daily for example). We know that people with glutamate imbalances can experience anxiety, irritability and restlessness when B6 supplements are used.

As a rule of thumb, in functional medicine we first like to know:

What possible systems in the body are out of balance? Do we have labs? What other symptoms are there?

Based on that we make recommendations on lifestyle, nutrition and supplements.

Let me give you an example: if someone can’t methylate well (which we see regurlary in Schizophrenia patients), nutrient deficiencies in vitamin B12, folate, B6 or B2 can play a role. If someone is deficient in B12 only, methylation could be impaired. Supplementing with B6 or folate won’t help.

This is where labs play a role: we first need to know what might be at play in this person to make recommendations.

Are there perhaps labs you could share with us? If so, we could help you by giving you more targeted advice.

Hey @Rhondine sorrell,

If the implants look like they were leaking, I think you made the right call. I’m not sure how long your implants were there (if they are there for a long time then the next advice might not apply and you can just scroll down). Sometimes Botox is used to help implement implants. But Botox in some cases can also cause some symptoms:

Fever

superficial reddening of the skin

bruising

swelling

drooping eyelid or brow

other skin discolourations

If your doctor believes there is a possibility these symptoms might have been caused by removing the implants causing the Botox to release in the body, the antibiotics won’t work.

Then again, it could also be a simple fever – and in that case, antibiotics won’t work either. In that case, go down to the section called “immune support”

Post-surgery:
Post surgery there are some steps you could take to help heal the body. You can find them in this handout.

Detoxification:
You mentioned that your implants looked leaky. If you want to help your body detoxify you can. In your specific case, I would recommend starting with a food-based approach. Ramping up detoxification should be done from a place of strength. When toxins are broken down by the liver, the intermediate metabolites are often more toxic than the toxins. Supporting the body with supplements that ramp up detoxification can cause more harm.

However, you can still support your body. Take time to heal. Drink plenty of water, and make sure you aren’t constipated. The liver dumps bile in the stool. This helps you to get rid of waste products in your body. You should have at least one bowel movement per day.

If you aren’t constipated, you can go to the next step: choose the right foods! This handout helps you make targeted choices to support your liver and liver health.

Another way to support your body with detoxification is by eating Cruciferous Vegetables. You can find a list in the handout called Cruciferous Vegetables Natural Detoxifiers.

The third and last handout provides you with a list of foods containing glutathione. Glutathione is a powerful antioxidant made inside your body. It is also crucial for detoxification.

Immune support
If the doctor believes your body might have been weakened by the operation and because of that, your body is more susceptible to infections, you could help your body by supporting your immune system. In that case, this handout would be interesting to read. You will find the nutrients that your body needs to support the immune system at the end of the handout. With fever, you can also look here for tips.

Antibiotics
If for some reason antibiotics are recommended… we sometimes need these interventions unfortunately. That doesn’t mean we can’t support the body. You can find how to support the body before, during and after antibiotics right here.

I hope you have enough information to make educated choices. Please let us know how things develop!

@Annie Sye reduction in oxidative stress may influence neurotransmitter balance. Schizophrenia is associated with neurodegenrative processes, meaning that the nerve health in time could degenerate. The presence of oxidative stress (and toxins) can contribute to this process. Reducing oxidative stress can slow down the degeneration of nerves.

I’ve chosen to give you some nutrients that in general show positive clinical effects in Schizophrenia patients. Vitamin C can help reduce negative symptoms in schizophrenia patients. I’m quoting this study here for you:

“Baseline symptoms and vitamin C levels were not correlated. Higher baseline vitamin C levels were associated with more improvement in negative symptoms”

It is a small study, but usually small studies are done to see if there is a signal – which they did.

Vitamin E can help with some of the negative effects of medications. The evidence of vitamin E helping with reducing negative symptoms is less strong, but the literature I’ve seen is not talking about worsening of symptoms. In studies in which vitamin E helped, vitamin E was often combined with vitamin C and omega 3s.

I think you could safely try these supplements.

I’m linking you to an interesting page on WebMD as well (just click here)

Proposition 65 warning
Since I’m based in Europe, could you help me with website/list of products in which I could search for which product has a proposition 65 warning? This will make the right choice for supplements easier!

Hey @KK

I’m so sorry to hear. I can imagine you are quite worried!

Elevations in CK can be expected as a result of working out. Strong elevations and dark urine can be an indication of Rhabdomyolysis. Usually, I would expect these symptoms as a result of extreme workouts or prolonged strenuous efforts. Other symptoms that might present are:

Muscle swelling

Weak muscles

Tender and sore muscles

and of course brown, red or tea-colored pee

Rhabdomyolysis

I don’t know what kind of strength training your son did, but it is more usual to see this type of health problem with marathon runners or other sports that require prolonged effort.

With Rhabdomyolysis caused by intensive workouts, your son needs to stay hydrated and replenish electrolytes daily. Also, a journal of symptoms might help. Worsening of symptoms like vomiting, abdominal pain, fever, swollen feet, weak muscles and sore muscles could indicate a progression of the condition. If symptoms become progressive, contact your nephrologist immediately! The good news is that your nephrologist thinks of a mild version of Rhabdomyolysis indicating your son isn’t in immediate danger. But I do recommend that he check his symptoms.

Although workouts can cause Rhabdomyolysis and perhaps the most likely, it isn’t the only cause of Rhabdomyolysis. Depending on the cause, different approaches should be taken,

Kidney function
At the moment of drawing blood, the lab values that evaluate kidney function look pretty good. This means that if there is some kidney damage, the damage isn’t enough to impair kidney function. That’s good news! That doesn’t mean there isn’t any kidney damage, but it does mean that the damage didn’t result in function loss. This was at the time of measurement (4 days after the first symptoms presented). It could be that your nephrologist might want to retest these lab values, just to be sure his kidney function is still ok.

Pus cells
Although his white blood cell differential doesn’t immediately give an indication of an infection, pus cells were found in the urine. Pus cells in the urine mean that there were some white blood cells present in the urine. Sometimes the urine will smell like ammonia. This would fit more with a UTI. Although UTIs are the most common cause of pus cells in the urine, some other infections can cause pus cells as well. Your nephrologist will know how to deal with that.

In the case of an infection, staying hydrated is really important as well. If your son is sexually active, you could recommend him to pee directly after sex to clear bacteria from the urinary tract. I’m not sure what herbal remedies you’ve used, but following the tips in this handout can be helpful as well.

Once it is clear what caused the dark urine, we might be able to give you more targeted advice.

Hey @Annie Sye,

The current view is that Schizophrenia hasn’t one root cause. Genetics, stress & trauma, brain chemistry and structure, heavy metal toxicity, possible drug abuse, and autoimmune activation Several factors seem to play a role. One patient needs a different approach than the other.

To reduce oxidative stress anti-oxidants indeed play an important role. Removing the source of the oxidative stress is just as important. Adding anti-oxidants like vitamin C, vitamin E and glutathione can all help reduce damage to oxidative stress (see this study).

Many schizophrenia patients lack Omega 3s (see this study) and in this case, adding them to the diet with a fish oil supplement can be beneficial. I suspect that in patients, with an inflammatory component, omega 3s will be beneficial as well. Having serum vitamin D levels in the ideal zone (50 ng/ml) will help the body deal with inflammation as well.

Another supplement that has been regularly researched in schizophrenia patients is Ginkgo Biloba. According to this meta-analysis supplementing with Ginkgo Biloba resulted in [and I equate] “moderate improvement in total and negative symptoms of schizophrenia.”

The dosages of supplements used in your example, shouldn’t be taken without an expert who knows him and his personal and medical circumstances, but the presence of oxidative damage makes sense. If in your brother oxidative damage plays a role, removing the source would be the biggest help you could give him. Here are some sources of oxidative stress:

You mentioned mold in your earlier posts. Removing exposure to mold and mold toxins will reduce oxidative stress and inflammation for sure

Heavy metal toxicity can cause oxidative stress. Heavy metals can also impair the ability of the body to produce powerful “homemade” antioxidants like glutathione.

Drugs (abuse) can be a source of oxidative stress

Blood sugar imbalance (we have a full course on that one in the library)

High blood pressure

Poor lifestyle habits like smoking, drinking alcohol, etc

Autoimmune activation

We see more autoimmune diseases in schizophrenia patients. Does your brother have a known autoimmune disease? Then inflammation caused by that could worsen symptoms as well. If this is the case we have a handout right here in the B Better library that you might find interesting. Just scroll down to find the handout.

The article you shared talked about methylation. Some schizophrenia patients overmethylate, and some undermethylate. Without getting into much detail about what methylation is, traditional lab values can help us understand when someone isn’t a good methylator. For example, when the lab value homocysteine is elevated (or when it is too low!), we know that the methylation cycle is impaired.

We need methylation for detoxification, glutathione production and good nerve health.

If your brother’s homocysteine is too high, adding b vitamins like B12, folate and B6 can help. I usually recommend the B vitamin supplement basic b from Thorne since it has the B vitamins in the methylated form. A liquid supplement with all the B vitamins in the right form, I don’t know. But having the right form of the B vitamins matters: some people (1 in 4 people!) have genes that don’t metabolise b12 well for example. This isn’t a problem for everybody, but for some people, it can cause a lot of problems.

One last advice on the B vitamin department: go low & slow with the dosage! Half a capsule per day of Thorne’s basic B is a good starting dose. Vitamin B6 can influence neurotransmitter production like dopamine, GABA, serotonin and glutamate. In schizophrenia patients, imbalances in neurotransmitters like dopamine and glutamate may play a role and some caution is necessary.

Zinc
A liquid zinc supplement that you could try is the chelated zinc of Genestra called “Zinc Glycinate Liquid”. It is attached to the amino acid glycinate which can also have a calming effect. It is also one of the 3 amino acids needed to make Glutathione.

L-theanine
The effects of L-theanine are calming on the mind. However, indeed, often people experience this relief for 1-2 hours.

One last thought on the article of Walsh you’ve shared. I like what he is writing, but keep in mind: he doesn’t zoom into what the root causes of oxidative stress are. When oxidative stress plays an important role in the disease dynamic, removing the cause of oxidative stress is essential.

Hey @Annie Sye,

Mold exposure can cause a variety of symptoms including neurological symptoms(if you like to learn more, watch this video). Traditional labpanels unfortunately aren’t helpful when it comes to mold exposure. There are things I could recommend you though.

Don’t try to remove mold yourself… please! Removing mold needs to be done by an expert and an expert only!

Until that time, make sure you reduce exposure by ventilating the room. Open the windows as often as you can.

If your brother experiences fewer symptoms when he is on vacation, this could indicate something he is exposed to in his normal environment (like mold) is contributing to his symptoms, however…

… in the case of mold, spores could have been seeded in his body. In this case, when he is on vacation, symptoms might not get less because mold can colonize your body (for example in the gut).

Testing for mold can be done by different types of tests. The OAT (Organic Acid Test) for example is such a test. The MycoTox test is a different test which tests for toxins produced by mold. Both tests have their pros and cons which are discussed here.

Other forms of toxicity might also contribute to neurological problems. Amalgam fillings for example contain mercury, which could cause neurological symptoms. If your brother has them, removing them would be advised. You’ll need to find a dentist who is specialized in removing mercury fillings.

Exposure to lead has also been connected to Schizophrenia (see this study for information about lead exposure). If he lives in an old house with old water pipes, depending on where you live in the world, these pipes could contain lead. Old paint can contain lead as well. Although most new paints don’t contain lead anymore, in some countries adding lead to paint is still not forbidden. If your brother likes to paint, you could recommend him to switch paint brands as well.

If you’ve got some old labs from your brother and if he doesn’t mind, you can post them on the forum as well. We might be able to take a look and provide you with some additional advice as well. Looking through the lens of functional medicine to these labs might provide you with new insights.

Since you know your brother is exposed to mold you might find the course in the B Better library interesting. You can find the complete course here.

I hope this helps

Hey @Bahareh Safapour,

Too bad I can’t be with the Q&A call. Perhaps you’ve already discussed these values today with Bernadette – they are interesting. What stands out to me is that, compared to earlier values, estrogen and testosterone are elevated, while the amount of progesterone is less.

These numbers need to be put into context with possible symptoms, your lifestyle and the supplements you’re taking. Since I’m missing context, I will just focus on the numbers

Production of progesterone is lower than the older values. This can happen in stressful times. In the years before menopause progesterone production naturally declines as well.

A supplement like DHEA is a precursor to other hormones. But how hormones are affected, depends. DHEA can increase progesterone indirectly according to studies (see for example this study here). But it can also follow a different route and become first testosterone and after that estradiol.

Since your estrogen and testosterone values are higher than older values, DHEA is likely pushing these numbers up.

Your estradiol levels are above the normal range here. Are you experiencing complaints? In this case, lowering DHEA might help.

I’ll be looking forward to the replay, but meanwhile, I hope this information is of value.

Hey @Yasmin atassi,

The standards for testing can differ from country to country. You could test for lead, but knowing what risk factors for lead exposure there are is also important. Here are some risk factors you might like to know:

living or spending time in a house or building built before lead was banned from construction in the country you’re living in (1978 for the US. I’m not sure when this was in the UAE)

living or spending time with someone who works with lead or has hobbies that expose them to lead (Specific hobbies like making came glasswork, shooting with lead bullets)

Paint: Although in a lot of countries lead is forbidden in paints, in some countries lead is still added to paint for indoor use. Removing old paint can therefore be a risk factor as well

Unfortunately, lead has been used in products in the past. As a consequence, it has ended up in the environment. Some grounds can be polluted with lead. If your kid is playing in the sand, make sure it is a clean source.

Drinking water out of old leaden water pipes.

A test for heavy metals I would recommend to my clients is the Mosaic Metals – Toxic + Nutrient Elements Red Blood Cell. Mosaic also provides a hair test to look for heavy metals which is less invasive. You can find the hair test here.

Since I’m living in The Netherlands, maybe @Bernadette Abraham knows an integrative pediatrician in Dubai she would recommend.

I hope this answer helps!