UltraMind Solution Quizzes

[Gaby]

Hi Megan,

I will suggest starting the diet right away, if you haven't done so. For example, you can try an elimination diet like the one posted here: http://www.cassiopaea.org/forum/index.php?topic=13241.0 In that way you make sure that you are having only foods that your body can tolerate.

The diet is fundamental and then in the time being, you can read the health threads and the recommended health books so you'll have a better idea as to what is going on and why. It will guide you through this detox process. Knowledge indeed protects. You can also share here what you're finding out for networking purposes.

For adrenal fatigue, adrenal cortex extract (as opposed to whole gland) helps. The whole gland adrenal or adrenal medulla glandular is designed to increase adrenaline levels which can put more stress on the body. This is the reason why it is better to choose the cortex extract.

 

[mcb]

Psyche,

I have been following many of the "Diet and Health" threads for quite a long time trying to make sense of things, and with some success. I haven't found any foods that I react to immediately after eating them (at least not consistently), but if I eliminate most foods for a week or two, the bloating and gas subside.

I have been following the Ultra Simple Diet thread that you mentioned but I haven't yet located the ingredients and worked out all the details. I tried a very simple "cleanse" for two weeks last September, but it wasn't something that would work over a long period of time.

I am looking for a sustainable diet that will give me enough enough energy to make it through the workday, that won't require more preparation time than I have, that includes things I can prepare in advance and take with me to work (on public transit), and that is varied enough to stay with over time. In the mean time I am being very careful about the quality of the food I eat and the supplements I take.

My results from the UltraMind Solution Quizzes look like this:
Fats and Your Brain – Fatty Acids Quiz (9 - Severe)
Dopamine and the Catecholamines: Getting Focused – Dopamine Quiz (6 - Severe)
GABA: Get Relaxed – GABA Quiz (8 - Severe)
Acetylcholine: Remembering and Learning Things – Acetylcholine Quiz (6 - Severe)
Donʼt Panic, Itʼs Just Your Blood Sugar: Insulin and Your Brain – Insulin Quiz (19 - Severe)
Thyroid Gland: A Yellow Canary in a Coal Mine of Environmental Toxins – Thyroid Quiz (14 - Severe)
Toxins Quiz (15 - Severe)
Loss of Energy Quiz (15 - Severe)
Oxidative Stress Quiz (10 - Severe)
Adrenal Dysfunction Quiz (17 - Severe)

Serotonin: Staying Happy – Serotonin Quiz (6 - Moderate)
Inflammation Quiz (9 - Moderate)
Gut Quiz (11 - Moderate)

From the overlap in the questions in the different quizzes, I can see that having one problem or several might cause the scores for other problems to go up, a kind of chain reaction that makes the results look worse than they are, and I think that is what happened here. As I mentioned, the Adrenal Dysfunction result was no surprise, but I was surprised that my Gut Quiz score wasn't higher, since that is one of my main (lifelong) problem areas. I don't really know my family medical history well, though, and that may explain the lower score. I have several of the things mentioned under family history in the Gut Quiz, but I don't know about my relatives.

Quizzes aside, this is what I have been able to identify over the years:
Prenatal exposure to an endocrine disruptor such as DES (but I can't be sure) at some mid-term stage of prenatal development
Other abnormal adrenal hormone levels stemming from low pregnenolone levels
Hypogonadism (and eventually cancer) stemming from abnormal adrenal hormone levels
Water retention (at least since my 20s)
Joint and back problems (since about 10)
Memory and mental "presence" issues stemming from low pregnenolone levels
Transsexualism (a symptom of DES exposure, along with the cancer)
Asperger's syndrome (atypical now, because I have been able to come part way out of it for reasons I don't understand)
Muscle tone problems that can be from Asperger's or adrenal hormone problems or both
An atypical form of fibromyalgia/chronic fatigue syndrome that showed up some time in my 30s or 40s (very slow onset).
ADHD-I (but the diagnosis did not take into account the pregenolone problem)

I kind of got off to a bad start, with a forceps birth on top of everything else, and "gender issues" that were strictly not allowed in the conservative society I grew up in.

Any gut problems could actually originate as autistic spectrum symptoms. I have plenty of those, although I am able to manage a lot of it now. DES exposure symptoms can be individually unique, depending upon the dosage and when it occurred. It requires "becoming one's own expert."

It can be bewildering, trying to sort through everything to understand what I can do. It has been a lifelong process, and I have done reasonably well with it, but I do believe there is much more I can do if I can avoid being overwhelmed with information and change (one of the effects of Asperger's). It takes me a long time to make major changes. I am pretty good now at dealing with the discomfort of change, but it still takes me a long time to "get" what it is I need to do. That is where I am now with the Ultra Simple Diet.

I went through a phase when it seemed like there were so many issues that I couldn't seriously consider doing the Work, but I persisted anyway and made some very important breakthroughs. At the time I was unemployed and I focused for several months on the issues of that time until I resolved them. After which I was ready to go back to work, and I immediately found a job.

Now, though, I am spending more time commuting and working and I have more work-related stress, and it seems as though this is aggravating some of the physical health issues. I am also likely feeling aftereffects of cancer treatment. I am not stressed out about the issues, though. It's Lessons. The commuting can actually be a good thing--I listen to audiobooks. In fact I just downloaded The UltraMind Solution audiobook from audible.com.

I am going to work out how I can follow the Ultra Simple Diet. I also have the Eíriú-Eolas materials on order.

Thank you!

 

[Gaby]

Megan, I think you've been doing very well, taking a step a time and not giving up. If you have trouble coming up with some easy to prepare recipes, I'm sure that you'll find something useful in the Recipe section or from other members who are also looking ways to simplify cooking in a busy lifestyle. I think that a very simple diet (like the ultra simple diet) is very easy to prepare for your needs and time. You can prepare a big pot of brown rice in advance and always have steam vegetables available. Veggies also taste very good in the pressure cooker. You can have a protein shake in the morning, with flaxseeds, flaxseed oil, vitamin C and rice protein, plus blue berries and rice milk (that is the basic recipe, but you might benefit of other supplements as well), you can sweeten your shake with a bit of xylitol. You can have the vegetable broth available too, and you can take it with you in a thermos. Also beans, fruits and portions of meat like lamb, chicken, turkey, fish. It is important that you avoid processed foods, artificial flavors or sweeteners like MSG or aspartme. Also, stay away from milk, gluten, soy, alcohol and coffee, sugar. That is the very basics. Foods to test include eggs, butter, night shade family vegetables (eggplants, tomatoes, potatoes), nuts, etc. I will say that the bloating means that you are intolerant to something and that you need to pay attention when this happens. You test one food at a time, every 3 days, to make sure which is the culprit, and when testing, you have generous amounts of that food in the first day.

Laura was recommending the other day a book called, "Detoxification and Healing: The Key to Optimal Health ~ Sidney MacDonald Baker". I still have to read it, but Laura was reading out loud some interesting parts to us the other day. The explanations of adrenal fatigue explained in the book seem to be a key in your case, as few health books explain some of the particular problems and therapies available for adrenal problems (but this book has them).

Let us know if you need help sorting out or prioritizing your detox plan and supplements.

 

[mcb]

Psyche,

Thank you! This actually sounds tasty when you put it that way. :)

Some of your suggestions, such as the pot of rice, are things I have done in the past that worked well, and I have been starting to return to some of that. I see that this can work.

I will also try this way of food testing. I wasn't quite sure what to do before.

 

[mcb]

[quote author=Psyche]
Let us know if you need help sorting out or prioritizing your detox plan and supplements.
[/quote]
Psyche,

I am making progress. I have been listening to the audiobook version of The UltraMind Solution. It contains a lot of useful information, and it agrees well with what I have been learning from other sources over the last 14 years since I quit the "Standard American Diet." The basic idea of "treat the cause, not the symptom" is something I learned growing up, but with so many symptoms it has been hard up until now to find the causes.

So far I have managed to eliminate wheat, dairy, caffeine, sugar, and all medications (none of them critical) and I am feeling a little better already, although I am also feeling side effects from the change in diet. I have done this kind of thing before, and the side effects subsided pretty quickly. I am already eating "healthy" food; I just need to balance things better and find out which foods I don't tolerate well. I am also adding more high-quality supplements as I learn what to take.

I haven't incorporated all of your suggestions yet only because I have another undertaking going at the same time: I am looking for a less stressful job that pays better. I like what I am doing now, but the salary is poor (it's a non-profit association) and there are some deep issues with the organization's culture that suggest to me to stay there but be looking elsewhere. I had planned to update my resume during the holiday break (I had 2 weeks off), but I got sick instead. As soon as I was feeling well enough again, a promising-looking job ad came my way. I have seen this pattern before, and I feel that I should be responding to any ads that match well with my career objectives, even if it isn't especially convenient at the moment to do so.

I am hoping to have more of the diet details worked out by next week.

 

[Gaby]

Exc. One step at a time, onwards and upwards. The diet is a key part of getting well and I'm glad that you are working on it. I hope you will be able to sort out your job situation for the better.

 

[mcb]

Exc. One step at a time, onwards and upwards. The diet is a key part of getting well and I'm glad that you are working on it. I hope you will be able to sort out your job situation for the better.

It has become a little more complicated now. I happened to learn that I have a bilateral pulmonary embolism, after having a CT scan for a different reason on Tuesday. It is fortunate that I found this out--they said that often the first indication of a PE is death--but now I need to avoid foods high in vitamin K for 6 months while I take an anticoagulant (Coumadin). There goes a big part of my diet.

 

[Gaby]

Hi Megan. I'm sorry to hear about this. I hope the source of the pulmonary embolism will be cleared out, and it is desirable to understand the source.

I don't know which supplements you are taking, but make sure that your doctors know which ones they are. Some supplements are blood thinners ( Omega 3s, the magnesium, the CoQ10) and they should be monitored by the doctor who is dosing the coumadin.

You can still have foods that you can tolerate and are diet friendly, and that aren't rich in vitamin K. If you want a hand on your research of your condition, you can send me a PM. Just make sure you have an open communication with your doctors and are following their advice.

 

[mcb]

Hi Psyche,

This may not be as bad as I thought -- apparently I can have all the leafy green vegetables I want as long as my intake is consistent and I have the medication level adjusted. Unfortunately, consistent with what Dr. Hyman says in the book, the medication blocks some of the effects/benefits of vitamin K. The other thing I wanted to do, though, was find a good non-wheat source of dietary fiber, so I think I will increase my green vegetables when the time is right. Right now I am more concerned about just staying alive.

15 years ago I started a very healthy vegan diet that I stayed on for two years. I lost a lot of excess weight (though I remained overweight), but I never actually felt a lot better. I still had sleep and fatigue problems, and other than light exercise made me feel ill as it always has. I eliminated wheat for a few weeks, but felt no change. I think I was on the right track but I didn't have enough information. It is time to try again, and these "quizzes" may help.

Thank you!

 

[aragorn]

I've finshed reading the UMS by Hyman a while ago - which was superb - and started going through the quizzes now for a second time. The first time I did it kind of quick, eager to continue reading the whole book. I have some laymans questions for you physicians regarding this, it would help me if you could put some light on these:

- I found that on many questions I would have liked to answer: "Not anymore (having some symptom)" or "Very rarely" or "Occasionally". Now, would you guys recommend that one should answer YES (as in having a symptom) even if one experiences it only occasionally or if it's been some years since these manifested?

- I scored high on the dopamine quiz and now I've started supplementing with the Tyrosine. Before that I supplemented with GABA and 5-HTP a week as Hyman suggests in his book. Dr Hyman says also in his book that on the third day one should take the tyrosine 3 times and 1000mg at each time. This sounds like an awful lot and I really can't afford this right now. So, in your opinion, could these dopamine "boosters" be taken according to what feels right, e.g. one 500mg a day or is it somehow crucial to get high doses of this in some point of the "treatment"? And how long should one keep taking these?

Otherwise I feel that these supplements had helped me tremendously but I always try to sense how I feel - that I don't overdoze.

 

[abstract]

Just wanted to say thanks for putting the ultra mind quizzes up here.

It helped me figure out what parts of my healthy i need to work on the most, and the supplements i take as a result of those quizzes are great.

Supplements sure aren't a quick fix, but i feel much more balanced since i got started.

 

[Gaby]

Dr Hyman says also in his book that on the third day one should take the tyrosine 3 times and 1000mg at each time. This sounds like an awful lot and I really can't afford this right now. So, in your opinion, could these dopamine "boosters" be taken according to what feels right, e.g. one 500mg a day or is it somehow crucial to get high doses of this in some point of the "treatment"? And how long should one keep taking these?

You can give the 5 HTP and GABA supplements more time. Say at least one more week. Also, when you take rice protein, you are supplied with amino acids which helps balance your brain chemistry. Note that the rice protein usually has L-tyrosine as well (around 500mg). You should be doing the diet as well, that is really very important. It is like a teamwork, and the diet has a very fundamental role.

Then, if you scored severe in the dopamine quiz, you could experiment with additional L-tyrosine 500mg 2 times per day, on an empty stomach, taking the last dose at mid afternoon (if you are having rice protein in the morning, that will count as a dose as well, so at the end it will be like having 3 doses of 500mg). See how you feel during the first few days, any improvements? You could experiment with one bottle of supplements or for a few months and then redo the quizzes as a guide. If you had symptoms before, but not anymore, you could answer as a no.

Hope this helps.

 

[mcb]

...
- I found that on many questions I would have liked to answer: "Not anymore (having some symptom)" or "Very rarely" or "Occasionally". Now, would you guys recommend that one should answer YES (as in having a symptom) even if one experiences it only occasionally or if it's been some years since these manifested?
...

The idea is that you can retest yourself later on, especially if you have high scores that might indicate a need for medical treatment (and might not afterward). If you download the "guide" from their website, the quizzes have a place for a second set of answers when you retake them. So the answers can and do change.

Unless the question asks about "history" or "family history" I would be inclined to answer according to what I am experiencing now. I did wonder how to answer several questions, though, that asked about "family history" and where I do have those symptoms but I am not aware of a family history of them. But I think that the numerical score is not so important as using the quizzes to figure out where you can look for things to do and change.

I noticed that some of my scores were lower when I downloaded the guide, printed out the quizzes, and answered them on paper. Apparently I read the questions more carefully when I did it that way, and it may make a difference for some other people here too.

 

[aragorn]

Thanks Psyche for your quick response. Apropos, I would like to ask one more question (for now):

- One of the most persistant symptoms I have are these snapping noises (cricks?) coming from my upper spine and especially the neck; you know, when you feel that you just have to bend your head/neck to the side and it goes: "Crack!". And often when I lay down my upper spine starts this spontaneous "snapping" when obviously some tension gets released. I now this is mostly due to tension, bad posture, psychological factors. But IYO, could there be some imbalance in nutrients connected to this, say calcium? I've been boosting my magnesium levels for over a year now, so I don't think there's any muscle tension coming from the lack of it. Any thoughts?

 

[Gaby]

Other than detoxing, taking care of your diet and the aid of supplements, the things that comes to mind is a massage or a chiropractor adjustment. It can bring a lot of relief :)