Hi everyone!
First off, I have been on a health improvement journey for 11 years now. I've had health problems for as long as I can remember. A little back ground: I am a 45 yo female. As a child I was constantly sick with tonsillitis, walking pneumonia and viruses. Was a daydreamer and very shy. As a teen, had acne that later developed into cystic acne in my late teens, early 20's. Constant bladder and yeast infections in my 20's. Took the BC pill for 4-5 years but haven't since I was 27. Have one daughter who is 15 now, had her when I was 30. Severe morning sickness the whole pregnancy. I called it all day sickness. Lol :) When I was 27 developed SEVERE anxiety attacks out of the blue. Now that I look back, I think it was coming off the pill. Just figured that out this year after tons of research.
About 10 years ago, I discovered a raw food diet (freeacnebook.com) after trying to find a way to heal my rosacea (which developed after I was 31). My dermatologist told me it was NOT related to my diet. Ha ha! The diet consists of lots of fruit, olive oil, nuts and raw fish, egg yolks. No seeds, vegetables, dairy or grains. It also discourages caffeine products. My skin, anxiety and female problems, (bladder, etc) cleared up for the first time in years! I had taken Accutane when I was 21 and when I was 27. I know, bad stuff, but trusted docs at the time. My skin looked amazing on this raw food diet and I felt amazing. I stayed on this diet about 90% for 7 years, the 10% being some rice, a little soy sauce when I would eat sushi. Didn't seem to bother me. Now I am about 50%.
Up to today. The last 3 years I have been wayyyy off of my diet because I work a retail job and I use way more energy and we are not allowed to have food on the floor, so I have to eat much more filling meals that last. Raw food metabolizes fast! I still remain gluten/dairy free. I do eat dairy and gluten 3-4 times a month when socializing or if my husband buys pizza or something. He tries to stay gluten, dairy free as well. We both feel bad when we eat it. My skin has pretty much normalized and I don't get a severe skin reaction from these cheats. I do get pretty constipated though, stuffy nose, etc, and will drink some herbal lax tea to help. We only use butter, coconut oil, olive oil for fats at home and eat a lot of eggs. We usually eat beef and chicken for protein, and I don't care for chicken much.
Why I am here: When I turned 44, I started aging more quickly in my skin (bad forehead wrinkles almost overnight, even had people comment!) and having bad neuro problems. Neuropathy in hands, face and feet and severe brain fog, plus much more. Over 30 symptoms! Thought I had MS or something. Rosacea started trying to come back. I have always looked very young for my age. People still guess me 30-35. My husband is 10 years younger, so I don't want to start aging quickly! In Feb of this year, I went to my gyno because I started having hot flashes every 30 minutes, all day and night. I also felt like I was losing my female feelings. After the 3rd week, I couldn't take it anymore and went to the doc. He ran tests on me and told me my vitamin D was super low: D3 was 15 and D2 -4! When I first went to the doc I had gained 7 pounds and was at my highest weight besides pregnancy. Normally weigh 110-115. I am 5'2. I now weigh 125. My doc put me on natural progesterone and also estrogen and test cream as well. Quickly figured out I did not need the estrogen cream! I shot up from 121 to 130 in two weeks! Just now got my weight down to 125 this month. I also went to see a neuro, which I didn't really want to do. Before this I had not seen a doc since the raw diet. He diagnosed me with Fibro. My gyno also had some tests ran for thyroid and others. The thyroid came back normal but I have always felt I have low thyroid. My mother and grandmother have been diagnosed, but I always get normal readings.
The progesterone cream has helped tons. I use prometrium 100mg capsules, but I break them open and put them in lotion and rub it on thin skin spots. I usually do half in the am and half in the pm.
Recently, 3 weeks ago, I was doing my usual research, which is a passion of mine, and discovered Pyroluria. I was shocked about how many of the symptoms I have and also that many of my family members have! I immediately went out and bought the supps. Zinc picolinate and B2 (P5P). My skin was clear in two days! I had these weepy rosacea spots on my chin and nose that would NOT go away. They are gone and have not came back. I think it is helping my weight go down too. It did say that pyrolurics usually have a omega 6 deficiency, which I do know that Peat doesn't recommend. I tried borage oil and boy, it was bad! Extreme bruising and bad estrogen symptoms. Took two weeks to clear up. I have dry body skin on my lower body, it did help that, but the other symptoms said NO!
Anyway, that brings me to now. I found out about Ray Peat while researching Pyroluria. It's funny, because his diet kind of reminds me of a cooked version of my raw diet. My main concerns that are left is my skin on my face and neck turn bright red and hot around 5:30 pm when I get in my car to go home and lasts for an hour or two. I also have very dry skin on my legs and back side. My face is oily. Want to lose these 10 pounds. I think it's estrogen dominance symptoms. I also have had in the past, androgenic symptoms but those have got better over the years of better eating. Excessive leg hair growth (for a female) and a few dark random hairs in unwanted places that seems to be lessening. I was reading about how he encourages coffee drinking, and I love coffee, but it has always aggravated my estrogen dominance symptoms. I have been drinking it more, but sometimes it makes me feel a little tired and wired at the same time. I never get that up buzz or pick me up from it, just makes me feel kind of weird. Hard to explain. Several years ago, I couldn't even handle caffeine. Severe anxiety for sure if I drank even a few sips. I guess that shows me I have healed some what.
What I am taking now:
Zinc picolinate
P5P
Niacinamide
Co-enzyme B vitamins (about 5x a week)
Progesterone 100mg
Hydrolyzed Collagen (liquid formula)
D3
K2
I also bought some asprin but I am not sure how I feel about it.I have always been hesitant on taking supplements, but if I have to I will. I prefer whole food supplements. I want to buy some gelatin too. I actually started the collagen because my husband bought it on sale last month and it was even before I learned of Peat. How coincidental! I can tell a positive difference from it. Skin smoother, but still dry and wrinkles on fore head looking better. Rest of the face was fine. We both come from really strong nutritional knowledge (used to own a nutrition store) and I feel like I am putting the missing pieces together. I really want to get well. I already eat 90% clean. Raw diet is ideal, but at this time life, job etc, isn't supportive. I believe I have methlyation problems too, because I cannot metabolize odd things, like yellow food dyes, sulphites and such. This also started with the panic attacks at 27. The symptoms are anxiety and skin flare ups and a light headed feeling. It is getting better but it's still there. Not that I want to eat those things, I avoid them and we do not buy anything but whole foods for our home, but it makes it hard if I am not aware of it being in the item when I am at a friends house or something. I also have been trying to avoid PUFA more diligently.
Oh, here are my thyro numbers:
Free T4- .95
Triiodothyronine Free T3- 3.3
TSH- 2.129
The T4 is a little low on the normal (.80-1.80) but the others are smack in the middle. I don't have much experience with thyroid info, so this makes no sense to me. My doc never suggested to supplement, but I am sure he would, as he will give me anything I ask for. Also, my iron levels are on the high side 190 (15-150 normal) which is weird because I used to be anemic in my pre raw days. B12 was normal at 551. So, I am suspecting estrogen dominance even with the progesterone and possible copper toxicity. I know one thing for sure, the Zinc has been the best supplement so far with the progesterone.
Sorry so long, but I didn't' want to leave anything out! Any ideas or helpful direction is greatly appreciated! Thank you for reading! :)
First off, I have been on a health improvement journey for 11 years now. I've had health problems for as long as I can remember. A little back ground: I am a 45 yo female. As a child I was constantly sick with tonsillitis, walking pneumonia and viruses. Was a daydreamer and very shy. As a teen, had acne that later developed into cystic acne in my late teens, early 20's. Constant bladder and yeast infections in my 20's. Took the BC pill for 4-5 years but haven't since I was 27. Have one daughter who is 15 now, had her when I was 30. Severe morning sickness the whole pregnancy. I called it all day sickness. Lol :) When I was 27 developed SEVERE anxiety attacks out of the blue. Now that I look back, I think it was coming off the pill. Just figured that out this year after tons of research.
About 10 years ago, I discovered a raw food diet (freeacnebook.com) after trying to find a way to heal my rosacea (which developed after I was 31). My dermatologist told me it was NOT related to my diet. Ha ha! The diet consists of lots of fruit, olive oil, nuts and raw fish, egg yolks. No seeds, vegetables, dairy or grains. It also discourages caffeine products. My skin, anxiety and female problems, (bladder, etc) cleared up for the first time in years! I had taken Accutane when I was 21 and when I was 27. I know, bad stuff, but trusted docs at the time. My skin looked amazing on this raw food diet and I felt amazing. I stayed on this diet about 90% for 7 years, the 10% being some rice, a little soy sauce when I would eat sushi. Didn't seem to bother me. Now I am about 50%.
Up to today. The last 3 years I have been wayyyy off of my diet because I work a retail job and I use way more energy and we are not allowed to have food on the floor, so I have to eat much more filling meals that last. Raw food metabolizes fast! I still remain gluten/dairy free. I do eat dairy and gluten 3-4 times a month when socializing or if my husband buys pizza or something. He tries to stay gluten, dairy free as well. We both feel bad when we eat it. My skin has pretty much normalized and I don't get a severe skin reaction from these cheats. I do get pretty constipated though, stuffy nose, etc, and will drink some herbal lax tea to help. We only use butter, coconut oil, olive oil for fats at home and eat a lot of eggs. We usually eat beef and chicken for protein, and I don't care for chicken much.
Why I am here: When I turned 44, I started aging more quickly in my skin (bad forehead wrinkles almost overnight, even had people comment!) and having bad neuro problems. Neuropathy in hands, face and feet and severe brain fog, plus much more. Over 30 symptoms! Thought I had MS or something. Rosacea started trying to come back. I have always looked very young for my age. People still guess me 30-35. My husband is 10 years younger, so I don't want to start aging quickly! In Feb of this year, I went to my gyno because I started having hot flashes every 30 minutes, all day and night. I also felt like I was losing my female feelings. After the 3rd week, I couldn't take it anymore and went to the doc. He ran tests on me and told me my vitamin D was super low: D3 was 15 and D2 -4! When I first went to the doc I had gained 7 pounds and was at my highest weight besides pregnancy. Normally weigh 110-115. I am 5'2. I now weigh 125. My doc put me on natural progesterone and also estrogen and test cream as well. Quickly figured out I did not need the estrogen cream! I shot up from 121 to 130 in two weeks! Just now got my weight down to 125 this month. I also went to see a neuro, which I didn't really want to do. Before this I had not seen a doc since the raw diet. He diagnosed me with Fibro. My gyno also had some tests ran for thyroid and others. The thyroid came back normal but I have always felt I have low thyroid. My mother and grandmother have been diagnosed, but I always get normal readings.
The progesterone cream has helped tons. I use prometrium 100mg capsules, but I break them open and put them in lotion and rub it on thin skin spots. I usually do half in the am and half in the pm.
Recently, 3 weeks ago, I was doing my usual research, which is a passion of mine, and discovered Pyroluria. I was shocked about how many of the symptoms I have and also that many of my family members have! I immediately went out and bought the supps. Zinc picolinate and B2 (P5P). My skin was clear in two days! I had these weepy rosacea spots on my chin and nose that would NOT go away. They are gone and have not came back. I think it is helping my weight go down too. It did say that pyrolurics usually have a omega 6 deficiency, which I do know that Peat doesn't recommend. I tried borage oil and boy, it was bad! Extreme bruising and bad estrogen symptoms. Took two weeks to clear up. I have dry body skin on my lower body, it did help that, but the other symptoms said NO!
Anyway, that brings me to now. I found out about Ray Peat while researching Pyroluria. It's funny, because his diet kind of reminds me of a cooked version of my raw diet. My main concerns that are left is my skin on my face and neck turn bright red and hot around 5:30 pm when I get in my car to go home and lasts for an hour or two. I also have very dry skin on my legs and back side. My face is oily. Want to lose these 10 pounds. I think it's estrogen dominance symptoms. I also have had in the past, androgenic symptoms but those have got better over the years of better eating. Excessive leg hair growth (for a female) and a few dark random hairs in unwanted places that seems to be lessening. I was reading about how he encourages coffee drinking, and I love coffee, but it has always aggravated my estrogen dominance symptoms. I have been drinking it more, but sometimes it makes me feel a little tired and wired at the same time. I never get that up buzz or pick me up from it, just makes me feel kind of weird. Hard to explain. Several years ago, I couldn't even handle caffeine. Severe anxiety for sure if I drank even a few sips. I guess that shows me I have healed some what.
What I am taking now:
Zinc picolinate
P5P
Niacinamide
Co-enzyme B vitamins (about 5x a week)
Progesterone 100mg
Hydrolyzed Collagen (liquid formula)
D3
K2
I also bought some asprin but I am not sure how I feel about it.I have always been hesitant on taking supplements, but if I have to I will. I prefer whole food supplements. I want to buy some gelatin too. I actually started the collagen because my husband bought it on sale last month and it was even before I learned of Peat. How coincidental! I can tell a positive difference from it. Skin smoother, but still dry and wrinkles on fore head looking better. Rest of the face was fine. We both come from really strong nutritional knowledge (used to own a nutrition store) and I feel like I am putting the missing pieces together. I really want to get well. I already eat 90% clean. Raw diet is ideal, but at this time life, job etc, isn't supportive. I believe I have methlyation problems too, because I cannot metabolize odd things, like yellow food dyes, sulphites and such. This also started with the panic attacks at 27. The symptoms are anxiety and skin flare ups and a light headed feeling. It is getting better but it's still there. Not that I want to eat those things, I avoid them and we do not buy anything but whole foods for our home, but it makes it hard if I am not aware of it being in the item when I am at a friends house or something. I also have been trying to avoid PUFA more diligently.
Oh, here are my thyro numbers:
Free T4- .95
Triiodothyronine Free T3- 3.3
TSH- 2.129
The T4 is a little low on the normal (.80-1.80) but the others are smack in the middle. I don't have much experience with thyroid info, so this makes no sense to me. My doc never suggested to supplement, but I am sure he would, as he will give me anything I ask for. Also, my iron levels are on the high side 190 (15-150 normal) which is weird because I used to be anemic in my pre raw days. B12 was normal at 551. So, I am suspecting estrogen dominance even with the progesterone and possible copper toxicity. I know one thing for sure, the Zinc has been the best supplement so far with the progesterone.
Sorry so long, but I didn't' want to leave anything out! Any ideas or helpful direction is greatly appreciated! Thank you for reading! :)
Livingirl! I'm glad you discovered Peat and the forum. We are about the same age and for me this approach has definitely stopped the rapid aging process I was experiencing prior to discovering Peat's work. I focused on my nutrition for the first few months before adding supplements or medicines because I wanted to see what the diet improvements alone would do for me. That's just the approach I took though and in no way means you need to do things the same! There's a lot of information here on the forum that I'm sure you will find helpful.
