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Stress
Pantothenic acid has an amazing power to reduce stress. Remember those prison volunteers who became irritable, tense, sullen, quarrelsome, and depressed when fed a diet deficient in pantothenic acid? You won't be surprised to learn that the HRC formula for stress (Table 14 of Seven Weeks to Sobriety) includes pantothenic acid (B5) which combats stress by rebuilding adrenal glands exhausted by alcoholism.
Other stress fighters include glutamine, which rids the body of ammonia that builds up as a result of the protein destruction brought on by stress. Another amino acid, tyrosine, helps in other ways. Tyrosine is converted into adrenaline to replenish supplies exhausted by stress. Tyrosine combined with iodine from the salt in your diet will help your thyroid form the hormone thyroxine, which lessens stress by stabilizing your metabolic rate.
Vitamin C is also a potent stress fighter that works with pantothenic acid to rebuild the adrenal glands. You also will be taking B-complex vitamins to soothe your nerves and boost your energy. The formula also includes zinc to help you absorb the B vitamins.
The stress formula is provided to recovering alcoholics for future use. There may come a time when stress threatens your sobriety. Should that happen, begin taking the formula as directed and continue for one month.
allergic, environmental pollution, hyperactivity, biochemical restoration, biochemical restoration/repair
Memory Loss
Is your short-term memory failing? Alcohol is probably responsible. Gary Tollefson, Ph.D., a medical researcher at the University of Minnesota, came up with some striking findings about memory loss among alcoholics. He compared the postmortem brains of people who suffered from memory loss in old age with those of heavy drinkers. He found that the brain cells of alcoholics, specifically the structures involving memory processing, age prematurely. The most seriously affected are tissues within the hippocampus, a segment the brain responsible for the initial processing of long-term memory and storage of short-term recall.
Tollefson's study focused on acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter that plays a key role in short-term memory. Alcoholics as well as the elderly suffer gradual loss of this vital neurotransmitter. The brain compensates for this change by heightening the sensitivity of the receptors carrying memory messages, but because of the acetylcholine shortage, the transmission cannot be completed and short-term recall is poor.
Recovering alcoholics must resupply the precursor chemical-phosphatidylcholine, which is converted to acetylcholine in the brain and restores memory function. Other researchers have found that increasing dietary choline raises brain levels of acetylcholine. We use PC-55, a granular form of phosphatidylcholine, which has a 55 percent conversion rate, the highest available today. You will also be taking pantothenic acid, which is needed to convert phosphatidylcholine to acetylcholine (Table 15 from Seven Weeks to Sobriety).
Acetyl L. Carnitine has shown significant benefits in correcting the cognitive damage that occurs in chronic alcoholism. It too enhances cholinergic transmission, increases the metabolic rate in our brain cells, and protects the brain from lipid peroxidation (aging deterioration).
Many studies suggest that the herb Gingko Biloba improves memory and concentration due to its ability to increase blood circulation within the brain. Gingko also protects against free radical damage to brain cells.
Phosphatidylserine (PS) stimulates neurotransmitter release and increases our brain glucose levels while improving cognitive functioning and memory tasks.
These compounds protect our brains against the ravages of aging as well as repairing alcoholic damage. Our clients on this formula tell us it is such a relief to have their memories functioning again!
Two other nutrients-vitamin B1 (thiamine) and vitamin B12 (cobalamine)-can help. Alcohol blocks absorption of thiamine causing memory loss, central-nervous-system damage, and poor concentration. Obviously, you have to resupply this important nutrient. And you need B12 because concentration and memory difficulties can develop when this nutrient is unavailable or poorly absorbed.
Insomnia
The discovery of melatonin's role in our bodies has given us the absolute ability to regulate our sleep cycle. The right dose will usual depend on your age:
Age Dose
40 to 45 .5 to 1 mg
45 to 55 1 to 2 mg
55 to 65 2 to 3 mg
65 to 75 3 to 5 mg
Plan to take melatonin one half hour before you want to sleep, and during that last thirty minutes, be sure you wind down your pace and activities.
A number of nutrients can calm you and help you sleep. Although tryptophan is available in the United States, it is only by prescription at this time. In the brain, tryptophan is converted to the neurotransmitter serotonin, which causes us to fall asleep. Depletion of tryptophan as a result of heavy drinking explains why alcoholics suffer from insomnia.
Several other nutrients also have calming properties. Inositol has a soothing effect on spinal-cord nerves, the brain, and cerebrospinal fluid and produces antianxiety effects similar to the drugs Librium and Meprobamate. The amino-acid derivative GABA (Gamma-Aminobutyric Acid) is also a calming substance. The combination of inositol, GABA, and niacinamide enhances sleep.
Vitamin B6 (pyridoxine) is responsible for our dreams. Everyone dreams; if you have no dream recall, don't assume you have stopped dreaming. Begin taking additional vitamin B6 every morning, and you will soon enjoy vivid technicolor dreams. The quality of your sleep will improve, too.
Vitamin C also promotes restful sleep. A study measuring possible brain and central-nervous-system stimulants and sedatives demonstrated that vitamin C has potent sedative, antianxiety properties.
The magnesium deficiencies so common among chronic alcoholics contribute to insomnia as well as restlessness, changes in heart rhythm, and tremors.
Calcium is essential for controlling the excitability of the nervous system. It has a calming effect that will help you sleep normally.
Fatigue
Much of the chronic fatigue and exhaustion experienced by alcoholics may stem from overstressed and exhausted adrenal glands. Endocrinologist John Tintera, M.D., whose work I have described in earlier in this website, notes that the most common symptom of hypoadrenocorticism (failing adrenals) is monumental fatigue and loss of stamina. This state of exhaustion can be reversed only by carefully adhering to a diet to counteract hypoglycemia and rebuilding the adrenal glands.
Dr. Tintera treated this condition with a bovine adrenocortical extract injected intravenously over a period of several weeks. For a short time after the injection, the body of the recipient acknowledges, the presence of this bovine adrenaline and lets its own adrenals rest and recuperate. I had personal experience with these injections during the early l970s. At the time, a 17-keto steroid test showed that my adrenal glands were exhausted probably from the stress of widowhood and single parenting. Fortunately, my physician knew about adrenocortical extract (ACE) and did not make the mistake of prescribing cortisone, which is a hundred times stronger. Cortisone is a synthetic drug powerful enough to completely take over adrenal function. If this happens, the adrenals can gradually atrophy. The longer you take cortisone, the lower your odds of getting off it and rebuilding your own adrenals. The drug also has some very undesirable side effects. It causes the face to round to a characteristic moon shape and alters the upper back into a "buffalo hump". Mental instability is another potential side effect. For these reasons, treatment with ACE was much safer. Unfortunately, in the last few years, the FDA has made it impossible for physicians to obtain ACE. Now some doctors have begun prescribing small amounts of natural cortisol to take at each meal. William Jeffries, M.D., explains this therapy in his 1996 book, Safe Uses of Cortisol.
Another adrenal hormone and neurosteroid that is made by your adrenal cortex is dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA). Natural levels DHEA peak in our early twenties and then diminish about 20 percent for each ensuing decade. One study correlates zero DHEA with death! Stress accelerates the loss of DHEA, and certainly living with alcoholism and hypoglycemia (and, of course, pyroluria) will shortchange you of adequate DHEA. The first step is to measure your present levels with a lab test.
At HRC we have found that most alcoholics over forty are good candidates for DHEA replacement. Over 5,000 studies exist describing DHEA's ability to restore stamina and energy, enhance libido, reduce stress, restore memory, fight cancer, reduce body fat, and maintain vigor even into old age. You can purchase DHEA in 25 milligram capsules without a prescription, but make sure you buy pharmaceutical grade DHEA that is 99 percent pure DHEA.
It is best to seek your doctor's advice if you are combining the following drugs with DHEA.
Estrogen. DHEA converts to estrogen, so women on hormone replacement therapy may wish to reduce their estrogen intake. Lab testing will monitor these levels.
Aspirin and blood thinners. DHEA may act as a mild blood thinner. If taking blood thinners, a lab check of blood-clotting levels is in order before and after adding DHEA.
Thyroid hormones. A combination of thyroid supplementation and DHEA can result in thyroid overstimulation. Use caution and monitor.
A number of other natural chemicals will help you combat fatigue (see Table 17 from Seven Weeks to Sobriety, The HRC Formula for Fatigue). Glutamine can boost your energy by supplying adequate brain glucose which prevents the mild insulin shock so common among hypoglycemic alcoholics. And the free-form amino-acid blend (Bio-Aminos) you take as part of your adjusted nutrient plan, can help restore the body's metabolic energy.
Pantothenic acid and vitamin C are also essential for restoration of adrenal health. Interestingly, Native Americans used to eat animal adrenal glands in the winter, which gave them a supply of vitamin C until fruits and vegetables became available in the spring. Pantothenic acid is important for formation of the actual adrenocortical hormones.
You will also be taking B complex vitamins to replenish deficiencies that can underlie fatigue. For example, a deficiency of B1 (thiamine) causes fatigue; lack of B2 (riboflavin) can make you sluggish; B3 (niacin) deficiency causes your energy level to suffer; low B12 levels can cause fatigue. And you need vitamin B6 for proper adrenal functioning.
To order the Fatigue Formula (includes schedule)
Pain Control
A number of studies have demonstrated that amino acids are extremely effective for relief of chronic pain. In one, oral doses of D-phenylalanine (not L-phenylalanine) provided significant relief for patients with lower back pain and chronic pain from lumbar fusion, neuralgia, and osteoarthritis. In another, two grams of phenylalanine taken one hour before a dental procedure resulted in a marked rise in the patient's pain threshold. Adding D-phenylalanine to morphine can reduce and, in some cases, eliminate individual variation in the drug's effectiveness. The explanation for these remarkable effects the action of D-phenylalanine in the brain, where it appears to block the action of certain enzymes that normally break down and destroy endorphins and enkephalins, the body's natural painkillers. Three grams of D-phenylalanine has also proved effective for the control bone-cancer pain.
Tryptophan can also help combat intractable pain as a result of its effect on the brain's primary pain-inhibiting center. For some people, three grams of tryptophan per day can reduce chronic maxillofacial pain. A study at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology found that three and a half grams of tryptophan decreased sensitivity to pain and increased drowsiness but did not impair sensory motor performance. The cofactors vitamin C, niacin (vitamin B3), and vitamin B6 must be present for the tryptophan to be effective.
To order the Pain Formula (includes schedule)
Alcohol-Induced Tremors, Shakiness
In a study of abstinent alcoholics, all of the participants continued to suffer from tremors ten weeks after treatment. This common problem can be reversed by combining the amino acid taurine with magnesium, calcium, B-complex vitamins, and omega-6 essential fatty acid (Table 19, Seven Weeks to Sobriety). Of these nutrients, the one that is new to you is taurine which, according to a 1977 study, effectively blocked the shakes of alcohol withdrawal.
Gamma-linolenic acid (GLA) can also reduce tremors that occur during alcohol withdrawal. This fatty acid is also essential to the prevention and treatment of alcohol-induced central-nervous-system impairment. Calcium and B-complex vitamins also help control this problem. All the B vitamins are essential to nervous-system stability, while calcium and magnesium calm and relax nerve tissue. The depletion of both these minerals by alcohol is responsible for the acute tremors that occur during withdrawal. It has been shown that magnesium can reverse delirium tremens. At Health Recovery Center we administer intravenous magnesium to control patients' muscle tremors and help prevent convulsive seizures.
Stress
Pantothenic acid has an amazing power to reduce stress. Remember those prison volunteers who became irritable, tense, sullen, quarrelsome, and depressed when fed a diet deficient in pantothenic acid? You won't be surprised to learn that the HRC formula for stress (Table 14 of Seven Weeks to Sobriety) includes pantothenic acid (B5) which combats stress by rebuilding adrenal glands exhausted by alcoholism.
Other stress fighters include glutamine, which rids the body of ammonia that builds up as a result of the protein destruction brought on by stress. Another amino acid, tyrosine, helps in other ways. Tyrosine is converted into adrenaline to replenish supplies exhausted by stress. Tyrosine combined with iodine from the salt in your diet will help your thyroid form the hormone thyroxine, which lessens stress by stabilizing your metabolic rate.
Vitamin C is also a potent stress fighter that works with pantothenic acid to rebuild the adrenal glands. You also will be taking B-complex vitamins to soothe your nerves and boost your energy. The formula also includes zinc to help you absorb the B vitamins.
The stress formula is provided to recovering alcoholics for future use. There may come a time when stress threatens your sobriety. Should that happen, begin taking the formula as directed and continue for one month.
allergic, environmental pollution, hyperactivity, biochemical restoration, biochemical restoration/repair
Memory Loss
Is your short-term memory failing? Alcohol is probably responsible. Gary Tollefson, Ph.D., a medical researcher at the University of Minnesota, came up with some striking findings about memory loss among alcoholics. He compared the postmortem brains of people who suffered from memory loss in old age with those of heavy drinkers. He found that the brain cells of alcoholics, specifically the structures involving memory processing, age prematurely. The most seriously affected are tissues within the hippocampus, a segment the brain responsible for the initial processing of long-term memory and storage of short-term recall.
Tollefson's study focused on acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter that plays a key role in short-term memory. Alcoholics as well as the elderly suffer gradual loss of this vital neurotransmitter. The brain compensates for this change by heightening the sensitivity of the receptors carrying memory messages, but because of the acetylcholine shortage, the transmission cannot be completed and short-term recall is poor.
Recovering alcoholics must resupply the precursor chemical-phosphatidylcholine, which is converted to acetylcholine in the brain and restores memory function. Other researchers have found that increasing dietary choline raises brain levels of acetylcholine. We use PC-55, a granular form of phosphatidylcholine, which has a 55 percent conversion rate, the highest available today. You will also be taking pantothenic acid, which is needed to convert phosphatidylcholine to acetylcholine (Table 15 from Seven Weeks to Sobriety).
Acetyl L. Carnitine has shown significant benefits in correcting the cognitive damage that occurs in chronic alcoholism. It too enhances cholinergic transmission, increases the metabolic rate in our brain cells, and protects the brain from lipid peroxidation (aging deterioration).
Many studies suggest that the herb Gingko Biloba improves memory and concentration due to its ability to increase blood circulation within the brain. Gingko also protects against free radical damage to brain cells.
Phosphatidylserine (PS) stimulates neurotransmitter release and increases our brain glucose levels while improving cognitive functioning and memory tasks.
These compounds protect our brains against the ravages of aging as well as repairing alcoholic damage. Our clients on this formula tell us it is such a relief to have their memories functioning again!
Two other nutrients-vitamin B1 (thiamine) and vitamin B12 (cobalamine)-can help. Alcohol blocks absorption of thiamine causing memory loss, central-nervous-system damage, and poor concentration. Obviously, you have to resupply this important nutrient. And you need B12 because concentration and memory difficulties can develop when this nutrient is unavailable or poorly absorbed.
Insomnia
The discovery of melatonin's role in our bodies has given us the absolute ability to regulate our sleep cycle. The right dose will usual depend on your age:
Age Dose
40 to 45 .5 to 1 mg
45 to 55 1 to 2 mg
55 to 65 2 to 3 mg
65 to 75 3 to 5 mg
Plan to take melatonin one half hour before you want to sleep, and during that last thirty minutes, be sure you wind down your pace and activities.
A number of nutrients can calm you and help you sleep. Although tryptophan is available in the United States, it is only by prescription at this time. In the brain, tryptophan is converted to the neurotransmitter serotonin, which causes us to fall asleep. Depletion of tryptophan as a result of heavy drinking explains why alcoholics suffer from insomnia.
Several other nutrients also have calming properties. Inositol has a soothing effect on spinal-cord nerves, the brain, and cerebrospinal fluid and produces antianxiety effects similar to the drugs Librium and Meprobamate. The amino-acid derivative GABA (Gamma-Aminobutyric Acid) is also a calming substance. The combination of inositol, GABA, and niacinamide enhances sleep.
Vitamin B6 (pyridoxine) is responsible for our dreams. Everyone dreams; if you have no dream recall, don't assume you have stopped dreaming. Begin taking additional vitamin B6 every morning, and you will soon enjoy vivid technicolor dreams. The quality of your sleep will improve, too.
Vitamin C also promotes restful sleep. A study measuring possible brain and central-nervous-system stimulants and sedatives demonstrated that vitamin C has potent sedative, antianxiety properties.
The magnesium deficiencies so common among chronic alcoholics contribute to insomnia as well as restlessness, changes in heart rhythm, and tremors.
Calcium is essential for controlling the excitability of the nervous system. It has a calming effect that will help you sleep normally.
Fatigue
Much of the chronic fatigue and exhaustion experienced by alcoholics may stem from overstressed and exhausted adrenal glands. Endocrinologist John Tintera, M.D., whose work I have described in earlier in this website, notes that the most common symptom of hypoadrenocorticism (failing adrenals) is monumental fatigue and loss of stamina. This state of exhaustion can be reversed only by carefully adhering to a diet to counteract hypoglycemia and rebuilding the adrenal glands.
Dr. Tintera treated this condition with a bovine adrenocortical extract injected intravenously over a period of several weeks. For a short time after the injection, the body of the recipient acknowledges, the presence of this bovine adrenaline and lets its own adrenals rest and recuperate. I had personal experience with these injections during the early l970s. At the time, a 17-keto steroid test showed that my adrenal glands were exhausted probably from the stress of widowhood and single parenting. Fortunately, my physician knew about adrenocortical extract (ACE) and did not make the mistake of prescribing cortisone, which is a hundred times stronger. Cortisone is a synthetic drug powerful enough to completely take over adrenal function. If this happens, the adrenals can gradually atrophy. The longer you take cortisone, the lower your odds of getting off it and rebuilding your own adrenals. The drug also has some very undesirable side effects. It causes the face to round to a characteristic moon shape and alters the upper back into a "buffalo hump". Mental instability is another potential side effect. For these reasons, treatment with ACE was much safer. Unfortunately, in the last few years, the FDA has made it impossible for physicians to obtain ACE. Now some doctors have begun prescribing small amounts of natural cortisol to take at each meal. William Jeffries, M.D., explains this therapy in his 1996 book, Safe Uses of Cortisol.
Another adrenal hormone and neurosteroid that is made by your adrenal cortex is dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA). Natural levels DHEA peak in our early twenties and then diminish about 20 percent for each ensuing decade. One study correlates zero DHEA with death! Stress accelerates the loss of DHEA, and certainly living with alcoholism and hypoglycemia (and, of course, pyroluria) will shortchange you of adequate DHEA. The first step is to measure your present levels with a lab test.
At HRC we have found that most alcoholics over forty are good candidates for DHEA replacement. Over 5,000 studies exist describing DHEA's ability to restore stamina and energy, enhance libido, reduce stress, restore memory, fight cancer, reduce body fat, and maintain vigor even into old age. You can purchase DHEA in 25 milligram capsules without a prescription, but make sure you buy pharmaceutical grade DHEA that is 99 percent pure DHEA.
It is best to seek your doctor's advice if you are combining the following drugs with DHEA.
Estrogen. DHEA converts to estrogen, so women on hormone replacement therapy may wish to reduce their estrogen intake. Lab testing will monitor these levels.
Aspirin and blood thinners. DHEA may act as a mild blood thinner. If taking blood thinners, a lab check of blood-clotting levels is in order before and after adding DHEA.
Thyroid hormones. A combination of thyroid supplementation and DHEA can result in thyroid overstimulation. Use caution and monitor.
A number of other natural chemicals will help you combat fatigue (see Table 17 from Seven Weeks to Sobriety, The HRC Formula for Fatigue). Glutamine can boost your energy by supplying adequate brain glucose which prevents the mild insulin shock so common among hypoglycemic alcoholics. And the free-form amino-acid blend (Bio-Aminos) you take as part of your adjusted nutrient plan, can help restore the body's metabolic energy.
Pantothenic acid and vitamin C are also essential for restoration of adrenal health. Interestingly, Native Americans used to eat animal adrenal glands in the winter, which gave them a supply of vitamin C until fruits and vegetables became available in the spring. Pantothenic acid is important for formation of the actual adrenocortical hormones.
You will also be taking B complex vitamins to replenish deficiencies that can underlie fatigue. For example, a deficiency of B1 (thiamine) causes fatigue; lack of B2 (riboflavin) can make you sluggish; B3 (niacin) deficiency causes your energy level to suffer; low B12 levels can cause fatigue. And you need vitamin B6 for proper adrenal functioning.
To order the Fatigue Formula (includes schedule)
Pain Control
A number of studies have demonstrated that amino acids are extremely effective for relief of chronic pain. In one, oral doses of D-phenylalanine (not L-phenylalanine) provided significant relief for patients with lower back pain and chronic pain from lumbar fusion, neuralgia, and osteoarthritis. In another, two grams of phenylalanine taken one hour before a dental procedure resulted in a marked rise in the patient's pain threshold. Adding D-phenylalanine to morphine can reduce and, in some cases, eliminate individual variation in the drug's effectiveness. The explanation for these remarkable effects the action of D-phenylalanine in the brain, where it appears to block the action of certain enzymes that normally break down and destroy endorphins and enkephalins, the body's natural painkillers. Three grams of D-phenylalanine has also proved effective for the control bone-cancer pain.
Tryptophan can also help combat intractable pain as a result of its effect on the brain's primary pain-inhibiting center. For some people, three grams of tryptophan per day can reduce chronic maxillofacial pain. A study at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology found that three and a half grams of tryptophan decreased sensitivity to pain and increased drowsiness but did not impair sensory motor performance. The cofactors vitamin C, niacin (vitamin B3), and vitamin B6 must be present for the tryptophan to be effective.
To order the Pain Formula (includes schedule)
Alcohol-Induced Tremors, Shakiness
In a study of abstinent alcoholics, all of the participants continued to suffer from tremors ten weeks after treatment. This common problem can be reversed by combining the amino acid taurine with magnesium, calcium, B-complex vitamins, and omega-6 essential fatty acid (Table 19, Seven Weeks to Sobriety). Of these nutrients, the one that is new to you is taurine which, according to a 1977 study, effectively blocked the shakes of alcohol withdrawal.
Gamma-linolenic acid (GLA) can also reduce tremors that occur during alcohol withdrawal. This fatty acid is also essential to the prevention and treatment of alcohol-induced central-nervous-system impairment. Calcium and B-complex vitamins also help control this problem. All the B vitamins are essential to nervous-system stability, while calcium and magnesium calm and relax nerve tissue. The depletion of both these minerals by alcohol is responsible for the acute tremors that occur during withdrawal. It has been shown that magnesium can reverse delirium tremens. At Health Recovery Center we administer intravenous magnesium to control patients' muscle tremors and help prevent convulsive seizures.