Scoliosis & Vitamin B12 Deficiency

[foofer]

1 successful stepchild (although it took many years of hard work and patience )
3 successful full term pregnancies, the first two were C- sections
1 miscarriage
1 husband
____________

= 6 ....whoa, no wonder I'm tired

[AndreaM]

0 future kids, lol.

I should have said I only have one twin pregnancy but three kids. I count my husband. (smiley face) JUST KIDDING!!!

1 successful stepchild (although it took many years of hard work and patience )

Mmm... well it looks like miscarriage is a noticeable occurrence for we Scoliotic mothers. My own mother (who doesn't have Scoliosis and had five other trouble-free pregnancies) told me that she bled constantly with me and had a really horrible pregnancy. I suspect my father was the one who passed on the defective gene and perhaps this is what was my Mum's body was fighting against. I'm also rhesus negative. Who knows?

[Pooka1]

Actually the rate of miscarriage is pretty high for everyone, not just mothers of kids with scoliosis. A quick scan shows it to be ~15-20% of known pregnancies and another study showed it to the about 1/3 of all pregnancies.

This high loss rate may reflect how many things an go wrong in early gestation.

It is also why it has been correctly point out the the most prolific abortionist is any deity that might be out there, NOT any OB/GYN.

[rohrer01]

My question may have been misunderstood. I meant how many moms that have scoliosis have recurrent mc's? (I also have a scolichild)... The other information is also useful.

[AndreaM]

Hi rohrer,

I took it that's what you meant. I also see from a comment you made on another thread about magnesium that you have trouble falling asleep. This is yet another symptom of B12 deficiency. It interferes with the production of the sleep hormones and, even although you feel exhausted, you can't physically fall asleep, not helped of course by the frequent leg cramps and maybe jerking limbs which start minutes after lying down.

Prior to me starting B12 treatment, I had to knock myself out with strong painkillers just to try to get a couple of hours sleep and peace from the excruciating leg cramps.

Andrea

[rohrer01]

Yes, sleep is an issue along with exhaustion. I don't get leg cramps, though. I do jerk awake which is really annoying. I get really bad muscle spasms in my back. Ouch!

[Doreen1]

June of last year I went to PCP because I was experience multiple symptoms: dizziness, loss of memory, exhaustion, twitching, etc. Doc felt I had all the symptoms of MS. After many tests, a neurologist determined I was low on B12. I've been doing weekly injections of 1,000mcg which have helped tremendously. Nascobal is a B12 nasal spray that I alternate with the injections because I loathe the shots. Since Nascobal only comes in 500mcg dose, one week is x1 shot 1,000mcg, next week is two sprays of Nascobal x500mcg each.

It wasn't until I joined this forum that I started thinking there was a correlation between scoliosis and B12 deficiency. I'm also low on vit D; measured 33 on the normal range of 32-100 and am seeing an endocrinologist next week.

In regards to pregnancies, I had x2 full term and x2 MC.

Warmly,
Doreen

[AndreaM]

At the beginning of this thread I mentioned a condition called Homocystinuria, and how I suspected I may have a form of it. After four years of perseverance, I have finally managed to get the genetic testing done and - yes - I do have the condition.

I have been subjected to ridicule, scepticism and resistance from the medical profession and others and it is most satisfying to now have the actual proof that I was right all along. I have various mutations in some of the genes in the methylation cycle, including two in the CBS gene responsible for homocystinuria.

It now gives me answers as to why I have scoliosis, tooth-crowding, severe functional deficiencies of B12 and folate and an inability to detoxify heavy metals. It also may explain mental retardation, eye problems and seizures in one of my brothers.

As to the scoliosis, it is one of the possible symptoms of homocystinuria but it isn't known why it develops. However, a possible explanation may be that a build-up of heavy metals (particularly mercury) occurs, as it did in me, and mercury is already known to affect skeletal muscle fibres.

At last I now have neurologists, biochemists and endocrinologists working with me, rather than against me, and congratulating me for my tenacity in refusing to be put off.

[jillw]

Wow, thank goodness you tracked that down. Thanks for sharIng your uPdate. It may prove very helpful to some people.

[mariaf]

Actually the rate of miscarriage is pretty high for everyone, not just mothers of kids with scoliosis. A quick scan shows it to be ~15-20% of known pregnancies and another study showed it to the about 1/3 of all pregnancies.

This high loss rate may reflect how many things an go wrong in early gestation.

It is also why it has been correctly point out the the most prolific abortionist is any deity that might be out there, NOT any OB/GYN.

Good point. I, myself, do not have scoliosis and have had 3 children (2 by C-Section). I also had a miscarraige between my 2nd and 3rd child. So that seems in keeping with what most mothers (scoliosis and non-scoliosis) experience - and pretty much around where the data points (somewhere between every one in five pregnancies resulting in miscarriage, to every one in three resulting in miscarraige).

My daughter (2nd child) was also 4 weeks early. I think that more often than there being a reason, most times these things 'just happen' and nobody, including the doctors, knows why.

[flerc]

mercury is already known to affect skeletal muscle fibres.

It seems to be difficult to avoid it since seas are contaminated. Which is the best chelation method? Not everyone likes cilantro, onion or garlic. I'm buying spirulina but I'm not sure if it is safe.

[AndreaM]

It seems to be difficult to avoid it since seas are contaminated

By far the worst source is dental amalgam as it is right in your mouth in substantial amounts, giving a constant low-level trickle feed of mercury vapour into your surrounding tissue and lungs.

Which is the best chelation method?

The subject of chelation is a minefield and I personally would not recommend tackling it without proper supervision. Some people use chelating agents but they are not predictable and can redistribute the mercury if not done properly. Also, some people don't react well to them. Rather than go into a lengthy explanation, I suggest you read the following topic: http://www.scoliosis.org/forum/showt...-Metal-Allergy

You will see that I attracted some quite negative responses, and indeed some posts were removed from the end of the topic (although I do still have a copy of them) but, for me, I now see that due to the nature of the defects I have, it was vital for me to remove as much mercury as possible from my body as I can't personally detoxify it.

Just be careful with spirulina. Although it is one ingredient sometimes advised for chelation, it also contains a B12 analog which mimics VitB12 but is thought to stop the absorption of true B12 from your food. This means that if you have difficulty metabolising B12, you may well make a deficiency worse but it will not be reflected in your serum level as it will still show up in a serum test as B12 due to the test not being able to differentiate between true B12 and the other much greater inert portion called haptocorrin.

[AndreaM]

I thought is relevant to include the following article about Homocystinuria. It is from the Metabolic Disorders Unit of a children's hospital in Ireland, which is quite appropriate since the prevalence of homocystinuria in Ireland is much greater than the general worldwide prevalence - 1 in 65,000 as opposed to 1 in 344,000 (although the article does indicate that these figures may be underestimated).

Of particular interest is the fact that scoliosis is indicated as a frequent abnormality in these children, and kyphosis as a less frequent one (see page 3):

https://www.orpha.net/data/patho/GB/uk-CbS.pdf

[AndreaM]

Another summary of homocystinuria and the presence of scoliosis:

http://www.empowher.com/media/reference/homocystinuria

[flerc]

By far the worst source is dental amalgam as it is right in your mouth in substantial amounts, giving a constant low-level trickle feed of mercury vapour into your surrounding tissue and lungs.

Yes, I was thinking time ago in remove it from my mouth.. fortunatelly my sons haven't ammalgams with mercury and are not used any more, only by some few dentists.. the problem is that other other kind of amalgams seems to be safe but ineffective.

The subject of chelation is a minefield and I personally would not recommend tackling it without proper supervision. Some people use chelating agents but they are not predictable and can redistribute the mercury if not done properly. Also, some people don't react well to them. Rather than go into a lengthy explanation, I suggest you read the following topic: http://www.scoliosis.org/forum/showt...-Metal-Allergy

You will see that I attracted some quite negative responses, and indeed some posts were removed from the end of the topic (although I do still have a copy of them) but, for me, I now see that due to the nature of the defects I have, it was vital for me to remove as much mercury as possible from my body as I can't personally detoxify it.

Of course it not surprise me, is what that people does. Fortunately you continuos here.
I'm looking about that kind of information since months ago. Heavy metals seems to be terrible and I'm worry because my daughter eats considerable amounts of atun. I agree because is surely her main source of B12, but surely is contaminated.. I doubt so much about the quality of the B12 in milk and she don't eat liver.

Just be careful with spirulina. Although it is one ingredient sometimes advised for chelation, it also contains a B12 analog which mimics VitB12 but is thought to stop the absorption of true B12 from your food. This means that if you have difficulty metabolising B12, you may well make a deficiency worse but it will not be reflected in your serum level as it will still show up in a serum test as B12 due to the test not being able to differentiate between true B12 and the other much greater inert portion called haptocorrin.

I knew is not assimilable by humans, but not that can block his absortion.. it would really very dangerous.. I have read that is the main part of the astronaut's diet because nothing has so many nutrients in so few space.. I was thinking in chlorella, but I don't like the fact that the walls must to be broken in order to may be assimilable.. and new super algaes are so much new.