High ammonia level

[Guest guest]

My son has had high ammonia levels for 2 years. We have done almost

everything in terms of probiotics, Nystatin, diet, colostrum, and many

others to help heal his gut.... why does this high ammonia level keep

showing up? I heard someone write something about the NO pathway.. is

that related and what is it? Thanks

[Guest guest]

Have you tried alpha ketoglutaric acid or butyrate? these supps work

well in reducing high ammonia levels

Steve

>

>

> My son has had high ammonia levels for 2 years. We have done

almost

> everything in terms of probiotics, Nystatin, diet, colostrum, and

many

> others to help heal his gut.... why does this high ammonia level

keep

> showing up? I heard someone write something about the NO

pathway.. is

> that related and what is it? Thanks

>

[Guest guest]

>

>

> My son has had high ammonia levels for 2 years. We have done almost

> everything in terms of probiotics, Nystatin, diet, colostrum, and many

> others to help heal his gut.... why does this high ammonia level keep

> showing up?

From what I have read, it can be a bacteria problem or inability to

properly digest proteins. Have you tried enzymes for protein digestion?

Dana

[Guest guest]

I believe I read somewhere that " milk thistle " can help treat ammonia by

supporting the liver. Also, I can't find it, but I read that dying parasites

release ammonia into the body (I think somewhere on this site:

http://kitchendoctor.com/healthconditions/parasites/parasites.html, but I can't

find it and my notes have not been transferred from my old computer to my new

computer yet). Parasitic infection can be hard to get rid of, because the eggs

often survive when you have killed off all the adults, so the " cure " is often

temporary, lasting only until new eggs hatch out. Parasitic infection can take

a long time to truly cure. Someone from this list told me that not getting

enough exposure to sunlight also reduces the body's ability to process ammonia

(this was mentioned to me because I have very pale skin and it was suggested to

me that I probably need to treat for excess ammonia).

Michele in California

calif.michele@...

webmaster@...

Visit Michele's World! of (Twice) Exceptional Homeschooling

http://www.califmichele.com

It is not so very important for a person to learn facts. For that he does not

really need a college. He can learn them from books. The value of an education

in a liberal arts college is not learning of many facts but the training of the

mind to think something that cannot be learned from textbooks.

-Albert Einstein

[Guest guest]

> Is this the same as Alpha Keto Glutarate ( in

> brainchild minerals). The bottle says Pottasium as

> AKG.

That is a potassium/AKG chelate and would provide some benefits. But

for serious ammonia problems you need more AKG or butyrate.

Butyrate tastes and smells disgusting but its has good gut-healing

properties in addition to the ammonia-reducing properties.

When we started using it, our son's bedroom and nappies smelled

strongly of ammmonia each morning for almost a week as it was

flushed from his body, and we saw big improvements in cognition and

focus.

Steve

[Guest guest]

Noah has been on houston's enzymes for over 2 years and I think he gets

plenty of exposure to sunlight (we live in AZ) but he does tend to be on

the pale side. We have tested for parasites in the stool before, came

up negative - but we are retesting stool this week. I haven't heard of

AKG before I will look into that. I was wondering, could it be from all

the amino acid supplements we are giving him? Maybe he isn't digesting

them properly, but on the same token - we have been giving glutamine for

2 years 3x day and it is almost in the red zone (for being too low). It

is just frustrating. His stools are usually formed, but will tend

toward diaherra with too much sugar or juice. Thanks for everyone's

response.

Re: [ ] Re: High ammonia level

I believe I read somewhere that " milk thistle " can help treat ammonia by

supporting the liver. Also, I can't find it, but I read that dying

parasites release ammonia into the body (I think somewhere on this site:

http://kitchendoctor.com/healthconditions/parasites/parasites.html, but

I can't find it and my notes have not been transferred from my old

computer to my new computer yet). Parasitic infection can be hard to

get rid of, because the eggs often survive when you have killed off all

the adults, so the " cure " is often temporary, lasting only until new

eggs hatch out. Parasitic infection can take a long time to truly cure.

Someone from this list told me that not getting enough exposure to

sunlight also reduces the body's ability to process ammonia (this was

mentioned to me because I have very pale skin and it was suggested to me

that I probably need to treat for excess ammonia).

Michele in California

calif.michele@...

webmaster@...

Visit Michele's World! of (Twice) Exceptional Homeschooling

http://www.califmichele.com

It is not so very important for a person to learn facts. For that he

does not really need a college. He can learn them from books. The value

of an education in a liberal arts college is not learning of many facts

but the training of the mind to think something that cannot be learned

from textbooks.

-Albert Einstein

[Guest guest]

> Did you do the blood test to verify ammonia

> before starting on AKG?

-- we did a blood test, and we started on butyrate, not AKG. I would

try butyrate first and only give AKG if your kid doesn't tolerate

butyrate (for reasons given in previous post)

> Is there any test which conclusively proves ammonia problem?

-- blood ammonia levels

>Any side effects of AKG?

-- only if you already have low ammonia

Steve

[Guest guest]

Some times a pale complexion is a strong indication of Iron deficiency.

Re: [ ] Re: High ammonia level

I believe I read somewhere that " milk thistle " can help treat ammonia by

supporting the liver. Also, I can't find it, but I read that dying

parasites release ammonia into the body (I think somewhere on this site:

http://kitchendoctor.com/healthconditions/parasites/parasites.html, but

I can't find it and my notes have not been transferred from my old

computer to my new computer yet). Parasitic infection can be hard to

get rid of, because the eggs often survive when you have killed off all

the adults, so the " cure " is often temporary, lasting only until new

eggs hatch out. Parasitic infection can take a long time to truly cure.

Someone from this list told me that not getting enough exposure to

sunlight also reduces the body's ability to process ammonia (this was

mentioned to me because I have very pale skin and it was suggested to me

that I probably need to treat for excess ammonia).

Michele in California

calif.michele@...

webmaster@...

Visit Michele's World! of (Twice) Exceptional Homeschooling

http://www.califmichele.com

It is not so very important for a person to learn facts. For that he

does not really need a college. He can learn them from books. The value

of an education in a liberal arts college is not learning of many facts

but the training of the mind to think something that cannot be learned

from textbooks.

-Albert Einstein

[Guest guest]

>>We have tested for parasites in the stool before, came

>>up negative - but we are retesting stool this week.

----

,

This is Completely ANECDOTAL. I have no " scientific " proof whatsoever, just

personal experience. And my diagnosis had nothing to do with autism or mercury

(although mercury poisoning may be a factor...long story, and I don't want to

bore you with too many of the details).

Four years ago, I was extremely ill. In fact, I was bedridden and dying. The

doctors had no idea at all what to do for me or what was wrong with me. I had

doctors say things to me like " We cannot find anything physically wrong with

you. Would you like a referral to a psychiatrist? " I was being denied any

actual treatment while they ran endless tests. Meanwhile, I tried to keep

myself alive using home remedies.

After several months, I was diagnosed with a mild, recently discovered form of

Cystic Fibrosis. Some doctors promptly informed me that " People like you do not

get well. Symptom management is the name of the game. " In other words, they

had no plans to try to make me well. The diagnosis I had was a convenient means

to wash them clean of all guilt while I slowly died of untreated infections and

they " managed " my symptoms. One doctor did try to make me well. But after

spending all summer taking 13 to 14 rounds of antibiotics and other drugs and

not getting any better at all, and doing my own independent research, I

concluded that I must have a parasitic infection. I have no tests showing

parasitic infection. I have no " proof " that this was part of my problem. But I

am convinced that some kind of parasitic infection was a factor (on top of

multiple anti-biotic resistent bacterial infections due to not having a

diagnosis for the first 36 years of my life and, therefore, not

receiving adequately aggressive treatment).

I ran my hypothesis past a friend of mine who happened to minor in parasitology

when he was in med school. He said it sounded like a good hypothesis. I began

my own regimen for treating myself for a parasitic infection. My condition

IMMEDIATELY stabilized and I slowly began to get better. That was 3 1/2 years

ago. I suspect I had a parasitic infection for 8 to 10 years prior to that,

which was very advanced due to my genetic disorder so was more like the advanced

stages you typically see after 15 to 20 years (or more). I am still treating

myself. I am nearly well but not quite there yet. The only thing I personally

found that sounded like what I was going through was some form of trypanosoma.

One (known) form causes African Sleeping Sickness and another causes Chaga's

Disease. They get slowly worse. With African Sleeping Sickness, eventually,

you begin sleeping a lot, fall into a coma, and die. At my worst, I was

sleeping 18 to 20 hours per day.

The doctors ran a zillion tests. The ONLY thing they found was this genetic

disorder. All of their tests for specific diseases came back negative. So I am

not that impressed with the medical profession's ability to pin down

specifically what a person has. I am not convinced that their tests for

parasites are all that comprehensive. I am not convinced they know about as

many parasites as they think they do. (I hypothesize that I have an unknown

relative of the known trypanosomas -- or something like that.)

So, in my less than humble opinion, just because a doctor cannot FIND a

parasite, does not mean there isn't one. Parasites routinely attack the bodies

of weakened creatures. I was vulnerable because of my genetic disorder and the

multiple anti-biotic resistent infections I had. It seems obvious to me that a

mercury poisoned child would also be vulnerable because their body is very out

of whack. But I would not presume to " diagnose " your child. I am only

suggesting that if it looks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, I would treat

it like a duck until I had a better explanation. That was my approach and it

kept me alive and allowed me to begin healing in the face of no one knowing what

to do for me or what was wrong with me.

So, if it were my child, I would look at all the suggestions offered by people

on this list (and anywhere else you are getting feedback), do some research,

talk to my child about how they experience their body/symptoms, and see if I

could find something that fit the overall profile of what the child was going

through. (That was what I did for me and the only " proof " I have that it works

is that I am alive and getting well, when I was informed that people like me do

not ever get well.)

Also, FWIW, I have had to treat my entire family for infection in order for ME

to get well. Since we all live together, we share the same germs. Those germs

don't make my husband obviously ill because he does not have my genetic

disorder. But he carried them and kept passing them back to me. I bleached

floors, I threw things away, I cleaned the house from top to bottom and treated

all four family members, but had to treat myself the most agressively. When I

was Only treating me, my condition only improved moderately. When I began

treating everyone, I immediately experienced a dramatic turning point in my

recovery.

YMMV and a jillion other disclaimers. I realize I am highly likely to be

dismissed as a Fruitcake. <shrug>

Michele in California

calif.michele@...

webmaster@...

Visit Michele's World! of (Twice) Exceptional Homeschooling

http://www.califmichele.com

It is not so very important for a person to learn facts. For that he does not

really need a college. He can learn them from books. The value of an education

in a liberal arts college is not learning of many facts but the training of the

mind to think something that cannot be learned from textbooks.

-Albert Einstein