question for rowing mom

Hi Rowingmom,

I read your very thorough post on low BH4 related to problems with ammonia, in addition to multiple pieces of information about various amino acids, and additional insight on mood and the way we feel. It was very informative. Albeit, I don't feel so great.

I have lyme disease, confirmed WB positive. I have not been tested for ammonia issues, but have a conviction that I have this problem. I get a headache when i eat protein by itself, a piece of fish, or chicken especially.

I was curious and went back into a lab from 3 months ago called Ion profile 40. It had some amino acid ratios that seem to indicate I have some sort of problem in this area with ammonia possibly. Although, the test did not include anything about BH4, i wish it did.

Anyway here is some data which marked as "high" and were red flagged.. many of these you discussed and had insight on:

Phenylalanine / tyrosine ratio = 1.30 high
Glutamic Acid / Glutamine ratio = 0.70 (a fraction from low 0.6)
Tryptophan / LLNA (large neutral amino acids) = 0.116 high

Non ratio numbers below mostly "normal"

Tyrosine by itself was 47 micro mol / L (normal range 45 -87)
Phenylalanine by itself 61 micro mol / L (normal 48-77)
Tryptophan by itself 66 (normal 39-69)
Glutamaic acid by itself 47 (normal 33 -136)
Glutamine 762 by itself 762(normal 458 -771)

The above 5 are not marked, but 4 of them are close to a high or low end.

It appears the ratios however, are way off. I know this is technical, i have already discussed with my doctor however and no insight, i dont think he knows much about the ammonia issues related to Lyme, he is not an LLMD. If you have any insight at all I appreciate your help. Thank you.

Our daughter is heterozygous for the A1298C MTHFR deletion, which can result in these symptoms/conditions:

http://mthfr.net/mthfr-a1298c-mutation-some-information-on-a1298c-mthfr-mutations/2011/11/30/

In my googling I did find some indication for the increased production of BH4 through sauna therapy, therefore the reason for my purchase of a near-ir sauna. We supplement low levels of l-methylfolate.

http://www.townsendletter.com/Nov2013/sauna1113.html

Amy Yasko has a good but complicated explanation of ammonia/CBS mutations/BH4.

http://www.dramyyasko.com/resources/autism-pathways-to-recovery/chapter-6/

I personally feel that even if you don't test positive for some of these genetic mutations, suffering from chronic infection will likely result in defective operation of the methylation cycle. I prefer trialling low doses of the suggested methylated vitamins, sauna, Epsom salt baths etc. to see where we stand in regards to detoxification/methylation.

I don't think I have ever posted on amino acids and neurotransmittors - don't know much about that.

Sorry I'm not of much help.

thanks to both of you above. The information you have provided has been enough to get me started in the right direction. Moreover, it has made me curious to start a quest for information and testing in this area of ammonia and toxins, seeing that my observations seem to coincide with others' experiences. I'll definitely be trying the Royal Jelly GainingKnowledge thank you.