Healthcare is a right

Posted: 09 December 2018
Updated: 10 December 2018

I need time to find a cure; and I can save money if I can change my therapy plan

I have not found a single case or study of a human or an animal model (e.g., experiments on mice) that discusses the possibility that 5HT2A could be downregulated to zero. Because the medical community is not aware that a person might have zero 5HT2A receptors, they have not conducted studied or developed medicines spefically to upregulate 5HT2A. Some researchers have found medicines that upregulate 5HT2A, but they were studying something else and the upregulation discovery was a byproduct.

In the last two months, I have done five hours of research at most. Saturday, while researching B vitamins, I stumbled across two papers that might help me find a cure. But, I need time. The fruit extract in these two papers probably will not help me, but I can use the citations in these papers to look at other studies that can get me closer to a cure.

I cannot research a cure when I have to protect myself and my possessions 24 hours per day. I lose more time because the place where I charge my computer doesn’t have internet. I can use my computer for two and one-half hours, then I must take everything I own and sit under a payphone for two hours to charge my computer. I lose a lot of time to loud noises causing me pain, to sleep, and catatonia. Last Friday and the Friday before that, for example, I slept or was catatonic all day; I ate very little, and I suffered much. I certianly did not do research. I lose an extraordinary amount of time trying to find money every few days so I can buy medicine or food: if I had reliable and sufficient source of resources, I could be curing my medical problems instead of barely coping with my medical problems.

One year of unnecessary suffering

I discovered the downregulated 5HT2A medical problem in July 2018, but if I had not been obscenely poor and sleeping in graveyards in July 2017, I could have discovered the medical problem at that time. No one would have tried to kill me in 2017, I would have avoided many robberies, and no one would have broken my arm in 2018. By now, I would be managing my symptoms or cured, and I would be earning money instead of sleeping on the streets.

Why? What purpose did that serve? How did punishing me make the world a better place? What opportunities did I miss to help other people?

If every person who read this page were to send at least US$10/month, I would not be rich, but I would have the safety and resources to heal.

Saturday inventory

I must have:

  1. Modafinil, MXN$716 for 9 days
  2. Bupropion, $578 for 10 days
  3. Alprazolam, $595 for 30 days

My symptoms would be reduced if I had lorazepam, $420 for 53 days. This is to replace diazepam, $305 for 26 days, because I developed a tolerance for 5 mg of diazepam, so if I were to continue using it, I would need to increase the dosage. I don’t want to do that. In the past, my psychiatrist had me try diazepam for a month and lorazepam for a month. They were both great and had different advantages and disadvantages. I spoke with a doctor here. After explaining my history and describing what I believed to be a tolerance (which is common), she agreed that I had developed a tolerance and agreed that switching to lorazepam was better than increasing my dosage of diazepam. As a bonus, lorazepam is 25% cheaper than the current dose of diazepam and much cheaper than an increased dosage of diazepam.

Improving my therapy plan

I can improve my symptoms and lower the cost of my medicines by making the following changes.

  1. Start taking the amino acid (the building blocks of proteins) L-Phenylalanine.
  2. Start taking the amino acid L-Tryptophan.
  3. Return to taking the amino acid L-Tyrosine.
  4. Change my Vitamin B supplement.
  5. Stop drinking the energy drink Vive 100%, which is a major source of B vitamins for me.

It takes money to save money

I cannot simply make these changes because poverty is expensive. In Mexico, no one sells those three amino acids as supplements: you must buy them as part of a much more expensive mix of other supplements. No one sells a B vitamin complex similar to what I need. I must order from the United States in bulk, but that requires more money than I have. I had been desperately trying to save enough money to buy it, but then my phone was stolen because I don’t have security. I need a smartphone here to earn money, and I don’t have enough for both a smartphone and the supplements. So ironically, because I am poor, I must pay more money and receive inferior medical treatment.

The cost of change

From Piping Rock, I can buy:

SupplementQuantityTotal US$Days
L-Phenylalanine4 bottles, 60 capsules, 500 mg $15.96120
L-Tryptophan6 bottles, 60 capsules, 500 mg$51.87160
L-Tyrosine4 bottles, 120 capsules, 500 mg$22.98120
Vitamin B-100250 capsules$16.99250

These prices are about 10% lower than last month because of a sale. They definitely ship to Mexico. As far as I can tell, if the order total is less than $100, the shipping cost is between $8 and $14, but if the order is at least $100, the shipping is free.

I have searched for other sources, but my research time is limited so maybe there is a cheaper source. Sometimes, buying the powder form, for example, is less expensive than capsules. Nevertheless, these prices are lower than when I last purchased these items in the US in 2012.

The benefits of change

The four supplements above cost MXN$14.41 (US$0.78) per day. If I had them, I would stop taking two supplements that cost MXN$26.87 (US$1.45) per day. A 46% savings: MXN$12.46 (US$0.67) per day.

If I can make this change, I can stop drinking the energy drink Vive 100%. The caffeine and carbonation are hard on my stomach and aggravate my GERD. The sugar is bad for my teeth, and this is one of the last sugary foods I consume. To the best of my knowledge, the four new supplements do not have any negative side effects, which is logical because they are proteins and water-soluable vitamins.

The new supplements will reduce (not eliminate) many of my symptoms, including:

  1. Low energy
  2. Excessive sleeping
  3. Poor digestion
  4. High resting heart rate
  5. Poor sleep
  6. Nightmares
  7. Weakened immune system

How I can escape the poverty trap

To be financially independent I must escape the trap of disabling-illness, poverty, and attrition from the lack of security. Reducing my symptoms and costs would improve my life and increase my chances of recovery. I must have my basic medicines, however, or I stop eating or moving. I need MXN$2309 (US$113.82) for my basic medicines. I need US$107.80 to increase the effectiveness of my therapy plan, reduce negative side effects, and reduce the cost of my therapy. US$221.62.

If I had calculated the total cost before I had started writing, I don’t know if I would have written anything. The unnecessary one-year delay had a second negative effect: I have fewer friends. I have more page views and visitors but less support. (Page views, Nov 2017: 732; Nov 2018: 2,525.)

Please support this improvement in my life. And if every person who read this page were to send at least US$10/month, I would not need to beg for my life multiple times per month. 

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