THAT'S A GOOD QUESTION...Ask Elaine
(Due to the popularity of this section of
our newsletter we will continue it on a regular
basis with new questions each time)
Respen-A™
Is Gabapentin a problem for MAO-A?
It does increase GABA synthesis so can diminish the activity of MAO-A by increasing MAO-B activity.
Is a drug that increases dopamine in the brain a bad thing?
Yep. It also causes addictive behaviors.
Elaine, have you heard of Methylene Blue? Apparently people are using it as a 'hack' for numerous things. It is a potent MAO-A inhibitor and in combination with SSRIs it can produce serotonin toxicity in the perioperative period.
Yes, but I did not know that people were using it as a 'hack'. It is extremely dangerous
My son is gluten-free and dairy-free and we'd like to start him on the PST disc because we know that he has an issue with phenols. Will he be able to have gluten and dairy on the PST disc? If yes, how many days should we wait before reintroducing both?
I think it is wise after one week on the PST to slowly reintroduce gluten first, then dairy.
I will be using aracadonic acid for my son's pyroluria. How many capsules a day should we dose?
One (1) capsule a day should be adequate.
What is a simple explanation regarding the difference between PST and Respen?
Respen-A increases the activity of MAO-A. But, as you know, it can only do that if the MAO-A is not being inhibited by certain supplements and factors. One factor that inhibits MAO-A is high phenols. The enzyme, phenol-sulfur transferase (PST) breaks down phenols. Dr. Waring has found that this enzyme is deficient in 80% of people with autism. The PST disc mimics the enzyme to keep the phenols from building up and inhibiting MAO-A.
My B-12 was tested and is very low at 35 out of 1200. The only options are either getting the injectable, or taking a dissolvable 5 mg one that is oral. What do you recommend?
We cannot make Vitamin B-12. In our diet we get it from animal products such as meat. Our body makes intrinsic factor in the intestine which is needed to absorb vitamin B-12 from the gut. So either you aren’t eating enough animal source of B-12 or you aren’t making enough intrinsic factor. If the latter is the case then you will need weekly injections or the daily sublingual tablet of B-12. Either is fine, but the latter is far less expensive.
I have low blood sugar levels. Is there anything I can do to fix this problem?
The mitochondria is the heart of everything, the heart of health. For instance, diabetes is simply caused by the mitochondria not functioning correctly. When the the mitochondria is not working right, the brain has problems converting glucose to inositol. This results in the brain shutting down insulin production and also even decreasing the insulin receptors on the cells in an attempt to increase the glucose going to the brain in an attempt to convert the glucose into an inositol.
Inositol is the active form of glucose in the brain. This is why the brain does not require insulin in order to utilize glucose, whereas all other cells in the body require insulin in order to carry the glucose into the cell so the cells can utilize it. What stimulates the brain to convert the glucose into inositol is an enzyme called myo-inositol synthase. This enzyme is stimulated by how active the mitochondria is. The faster the mitochondria is working, the faster you convert glucose into inositol. This is why children who are physically active during recess learn better than people who are sedentary.
FYI, if you give inositol, most times you can reverse diabetes. Inositol comes in power form and is easily dissolved in water (drink all at once in a.m.).
IF you have diabetes and are on insulin take 1000 mg of inositol (might increase or decrease based on blood sugar levels) in a.m. Monitor blood sugar; if it gets low don't use insulin medication- you'll be cutting it back. DON'T take inositol at night as you wouldn't want that happening at night (blood sugar lowering without you being able to monitor it). Many people that I have suggested this to have been able to go off insulin completely, or reduce it substantially.
What is the problem with taking amino acids?
The problem is that when you take amino acids independently, they compete against each other. Many of them feed the MAO-B line. MAO-B is the counterbalance to MAO-A, and can decrease the activity of MAO-A. This action counteracts the Respen-A™ disc's action of trying to boost MAO-A.
Just eat meat. Otherwise you can do branched amino acids where everything is pretty equal, but many of them* are already known to work on the MAO-B line which will cause you big problems such as anxiety, depression, autistic symptoms, etc. Bring MAO-B back into balance with MAO-A and that chaos disappears…and so much more with it.
*Glutamine and alanine are the most abundant amino acids generally in the body, and both are associated with the MAO-B pathway. Glutamine and GABA may possibly increase MAO-B activity, therefore decreasing MAO-A activity. Tyrosine shouldn’t be supplemented because it feeds the dopamine, which is too high in autism.
Rosemary Waring did research that showed that B6 can inhibit human sulfotransferase, but activated by magnesium. If you have at least a 1:1 mix of B6:Mg there is no problem. Hence, if you have a problem with B6, try to see if taking magnesium will help.
Have you tested this?
I had several people try this and they didn’t notice any difference whatsoever.
Calcium-d-glucarate is a supplement that enhances a process called glucuronidation within the liver. Glucuronidation is the process by which phenols are “neutralized” and prepared for excretion from the body. I was thinking that this might be a way that I can enhance my body’s metabolism of salicylates, so that I might be able to eat more of them with lessened reactions. What do you think?
Long before I knew about the PST, I had many of our Respen-A™ users test calcium-d-glucarate. Some didn’t notice a difference. Others felt that it lessened diarrhea symptoms. The PST takes care of salicylates, and many of our kids with autism do better on it than the Respen-A™.
In my past I was given a drug that was an MAOI, and I had a really bad reaction.
Will activating my MAO-A do the same thing?
What we are doing with the Respen disc is completely opposite of what an MAOI does. MAOI's are MAO inhibitors. They are the opposite of MAO-A or MAO-B. The Respen will untie the hands of MAO-A, figuratively, so that it can do what it is supposed to do in your body.
I have trouble converting fat to ATP. Do you have something that will help?
Everything that you eat converts to pyruvate and then normally would get put into the Krebs cycle. If you have an issue with your MAO-A then it does not convert to pyruvate but instead to alanine and stores that way, which is also a problem. Respen-A™ will resolve the conversion problem. It will activate the MAO-A so that your body can utilize it, which means that instead of being stored as alanine, the pyruvate will be put into the Krebs cycle.
