Sunmountain's Log

sunmountain

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Ok, starting this, instead of posting all over.

I wish I understood how and why the DHEA triggered peeing for me.

The last few days, I've been experimenting a bit. I went down to 2.5mg DHEA, and still peeing the same. I thought of going down to 1mg, but then tried Diamox, which produced a cloudy pee, so I stopped it after a couple of days.

Now I'm trying lisuride 1/8th of tablet in order to block serotonin. My peeing continues to be good. It's only now after I'm peeing normally that I realize how little I was peeing before the DHEA.

So good things inventory: peeing good; also noticed that hair is no longer falling out as much, in fact very little. Also able to drink much more OJ now that I can pee. Also drinking 8 to 16oz goat milk a day, no problem. Also baking more: cheesecake a la Tara and Lindsay using ricotta, RP brownies with ricotta and chopped fruit mixed in, banana muffins made with oat flour. I eat these baked foods various times during the day.

Bad things inventory: still not eating enough. Since I can't drink as much milk, and need some solid food to not have diarrhea, and trying to reduce starch and fat in order to force burn sugar, that leaves little else to eat that I don't get sick of soon. So I eat lentils and beans and farmer's cheese, but get sick of that too.

Questions: what is the relation between gut bacteria and serotonin? If the lisuride reduces serotonin, how does that affect my stomach swelling? Is my stomach swelling due to histamine or serotonin, and how can I tell, and are there tests to help distinguish?

Also, the DHEA and lisuride definitely affect my abiilty to sleep through the night. I have been sleeping through the night for months now, but 2.5mg DHEA and 1/8 lisuride wake me up at night. I drink OJ when I wake at night but it takes a while to fall back asleep. I eat and drink a lot before bed; as a matter of fact, my metabolism seems to wake up and get going only past 1 or 2pm.

It's possible that my hunger has been affected by some of these drugs?
 
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sunmountain

sunmountain

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I've stopped the lisuride. It's too demanding when I'm not eating enough to support it.

Today I took 1mg DHEA at breakfast. Let's see if I can fall asleep tonight and stay asleep.

Peeing is proceeding fine. If I drink something, I pee an hour or two after that. Just like it's supposed to be. Sweet!

How do I figure out if I still have water retention? My back has improved due to the peeing, so that I'm able to sleep in my bed again instead of on the floor. I didn't really mind the floor at all; infact kinda liked it, but like a real bed to sleep on. Maybe some day I'll get a hard bed.

Now my back only hurts a bit when I bend over. Kind of like a stretch; it also feels good.

My stomach still sticking out. I guess things won't change unless I EAT MORE. Lately I've been eating less maybe due to trying this and that med (which I've stopped now), or because of meddling with the diet. Trying to eat Peatishly almost all the time, which isn't really possible for me right now as I can't drink a lot of milk, and am cutting out starch and fat to boost sugar-burning.

Talking of milk, I drink 8 to 16 oz GOAT milk daily now! Woo hoo! Myenberg brand. So comforting, with cocoa and sugar in it.

I've noticed I can drink quite a bit of OJ now, though not consistently yet. Many days several glasses. I couldn't handle more than a glass when I started. And now that I'm peeing, I'm even drinking chicken broth!!!!

I bake cheesecake, oat-fruit muffins, brownies regularly now, and they're a part of my meals as well as in-between.

Oh, and I've started drinking Coke. The red can. Should I drink zero or red, I can't tell. Since I'm supposed to eat more, I suppose the red? But people are saying it'll make me fat. But it has fructose, which is the only sugar I use right now, so how can it make me fat. But maybe it has corn syrup which can make me fat???

So much has changed for the better. Now I even feel muscles in my thigh when I climb stairs! I haven't felt THOSE since I can't remember!!

I wish I could go walking again and feel those muscles a bit more. I'd love that! BUT I still have joint pain in my knees and stiff fingers when I wake up. Maybe that is connected to my stomach?

Is there something to stimulate appetite? I'm taking cypro 2mg at bedtime, but it doesn't seem to be doing much for appetite. I'd like to feel RAVENEOUSLY hungry and eat everything in sight!!

Oddly, I feel hungriest close to bedtime. I eat and drink a lot then.
 
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sunmountain

sunmountain

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I like having a log. A place to rattle on without bothering anybody.

So now and then I try to connect some dots. Like ADHD. How come I had stress symptoms that were exactly like my daughter's ADHD: difficulty focusing, lack of motivation, forgetfulness, etc. Is ADHD a stress disorder? Caused by hypothyroidism? Has anyone actually cured their ADHD with thyroid?

Why is only T4 sold in the USA? Why do docs let people suffer hypo symtoms just because their TSH is "normal"? Why has the TSH threshold been raised so that many are undiagnosed?

Is it so that pharma can invent problems like ADHD and then market expensive drugs?

Is it really that simple? Or is there truly something to ADHD that is beyond thyroid?

And the ADHD meds. They work by increasing the stress hormones, don't they? Kind of like soldiers under combat. That's what gives you the intense focus on ADHD meds, right? Like soldiers under combat?

No wonder those elevated stress hormones make my daughter's GAD out of control, to where she picks her face uncontrollably.
 

tara

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Hi sunmountain,

I was just wondering if you ever tried the olive leaf extract? My experience with it so far has been that it halted bloating and diarrhea within three days. After my guts settled down it caused my appetite to go through the roof, sort of felt like low blood sugar/starvation. So now I am forced to eat well over 300 gms of carbohydrate per day which I could never accomplish before (without getting bloated), especially during winter. I can now eat 2500 calories a day without gaining any fat. I find that rather amazing for me personally because I have been severely hypothyroid for so long that I used to get fat on 1700 calories per day. All this extra nutrition has raised my metabolism and energy substantially...it's been like a domino effect. Hope I'm making sense here. At any rate, I had to cut back to just one dose of olive leaf per day with breakfast otherwise I would need to be eating constantly all day long.

Wish I had solid answers for you... I can tell you that I was an uncontrollable picker for decades (diagnosed with OCD when I was 20) and the things that have helped me the most are all the things Peat mentions for reducing stress: dense nutrition, good sleep, plenty of progesterone, thyroid meds, extra B vitamins have been practically miraculous and absolutely reducing gut irritation by any means possible. Keep experimenting, we're all learning here!
 
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sunmountain

sunmountain

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Thanks, Tara and BP!

I read the first of those articles several months back. Will reread again. Although Peat is among the more readable scientists, it's still takes me time to read and reread and try to understand at least his main points.

BP, I just got the olive leaf you recommended in the mail today! I'm a bit afraid to take it at night due to possible insomnia. Last night I tried 1mg DHEA and still woke up at night. So I may lay off the DHEA, and use Diamox once a week or thereabouts to keep my pee channels open.

I will take the olive leaf tomorrow morning, and see how much of a sugar drop I experience. Did you mention somewhere you were taking it 3 times a day?

I love what it did for you. I dare not hope the same...we are all different in how these things affect us...yet I can't help but hope. Let us see what happens. Thanks so much for sharing what worked for you!
 
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sunmountain said:
I will take the olive leaf tomorrow morning, and see how much of a sugar drop I experience. Did you mention somewhere you were taking it 3 times a day?

I love what it did for you. I dare not hope the same...we are all different in how these things affect us...yet I can't help but hope. Let us see what happens. Thanks so much for sharing what worked for you!

I started with 1500 mg. (2 caps) TWICE a day, once in the morning with breakfast and again in the evening with dinner. I started with this high dose because my gut situation was spinning out of control. (Terrible bloating which leads to diarrhea no matter what I eat). After a week or ten days on that dose I tried to raise my dose to 3000 mg. twice a day. I only lasted for 3 days at that level, it was waaay too intense, so I backed down to a single morning dose of 1500 mg. with breakfast. I'm going to continue this for several weeks and then taper off.

This is merely an experiment as I don't really know what else to do. When my intestines get out of whack it affects every aspect of my life: I can't eat enough and so then my metabolism crashes, then low energy and a sh*tty mood set in....no fun. I hope you find something that works for you!!!
 
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sunmountain

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Took one capsule at breakfast, one at lunch, two at dinner. No change so far. Will increase to 2 caps x 3 tomorrow. Maybe my bugs are hardier than yours, BP!
 
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sunmountain

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Taking 3 or 4 caps at a time, 2 or 3 times a day. No problem tolerating it. No difference in stomach size yet. Will continue to increase dosage.

I am still waking up at night, so it was probably not the DHEA that woke me, which is good to know. Still peeing fine, which is great. But I don't want the insomnia taking hold, so am trying different things.

Have increased preg again, and taking a full 4mg tablet of cypro at bedtime. Have also increased cynoplus (T3 + T4) to a quarter tablet each AM and PM. Previously I could not tolerate even a quarter tablet, but now I can. Perhaps it's because of winter. After 3 weeks of a quarter, I'll see if I can tolerate higher. This is great! All this time I could not tolerate much thyroid, and if I can increase it, surely it would be good.

After I begin sleeping through again, I'll go back to low dose DHEA. Somehow I think it was doing good.

I'm still not eating enough. But I'm drinking more OJ, and a coke every day. I'm also drinking a glass or two of goat milk every day. It's great being able to drink more fluids, and then pee them out!

I'm worried about my daughter. I think I observe reduced appetite. She sleeps through breakfast on weekends, and eats only two meals a day, as far as I can observe. She says she eats breakfast at school on school days, but I don't know. I'm pretty sure she is not calorie restricting, but I think her appetite is down. And her hair is falling. Could be fallout from the unexplained high fever in September.

Why are BOTH our appetities down??
 
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sunmountain

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I started feeling strangely achy this evening...like low thyroid might feel. Also occasional twinges of pain in my neck on the left side. Muscles aching. I skipped my supps this morning, including thyroid. Can skipping a dose of thyroid make a difference so quickly?

I'm taking 1/4 cynoplus morning and night. That's already a big increase from the summer. I tried 1/2 cynoplus a few days ago, and seemed to tolerate that as well. But I backed off to 1/4 cuz I wasn't sure if it might be too much T4 (1/2 cynoplus x 2 per day), and maybe I should top off with T3 during the day. But I haven't added T3 during the day yet.

Hmm.

Other things. I finished the Olive leaf bottle. Don't think it made a difference. I'm thinking it might not be SIBO. I'm thinking it's related to food restriction and refeeding. I went back and read more Youreatopia.

I think I also understand why my appetite and my daughter's dropped recently. We're both not eating enough. I'm not eating enough because I'm restricting too many foods: no or low starch, no or low fat, no or low pufa, no meats, etc.

Also now that I'm peeing normally (thank goodness!) and can tolerate more fluids, I'm drinking more goat milk and OJ and coke, and so not cooking much. I'm also not in the mood to eat shellfish these days for some reason.

So there's not much cooked food in the house. I'm making cheesecake regularly and muffins and eat those, along with milk, OJ, a cup of bean or lentil soup, or a slice of bread with a lot of cheese, etc. The other day I ate chipotle. I feel it's more important to eat right now than to eat right.

My daughter says part of the reason she is eating less is because I've stopped cooking. I need to change that. I need to cook for her and leave it on the stove like before. But I don't think that's the only reason she's eating less. I'm not sure what the other reason is, except that she sleeps until 2 or 3pm everyday (it's winter break for her) and so skips breakfast and has a late lunch and late dinner.

The big realization is that I'm not eating enough because I'm down to just a few foods, and I need to widen that right now so I can meet calorie requirments. At the same time, I'm increasing milk and OJ and that's good.
 
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sunmountain

sunmountain

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Sleep cycle still off; sleeping late and waking late.

Still achy; continuing to adjust thyroid. Morning waking is VERY hard to get out of bed. Will try a nibble of T3 upon waking to help me get out of bed.

Is the achiness not enough or too much thyroid -- or not enough thyroid but too much because still not eating enough??

Peeing like the devil -- thank goodness!! Drinking goat milk, OJ, coke.
 

Dayman

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Hi I was going to suggest cypro for hunger but saw you were taking it before bed.
I have found days when I take 1mg in the morning it stimulates hunger. I notice the hunger more if I haven't had coffee.
Also personally cypro makes me sleepy the next day if I dose more than 1mg in the evening.
1mg seems to be my sweet spot, any more and I get irritable.
 
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sunmountain

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I take 4mg cypro at bedtime.

My hunger has improved in recent days. The ability to pee fully is so wonderful! I drink and drink and pee! I drink 3-4 glasses goat milk every day.

A few days ago I started drinking coffee. I always liked the smell, but grew up on tea. Now I'm putting lots of coffee in french press and small amount hot water. Then I put concentrate in milk, and add sugar and glycine. Wonderful! I drink two of these -- cafe con leche? -- daily. How do you pronounce the leche?

The coffee is making me feel good. It has taken away the need for T3 during the day, so I just take cynoplus at bedtime. It does not give me a racing heart either. Nice.

How do you all make cafe con leche, if that is what it is? Anyone tried putting hot milk in the press?

I think my diet is much more liquid now than ever before. Oj also, coke, milk-coffee. Chicken broth.

But I'm still not eating enough because I can't fall asleep till very late, or wake up at night. It's hard to figure out what solid foods to cook that don't have much starch.

Mostly my stomach is medium sticking out now, as opposed to full out. There is still also blubber there. And sometimes it still swells up full out when I eat something solid and starchy -- I need to pay attention what makes it full out.
 
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sunmountain

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Not much change since the previous post but noticing something. I'm going through an extremely stressful time right now on multiple fronts. Sometimes I feel a bit of panic, but it doesn't last more than a few moments.

One day I noticed that my way of dealing with stress has changed. I don't feel a lot of panic like I used to. I have been weathering things better. I go through it and then move on.

I feel sad when I need to and cry when I need to, but not like before. It doesn't keep me down long.

I feel fear from time to time, but it too doesn't get me down, but passes.

All this is an amazing way to live...one I could never have imagined. I dreamed about so many things, but I never dreamed about the feeling of being able to weather stress, a boat with an even keel moving slowly but surely through rough seas.

On the downside, I notice that I still have a lot of anger that is aroused situationally, and leading to repetitive thinking. But also the situation is serious so perhaps to be expected. Then again the awareness of these responses is leading me to want to simplify my life.

Physically, my digestion is stuck. Peristalsis is very slow. It's hard to do low fat and no starch. If I eat starch, I bloat, if I don't, I feel hungry or get diarrhea on drinking fluid on empty stomach. I have begun to eat out more because I'm tired of eating or drinking the same things. Plus it helps me to eat more.

But I'm still drinking much more fluids than when I started -- thanks to the fact that I continue to pee. Three tall glasses of milk a day, at least one glass OJ, a can of coke.

Sometimes I feel some despair at the digestion, though it doesn't last long.
 
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sunmountain

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Need help. No change in stomach situation. Going without starch until evening means diarrhea. Drink milk for breakfast, eat cottage cheese with jam, fresh fruit, coke for lunch, more milk around 5pm. By evening have to eat some starch or diarrhea.

I'm eating potato and it doesn't seem to sit around long like pizza or pasta. I take 4 capsules Allithiamine, and it helps speed up digestion, I think, hope not imagining.

Will have to see if adding back simple starch like potato and rice will increase weight or not.

Protein is again a challenge. Green can is out...it definitely bloats. I'm taking glycine. Don't feel like eating shellfish these days, though try to get white fish once a week. No meat. Do drink broth often (mix of Pacific brand bone, vege, chicken). Try to eat some cottage cheese every day.

Has anyone tried goat protein powder? Is it Peaty? I really need to supplement protein.

I read somewhere on the forum about progesterone reducing muscle. I do a strip of progest-e morning and night. So that's why the muscles are not building enough. Really need some protein supplement to counter progest-e. Any suggestions appreciated.

Thanks
 
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sunmountain

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bump

Anyone tried goat protein powder and is it peaty?

I'm really tired of the diarrhea. It's a regular occurrence now.

Earlier I had thought that my edema resolved due to DHEA. I now think it was massage. It resolved soon after the second massage session. I've been getting massage more frequently, and recently I started acupuncture.

I told the acupuncturist I had diarrhea, so she constipated me. The next day I told the masseuse I was constipated, and after massage had a regular BM! Clearly these modalities are VERY powerful. It's amazing how they work. How did a body massage relieve my constipation, when she didn't even touch my stomach?

So let's see how the acupuncture can help with digestion.

Another thing I'm looking into starting is gentle yoga. More like long stretches with holding poses for long. That's about all I can do anyhow, with my stomach sticking out and getting out of breath with one flight of steps.

I feel the acupuncture and massage are really helping.
 

Jennifer

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sunmountain said:
bump

Anyone tried goat protein powder and is it peaty?

I'm really tired of the diarrhea. It's a regular occurrence now.

Earlier I had thought that my edema resolved due to DHEA. I now think it was massage. It resolved soon after the second massage session. I've been getting massage more frequently, and recently I started acupuncture.

I told the acupuncturist I had diarrhea, so she constipated me. The next day I told the masseuse I was constipated, and after massage had a regular BM! Clearly these modalities are VERY powerful. It's amazing how they work. How did a body massage relieve my constipation, when she didn't even touch my stomach?

So let's see how the acupuncture can help with digestion.

Another thing I'm looking into starting is gentle yoga. More like long stretches with holding poses for long. That's about all I can do anyhow, with my stomach sticking out and getting out of breath with one flight of steps.

I feel the acupuncture and massage are really helping.
I'm sorry your still dealing with the digestive troubles, sunmountain. I had hoped your gut had finally given you a break. :(

Can you get goat milk powder that is low temp processed? I know Ray has said the fresher the milk, the better, but that ones tolerance is the deciding factor. If you tolerate goat milk powder the best, then I would think that is most important to allow your gut to heal. I was planning on getting the NOW brand of milk powder to add to my recipes like ice cream and soups.

And it's funny you mention the massage helping because I just mentioned massage therapy on sueq's fat-free experiment thread. Massage therapists are taught what points to hit on the body that trigger reactions in other parts of your body since everything is connected. My cousin is a massage therapist and she has said that, for example, therapists have to be careful because they can even trigger a woman's period due to getting lymph fluids moving/detoxifying.

Anyhow, I'm glad those two modalities are working for you and I hope they move your digestion in the right direction permanently. :)
 
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sunmountain

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Hi Jennifer,

Thanks for responding! I'm really glad you were able to find a reason behind your gut problems, and are now on the mend!

I was actually referring to goat milk powder protein, and not just goat milk powder. See below:
http://www.tropicaltraditions.com/goat_milk_protein.htm

You can get more protein this way than with straight milk. I remember reading somewhere on the forum that someone had tried it, but don't remember where and a search doesn't find it.

I can and do drink 3 large glasses of goat milk every day, and really thankful that I can. But need additional protein to counter the progest-e, and also cuz I get sick of farmer's and cottage cheese. I can't do gelatin anymore, and do glycine, but it's not a complete protein.

Speaking of massage, did you ever try it and was it helpful? Though as we know now, you had an infection, which needed specific meds.
 

Jennifer

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sunmountain said:
Hi Jennifer,

Thanks for responding! I'm really glad you were able to find a reason behind your gut problems, and are now on the mend!

I was actually referring to goat milk powder protein, and not just goat milk powder. See below:
http://www.tropicaltraditions.com/goat_milk_protein.htm

You can get more protein this way than with straight milk. I remember reading somewhere on the forum that someone had tried it, but don't remember where and a search doesn't find it.

I can and do drink 3 large glasses of goat milk every day, and really thankful that I can. But need additional protein to counter the progest-e, and also cuz I get sick of farmer's and cottage cheese. I can't do gelatin anymore, and do glycine, but it's not a complete protein.

Speaking of massage, did you ever try it and was it helpful? Though as we know now, you had an infection, which needed specific meds.
Thanks, sunmountain! :)

I checked out the goat milk protein powder and it appears it doesn't go through a harsh process, so that's good. The only thing I can say in terms of it possibly being problematic is that it goes through a lacto-fermented process to predigest the proteins and I notice they also add probiotic cultures to the final product. Do you do okay with probiotics and/or fermented foods? Ray isn't a fan of fermented foods, but there are members, like Amazoniac, who do think they have value so I guess you'd have to try it for yourself to see how your body handles it. Unfortunately, it's not a cheap experiment, but if it works out for you, you'll have another protein option.

I did get regular massages back when I hurt my spine and developed chronic constipation as a result. My cousin would come to my house and do my sessions there and I would take a long Epsom salt bath before she'd arrive. Between that and the massage, it really helped relax me and in turn relax my intestines so I would finally go on a regular basis. I had the opposite results with acupuncture. I'm probably one of the few people where it would leave me feeling worse. My lower spine would be in excruciating pain after a session, to the point of having a hard time walking. After that, I stuck with regular massages instead.
 

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