No Vitamins but Tingling Fingers (Month 2, Day 42)

I have decided to drop my dear six-a-day vitamin for a week or so.  In fact, I've decided to drop practically everything I'm taking and start from scratch.  My last day taking vitamins was Friday (albeit not consciously)...today's Monday.  And can I tell you something - I think my hands might be feeling a tad better!  I figure, I started with my multi around the same time as INH - eliminate the possibilities.  Who knows, maybe something in my multi is adversely affecting me, or interacting with INH, OR creating a massive amount of histamines, OR just plain funky.

I am getting some tingling of the fingers...but I know how to solve that - just add back in the B6.  It's not really an intense tingling.  What really happens is a kind of electric shock that occurs right on the end of my soft pad on maybe one or two fingers.  It lasts less than a minute and while it doesn't hurt, it is uncomfortable, and a new sensation.  Imagine sticking your tongue on the end of a 9Volt battery - now transfer that feeling to your finger...

I'm not sure when I want to start back on them or on the B6.  I think for now I want to just see what happens then slowly start adding things back in.

Course, last night I also took a pain reliever for cramps (started my cycle) so I could try to sleep through the night.  Seemed to work marvelously and it's possible that what I'm experiencing is a remnant of that.  I took a sample of something I got from Sunflower Market -IbuActin by Solaray.  Ingredients include: White Willow (Similar to Aspirin but doesn't irritate the stomach lining) and turmeric.

Was slightly worried because I hadn't read anything about Aspirin, just Tylenol and Ibuprofin.  After scouring the web for at least 15 minutes, I finally found this: "Salicylate has previously been shown to reduce the susceptibility of Mycobacterium tuberculosis to several drugs in vitro. In this study, aspirin, a salicylate anti-inflammatory, antagonized isoniazid treatment of murine pulmonary tuberculosis, whereas the nonsalicylate ibuprofen did not."

Of course, I didn't actually take aspirin, I took the natural form of Willow Bark.  Since there is a distinct lack of evidence on this, I see no reason to NOT take it...Not like I'll be taking it every day for 9 months or something...

Diet:
Water
1 slice manna, bowl of granola with almond milk
Apple
Rice and Cauliflower Dal (leftovers)
Gojiberries snack
Chips and apples salsa
Cabbage Salad (Toasted hazelnuts, shredded cabbage, dressing)
Figs
INH pill
1 ibuprofin

Picture: Aspirin

Tingle in my Fingle? (Month 2, Day 33)

Why the fingers, I ask?  What exactly does INH do that makes the fingers tingly, hurt and otherwise feel painful?
Good question...I don't really know.  I just know that often B6 is prescribed to combat it.  But what's really going on?

INH creates peripheral neuropathy in some people.  If you have tingling or numbness in your hands, you could be having an adverse reaction to INH (duh). Why?  Could be for a couple of reasons, but my research suggests that the top two are these:

1. You already have a condition that lends itself to neuropathy such as diabetes, uremia, alcoholism, HIV, malnutrition, cirrhosis, hyperthyroidism or congestive heart failure.  I think this covers a wide range of people...I mean, malnutrition?  Do people who simply aren't getting the right numbers of vitamins and minerals in their diet fall into this category?
2. INH interferes with the metabolism of pyridoxine (B6).  (Source)  Vitamin B6 (pyridoxine) is required for the synthesis of the neurotransmitters serotonin and norepinephrine and for myelin formation. (Source) Pyridoxine deficiency in adults principally affects the peripheral nerves, skin, mucous membranes, and the blood cell system.  In children, in can affect the CNS.  Here's a sentence that I found interesting: "In vivo pyridoxine is converted into coenzymes which play an essential role in the metabolism of protein, carbohydrates, fatty acids, and several other substances, including brain amines, INH apparently competitively inhibits the action of pyridoxine in these metabolic functions."  In other words, malnutrition, fatigue and brain fog with INH could also be the result of B6 deficiency...?  Here's something even weirder - too much B6 will create neuropathy-type symptoms...go figure.

So how much B6 do we need? Well, turns out that most people are already deficient in B6.  Combine that with INH, and you have a much greater deficiency.  One other thing: B6 requires Magnesium to metabolize, so if you aren't taking a multivitamin, you may want to look into that. Most sources say between 50 to 100 mg of B6 is good supplementation when taking INH.  Normal supplementation is 10–25 mg per day. However, high amounts (100–200 mg per day or even more) may be recommended for certain conditions. (Source)



Course, I tried taking B6 separately on advice of my nurse and it didn't seem to work for my aching, arthritic hands.  BUT, truth be told, I only gave it 5 days.  Just looked at the amount she gave me: 50 mg.  I just checked my multivitamin and it says it has 200 mg in it!  Um...Could my multi be giving me too much B6?

Hmmm...well, as a practice, here is a good paragraph on taking B6:
Our practice is to give B6 with each dose of INH, whether it is daily or twice weekly. B6 is a water-soluble vitamin and is not stored, but INH is likewise a short-acting compound so this approach is most practical.

Yesterday's Diet:
Pre-Breakfast: 32 oz water, 2 acidophilus
Breakfast: 2 slices manna bread, fresh cut honeydew
Snack: Pot of Tea with coco cream and stevia, more honeydew
Lunch: Bowl of quinoa with about 4 small red/yellow peppers cut up in it topped with goddess dressing.
Snack: Rice cakes (2) with leftover Haroset (from Monday's Seder - not sure what's in it other than jicama, walnuts, raisins, apple juice, apples...), Pumpkin seeds.
Dinner: 2 microwaved potatoes with Earth Balance, cut up peppers, salad with artichoke hearts and hearts of palm 
Dessert: Blackberries with Whipped Cream.
Post-Dinner: 1/2 rice cake with Haroset (I'm HUNGRY lately - must be losing weight and my body is freaking out!)
Pre-bed - Movie and a pill

Possible Histamine Triggers:
-Manna Bread - has raisins
-Haroset - the unknown quantity...but does contain cinnamon, cloves and raisins...
-Tea - I drink bunches still

Month 1, Day 14

Tingling fingers

The last two fingers on my left hand, pinky and ringfinger are both a bit tingly - almost like the painful tingle from when you have little invisible rose thorns in your hand.  It started yesterday with my pinky finger and this morning I have it on my ring finger too.  We'll see if it gets worse or better.

Usually, the prescription I've seen for tingling hands and feet during INH (I guess it's pretty common) is to take B6. I'm already taking a ton of B6. 

This could be unrelated to INH...I did go rock climbing at a rock wall yesterday, so maybe I touched something that irritated me.

Since this isn't bad, yet...I'll try not to worry much!