Does anyone know how Christine McLaughlin is now? She kept blogs in 2012-14 detailing her experience with Dr. John Chia in Torrance, Calif. Or anyone else who has worked with him, I'm interested to know how patients do more long term. Do the modest improvements last, for those 50% who do improve on his treatments for enterovirus infections? Thanks!
Hello! I’m new here. Wish I had an update on Christine, but I don’t. However, I have been a patient of Dr. Chia’s since October 2019. In the last 2 months I’ve had 3 major breakthroughs that have improved my energy level from 20% to about 75%. First, I came to Dr. Chia already with a diagnosis of ME/CFS in Oct. 2018 from my MD. I completed the lab work which Chia requires and tested + for Coxsackie B-1 thru B-6, Chlamydia Pneumonia, etc. Without making an incredibly long list, I have SEVERAL additional chronic illnesses. I started on Russian Rejuvinator first and that helped my IBS right away. In about 1 month, I began taking 1/4 tab Equillibrant, increasing by 1/4 tab slowly to a total of about one per day. I developed Vertigo with vomiting and decreased Equillibrant. During this time I experimented with many supplements. I delayed my next appt. with Chia because I live 5 hours away and COVID. Was up to 1 + 1/4 tab Equillibrant per day then reduced Russian Rejuvinator and got another bout of Vertigo + vomiting every time I lifted my head. Didn’t realize until later because Chia told me that reducing the RR triggered this in the brain. Next visit with Chia he prescribed Lamuvidine. In the mean time my MD had prescribed Trazadone for sleep, Fetzima for depression . I couldn’t tolerate either one. So I began the Lamuvidine. It was rough physically, mentally and emotionally. In total I took it for about 4 weeks with a few breaks. But after I ceased, I experienced these improvements:
1) can walk 25 mins w/out resting; previously only 5 mins 2) greatly improved cognitive functioning 3) 95% improvement in multiple chemical sensitivities 4) 90% improvement in noise sensitivities 5) 99% improvement in muscle strength 5) I no longer have to use my shower chair 100% of the time. 6) Eosinophils lowered to the point of approaching “normal” range. I began reading 4-5 hours a day everything I could and making lists and developing my own personalized treatment plan. Prior to this I could read a little bit but I couldn’t think clearly enough to pull it all together and implement it consistently. As far as I was concerned, there’s no guarantee that I won’t relapse; just because I feel better now doesn’t mean the virus won’t begin replicating in the future. Around this same I began taking 5 grams of D-RIBOSE powder 3x per day as recommended by Dr. Sarah Myhill, Dr. Jacob Teitelbaum and Dr. Charles Lapp. After 14 days, I NO LONGER HAD AN UNSTABLE NECK. Cervical instability GONE. This is after 3 1/2 years of not being able to hold my head up-even when sitting. I then began intentionally eating lean protein and vegetables 3x per day and adding collagen peptides to my am coffee along with the D-Ribose after reading Myhill and Teitelbaum both stress the importance of critical essential amino acids and how they aid ATP production. Myhill actually states “Clunically, I expect to see less delayed fatigue and improvement in muscle pain and aching.” P. 77 I also began adding Vit C powder and mineral salts to my water.
One month ago today I began Acetyl L-Carnitine. 500 mg, (Lapp recommends more; will be increasing this soon) L-Glutathione Reduced 500 mg and Super Oxide Dismutase (SOD) 2O mg As of yesterday, I feel as though my energy level has increased another 10-15%. For the past 4 days, I’ve been able to go to bed and get up at approx. the same time. And when I go to bed I actually go to sleep WITHOUT the “tired but wired“ experience.
During the last week I’ve increased my Equillibrant dosage from 3x 1/4 per day to 3 x1/2 per day without any problem. I’m going to keep increasing as long as I can tolerate it because my recent lab work shows the presence of Coxsackie even after taking Lamuvidine ; my MD says what’s important is how I feel!!?!! Chia stated to me that when his son Andrew was ill with ME, he was taking up to EIGHEQUILLIBRANT PER DAY!!! He is fully recovered and working in the Bay Area as a physician for those that might not know his story.
When I couldn’t tolerate the Equillibrant (Sophora flavescence) I decided that I could take higher doses of the OTHER ingredients in Equillibrant which are: Vit A, Vit D, Calcium, Selenium, Astragalus root extract, Olive Leaf Extract and Shitake Mushroom Extract starting slowly with the last three especially.
I’ve also added whey protein and bone broth to my diet because of the specific amino acids. I cannot emphasize enough how important getting essential amino acids into your body’s everyday every 3-4 hours.
I highly recommend Dr. Sarah Myhill’s book “Diagnosis and Treatment of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Myalgic Encephalitis-it’s mitochondria, hypochondria. SECOND EDITION on Amazon. I’m represents practically every bit of knowledge she has acquired in 30+ years of treating ME patients in the UK. She explains EVERYTHING and tells you which labs to get and how to interpret them. Every chapter has a one to three page summary so you don’t have to read the whole chapter if you can’t. Teitelbaum and Lapp have lots of articles and videos on YouTube as well as Myhill.
I described a bit above in post #4. It's not a cure but I would be extraordinarily miserable without it.
Yeah exactly, flu like symptoms.
![ME/CFS lecture | Dr Nancy Klimas | 2011 [Chronic Fatigue Syndrome / SEID / New Zealand] - YouTube](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
