just a reminder to have your doctor check your ammonia levels. most doctors, and a lot of llmd's, don't check this.
you have to test for it specifically because it's not on the standard listing.
when the ketes die, they cause your body to generate ammonia. the ammonia can cause severe health problems, including liver and kidney damage.
so if you're on antibiotics for any length of time, please have it checked out.
if you want to research it, just type in ammonia levels or elevated ammonia levels, and you'll get all types of information.
mine was 181, and my doctor freaked and had to stop my meds for a couple of weeks, then restart....
Posted by Al (Member # 9420) on :
My ammonia levels were high last year not on ABX at that time. LLMD had no clue. How do you reduce the level?
Posted by TerryK (Member # 8552) on :
Thanks for posting about this. I've felt like I had a lot of ammonia lately and I already have a problem that causes excess ammonia sometimes. My liver enzymes have been really high lately and I've had to stop my meds because of it. I didn't realize ammonia was a concern when killing bugs but it makes sense. Were your liver enzymes elevated when your ammonia was high?
Terry
Posted by Marz (Member # 3446) on :
I'm wondering if the ammonia could show up in your breath?
You know what your breath smells like if you lick the inside of your wrist and smell.
I just did this and I think it's ammonia-like. Either that or, (sounds gross) urine.
Posted by TerryK (Member # 8552) on :
I do think you can get an ammonia smell from urine. I use ornithine and sometimes asparagine to help remove ammonia but I'm not a doctor and this is something you should check out with your doctor. Arginine and several other amino acids can help with ammonia. http://orthomolecular.org/nutrients/proteins.shtml
Terry
Posted by randibear (Member # 11290) on :
my levels went down when the doctor pulled all meds, diflucan and biaxin.
i didn't even know about ammonia until he told me. my liver enzymes were ok at the time, but for some reason the ammonia skyrocketed -- must have been killing a lot of ketes...
Posted by Marnie (Member # 773) on :
Start with where it says the following:
"Research: Besides the metabolic byproduct of ammonia resulting from the seizure-type electrical activity of the nerves and
glyconeogenesis and ketogenesis
(alternate energy generating systems) scientists should also looking into aromatic phenyls and acetone and their subsequent effects on metabolism.
Small amounts of acetone are metabolically produced in the body, mainly from fat. In humans, fasting significantly increases its endogenous production via ketosis or the breakdown of fat for energy. Acetone can also be elevated in diabetes."
Keep reading if you want to know the whys and how to correct this.
This is shown in the index of articles http://www.townsendletter.com/April2007/April2007.htm Lyme Toxins: The Primary Cause of Your Symptoms! by Dr. David Jernigan Detoxification is both the key to alleviating the symptoms of Lyme disease and beginning restoration and healing. Dr. Jernigan takes a close look at Lyme toxins, specifically the stunning effects of Lyme-induced ammonia.
If you have keets.. and they aren't being killed by antibiotics... won't you still have ammonia?
I mean the keets can't live forever... can they? They've gotta go to keet heaven eventually... right?
And what if one keet bumps into another on the way to the left knee and they have a bad collision and one dies? Ammonia?
Or....
What if...
OK... I'm done. You got the point.
BUT.. do note... if you are taking L-Glutamine ... it can convert to ammonia.. so do be aware of that little ditty.
And sorry marz.. I've never actually licked the inside of my wrist and smelled it.
But I should have some time tomorrow when I can try it.
Posted by kelmo (Member # 8797) on :
THAT was a fantastic article.
I've been on zith for four weeks, and I notice my bra smells like ammonia. My daughter will sometimes smell of ammonia.
I need to print this out and mull over it. I'm not sure what to do about it. Drink more detox tea? Sweat, sweat, sweat? That won't be too hard.
Posted by northstar (Member # 7911) on :
When you say "check ammonia levels", are you talking about urine or blood?
What is the marker used to check this ammonia level?
Marnie, that was a really interesting article, too, and it had lots of concrete suggestions, which are helpful. It will be good weekend reading material.
The kundalini sounds kind of spooky, although I have heard that there are safe ways, to raise it.
Northstar
Posted by randibear (Member # 11290) on :
my doctor used a blood test. i think if you google somewhere on the net, they will have acceptable levels.
my doc showed me a printout with columns that had two separate listings -- normal and abbynormal. i was way high.
the printout came back from the lab.
Posted by peter j (Member # 11825) on :
The reason I got my ammonia checked was that it is often high in people who have LD. I don't remember where it was written, but it was from a article.
I had high ammonia, and at the time (when I didn't know I had lyme) saw that as an useful indication of LD.
Posted by Marnie (Member # 773) on :
"If the blood is too acidic (pH too low), the body can break down glutamine into glutamate and ammonia to increase the pH of the blood."
"Glutathione deficiency tends to arise with glutamine decline (e.g., with muscle wasting ) and is compensated for by administering glutamine."
Posted by kelmo (Member # 8797) on :
Would taking charcoal or some other toxic binder help remove the ammonia?
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