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Even though vitamins are viewed as a good “natural” option, this past week I experienced how dangerous they can be. As you can tell by the title of my post, this week I have been trying to recover from vitamin A toxicity due to taking too much vitamin A after my Naturopath prescribed it.
If you’ve read some of my previous posts, you know that I mostly follow a gluten free diet and take probiotics. After, my naturopath recommended taking fermented cod liver oil. I starting taking fermented cod liver (which is high in vitamin A). Over the past 3 years, I have been seeing a naturopathic doctor and go to get my blood checked by him regularly to see if I am low in any nutrients/vitamins. He is a big fan of getting blood work done to check for any vitamin deficiencies. If I’m ever low in a vitamin, he tells me that if I take that supplement then it will fix my acne.
At the beginning of last month, I got my blood checked for a variety of vitamins and a few other things, such as thyroid functioning.
According to my naturopathic doctor, the results of my blood test showed that I was low in vitamin A. My level was at 42mcg (picture of my blood test below). This number is at the lower end of the normal reference range, yet still within the normal range. My naturopath said that, that reference range is too broad and that my vitamin A level was really too low. He said that my low level of vitamin A was causing my acne and that if I take a vitamin A supplement, I won’t have acne any more.
I was surprised my vitamin A was at the lower end of the reference range because it has always been higher on every previous blood test, as I take 2 teaspoons of fermented cod liver oil (FCLO) daily, which has a good amount of vitamin A.
Why I got vitamin A toxicity
Since my vitamin A was low, my naturopath gave me a 100,000IU vitamin A supplement to add into my regimen. He said to take it once a day, everyday. I started taking it in addition to the FCLO (about 33,000IU vitamin A) he told me to take. After a few days of taking the large dose, I started to not feel good but, I just brushed it off. It wasn’t until 6 days after taking it, I started to get horrible symptoms (see my symptoms below) and I stopped taking all vitamin A.
Why did this happen to me? I thought, maybe it’s because I’m sensitive to the vitamin A and that’s why the symptoms are so bad. But, after reading about vitamin A online, I learned that he had given me a toxic dose.
When I thought back, none of this made sense to me and it was odd that my vitamin A came out so low because I was taking FCLO. One thing that happened concerned me though, I remembered that previous times I had tested my vitamin A, the person drawing the blood immediately wrapped the vial in foil and told me that it shouldn’t be exposed to the light as it could cause the test to be inaccurate.
Well, this last time I went to the blood drawing at the hospital, the phlebotomist, did not cover the vial at all and left it exposed to the bright fluorescent lights in the room. I thought that may have been the reason the test was inaccurate. Studies show that when the blood vial is exposed to light, it decreases the accuracy of the measurement.
Then, after a few more weeks of researching vitamin A toxicity, I learned that all blood tests for vitamin A are NOT ACCURATE!!!! They’re not an accurate representation of the amount in your system. The levels of retinol in your blood fluctuate all the time. You can take the test one day and have high number, take it the next day and have a low number. I found studies from the ’90’s that showed that patients experiencing severe vitamin A toxicity even had vitamin A blood test results within the normal or low range.
I now believe that my vitamin A level was most likely normal already and my naturopath prescribing the high dose of vitamin A caused me to get vitamin A toxicity.
What amount causes vitamin A toxicity?
There’s a lot of contradictory information online about how much vitamin A is safe to take. Even though, 100,000IU is a very high dose, most say that it doesn’t cause vitamin A toxicity unless you take it long term. However, for me it did!
Toxicity occurs with the following doses:
For adults– 25,000 IU per kg of body weight (acute-taken at one time)
-4,000 IU per kg of body weight (chronic-taken over several months)
For children– More than 300,000 IU (acute- taken at one time)
-More than 100,000 IU (chronic-taken over several months)
Even though these are the typical doses that can cause vitamin A toxicity that does not mean that lower doses cannot cause it or the symptoms. Vitamin A is a fat-soluble vitamin, which means that excess of it gets stored in your liver and fatty cells for long periods of time so it can build up in the body and it does not leave the body quickly.
My symptoms- How I found out the vitamin was the cause
During the first few days of taking the Vitamin A supplement, I felt like I had a fast heart rate but, for absolutely no reason. I brushed it off for a few days. I even looked up a connection between heart rate and vitamin A, but found no information so I thought it couldn’t be connected. There isn’t much information online about vitamin A toxicity and all the symptoms.
Then, suddenly on the 6th day of taking the vitamin A, after dinner I started to feel really dizzy, I had difficulty breathing, felt pressure on my head, bright lights bothered me, and my vision seemed off. I immediately stopped taking all vitamin A.
What I did to Treat it
I went to two doctors to see if there was anything I could do to get the vitamin A out of my system faster and feel better. Their response was to just wait it out because it is a fat soluble vitamin. They said there isn’t much you can do. This was frustrating, I felt so terrible and to hear that I have to suffer with these symptoms and there was nothing I can do to get better faster made it even worse.
I researched vitamin A toxicity online to see what I could do and the only studies I found were mostly related to vitamin A toxicity in animals, but I figured the information and treatments may be worth a try. So here they are, this is what I did/am doing:
- Taking zinc (supposed to help counteract)
- Taking vitamin C and eating a lot of foods high in vitamin C (also supposed to help counteract)
- Taking Vitamin E -I just started this today, so I can’t say whether it’s helping or not yet but, this study found in rabbits that it counteracted the vitamin A toxicity effects.
- Drinking a lot of water- Not sure how much this helps but, I do feel better staying hydrated and I figure it must help to just flush everything out of my system.
- Eating good meals that have little to no vitamin A
- Trying to exercise/move around to increase my metabolism as much as possible, despite feeling bad.
- Doing a magnesium or Epsom salt foot bath 2 times a day
How I’m doing now:
Today is the 5th day since I stopped taking the vitamin A supplement. I am feeling better since the first (worst) night I realized I had vitamin A toxicity, but still not feeling back to normal. My vision is still off, I feel dizzy, and off balance. I’m hoping that with each day I will start gradually feeling back to normal as the vitamin A decreases.
I’ll keep you posted on my progress with recovering from vitamin A toxicity.
An update on my condition, it’s been 2 years since my toxicity. I got a blood test and my vitamin A levels came back normal. I thought I would try some Vitamin A foods to celebrate. I tried Beta Carotene foods first. Within minutes of ingesting 20g of carrot I experienced headache, hair loss, dry skin, confusion, anxiety, double vision, fatigue and depression, symptoms persisted for 24 hours. A few days later I tried mangoes and got the same symptoms. I then tried spinach which went a step further and gave me nausea and vomiting. A week later I tried eggs which gave similar symptoms to the carrots. The saving grace is that the symptoms fortunately only last for 24 hours from ingestion.
From research I have realised that the body can store an enormous amount of Vitamin A in a number of tissues and organs and not just in the liver. I am amazed after 2 years, I still have a lot of Vitamin A to cause symptoms.
Symptoms are the exact same as I had when I just got HVA.
Now I still get symptoms but they are less severe (tinnitus, red and flaky skin, bad concentration, bad sleep). It’s been 7 years though…
I’m in the same boat, trying to find a same solution.
Trying to find a solution* (typo)
https://ggenereux.blog/discussion/
There is a lot of scientific discussion on vitamin A toxicity , join this forum
Hi everyone,
Great comments here and like many I found it through Google searching for information on Vitamin A toxicity.
Late in 2019 I found out that my Vitamin A levels were very low. 7 mcg/dl (with the reference range 38-98). I began taking supplements to correct the deficiency. I knew a little bit about Vitamin A toxicity, but I assumed that since I was so low it would take a while before I got back into the reference range, much less at toxic levels.
After maybe 6 weeks of supplementing I checked my levels again and found that my blood levels were ABOVE the reference range. This explained the head pressure, headaches and nausea I had been experiencing for the prior 2 weeks.
It’s been 8 days since I stopped supplements and while I do feel better some days, one some days the symptoms come back as severe as ever. It’s a bit of a roller coaster. I’m going to start taking taurine, phosphatidylcholine, and eat more protein and hope it helps. I’ve also been taking NAC for liver health.
I’m really hoping this isn’t something that lasts a year or more, but I realize it might. The crazy thing is that virtually all mentions of Vitamin A toxicity that’s online indicate most people fully recover in 1-4 weeks. That doesn’t seem to be the case reading many of the posts here. Of course, there could be some self selection bias going on and that only the people with the worst cases post here. Still, I find it puzzling that there’s so little information online that indicates this is something that could take much longer than 4 weeks to resolve.
Anyway, just wanted to share my story. Thank you to everyone else that has posted and shared.
I’ll be around.
Just thought I’d throw out an update because I know everyone else’s updates were helpful to me when I was researching.
So it’s been 17 days now since last took Vitamin A supplements. I haven’t been as diligent as I should when it comes to food, but I have been trying to avoid it in there as well.
All in all, I definitely feel considerably better than I did at the time of first post about 9 days ago. I’m still dealing with head pressure and headaches, but those have definitely improved. As have my, um, digestive issues. I’m definitely not 100%, but hopefully getting there soon.
I have been taking taurine and phosphatidylcholine. The taurine definitely seems to help. Due to the cyclical nature of my symptoms, it’s hard to say definitively that it has helped, as some days are better than others. Still, given the relatively low cost and safety of Taurine, I don’t see any harm in continuing to take it.
I’ve noticed that my symptoms are the worst when I don’t get enough sleep or am feeling stress for other issues. So I would definitely recommend getting enough sleep and trying to avoid stress (easier said than done, I know!). I’m not sure if getting enough sleep and avoiding stress will help me heal quicker, but it definitely helps with the symptoms. And hey, who doesn’t like sleep!
Will keep you posted. Cheers!
Hey Steve,
Just wanted to let you know I’m reading your posts and keeping track.
I’ve had this for years without complete recovery.
Good luck and hope you get well soon.
Regards,
SK
(Available at [email protected] for direct correspondence.)
Thanks, SK. I have followed your story as well! I truly hope you figure something out that works for you.
It’s been 25 days since I stopped taking Vitamin A supplements and I feel incredibly fortunate to report that my symptoms are nearly all gone. At the worst point, my head pressure and headaches were constant and extremely uncomfortable. Now, the head pressure and headaches are very infrequent and rather mild when they do present. If things progress as they have for the last 25 days, I imagine I’ll be symptom free within a week.
I don’t know if it was because I caught my toxicity in time or because I never had extremely high levels, but I seem to be tracking along with the guideline that full recovery occurs in 1-4 weeks after stopping supplementation. I had expected to be dealing with this for a long time, as many in this thread have. For whatever reason, I am extremely lucky to be following the typical timeline of healing.
I thought I’d give a final update. I don’t feel any remaining symptoms of the Vitamin A toxicity. I would say that it took me 6 weeks to heal after stopping the supplements. I feel very fortunate that I didn’t have to deal with it for an extended period of time.
Hope everyone is doing well! I’ve got my notifications on, so I’ll answer any questions if any pop up.
What a relief. I’m so glad you got through this and over it. Keep up the good work with eating well. I do have one question: Did you find drinking plenty of water helped in your recovery? Did drinking water make you feel better? I mean in addition to the other measures you took.
Thanks for the update.
Delaney
Hi Delaney,
Sorry I missed this. I did not attempt to drink more water than usual, so I cannot say if it helped me.
I got VA toxicity from Retin-A in September 2018. It was incredibly severe and of course, given that it occurred topically nobody believed me. Unfortunately it also caused the adipose tissue in the facial areas of application to oxidise and this is continuing to occur. It initially appeared to affect the bone as well, but scans have shown this has stopped although the tissue loss unfortunately continues to occur. I know I am not the only one who has experienced this as many online also do – and they all have the same issues of not being believed as I do. This of course is incredibly scary and doctors have ruled out all other causes for the tissue loss – auto-immune conditions, inflammatory conditions, connective tissue diseases like EDS, facial atrophy conditions like Parry Rombergs, thyroid problems etc. My face is continuing to atrophy and nobody believes me that it was the Retin-A.
In terms of other side effects, I suffered intense neurological problems at the point of the incident including intense photophobia (migraines caused by light), to the point where I had to sleep in the hallway because the tiny bit of brightness through my windows gave me intense migraine (I had never suffered a migraine in my life previously); constant debilitating fatigue and muscle weakness; itching all over my body (which was worse at night); rash that would spontaneously appear; nervous abnormalities and panic attacks (never had one in my life prior to it) and pain that seemed to penetrate to the bone.
This site helped me a lot and as of March last year, I began a strict regime of cutting out all sources of vitamin A. A supportive partner helped me to do this. (When I would relapse or accidentally eat something containing vitamin A my problems came back – green tea, hummus and fried chicken containing paprika was the absolute worst for this and I’d definitely recommend steering clear of these). I also took taurine daily and zinc (although I credit the taurine for helping more than the zinc). My diet was rich in chicken and beef. I am not fully recovered from the other symptoms, but I’d say I am 90% of the way there. If you had told me that a year ago I wouldn’t have believed you. Essentially, it took me a year to basically recover from the toxicity (6 months after I eliminated vitamin A and started on taurine) symptoms and I think without the taurine it would have taken much longer.
Hello, Sara!
Wow- your story sounds just like mine. I got vitamin a toxicity from retin-a beck in November of 2017. Most days I don’t even think about it, but on other days walking through a bright grocery store or target can be the worst. Mostly, it triggers the panic and trauma from the actual experience. No- one including some friends, could really bring themselves to understand that this was from a face cream. Your fortunate to have a partner who supported you. My partner was not as supportive. I did a no vitamin a diet for about one year. Then I added in veggies and fruits of all kinds reguardless of VA content. I can eat anything now and not panic about it. It may still be causing problems but I want to enjoy eating fearlessly. I still do not have whole eggs. Like you and others I used zinc and taurine. I also used Phosphatydlcholine (spl?) which I found very helpful. I hope things are still looking good for you.
Ashley
Hi Lori, Could you please tell me if you did recover well from the vitamin A toxicity and roughly how long it took before you felt better/back to your old self? Did drinking water and some exercise continue to help?
Thank you
Did anyone find a way to solve this?
(Aside from VA-free diet.)
I’m still looking and would appreciate any help.
Available at:
[email protected]
Hi Lori. I ran across your blog when searching for high vitamin A in detox programs. My dr. gave me the metagenic 10 day detox program and two scoops of the powder has 5000IU and on three or four days, i’m supposed to take 2 scoops 3 different times. plus the capsules have extra vitamin A with 2500IU and i’m supposed to take 2-3 of those during the 10 day detox. I’m worried this is too much Vitamin A? also, there is a warning on the label about taking too much vitamin A. the dr. didn’t prescribe it, so I don’t have to do it, but what are your thoughts on consuming all this vitamin A over a course of 10 days? thanks!!
You need a new doctor bro. Lol. Fat soluble vitamins dont detox. Vitamin A is the worst vitamin to comsume excessive amounts of.
Have you looked at Garrett Smith’s Nutritionrestored site? He has a programme for a vitamin A depletion diet. He says that there are factors other than vit A which make a difference, such as resistant starch / probiotics (which are supposed to increase the toxic effects of vitamin A in the body).
Still visiting here.
Searching on my own for a faster way to cure HVA (a more expedient and effective treatment).
If anyone has any ideas that could help, please post and contribute.
I’m open to collaboration here, and via email / telegram / etc.
My email:
[email protected]
My life depends on finding a curative treatment.
Hi Josh – that sounds very interesting. I’ve never tried fasting that way. It would probably go well with rebounding on a mini-trampoline (a daily thing for years here). How incredible are the results? I have upped my meat protein about 30% since your post linking that study and feel a bit better. Thanks.
Ive dry fasted for 4 days. Not in a row but My back pain and food intolerances have lower since. My eye sight is brighter and isn’t as blurry anymore and I have a high optimistic mood I had before Vitamin A toxicity. I know everybodys body is different but I would love to know if anybody else feels better after dry fasting for a couple days.
I have very bad lymph. I can see my lymph channels on my chest and arms if I pull the skin to one direction. It is crazy. Lymph fluid should be like water mine is like gel.. I think I drink too much liquids for sure. I tried don’t drinking and I felt extremely sick after just 20 hours.. Your post is really on point. I need to stop drinking too much. I think I need very little fluid intake. Like from food is enough for me I think and drink some water only if I sweat.. Thx for this comment.. I will keep in mind this and I will add this liquilds/lymph issue to my main dietary priority with low vit A diet..
Jiri: you should check out Dr Morse on youtube. Hes big on the lymphatic system.
lol I know him. That fat guy.. I can’t do his BS grape/citrus/watermelon juices fasts etc. I did that for 3 days and I was literally dying. I was so dehydrated it was not even funny. I just need to be mindful that I drink ONLY when I have real thirst and not because I should drink 8 glasses a day or 2 L a day and other bullshit.
I don’t know if anybody still comes here but recently I have had incredible results with dry fasting. Dry fasting allows your kidneys to filter the lymphatic system effectively. I’ve seen ppl post in here saying that Hypervitaminosis A made their lymph nodes swell. The lymphatic system is your body’s sewage system where it stores metabolic waste, acids and other toxins to be excreted through urine. Most ppl have a stagnant lymph system. Drinking too much water makes the kidneys focus on removing excess water rather than filtering the lymph. You can test if you kidneys are filtering by peeing in a glass jar and letting it sit in the fridge for 5-6 hours. You should start to see a cloud at the bottom of glass. You can google pictures.
Oh and Lori:
First off: Hi!
Thanks for letting us post and discuss here,
Hi SK, so glad to see you posting all the helpful information 🙂
Would you mind approving my other comment then? Regarding ADH/GH.
All your comments are automatically approved 🙂 Are you sure it’s not here?
Update:
I’m still searching for the most effective and expedient way to alleviate Hypervitaminosis A (HVA) and open to all ideas.
The basis of all treatments is of course: Minimizing VA intake.
Everything else is experimental.
Some experiments I will be running:
Seeing as my brother also has Toxicity due to excess Iron and vitamin A, and carries the gene for Hemochromatosis, I may be in the same situation.
And excess iron aggravates excess Vitamin A.
I’m looking at reduction of both iron and vitamin A.
Ipriflavone, for Hepcidin induction and BMP receptor agonism.
This reduces iron systemically: absorption; hepatic and serum levels.
BMP agonism also inhibits the whole Vitamin a metabolic pathway in humans. This may include inhibition of VA absorption.
And… it regenerates bones incredibly quickly.
Blood donations: First one scheduled shortly.
It may reduce both Vitamin A and Iron. If not, at least it extends life (high probability in studies).
Methyl-1-testosterone:
Methyltestosterone depletes VA in studies, and also causes Steatorrhea (impaired fat absorption).
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/3879195/
Elobixibat: Yes, reduced HVA symptoms. But caused depression mental fatigue infertility and other side effects I don’t think should be endured daily.
I may trial it again, despite the side effects. It was too damn expensive to give up on so easily (400$ spent).
And of course: Be careful. Always test small and “measure twice, cut once”.
Some experiments I run simply because I enjoy exploring the extremes of physiology.
Available at:
[email protected]
@SK – I used Cholestyramine for awhile to eliminate mycotoxins awhile back (Shoemaker Protocol)
I didn’t notice any side effects and I think it helped quite a bit. Did you have complications due to using it?
Thanks
Hi JF,
Cholestyramine was definitely one of my most effective treatments for HVA.
The side effects that led to discontinuation were: Fatigue, loss of taste, and what felt like: infertility, renal/ organ damage… and just felt like it pulled a lot of other essential out of the body (thyroid and sex hormones, cholesterol etc).
Guys what effect has sweating in near infrared sauna on vit A toxicity? Since I started using the sauna I have a lot of white hair. Which I never had.. I am 32 yo. I was on accutane, also on steroids and after that on “heatlhy diet” full of liver, eggs, carrot juices. greens… 🙂
Have you tried Methyltestosterone?
Seems it may deplete VA.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/3879195/
Hi, look like cyclodextrins could be useful for helping total vitamin A excretion by solubilising it so that I can be excruted thru urine.
A study said that in the case of a child suffering form vitamin A toxicity, the exreted amount in urine went form an undetectable amount to 23 micrograms/dL with 2-hydroxypropyl-beta-cyclodextrin, which is equivalent to 0,76 IU/ml. Normal urine output for an adult is about 800 to 2000 ml, so we are talking about 608 IU to 1500 IU. Maybe it is possible that it could be more effective than that but I have no idea.
Anybody had success with 2-hydroxypropyl-beta-cyclodextrin ? It is available from amazon from what I can see https://www.amazon.com/Hydroxypropyl-beta-Cyclodextrin-HPBCD-powder-grams/dp/B00D2KV342
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3655980
Hi Brutus,
I had just written an extensive post on my experience with Cyclodextrins, but it got removed due to browser lag.
In any case:
I used Alpha Cyclodextrin first.
It reduces symptoms somewhat due to Bile binding. But not significantly.
I used Beta Cyclodextrin and Beta Hydroxypropyl Cyclodextrin 7 months ago. Both reduced HVA symptoms slightly, but caused significant negative effects that felt like Kidney damage or general organ damage.
I concluded that they could not be used consistently enough to constitute a treatment.
Keep looking.
I will begin testing with ASBT inhibitor Elobixibat this week.
I expect it to have positive effects significant enough to be able to treat HVA, if it doesn’t cause any major side effects which lead to discontinuation of usage.
https://twin.sci-hub.tw/6241/fe67f525b21e7c6b85adac8f9d96d67a/saeed2017.pdf
“Bile acid and phospholipids form mixed micelles that are the actual carriers of hydrophobic compounds through the digestive tract, including fat-soluble vitamins, like vitamin A. At the terminal ileum, bile acids are absorbed into enterocytes by the apical sodiumdependent bile salt transporter (ASBT/SLC10A2) [19]. ”
Bile carries VA.
Bile is reabsorbed via ASBT.
ASBT inhibition causes loss of Bile and therefore VA.
ASBT inhibition is the most effective mechanism.
Regardless of whether the explanation makes sense to you:
If you’re experiencing significant Hypervitaminosis A, the treatment I am proposing will most likely cause significant relief and gradually cure the disease.
(Elobixibat. “Goofice” produced by Mochida.
I will try to find a cheaper source for you all.)
If anyone would like to discuss HVA and potential cures directly, contact me at:
[email protected]
If vitamin a is lost through bile why come fiber isnt a viable candidate in preventing bile from recirculating and being excreted.
It’s solely a question of potency.
Cholestyramine/bile acid sequestrants prevent symptoms up to 100% in my experience, owing to their potency at binding bile salts specifically.
Dietary fibers that are naturally occurring simply 1) don’t have the same potency. 2) doesn’t occur in high enough concentrations.
Correct me if you have experience or a study asserting the opposite.
I dont know if fiber will be as potent but i can guarantee side effects will be alot less as compared to beta cyclodextrin or any other medication. Im not saying dont use beta cyclodextrin or Elobixibat. Im just saying fiber can only help the process so why not use that as well.
Im also enthused to hear about your trials with Exobixibat SK.
Josh: may I know your email? For faster correspondence regarding Hypervitaminosis cure collaboration.
Mine is
[email protected]
SK, have you talked with a gastroenterologist, hepatologist or other specialist on how to proceed? They really have no treatment to help with vitamin a toxicity? The previous comment by Josh kind of trouble me, that someone could loose over 200 000 IU per day of vitA.
His source was https://www.gastrojournal.org/article/0016-5085(82)90132-9/pdf
Why is it so slow for us, is there anything that we could do to induce such a rapid loss of vitamin a? I tried to increase my protein intake, but it has always been pretty high so I doubt it is going to do miracles. I can say I feal better at least when I started adding some protein shakes:)
I’m very interested in your trial of Elobixibat.
So far, I tried vit e, zinc, taurine. Increasing caloric intake and protein intake seams to improve symptoms the most, but when I started having symptoms zinc made a massive difference. Now zinc makes no difference, probably because I have enough zinc already stored in my body and intake is sufficient.
Anybody had any success with St. John’s wort (Hypericum perforatum)?
It contains hyperforin, a potent inducer of CYP3A4 and CYP2C9.
source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperforin
Looks like both of these enzymes can help metabolize vitamin A.
source: http://pathwaymaps.com/maps/881
“St. John’s Wort (Hypericum perforatum) is a herb which, through the active component hypericin, works as a dopamine-related anti-depressant and is effective at doing so. This is also the prototypical ‘adverse drug-interaction’ herb; it interacts with several compounds by affecting the several phase I enzymes as well as other drug elimination pathways.“
Source: https://examine.com/supplements/hypericum-perforatum/
Still something I would be careful, there could be serious side effects, but maybe worth a try.
Also see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypericum_perforatum for more details…
Will be posting results of Elobixibat trial as soon as I can.
Our research has concluded that ASBT inhibition is the mechanism of action that is most likely to have curative potential, as it causes effortless VA losses and absorption inhibition.
PGZ:
Trialed at different dose levels but ultimately discontinued it.
Side effects: Aggravated HVA symptoms initially, decreased symptoms as a delayed effect.
Drug itself had severe side effects: Depression, infertilty, bone and joint pain, sedation, water retention/edema. Caused immense sadness. Not something I could live with; concluded it was unsustainable.
Positive effects may be mediated by SLC10A1 inhibition.
But increased conversion of ROH to RA is unsustainable as RA levels are already excessive in HVA states and additionally increased RA synthesis due to PGZ makes it worse.
But I can tell I’m getting closer to a cure and Elobixibat is most likely it.
I’ve tried other ASBT inhibitors and all have alleviated toxicity; but they’ve been other drugs with off-label use as ASBT inhibitors (CCBs, Statins).
Elobixibat has one mechanism of action, which is ASBT inhibition, and no other known actions. Thus lower potential for side effects.
Hey SK, did not hear back from you for a while on telegram, did you loose access to your account or something? Please get back to me as soon as you can so we can discuss hva treatments!