Quite annoyed i have to stop disulfiram. Taken it for 5 days but not taking today as peripheral neuropathy - losing sensation in hands and feet. Should come back. Its not a permanent thing according to the literature as long as you stop.
If anyone else wants to give it a go and let us know if you feel any different would be good. It also does stops dopamine breaking down so increases dopamine levels.
Ok so I had no luck with disulfiram. Was on it 5 days - did nothing but give me a peripheral neuropathy which i have recovered from in full. Don’t think its demethylating effect was strong enough and the literature agrees with me.
So at the moment that only really leaves procaine, and azacitadine.
The side effects of the latter are:
Azacitidine appears to be well tolerated, with the most com- mon grade 3 or 4 events being peripheral blood cytopenias.6 Injection site complications are the most common treatment- related non-hematological complications in subcutaneous azacitidine dosing, followed by nausea and vomiting. Although sometimes severe, myelosuppression is usually tran- sient, with most patients recovering before their next treatment or usually managed with dosing delays (23%–29%).
The highest proportion of adverse events occurs during the first two cycles, and the drug’s tolerability improves sub- sequently. The infection rates were not statistically different when comparing with basic support (RR = 1.00 [95% CI: 0.81, 1.22], P = 1.00]. The administration-related events such as nausea and vomiting occurred typically in the first week of drug delivery, resolved with antiemetics during the studies. The majority of injection site complications are typically mild erythema, and most improve after the application of warm or cold compresses to the affected area for a couple of hours.
IF DNA methylation is the issue this is at the moment probably our only hope.
You still think this will work even though Awor didn’t have success? I know this is different, but I injected about 6 cc’s daily per Shippen with no results either. I still have a ton of procaine sittin in my fridge. I think your reasoning is sound with what we know at this time. Obviously this is all a shot in the dark until we can get the interest of a research lab.
I.V. procaine is the only procaine option that could work. Injecting will do nothing due to its half life apart from give a placebo effect.
Now awor had success at first especially mentally. Over time it did wear off but maybe also with repeated treatments the effect will become more pronounced. Also it takes about 72 hrs before demethylation takes place. Awor had a shorter treatment. So short treatments will only start the process. Also remethlyation is a problem which it is possible is what awor experienced.
You need to hit it hard to get results. Having said that the degree of silencing is likely to vary in all of us so different people will need different depths of treatment. So its worth a shot.
Even if there is only a minor improvement it will show promise!
Another member here is having methylation testing done. That should tell us something. I think his results are due back in a few weeks. Would love to see a sample of 20 or so of us have testing done.
Awor’s last login was March 24th, At least we know he didn’t jump off a bridge or anything. I’ve been wondering how he’s been doing too. Kinda disappointing that he hasn’t had much to say recently, most of his posts are very interesting/relevant.
Said those labs will take a few months. Hopefully will hear something soon. Technically I think his father ordered the lab as either a result of his own research or per discussions w/Jacobs or both. Anyway, those of us who are patients of Jacobs I would think the results will play a big role in future treatment options.
Just to clarify, a family friend offered to run some methylation tests after she briefly learned about my condition. The doctor has been extremely busy and the tests are complex so it is going to take a while to get results. There is a chance that the tests are never executed so I probably shouldn’t have mentioned this so early on. To my knowledge, this type of assessment is not currently available commercially. I’ll try to keep pressure on the situation, but I don’t really have much control over the situation. I’ve been instructed to keep my expectations low for these tests and I apologize if I prematurely got you guys excited.
The doctor currently has my blood sample that may be used to test for methylation. It might make more sense to draw a tissue biopsy to check the androgen reception in the related organs.
Recent article discussing finasteride inducing hypersensitivity of the androgen receptor during treatment.
Finasteride upregulates expression of androgen receptor in hyperplastic prostate and LNCaP cells: Implications for chemoprevention of prostate cancer
RESULTS
Immunohistochemical study revealed significant upregulation of ARs by finasteride treatment for 30–180 days. In cell line study, quantitative real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction revealed significant upregulation of ARs treated by finasteride.
Testosterone up-regulates androgen receptors and decreases differentiation of porcine myogenic satellite cells in vitro
Accumulation of DNA is essential for muscle growth, yet mechanisms of androgen-induced DNA accretion in skeletal muscle are unclear. The purpose of this study was to determine whether androgen receptors (AR) are present in cultured skeletal muscle satellite cells and myotubes and examine the effects of testosterone on satellite cell proliferation and differentiation. Immunoblot analysis using polyclonal AR antibodies (PG-21) revealed an immunoreactive AR protein of approximately 107 kDa in porcine satellite cells and myotubes. Immunocytochemical AR staining was confined to the nuclei of satellite cells, myotubes, and muscle- derived fibroblasts. Administration of 10(-7) M testosterone to satellite cells, myotubes, and muscle-derived fibroblasts increased immunoreactive AR. In satellite cells and myotubes, AR increased incrementally after 6, 12, and 24 h of exposure to testosterone. Testosterone (10(-10) - 10(-6) M), alone or in combination with insulin- like growth factor I, basic fibroblast growth factor, or platelet- derived growth factor-BB, had no effect (P > 0.01) on porcine satellite cell proliferation, and testosterone pretreatment for 24 h did not alter the subsequent responsiveness of cells to these growth factors. Satellite cell differentiation was depressed (20-30%) on days 2-4 of treatment with 10(-7) M testosterone. This effect was not reversible within 48 h after treatment withdrawal and replacement with control medium. These data indicate that satellite cells are direct targets for androgen action, and testosterone administration increases immunoreactive AR protein
and reduces differentiation of porcine satellite cells in vitro.
Effect of testosterone deprivation on expression of the androgen receptor in rat prostate, epididymis and testis
Adult rats were treated with ethane dimethane sulphonate (EDS) to eliminate the Leydig cells. This treatment resulted in very low levels of testosterone in the blood and in the testis. Furthermore, histological evaluation of spermatogenesis showed no marked differences between control and EDS-treated animals.
In the ventral prostate, 5 days after EDS-treatment, a 4.0 ± 0.3–fold up-regulation of androgen receptor (AR) mRNA was observed, together with a 2.2 ± 0.2–fold increase in actin mRNA. In the epididymis, a 2.0 ± 0.5–fold increase in AR mRNA level was observed, without a change in actin mRNA level. In the testes of EDS-treated rats, the AR mRNA level was not changed (1.02 ± 0.17–fold of controls), and there was also no change in actin mRNA level at 5 days after EDS-treatment. These results indicate that AR mRNA expression in the ventral prostate and epididymis is regulated differentially by testosterone when compared to regulation in the testis.
Testicular androgen binding sites were assayed by Scatchard analysis of the binding of 3H-R1881 to a nuclear fraction, that was isolated by a method which involved the use of liquid nitrogen and high sucrose buffer. The number of specific binding sites per testis in EDS-treated rats with testosterone-implants, remained unaltered compared to control rats (9.1 ± 1.4 pmol/testis). In these rats, 20% of the normal testicular testosterone level was sufficient to maintain the androgen receptor in a tight nuclear binding (transformed) form. In testes from EDS-treated rats without testosterone-implants, the AR did not fractionate into the nuclear fraction; however, the total testicular AR content in these animals was close to control levels, as measured by nuclear 3H-R1881 binding after receptor transformation through injection of a high dose of testosterone (10 mg) 2 h before killing the rats (testosterone pulse). In the different experimental groups, FSH was not required to maintain the total testicular AR content (ligand binding).
Pharmacological doses of testosterone up-regulated androgen receptor (AR) and 3-beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase/delta-5-delta-4 isomerase (3βHSD) and impaired Leydig cells steroidogenesis in adult rat
Anabolic androgenic steroids (AAS) are testosterone derivatives originally designed to enhance muscular mass and used for the treatment of many clinical conditions as well as in contraception. Despite popular interest and abuse, we still lack a broad understanding of effects of AAS on synthesis of steroid hormones on the molecular level. This study was designed to systematically analyze the effects of pharmacological/high doses of testosterone on steroidogenic machinery in Leydig cells. Two different experimental approaches were used: (1) In vivo experiment on groups of adult male rats treated with testosterone for one day, two weeks, and two months; (2) Direct in vitro testosterone treatment of Leydig cells isolated from intact rats. Result showed that prolonged in vivo treatment with testosterone decreased the expression of Scarb1 (Scavenger receptor class B type 1), Tspo (Translocator protein), Star (Steroidogenic Acute Regulatory protein), Cyp11a1 (Cholesterol side-chain cleavage enzyme); Cyp17a1 (17α-hydroxylase/17, 20 lyase) in Leydig cells. Oppositely, the expression of Hsd3b (3-beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase/delta-5-delta-4 isomerase), Ar (androgen receptor) and Pde4a/b (cAMP-dependent phosphodiesterases) was increased. Androgenization for two weeks inhibited Cyp19 (aromatase) transcription, while two months exposure caused opposite effect. Direct in vitro testosterone treatment also decreased the expression of Cyp11a1, Cyp17a1 and Cyp19a1, while Hsd3b was up-regulated. The results of expression analysis were supported by declined steroidogenic capacity and activity of Leydig cells, while conversion of pregnenolone to progesterone was stimulated. The up-regulation of AR and 3βHSD in testosterone-impaired Leydig cells steroidogenesis could be the possible mechanism that maintain and prevent loss of steroidogenic function.
If the problem was downregulation of androgen expression increasing testosterone would help in all of us.
The problem must therefore lie after testosterone binds to the androgen receptor - aka the AR signal.