Strange Symptoms And Myalgia

[Interactome]

I wonder if the pain in your solar plexus is the result of tension in the abdomen. If auto-suggestive techniques work for you, you can try to solve it with breathing exercises. For example: Lay down on your back. When you breathe in imagine the breath flows to your pelvis. When you breathe out let the abdominal wall follow gravitation. Play a bit around with it. The aim is to open the whole torso. You might need to exercise a few days before you see results.

What makes you think that you have problems with the stomach? Upper right abdomen is the liver.

I can give it a try.

The endoscopy showed
- esophagitis, class A Los Angeles
- small hiatal hernia"
- gastric mucosal erythema

Because I'm not really doubling over in abdominal pain, I didn't think about it two months ago when I had it done, but now I'm thinking more and more that that must be it. I've gotta fix the esophagitis and the mucosal erythema.

The upper right pain is occasional, and gets better after drinking some milk. It's around the right upper ribcage about 10 cm from the solar plexus. When I asked the gastro what it was she said it must be from the stomach and esophagus. I also thought liver and gallbladder before.

Do you have experience with Pantoprazole (20 mg)? Is it worth risking? I'm just thinking in case the gastritis is caused by some bacteria/fungus other that H. Pylori...

I'm also very hesitant with the flowers of sulphur I ordered. It says to go to the emergency if swallowed. I ordered this one:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00EQ7WUP6?keywords=flowers of sulphur&qid=1454401930&ref_=sr_ph&sr=1

Have you tried it? And might it be extra dangerous to try given the "gastric mucosal erythema"?

 

[Interactome]

It seems my urinary pH is again often high. Around 7.5 - 8.

Maybe I'm hypersecreting HCl, causing loss of Cl (serum Cl 94 (98-106 mmol/L))? If I google hypochloremia, I get "hypochloremic alkalosis". But why would such a state persist?

Could it be due to some infection? Or some sort of injury causing consistent loss of HCl?

 

[BastiFuntasty]

Same goes for me when it comes to the urinary ph. But isn't that something normal while eating Peat friendly? From his pov ph reflects the absorbed minerals, where calcium, mg etc shift us in an alcalic state and phosphorus does the opposite.

 

[Interactome]

Same goes for me when it comes to the urinary ph. But isn't that something normal while eating Peat friendly? From his pov ph reflects the absorbed minerals, where calcium, mg etc shift us in an alcalic state and phosphorus does the opposite.

Hmm... difficult to say. I don't quite understand that part. There are so many electrolytes in the body. If only I had urinary pH measurements from before all this started. I think there's something with HCl and HCO3-. I should measure bicarbonate in the blood to see what it is next time I get by a private lab.

How is it going with the thyroid? Is it helping the symptoms?

 

[BastiFuntasty]

Hmm... difficult to say. I don't quite understand that part. There are so many electrolytes in the body. If only I had urinary pH measurements from before all this started. I think there's something with HCl and HCO3-. I should measure bicarbonate in the blood to see what it is next time I get by a private lab.

How is it going with the thyroid? Is it helping the symptoms?

I wasn't able to raise metabolism with NDT so far and I think it's due to high cortisol which contribute to possible rt3 issue. I recently stopped NDT and will try it again soon, but before I try to lower cortisol by aspirin or maybe theanine.

 

[Interactome]

I wasn't able to raise metabolism with NDT so far and I think it's due to high cortisol which contribute to possible rt3 issue. I recently stopped NDT and will try it again soon, but before I try to lower cortisol by aspirin or maybe theanine.

I'm thinking I should try to do the same. As long as cortisol is high, nothing will heal properly.

I asked another doctor online about my high cortisol and renin levels and he also said to check for adrenal tumours. Maybe I'll see if I can get an adrenal MRI.

In case it's not a tumour, I read that the adrenals hypertrophy when one is exposed to prolonged stress, maybe to keep up with the demand for adrenal hormones. How does one reverse adrenal hypertrophy? Theanine? Cyproheptadine?

 

[Interactome]

Well, I have a slight hypochloremia, high aldosterone and high renin and high cortisol. That means I'm lacking Cl and my body wants to keep Na. My body also excretes K, Mg, Ca. Does it excrete excess or is it loss? If it's loss, then it must be tissue loss, as blood levels are maintained constant. I have no measurements on Cl, but since it's low, I'm guessing I'm loosing that too. Maybe my stomach is using it up or I pee it out... don't know.

So I'll go back to one of the previous experiments and load up on NaCl for a few days while trying to keep some anti-Candida supplements just in case and about 30 g gelatine. I'll salt my milk, tea, food, water... maybe 15g added NaCl/day.

 

[Interactome]

If cortisol is high, is it a good idea to eat high carb?

 

[Interactome]

Does anyone know if it's possible to get some counselling with Ray Peat and how to contact him?

 

[Interactome]

I think I'm gonna try to go lower carb. Maybe only 100-150g today and see how I feel. And load up on CO and more butter and milk fat.

 

[Giraffe]

If cortisol is high, is it a good idea to eat high carb?

I would try to prevent low blood sugar (sip a bit of orange juice or salted milk between meals).

Aging, estrogen, and progesterone

 

[HDD]

A low sugar diet can cause chronically high cortisol.
Peatarian.com Email Exchanges - Ray Peat Forum Wiki

 

[Interactome]

I would try to prevent low blood sugar (sip a bit of orange juice or salted milk between meals).

Aging, estrogen, and progesterone

A low sugar diet can cause chronically high cortisol.
Peatarian.com Email Exchanges - Ray Peat Forum Wiki

Ok, thanks. I don't know why I get these reactions to sugar. It's like I get more thirsty when I eat a lot of carbs... maybe it's because more sugar binds more water, which means lower blood volume.

 

[Interactome]

An ultrasound last year showed that my vena cava was 24 mm, and I asked a doctor online that said it should be 15-17 mm. So apparently that one is dilated too.

Another theory for all this is a "Renal Vein Thrombosis". That would explain some of the thirst and vein issues. I might have some clots that have moved around. I'll brainstorm a little... Maybe one has lodged itself near one of my kidneys causing less blood to flow there... or maybe the kidney got injured somehow. And now it secretes more renin leading to more aldosterone. Increased thirst. Increased Na retention to maintain blood volume (which is not low, but the kidney thinks so). Maybe some of the circulation to the extremities gets shut down too. Drinking more will then lead to too much blood volume putting pressure on the veins, dilating them. They either became all varicose or it's a temporary adaptation to the high renin/aldosterone and increased local blood volume. I don't know how fast a vein becomes varicose, but given that some of the veins got larger within minutes after temporarily cutting off the flow through them leading to temporary pooling, I hope it's a local adaptation. At least in the larger ones. The smaller ones might be more permanent.

I should start taking some blood thinners again. I've got some Nattokinase, Serrapeptase and vitamin E that I can start taking. Question is, will they mess up my stomach even more? And could my stomach/microbiome be the cause for the (potential) blood clots? And if there is a clot and I start thinning my blood again, where will the clot move next? Lungs/heart/brain?

 

[Interactome]

I went by a holistic doctor. He took a urine sample, measured uric acid in the blood and performed a blood microscopy using blood from the ear.

I had some protein in the urine (+1), urinary pH 8, blood uric acid 2.1 mg/dl (Low).

The blood microscopy showed some fungus and other junk.

He mentioned Gulf War Syndrome.

Is all this from the high cortisol and bad sleep which has immunocompromised me?

 

[Interactome]

Or maybe something from when I was in the hospital...

 

[tara]

- low plasma sodium

Do you have numbers for blood sodium? Should be between 135 - 145 mmol/L, ideally close to mid range I think. If it is lower than 135, are you eating enough salt?

- insufficient pumping from the heart: my damaged valve or lower metabolism causing inefficient contraction and / or low pulse

The slightly damaged/deformed valve could be slightly reducing blood flow and therefore oxygen supply to tissues. I'm not sure what leads to stenosis of the valve - I think it may be calcification, but there may be other possibilities. I don't know whether or not it is reversible under optimal conditions. It may make the valve a little more susceptible to picking up an infection, which would be potentially dangerous and urgent (hence antibiotics for any dentistry, etc).

- ? loss of venous muscle tone causing dilation due to a loss in some nutrient / cellular energy

Seems possible. Excess estrogen seems to be one factor that can affect this.

I told one that then maybe the muscles in my veins have weakened, and he said that veins don't have muscles... but Wikipedia disagrees. So it's very confusing.

I'm with you on this. As far as I know veins have less muscle than arteries, but they still have some.
I'd be wondering about the safety and trustworthiness of a dr who hasn't got this level of physiology straight.

But it feels like it's something systemic.

Estrogen/progesterone balance are systemic.

If only there were a way of figuring out if estrogen is really the cause of it all.

Possibly the easiest way would be to try some progesterone and see if it helps, as TCA suggested. I reckon all TCA's suggestions are worth trying, if you haven't yet.

Apparently a low PUFA diet isn't all there's to it.

Has anyone suggested it is?
Getting nutritional needs met is usually also needed for healing, as well as appropriate hydration, sunlight, sleep, suitable movement, appropriate breathing, avoiding other toxins, allergens, irritants and nasty infections, having human closeness and interaction, and purpose and meaning in life.

Maybe something in the milk (some protein, the fat, or calcium)

...water, lactose, potassium, calories, ...

Or maybe the milk contains antibodies against the bacteria/virus. I did feel better when drinking unpasteurised milk than pasteurised. Maybe the antibodies in the milk help with the (not so) latent infection? And at the same time something in the milk feeds Candida or gives me slight brain/speech fog due to some milk-protein allergy? Or maybe something in the milk kills the bug giving me die-off symptoms... or I'm thinking too much?

If any kind of milk makes you feel better, then why not just keep drinking it as long as it tastes and feels good?

If it's not a genetic thing then it must be some hidden bug.

Or maybe not-so-hidden - you already know you have a couple of virusses running, right?

I had some protein in the urine (+1), urinary pH 8, blood uric acid 2.1 mg/dl (Low).

One can have significant variations through when mineral depleted, so a single test may not be conclusive. It is very easy to test yourself using pH strips. If
If UpH 8 is typical for you, it looks high to me. Lots of people here get benefit from supplementing alkaline minerals, but if you have more alkaline reserves than your system knows what to do with, adding more may not be so useful. I think the RBTI crew would probably recommend avoiding supplementing alkaline forms of calcium and Mg, and not taking vit-D. Ascorbic acid might be a reasonable form of vit-C since your pH is so high, though Peat has expressed reservations. I wouldn't go for several grams, but might be worth trying a few hundred, spilt over the day.
Fungi like a high pH. I think it can unbalance other systems too.

I'm afraid I've lost track of what you are doing. You mentioned intermittent fasts a few months ago. You're not still doing that are, you?
Have you got basic nutrition covered - 80-100 g protein, 3000 cals, at least as much from carbs as from fat - probably better more from carbs? Meeting minimum RDIs for all the vits and minerals? Eating your food split over at least three meals, starting with breakfast soon after waking and a decent lunch? Maybe better with snacks too - if needed to avoid too much low sugar stress.
Getting enough sun and a at least some regular movement (not intensive exercise, given your weakened state). Gentle walks in pleasant environs, yoga, ...

 

[Interactome]

Do you have numbers for blood sodium? Should be between 135 - 145 mmol/L, ideally close to mid range I think. If it is lower than 135, are you eating enough salt?

I have a lot of data in my lab results. It doesn't show low plasma Na. It was just a doctor on healthcaremagic.com that said that the thirst could come from that, even though it didn't show it. I don't know really. Apparently every doctor says something different, so maybe I should just conclude that they don't know what's going on and don't have the time to bother trying to find out. I'm learning that most doctors look at their work like sort of a salesman: it's all about volume. Most do not have a proper scientist attitude to want to find out and explain. It feels almost like I'm going to right-leg doctors with holes in both my legs, and they conclude that I suffer from "bleeding-hole-in-the-right-leg" instead of gun shot wounds. And they refrain from speculating about the wounds in my left leg because they are right-leg specialist :)

The problem is that I got worse the times I tried to eat more. So something is hurting me whenever I try to increase calories. Full fat milk calories, esp. goat, seems to help, but not cure, as I tried to drop it 3 times so far with a worsening of symptoms every time. Vitamin C, Methylene Blue, Mg, Niacinamide, high carb and low fat ... all seem to make me worse. It seems like whatever measures I take to increase metabolism is hurting me.
So I'll try not to go too crazy with calories right now. I'm at around 2500 cals. 1-2.5 l full fat goat milk (UHT), a few yolks, 100-200g meat, some cheese, 6-7 ripe bananas, gelatine, red peppers, carrots, sparkling water when I'm thirsty. I do not fast anymore, though I do skip breakfast sometimes and get my first meal at 12 (last milk and gelatine snack with a banana at around 9-10 PM).

Or maybe not-so-hidden - you already know you have a couple of virusses running, right?

I clearly feel that the Peat philosophy cannot be done in me (and maybe many others who struggle) due to these "not-so-hidden" bugs that get super trigger happy and start bombarding me with (and/or my immune system carpet bombs them messing me up in the process... maybe the high Cortisol is there to protect me from myself?) whenever I try.

I'll wait for the conclusions of the holistic doctor. I feel like he knows what he's doing and I like his theories. When I mentioned Ray Peat he knew who I was talking about. If he can do something about the infections and symptoms/injuries then I'll know what's going on and will try to formulate a theory explaining it all.

I feel like we need to know our microbiomes better. Not only the gut bacteria, but also the fungi, viruses (acquired and endogenous), parasites and other things that hide inside us. Perhaps once some of these overgrow (due to selective killing of others by means of antibiotics, frankenfoods, toxins, restrictive dieting), they will form a barrier and hinder further improvement through lifestyle measures alone.

 

[Giraffe]

I am no expert at reading lab tests, but 25-OH-D stood out for me. 50 ng/mL is a good value (yours is 20.3). I would try to get that up.

Your TSH is high from Peat's point of view.

Caller: I have a question. How does thyroid relate to Lyme disease?
RP: The whole immune system is the issue there. A very healthy immune system can throw off chronic infections like that. It's best to do it quickly with an antibiotic, but you always want to back up the antibiotic with an optimized immune system, and thyroid and calcium and vitamin D are really basic things to make your immune system not cause inflammation, but to be able to eliminate pathogens.

Cholesterol is an Important Molecule, KMUD 2008-12-03

 

[Interactome]

I am no expert at reading lab tests, but 25-OH-D stood out for me. 50 ng/mL is a good value (yours is 20.3). I would try to get that up.

Your TSH is high from Peat's point of view.

I've started taking some D3 to see what happens.

I don't know what I can do for the TSH. But could it be that the body dials down metabolism if there's an infection?

Do you/anyone know something about uBiome results? I have some entries that I do not really know how to interpret, e.g.:

• Dioxin degradation 1.31X
• Xylene degradation 1.31X

and

• Arachidonic acid metabolism 1.47X

I'm just wondering if this is something significant or not? Am I being poisoned with dioxin, or is it insignificant?