Hi timeleft,
I don’t really know why my PMs are blocked, I’ll try to look into that. You can reply to me in whichever way is comfortable for you.
Please see the posting I just made to jennyc for more info on TMAU.
About your parents, sometimes parents of many people in this forum who were diagnosed with TMAU don’t seem to detect the odor that perhaps perfect strangers do in a social setting. This does torment the person with the odor because it only confuses him/her. Other time, like in my husband’s and my case, we detected it on my son before he himself did. My son’s odor was so extremely intense, that everyone around him noticed. However, somehow my parents, who are his grandparents, never did notice in these past 8 years. They had entered into his room many times, and still didn’t notice it, and we could never figure out how that could be possible. I guess some people just don’t have a keen sense of smell.
About a brand, I don’t really know which would be better; I just shop primarily based on the price of the product. I found the activated charcoal at just about every pharmacy in the digestive aide section, and the Vitamin B2 (riboflavin) only in some pharmacies, not all. However, the Copper Chlorophyllin was nowhere to be found, so I looked it up online. I did some price shopping, and found that the chlorophyllin ranged from $24.00/U.S. (way too expensive for me) to
$16.49 (chlorophyllin with zinc)
http://www.betterlife.com/prod_home_page.asp?prod_id=28213
to $6.48 (chlorophyllin with alfalfa powder).
http://store.thecatalog.com/2645.html
My son originally started with the one with the alfalfa powder, and it worked well for him, and it was good on a short-term basis. However, people have been telling me that chlorophyllin contains copper and copper accumulation is not good for your body, so you need zinc to neutralize the copper for the long-run. I just ordered the chlorophyllin with zinc for him today, and it’ll take about a week to get here. Meanwhile, he’s taking the one with alfalfa powder.
http://www.betterlife.com
also sells the activated charcoal for $5.95 on up based on the brand name, and vitamin B2 from $4.49, and castor oil for $1.92. My son used the castor oil to RUB ON HIS LOWER ABDOMEN (not to drink it) to clean out his intestines. You should only do this one time, and then be ready for possible uncontrollable diarrhea the following morning. But right afterwards, be ready to restore your intestines with any of the high-fiber foods listed on the low-choline list.
http://store.thecatalog.com/2645.html
doesn’t carry activated charcoal, sells the Vitamin B2 for $4.12, and castor oil for $4.71.
You might want to compare the total prices of each including shipping cost because I think it’ll come out cheaper to get them all in one place in order to not have to pay shipping costs twice.
The acidophilus needed to restore the “friendly bacteria” in your gut after the cleansing is probably going to be a little more expensive since you should purchase it in person directly at a health food store because you need to be certain that it has been refrigerated at all times or the bacteria dies at room temperature. If you will have difficulty affording this item, then you can also get a smaller dose of this acidophilus in yogurts. Make sure you restore your intestines with any of the high fiber foods listed on the low-choline diet, especially if you can't get the acidophilus.
If after your odor goes away with this treatment, you can slowly try foods that have a higher choline content just to see if the odor comes back. If it does, the supplements will take care of it, and you’ll need to return to your low-choline diet right away. Then, to see if you have TMAU, you’ll need to be tested, but your parents would have to approve and arrange for you to have it. Meanwhile, the diet and supplements can hold you off odor-free, and you will feel much better in social settings.
Although the short-term treatment recommended by the U.S. National Institute of Health, should not harm you, you should tell your parents that you are planning on doing this just to see if the odor goes away. PLEASE REMEMBER THAT the Institute of Medicine, National Academy of Sciences states that the adequate daily intake of choline for male adults is 550mg and for female adults is 425mg. Explain to them that some people may not notice your odor, but other people react very strongly to it. In case you can’t smell it yourself, all you need to do is to lick the palm of your hand and smell the saliva. You may be able to smell it then. Also, keep in mind that just because you have
Body Odor does not mean that you have TMAU. There are many other causes of BO and this forum is full of suggestions. I am just mostly informed on the TMAU treatment.
Let me or anyone else in this forum know if you have any questions or concerns that you would like us to answer for you.
Best of luck,
mpdela