Dear List Subscribers:
Glad to hear from Barb with her greetings, and I want to add mine.
I also want to make a suggestion. I would like to invite various of you to
share your story on the network. I did that as an opener a few weeks ago and
got a few replies. I appreciate that. I have been reading my mail each day
hoping to see others to which I could reply and have not. So I invite you
as a New Years round of activity, to begin to hear from others.
I like many of you have a number of things that I am trying. Right
after I was diagnosed, last January, it occurred to me that dopamine is an
amino acid; maybe I could improve the dopamine uptake if I could improve my
body chemistry and metabolism. I recalled that one of my former students
was a practicing psychologist in the SF bay area, and had found a former
psychologist who had extensive biochemistry training and had referred some
clients to him. The results were impressive, and the man really seemed to
know what he was doing. So I tracked him down, and had him do an extensive
analysis of my metabolism through analysis of my urine, both 24 hour and over
a 5 day period. He also had a hair analysis done looking for heavy metals
and, later on, a live blood analysis (which I had to do by going and seeing
him personally). From that, he suggested a regimen of amino acids, minerals,
vitamins, etc. I take a pack of them morning and evening, and a few at
noon. Prior to starting all this, and after his reports back to me, I went
over them with a family friend who is an internist, my own internist and my
neurologist to make sure that it was OK. They were somewhat skeptical but
said that it shouldn't hurt and I could try it if I wanted to.
I have been on that regime since last March. I immediately noticed
three things: (1) I put on 8 lbs. of weight. I have been unable to gain
weight for many years, hovering at about 135. (2) I had far less gas and
bloating. (3) I had to urinate much less frequently. Soon, I also noticed
that I was not falling asleep in meetings that I had been doing. I also
began to be less fatigued in the afternoons; that change has been very slow
but steady since last summer. I don't know whether all of this is entirely
due to the nuitritional changes, but I think so.
His name is Robert Erdmann, he lives in Seattle. I don't have his
address or phone number with me here at the office, but if any of you are
interested in that, I can pass it on. Initial diagnosis cost is about
$400 and the nuitritional supplements cost me about the same or a little more
than the combination of Sinemet and Deprenyl. It's not cheap. But neither
is our basic medication. I get about half of what he suggests, from my local
stores, and the rest either from him or directly from the supplier.
This is the kind of thing that I hope that we might be sharing with
each other. Have a Happy and Safe New Year!
Bob Newbrough
