Still In The Woods, Suffering, Confused, Few Specific Clues, Want To Write About It & Solicit Ideas

[jaakkima]

I'm not sure whether to post this in this forum, or in logs. I've posted about some of my issues before and scoured the forum and various literature for clues but haven't yet fixed my issues and haven't gotten much help. It's been almost a decade now, working with Ray's ideas for over 5 years. It always centered around gut issues - an inflamed, bloated feeling, lack of attuned feeling of hunger, etc. After I started Ray's ideas, my bowel habits changed and I developed lots of diarrhea, though I never felt like I had pooped fully. It was just a constant urge to go, and frequent watery evacuation. Due to life circumstances and experimenting with health stuff, I have been homeless for almost the last half decade as well, which limits the ease of making certain foods. I worked with the limitations and experimented with low PUFA options and never got regular results from anything. Things would work the first time, then stop working. Nevertheless, I noticed that my gut always got better with starch, like rice, potatoes, or sourdough bread, or with other solid foods like proteins. And some Peat supplements helped. I still tried to figure out a more liquidy diet, for example adding thyroid and salt/sodium. Sometimes I would feel good, but the issues never went away. I've tried every type of supplement/vitamin etc. Eventually I got DVT and massive pulmonary embolism. Put on warfarin. Got some lab tests, everything that I was able to get looked ok except low testosterone, prolactin at 10, and iron deficiency (saturation %, ferritin, total iron all very low). After 6 months I tried going off warfarin, using aspirin, Vitamin E, Vitamin K2, and some other things, lasted a little while, but eventually had another DVT & massive pulmonary embolism. Next period on warfarin, I developed severe dizziness, disorientation, confusion, whole body numbness, extremely frightening. At the ERs, forced into a 3rd or 4th CT scan, they diagnosed diverticulitis, gave antibiotics. Antibiotics did nothing at all. After the full course and a total of maybe a month or two with the symptoms I used a bunch of methylene blue and cascara sagrada which apparently fixed the problem. Eventually I tried a third time going off warfarin, tried a variation on supplements, again lasted a little while and then had another near-fatal PE/DVT. Now I've been on warfarin again for several months, and again got the dizziness/disorientation/night-blindness/confusion that's been almost constant for a couple months. It's gotten somewhat better but hasn't gone away. It does seem connected to the gut as it is often not really present in the beginning of each day before I eat, etc, and methylene blue again is helping more than anything (seem to need at least 10-30+mg), but also coffee, niacinamide, antiserotonin drugs, pregnenolone, and Defibron all help sometimes. During this time I've gotten stool tests from a functional medicine doctor that I couldn't get at a normal doctor, which showed high candida species, high citrobacter freundii (which I can't find much information on), and high zonulin. Everything else on the GI-Map test was within the lab ranges. My CRP and ESR were both in the upper normal lab range on a recent blood draw, while these symptoms have been happening. I have been trying Nystatin and not noticing any effect from it. Over time, suspecting things like SIBO and other dysbiosis, I have tried herbal antimicrobials and antibiotics such as penicillin, rifaximin, azithromycin, as well as charcoal and using carrots/mushrooms and not noticed much effect from any of them - funny enough, I notice the most effect of all those from just having the carrot. I was wary of trying tetracyclines only because of my low iron status.

Judging the typical Peat-land things like temperature and pulse has been unfruitful for me, at first because I was getting inconsistent results, and because I have had a chronically high pulse for a very long time (maybe from iron deficiency anemia, maybe adrenaline, or both). Thyroid made me feel amazing a few times fleetingly, but I wasn't able to get the same result afterward. My blood thyroid panel has had normal levels when checked, but TSH was I think between 1-2. A little T3 does help me. Now, the past 1.5 years, I am on warfarin, and it makes judging any markers hard because it messes with metabolism etc in such awful ways. My blood pressure goes very high on it, so I'm sure I'm getting lots of calcium derangement. It also abolishes my libido. I've also had 4 or 5 mid-body CT scans in the last 1.5 years, so I don't know what that could be causing, though again those inflammation markers recently weren't very high, i.e. were in the lab range.

Diet-wise I'm still feeling like drinking a quart of milk and a bunch of low fat cheese is good for me. OJ, coke, rice/sourdough/potatoes, venison/beef, liver, oysters, shrimp, etc. The thing is that beyond the starch/solid food being helpful (does anyone have ideas for me why that is???), dietary changes/elimination (I've tried eliminating each thing) haven't helped, so I'm pretty sure that all these things are not specifically causing me problems, and I usually feel better with them. I've been avoiding PUFA pretty strictly for 5 years (prior to that had tons every day), so I'd imagine that according to Ray I'd be fairly depleted, but I wouldn't know.

One idea I have about all this is that I may have been stimulating my system too much with supplements and so caused the clotting to happen? Maybe aspirin irritated my GI tract and paradoxically caused clotting? These are just speculations.

Also, when I started with Peat stuff, I was extremely underweight (skinny fat), at 6'2" and 122lbs. I gained weight and it didn't bother me until I was over 190. Then the clotting happened, and with all the medical stuff I went through, my weight suddenly shot up to 222lbs and has stayed there. So I am kind of fat now and it doesn't go down at all, seems like regardless of cutting calories or anything. I don't expect much progress while on warfarin though. I believe Haidut said everyone who gains weight on Peat diet has high stress hormones. Well, I did everything to block them - sugar, pregnenolone, cyproheptadine, minerals, etc. I thought it must be microbiome related, and I did find citrobacter freundii and candida high, but antifungals and antibiotics so far haven't helped, though I'd like to try a couple more.

Other weird things: I developed red, inflamed cheeks shortly after starting Peating, and they have persisted to the present. I also seem to have some palmar erythema, though I'm not sure. I think my palms looked different when I was younger. Liver tests have been ok and no hepatitis. Also, over 5 years ago, before any Peat stuff, I had a scary episode where I felt like I sort of lost control of my body for about a month. It was like someone flipped a switch one day and my muscles all suddenly were at 30% of normal strength and I couldn't function. An acquaintance let me rest on his couch and over a month period my strength/function returned. I saw a doctor about it but before I heard much back about the tests I moved out of the area and had gotten better so never got insight on that one.

Other tests I haven't yet gotten: estrogen, NO, cortisol, adrenaline... I wonder if I should get tested for Lyme co-infections?

I don't know what help I might get here, but I felt I needed to write about my story at least because I don't really have people to talk to about it unfortunately. If anyone has any thoughts let me know.

Ok, thanks, have a good day everyone. :)

 

[Blossom]

Some of your experience sounds like what one would expect in recovery from starvation/semi-starvation (which IIRC can take up to 7 years). Couple that with the stress of homelessness and there is no doubt your stress hormones would be elevated. I have not been homeless per se but I did live in a camper for 6 months this year during the sell of my house. It seemed much harder to eat and sleep well during that time and it impacted day to day living more than I thought it would. I really appreciate having a home now in a way I never did before.
I read an opinion piece by a cardiologist in favor k2 for people on anticoagulants earlier today. That might be something worth researching and discussing with your medical team. Good luck to you. I hope others here will reply.

 

[Blossom]

You might also want to read about Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs if you haven't before.
https://www.simplypsychology.org/maslow.html
It may be that meeting your basic needs would help significantly and make it easier to deal with your health issues.

 

[Constatine]

I would try to eat a lot more protein. It's good for the gut microbiome and also repairs the intestinal barrier which would be in a poor state due to a period of starvation, gut microbiome problems, and even aspirin use. Blocking stress hormones when you are in such a state is not a good thing, I would not mess around with many supplements for the time being. A high protein diet should also allow you to lose some weight.

 

[jaakkima]

Some of your experience sounds like what one would expect in recovery from starvation/semi-starvation (which IIRC can take up to 7 years). Couple that with the stress of homelessness and there is no doubt your stress hormones would be elevated. I have not been homeless per se but I did live in a camper for 6 months this year during the sell of my house. It seemed much harder to eat and sleep well during that time and it impacted day to day living more than I thought it would. I really appreciate having a home now in a way I never did before.
I read an opinion piece by a cardiologist in favor k2 for people on anticoagulants earlier today. That might be something worth researching and discussing with your medical team. Good luck to you. I hope others here will reply.

Interesting point. I've thought a lot about what was going on with me before I embarked in my current direction. I didn't know why I was down to such a low weight, as I was eating according to hunger - but that was of course deranged already, hard time knowing whether I was hungry or not, etc. I was having nervous breakdowns at the time too. Adrenaline was probably high, and the bulk of my diet was nuts so I was surely oxidizing lots of PUFA and I guess I probably ended up undereating...

I don't feel that my car living situation is very high on my list of problems/stressors, though of course it would help. I went through really bad periods years ago, but I've gotten out of those situations now. I've been working on fixing so many things in my life and have sort of had to pick and choose because it's impossible to do much of anything with money where I live if you don't make a lot and you pay the rent here. Plus being stressed out by living with people you don't like, etc. I'm trying to plan long term solutions and I might save up for other options, and eventually move to somewhere I'd rather be. I'm well aware of Maslow's hierarchy of needs, though it's good to keep in mind.

I do take a little K2 to try to limit the warfarin damage.

 

[jaakkima]

I would try to eat a lot more protein. It's good for the gut microbiome and also repairs the intestinal barrier which would be in a poor state due to a period of starvation, gut microbiome problems, and even aspirin use. Blocking stress hormones when you are in such a state is not a good thing, I would not mess around with many supplements for the time being. A high protein diet should also allow you to lose some weight.

Thanks. Can you elaborate on why blocking stress hormones when having those problems is not a good thing? I mean, just eating carbohydrate theoretically would be lowering stress hormones, so I'm wondering more specifically what you mean.

And high like what, 150g maybe? I do feel better days I eat the most protein, it's just been practically hard many days to have it very high. Usually I'm over 100g.

 

[jaakkima]

I have been coming to the belief that all my issues, including the clotting, have been caused by intestinal malfunction causing feces to remain too long. The diarrhea I was having for a long time seemed like paradoxical diarrhea, where really I was constipated. Coffee usually helped me a lot. Warfarin probably worsens the basic issue. In this state where I get dizzy, disoriented, numb etc while on warfarin, methylene blue seems to be the only thing that brings me out of it, back to consciousness, and causes my bowel to relax, and I poop and feel a lot better. I'm still experimenting and taking note, but again this seemed to happen this time like the other time. Before any of the clotting, I felt a huge improvement when I took a bunch of MB as well. It also is pretty well taking away the "clotty" feeling that has mostly remained in my legs since this whole ordeal started a year and a half ago. I had noticed, consistently over this time, the "clotty" feeling in the legs came/intensified and went with bowel movement urgency and relief as well. So perhaps MB is working on the fundamental problem that started all this. I've been wary of going very high with the dosage but maybe it's needed. 4 x 5mg / day is having these effects on me right now. The typical 1mg dose doesn't do it. I guess it's the NO scavenging dosing? Niacinamide is synergizing well with this improvement.

 

[Constatine]

Over 100g of protein should actually be fine but 150 is golden. Blocking serotonin specifically while having gut issues slows down transit time and might increase intestinal permeability too. Of course we don't want high serotonin as many of endotoxin's negative effects are potentiated by serotonin, but under some conditions directly antagonizing serotonin with a drug like cyproheptadine can backfire.
Thats very interesting regarding MB. Please keep us updated. Have you ever tried larger doses of vitamin A for your problem?

 

[alywest]

Over 100g of protein should actually be fine but 150 is golden. Blocking serotonin specifically while having gut issues slows down transit time and might increase intestinal permeability too. Of course we don't want high serotonin as many of endotoxin's negative effects are potentiated by serotonin, but under some conditions directly antagonizing serotonin with a drug like cyproheptadine can backfire.
Thats very interesting regarding MB. Please keep us updated. Have you ever tried larger doses of vitamin A for your problem?

Don't you think that too much protein if the OP is still having thyroid issues might be a bit dangerous? Also too much vitamin A? I would say start back on the thyroid treatment and raise the protein accordingly. Start with about 80g protein, then slowly raise that level as your thyroid levels increase. As your metabolism gets better, add more vitamin A and some D. Maybe because of your homeless situation eating a lot of jell-o would be a way to get some calories and gelatin, too. I know it's not ideal, but since you can't make homemade bone broth it might be a compromise. It has hfcs but so does coke.

I'm also assuming that the Nystatin was prescribed for high cholestrol? Or was it supposed to be for the candida? High cholesterol is usually a sign of hypothyroidism. Did you take t3 or just levothyroxine? Usually if you get your metabolism going and have higher temps you can fight candida better. R P strongly advises against statins as they lower cholesterol which actually makes it more difficult for your body to build the hormones it needs to heal. Getting some t3 on a regular basis throughout the day should lower your cholesterol significantly while raising your temps if you're getting enough food as well. Just my 2c.

 

[Constatine]

Don't you think that too much protein if the OP is still having thyroid issues might be a bit dangerous? Also too much vitamin A? I would say start back on the thyroid treatment and raise the protein accordingly. Start with about 80g protein, then slowly raise that level as your thyroid levels increase. As your metabolism gets better, add more vitamin A and some D. Maybe because of your homeless situation eating a lot of jell-o would be a way to get some calories and gelatin, too. I know it's not ideal, but since you can't make homemade bone broth it might be a compromise. It has hfcs but so does coke.

I'm also assuming that the Nystatin was prescribed for high cholestrol? Or was it supposed to be for the candida? High cholesterol is usually a sign of hypothyroidism. Did you take t3 or just levothyroxine? Usually if you get your metabolism going and have higher temps you can fight candida better. R P strongly advises against statins as they lower cholesterol which actually makes it more difficult for your body to build the hormones it needs to heal. Getting some t3 on a regular basis throughout the day should lower your cholesterol significantly while raising your temps if you're getting enough food as well. Just my 2c.

Wouldn't a higher protein diet help restore thyroid function? Also I know Ray has warned of large doses of vitamin A inhibiting thyroid function but there are studies showing vitamin A restoring thyroid and thyroid function in hypothyroid people. So perhaps moderate doses may help. Vitamin A is also depleted when eating a lot of protein or in stressful situations.

 

[alywest]

Wouldn't a higher protein diet help restore thyroid function? Also I know Ray has warned of large doses of vitamin A inhibiting thyroid function but there are studies showing vitamin A restoring thyroid and thyroid function in hypothyroid people. So perhaps moderate doses may help. Vitamin A is also depleted when eating a lot of protein or in stressful situations.

Yes protein is important but it needs to be balanced (glycine vs. tryptophan) and if the thyroid isn't working at its best it can actually be too much if you go straight to 150g of protein right away. If I were OP I would stock up on as much gelatin as possible with prepackaged foods or a supplement of glycine. Vitamin A has been really important in my thyroid recovery but I would just bring up the dose in accordance with thyroid function. So when thyroid function brings up temps, add more vitamin A. I know that RP said when his metabolism was really high he would need up to 100,000 IU of vitamin A per day whereas when it's lower sticking closer to 5,000 IU. So it's a good thing, but you don't want it to compete with thyroid.

Incidentally I actually recently took 250,000IU and while I felt cold and crappy the next day, I have felt great since then. Libido is up, progesterone seems to work that much better, etc. But I have been taking tyronene for a while and that is after a lot of trial and error. This was after @Koveras posted about a child taking 200,000IU to lower serotonin. This dose is to last 6 months in a child. @haidut said an adult could try as much as 400,000IU.

 

[Constatine]

Yes protein is important but it needs to be balanced (glycine vs. tryptophan) and if the thyroid isn't working at its best it can actually be too much if you go straight to 150g of protein right away. If I were OP I would stock up on as much gelatin as possible with prepackaged foods or a supplement of glycine. Vitamin A has been really important in my thyroid recovery but I would just bring up the dose in accordance with thyroid function. So when thyroid function brings up temps, add more vitamin A. I know that RP said when his metabolism was really high he would need up to 100,000 IU of vitamin A per day whereas when it's lower sticking closer to 5,000 IU. So it's a good thing, but you don't want it to compete with thyroid.

Incidentally I actually recently took 250,000IU and while I felt cold and crappy the next day, I have felt great since then. Libido is up, progesterone seems to work that much better, etc. But I have been taking tyronene for a while and that is after a lot of trial and error. This was after @Koveras posted about a child taking 200,000IU to lower serotonin. This dose is to last 6 months in a child. @haidut said an adult could try as much as 400,000IU.

Ray said he needed 100000 iu a day!? That's a lot of liver. I might try a similar vitamin A megadose some time. Have you noticed any muscle hardening effects? Theoretically you should have higher androgens and better protein utilization from such a dose.

 

[alywest]

Ray said he needed 100000 iu a day!? That's a lot of liver. I might try a similar vitamin A megadose some time. Have you noticed any muscle hardening effects? Theoretically you should have higher androgens and better protein utilization from such a dose.

My legs feel tighter in a good way. In general I would say i feel more toned. I am not a gym person, in fact my only work out is chasing after young children and lifting them regularly (they are both almost 50 lbs!) so I do get some exercise! Pregnenalone has also been helping with the tightening and toning. My face is looking like it tightened up, especially around the eyes and jawline.

To the OP @jaakkima I would also suggest high doses of pregnenalone as that seems to be instrumental in healing. According to RP you can't overdose, it doesn't sedate, and he took 3 grams/day when he was healing. I find it to be quite energizing, in fact. I don't feel as desperate for coffee as I have started taking 200-800 mg/day

 

[Constatine]

To the OP @jaakkima I would also suggest high doses of pregnenalone as that seems to be instrumental in healing. According to RP you can't overdose, it doesn't sedate, and he took 3 grams/day when he was healing. I find it to be quite energizing, in fact. I don't feel as desperate for coffee as I have started taking 200-800 mg/day

If you do try preg start with a low dose and see how it effects you. A high dose of preg gives me an insane panic attack and almost psychedelic effects. IDK why but it effects people very differently.

 

[alywest]

If you do try preg start with a low dose and see how it effects you. A high dose of preg gives me an insane panic attack and almost psychedelic effects. IDK why but it effects people very differently.

Oh interesting, do you think it could have been the brand? If so, what brand was it?

 

[jaakkima]

Don't you think that too much protein if the OP is still having thyroid issues might be a bit dangerous? Also too much vitamin A? I would say start back on the thyroid treatment and raise the protein accordingly. Start with about 80g protein, then slowly raise that level as your thyroid levels increase. As your metabolism gets better, add more vitamin A and some D. Maybe because of your homeless situation eating a lot of jell-o would be a way to get some calories and gelatin, too. I know it's not ideal, but since you can't make homemade bone broth it might be a compromise. It has hfcs but so does coke.

I'm also assuming that the Nystatin was prescribed for high cholestrol? Or was it supposed to be for the candida? High cholesterol is usually a sign of hypothyroidism. Did you take t3 or just levothyroxine? Usually if you get your metabolism going and have higher temps you can fight candida better. R P strongly advises against statins as they lower cholesterol which actually makes it more difficult for your body to build the hormones it needs to heal. Getting some t3 on a regular basis throughout the day should lower your cholesterol significantly while raising your temps if you're getting enough food as well. Just my 2c.

I didn't realize it was one of the "statins". Damn! I should have with the name, but I didn't find that info on cholesterol lowering. My cholesterol was never high. In fact before I used thyroid I would have preferred higher. But I do take 10mcg T3 per day. Higher amounts have given me irregular/erratic results. When I've used cynoplus, I felt like maybe I was having conversion issues. It always started out ok and then as the dose built up I'd feel less good.

 

[jaakkima]

Over 100g of protein should actually be fine but 150 is golden. Blocking serotonin specifically while having gut issues slows down transit time and might increase intestinal permeability too. Of course we don't want high serotonin as many of endotoxin's negative effects are potentiated by serotonin, but under some conditions directly antagonizing serotonin with a drug like cyproheptadine can backfire.
Thats very interesting regarding MB. Please keep us updated. Have you ever tried larger doses of vitamin A for your problem?

A few times I had amazing results with a lot of Vitamin A, but it only lasted for a dose or two, couldn't get it to come back. Currently just having occasional liver, usually weekly.

 

[alywest]

I didn't realize it was one of the "statins". Damn! I should have with the name, but I didn't find that info on cholesterol lowering. My cholesterol was never high. In fact before I used thyroid I would have preferred higher. But I do take 10mcg T3 per day. Higher amounts have given me irregular/erratic results. When I've used cynoplus, I felt like maybe I was having conversion issues. It always started out ok and then as the dose built up I'd feel less good.

I would use something like tyromix which is t4 and t3 in a good ratio. Then possibly use t3 in addition to that in very small doses during the day.

 

[jaakkima]

My legs feel tighter in a good way. In general I would say i feel more toned. I am not a gym person, in fact my only work out is chasing after young children and lifting them regularly (they are both almost 50 lbs!) so I do get some exercise! Pregnenalone has also been helping with the tightening and toning. My face is looking like it tightened up, especially around the eyes and jawline.

To the OP @jaakkima I would also suggest high doses of pregnenalone as that seems to be instrumental in healing. According to RP you can't overdose, it doesn't sedate, and he took 3 grams/day when he was healing. I find it to be quite energizing, in fact. I don't feel as desperate for coffee as I have started taking 200-800 mg/day

Pregnenolone has always helped me feel better and helped with my symptoms. I've taken high dose most of the last few years. Typically 1g or .5g

 

[jaakkima]

I would use something like tyromix which is t4 and t3 in a good ratio. Then possibly use t3 in addition to that in very small doses during the day.

Same ratio as cynoplus I believe. Used Tyromix too. Maybe a small dose could work. Still, always seemed like T4 was an issue for me.