But there’s also hope for those of us battling SIBO, as this protocol focuses on restoring bacterial balance. Dr. Nemechek believes that the symptoms of disease can be eliminated by restoring equilibrium in the body. The HLA-DQ2.5 variant has a conformation that leads to an increased immunological response to the presentation of gluten peptides. This is associated with an increased risk of developing celiac disease [ 62]. Well, it’s been 3 months now, and there have been a lot of changes! At the beginning of September, I finally got a prescription for Rifaximin (Xifaxan). I had some pretty crazy “steroid rage” while on it, which is weird because it’s an antibiotic, but no other side effects other than that. Rather than working directly to increase levels of SHANK3 protein or affect stability, oxytocin is one such molecule that appears to work on downstream pathways such as long-term potentiation [ 35]. Increasing long-term potentiation (LTP) in multiple areas of the brain, including the hippocampus, has been shown to stimulate dendrite maturation and connectivity [ 36]. Decreased dendrite maturation is one of the possible downstream issues in individuals with SHANK3 deficiencies [ 9]. Due to its effects on LTP and its differential expression in the brain, oxytocin was also shown to decrease LTP-mediated pain hypersensitivity, often seen in individuals with ASD [ 36, 37].

The answer to this question will be different for everybody, but as Dr. Nemechek says, the process usually requires a little patience. Information on SHANK3 was curated from the peer-reviewed scientific literature to determine the function of both the gene and the effect the particular single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) found in these cases creates. This variant is suggested to increase TCN1 expression, which is associated with lower vitamin B12 levels. This is due to TCN1 carrying 80–90% of serum B12, with the rest being carried by TCN2 to the brain and other organs. Upregulation of TCN1 lowers the B12 available for TCN2 [ 59].In search of the literature regarding regulators of degradation of SHANK3, a paper demonstrating that ERK2 is critical for the marking of SHANK3 for degradation was identified [ 25]. ERK2 phosphorylates SHANK3 to promote its ubiquitination, the “tagging” signal for degradation. The phosphorylation of SHANK3 causes the dissociation of SHANK3 from membranes, where it is degraded and, thus, cannot perform its scaffolding function. Inhibition of the ERK2 pathway increases SHANK3 abundance [ 25], and therefore inhibiting ERK2 has been proposed in the literature as a strategy to help to increase SHANK3 levels [ 25].

A small residual amount of damage will remain after each injury, and each new injury leaves residual damage upon the prior injury in a process referred to as cumulative brain injury. The abnormal neurological functioning from cumulative brain injury can occur slowly over time and or rapidly depending on the intensity of the brain injury. Damage to different portions of the brain will result in different outward symptoms such as ADHD, chronic anxiety or gait abnormalities.

Categories

Around week 3, I started getting nauseous after taking the supplements. I’m not really sure what’s causing that, but I’ve asked around in the Nemechek Protocol community, and it seems to be par for the course and something that I need to just push through. There are no targeted pharmaceutical interventions available for children with SHANK3 variants. As illustrated in the provided cases, utilizing readily available supplements that are generally regarded as safe (GRAS), including natural products, vitamins, lifestyle, and dietary changes, to target SHANK3 and other underlying identified genomic factors, can allow clinicians to help children currently suffering from symptoms. Meanwhile, more specific, molecularly targeted interventions can be explored and developed via traditional pharmaceutical pathways. For people with celiac disease, gluten — a protein found in wheat, barley, and rye — causes an autoimmune response that damages our small intestine and can cause many other symptoms. The treatment is relatively simple, unless, of course, you’re French and baguette is your comfort food: you just stop eating gluten. There are no pills or transfusions or transplants to fix it — not yet, at least. It’s been an adjustment for me, but I feel better now. If you can give me just a few more minutes of your time, I’d love to share this information with you, and you can do with it what you will. To be honest, I kinda freaked out a little about the no probiotics thing. I’ve ALWAYS been told to take probiotics for good gut health. And for the majority of people, that’s perfectly fine! But in severely immunocompromised individuals with major gut bacteria issues going on, Dr. Nemechek cautions against them.