Keeping Death In Check

[rovingjack]

well this reaction has been very very rough on me. and emotionally I'm a bit of a wreck right now.

It's looking increasingly like all the foods I use to safely eat, are now a risk for severe allergic reaction. and I'm not sure there are enough option available to keep my body going healthfully.

and even if I pull off a miracle, the fear nags at me "what'll happen the next time a new dietary problem comes along?" Because they just keep coming along and knocking options out from under me.

[Prof. Cecily]

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen.
I'm sorry to hear about the reaction, Jack.
Why do you think it's a reaction to all the vegetables and not a reaction to just one element of your daily diet?
Have you thought of going with Prof. Marvel's recommendation of plain fish with boiled rice to rest your system?

Take care!
I remain yours,
Prof. Cecily

[Kensington Locke]

is it possible to do more science on the diet.

For instance, assuming Corn is the issue, how is that related to soy sauce?

Or with cooking the vegetables together, how are we confirming what is what?

Is it possible to prepare (or eat raw) each vegetable (like carrots) separately (after washing/sterilizing the cookware).  Like people with shellfish allergies can't have anything prepared in the same pan ever.

I would suggest looking at the estimated time of reaction after eating.  let's say that's one hour.

start with a clean stomach (4+ hours after last meal) and a stable set of life stats (not feeling extra sick, etc).

eat a carrot, wait  1.5 hours

drink a dribble of soy sauce, wait 1.5 hours.

etc.

If no reaction, that item is likely cleared off the danger list.  If you get a reaction, well, now you know.

Obviously, don't go nuts if something's dangerous, but you need to isolate ingredients if you are going to figure out if it is specific foods.

Also consider DNA testing.  I have people who have had DNA tests done and found they had the gene that meant they couldn't absorb vitamin D (like from the sun).  Or regular B vitamins didn't absorb.  Which caused cascade issues with deficiencies in those vitamins like thyroid issue-like symptoms, migraines, tiredness, etc.  One person with one of those genes also suffers from extreme food allergies and acute joint pain.  Her case got better once she got diagnosed with the faulty gene and took the variant vitamin B things (don't recall the technical name).

[rovingjack]

Right now I've been eating nothing but fish, bananas and rice (and rice cakes) since friday night. It has me at least functional.

It seems the low blood sugar, and reaction to food go hand in hand. because later in the same day as the last reaction my blood sugar was below 70 again, but since then I can eat bananas a ricecakes at 8 pm and the next day at noon have blood sugar in the low 80s high 70s. which is normal.

still losing weight though. Think I'll try adding some canola oil for fats.

I'd try each vegetable alone if I were under observation in a place where and when it was safe to do so. Not on the second floor of a building with auto locking front door in winter weather, 20 minutes from an ambulance. and I'm not sure I'd want to repeat that performance 7 times. to figure out what is and isn't going to cause a reaction. I know something in those 7 caused it. I'll avoid those until a week from today when I go in for an allergy test. They will skin test me, and odds are I'll not react that way as my skin doesn't respond to that sort of thing in the past. and they say they may try blood tests. I might see if I can rope them into a oral trial. Basically eat something in front of them and wait for a reaction.

My logic is thus: carrots are high nutrition (which is why I have it as a staple food), if the skin test doesn't react, and the blood test doesn't show it, but eating does, it at the very least suggests a need to try other allergens the same way for accurate results for me. If carrots show up on skin tests, but poultry or ham do not, I can eat one of those and see about reactions to those. If they don't cause reaction after eating I have options for calories and protein, if they do they again imply needing to try eating challenge to diagnose certain foods. If I react to all of those on skin tests, but not squash then food test squash and see about reacting there.

If I either react to them all through skin test or multiple eating tests in the office I can then press the questions of salicylate sensativty as the culprit reaction, or possible mast cell issues needing further diagnostics.

If I don't try it that way, or if they won't let me try the taste testing in office they will likely just dismiss me to my own home, saying there is nothing wrong with me. and I cannot afford multiple emergency room visits (for those that don't know, the US makes the sick pay for the ambulance ride, the emergency room consultation, all medecines used [at an inflated price no less] and any and all proceedures, even down to the inserting of the IV and the lab tests and drawing of blood; I can expect several hundred dollars cost per emergency room visit that way, and my insurance doesn't cover the first 500$ per month).

Basically if they can't find a threat to my life in the hour time slot they have me scheduled for then there is nothing wrong with me and they send me home.

[Prof. Cecily]

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen.

is it possible to do more science on the diet.

For instance, assuming Corn is the issue, how is that related to soy sauce?

Or with cooking the vegetables together, how are we confirming what is what?

Is it possible to prepare (or eat raw) each vegetable (like carrots) separately (after washing/sterilizing the cookware).  Like people with shellfish allergies can't have anything prepared in the same pan ever.

I would suggest looking at the estimated time of reaction after eating.  let's say that's one hour.

start with a clean stomach (4+ hours after last meal) and a stable set of life stats (not feeling extra sick, etc).

eat a carrot, wait  1.5 hours

drink a dribble of soy sauce, wait 1.5 hours.

etc.

If no reaction, that item is likely cleared off the danger list.  If you get a reaction, well, now you know.

Obviously, don't go nuts if something's dangerous, but you need to isolate ingredients if you are going to figure out if it is specific foods.

Also consider DNA testing.  I have people who have had DNA tests done and found they had the gene that meant they couldn't absorb vitamin D (like from the sun).  Or regular B vitamins didn't absorb.  Which caused cascade issues with deficiencies in those vitamins like thyroid issue-like symptoms, migraines, tiredness, etc.  One person with one of those genes also suffers from extreme food allergies and acute joint pain.  Her case got better once she got diagnosed with the faulty gene and took the variant vitamin B things (don't recall the technical name).

Thanks for posting up such a sensible method of isolating food allergy issues, Kensington Locke.

Jack, since you tolerate bananas well, you know that natural fructose is not an allergy issue. I wonder if you haven't developed a  sensitivity, if not an outright allergy to maize, as Prof. Marvel suggested. Corn syrup is everywhere, alas.

I'm glad you're following Prof. Marvel's advise on a simple diet to quieten your system!

I remain yours,
Prof. Cecily

[Prof Marvel]

still watching out for you. pray, keep us posted
sending positive thoughts & etc

all the best
prof & mrs marvel

[rovingjack]

this evening I sorta shot myself in the foot figuratively speaking. I ate some salmon instead of talapia and I ate a good sized piece of it... and then in some reading saw some info about how salmon is one of the high histamine types of fish. psychosomatic or not, I don't know, but a benedryl  chaser it is to manage the flushing and shiver.

at anyrate, my mood was not great to start the day, and didn't really improve as the day went on. I tried going out and attending a local maker meeting. It was packed, and I felt like disconnected from everybody there and the maker mindset.

The cold has been brutal on me lately, I'm just not able to get comfortable.

I have been talking with an online friend who has an interest in writing about health issues and the healthcare industry, and has written about something like my problems in the past. She wants to maybe write about it, and can possibly supply contacts with specialists to help.

Some of her info about a similar thing she was a part of definately surprised me. Because it rings scarily similar to things I've dealt with and had not connected before. It brings up the nagging questions of irregular results with my inflammatory bowel disease responding well to dietary changes and then 7 years later seeming to back track so much as to make diagnostics of crohn's something the doctors questioned. and the light headedness and fainting in slightly warm, stressful or painful moments in the last several years. and how I've often had skin and scalp issues.

Instead of several problems there is a way in which they all could be part of the same problem. All allergic type reactions. I know better than to self diagnose, and I honestly hope it's completely wrong, but I'm also aware of the fact that it's worthy of discussion with the allergists and doctors in our attempts to uncover exactly what is going on.

[rovingjack]

I definately reacted to the salmon last night. Benedryl felt like it took forever to kick in, but eventually it eased my symptoms, but they gradually returned about 6 hours later to a lesser degree before settling out.

I just feel run down and sore today. I have to hang around through tomorrow afternoon but I think I'm going to go to an ER after that. I can't just live off of rice and bananas and I need nutrition, blood tests and observation for my dietary needs to get met.

Swabs came back fro the doctor showing signs there is also post antibiotic oral yeast growth. Not much I can do about that right now unless I feell like dabbling in fate by using another prescription, which I don't. But my tongue and the connection between my throat and ears are sore. Unfortunately I can't blame the rest of my sysmptoms on that.

[rovingjack]

It's like a nightmare; but I can't wake up. The renter we had lined up for the room lost her job and backed out of renting.

I can't deal with this right now. I'm starving to death, because food is making me sick, I can't deal with losing the place I live right now.


EDIT: okay, with some sanity taking root again, the plan- try to get somebody into the room as soon as possible, and make up the difference to the landlord week by week if we have to. Between the two of us we can maybe make it through a month. Once we can get that secured, for at least a few months I should be secure enough to devote time to getting rid of as much of my stuff as I can to make going anywhere as simple as possible if I have to leave or if I don't make it through this illness. It allows them to start trying to fill the room after I'm gone.

It's important to me because my housemate is a good friend and he can't afford the place on his own, nor any place in the area for that matter, and while he might be able to go back to his parents it would cause issues with his shared custody arrangment for his son.

but once that's worked out I should also have more information about my health problem and options. with my benefits I should be able to pay my rooms rent each month even if I move up north with my mother for some months of spend much of my time in hospital. But if it gets to be that I'm no longer using the space I can try to find somebody to fill it and I can do it over time, so long as there are people paying for the other rooms.

if I can get my belonging to be a single van load of thing it allows for easy moving when the time comes. and after that... weather or not it's needed I've been looking at living wills to manage what happens if things progress as they are now without resolution. and I'm trying to figure out anything I can on long term care facilities in case of permenant need for managed care, hospice care, and that sort of thing.

my country and poverty level don't exactly afford me any options worthy of note.

But given books, movies, internet and not having to worry about rent, utilities, and buying and preparing my own food I can likely still enjoy whatever time I'll have.

Like I said, nothing says this is the way it will all go down, but knowing that's a possibility for how to do a 'controlled landing' means that if all else fails I can still stick a landing, so I'm a bit more able to focus on doing better than that.

[rovingjack]

Lentils and rice (with canola oil of fat and kosher salt for sodium chloride), with banana. Have gotten me to stop losing weight, and given me some nutrients that meet most of my needs. Though in the short term I definately need calcium (I'm getting leg cramps telling me I'm low on something and lentils and rice have a great supply of many things but calcium is one of the ones in short supply) so I might try a calcium chloride option to start, and slide into a leafy green source as it will supply vitamins a and k back in too.

I go in for allergy testing wednsday afternoon. I'll play nice at first, but at the first sign of wishy washy or authoritarian doctoring I'm going to become 'that patient'. I can't afford the luxery of casual attention and non-commital to aggressive pursuit of options and answers.

In the short run I hope to walk away with a list of primary, secondary and tertiary options for all the basic nutrients I will need, that are removed from the families of vegetables that I react to.

In the long term I need to push for answers, and find out what course and form my reactions are taking now, and the best way to head them off and manage them if not outright shut them down.

It's a dang sight easier to be on top of this all when the chemistry of a reaction and the stress of things don't compound one another into a mini meltdown. Plus time allow some perspective and the ability to decide that even if I end up a bubble boy with a feeding tube I live in a time and place where devices that fit in my hand or lap can deliver unfathomable access to the greater world and allow me the ability to still create things and share in the creations of others while networking with people around the globe. So even one of the least desirable outcomes is still only just a change to adapt to and not a dead end.

[Banfili]

rovingjack, cramps can be caused or exacerbated by lack of potassium - bananas have potassium, so they will help you. Strangely enough, Coca Cola can also help with potassium, as can Lucozade. My stepmother was told by her dr to have some Coca Cola or Lucozade instead of plain water because she was on diuretics and they can very quickly leach potassium from the system.

[rovingjack]

rovingjack, cramps can be caused or exacerbated by lack of potassium - bananas have potassium, so they will help you. Strangely enough, Coca Cola can also help with potassium, as can Lucozade. My stepmother was told by her dr to have some Coca Cola or Lucozade instead of plain water because she was on diuretics and they can very quickly leach potassium from the system.

That was my original thought but I've already been prettymuch eating a banana a day for a week, and I did some checking with lentils and rice, and I get most all the minerals I need from them all. The things they all lack are sodium and calcium. Kosher salt manages the sodium. Calcium could be managed by leafy greens and then I should be at a point where I get the daily values for protein, fats, minerals, several vitamins, and carbs. I just have to find a leafy veg with low risk for my digestive system to reject, that doesn't relate to allergens, or put me at risk for salicylate sensativity until we can test and rule those out as possible reaction vector.

in the meantime calcium carbonate and chlorides are likely to be fine, and are very unlikely to do any harm.

[Cora Courcelle]

rovingjack, cramps can be caused or exacerbated by lack of potassium - bananas have potassium, so they will help you. Strangely enough, Coca Cola can also help with potassium, as can Lucozade. My stepmother was told by her dr to have some Coca Cola or Lucozade instead of plain water because she was on diuretics and they can very quickly leach potassium from the system.

Also lack of magnesium.  I take 187.5 mg a day and it has really helped; I also drink lots of tonic water as quinine is also supposed to alleviate cramp. 
Hope the tests go well.

[Prof. Cecily]

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen.

rovingjack, cramps can be caused or exacerbated by lack of potassium - bananas have potassium, so they will help you. Strangely enough, Coca Cola can also help with potassium, as can Lucozade. My stepmother was told by her dr to have some Coca Cola or Lucozade instead of plain water because she was on diuretics and they can very quickly leach potassium from the system.

Also lack of magnesium.  I take 187.5 mg a day and it has really helped; I also drink lots of tonic water as quinine is also supposed to alleviate cramp. 
Hope the tests go well.

Good point about the magnesium, Cora Courcelle!
For leafy greens,why not try lentil sprouts?

I remain yours,
Prof. Cecily

[Banfili]

Yes, Prof. Cecily, that should work. roving jack you are already tolerating lentils, so sprouting them may do some good. Are there any other sprouts that may help?

[rovingjack]

The Allergist was about the level of frustration as I expected. No skin test, they drew blood to test for carrots, cucumber, zuchinni, squash and coconut (oil). Mainly to humor me. Tests will take a week or two to run. She went on and on about how I should be eating other things, but every time I mention my digestive issues (which actually could be IgA or other form of non-IgE mediated immunological responses) she says that sort of thing is for GI specialists to handle.

I'm going to just have to wait for the test results, and she doesn't seem to be objecting to a possible food challenge in the future to test for reaction that don't show in IgE Rast testing (like salicylate sensitivity, or Mast cell conditions) though she isn't offering to do it either. I may have to try working with my primary care to see what if any work arounds I can do to make some things happen.

Least ways I can try and arrange to be close to emergency response and food challenge myself, and any reactions I can ask for a tryptase test, which would be a good indicator of mast cell reactions (if they didn't refuse to do one).

by my calculations, one cup cooked lentils and four cups cooked rice a day would give me these levels of daily recommended values for the following:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

thiamin 70
niacin 70
ribo flavin 52
b6 82
folate 98
calcium 12
iron 57
magnesium 98
phosphorus 100
potassium 30
copper 65
manganese 400 (upper limits of this are 600-800 % daily value)
selenium 116 (not sure what the upper limits on this would be)

most dietary sources for these seem to not have much if any toxicity risk in those with healthy kidney function, and upper limits in healthy people have been known to be higher than what I'm achieving.

I'm not planning for this long term anyway and it will do for a little while.

So Magnesium is fine. Potassium is a bit low but not as badly as calcium. Banana added in also bumps the postassium up some more. to about 45 %. and adds vitamin c about 14%

throwing in some spinach (half cup a day) would bring in vitamins A (133%), K(367%), C (another 14%), 10% calcium,  and 7% potassium.

the banana and spinach both add to the levels of some of the high end things in the list though too. A couple (2 ounces worth) brussel sprout cut up and mixed in would bring the vitamin C levels on level with everything else aka about to 100% drv. adds more to folate though and the vitamin A (which is actually in the form of caratenes so not as big an od risk as actual vitamin A).

So I'd still be looking to add some more calcium, potassium, and iron for the most part. It gets tricky with when I have to watch out for upper limits on things with such high nutrient foods. Switching to (nonenriched) white rice helps in that a bit, if it comes to that, or even better is using potato which would help with potassium and iron and even some vitamin c; but better would be being able to add things back into my diet that are know nutritional levels.

I've also got a 'salt substitute' that is potassium and calcium based salts, which I can use with my kosher salt for sodium.

[Banfili]

Would it ease the strain on your digestive system to have some (if not all) of this as smoothies? Not a help for the allergy parts, but less strain on the guts, especially with a probiotic included.

[rovingjack]

Would it ease the strain on your digestive system to have some (if not all) of this as smoothies? Not a help for the allergy parts, but less strain on the guts, especially with a probiotic included.

unfortunately I don't think it's ever really been a texture thing. The reaction I have intestinally (rather than the recent systemic one) has always been more about just general inability to work with somethings basic composition. I cook all my foods relatively soft to start with. The first crunchy thing I had in 7 years was chips/crisps this past year. everything else has been as soft as noodles for the most part.

for years it was things like potatoes and sugar and bread that were some of the problem, but even things like peppers, onions, apples even roasted and blended into pastes for flavoring things that would lead to problems. And the broccoli, cauliflower and brussel sprouts with their reputation of causing gas were pretty rough too.

It seems to be something genuinely like an intolerance in those things.

It's almost funny how doctors seem to be the only ones not bothering to even try and figure it out.

[rovingjack]

potassium salt substitues helped a little yesterday, but the leg cramping was still kind of painful by late tonight when I took a calcium supplement. Sweet fruit from beirut! it was like my limbs had fallen asleep and where suddenly waking up again. It was within an hour that it started to get better, there was still cramping but my limbs haven't felt this good in days. So yeah potassium maybe a little help, but the calcium was in dire need.

I've got the supplements and will be tossing some leafy greens in with the food mix. hopefully by early next week I'll have some input on which if any of the usual veg are a risk factor for reaction. If not then odds are good they at least are no danger of IgE mediated reaction and thus lower risk of potential fatal responses. I may pick prime options for nutrient balances out of those choices and try them in small batches to see if there are reactions to follow up with the allergists with (salicylate sensativity, or mast cell). I will also start lining up secondary and tertiary options once I know how I'll react to types and classes of compounds.

like a chess game this is done one turn at a time, acting and reacting to the progress of things.

[rovingjack]

no news from the testing yet.

Pretty much cramp free now with the supplement and potassium salt (I need to find another supply of that in the near term, just to have some in case food trials lower or eliminate options of potassium supplies).

My potatoes went bad before I got to them, and then my bank accounts over drafted. so I had to wait to get some new ones until today. I also grabbed some kale.

I've tried the kale right away. did about a half cup raw. That should get me enough Vitamin A, K, an C, to fend off any serious lack from the last several weeks. From what I can see, a half cup of kale should have close to exactly the daily recommended vitamin A, and close to 4 times the daily reccomended value for vitamin K. It's about 70% the DRV for vitamin C. which is good because I'm about 3 weeks in to only having a banana every other day... which is about 20% the daily value of vitamin c.

I'm thinking a cup a day of kale for a few days to see if I tolerate it well. Between that, the banana and the potatoes I should get full up on all the major nutrients I need, apparently including half the potassium I need per day from potatoes. I will still need to look around for calcium, iron and vitamin E options, though I think if I can get away with mixing frozen spinach in the rice and lentils I can probably solve that one too. as it stands I'm getting about 40-50% the DRV for those (with the supplement I get enough calcium though). I think navy beans should get me sources of those, but one has to be careful how much they depend on beans, they have a nasty tenancy to cause food poisoning symptoms if not soaked right and over time can build up certain things in the system that can lead to gout symptoms in some (like me). Maybe sesame seeds. half a cup a day gets 70% calcium, 60% iron.

edited out cotent

[rovingjack]

In the last few days the muscles in my legs have gotten tight again, and started with the cramping and shaking occasionally.

Aside from my iron being low and my b12 intake being none existant for a few weeks I should be getting everything I need,

It occured to me that I have had low B12 levels and low folate before. Low as in low end of normal ranges (mid 300s). and looking into that, many of the symptoms started to sound like a good match for what's been going on lately.

One of the potentials causes is a genetic variant of a gene called MTHFR, and a hop over to my genes on 23and me, where I know I breifly looked at this data before when somebody else said they had it and I had also found I have it. This time a more detailed breakdown shows I have a very moderate form (up to 40% of the population may have it).

Basically it means my body is only around 70% as efficient at handling the methylization processes of folate and b12. Annoyingly it means that I can have trouble getting what I need from the synthetic b12 and folates, and they can even block the channels so that the stuff I can use gets through slower.

After figuring some things out I put in a request for some lab work with my doctor to see if they will check my B12 and homocysteine levels tomorrow. Because I intend to get a couple types of the supplements I should be able to process, and maybe some clams too (one of the few and highest sources of b12) I'm getting natural absorbable folate in plenty from the lentils and rice. I plan to start taking the b12 in the next day or so, but I want to try and get blood tests done before the supplements muddle things any further. Though near as I can tell high levels of B12 can't harm me and it would take a great deal of it to reach high levels.

I'll introduce myself to it gradually. Supposedly it may make me more drowsey (which would be better than the insomnia I've had lately), possibly irritable, achey (how would I know, I've already got some of that happening), and digestive upset (ditto on the last one). But if it's low and I don't start doing something I risk nerve and circulatory damages, including brain damage. Though those depend on how bad it gets and how long it's been ongoing.

which has me looking at the last test results about a year ago. Levels were at mid 300s, down from a high of mid 500s a year before. so they could be pretty low. there is no harm in supplementing.

depending on things, I may have to go in for treatment, including b12 injections and observation. Injections can come with the risk of disrupting electrolites and causing extra high levels of potassium that can cause an emergency, as well as increasing risk of blood clots.

sooooo, I'd rather try gradual introduction of food derived supplements. It could take a few months to get to a point where there are any noticable improvements and then I'll be in a better place to make assessments of whether we figured it out and am on the road to being fully functional again.

[Banfili]

My commiserations and lots of zen support, rovingjack. You have a very complicated life. Broken bones and associated problems are mild in comparison.

[rovingjack]

got an email from my doc, they wanted to schedule a time to draw for test of b12, ferritin, folate, homocystine and methylemalonic acid level; but I only managed 3 hours sleep last night, third night in a row, I wake up exhausted but like I've been given a stimulant. cramping muscles were worse last night, progressed to full on shaking for hours. Calcium supplement eased symptoms an hour after taking it... then triggered racing heart and sensory abnormalities.

I've since then felt crappy, but not as bad as last night. Hanging between nausea and hunger all day. Sooo tired. No idea what is going on with my levels of anything.

It's off to the Emergency for me. I'll try to not get sent home without at least an electrolyte resolution, and some blood test for liver and kidney function. Even better if they can do a check on b12, ferritin, folate, homocystine and methylemalonic acid level. Bonus points if we can get answers on those in the course of my stay. Longer term vitamin deficiencies shouldn't have set in by now but we could test for them and get the results in less of a hurry because most of them take time to get bad or worse. I was on a diet that managed all those for ten years until about two or three weeks ago. So most of them shouldn't be to bad just yet.

I've a notebook with my health summary and issues over the last few years, along with data on my genetics, diet and recent issues. Oh I should get my health benefits data too.

I'll bring all supplements, probiotics, some food, and activities to distract myself. I aim for overnight if I can.

[rovingjack]

edited my previous post about healthy food diets. Apparently eating rice is recomended to only eat 1/4 cup (59ml) dry long grain brown rice 3 times a week.

Apparently rice acts as a sponge for arsenic.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Arsenic is something that's present to some degree in all soils. even more so soils in areas of the US, and if they are organic and fed using chicken fertalizer even more so (as chickens are often fed an antiparasitic that contains small amounts of arsenic, which consentrate in their waste which are then put in fields). It also occurs in water all over the world. The levels considered safe in water by the WHO is 10 micrograms per liter (with the assumption of consumption of two liters a day). and your water likely has above 5mcg. The same level are fed to plants and some agricultural waters have more. The rice tends to gather that up.

Estimations seem to be that daily consumption of 20-25 mcg, seems to be the average and safe levels found in general populations, increases past that are suspected to increase risks of cancer and other low grade long term exposure to arsenic levels.

Seven cups of brown rice a week, will result in approximately 35mcg. Seven cups, and 49 rice cakes (two at each meal like toast for 7 days with 1 for tea time) a week is 208 mcg a week. Or about 30mcg a day additional load. Some of it gradually washes out through the body in about 48 hours. some needs to be processed first into a form that can be washed out. The processing is done by the same parts that depend on vitamin B12 that my genes make more difficult. so my ability to process it may be less capable than average.

The acute minimal lethal dose for somebody 76 kilograms or 168 pounds (me) is a whopping 76000 mcg. so it's not likely to be lethal. on the other hand long term exposure is suggested to damage nerves and circulation and increase risk of cancer.

the short version: my body may be less able to process the levels I'm taking in, and while it's pretty far under lethal dose levels it's still possibly unnessecary levels of excess arsenic I'm getting.

Lol food is tricky when you have to micromanage it. I'm constantly amazed ancient humans survived this process so haphazardly for so long. the number of things you must have or you die, while the number of things you can get too much of and die, and the overlaps of things that would give you too much of one thing in order to get enough of another. It boggles the mind.

It also makes for an interesting addition to a story or character. The steampunk adventurer who narrowly escaped death but was slightly pickled with arsenic in the process. Slightly changed the exposure.

Good news of the testing front. my calcium, magnesium, potassium and such seem to be alright. and a few of my other tests came back alright. The neither good or bad news- I'm not sure which of those test have come back yet, so I can't tell which ones say I'm okay already. If I had to hazard a guess that would be folate, and iron levels come back as good.

Which means we are still waiting on result to inform us about b12 and homocystene levels.

in the meantime my digestive system is upset, and I can understand it, but it's important to pay close attention to that in case of something like c.diff, or other bacterial overgrowth risks.

I'll be trying to switch over to less rough foods in the next few days, and see if that settles things out in the coming week. otherwise more tests, possibly more risky medications. more time being sick.

[Prof. Cecily]

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen

...I'm constantly amazed ancient humans survived this process so haphazardly for so long. the number of things you must have or you die, while the number of things you can get too much of and die, and the overlaps of things that would give you too much of one thing in order to get enough of another. It boggles the mind. ...

Rice and arsenic.
Wiki has this to say on the subject:

Rice and rice products contain arsenic, a known poison and Group 1 carcinogen.[29] There is no safe level of arsenic, but, as of 2012, a limit of 10 parts per billion has been established in the United States for drinking water, twice the level of 5 parts per billion originally proposed by the EPA. Consumption of one serving of some varieties of rice gives more exposure to arsenic than consumption of 1 liter of water that contains 5 parts per billion arsenic; however, the amount of arsenic in rice varies widely with the greatest concentration in brown rice and rice grown on land formerly used to grow cotton; in the United States, Arkansas, Louisiana, Missouri, and Texas.[30] The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is studying this issue, but has not established a limit.[31] China has set a limit of 150 ppb for arsenic in rice.[32]

White rice grown in Arkansas, Louisiana, Missouri, and Texas, which account for 76 percent of American-produced rice had higher levels of arsenic than other regions of the world studied, possibly because of past use of arsenic-based pesticides to control cotton weevils.[33] Jasmine rice from Thailand and Basmati rice from Pakistan and India contain the least arsenic among rice varieties in one study.[34]

Just as Prof. Marvel mentioned in an earlier post, Basmati rice is your friend!
As a curiosity, it's not only USAian rice you should beware:

Although attempts to grow rice in the well-watered north of Australia have been made for many years, they have consistently failed because of inherent iron and manganese toxicities in the soils and destruction by pests.

(my bolding)

Did you know that a fairly large percentage of the human population depends on a rice-based diet?

Rice is vital for the nutrition of much of the population in Asia, as well as in Latin America and the Caribbean and in Africa;

it is central to the food security of over half the world population.

My bolding.

I remain yours,
Prof. Cecily