Posted March 3, 2023
My Experimentation on myself and some friends over a period of months.
Delivery vehicles–topical applications
The Grafex™, taken topically with a particular oil/ water stabilized lotion, interacts with local inflammation in 5 minutes or so. This includes soothing muscle and joint pain due to inflammation, calming someone’s migraine, clearing and calming the mind, or in other words reducing brain fog. However, in the case of muscle aches, it’s not unusual to experience a lesser ache near the place where it was applied, about 20-30 minutes later. Someone may wind up spreading the lotion all over their back or hip over the course of a few hours, as the continued experience of relief in the original location intensifies one’s sense of discomfort in other areas. The effect seems to last at least 8-12 hours if the pain recurs at all.
Also, it seems as if overall health issues are not impacted by taking the Grafex™topically. In fact, someone experiencing panic who takes the carbon topically may have calmer thinking, and be more able to consider unpalatable ideas. However, that person may still be experiencing elevated heart rates and other physical effects. (Note: consider the implications of this.)
A person, described below, has taken the Grafex™ topically for migraine and orally for brain fog. Then topical application produced migraine relief, but not relief from the brain fog. But with a lower oral dose, while there was some improvement, they still had some level of brain fog and exhaustion. A higher dose gave good results for removing brain fog. (Note: Not all mental confusion and impaired thinking result in the same causes and different cases might have different results with the Grafex™ mixture.)
Topically the lotion also has a positive effect on age spots by reducing size and color, and also a perceived improvement in wrinkles and skin evenness.
The above is the synthesis of having several people experiment with taking the Grafex™ with the stabilized lotion carrier, with a 1 mg/ml concentration, as well as a mildly more concentrated density for more serious pain. This includes taking it for muscle aches associated with menstrual pain and arthritis, joint pain, chronic migraines, and for anxiety or overwhelming emotions. At this concentration, it disappears evenly into the skin without leaving it tender or tingly, or staining clothes.
At over 2 mg/ml in the lotion, it leaves a Grafex™ residue on the skin, and some individuals have experienced some sensitivity or tingling. The residue, if left on the skin, will over a fairly short time disappear into the skin. It also appears to increase exfoliation and leave the skin in need of moisture.
(Note: This stabilized solution will assimilate the carbon uniformly if left over a few days without stirring as long as the assimilation capacity is not exceeded. Solubility is most likely not the proper term for what occurs. Moderate movement of the mixture accelerates the distribution and substantially shortens the time required, again without vigorous stirring or sonification. Sonification may or may not be acceptable. This compatibility may be instrumental to the performance of the mixture.)
Delivery vehicles—oral
Holding the Grafex™/MCT mixture under one’s tongue until it dissolves seems to have a more immediate impact on mood and mental functions, with noticeable differences in as little as 5 minutes, though 20 minutes is more normal. Swallowing a pill delays the effects, and spreads the pill contents throughout the body, making it far more difficult to notice results.
Noticeable effects on individuals with depression and anxiety
For those suffering from inflammation and chronic depression and anxiety, taking the Grafex™/MCT mixture has a relatively immediate effect on mood. The first time an individual takes it, or if they take it less than regularly, it lessens anxiety or creates a sense of relaxation that may be marked enough to be visible, and may put them to sleep, or end a panic attack or allow them to laugh out loud for the first time in weeks. Individuals also demonstrate a marked improvement in their ability to approach ideas or tasks that had previously given them overwhelming anxiety. Held under the tongue, this takes about 20 minutes. Rubbed on, it takes about 5 minutes, but the effect is less.
Taken regularly over time, the Grafex™ can have a dramatic effect on mood and anxiety. Over time, as an individual system resets, it is less likely to induce sleep and in fact, may increase energy and motivation. In one individual, regular application while taking psychiatric medication led to a manic episode; under her doctor’s supervision, she stopped taking psychiatric medication altogether, and after 20 years of medication for treatment-resistant depression, she is currently the healthiest and most stable she has been for decades.
Understanding the link between the Grafex™and depression and anxiety
We know that one of Grafex’s™ primary effects is reducing free radical concentration in the body. This cuts a vital link out of the inflammation cycle, and lowers the body’s inflammation levels almost directly. How does that connect to depression and anxiety?
Medical science is just beginning to formalize its understanding of the link between inflammation and mood. Finally, major universities and government centers are publishing reports based on multiple studies conducted throughout the last decade. Here are some key findings:
- Not all depression is inflammation-based, but inflammation-based depression is far more difficult to treat.
- Inflammation changes the way the brain works. It decreases an individual’s ability to feel pleasure or reward, and increases reactivity to threats, essentially putting the brain in “crisis mode.”
- High levels of inflammation reduce the effectiveness of serotonin-based medications, which includes the two most common classes of anti-depressant medication.
- In depressed patients with high levels of inflammation, clinicians should treat the inflammation as a first response, along with bupropion and lifestyle interventions.
- Inflammation is present in patients with active PTSD, but not those whose PTSD is in remission.
- Inflammation has a causal effect on PTSD, as well as being caused by it. It increases symptoms connected to vigilance and hyperarousal.
- Psychotherapy can trigger increased inflammation, with the body reacting to memory and discussion of issues as if to the actual threat
- Treating inflammation is also seen as a way to prevent the progress of PTSD symptoms, but much more study is needed.
Right now, studies around treating inflammation are being called for and carried out.
As noted,
Individual cases:
L is a female in her 40s. She had diagnoses of Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome, Bipolar Disorder, type 2, and, Generalized Anxiety Disorder, though her mental health diagnoses have fluctuated over the 20 years she has been receiving treatment for crippling depression and anxiety. For the past several years, L had been functional enough to keep a professional job, but dealt with consistent moderate to severe emotional dysphoria, agoraphobia, and anxiety, and used dissociated daydreaming as a coping technique when not actively working. She also dealt with severe physical and emotional symptoms like migraines, fainting, muscle pain and spasms, and extreme emotional overexcitability around ovulation and menses. Her marriage was also a site of damage and dissatisfaction. She had consistent suicidal ideation; however, suicide was not an option for ethical and moral reasons.
In Fall of 2018, she began taking the Grafex™ carbon intermittently, at the same time she was undergoing major medication changes. At that time, she had a new clinician that had tested her genetics and found that SSRIs and SSNIs were inappropriate and that she also didn’t have some markers associated with bipolar. She switched off Pristiq (an SNRI) and onto bupropion and Strattera, while staying on a mood stabilizer and adding gabapentin for anxiety. In the midst of this, she didn’t notice effects from the Grafex™. However, an improved ability to deal with anxiety and previously unthinkable ideas were likely involved in pushing for marriage counseling and discussing trauma and dissociation with her clinicians. In November, due directly to issues with her marriage, she stopped being able to work. Her diagnoses were altered to include PTSD and dissociation. She continued taking the carbon intermittently.
During the early months of 2019, she increased her carbon intake. In February 2019, after starting an intensive outpatient program, she had a manic episode, including sleeplessness and decreased appetite, and some delusional and altered thinking, during which she left for a women’s shelter. After a short time, she transitioned to her parents’ home, where she began taking the carbon regularly and with clearer intent. During this time, under the care of a clinician, she stopped all medication, and quit smoking. The clinician planned to add a mood stabilizer and then an anti-depressant when depression symptoms reappeared, as analyzing L’s history led her to believe that L had an atypical bipolar that was caused by her reaction to anti-depressants.
As of August 2019, while still using the Grafex, there has been no move to reintroduce psychotropic medication, though L continues to see the doctor monthly. Since March 2019, she has been living alone, with a better emotional outlook than she has had for years. L is still working through PTSD and a dissociative disorder, and is in Phase 1 of ISSTD’s three-phase protocol. However, the Grafex™ seems to take the pain or “emotional infection” away from an idea or memory, or to lessen it dramatically, allowing her to confront and deal with things and move past them for the first time in her life.
Side effects:
During the first few months of regularly taking the Grafex™, starting February 2019, L frequently dealt with discomfort in her extremities, especially a sense of numbness or pins and needles along her ulnar nerves, pinpoint discomfort or a sense of being “clogged” or soreness along her lymph nodes and meridians, as well in her feet. The material also temporarily increased sinus pressure and mucus flow if she were currently experiencing a problem, though it improved her sinuses over time. It seems to exacerbate tinnitus as well. Further, it appeared to impact her digestion, affecting the color and looseness of stool. However, if she didn’t take the Grafex™ for more than a few days, she experienced increased emotional distress, starting with anxiety attacks. So, she started protocols for body detoxing like increasing water intake, yoga and stretching, lymph massage, and taking appropriate nutritional supplements like vitamins and probiotics. Further, she has experimented with topical application of the Grafex™ lotion, and taking a sizable internal dose only every few days. These eased her issues, which disappeared over time, and are potentially linked to initial system clearing.
It should be noted that L credits the Grafex™, “being happier than I have been since the age of 12.” Between the ages of 19 and 40, there was never been a time when she wasn’t taking prescriptions for depression and anxiety, including SSRIs, SNRIs, mood stabilizers like lithium and various anti-convulsants, benzodiazepines, and the atypicals like Abilify and Seroquel. The impact of these medications on her physical health, hormones, memory, cognitive speed, wakefulness, and emotional regulation was severely negative. In fact, the atypicals were discontinued about a decade ago, not due to hormone disruptions, major weight gain (about 50 lbs.), memory and wakefulness problems, cognitive slowing, and other acceptable side effects, but rather were discontinued due to insulin resistance that almost caused diabetes. Compared to these medications, the Grafex™ is essentially side effect free.
L has also experienced dramatic improvement with PCOS symptoms around ovulation and menses, though the problems persist. Specifically, taken topically, the carbon improves her hip and back pain, and prevents spasms and migraines. However, she does note that the pain “moves around,” so she winds up needing to apply it to her midback and then her neck. She has also seen a positive impact on skin and hair, though she notes that major moisturizers are needed to keep up with it.
D.
D. is a female in her mid-fifties. She has been suffering migraines and chronic pain her whole life and has been previously hospitalized. At present, she is unable to work (she is an RN) and is staying with her family due to an exacerbation of symptoms, created in part by mold and environmental problems. This has included muscle weakness and exhaustion, mental fog, and daily migraines. She has previously tried CBD oil and found that lessened migraines, but nothing else. Her prescription for migraines is a very expensive injectable, and when she lost her insurance, her previous doctor stopped seeing her so she no longer has access to the prescription.
D. was started on the 2 mg Grafex™/ml MCT oil, at about 4-5 mg a day. Her experience with this was as expected: within about 20-30 minutes of the initial dose, she was deeply relaxed and able to sleep well for the first time in a few days. For the week thereafter that she had a supply, her physical weakness and the mental fog lifted, leaving her with more energy. However, she continued to have migraines. Also, she developed/noticed the effects of a urinary tract infection. She was able to locate another doctor. When her Grafex supply ran out, her cleared energy and mental clarity remained for about 2 days, before she fell back into exhaustion.
At that time, she was supplied with a 1mg Grafex™/ml of the lotion, and a 1mg/ml dropper bottle of the carbon in MCT oil. Taking a 1 mg/ml MCT solution creates an improvement in energy and mental state, but it isn’t enough to totally clear it, as was the 2 mg/ml MCT solution before. However, the lotion is enough to entirely clear her migraines for 8-12 hours, when applied to the whole face, hairline, and neck, focusing on places where the blood vessels are near the surface. She is probably using about 1-1.5 ml of lotion per application. She still does not have her injectable prescription from the last time we talked. She is also waiting for a more concentrated MCT/carbon oil mixture since the 1 mg/ml is not solving her systemic problems.
J. is D’s. mother. She is 75 and has arthritis in her hip. The lotion ends her pain, but then it moves, so she has to spread it over the entire area.
C. is a female in her early 30s. She works teaching at local community colleges. She has been diagnosed with PTSD and has treatment-resistant bipolar depression and generalized anxiety. She is currently on an anti-depressant, a mood stabilizer, and an atypical antipsychotic. (Atypical antipsychotics like Abilify and Sappris are frequently used when regular treatment with anti-depressants and mood stabilizers fails to treat depression. Unfortunately, they typically cause weight gain and hormone problems, which C. is also suffering from.)
C. is proceeding cautiously with the Grafex™. On two occasions in the last month, she has taken 3-4 mg under her tongue, with an immediate impact on mood and anxiety that lasted about 2 or so days. On one of these occasions, she sent out 20+ job applications, a task that had previously paralyzed her with anxiety. Otherwise, though, she has taken only 1 mg doses, perhaps once or twice a week, with minimal immediately noticeable effect. Her overall mood, anxiety, and willingness to try solutions seem to be improved. However, concern about too extensive a change in her mood, plus memory problems and delivery method concerns, mean that progress is going to be slow.