First, I should declare that I am a Software Development Engineer for Amazon. I was using Amazon for supplements before I took that job.

The Problem

Many CFS people have a very limited budget and often mental fog that interferes with selecting the best price. Often, when a bottle is found to be emptied, there is a panic to buy some more ASAP (ignoring the cost)  My recommendation is very simple:

• Find the best buy (per oz/per day) on Amazon.com /Amazon.co.uk
• See if it is available for Subscribe and Save, for free shipping and an extra 5% off
• Look at bulk for herbs and make your own capsules.
  • You can get Organic (which prepared capsules may not be)
  • Much less costs

Illustration

I looked for Turmeric on Amazon.co.uk, and then restricted it to Swanson. You see the results below…

The first thing is that the identical same item(but different quantity) was 2.5 times as expensive per pill (look at the first two above)!!! You then see “premium” versions that may be “technically better” (which often means just 5% better!), going for a much higher price, up to SEVEN times more per oz.  So, if someone told you that Gasoline ABC will give you 5% more mileage, you are willing to pay $28/gallon instead of $4/gallon????

This can be a problem with many MDs — they will recommend a specific brand because they have been told (often without any peer-reviewed study being done) it is “better”. They will rarely look at the cost, just the “better”. Better should be proven if the cost is 10+% more. A formal study, not just personal observations (which are very inclined towards placebo effects).

So, we are now down to 1.35/oz.  Can we reduce it more? Turmeric is a kitchen spice, so if you are willing to make your own capsules… just buy the powder (toss in 1% black pepper is recommended for Turmeric).

If you are not needing organic, then we are down to 4.69 per kilo.  Ok, we have per oz above and per Kilo here… 1 Kilo is 35 oz. so 4.69/35 = 0.13 /oz….

Bottom line: You could be spending 9.45/oz OR 0.13/oz. A SEVENTY FOLD (70x) difference… Ouch!

A pill making machine may cost $24 with 500 capsules,

• US Orders [Capsule
  Filler Kit + 500 Gelatin Capsules – Capsule Machine Size ’00’ $24]
• US Orders [750 Gelatin Capsules Size ’00’ $15]
• UK Orders [Capsule
  Filler Kit + 500 Gelatin Capsules – Capsule Machine Size ’00’ £40]
• UK Orders [750 Gelatin Capsules Size ’00’ £6]

In effect, capsules are between 1 and 2 cents each. 100 capsules are about $1.50 at retail (likely less than $0.50 for a manufacturer).

Subscribe and Save!

Amazon offers “Subscribe and Save” on items that it ships. They will gather all of your items into a single shipment each month. Before they send it, they will email you — you can opt to skip or cancel the shipment of any item. Our usual practice is to check the supplies when the email arrives, and cancel the shipment on any item where we have enough on hand to survive until the next cycle.

What you get will make the budget go further: FREE SHIPPING and 5% more savings!

The advantage to the brain fogged is that you do not run out! Remember, you can subscribe for just one shipment (getting free shipment and 5% off) and then cancel it with no hassles!

Not everything is available as bulk…

Today,there are a lot more things, especially herbs that are available is bulk. My bulk bin has: piracetam, turmeric, tulsi, haritaki as well as items such as L-Glutamine.

For L-Glutamine, I can get Source Naturals, 16 oz for $27. Or I could buy Now Food 120 capsules 500 mg for $10. Comparing these may be a challenge to the brain fog… so I will show the steps:

• Multiple capsules x mg, 500 x 120 = 60000
  • Take off 3 zeros, 60000 -> 60 to get the grams
  • Divide the grams by the price to get the price per gram. $10/60 = $0.17
• 1 oz is 28 gm, so 16 oz is 450 gm.
  • Divide the grams by the price to get the price per gram. $27/450 = $0.06

By buying the powder, I cut my supplement costs by 66%

The unexpected …

Sometimes, you discover that healthy is cheaper. A single loaf of organic bread will often run $5-$7. When I looked at FOS to help gut bacteria, I found that the best source was from rye (which is not used in FOS pills). I remember that I could buy 100% Rye bread made in Germany at some health food and delis; no GMO grains in it. Most US “Rye bread” contain wheat (sometimes more wheat than rye — these are 0% wheat breads!) I decided to check on Amazon… Feldkamp Whole Rye Bread , 16.75-Ounce Vacuum Packs (Pack of 12), for $29.00. That is $2.40 for a 17 oz loaf (half the cost per loaf as local bread). The loafs are vacuum pack and have a long shelf life (months). With Subscribe and Save (or with Prime), it is free delivery! If I ordered “Source Naturals FOS Fructooligosaccharides 1000mg, 200 Tablets”, it is $20.00, and an inferior FOS.

Turmeric is very similar to ALA in it’s benefit. The active ingredient of this kitchen spice is curcumin. Turmeric appears to be more effective than curcumin, the extract according to studies. Curcumin has anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant, pro-apoptotic, chemo preventive, chemotherapeutic, anti-proliferative, wound healing, anti-parasitic, anti-malarial and anti-bacterial activity. All of these characteristics are shared by Turmeric.

Turmeric is best made from bulk Organic Turmeric that has 1% black pepper added to it. The black pepper increases it bioactivity. It is also a lot cheaper buying in bulk and making your own (for example: $18 for 2000 gms in bulk, or $25 for 12 gms in capsules produced by some company).

It has been shown to benefits IBS, a condition co-morbid with a lot of CFS patients.

In terms of coagulation

• Increases fibrinolytic activity
• Inhibits platelet aggregation, increases coagulation. time
• Reduces high level of fibrinogen

In terms of inflammation, it reduces IL6, IL8, TNFalpha. It is a known neuroprotective.
It also has some features that ALA does not have:

• Inhibits EBV, and is an antiviral
• Inhibits H. pylori
• Inhibits inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS)

Like ALA, it also normalizes Choline, an amino acid. Choline is high in occipital cortex areas of the brain and abnormally high in most patients. Choline reduces with viral clearance. This reduction has been documented to produce significant improvements in verbal learning, memory, and visuo-spatial memory.

• US Orders [ Powder:1 lb(450 gm) $19 ] [ Capsules: 100 @ 720 mg (72 gm) $6]
• UK Orders [ Powder: 500 gm £ 10] [ Capsules:(172 gm) 240 @ 720 mg £ 10]

Alpha Lipoic Acid(ALA) is a frequently recommended supplements by CFS specialists. It is good to see why it may work so often to reduce symptoms.

First it reduces coagulation issues, and improves blood flow

• Decreases CD62P platelet expression
• Decreases fibrinogen, factor VII, vWF, and triglycerides
• Decreases plasma levels of free fatty acids, triglyceride, total cholesterol, low density lipoprotein-cholesterol, small dense LDL-cholesterol, oxidized LDL-cholesterol, very low density lipoprotein-cholesterol

Second it reduce inflammation levels

• Decreases C-Reactive Protiens levels by 19%
• Decreases cytokines such as TNF-alpha, IL-6

Third, it been documented to decreases symptoms of neuropathy and neuropathic deficit (which could be because of improved blood flow, reduced inflammation or both). It also improves nerve function.

The last aspect is interesting, it also normalizes choline, an amino acid. Choline is high in occipital cortex areas of the brain and abnormally high in most patients. Choline reduces with viral clearance. This reduction has been documented to produce significant improvements in verbal learning, memory, and visuo-spatial memory.

• US Orders [ (36 gm) 60 @ 600 mg $10]
• UK Orders [ (36 gm) 60 @ 600 mg £ 8]

Many many drugs are developed from the knowledge of medicine men. One of the problems of these discoveries are the lack of availability of some herbs. Recently I came across this 2009 study, Antibacterial Activity of Medicinal Plants Against Pathogens causing Complicated Urinary Tract Infections, It is almost a exact match for some of my model. The source of the information was medicine men (and women) from rural india — a country very rich is herbs and spices.

Looking at the Australian and other studies, we see the following overgrowth:

• Klebsiella/Enterbacter
• Enterococcus
• Streptococcus

Reviewing this article we found the following are most effective for two of these:

• Klebsiella pneumoniae – ethanol extracts of Terminalia chebula and Ocimum sanctum
• Enterococcus faecalis – ethanol extract of Azadirachta indica and Ocimum sanctum

Of course, latin names are always fun.. with a little wikipeding, we have

• Azadirachta indica – or Neem
  • US Orders [100 capsules $7]
  • UK Orders [100 capsules £9]
• Ocimum sanctum– or Tulsi
  • US Orders [1 lb (450gm) $21]
  • UK Orders [500 gm £13]
• Terminalia chebula– or Haritaki
  • US Orders [8 oz (225gm) $12]
  • UK Orders [300 gm £10]

Checking a few other similar articles, the problem was often finding the bark, herb, spice available for sale.