Clinical Trial

I went to the ALS clinic the other day as part of volunteering for a clinical trial of the antioxidant COQ10. You can buy this over the counter, and everyone is taking it. I was too. So it's not like this trial will cure me. I guess they just want evidence on whether or not it helps.

To make me eligible for the trial, I haven't been taking creatine since August 18. I think that's why I've been feeling more fatigued for about a month.

I used this blog to remind myself of stuff. The doctor said:

1. To avoid losing weight when traveling disrupts your routine, take along those dietary supplements (like Ensure) to give yourself an extra 300 calories or more per day.


2. If you get a common illness like cold or flu, take dietary supplements then, too.


3. The syndrome I have of coughing for weeks or months after getting a cough from a cold may be Reactive Airway Disease. It's related to asthma, and is associated with eczema, such as the eczema I have near my ankle.

My Forced Vital Capacity (FVC) was 92 percent, down from 97 percent at my time of diagnosis. So still strong. Hoo-ah!

My blood pressure was down to a nice 128/81, but they measured me as only 5'9 3/4." The same clinic measured me at 5' 11" in 2004. I think they made a mistake this time, and told them so, but they went with it. This may have raised my score a point or two on the FVC, since they base that in part on your height.

I picked up my Lose Dose Naltrexone (2 mg q24) the other day. However the clinic tells me I cannot take that and be in the trial at the same time. So guide me:

Can you help make my medical decision?
	Participate in the COQ10 study.
	Back out of the study and start taking the creatine and Low Dose Naltrexone
	Back out of the study and start taking the creatine, but not the LDN.
	Other
Free polls from Pollhost.com

Any Soldier update: I got a thank-you note back the other day from a soldier I mailed some magazines and a 16 MB digital camera memory stick to. 16 MB is just tiny, and I'm not sure anyone would use it, but it might come in handy if one of theirs broke and they needed a temporary replacement. She thanked me very nicely anyway.