[2manyfibers]

I just wanted to say how glad I am to know that you’re feeling better Carla and that I may have helped a little. I can’t take much credit for it – God designed the true miracle of DNA (by my own personal belief) to use specific nutrients in order to literally build, repair and maintain our bodies, so the credit has to go to Him. My research and my own experience have simply taught me many things about how our DNA works and the nutrients we need for our DNA to accomplish what God designed it to do, so I’m glad to share what I’ve learned with you. The human body is literally a chemical reaction in itself and it can’t work efficiently or effectively if you don’t have proper amounts of ALL the chemicals (nutrients) DNA needs to perform its miracles of creating and maintaining the human body.

If you've read most of my posts, you're probably aware that it is my belief that regardless of the cause of Morgellons (or practically any other medical condition for that matter), providing the body with all the nutrients needed for DNA to do its work can be an effective means of treatment, particularly over the long term. The body can't be as healthy as possible without ALL the nutients it needs (including the skin, the immune system, the cardiovascular system, etc.). Many people aren't aware that antibiotics generally suppress the immune system (suppress some activities of the immune system and kill "good" bacteria as well as bad). The only reliable way of enhancing the immune system over the long term that I am aware of is proper nutrition. Also, the body can't produce collagens and keratins properly or in the quantities needed (which are the proteins skin is made of) without enough of the nutrients required for DNA to produce these proteins. These are the major reasons why I believe nutrition may be the best defense against all disease including Morgellons.

I’ve compiled a list of things I would recommend (the same basic list I provided Carla) along with some information on each supplement for those who would like to try this. I know salt is used in the treatment protocol for Morgellons although I don’t know that I would consider it to be a “nutritional supplement” per se. However, it’s a good idea for whatever salt you use (whether as a Morgellons treatment, or just in cooking or as table salt) to use a good quality “mineral” salt (not the “refined” iodized salt you’re probably used to). Salt is actually sodium chloride (NaCL2) and the body requires sodium (and it is a key electrolyte in the body). “Mineral” salts (like sea salt and other types) also contain many other minerals including sodium and they are usually healthier for consumption than “standard” table salt under any circumstances. Some things to consider when taking vitamin supplements are:

o The Recommended Daily Allowances for nutrients don’t take body mass (size or weight) into account and the recommendations also are geared more for providing just enough of the given nutrients required to prevent serious deficiencies that readily result in medical problems – they are not necessarily the amounts needed for optimum health in most cases. This is particularly true with vitamin C – the RDA was recently raised to 90 mg daily for men, but most researchers believe this is a pitifully inadequate amount (that barely prevents scurvy) and that the body really needs much more on a daily basis for optimum health.

o Natural vitamins are better absorbed by the body and are safer than synthetic “equivalents” – the synthetic ones are generally cheaper as well. It’s worth the small additional cost to get natural vitamins as opposed to synthetic ones (and you can find the natural ones really cheap sometimes – the internet has better prices here in the states generally). Although there are several manufacturers and distributors available on the internet, I personally prefer Puritans Pride based on my own experience (http://www.puritan.com). They currently have a “buy 1 get 2 free” sale on their products (which are reasonably priced anyway) and the shipping cost is $3.95 to anywhere in the USA for any size order (my orders usually arrive within 4 or 5 days - and I think their international shipping rates are reasonable as well). Nutrition Express is another internet website for supplements that I have been pleased with. Stores like GNC and “Whole Foods” here in the USA carry good vitamins but are generally more expensive.

o Some companies use dangerous chemicals as binding agents (although in very small amounts – still there is no need for this except being cheap). For instance, Walmart’s “brand” of zinc contains ethylene glycol as a binding agent (which is a poison – you may recognize it as the ingredient used in car anti-freeze). Check the ingredients before you buy – vegetable stearates and cellulose (and similar things) are used in natural vitamins for binders and fillers.

o Supplements are not an overnight “fix” for medical problems. It takes time for our DNA to use these “new” nutrients to make up for deficiencies that may have been occurring over a long period of time. Thus, be patient and give them time to work – it may take several weeks for them to have a noticeable impact depending on your own individual circumstances.

o Keep in mind that the supplements listed below are intended for adults, NOT CHILDREN. Children’s bodies operate differently than an adult’s and supplements intended for adults can harm children (their body mass is also far less than an adults). I can post some information on my own personal opinions for giving supplements to children if anybody is interested.


Here's the vitamins I would recommend as a general regimen for adults:

1) a good quality natural multivitamin (take it according to the label directions – higher quality multivitamins generally require that you take more than one capsule or tablet per day because they have more different things in them than lower quality ones – and natural nutrients may not be as “concentrated” as synthetic chemical “equivalents”). You can get them cheaper over the web than at stores here in the US - they will contain good quantities of a lot of different vitamins and minerals (including vitamin C, beta carotene, B vitamins, zinc, silica, copper and a whole lot of other stuff). If you’re a vegetarian, you probably get a good bit of beta carotene already (carrots are very high in it - 1 cup cooked or raw has about 25,000 IU - peppers are a good source too) so you may not need to take a separate supplement for it (the multivitamin I take contains 10,000 IU of beta carotene / carotenoids). A really good quality multivitamin eliminates the need for a lot of other supplements because they have good amounts of the most used and most important vitamins - you want natural vitamins if possible because the body absorbs and uses them more effectively than synthetic equivalents (the big name brand multivitamins in stores here in the US generally use synthetic chemical “equivalents” – brands like Centrum, One-a-Day, etc.). In fact, the few studies done that show any danger from taking certain vitamins were based on these synthetic vitamins (which are man-made, chemical “equivalents” of natural vitamins) – I’m not aware of any studies that have shown natural vitamins to cause any problems when taken in proper dosages. You can usually get a good idea by looking at the vitamin E in a multivitamin – natural vitamins use d-alpha tocopheryl while synthetic ones use dl-alpha tocopheryl (if it has the letter "L" after the "d" it isn't natural). A good multivitamin should have at least 100 IU of vitamin E if not more. Also it should have vitamin A as beta carotene (some of the better ones also use retinyl acetate or alpha carotene in addition to beta carotene as well) - if the label just says vitamin A (without saying that it is in the form of beta carotene), it isn't a natural form. Also, if you’re a woman, you want a good women's multivitamin - the balance of nutrients is different from men's multivitamins and they have iron where men's multivitamins generally don't (or men’s don’t have as much iron).

2) Zinc - try to get a dosage of about 25 mg (the multivitamin should have about 15 mg in it) and take one a day so you don't get too much (too much can deplete copper although it doesn't necessarily (more than 40 mg a day) - you need copper for bones andskin). Zinc is very important for the immune system and is required for the production of more than 300 enzymes in the body (including the enzymes necessary to produce collagens and keratins). Many studies have shown that dosages up to 75 mgs per day are quite safe and more zinc is needed as we age, so if you are over 60 or so, 75 milligrams total including diet and supplements should be ok (I have taken 50 mgs per day for about 25 years with about 15 mg more in a multivitamin and am quite certain that zinc has never caused me any problems in and of itself).

3) Flaxseed Oil (or fish oil) – take according to the label directions. Flaxseed oil provides the omega 3 and omega 6 fats that are supposed to be good for your heart and circulatory system as you get older (you can take fish oil, but I can't stand the aftertaste of it). You need more Omega 3 than 6 but the body also needs omega 9 fatty acids as well. Some of the "better" fish oils have all 3 fatty acids and also contain Eicosapentaenoic Acid (which is also known as (and more easily spelled) as EPA) and Docosohexaenoic Acid (DHA) that are a natural part of fish oil which are supposed to be beneficial as well. The human body can make Omega 9 fatty acid, EPA and DHA out of Omega 3 and Omega 6 fatty acids (which the flaxseed oil contains) when enough of the B vitamins are present (these B vitamins should be in your multivitamin in good quantities - Thiamin (which is B1), Riboflavin (which is B2), Niacin (which is B3), vitamin B6, Biotin (which is B7), Folic acid (which is B9) and vitamin B12). They are required to initiate this chemical reaction to transform some of the Omega 3 and 6 fatty acids into the others in the human body (the fish already made all of them in their bodies). Since I hated the fish oil so badly I started taking flaxseed oil instead along with a high quality multivitamin that has plenty of the B vitamins. Based on the known chemistry, I'm pretty sure that I get all the benefits of the fish oil without having to taste fish all day.

4) A good quality amino acid supplement (especially if you’re a vegetarian or don’t eat a good quantity of meat regularly) - most of the amino acids needed by the body (at least in good quantities) are found in meats (vegetables have some, but not very much). The body needs about 20 amino acids for your DNA to be able to perform its functions most effectively and a good supplement will contain most if not all of them. The amino acids are critical to forming proteins (which is much of what the body is made of). Two of the most important amino acids (particularly for heart disease) are lysine and proline because they are the 2 most used amino acids for producing collagens and keratins – a good amino acid supplement should contain plenty of both. If you eat a lot of meat, you probably don’t need an amino acid supplement – if you’re a vegetarian, you pretty much require one to get all the amino acids your body needs (it’s extremely difficult to get all the amino acids you need from a strictly vegetarian diet). Depending on your body weight (the less you weigh, the less you will need) you may simply want to follow the recommended dosage or adjust accordingly (for instance if you are small, you may want to take half the recommended dosage every other day and the regular dosage the other days).

5) Vitamin C - I would recommend 1,000 to 3,000 mg of vitamin C daily (split the dosages during the day if you can - this is true with all vitamin supplements). Based on my research, I believe vitamin C may be the closest thing there is to being a true “wonder drug”. In addition to being required for collagen production in the body (and collagen makes up about a third of the volume of proteins in the body including the structural foundation for the skin, blood vessels and every organ in the body), vitamin C boosts the immune system several ways (collagen fibers in the body are also critical to the immune system – some cancer research shows that if these fibers are dense enough they can “trap” cancerous cells which prevents them from spreading as rapidly and allows the immune system more time to attack them). Also, vitamin C boosts the adrenal response of the body to stress. Another thing vitamin C does is help create hydrogen peroxide in the blood stream (I didn’t realize the body creates hydrogen peroxide as part of the immune system until I did all this research). Part of the natural immune system response to “invaders” is for white blood cells to attack them and “zap” them with oxygen in the hydrogen peroxide (enzymes then destroy what’s left of the invaders). Generous doses of vitamin C help the body generate more H2O2 filled white blood cells – it also helps lower LDL cholesterol levels and elevates HDL cholesterol levels (comparably to statins according to several studies). If “standard” vitamin C bothers your stomach, you can take “ester C” products which are easier on the stomach for some people. Ester C is usually not recommended for people with heart disease because they contain a lot of calcium (although there are some ester C products available that don’t contain much calcium).

6) Coenzyme Q 10 (CoQ10) – for patients with heart disease, therapeutic doses generally range between 100 to 200 milligrams per day (a little less for people that don’t have heart disease). The importance of CoQ10 is a relatively recent "discovery" by medical science in the US. Coenzyme Q10 was discovered by US researchers in the 1950's but since the body makes it naturally from other vitamins (vitamin C, B vitamins and others) they couldn't patent it so they sold their research to Japanese researchers. Recent medical research indicates that CoQ10 is responsible for providing as much as 95% of the body's energy requirements. It has been used in Japan by prescription since the early 1970's (over the counter in the US now) to prevent strokes, treat congestive heart failure and it is being studied for many other things including Parkinson's and Alzheimers. One Japanese study using dogs showed it's effectiveness at preventing strokes. One group of dogs was given moderate doses of CoQ10 while the other group was not given any CoQ10. In the dogs that didn't receive CoQ10, the researchers were able to induce a stroke any time they tried - in the group of dogs that were given CoQ10 the researchers were completely unable to induce a stroke in a single instance no matter what they tried. Some cardiologists are starting to recognize the benefits of CoQ10 and recommending it for their patients. The body makes CoQ10 less efficiently as we age so as you get older, your body needs more CoQ10 (for instance, you may want to take 50 or so milligrams per day in your 40’s and gradually increase the dosage to say between 100 and 150 milligrams per day as you as get into your 60’s and 70’s as a normal therapeutic dosage). I’m in my mid 40’s and take a dose of 30 mg twice a day currently.

7) Garlic tablets – I’m not sure of the dosages available in the UK, but I’ve used 400 mg enteric coated tablets here in the states (enteric coated tablets are designed to dissolve in the small intestine rather than the stomach, so they don’t cause “after taste” or “garlic breath” problems). The garlic provides sulfur (33 natural compounds of it) and also helps thin the blood slightly and also has anti-parasitic properties (sulfur is required for the productions of collagens and keratins which are the 2 major structural proteins needed for skin and flesh, including the blood vessels and organs). If you read some of my posts, you may be aware that I am certain the body can get too much sulfur if it is combined with other nutrients, but you have to take an awful lot of it as a supplement for this to occur. It is something to be careful with over the long term – I’m sure sulfur is the main thing that caused my problem of excess fibers in my skin, but I was taking about 3,000 mg daily (supplemental) between a garlic tablet and MSM and other "sulfates" in some of the other supplements I took (and also getting a lot of natural sulfur because I eat a lot of meat – meat has sulfurous amino acids which the body converts to “nutritional” sulfur) and it took me many years to build too much of it so I’m not trying to scare you away from it - just don't take too much over a long period of time in conjunction with zinc, vitamin C and beta carotene supplements). I would think 1 garlic tablet a day would be plenty for most people and would be unlikely to cause problems over the long term (if you eat a lot of meat, maybe a garlic tablet 2 to 3 times a week would be more prudent).

Magnesium – around 200 to 300 milligrams supplemental daily. Magnesium is a key electrolyte in the body so it is very important in regulating blood pressure. Magnesium is also required by the body for the production of more than 300 enzymes in the body (in addition to the 300 enzymes that require zinc to be produced). Enzymes are critical to good health because the body can’t produce complex proteins (that literally construct and maintain the body) and other substances needed by the body without the chemical catalysts necessary to initiate a chemical reaction between the nutrients required to produce these things. Magnesium is generally easier to get from diet than many other minerals, so you may need a little more or less than shown above depending on what you actually eat (the US RDA for magnesium is 400 mg daily total from diet and supplements). I personally have started taking a calcium / magnesium / vitamin D supplement (vitamin D is required to absorb calcium and a good calcium supplement will contain vitamin D as well). Based on my diet, I take half of what the label recommends. People with heart disease may not want to take a calcium supplement as some research shows that calcium can build up in the artery walls if they are already damaged – however, this is usually because the body doesn’t have the other nutrients (like lysine and vitamin D) needed to absorb it effectively and utilize it properly. If you have heart problems you may want to consult your physician or do more research before taking a calcium supplement.