So just an update- I have successfully acquired Gabapentin and it has helped quite a bit.
I’m not cured totally, but there have been benefits:
-Sleep quality has improved immeasurably and I don’t feel as fatigued as I did before.
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I’ve noticed that my brainfog has lessened and I am slowly coming back to my articulate, pre-propecia self!
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Friends are commenting that I look ‘better’ and ‘younger’, which is true. There is a difference in my face. People who have known me only post-crash keep asking me ‘what have you done!?’, as if I have beauty secrets to share.
I do feel that the Gabapentin has helped. I am going to up my dose from 300/400mg a night to around 600 mg. This is my regime to date:
- 2 mg of prescription Melatonin taken before a hot bath.
-Once in bed I take 300 mg of Gabapentin. Lights out. Get a good nights rest.
I am doing a lot nutritionally:
1). no sugar, not even substitutes such as agave or maple syrup. This is easy as I did this before and am well aware of the toxic effects.
2). Limiting caffeine. I do not drink coffee but there are a few caffeine-containing beverages I am consuming because of their health benefits. The first is Matcha green tea. If you haven’t heard of this before, it is a finely powdered green tea that is incredibly concentrated. One cup of matcha contains more antioxidants than blueberries and spinach. Here is a website listing the benefits:
http://www.matchasource.com/matcha-tea-health-benefits-s/14.htm
I have this everyday as I believe this is very beneficial for us- not only does it induce alpha wave activity in the brain but it is chock full of antioxidants and blood cleansing chlorophyll. There are numerous studies that cite green tea’s health benefits, especially when it comes to brain health. I always add fresh lemon juice to my tea as it apparently increases the bio-availability of the nutrients. There are varying grades of matcha green tea out there, the best I have found is DO-Matcha’s Ceremonial Green Tea:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/DoMatcha-Ceremonial-Grade-Tea-30g/dp/B0019FR0F8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1388553001&sr=8-1&keywords=domatcha
Why adding fresh lemon will increase the benefits of green-tea:
http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/ART02914/How-to-Boost-Green-Tea-Benefits.html?fb_action_ids=10153572158570072&fb_action_types=og.likes&fb_ref=.UqhwDbKGwhY.like&fb_source=aggregation&fb_aggregation_id=288381481237582
Aside from Matcha, I also drink raw cacao. Again, research shows that it is a nutritional powerhouse, benefits the brain, enchances mood, and is one of the most potent sources of antioxidants. However, I limit myself to one cup a day, if that, as it can be very stimulating and along with the green tea may interfere with achieving a good night’s sleep, which is most important part of my regime. I also add a teaspoon of maca root powder and cinnamon to my cacao. The benefits of raw cacao:
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2012/08/26/no-sugar-chocolates.aspx
The only other beverage I am making is Turmeric Tea. I have been reading up on how great Turmeric is for brain health and the prevention of brain disorders such as alzheimer’s. From my research I have read how even doctors are taking two teaspoons of ground turmeric a day for prevention. I add coconut oil (also great for brain health) to 2 teaspoons of turmeric and 1 teaspoon of ground black pepper which contains piperine- this is needed to increase the body’s absorption of turmeric.
One of many links on turmeric and brain health, this link also mentions coconut oil and cacao:
http://www.greenmedinfo.com/blog/turmeric-produces-remarkable-recovery-alzheimers-patients
3). Food-wise I am sticking to a mainly lean-protein sources (free-range, organic chicken and wild salmon) with lots of fruit and veg. Every morning I start with a green smoothie- kale and spinach are the base, I add lemon, mint and fresh ginger. It tastes like grassy lemonade! I limit the green smoothies to one glass a day as spinach and kale are high in oxolates which can be detrimental to health in high doses- I don’t want to do more harm than good. Other raw vegetables I include in the smoothies are fennel, bok choy, and broccoli which are low in oxolates.
In addition, I choose sensible carb options such as sweet potatoes, quinoa, oats, humous and excluding all high-glycemic carbs which all turn to sugar once digested.
The only fruits I have are berries, as they contain the most nutrients without the sugar: blueberries, blackberries, raspberries and pomegranates. I also like to add frozen acai pulp to my smoothies. An interesting point about pomegranates is that the outer rind contains a lot of nutrients- perhaps even more than the kernels within. Since reading the article below I have begun to peel the rind and add it to some of the smoothies (it gets ground up in the blender):
http://www.rawbc.org/rawfood-benefits-of-the-peel-of-the-pomegranate-fruit/
4). Supplements. I prefer to get most nutrients from food but I think out bodies could use some help. I take a Centrum multivitamin, astaxanthin (great for brain health as it crosses the blood brain barrier), vitamin D, krill oil, alpha-lipoic acid, and I am about to start taking a Curcurmin/Turmeric supplement:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Good-Health-Naturally-Curcumin-X4000/dp/B004PVZPAK/ref=sr_1_5?s=drugstore&ie=UTF8&qid=1388447020&sr=1-5&keywords=curcumin+piperine
http://www.drwhitaker.com/turmeric/triveratrol-plus
I’ve tried many astaxanthin supplements, but this is the one I noticed a difference with:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Astavita-Astaxanthin-60-Softgels/dp/B00142E87E/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1388555041&sr=8-1&keywords=astareal
I’m hoping that the above will help, but I am not being nerotic about being ‘damaged’. Now that my sleep is sorted I think it is a matter of time. I have come on leaps and bounds since the initial crash in 2010 (I mixed propecia with prozac), time has helped to heal me but sorting my sleep out has definitely supercharged my recovery. Melatonin and Gabapentin are the cornerstones of my recovery thus far.
Now that I am sleeping better I think the above will have more of an impact on my health. The only other thing I am looking in to is changing to a raw food diet so that I can reap the most from raw vegetables. This has been the best site I have found: http://www.beautifulonraw.com/
I am also continuing with my studies as I feel so much better after using my brain and reading academic texts. I feel as if I am being ‘re-wired’.
HTH.