lpkayak
Honored Contributor (10K+ posts)
Member # 5230
posted
i did a search on flaxseed and you guys came up...
i have a couple questions and i am "redoing" my supps after an llmd visit this week.
1000mg flaxeed oil a day was prescribed by my opthalmologist for VERY dry eyes...
i started taking it and then found info that dr b says not to...but i could never understand why...and i don't think he says that in his newest guidelines( i could be wrong on this-my worst symptom now is cog-but i looked and couldn't find it)
so anyway i stopped it. then i heard all the bad things about mercury etc in fish oil and stopped that. they are the hardest for me to remember to take because they are the only things i take that are refridgerated and taken 4X a day with food.
my situation now is i have been off high dose abx for 5 yrs. i've had a few rounds of doxy when i pulled a tick off-and some artemesia probably 3 times-it really stops my sweats and eye pain-with no other side effects.
my cog problems are really off the charts right now...as well as a wierd dizziness. not vertigo-but a very intermitten whoosh of dizzy that makes me fall down on a regular basis-not that often-but once a week or so since oct. and the falls are beginning to do damage: fractured pelvis, knee (with bad arthritis may need to be replaced) and of course the falls are really affecting my quality of life (in and out of chair, walker etc)
i also have other neuro stuff going on: old symptoms i had gotten rid of w/treatment: numb patches, pins and needles on extremities, lots of them...
ANYWAY...i will try to get to the point. my cog symp seem to be way worse that the other stuff...
oh-and i should mention...duh...i have had 2 closed head injuries with whiplash...a car accident in 94 and then a year ago a hit in the head which made a whiplash injury and i have not worked since then. after the car accident i had real verigo for 3 months and then was out of work 1 1/2 yrs-getting cog therapy. i did go back to work-but was not 100% but could do the job (teach PE) well i did it with a lot of modifications etc---but cog was ok. i took grad courses-got A's...still had trouble with word recall and a few things but ok.
ANYWAY...again...i'm trying to stay focused here-but as you can see this is my problem and even tho i am aware of it i can't seem to get a handle on it...i just talk and talk around it an never get to the point.
so the thing is...at my llmd appt the doc was not convinced i had active lyme causing symptoms-we sent a bunch of blood to igenex to see if we can find any active infections... he is reluctant to treat me based on symptoms cuz of my history of head injuries.
the neuro dx me with post concussive syndrome and wants me to take zoloft because "it helps some people like me" so far i have refused because i feel awful when i am on that type of drug and it makes so many other problems for me.
the llmd who is also a really good internist and has taken care of me for over 10 yrs-both lyme and other stuff-said to get a 2nd opinion from a neuro cuz he never heard of zoloft helping post con synd.
it will take a month for the test results. i see the neuro next week (i don't have high hopes for a visit with any neuro...my experiences for 20 yrs with them have all been bad)
so int he mean time i wanted to take really good supps to focus on the cog prob. in dr bs guidelines the oils-3 and 6-came up. i have this flaxseed and i wonder if i can use it for the 6.
i saw some of you mentioned you take it-and some said dr b said no...i'm just wondering:
does anyone know why we shouldn't take it?
did anyone have a bad experience with it?
good experience?
also-he says 1-2 T a day of 6. how many mg is a T?
i guess i'll make separate posts for my other 2 questions cuz this one really got out of control.
thanks-i'll watch for your answers. lp
-------------------- Lyme? Its complicated. Educate yourself. Posts: 13712 | From new england | Registered: Feb 2004
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Truthfinder
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 8512
posted
Ip, I would also like to know the answer to your question. I started taking flax oil plus some grapeseed oil and I am getting terrible cramps from it, and other GI discomforts. It has helped my bowels move better, but oh, the pain sometimes!
I also recall reading that flax oil isn't good for Lymies, but I don't recall when or where I saw that.
Any insight from others out there?
Tracy
-------------------- Tracy .... Prayers for the Lyme Community - every day at 6 p.m. Pacific Time and 9 p.m. Eastern Time � just take a few moments to say a prayer wherever you are�. Posts: 2966 | From Colorado | Registered: Dec 2005
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Foggy
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 1584
posted
LP, good call on doing the search. Lot's of current info still in the hopper.
Yes I tried a healthy dose of Flax caps for my dry eyes. It didn't do much but my LLMD thought it was a safer way to go than Restasis (Cyclosporin).
Zoloft didn't help my fog at all. Made it much worse, in fact.
Posts: 2451 | From Lyme Central | Registered: Aug 2001
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lpkayak
Honored Contributor (10K+ posts)
Member # 5230
posted
thanks foggy...my opthalmalogist talked me out of the restasis...i was surprised! WHY do you think our eyes are sooooooo dry? my eye pain gets better with artemesia...but the dry eyes just keep getting worse...
-------------------- Lyme? Its complicated. Educate yourself. Posts: 13712 | From new england | Registered: Feb 2004
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posted
Head injuries. Been there done that, bought the T shirt. Truck hit me while walking me dog 7 yrs ago, driver no license or ins. Many rollerblade pavement whacks w helmet and a bona fide concussion on a bike 30 yrs ago.
I got dizzy spells before I knew i had lyme.
First off, Nueros don't actually heal anything. They can only alleviate Sx. And that is what I susoect the zoloft will do. Placate you until you pay your Nuero bill. Sorry, I just don't trust Nueros.
I do trust old farts, that have beaten life threatening terminal illness's. I know of one who is my "HERO" and "ROLE MODEL", Dean.
Dean is in his 80's and has had diabetes, cancer and a few others. He plays video airplane while running a machine shop in his upstairs office he climbs to daily. Big guy, nuthin will whup him. Time in several wars did not do it, lazy brained and moronic MD's don't have a chance.
Dean has a group of more old farts that all get together and hang for coffee nearly every day. All are diabetic and have othet ailments. Dean kinda takes care of all of their ills homeopathically when MD's fail.
They all grind flaxseed in coffee grinders, 2tbsp a day. Far cheaper than the oil and probably better. I have been for nearly a year.
These guys compare insulin and blood sugar markers like 8year olds and their baseball cards, whata sight! Every diabetic has watched bloodsugar drop DRAMATICALLY when staying off sugar and stayiing on flaxseed ground into morning juice. They ditch their insulin and their MD's by eating right and listening to Dean.
Flaxseed has no effect on Bb but certainly does help with inflammation. Lotsa info on Flaxseed on the web.
Olive oil is needed too, see GIGI's post yesterday.
My dizziness has been helped primarily with water, lotsa water. Zoloft? Go ahead and try it. I would also try red and green M&M's as well.
quai
-------------------- "In spite of the ever increasing cost of living, it remains quite popular" S. Shackel Posts: 87 | From walla walla wa | Registered: Dec 2005
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posted
I'm not sure if my Lyme brain is failing me, but this is what I think I heard Dr. B say about flaxseed oil supplements on a DVD from the 2005 Hope to Heal Lyme conference in VA. Flaxseed oil breaks down and can become rancid so quickly, I think he said he didn't trust the quality of the capsules. I believe he said it was fine to use something like Barleans's daily fresh squeezed flax seed oil which you can buy at Whole Foods or health food stores. Like Quai, I grind up a couple of tablespoons of flax seed and mix it with (unsweetened) cranberry juice and water. Can't say for sure what it does for me, other than help my irritable bladder and make me feel terribly virtuous! Lesley
Posts: 164 | From USA | Registered: Jul 2005
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posted
This is just a quick reply as I haven't had time to read the whole of this post, just about to go to bed. I'll read again in the morning. But my thinking on why perhaps some people say that you shouldn't take is perhaps because of Vit D.
Flaxseed & Fish oils are some of the supplements that I don't think that you should take if you are doing the M.P. - thats from what I've read anyhow, please correct me if I am wrong on this!
I have been looking for a vit D free Omega 3 - not sure if it exists....
Posts: 229 | From United Kingdom | Registered: Jul 2005
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liz28
Unregistered
posted
I think the problem with flaxseed is you have to take more of it to get the same level of omegas as you would from a fish oil supplement. Supposedly, the body has to work harder to break down flaxseed.
Also, it becomes rancid quickly. Even if the bottle hasn't been opened, it will lose its benefits if it is left unrefrigerated longer than six hours. Once you've opened the bottle, you have about two months to use it. So you can't buy it online, you have to get it from a vitamin store or grocery.
I find it to be a wonderful supplement, though; it really has cleared up my complexion a lot over the past month. But I take a tablespoon a day, and grab it from a giant supermarket within walking distance. One tablespoon = 14 grams. But on the other hand, it's cheap at one $12 bottle that lasts a month.
I had a concussion two years ago and got better after several visits to a craniosacral therapist. But it took some work to find a highly skilled person--the therapy is fantastic, but only if the person doing it is talented.
The therapist's take on the condition, which you can absolutely take or leave, is that a concussion cause the bones and tissue in the head to get "stuck," is a better word, and they need to be physically pushed back into their right alignment, somewhat like a whale being unbeached. If you agree with this theory, then drugs won't help. But it is just a theory, which may or may not work for everyone.
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I had reservations about the inflammatory aspect of flaxseed and vitD as well. After reading everything I can about it I think the main reason you would not want a flaxsed oil supplement is because some will have "Vitamin D added", as to how much and what kind is anyones guess.
I think the gound seed itself has far more useful nutrients in it's natural form and is again very economical.
quai
-------------------- "In spite of the ever increasing cost of living, it remains quite popular" S. Shackel Posts: 87 | From walla walla wa | Registered: Dec 2005
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lpkayak
Honored Contributor (10K+ posts)
Member # 5230
posted
thanks to everyone
-------------------- Lyme? Its complicated. Educate yourself. Posts: 13712 | From new england | Registered: Feb 2004
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posted
Im not much help cuz I cant read all the post but will reply to what Im able. I dont know anything about why not to take flax except for my personal experience.
I was taking the whole seed that I would grid up fresh every couple days. I always try to take whole foods rather than processed.
Then I discovered the flax seed was one of the major contributors to my big time constipation. Stopping the flax seed didnt cure the problem but it helped.
I cant take psyllium either. It stopped me cold Go figure.
DRY EYES I wasnt able to read much of the above but did see dry eyes. My help is a natural product called "Natures Tears" I get at the drugstore. It basically just sterile water in a spray container.
They say to hold several inches from the face and spray but I hold it very close to my eye and then push as gently on the spray as possible so it doesnt come out too hard.
Night is the worst time for me and I can reach over, in the dark, and grab this and spray my burning eyes and get relief to get back to sleep. Sometimes it takes a couple of sprays
I like it cus it has nothing in it to potentially harm and does offer temp relief.
I always carry it in the car in winter when I have the heat on.
Posts: 561 | From connecticut | Registered: May 2004
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Truthfinder
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 8512
posted
Thanks for the replies from everyone. Lots of interesting observations here about flax oil and ground flaxseed.
I tried grinding my own flaxseed initially, and that casued terrible pain. I thought I could get away with taking a spoonful of oil every day, but that isn't working either.
And I think I did read about flax oil in relation to the M.P., come to think of it.
So again, thank you all for the input....
Tracy
-------------------- Tracy .... Prayers for the Lyme Community - every day at 6 p.m. Pacific Time and 9 p.m. Eastern Time � just take a few moments to say a prayer wherever you are�. Posts: 2966 | From Colorado | Registered: Dec 2005
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