My Spectracell Results - Spectracell Micronutrient Analysis Including B12
 

A few posters previously used this test, or mentioned it, e.g:

http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/showthread.php?t=5569 (2006)

http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/sh...ad.php?t=21914 (2007)

http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/sh...d.php?t=161985 (2011)

I just got my results today. I'm thinking of posting them as another did.

I don't know if they are the best test. My ND signed me up before I'd done any research on them.

Anyway, she said that my results are the best she'd ever seen! Not bad for somebody in their 40s!!

The problem is it doesn't show the root cause of my Peripheral Neuropathy, which still gets worse. B12 is not low. But I asked them to clarify their range of what is normal. (Others apparently use an invalid range, saying what is low is actually normal.)

Of the exhaustive panel, only CoQ10 was low, and only slightly low. They recommend 100 mg per day, which is less than I've been taking for the last few months (100-300 mg). Which may indicate my levels were really, really low a few months ago.

If it's not B12, I don't know what it is.

Back to the drawing board!

Nutrients are only one part of PN.

I don't recall if you have had the autoimmune/antibody panels done?

They may be next. I was hoping it was a simple case of B12 deficiency. I hadn't eaten much meat in 15 years, had gut issues, etc.

I've been gluten-free for six mos but it hasn't helped. Gluten-free, diary-free, sugar-free, soda-free, etc.

Here are the details (attached).

The calcium is interesting, incidentally, since I haven't had a drop of milk in six months. (I switched to Almond Milk and Soy Milk.) I also don't take Ca supplements, because of all the problems that can cause. So much for the milk-calcium ads! I got all my Ca from vegetables and beans.

I was a little surprised about the Mg. I thought it would be higher.

I'm very happy with the Vit-D. I used to be low, but I tanned every sunny day this summer for half an hour, when possible, without any sunscreen (damn the fearmongers!) and since then took 2,000 mg to 5,000 mg daily.

The Vit-A, Copper, and Zinc are a pleasant surprise, because I haven't taken many supplements. Must have got enough from good organic food.

Next I'm looking into inflammation testing. The ND referred me to a local MD. Should be able to get free testing.

When I get healthy, I'm going to be really healthy! :-)

P.S. I lost 25 lbs this year. I don't know if that affected my results in any way (or released toxins from the fat which worsened PN).

A meat-less diet for many years could have caused the CoQ10 deficiency.

While I was missing B12 from the meat, too, I was taking B-Complex every day (6-8 caps). However, I was never taking CoQ10 supplements.

"Meatless is thoughtless."

I believe that food sources are low... but your liver manufacturers CoQ-10 for you.

This synthesis is blocked by Statins, which is one reason they
cause problems for people.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coenzyme_Q10

Are you taking L carnitine, Alpha Lipoic Acid and Benfotiamine? Making sure the Glutathione level is good is important. I take Lipsomal Glutathione and NAC, Alpha Lipoic acid and l carnitine for the work they do for the nerves and they also raise the level of Glutathione for the nerve healing. ALA and Benfotiamine have been amazing for my healing. Whey protein has glutathione precursers also. I put that in a smoothie every day.

Yeah, I think so, but I can't see anything they're doing for my nerves, unfortunately.

I've been taking about every supplement known to man that is supposed to help your nerves. I just don't know if I'm taking therapeutic doses. I'm doing what the bottle label advises and/or what I've read online and in books.

It's very difficult to find doctors who believe in supplements' value, and even if you do, the chances are slim of finding one who is also very knowledgeable about therapeutic doses.

My ND couldn't even pronounce PN properly. :( She said something like "peripheral monopoly." :)

I'm trying to figure out what kinds of damage chronic CoQ10 can cause, and then sort of work backwards.

The ND thinks there's some kind of endocrine issue, but I'm thinking a neuroendocrine problem. But I also suspect it would be secondary, not primary. I want to investigate from two angles, not just thyroid, adrenal glands, etc.

My current theory is something caused inflammation and with it heat, and the thyroid, hypothalamus, etc., try, with difficulty to regulate the heat; but it gets very difficult for those glands, because they are asked to do something they weren't really designed to do. Their jobs, moreover, have become more difficult still with the peripheral neuropathy, which seems to send them more messages demanding more attention (sense of heat).

I just don't understand how there can be such a high amount of heat without redness or swelling. The heat can literally burn your fingers and I think it's damaging the nerves + surrounding tissue.

Lack of sleep, I've read, can cause inflammation, but inflammation itself can cause lack of sleep.

Cortisol can reduce inflammation, but my adrenals are perpetually exhausted from lack of sleep, they fail to stop the inflammation.

The inflammation keeps spreading despite taking many supplements. That reduces the sleep even more, waking me up sooner than before and not letting me get back to sleep easily.

My new MD a few years ago was hopeless. He didn't even raise the possibility of inflammation. (Perhaps because there was no redness or swelling.)

A year ago, I went to see an ND. She suspected a thyroid issue and mercury poisoning and gave me stuff for that without any testing! I decided to find a new ND.

This new ND, who I started visiting recently, was also very quick to offer an opinion without testing during the initial consultation. She thought the problem was a vascular reaction, i.e., the endocrine system reacting to the low core temperature, and trying to raise it.

However, I doubt this is the case, because lots of people with thyroid problems have low core temperature and low skin temperature, instead of what I have (low core temp + high skin temp).

Integrative MD's usually know about therapeutic doses. Mine do. Maybe you can find a good one.