Tracking my efforts to beat Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME), aka CFIDS, aka CFS

Tracking my efforts to beat Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME), aka CFIDS, aka CFS

Thursday, July 23, 2015

I've Cut My Supplements Way Down

In February, I wrote that I wanted to cut my supplements way down.  It was partly because my doctor suggested it and partly because I'd wanted to do it for a long time anyway.  Too many supplements is expensive and risks overtaxing the liver.  Not to mention they are a hassle.  So I listed my supplements in order from those that I was most sure were helping, to those that I was least sure were helping.  Then I started eliminating supplements from the bottom of the list.

In April I took a big step back in my baseline health.  I didn't think it was because of the reduced supplements, but just to be safe, I went back on all of them.  Things returned to normal a couple months later, and so I started eliminating supplements again.

Of the 18 supplements on the list, I'm now only taking half of them.  (It's funny, I thought I'd eliminated more than that before I counted just now).  But for many of the suplements that I'm still taking, I've either reduced the doses, or I take the weekends off from them.  The only supplements/Rx's that I take on weekends now are T3 Thyroid and D-Ribose.  Everything else is eliminated on the weekend.

So far, I don't think I feel a difference.  As long as that continues, I will continue to cut down on supplements until either I eliminate all but a few obvious ones (like multivitamin and fish oil), or until I experience a setback.  

For those who might wonder, the supps and Rx's I'm still taking are: T3, Vit. D3, Probiotics, Equilibrant, DHA/EPA, D-Ribose, and only occasionally potassium and magnesium.

Others might wonder: given that I haven't missed the supplements I eliminated, does that mean that they were a waste of time and money?  That's hard to say.  The list I prepared in February was only a fraction of the supplements I've experimented with since getting ME/CFS.  Over the last four years, I've probably tried 4 times that many (so about 70 - which is not unusual for a PWME).  Given the large number of supps I've tried, it would be absurd to say that they all helped, and I specifically recall some that made me worse.  But I think for the most part, I needed the supplements that I took when I took them.  I have certainly improved over the last 4 years, although I'm nowhere near where I'd hoped to be by now in terms of improvements.  I think most of the supplements that I tried and stuck with for any length of time were the right supplements for me at that time.  I don't regret anything.

Friday, July 10, 2015

4 Year Anniversary

My 4 year anniversary came and went last month without me realizing it. I originally came down with the mega-flu that started "all of this" during the first week of June, 2011. In the 3 subsequnt Junes, I have been very aware of my anniversary on the day it came. The fact that I forgot about it this year is probably a sign that I've learned to live with my illness a little more - which can be both good and bad. I definitely think about it less, but I don't want acceptance to prevent me from continuing to aggressively seek answers.