Short of Energy? Try Methylene Blue

Short of Energy? Have you tried methylene blue?

"I'm so tired! Anything you can help me with?" is the # 2 reason for people to see a doctor. We have had all sorts of strategies over the years. The American College of Anti-aging Medicine strongly advocated "Adrenal Fatigue" for years. Then along came mold and its syndrome of fatigue. Even that didn't get to the root cause. The COVID pandemic unleashed a flood of research about mitochondrial damage. The curious collapse of cardiovascular function with COVID-19 pointed to something amiss in mitochondria. The heart is made of 33% mitochondria because it uses so much energy. Just take a peek at an electron microscope picture of the heart and see how many there are. Same for your brain. The brain and heart both have about 5000 mitochondria per cell. No wonder "brain fog" factors prominently in COVID along with extreme fatigue.

That's the clue. Malfunctioning mitochondria means less energy, means heart failure, and brain fog, means "I'm so tired". It's becoming apparent that the electron transport chain is a touchy metabolic process. The job of mitochondria is to take high-energy electrons in carbohydrates and proteins and extract the energy in the process of making water and carbon dioxide. Those electrons get transferred down 5-6 steps through several complex proteins that do their best to hang onto those slippery, energetic electrons. It's tricky to hang on to them because they are sometimes a particle, and sometimes a wave. Go figure. Physicists have been arguing about that forever.

But mitochondria have to be in perfect condition to do it just right. Even on a good day, they don't do it perfectly and about 2% of electrons escape. When they do that, "oxidate stress" is made and hydrogen peroxide is made as a byproduct of trying to recapture those escaping electrons. There is a frantic response to quench peroxide so it too doesn't cause damage with the uncontrolled "high energy" it still has. That's what you take antioxidants for, to neutralize those oxidants. And that's why your body has developed plasmalogens on the outside of the cell to neutralize peroxide before it causes damage, (and all the other lesser oxidants that are made by those errant electrons.). Methylene blue can reroute electrons in the mitochondrial electron transfer chain directly past the "short circuit" (from NADH to cytochrome c), increasing the activity of complex four and effectively increasing mitochondrial ATP production. With that rerouting, you also get a dramatic reduction in brain oxidative stress.

Back to that electron transport chain. COVID mucks it up. And probably many other things do too. That's where many mysterious toxins do their damage. Mold, for example. Lyme disease is likely another. But if you look under the hood at all those "mysterious" brain diseases, you will find hints that they are all doing the same thing. Google "mefloquine" toxicity, or black widow spider bites, or red tide, or ciguatera poisoning (all very deep rabbit holes). The electron transport chain is disrupted, and that unleashes neuroinflammation.

What would happen if you found a chemical that allowed those tricky electrons to just bypass the site where they escape and allow the electron to stay inside the mitochondria, and go on down to the end of the electron transport chain? What do you think might happen? Yup, yup, yup. A boost of energy.

Let me introduce methylene blue. That's what it does. When it keeps mitochondria functioning, there is a dramatic reduction in neuroinflammation and all of its downstream effects. Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, fibromyalgia, and chronic fatigue are all in the mix of subsequent problems. It's been around for over a 150 years (Wikipedia) and has been found to be quite safe. Anesthesiologists use it. Urologists use it(well, used to).

ER doctors have it in their armamentarium for rare poisoning, cyanide. Cyanide immediately poisons the mitochondria. Methylene blue salvages that. Well, you don't have to be as dramatic as cyanide. How about more subtle poisoning? How about a little bit of CIRS and mold poisoning from an older home with too much mold toxin? How about chronic Lyme with its horrible fatigue? How about? How about? There's a long list of candidates.

How about a 70-year-old guy/woman with a bit of a fatigue issue? How about all of us who feel worn out and can't get our engine running like we used to?

www.What will Work for me? It's a bit tricky to take and there are some caveats. Too much is another poison so there are some clear limitations on its use. And getting it is no small problem. It's only prepared by compounding pharmacists who have to make capsules of it. And there is one very interesting side effect. Your urine turns quite blue. In fact, it has to be in capsules or your mouth turns blue. When you try and make it at home, and you spill a few crystals that your alert puppy licks up, you get a blue-tongued puppy that you have to watch like a hawk so you don't get blue spots on your carpet. I've been obsessed with it as a tool for those who still feel fatigued. I've tried it for a month. The blue is off the dog's tongue and I feel my energy is up enough to notice. Want to try the experiment yourself? I'll show you how. (If you're an old guy/gal who dribbles a little, you might want some protection so that you don't show blue pant stains.)

References: Cells, Research Gate, Molecular Neurobiology, VA Public Health, Clinical Toxicology, Nutrients,

Pop Quiz

1. What is methylene blue?                       Answer: A potent blue dye invented 150 years ago. 

2. Is there a real role for it in traditional medicine?                     Answer. Yes, it reverses cyanide poisoning in a jiffy when you give it IV. (Maybe 100 times a year in all the USA). There are other uncommon uses, but nothing mainstream quite yet. An ER board question about fava bean poisoning and "methemoglobinemia" would have methylene blue as an answer.

3. If you get too much, what happens?                      Answer: You paradoxically get methemoglobinemia. So there is trouble at the top end too.

4. Just what does methylene blue do in the mitochondria?                       Answer. It captures escaping electrons and keeps them safely in the mitochondria, to be turned into energy (as ATP) instead of damaging oxidants.

5. How can you be sure if you took your methylene blue dose each day?                        Answer: Your pee is blue. (Be careful to flush or your toilet bowl will gradually get a blue ring in it.)