Live data from Hacker News

A bone-marrow transplant treated a patient’s leukemia – and his schizophrenia

nytimes.com

21–30 of 67 posts

Re: A bone-marrow transplant treated a patient’s leukemia – and his schizophrenia

#21

I've long suspected that my depression & OCD were caused by some immune response. It all started very suddenly when I had a very bad illness. Unfortunately I have yet to find a doctor that believes me and is willing to do anything other than giving me the standard medications.

There’s an illness called PANDAS in children that is very much like that, a key symptom is the OCD. The Cunningham panel test is used for diagnosis and can also be used by adults although there are no established diagnosis from this in adults. The test costs about $900. Treatment in children requires a smart doctor who is aware of the illness and who will get IVIG and/or plasmapheresis for the child. Both are incredibly expensive treatments.

There are also a number of very expensive autoimmune panels from Quest and Mayo Clinic for neurological stuff which can be worth running through, but only do these if your insurance will cover them, they’re up to 10k each, and the results aren’t necessarily going to help you in any way.

Diseases such as Lyme and mononucleosis are also known to cause a number of different autoimmune problems. Unfortunately doctors aren’t very good at recognizing this and it can take a long stressful odyssey to get properly diagnoses.

For some types of autoimmune illness there are some options such as Low Dose Naltrexone which work well for some people, but not others. In cases like Lyme, properly treating the illness and clearing the Lyme can eventually lead to the autoimmunity going away also.

(Note: in your case LDN has a big warning that in some people it can cause depression, I tried LDN and the depression it triggered was no joke, but it came on fairly shortly after starting and passed after stopping thankfully, and when I tried it again the same happened so it was clear what was happening. I just say this so if you do try it you are very aware and monitor yourself.)

Re: A bone-marrow transplant treated a patient’s leukemia – and his schizophrenia

#22

I've long suspected that my depression & OCD were caused by some immune response. It all started very suddenly when I had a very bad illness. Unfortunately I have yet to find a doctor that believes me and is willing to do anything other than giving me the standard medications.

Curious. Was it Epstein Barr virus? I never felt quite right since my mid 20's. Mononucleosis (glandular fever) and then a couple incidents of really bad food poisoning. On occasion, when I get the flu my cognition temporarily gets better.

Re: A bone-marrow transplant treated a patient’s leukemia – and his schizophrenia

#23

I've long suspected that my depression & OCD were caused by some immune response. It all started very suddenly when I had a very bad illness. Unfortunately I have yet to find a doctor that believes me and is willing to do anything other than giving me the standard medications.

If you haven’t tried the Wim Hof method, please give it a go. It might not work for you as well as it has for others, but it won’t cost you anything to try it.

I found it quite helpful if practiced regularly.

Re: A bone-marrow transplant treated a patient’s leukemia – and his schizophrenia

#24

I've long suspected that my depression & OCD were caused by some immune response. It all started very suddenly when I had a very bad illness. Unfortunately I have yet to find a doctor that believes me and is willing to do anything other than giving me the standard medications.

I treat my treatment resistant depression by inducing 101+ fever for half an hour each day. I started when I had to stop an allergy to the EMSAM patch. There are also medications that you might not have heard of. If you want, I can write more when I'm not on mobile.

I would like to know more.

Re: A bone-marrow transplant treated a patient’s leukemia – and his schizophrenia

#25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is an autoimmune theory of schizophrenia. Excess histamine can also cause OCD-like symptoms. Look into megadose vitamin D3 (+ K2 MK-4 + magnesium). Memantine + selank. Lowering inflammation.

I tried prescription memantine, both the generic and XR formulations. The brain fog startup side effect never went away for me, so I had to quit. I've never found a supplement that has actually done anything.

Did you taper 2.5 mg at a time every 3-4 days until taking 5-10 mg? Also add selank. Have you ever tried chelated/TRAACS magnesium? What else have you tried?

Do you have any nutrient deficiencies? Ever looked into nutrient tests like NutrEval? A comprehensive hormone panel? Thyroid panel? Genetic testing?

Re: A bone-marrow transplant treated a patient’s leukemia – and his schizophrenia

#26
post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I treat my treatment resistant depression by inducing 101+ fever for half an hour each day. I started when I had to stop an allergy to the EMSAM patch. There are also medications that you might not have heard of. If you want, I can write more when I'm not on mobile.

How do you induce a fever?

I'm guessing he uses a sauna.

Re: A bone-marrow transplant treated a patient’s leukemia – and his schizophrenia

#27
When penicillin was first used to treat syphilis, thousands of cured schizophrenics were released from mental asylums.

https://www.newsweek.com/diseases-mind-133263

I've apparently submitted this article three times, the last time 18 days ago. It's never gotten traction.

I have a long history of viewing mood issues and the like as somatopsychic side effects of medical issues. I tend to ask my sciency son to "Look up X" when I'm having an issue. I'm talented at asking the right questions. He's talented at getting back to me within an hour with the info I need, plus supporting links. Then I typically go eat a thing and stop being such a fruitcake.

Some things I've done:

Consumed foods containing rosemary or sage to calm extreme anxiety because I was clear it was brought on by withdrawal.

Consumed beef with potatoes to mediate the salt-lithium connection and prevent both woke bi-polar like mood swings and suicidal tendencies.

Consumed oranges for the vitamin c to put a stop to out of the blue rage.

See also:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16607422#16608139

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16140867

Re: A bone-marrow transplant treated a patient’s leukemia – and his schizophrenia

#28

I've long suspected that my depression & OCD were caused by some immune response. It all started very suddenly when I had a very bad illness. Unfortunately I have yet to find a doctor that believes me and is willing to do anything other than giving me the standard medications.

I used to participate in an alternative medicine community. Their explanation would be your illness "settled in the brain" and has never been fully cleared.

Re: A bone-marrow transplant treated a patient’s leukemia – and his schizophrenia

#29
post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I treat my treatment resistant depression by inducing 101+ fever for half an hour each day. I started when I had to stop an allergy to the EMSAM patch. There are also medications that you might not have heard of. If you want, I can write more when I'm not on mobile.

How do you induce a fever?

You can easily induce a 102 degree fever with a very hot bath.

Re: A bone-marrow transplant treated a patient’s leukemia – and his schizophrenia

#30
post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How do you induce a fever?

You can easily induce a 102 degree fever with a very hot bath.

Not for half an hour, unless you have someone patient with a kettle.

I have seen one journal abstract where that that was used, but I don't know the details. There are better methods though, if you have the budget of a hospital or research center, such as IR lights filtered through water. There's also a article outlining various methods of inducing hyperthermia.

Post reply on HN