It is sad that the Cinnamon is being slammed because of all the greedy idiots out there that are more concerned with making money off of their useless protocols.
Can't say it any nicer.
Ryan Bolin wrote, "Susan, there's alot of people on the Lyme Yahoo Groups that in general don't believe that cinnamon oil does anything for lyme & co-infections.
Largely because they are trying to push 'other' protocols and/or products. One individual in particular (who moderates one of these groups) stated in more or less words: "People that are pushing cinnamon oil are out to make a quick buck!!! Even if the cinnamon oil 'did' do something to kill off the various types of bacteria, parasites & fungi - it'd force them to form biofilms around themselves.... Hence force the bacteria to become dormant, only to re-emerge at a later time stronger than ever."
But even with just a little googling, he'd come upon many published papers which also say that cinnamon oil is capable (even in small quantities) of penetrating and degrading/breaking down biofilms (here's two such papers):http://aem.asm.org/content/75/21/6850.full
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21761153
So it's quite possible that cinnamon oil causes these critters to form biofilms around themselves - but the cinnamon oil still kills them anyway, and will eventually breakdown the biofilms over time.
And many essential oils are capable of crossing the blood brain barrier, including the cinnamon oil! :)
So potentially the cinnamon oil 'could' help treating many neurological conditions where the underlying cause of these diseases is ultimately bacterial and/or parasitic in nature....
Here is more great information for our buddy Clark!
Ryan Bolin stated... To start off with - Lyme & all co-infections lead to higher overall chronic inflammation in the body.... This often can lead to other diseases & sicknesses within the body. With Multiple Sclerosis (MS), Parkinson's, Lou Gehrig's (ALS) disease, Alzheimer's (to name just a few) - there's mounting evidence that chronic inflammation of the brain/nervous system plays a large factor in the development of all of these. Rheumatoid arthritis/Lupus - chronic inflammation in the joints. Heart disease - chronic inflammation in and around the heart. Even in the past few years, research done at various institutions around the world - says that most (if not all) types of tumors/cancer - develop in areas that have been chronically inflamed for many months.....
The doctor's finally agreed to give me an MRI - where they came upon white matter lesions on the brain. So they automatically concluded that I had MS, and accordingly wanted to start me on IV steroids immediately! I disagreed with this assessment, because all the symptoms started shortly after I was bitten by the tick. When I researched on my own, I discovered that these same type of lesions can also be caused by Lyme disease - but the doctors refused to test me for it. Then I had another MRI - 6 months down the road, and 6 months after that..... Every time I had another scan, the 'white matter lesions' seemed to change locations. In fact, this alone proved to me that it indeed was 'not' MS - because the MS lesions always stay put, and just get larger & larger. Whereas, the white matter lesions caused by Lyme tend to be temporary and frequently change locations. But the doctors, neurologists, and 'other specialists' refused to budge with their initial assessment - but now called it: 'atypical' MS. But still outright refused to test me for Lyme..... 
If I followed their advise, and started on the IV steroids - I likely would have died years ago, because steroids tend to shutdown a person's immune system & the immune system was in fact the only thing that was holding the further spread of the Lyme & co-infections!
Anyway, I'm veering way off course - since the purpose of this post was meant to be remedies in recovering from seizures.
1) First recommendation is: to switch over to a more 'low inflammation'/paleo/ketogenic diet. There have been many, many studies over the last 30+ years that shows that by adopting this type of diet - automatically leads to a dramatic decrease in seizures.
This involves the cutting out of all unnecessary sugars from one's diet - including the majority of complex carbs (ie - breads, pasta, cereals, etc...). All bacteria, parasites, fungi & types of cancer feeds off of excess sugar that one's consuming. Eliminating excess sugar has been shown to:
a) make the metabolism in the body switch over to using fat as the primary fuel source, which in turn makes losing weight easier for some,
b) it dramatically reduces the amount of inflammation within the body,
and
c) immediately starts to starve out harmful bacteria, parasites, tumors, etc...
The 2nd thing is eliminate all gluten (a protein found mainly in the grains of: wheat, rye & barley) from one's diet. Recent studies in the past few years have shown that gluten causes (to varying degrees) of inflammation of the brain & stomach for all individuals. This is also the case for consuming dairy products (which contains the 'lactose' protein), albeit only causes about half the degree of inflammation as gluten. In both cases, the body has a more difficult time to digest these proteins. In which case, what it can't fully digest - the immune deems it as an enemy and attacks it. But in doing so, it results in an auto-immune response & in turn - inflammation of the brain & stomach.....
Just by eliminating unnecessary sugars, gluten (breads, pastas, etc...), and lactose from the diet has resulted in a dramatic decrease in the anxiety & in seizures (both in frequency & intensity) for me!
So my diet consists of largely:
- lean proteins
- nuts & seeds of various types
- whole (unprocessed) vegetables (preferably organic if possible)
- only oils that I consume are: coconut oil & virgin olive oil, plus a good quality fish oil to get the omegas; coconut oil/MCT oil has also been shown in recent years to be beneficial in treating and/or preventing Alzheimer's
- the only substantial source of sugars is from eating 'whole' fruits (the extra fiber slows down the rate at which the sugar gets absorbed into the blood stream, hence eliminating the sugar spikes and in turn better controlling the insulin levels as well!); don't consume fruit juice - the lack of fiber causes an almost instantaneous jump in one's blood sugar levels
- eliminating caffeine & other stimulants from the diet also leads to lower overall anxiety & seizures as well
- staying hydrated, drinking lots of filtered water has also been shown to be beneficial for the brain as well.....
- avoid alcohol because: a) it gets converted to sugar in the liver as a means of elimination from the body, b) it by default kills brain cells when consumed in excess, and c) often it also lowers a person's seizure threshold
Clark Kent 2) Getting a full night's sleep is important. I know, that's a tall task for most Lymies where insomnia is one of the MOST common symptoms. But it's just night and day between one's overall anxiety levels (and it turn being more prone to having seizures) - between one getting a good night's sleep, or if one is exhausted from not getting a good night's rest....
Some supplements that I've found help in getting a more quality sleep are: GABA & ZMA (aka - zinc & magnesium). I also found that listening to binaural beats helps me go to sleep as well.... Which also has been shown in studies to also encourage neuroplasticity & repair of the brain.
3) While on the topic of magnesium - it's a critical electrolyte & necessary for proper functioning of the heart, as well as a variety of other neurological functions in the body. The Lyme bacteria also needs alot of magnesium to multiply. In doing so, it steals it from other areas of the body..... in doing so, that also makes one prone to more seizures. Especially around that time of the month (aka - the full moon when the bacteria is most active). I've found that taking more magnesium especially around that time of the month, helps even more so - than most anti-epilepsy medications!!! (because taking those Rx's, isn't going to help with your overall magnesium shortfall caused by the Lyme bacteria)
4) When the Lyme & other bacteria/parasites are killed - they release neuro-toxins (ammonia being the most common). Over time, this ammonia can build up in the brain & other area of the body, to the point that it starts doing quite a bit of damage. Besides killing healthy brain cells, it can also damage to the point that one becomes more susceptible to seizures..... Now Jernigan's 'Neuro-Antitox II' herbal formula does a pretty good job at mopping up excessive ammonia in the brain, but I've found that it doesn't do as good as a job as the amino acid of 'L-glutamine'. This one amino acid makes up between 70-80% of all the amino acids in the body in total. It gets produced in the body, as well as comes from some foods (if I'm not mistaken) - but one can buy it online or at a health food store for a relatively cheap price. It's used in a wide variety of functions in the body: from the building & repairing of muscle & tendons, to playing a vital role in forming new white blood cells (and fortifying the immune system), to being able to cross the blood brain barrier - where it serves a few functions. It is used in the creation of glutamic acid that the brain uses as fuel (the only other substance the brain uses for fuel is glucose). Glutamic acid also has the ability to also pick up ammonia molecules throughout the body (& brain) then cross the blood brain barrier again where the mopped up ammonia later gets converted to uric acid in the liver.
The classic 'brain fog' or difficulty to concentrate I've found is caused by having alot of ammonia in the brain. If it is real bad, I've found that 15 grams/day of L-glutamine is necessary to be taken for a month or more, before the majority of the ammonia is removed from the brain. You'll know if it's working because your urine will be dark, and cloudy, and the smell of ammonia will be so strong that it'll almost want to make you gag. But you should also start to notice that you begin to concentrate & focus better (and also have overall higher energy levels).
After awhile, you'll notice that the urine becomes clearer and clearer - more back to normal. Shortly after that, you'll notice that the urine becomes almost a cloudy white color. But have no real smell to it. This means that your body/brain has gotten rid of all the excess ammonia, that you're essentially pissing (for lack of a better word) out the unused portion of the L-glutamine. At this time you should also notice a HUGE improvement in your brain fog, ability to concentrate & focus. This is when I'd recommend for one to start tapering off the glutamine:
from 15g -> 10g -> 5g (or less)/day.
So lower ammonia in general - means less brain fog, less damage to your body & brain, higher ability to concentrate & focus..... Lower stress & anxiety levels overall in general. This means increasing your ability to not have seizures as well!
5) Regular meditation/qigong - has been shown that when practiced daily, it leads to lower stress/anxiety levels, higher DHEA, Melatonin & Serotonin levels.... This translates to being more calm & peaceful in general (and with lower levels of depression). Lower stress/anxiety levels also translates to a higher seizure threshold as well. Also learning to breathe slower & deeper - means overall higher oxygen levels in but the blood & brain. Having higher oxygen levels in the brain means: improved performance, and a better overall detox for the brain & body in general. Helping to repair previous damage.
Plus, as an added bonus - I find that by doing meditation/qigong during the day, it also leads to a more restful sleep at night.... :)
6) While on the topic of oxygen - this also applies to ozone as well. Whether done via a sauna & absorbed through the skin, drank via ozonated water, or absorbed via ear insuffolation through the ear drums directly into the brain - it works very well in detoxing, repairing & healing of the body & damaged done to the brain.
Ozone ( O3 breaks down into O2 + O2-) - the O2 is just the regular oxygen that we all breathe in from the air, while the O2- is a negative ion that bonds on to heavy metals, kills off cancer cells, bacteria, parasites, etc... via the process of oxidization. Once these harmful cells are neutralized by the oxygen - they are then safely eliminated by the body. So oxygen/ozone is useful in many regards that: it kills all cancers, bacteria, parasites, fungi, etc.... It neutralizes them & heavy metals (so works sorta like a chelating agent as well), and assists in the elimination process from the body - so oxygen is also good for detoxing purposes. Also it helps in the repairing process - in the brain as well as other areas of the body.
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But this post is getting WAY too long!
I honestly could write a book on the subject - it's THAT big of a topic.
The above items represent a good percentage of my practices (& the supplements I take) - which I have found all benefit the brain, and in the repairing of damage caused to it from various bacteria & parasites.
'Hopefully this will be as of some use. :)
Yes, I agree that just by eating clean - avoiding fast foods, processed foods, sugars, chemical additives, etc... That a large percentage of our modern diseases will naturally disappear on their own. As they say: "you are, what you eat!!!" :)
I haven't seen any studies that say, that consuming more l-glutamine is harmful in any way..... People with Lyme & co-infections just seem to need 'more' of it than people without. I'd say, it never really hurts to try it.... and your son may in fact benefit greatly from it! If you buy it in powder form, the containers usually come with a: 5 gram (or 1 teaspoon) scoop. It is usually best if taken in between meals, with water (for flavoring I add in sometimes a bit of organic lemon juice). So 1 scoop, taken 3 times daily.
It never really hurts to do a liver detox every once in a while either!
I usually try to do 1-2 liver detoxes per year.
Yes, I'm 30 days into using the cinnamon oil now as well.. , I agree that when one starts taking 'any' new supplement - they should start off slowly. The same is true with all amino acids, including l-glutamine.
Generally speaking, from what I've read & heard - the only time people usually run into problems by taking l-glutamine (in a supplement form) is most often when they already have a prior issue with their liver.... Not because the l-glutamine does further damage to the liver, but because it just isn't able to be processed properly. The liver & eyes seem to be closely related to each other. Whenever I was prescribed a medication over the years - that was hard on the liver, it always manifested in my eyes first! Very often - I'd experience double vision, flashes in the eyes, vertigo/dizziness, etc.... all because my liver wasn't able to process these particular Rx's properly. :( Maybe that's possibly what you were experiencing?
She has returned back to school after missing 4 years of school due to Petite Mal Seizures from the parasites that attack the brain with Babesia. After treating with Cinnamon on and off for 5 months she is ready to go back to school. Let me say that last year, her freshman year she tested out at 4th grade math and English. A year later with absolutely no schooling she tested out again. This time Ore algebra and sophomore English
