Well, it’s about a month since I included L-carnitine into my growing assortment of supplements, so I thought now was a good time to do an update 🙂
Sleep – this isn’t perfect yet, but it’s a damn sight better than it has been …..in years!!
I currently take 25 drops of passion flower tincture followed about half an hour later by 2 herbal Nytols, and about half an hour after that 2 normal Nytols. This will give me up to 9 hours solid sleep if I do everything else right as well.
By everything else, I mean…….switching my phone and/or lappy off when I take the herbal Nytols, not turning the bathroom light on when I go to brush my teeth etc, lying down with an eye mask within 10 minutes of taking the normal Nytols, and most crucially for me (and also it seems the one I fall down on most easily) taking them half an hour after the herbal ones.
I have managed to drag my going to sleep time back to midnight once – but I tell you, that was *the* best night’s sleep I had, and I woke up feeling like I actually had some energy. Of course I’m not talking normal person energy – I wish!! But enough energy to get out of bed and go downstairs. This was a small miracle for me, as most of the last 12 months I have been stuck in bed.
If I have less than 6 hours sleep, I feel like poo. If I get to sleep at 4 or 5 am (even if I then don’t wake up until midday), I feel like poo.
Dr Myhill is right in what she says.
I have also found using her tip about helping your brain switch off helps a lot too. When I lie down – eye mask on (as she recommends total darkness) I think to myself “where am I tonight?”, and so far I have found myself on a beach near the sea, on a mountain top, and in a forest. Subconscious peaceful places seem to come forward and then by focussing on how that place looks, feels, sounds etc, it helps me get off to sleep.
So, each night is as much a battle against myself and old habits as anything else, but I keep working on it afresh every night. I WILL get this sorted, dammit!! Because the benefits are just so damn worth it!!
Supplements – I am now taking: (brace yourself as the list is long)
Turmeric with bioperine – 1 when I wake and one at about 5-6pm. (if I take it at night, it gives me heartburn)
L-Carnitine (500mgs) twice a day
Probiotics – 3 times a day (at night I take it last of all with the normal Nytols, and I take 2 of the probiotic tablets then instead of 1. The idea being that they sit in your gut longer overnight)
Organic Flaxseed Oil (1000mg) 3 times a day – (a great source of omega oils that are needed by your cell membranes, and we are all about the nitty gritty functioning of cells here)
Beetroot (high strength) 3 times a day (for my blood pressure)
Co-enzyme Q10 with bioperine (300mgs) – in the morning
Chelated magnesium (500mgs) at 4-6pm and bedtime
Vitamin C (1000mg) 2 tabs last thing at night with the probiotics and Nytols
D-Ribose tablets (1000mgs) 2 with each meal
Hight strength multivitamin and mineral – twice a day with meals
Glycine (500mgs) 1 at 4-6pm
Vitamin D3 – 2 tablets at 4-6pm
Bioperine tablet (10mgs) at night as I am not taking anything else with bioperine in it at this time, and bioperine aids absorption.
Phew!! It’s a lot, and it’s certainly making sure I am hydrated because it takes a lot of liquid to swallow them all down, but honestly – I am feeling a difference.
How? Well, especially since I added in the d-ribose this last week, I am feeling less of the plug being pulled on me sensation. Most days – a trip to the loo would be enough to induce that feeling. But only 2 days ago, I was able to bring in the weekly shopping delivery and put it all away. It took me well over 2 hours, mind you, but I was able to do it, by pacing.
I was really seriously proud of myself, even though I paid for it all day yesterday.
And for anyone else following this protocol – do not underestimate the impact of d-ribose. It seems to me to have been a missing key, and now I am getting it through the day, each day, it has made all the difference. It’s much more expensive than the other supplements, but so vital, I am not even going to think about that cost anymore. It’s a must have, simple as that.
But it’s simple logic – if we do not give our cells the precise nutrients they need, they can’t function, and so neither can we. Our cells need d-ribose, simple as that.
I am waiting for some L-cysteine (? spelling) to arrive, and I will be adding that and L-glutamate in. This is instead of Glutathione. Why? Because I have read over and over again that glutathione is very difficult for our bodies to absorb. Usually our bodies make it, you see, within the cells, so it doesn’t readily accept it pre-made. The l-cysteine, glutamate, and the glycine I already take (because it has a calming effect and I have been taking it to aid my sleep) are the ingredients the body needs to make glutathione.
Once my substantial stash of the multivitamins and minerals is used up, I am going to try Dr Myhill’s mineral mix, and possibly Dr T’s energy powder to compare the effects. I know I am not getting some stuff in the quantities Dr Myhill states, but I guess I have been that deficient that the levels I am taking have been enough to give me a bit of a boost.
My Eldest’s boyfriend who hasn’t known me any other way apart from mostly bedbound even commented that I am much more ‘animated’. When I asked my eldest what he meant exactly, she said I am more like my old self – I am a natural gesticulator LOL – I use my hands as I talk.
I am not doing the diet part yet. To be perfectly honest, the sleep and the nutrients are enough to monitor and think about for now. I want to be able to really understand what, if any, impact each thing is having on me, and I can only do that gradually. But Dr Myhill did say this is something that will take years, not weeks or months, so I am feeling really good that I am already feeling an improvement.
What I have done tho, is stopped drinking juice in the morning. I have goats milk instead, which is what I used to drink for years and years before I suddenly had a craving for apple juice. I have also cut down on chocolate – a lot. Why? Because I have been listening to my body I have realised that it was making my heart race, and that isn’t a good feeling. And now, when it comes to chocolate – the thought of my heart racing is enough to put me off eating it.
I am trying to opt for protein based snacks – such as having a couple of slices of cold ham or chicken instead of a packet of crisps or slice of toast if I feel peckish.
So, to sum it all up – I think Dr Myhill deserves an OBE or something 😀
Actually, I noticed on her website that her book – Diagnosis and Treatment of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome – It’s Mitochondria not Hypochondria – was awarded a “Highly Commended” Certificate by the British Medical Association at their Book Awards a few days ago 😀
High commendation indeed!!
So, onwards we go.
This protocol is a commitment, both in time/headspace and money, but I honestly, seriously recommend you give it a go if you have CFS or Fibromyalgia. But it’s not the kind of thing you can just dabble at. In her talk on the Abundant Energy Summit, Dr Myhill and the host of the summit talked about “tipping points”, that you keep adding things in until suddenly, something tips the balance and once you have tipped those ‘scales’ from illness into wellness, even by 1%, you are on your way. But you can’t try one supplement, and then stop taking that and try another, or just try some – you have to use them all, for a decent period of time. This is not like taking a drug that relieves something in a matter of hours or days. This is about replenishing your entire body at cellular level with the substances your cells need to function.
For me, supplement wise – d-ribose was the tipping point. But I think I was also at an advantage because i had already been taking the Co-Q10 for a few months. If you are starting this totally from scratch, you may find it takes longer than a month or two to feel any benefits. But don’t give up…..give this protocol time to work, give your cells chance to start kicking out energy more effectively.
Dr Myhill’s website with loads of information can be found HERE
