medical food

Product Review: TMedPharma (3 Products)

Posted on by akiwifreund

People often ask me just what it is that I do with all of my time now that I’m stuck in bed. I love writing and I count myself lucky to have been included in the Chronic Illness Bloggers network, and given many opportunities to try products I wouldn’t otherwise have access to. I have been given this product as part of a product review through the Chronic Illness Bloggers network. Although the product was a gift, all opinions in this review remain my own and I was in no way influenced by the company.

First, I’m going to throw a definition your way that I recently used for another review, and that is “medical food”, which this product falls under and is defined by the FDA:
“The term medical food, as defined in section 5(b) of the Orphan Drug Act (21 U.S.C. 360ee (b) (3)) is ‘a food which is formulated to be consumed or administered enterally [orally] under the supervision of a physician and which is intended for the specific dietary management of a disease or condition for which distinctive nutritional requirements, based on recognized scientific principles, are established by medical evaluation.’”

Targeted Medical Pharma, or TMedPharma for short, is producing items that are considered “medical food” that are therapeutic doses of specific ingredients meant to treat certain conditions. I was given three products because I suffer from autoimmune conditions – namely fibromyalgia, but possibly others that are still a mystery – that produce irregular sleep, overall inflammation, and fatigue.

First, I was given Sentra AM; the instructions state to take 2 capsules on an empty stomach. 2016-10-23-06-11-43
This is where I really have to pay attention. I have Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, so I take levothyroxine (brand name is commonly known as Synthroid) on an empty stomach every morning an hour before eating. It is very, VERY important to not take certain supplements or eat certain foods within four hours of taking this medication, so I had to check the label to make sure there wasn’t any vitamins C, calcium, or iron to stop my medication from working. The label states that the Sentra AM doesn’t have added sugar, starch, wheat, yeast, preservatives, or flavor. What it does have is an amino acid combination, ginko biloba, cocoa extract, and hawthorne (as in berry, which I take daily to support my heart and cholesterol issues). Also, I’m sometimes out of it in the morning, so I do this to remind myself of how many to take:
2016-11-20-13-23-29Taking the Sentra AM didn’t have me climbing the walls, but I also wasn’t dragging, so it was a nice change. I took this for the entire three months’ supply that I was given and I never had any adverse reactions, which is great because I’m allergic to so many things. My energy pickup was subtle. I’m not certain that I would purchase additional bottles…but ask me a month from now when we are in the dead of winter and I have zero zip, and I may be singing a different tune.

Theramine is the “medical food” taken twice daily (2 capsules) to reduce inflammation. This one must also be taken on an empty stomach in order to be most effective. Theramine also contains a different amino acid combination, as well as GABA (gamma amino butyric acid), cocoa extract, Griggonia extract, grape seed extract, and cinnamon. Sometimes in products that are anti-inflammatory I experience allergic reactions because they have sneaked in some form of fish oil, but I didn’t see any on the list and no warnings, and I didn’t experience hives or wheezing, so I think I was in the clear. They state that the product does contain milk (in the enzymes, most likely) but does not contain added sugar, starch, wheat, yeast, preservatives, or artificial color.

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I am going to impart some knowledge that I found out from going to a naturopath for years. If you take these products on an empty stomach, you will reap the benefits of anti-inflammation ingredients throughout your body. If you eat when you take these products, at best you will only feel benefits in your digestive tract. Take these one hour before eating or two hours after eating solid foods to make sure that you maximize the benefits.

After three months on Theramine, I have mixed feelings. My pain relief from a reduction of inflammation was subtle, if that is what happened. During these three months I was still dealing with the tears in my left shoulder tendons, which were extremely painful, and could have used the extra support. I also have just as much pain from the inflammation in my abdomen from the allergy to my drainage catheter to my shunt in my brain, and I’d love to have the stabby-stabby pains calm down. Generally, though, I felt less achy.

The third product was Sentra PM, targeted for sleep disorders associated with depression. Oh, did I mention that fibromyalgia patients, and indeed all chronic illness patients, are prone to depression? We are. Fibromyalgia patients fail to get into the sleep that brings on REM, so we rarely reach deep sleep, and we are forever exhausted. It’s a vicious cycle. We’re tired, so we go to bed, but we can’t get deep sleep, so we’re tired, so we go to bed…and often we’re told that our disease isn’t real, or we’re doing something wrong and that’s why we feel physically terrible, or that there’s nothing that will make us feel better. Enter TMedPharma with something to try to assist us in tackling this problem!
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Two capsules of Sentra PM should be taken at bedtime to promote restful sleep. I have a terrible time falling asleep and I haven’t used an actual prescription medication like Ambien for at least 13 years because of the terrible side effects (no, no getting up in the middle of the night and eating a gallon of ice cream or going to the bathroom in my clothes closet), because the morning after I would be a walking zombie, barely able to brush my teeth (sorry, former co-workers).

I’m very cautious when trying something new when it comes to messing with my sleep, so I started this on a Friday night when I knew I wasn’t expected to wake up the next morning for an appointment, and I didn’t feel like I experienced prolonged effects. The active ingredients include choline, GABA, glutamine, histidine, and tryptophan. The pamphlet states that Sentra PM provides the amino acids that are precursors to neurotransmitters that are responsible for initiating sleep. There were nights when I felt pretty tired about 30-45 minutes after taking my dose, but then there were nights when absolutely nothing could help me, and those were the nights right before big appointments and anxiety was getting the best of me. But overall, if I were to make a purchase, Sentra PM would be my first pick.

Targeted Medical Pharma strongly recommends consuming these “medical foods” under the guidance of a physician to make sure you are reaping the most benefits and not experiencing any unwanted side effects. This is something that you should take seriously; it IS possible to take too much of a supplement and cause unintended harm, and of course there is always the risk of being allergic to something.

Please check out their complete line of products on their website: Targeted Medical Pharma

Product Review: Visbiome

Posted on by akiwifreund

When people who don’t know me well ask what I do, I tell them I’m a professional patient. When I detect a slightly pitying look cross their faces, I tell them it’s not so bad, because I get to review products like this – and truly, I count myself lucky to have access to them since I have limited means at this time. Please note: I have been given this product as part of a product review through the Chronic Illness Bloggers network. Although the product was a gift, all opinions in this review remain my own and I was in no way influenced by the company.

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Visbiome is a high potency probiotic targeted specifically to be used for patients who suffer from ulcerative colitis, irritable bowel syndrome and pouchitis. I suffer from irritable bowel syndrome and was clinically diagnosed after a colonoscopy in 2011, but for years before that my body vacillated between diarrhea and constipation without a whole lot of predictability. I know that in general my body likes protein and veggies and punishes me for eating carbs, simple sugars and fatty foods. In other words, I won’t be heading to the infamous Minnesota State Fair anytime soon, where they brag about having deep fried Coca-Cola as a “thing.” That would lay me low for ages.

However, knowing these things, my diet isn’t perfect. I’m bed bound because of major issues with CSF getting caught around my brain stem and I’m allergic to the shunts that have been implanted and failed, so long story short, it’s impossible for me to go to the grocery store every third day for fresh produce. I also can’t spend a lot of time standing and prepping, so I eat a lot of stuff that’s pre-cut and frozen. I have also become an expert on which protein bars don’t taste like sawdust but also don’t have a high sugar content.

So, Visbiome to the rescue! As you can see from the picture, the living bacteria – 112.5 billion per capsule – is incredibly high. For that reason you must plan on storing this product in the fridge at all times so the capsules don’t lose their potency. I was shipped a 30-day supply and it was packed in ice packs in a cooler, and this will be the norm when you order it. In fact, it will be smarter for you to ship it to a location where you can unpack it and get it in your fridge as quickly as possible, so if you know you’re going to be gone from home for 14 hours, maybe it’s smarter to ship to work instead.

The recommendation on the labeling is for this product to be administered under the supervision of a doctor. This is important because because of the extremely high bacterial count in each capsule. You will undoubtedly notice a change in your digestion and bowel movements. If you experience diarrhea for an extended amount of time or other undesired effects, your doctor will advise you to either change the frequency of the dose, the amount, or to stop it altogether. Your best health is always the ultimate goal.

I read the enclosed pamphlet and it indicated that for IBS I should take 2 capsules daily. I opted to take both at the same time because I tend to be forgetful when I’m taking new medications, especially if they are only meant to be taken for a few weeks. Some of my fellow bloggers had good results splitting their doses up throughout the day.

Wouldn’t you know it? Right in the middle of my doses, I managed to get a nasty case of flu. Five days later I developed fluid in my ears which churned into two very nasty ear infections, at which point I had to go on antibiotics so my ear drums wouldn’t perforate. A few days later I also developed bronchitis. I actually think I was quite lucky to be on the Visbiome at this time because the antibiotics were guaranteed to kill off anything good growing in my gut, but this product could re-introduce some helpful bacteria. I’m also terribly prone to yeast infections, and I think that taking Visbiome helped a bit with me not having to be so miserable in my lady parts.

The term “medical food” is a new one to me but I decided to look it up because I think we will be seeing more of it. This is the definition per the FDA:
“The term medical food, as defined in section 5(b) of the Orphan Drug Act (21 U.S.C. 360ee (b) (3)) is ‘a food which is formulated to be consumed or administered enterally under the supervision of a physician and which is intended for the specific dietary management of a disease or condition for which distinctive nutritional requirements, based on recognized scientific principles, are established by medical evaluation.'”

Please visit Visbiome’s site and pass it along to your healthcare professionals so they can review all of the product’s benefits.