Yesterday I discussed my results with Sherlock who expressed caution based on the fact that I had changed hospital labs (see yesterday’s post). Now, I am all in favour of being cautious. However, last night Stefano reminded me that Sherlock (who btw hasn’t been testing anything new but has been taking only curcumin and fish oil) went to the same hospital for her most recent tests, and her results were stationary compared to her previous Careggi tests. Those are good results, of course!
But let’s go over Stefano’s considerations:
1. Sherlock’s test results haven’t changed since last spring.
2. Mine have.
3. Our results were processed by the same hospital lab, i.e. the new one (“new” to us, of course!), less than a week apart.
4. Therefore, the huge drop in my total IgG as well as a not-so-dramatic-but-still-relevant drop in m-spike seem to indicate that something has definitely changed in my case.
5. Whether or not the changes in my numbers can be ascribed to ashwagandha is impossible to say. But the evidence does seem to point in that direction.
One thing is crystal clear: I will have to re-test ashwagandha again, probably after my saw palmetto experiment. Sherlock suggested that I drop the saw palmetto and test ashwagandha now, but I think I will wait…mainly because of the menstruation reoccurrence (see my October 5th post). I didn’t care for that one bit. I would like to see if I still continue to get my period, now that I have stopped taking ashwagandha.
On to a related subject. Since I published my post, in addition to the public comments left on my blog, many of you have written private congratulatory notes to me (thank you, everyone!). One of these notes came from a long-time blog reader and MGUS friend, who began taking ashwagandha last week. Her writing is always witty and engaging, as we can tell by the end of her message, which really tickled my funny bone:
“Your latest results have made me feel really good about my choice to use ashwagandha to rattle the cage of my clone.”
Rattling the cage of the clone…I love this image! Well, let’s keep rattling away…without making “the clone” too angry, though!!!
When I was diagnosed with this MGUS, I decided that I would try to find out what I could do to prevent it from becoming multiple myeloma (that is what it can turn in to). At Memorial Sloan Ketterring in New York, they told me that I should be checked every six months, but that there was nothing I could do about it. My MGUS is a spike in my immunoglobulin M line and I used to have one in the Kappa line as well. The M line was up to 1040. The normal range is 50-300. Through supplements (about 25 per day including curcumin), bio-identical hormones, cutting wine drinking from 1-2 glasses per day to 1-2 per week and trying to eat a better diet, it somehow has dropped to 815 after six months and now after one year of taking Dr. Braverman’s advice, (the above is his protocol) it is now at 762. I also stopped coloring my hair. I found some research showing a link between haircolor and MM. I had been coloring my hair for years, every 4 weeks. It was a huge decision to go gray, but fortunately my husband loves it. I am 55 and a yoga teacher of 35 years. I am currently working on a concept called Pulse Yoga, using free weights and micro movements in traditional yoga postures. I am not sure which one of these efforts is making my MGUS improve, maybe a combination of all of them.