Testing 1.. 2.. 3.

Yesterday I had a myriad of blood tests which prove once again that I am not only a human Guinea pig, but a human pincushion as well. Let's just say the nurse wasn't particularly gentle with her approach to collecting blood samples for analysis. I have these tests done every 3-6 months to keep an eye on various health markers so that I can keep on top of everything and maybe make some adjustments if I need to. Just some of the tests I have include: 

Full Blood Count (FBC)

Bone Profile

C-reactive protein

Renal function test

Tricglycerices

25 hydroxy vitamin D

I find that the C-reactive protein test is very important because on of the characteristics of cancer progression is that it goes hand in hand with systemic inflammation. There is a relationship between favourable readings from this test (low readings) and better cancer survival rates that we can see in the literature. 

Here is an explanation of the validity of the test as summarised in the literature. 

Elevated C-reactive protein in the diagnosis, prognosis, and cause of cancer. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22035340

I should have the results in 4-5 days and then I will scrutinise them myself as I usually do rather than rely on the doctor's typical non descriptive response of 'oh yes, they're fine' or the familiar 'no action needs to be taken' response that means very little. Measures to simply avoid deficiency or serious complications are not always enough when you are aiming for optimal health which is why I have my own targets for these measurements. 

Among these tests I had an ECG which I don't have very often but I do believe it is important, particularly as I play around with my sodium, potassium, and magnesium ratios which can all effect heart rate and blood pressure differently depending on the ratios you use. 

From all of the reading I have done it seems that trial and error is actually the best way to determine the correct ratios for the individual but I have noticed that it is certainly appears more beneficial to have around 2:1 ratio in favour of potassium to sodium and magnesium should probably be taken according to how you feel even though that sounds like a wishy washy answer. I would say to definitely supplement as mostly everyone is deficient, especially those with neurological conditions, but to go with how you feel. This works brilliantly for my seizure control at least.

Magnesium chloride taken orally (as I have it) can slow down the heart rate and can cause individuals to retain water (in this form) so balancing it with potassium citrate which will allow you to expel fluids is beneficial if too much magnesium chloride or sodium chloride is ingested. This is what I have found through personal experience and from having kidney stones when I didn't take enough potassium citrate in my diet. 

Not enough potassium citrate made my urine very acidic as I am on a very strict ketogenic diet and I also consume a lot of animal fibre which is high in oxalates in the form of chitin from insects. Ironically insect fibre is great for the gut microbiome, but not so much in the conditions I was feeding it. 

Potassium citrate, therapeutic ketogenic diets, and kidney stone prevention: 

http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/124/2/e300.short

http://online.liebertpub.com/doi/abs/10.1089/089277902753716098

Insects and gut health: 

http://entomofarms.com/eat-insects-and-benefit-your-gut-biome/

Animal fibre: 

http://caloriesproper.com/animal-fibre/

It's like growing a plant, under the right conditions and the right balance of nutrients all of your body systems will flourish and blossom. That was a rather 'hippy' and stickly analogy but I'm sure you get what I mean! Potassium citrate alkinilises the urine for me and keeps everything ticking along nicely for my heart and the smooth flowing functions of my kidneys. 

I check the colour of my urine often to manage the efficiency of my kidneys and I have urine and blood tests regularly for this. They are perfect now, I learned a very valuable lesson from having the kidney stones in September and I'm actually very thankful for that because it was a great lesson. I wouldn't have said that at the time though!! 

Eventually the stones were too big so I had to have a ureteroscopy to zap them so they could pass. It was pretty unpleasant but my pain threshold has increased over the past few years so I was in a great position to get through it. I'm stronger and wiser from the experience and I learned a great deal more about urology. Silver linings. ;) 

I'm going to write a post about week 2 of HBOT later today or tomorrow. It was a very tipsy turvy week and once more I learned a lot through having 'complications' of doing this treatment with such sensitive epilepsy.