[Daniel]

Hey @kkol,

One more thing that comes to mind if you live in the UAE: Damp indoor air keeps the nasal lining inflamed, thickens mucus, and feeds dust mites and mold. Even without a positive “mold allergy,” mold fragments and gases can be of influence and drive post-nasal drip and cough.

Start by measuring, not guessing. Put an inexpensive hygrometer in the bedroom and living area and aim for 40–50% most of the day. Anything consistently above ~50% is a problem. Use the AC to dehumidify (Dry/Dehumidify mode if available), keep windows closed on humid days, and set the fan to Auto so coils actually remove moisture. Service the unit: replace filters on schedule, clean evaporator coils, and clear the condensate drain. If you still can’t hold 40–50%, add a bedroom dehumidifier, vent bathrooms and kitchen during use and for 20 minutes after, fix leaks promptly, and avoid drying laundry indoors.

Check the common hiding spots for mold: the AC closet and drip pan, around windows and sills, under sinks, shower grout and curtains, behind furniture on exterior walls, inside wardrobes and shoe cabinets. A musty smell is a clue. If growth is widespread, recurrent, or dark/black on porous materials like drywall, bring in a qualified expert and don’t clean/remove yourself: expert advice matters here.

Lower exposure elsewhere too. Run a room HEPA purifier in the bedroom and keep fabrics and clutter to a minimum. For foodborne molds and aflatoxins, buy nuts, peanuts, pistachios, corn, and spices from reputable brands, use smaller packages, store them sealed in the fridge or freezer, keep the pantry cool and dry, and discard anything that smells musty or tastes bitter.

Mold and humidity are easy to overlook because they’re invisible and skin tests can be negative while the nose is still irritated. A simple two-week log of morning and evening humidity alongside symptoms often makes the link obvious. You’re doing smart detective work. share what you find and we’ll fine-tune.

I wish i had a easier and shorter answer to your question!

[Daniel]

Hey @R-S ,

Welcome to the community! 🙂

First things first: trust Bernadette’s sequence.
She’s read the other posts posted by you, I’m still catching up. If Bernadette recommended you to start with bitters first, let’s keep that as the north star. My earlier note was only a caution that, with gastritis, a “low and slow” start is usually a safe bet (micro-dose, with food, pause if there’s burning) if an ulcer were present.

How my suggestion fits the bigger picture

In functional medicine, we often go:

1. Remove stressors → 2) Replace (enzymes, bile, etc.) → 3) Repair the lining → 4) Rebalance.
   Because you’re on duloxetine (which can be a gut stressor for some) and may not change that right now, I wanted you to know you can still repair the lining in parallel if you like. That’s why I mentioned zinc-carnosine/DGL as options, not must-haves today.

Keep the plan simple
If you tend to react strongly to supplements, start with fewer, not more. You can absolutely begin with bitters only at tiny doses with meals, and watch your stomach’s response. If that goes well, add enzymes later to lighten digestion. Zinc-carnosine and DGL can wait until you feel ready, or skip them if you’re improving without them.

Last but not least: You’re not alone!

No need to feel overwhelmed: we’ll help you pace it and adjust. One change at a time, listen to your body, and we’ll steer with Bernadette’s plan as the anchor.

You’ve got this!

• This reply was modified 1 week, 2 days ago by  Daniel.

[Daniel]

Hey @Kkol ,

First off, you’re doing a great job pushing for answers and getting the right specialists involved. A dry cough plus years of post-nasal drip is exhausting for a kid (and a parent), and your note shows you’re thinking exactly like a great advocate.

Seeing what the immunologist is doing, I’ll first try to explain what he is probably doing. Then I’ll give you a clear, step-by-step plan you can follow alongside your immunologist:

What the doctor is testing:

• Is the nose the driver? (Rhinitis vs sinusitis)
  Daily saline clears mucus and lets the steroid nasal spray reach the lining. If cough and drip ease within 1–2 weeks, nose inflammation is the likely driver (rhinitis). If there’s persistent facial pressure, thick colored mucus, and smell loss, sinusitis stays on the table.

• Is it allergy or not?
  Cetirizine (Zyrtec) blocks histamine. If symptoms improve on it, that supports an allergic component. If not, non-allergic triggers (irritants, cold air, infections, reflux) are more likely. The skin test will map which allergens matter.

• Is there a lower-airway piece (cough-variant asthma)?
  If the cough lingers, your doctor may add a brief inhaled steroid trial or do spirometry/FeNO. Improvement points toward airway hyper-reactivity.

What to do the next 4-8 weeks:

Often, with true post nasal drip, dairy products can worsen symptoms. I often recommend my clients to remove dairy products and see what happens. However, it seems there is some uncertainty about what your son is really suffering from. Therefore, a wider scope of interventions could help you find out what is at play:

• Tighten the bedroom environment (can be a big win).
  Make the bedroom the cleanest air in the house. Vacuum with a HEPA machine if you have one. If you don’t have one, dust with a slightly damp microfiber cloth so dust sticks to the cloth. Mop hard floors with water, and beat rugs outside, then let them sit in the sun for an hour. Use pillow and mattress dust-mite encasings if you have. Wash bedding at 60 °C every week. Keep humidity between 40 and 50 percent with a simple hygrometer. Do not let it climb higher, because mold and dust mites thrive in high humidity. If humidity is higher, mold could sure be a player and I recommend you to take a look at the course we provide here! Reduce clutter and open shelving so less dust accumulates. Keep pets out of the bedroom at all times. Avoid fragrances, candles, incense, and aerosols. If budget allows later, add a room HEPA air purifier for the bedroom; it often helps more than upgrading the vacuum.
• Protect the throat and calm reflux habits.
  Sometimes reflux can cause post-nasal drip. In this case, it is more likely that the next interventions will work: Eat dinner earlier and keep evening portions smaller. Elevate the head of the bed by 10–15 cm. Offer warm fluids. If your child is older than one year, a teaspoon of honey at bedtime can soothe a dry cough.
• Check the lungs if the caugh lingers:
  If the cough remains, ask for spirometry or a FeNO test to screen for cough-variant asthma. If asthma is at play, let us know, and we could advise you further. If you like to see what interventions you could think of, take a look at this handout.

You’re on the right track. Give this plan a clean 4–8-week run, then let the skin test and response guide next steps. You’ve got this!

• This reply was modified 1 week, 3 days ago by  Daniel.

[Daniel]

Hey @R-S,

Love how thoughtfully you’re approaching this! You’ve already removed a few variables (slippery elm), started soothing the lining (aloe, Iberogast), and you’re timing thyroid support to real data. That kind of step-by-step tinkering is exactly what will help you to calm your sensitive guts down.

You might not know me yet. My name is Daniel. I’m a functional medicine practitioner as well, and I help Bernadette out on the forum. I know I’m stepping into a discussion that is bigger than this post alone. As I’m writing, I realise I might not have the entire picture complete yet, since quite a few posts have been written about stuff already. That being said, here is what I think about digestive enzymes in your mix, given you suspect IBS/SIBO, mild gastrotis and possible histamine issues, while you’re still on duloxetine:

• Yes, you can trial enzymes now: choose a gentle, broad-spectrum blend without betaine HCl.
• Start low, take them with food, and adjust the dosage by symptoms.
• Pause if you feel burning/pressure (especially with protein-heavy meals) or if upper-abdominal pain worsens.
• Keep Iberogast short-term and dose-limited; pair lining-support (aloe, ± DGL or zinc-carnosine) to help gastritis heal even while on duloxetine.

Why enzymes may help you:

• Since you suspect IBS/SIBO: partial carb/fat/protein mal-digestion can feed gas and bloat upstream; enzymes reduce the “substrate” that reaches bacteria.
• Histamine-sensitivity: enzymes don’t lower histamine directly, but better digestion lowers “trigger load” (less fermentation, fewer mast-cell nudges).
• Gastritis: be careful when using. Always “sandwich” your enzymes with food(eat half your meal first -> then take your enzymes -> eat the rest of your meal) and don’t add acid. Enzymes can, however, ease the workload without irritating the lining.

What to choose (and what to avoid):

• Search for a supplement with a broad blend. A blend with amylase, proteases, lipase, plus brush-border helpers like lactase and alpha-galactosidase, for example, would be my first pick
• No betaine HCl and no large doses of spicy bitters inside the capsule.
• No prebiotics (inulin/FOS) in the formula.

Products that fit these recommendations are, for example, Enzymedica Digest Gold® with ATPro and Pure Encapsulations Digestive Enzymes Ultra. If histamine is a clear trigger (flushing, headaches after aged foods), you can optionally add a DAO capsule before histamine richer meals. It doesn’t fix root causes; it just buys tolerance during the healing phase. But preventing histamine rich foods would always be better.

How to use enzymes safely:

1. Like I mentioned earlier, “sandwich” the enzymes in foods. Eat half your meal first, take the enzymes and then eat the next half of your meal
2. Start low and slow: consider starting with half a capsule of if you are really sensitive, start with 1/4 capsule. Keep the dosage the same for a few days to see how your body reacts
3. If a meal still feels heavy/bloated, increase the dosage
4. Stop or adjust if you feel a burning sensation under the sternum, gnawing pain, nausea, or diarrhea shows up.
5. Space with your meds: keep 2–3 hours away from your thyroid med once you start that, and at least 1 hour away from supplements like iron. Pancreatic enzymes can decrease the absorption of iron supplements. There is no special spacing needed from duloxetine.

Specific precautions for your case:

• Mild gastritis: Keep enzymes strictly with food and I can’t stress this enough: no HCl containing products!
• Allergies: avoid fruit-derived proteases if you react to pineapple/papaya. Bromelain is often derived from these fruits and it would be best to avoid it in this case.

Other considerations in your current plan:
Digestive bitters (from Mercola for example) are helpful for motility, but bitters can sometimes flare histamine since they sometimes contain citrus fruits. They also stimulate gastric acid production and can therefore worsen gastritis symptoms. Try micro-doses (1–2 drops) and don’t use them yet if you are testing the enzymes, so you can understand what supplement does what.

Can you heal gastritis while you’re on duloxetine?

I can’t really advise you on what you should do with your medication since I don’t have all the details. However, even with Duloxetine, you can initiate the gut healing process. Duloxetine can irritate the gut in some people, but lining repair still happens if you lower irritants and support the mucosa. What helps most:

• Give the gut lining support: The general recommendation to support healing of the gut lining is 75 mg zinc-carnosine daily (if you are already using zinc, this dosage should be adjusted accordingly), Aloe inner gel as you’re doing and DGL (deglycyrrhizinated licorice) could help. Avoid whole-licorice if you have high blood pressure.
• Food hygiene: warm, simple meals; avoid alcohol, NSAIDs, smoking; limit coffee on an empty stomach; smaller, more frequent meals during flares.
• Rule out H. Pylori if you haven’t done that already.
• Prioritise stuff that reduces stress: breath work, light walks after meals; these matter for gastric blood flow and motility

Here is a simple step by step plan:

Week 1: Keep aloe + Iberogast. Pair it with zinc-carnosine/DGL. Add a gentle enzyme at ¼–½ cap with lunch/dinner only. Track: fullness, belching, bloat, stool form.

Week 2: If tolerated, use with all main meals. Consider tiny-dose bitters or hold them if you are uncertain about histamine.

Week 3: If meals feel lighter but histamine-type reactions persist, consider a DAO trial before high-histamine foods while continuing lining support.

You’re doing a great job listening to your body and making smart, small moves. Keep that pace!

I hope this answer helps you as well

Daniel

• This reply was modified 1 week, 5 days ago by  Daniel.

[Daniel]

Hey @naslam1603 ,

That’s great! Any reason why vitamin K2 on to your radar?

[Daniel]

Hey @naslam1603 ,

It’s a good question with a little nuance to it:

Both MK-4 and MK-7 are vitamin K2, but MK-7 has a clear edge. It stays in your blood for days, so even small daily doses keep levels steady. Studies show MK-7 not only strengthens bones but also helps protect the heart by keeping arteries flexible and reducing calcium build-up. That doesnt mean MK-4 won’t give you the cardiovascular protection, but it’s less researched.

Research dossages in studies on mk-4 are however much higher (45 mg compared to 90-180 mcg for mk-7). I dont think there are many supplements providing this amount of mk-4. That’s why i usually advise people mk-7. MK-7 can also convert to MK-4 in certain tissues of the body, however, the other way around will not happen.

Does that answer help you?

[Daniel]

Hey @Kkol ,

Thanks for raising this. It’s a smart question, because omega-3s are one of those topics where the headlines often confuse more than they help.

I’ve taken a look at the BMJ Medicine study, and maybe this answer can help you to give the right weight to this study

First: how much weight should we give to this study?

This BMJ Medicine paper was an observational study. That means researchers watched a large group of people (~415,000 in the UK Biobank) over many years and looked at patterns: who took fish oil, who didn’t, and what happened to them.

Observational studies are powerful for large numbers and long follow-up, but they cannot proove cause and effect. They only show correlation. Classic example: if you study where people die, you’ll find that many die in hospitals. But the conclusion “hospitals cause death” would obviously be wrong.

That matters here, because the study has several built-in weaknesses:

• Self-reported supplement use. We don’t know dose, formulation, or quality. One person may have taken a single low-dose capsule occasionally, another several grams daily, but the study lumps them together. We don’t know dose, formulation, or quality.
• Hidden Variables: Supplement users differ from non-users in many ways (diet, income, lifestyle, medications). Even with adjustments, you can’t eliminate all bias.
• Outcome measurement limits: Atrial fibrillation (AF) and stroke were identified through hospital records. If someone had mild, brief, or symptom-free (silent) AF, or a small stroke that never reached the hospital, it wasn’t recorded. This means the study will miss cases. Also, people who see doctors more often get diagnosed more, which can inflate differences between groups that aren’t really due to the supplement itself.
• Contradictions with other research. Other analyses of the same UK Biobank and different cohorts sometimes found protective or neutral effects of fish oil. Differences in statistical models and definitions may explain why, but it shows results aren’t consistent.

This study is meant to see a signal, but it is not meant to be proof of anything.

What the study actually found

• People without heart disease who took fish oil were more likely to develop AF and had a slightly higher stroke risk.
• The relative risk sounds big in headlines, but in real numbers it’s ~1–2 extra AF cases per 1,000 people per year.
• People with existing heart disease sometimes did better: lower risk of progressing from AF to serious events, or from heart failure to death.

So the message is nuanced: it’s not “fish oil is bad.” It’s “fish oil may shift risks depending on who you are and how much you take.”

Dosage & supplement quality (things the study didn’t measure)

• The Biobank study had no dose data. Some participants may have taken one capsule a week, others four a day. We just don’t know.
• Other research shows the AF risk grows mainly at higher doses (>1 g/day EPA+DHA): the kind you’d get with prescription fish oil or multiple capsules.
• Quality matters. Cheap fish oils may contain oxidised fats or contaminants, which add stress instead of helping. The best are molecularly distilled oils (purified, concentrated, tested for heavy metals).

But the more important question is, in light of this study, how could the advice change?

A practical plan for fish oil use

If you like a food-based approach, start with food. Two portions
of oily fish per week (salmon, sardines, herring, mackerel). This gives
steady omega-3s plus selenium, vitamin D, and other nutrients.

Supplement if needed, but match to your situation:

• General health, no heart disease: keep dose modest. This avoids the high-dose AF risk seen in trials.
• High triglycerides or diagnosed heart disease: this is where fish oil (sometimes in prescription form) can help, but it should be guided by your doctor.
• History of AF or palpitations: Be cautious with higher doses, and involve your cardiologist before starting.
• Choose quality. Molecularly distilled, third-party tested. Store away from heat and light. If it smells fishy, it’s oxidising: stop using it.

Take-home truth: Observational studies raise questions, and not verdicts. This one adds to the discussion, but it doesn’t overturn decades of evidence on omega-3s. The real risks – and benefits – depend on who you are, what dose you take, and the quality of what you use.

Or to put it in a metaphor: An observational study is like watching ships at sea. You may count how many sink, but you cannot blame the ocean without knowing their cargo, their captain, or the storms they faced.

Numbers alone are never the cause

• This reply was modified 3 weeks, 1 day ago by  Daniel.

[Daniel]

Hi @naslam1603 ,

Thank you for sharing your labs!

Here is what stands out to me in your lab results:

– Your ferritin (storage iron) is a little lower in the last lab, meaning it’s slowly dropping after the infusion

– Your iron in circulation (serum iron and transferrin saturation) is low, so your body doesn’t have enough usable iron to build healthy red blood cells.

– Your hemoglobin is also low, which confirms that new red blood cells aren’t being made as we’d expect.

– And your kidney function has dipped from the 80s to around 66, which is important because kidneys help signal the bone marrow to make red blood cells.

What this could point at:

1. Tiny daily blood losses: Even microscopic blood in the urine can add up over time and be enough to drain iron. This alone could explain your situation, so the cystoscopy your doctor suggested is a sensible next step.

2. Connection with the kidneys: If the kidneys aren’t working at full strength, they may not send out enough of the hormone (EPO) that tells your body to make red blood cells. That means iron can be there, but the “green light” to use it is missing.

3. Inflammation that leads to an “iron block”: Sometimes the body keeps iron locked in storage and won’t release it into the blood. Mild inflammation, chronic conditions, or even infections can play a role here. Your white blood cell count and your T-cell subsets (CD3, CD4, CD8) and the CD4/CD8 ratio are in healthy balance, with only a small dip in CD4. Even with that, the overall pattern makes chronic Lyme less likely… and i should stress this LESS likely… because it should always be interpreted alongside symptoms.

So yes, ongoing microscopic hematuria could explain why the iron isn’t “holding,” especially if it ties back to kidney changes. The dip in kidney function suggests there may be more than one factor at play. The reassuring part is that your immune markers look steady.

When hematuria is persistent, it’s usually traced back to things like:

• kidney-related causes (stones, infections, inflammation and structural changes),

• urinary tract causes (bladder inflammation, prostate issues in men and other stuff

I think getting to the bottom of the hematuria might help you understand the picture better based on what you could share in this post

• This reply was modified 3 weeks, 3 days ago by  Daniel.

[Daniel]

Hey @Bahareh !

I hope you liked Europe. You were in Germany, right? By the way, I think it’s great that you’re paying such close attention to the changes in your cycle. That kind of awareness can make a big difference during peri-menopause, because it helps spot shifts early and understand what your body is trying to tell you.

At 48, it’s very common to see cycles shorten a little (even if they’ve been steady for years). A shorter cycle usually just means the luteal phase was shorter. This can happen for a few reasons:

• Ovulation “quality”: Even with progesterone support, the luteal phase depends on how strong ovulation was that month. If the follicle doesn’t produce much progesterone on its own, the cycle may still end earlier. Supplementation smooths symptoms, but it can’t completely “force” a full 14-day luteal phase if the ovary didn’t release strongly.

• Stress and lifestyle: Travel, disrupted routines, changes in diet can all affect the brain-ovary communication (the HPO axis), just like stress. It’s likely that cortisol and circadian shifts can change ovulation timing, which shortens the whole cycle.

• Peri-menopause itself: cycles naturally become more variable, and shorter luteal phases are often one of the first signs.

Most of the time, this isn’t concerning. What matters is the pattern: if cycles are consistently under 21 days, if bleeding becomes heavier, or if there’s unusual spotting, that’s the moment to look deeper.

Since you’re already on progesterone and DHEA and monitoring every 3 months, you’re doing already a lot of stuff that helps. The fact that it happened during a less structured period makes it likely that this was just a temporary blip. Do your regular check-up. Once you have your routine back for a few cycles, and the short cycles still persist, that’s the moment to see if your hormone support or dosing needs a little adjustment.

Still, I’d be curious to hear:

• Did your flow or symptoms feel different with those shorter cycles?

• Any changes in sleep, mood, or energy around them?

• Now that you’re back in your normal rhythm, do you feel things are settling?

Bottom line: what you’re seeing is not necessarily a red flag. What matters most is the overall pattern.

• This reply was modified 1 month, 1 week ago by  Daniel.

[Daniel]

It sounds like you had a really frightening experience. Sudden blood and clots in the urine can be very alarming. I’ve looked through the results you attached, and here’s what they show:

• The urine test confirmed blood and lots of white cells, which points to infection or inf s) was in the urine, also fitting with infection.

• Kidney function (creatinine, eGFR) looked normal, so your kidneys work fine, indicating the infection could be in the bladder.

• Blood work was mostly fine, though hemoglobin was just a touch low, possibly from the bleeding episode. But it’s good to get that measured in a few weeks to rule out starting anemia.

• The urine culture grew only a small amount of bacteria, but the ER doctor noted the first antibiotic (clavulin) wouldn’t work for that bug, so they switched you to a different one.

Why the clots and bleeding?
Even a not-so-severe bladder infection can sometimes cause bleeding if the bladder lining gets irritated. Passing clots usually means the bleeding was coming from the bladder itself. Other possibilities (like stones, but also other stuff) are why a urologist’s follow-up is important.

The reassuring part:

• Kidneys are fine.

• No fever or signs of the infection spreading.

• The bleeding has already started settling down with fluids.

When to go back sooner:
If you get a fever, worsening pain, can’t pee, or the heavy bleeding returns, don’t wait: go back to the ER.

Practical tips:
I would also recommend reading this next article on the forum — it’s about natural remedies for UTIs, which can give you more ideas for prevention once this infection is under control. You can find it here.

Just one last question: were these labs measured fasting?

I hope you will feel better soon!

Daniel

[Daniel]

When the trigger is an environmental allergen (dust-mite, pollen, cat, mold), the functional-medicine goal is twofold: calm the whole system now, and retrain tolerance long-term if we can. Here’s how I’d explain it to a client.

First, natural relief that actually helps: make the bedroom the cleanest air in the house. Think HEPA air filter, dust-mite covers on pillow and mattress, bedding washed hot once a week, damp-dusting, pets out of the bedroom, good ventilation, dehumidifier if the room feels damp(see my earlier reply). Do a simple nasal routine: isotonic saline rinse morning and night. These two steps alone often drop symptoms fast because you’re lowering the “histamine bucket” where you sleep.

Food can push that same bucket up or down. Try a short low-histamine check for 10–14 days: fresh-cooked proteins, same-day carbs, lots of simple veg and olive oil, pause alcohol and the big histamine hitters like aged/fermented foods and long-kept leftovers. It’s not forever, just a reset while you see what changes.

Where do quercetin and stinging nettle fit? They’re like good fire extinguishers: they soothe mast cells and histamine signaling and can make you feel better, but they don’t retrain the immune system’s memory of “cat = danger.” So you’re right: they don’t fix the root by themselves. They’re tools for symptom control while you work the plan. If used, I tell clients to start one at a time, low and slow, follow the label, and check meds first. Quercetin has benefits above antihistamines: they dont make you feel foggy and tired, but quercetin can interact with some antibiotics and blood thinners; paired with bromelain quercetin gets absorbed better, but avoid bromelain if there’s a pineapple allergy or you’re on strong anticoagulants. If someone flares with fermented foods or restaurant meals, a DAO enzyme before those meals can be helpful as a temporary crutch; note that many DAO products are porcine-derived.

Gut and immune “terrain” still matter even for an environmental allergy, because a leaky, irritated gut or poor sleep/stress rhythm keeps mast cells jumpy. I often layer in gentle gut supports (enzymes if meals sit heavy; zinc-carnosine or DGL if there’s reflux/upper GI irritation; glutamine if someone tolerates it), plus an omega-3, vitamin D to the person’s sweet spot, and a histamine-friendly probiotic profile (seeking health has good ines). Go slowly if there’s SIBO history. All terrain work should be personalized and started one change at a time.

Now, immunotherapy. My stance: if testing clearly shows a single or few meaningful environmental triggers and symptoms actually match real-life exposure, allergen immunotherapy (shots or sublingual) is one of the few disease-modifying options we have. It teaches tolerance; it’s not just a band-aid. It is a commitment over years and only works when the target is right, and it doesn’t replace the terrain work above. Safety is generally good with proper oversight. So, I like to lower total load for a few weeks, run targeted IgE testing if that hasn’t been done, and if “dust-mite” or “grass” lights up and the story fits, add immunotherapy for long-term retraining while you keep the environment and habits clean.

If I turn this into a simple starter plan for a client with an unknown environmental allergy, it looks like this: two weeks of bedroom reset + nasal care + low-histamine food reset, track symptoms daily from 1–10; keep anything that clearly helps. Add one calm-the-bucket tool at a time if needed (vitamin C, quercetin, nettle, DAO for “risky” meals), checking interactions first. In weeks 3–6, support gut lining if digestive flags exist and tidy sleep, stress, and movement. Then do targeted allergy testing guided by the story. If a major trigger is confirmed and life is still limited by symptoms, have a real conversation about shots vs drops, and decide based on convenience, safety, and preference.

Bottom line: yes to immune terrain and histamine-load reduction now, yes to immunotherapy when a clear allergen is identified and symptoms matter, and no, quercetin/nettle don’t “retrain” the immune system, they buy you comfort while you build tolerance and precision

[Daniel]

’m missing key background (what’s already been tried, how severe his symptoms are, and how they affect his days), so I can’t judge treatment choices for him. I can only try to explain from the meds what your doctor might be thinking. A good response to cetirizine is a clue that histamine is involved, but in conventional medicine it is not proof of allergy. Allergy is diagnosed by history plus testing. For skin testing, antihistamines usually need to be stopped for 5–7 days beforehand

• This reply was modified 1 week, 2 days ago by  Daniel.

[Daniel]

Hey @naslam1603 ,

Depending on the vitamin D dosages you are looking for, you could look into the next brands:
– Metagenics (just click here)
– Sunday’s Naturals (just click here)

I think the last one would be the best choice. It has the MK-7 in the right form (the trans-isomer), and you can choose different strengths. Metagenics uses the brand MenaQ7 to deliver their MK-7 and MenaQ7 uses the trans-isomer as well, but Metagenics didn’t put it on their bottle. Metagenics is a brand with a good reputation, however I couldn’t find a public report about screening for heavy metals and other polutants. I could find such a report for Sunday’s Naturals… However I’m not sure if you could order this in the UK.

Both use MCT oil as a carier oil to transport these vitamins into the body.

[Daniel]

Great follow-up question! Prostate health has also been studied with omega-3s, but here the picture is similar: more questions than verdicts.

• The 2013 headline study (SELECT trial) suggested higher blood omega-3 levels linked to higher prostate cancer risk, especially aggressive types. But it was an observational snapshot (one blood draw, no info on diet or supplements and no dose data. Dietary omega 3s don’t stay for a long time in the blood). Bias could have played a role in this study as well. For example, people who are consuming fish and omega 3s are probably more health-conscious and might visit the doctor more often. Or people diagnosed with cancer or having pain start consuming Omega 3s. This study sees a signal, but isn’t proof.
• Since then, stronger evidence (large randomised trials like VITAL, genetic studies, and meta-analyses) has not confirmed that omega-3s cause prostate cancer. In fact, some research suggests men who eat more fish may actually have lower prostate cancer mortality, meaning they don’t necessarily get it less often, but if they do, outcomes can be better.

So where does that leave us?

Omega-3s don’t look like a smoking gun for prostate cancer risk. The bigger picture is overall lifestyle: weight, exercise, diet quality, inflammation, and screening matter much more. If you enjoy fish a few times a week, keep going. If you use supplements, stick to moderate doses and good quality.

With research, we see this more often: observational studies show a signal, and once more follow-up studies have been done with better quality, we see that the conclusions made by the media and even other health educators were too premature. I wouldn’t be surprised if the follow-up research on AF would take a similar road, but that’s for the future to decide. The headlines made it sound scary, but the best current data show neutral to helpful effects when omega-3s come from whole foods.

One more piece that rarely gets discussed: most supplement studies don’t account for quality. Many commercial fish oils are already oxidised (“rancid”) by the time people take them, or they contain trace contaminants (like heavy metals). If there are negative health effects, part of the signal could come from poor-quality oils, not from omega-3s themselves.

• This reply was modified 3 weeks, 2 days ago by  Daniel.

[Daniel]

Hey @Vidu

I asked if you were sober because I wanted to assess your blood sugar levels.
Your fasting blood sugar at the time of the blood draw was 6.1 mmol/L.

A traditional doctor probably wouldn’t flag this as something to worry about, and I’m not saying you should be concerned.
However, a fasting blood sugar of 6.1 mmol/L can sometimes be an early sign of insulin resistance.

In your case, stress could have been a big factor, as it can raise blood sugar on its own.
If you have a blood glucose monitor, it might be worth tracking your fasting blood sugar right after waking up for a week. If the readings are consistently above 5.2 mmol/L, that could suggest some degree of insulin resistance.