Chronic health problem (Dehydration) - Faint hope somebody here might have some ideas

[bornamachine]

Your story makes me think about a sulfite intolerance (due to a molybdenum deficiency for example).

If I remember correctly, dried fruits may be high in sulfites (for their preservation maybe?).

Maybe...maybe... But I eat other dehydrated fruits at times with no issues, only prunes do that for me.

 

[Callmestar]

Cholestasis - a.k.a poor bile flow - and high cholesterol go hand in hand because the liver can't get rid of excess cholesterol via dumping bile into the GI tract (bile acids are made from cholesterol).



They don't sound too accurate if you have clear signs of fat malabsorption and pale stools. I would focus on getting the stagnant bile sorted out because an unhealthy liver can cause all sorts of problems.

This seems to make more and more sense. I also tried a supplement that contains some of the pancreatic enzymes which appears also connected to the gallbladder/liver and I've felt less depleted these past couple of days of taking it. As if I'm getting some nutrition from food, which I wasn't absorbing before.

I'm still waiting on some bile salts to be delivered and will add that to the mix. Will the supplemented bile salts help get my own bile moving at all and help with the backed up cholesterol issue? Or would it simply just be replacing my own bile that remains stagnant/deficient?

 

[Korven]

This seems to make more and more sense. I also tried a supplement that contains some of the pancreatic enzymes which appears also connected to the gallbladder/liver and I've felt less depleted these past couple of days of taking it. As if I'm getting some nutrition from food, which I wasn't absorbing before.

I'm still waiting on some bile salts to be delivered and will add that to the mix. Will the supplemented bile salts help get my own bile moving at all and help with the backed up cholesterol issue? Or would it simply just be replacing my own bile that remains stagnant/deficient?

Good to hear something is providing some relief (and hope)! For sure the pancreas is connected to liver and gallbladder health, pancreatic juice and bile leave through a common duct when entering the duodenum.

At least in theory, supplementing with bile salts help with fat digestion, and specific bile acids like TUDCA can promote bile flow and protect the liver from toxic bile acid backup. Now in my experience - and yours may be different - taking bile salts only gave me burning diarrhea (...TMI?) and TUDCA made me feel even more sick and nauseous. I have seen some people say TUDCA is the best thing ever and others say it did nothing/made things even worse.

Of course the optimal solution is figuring out the root cause as to why your bile is stagnant and fix that. Like everything else it's a bit of rabbit hole, but IMO it is well worth going into because having healthy bile flow is really, really important if you want to feel and function well and not be sick.

I might have sent this you already but this book is worth reading, it talks a lot about how important it is to get the old toxic bile out and not have it be stuck in the liver or enter the blood (a.k.a cholestasis): https://justmeat.co/docs/what-must-i-do-to-get-well-by-elma-stuart.pdf

The TL;DR version is that drinking 4 pints of hot water everyday, eating a low fermentation diet (no beans!), and resting a lot, can fix 'sluggish' gallbladder. It really helped me a lot!

 

[Callmestar]

Good to hear something is providing some relief (and hope)! For sure the pancreas is connected to liver and gallbladder health, pancreatic juice and bile leave through a common duct when entering the duodenum.

At least in theory, supplementing with bile salts help with fat digestion, and specific bile acids like TUDCA can promote bile flow and protect the liver from toxic bile acid backup. Now in my experience - and yours may be different - taking bile salts only gave me burning diarrhea (...TMI?) and TUDCA made me feel even more sick and nauseous. I have seen some people say TUDCA is the best thing ever and others say it did nothing/made things even worse.

Of course the optimal solution is figuring out the root cause as to why your bile is stagnant and fix that. Like everything else it's a bit of rabbit hole, but IMO it is well worth going into because having healthy bile flow is really, really important if you want to feel and function well and not be sick.

I might have sent this you already but this book is worth reading, it talks a lot about how important it is to get the old toxic bile out and not have it be stuck in the liver or enter the blood (a.k.a cholestasis): https://justmeat.co/docs/what-must-i-do-to-get-well-by-elma-stuart.pdf

The TL;DR version is that drinking 4 pints of hot water everyday, eating a low fermentation diet (no beans!), and resting a lot, can fix 'sluggish' gallbladder. It really helped me a lot!

Right so, I'd been feeling a little better. Had been eating small and often. I just had a very large meal, lots of white potatoes, meat, veg. I instantly started feeling awful, unwell, disorientated, anxious, then start getting cramps in my feet. Does this make any sense at all? Could something be backing up when I eat a large meal? Again I can't say I feel any obvious issues in the bowels. No pain. Maybe a little bloating but eating the large meal has definitely made me feel horrible.

I will certainly try TUDCA and hope i'm on the side of it being the best thing ever. Thanks for the book also I will have a read.

 

[Callmestar]

Either more and more things are going wrong or i'm recognising things that were already there but hadn't worked out the cause.. I think I have a problm with white potatoes. Yet other startches don't seem a problem. I don't notice any issue eating rice or sweet potato but the last few times I've eaten a lot of white potato, shortly after I start feeling very strange, foggy headed, anxious, cannot think straight, somewhat bloated. I thought I randomly started feeling extremely unwell like this the other day, now if I think back, I'd eaten a meal with white potatoes about 20 minutes beforehand. This evening is probably the first time since that I've eaten them again and the same thing has happened again.

Does this sound possible that I have an issue with white potato but not other startches? And what the hell is going on in my body when I eat them to make me feel like this.

 

[Callmestar]

Serum amylase level 74 u/L [28.0 - 100.0]

Serum C reactive protein level < 1 mg/L [< 5.0]

Urea and electrolytes
Serum sodium level 143 mmol/L [133.0 - 146.0]
Serum potassium level 4.9 mmol/L [3.5 - 5.3]
POTASSIUM Result may be falsely elevated - Sample slightly Haemolysed
Serum creatinine level 115 umol/L [59.0 - 104.0]
Above high reference limit
eGFR using creatinine (CKD-EPI) per 1.73 square metres 72 mL/min [> 60.0]
eGFR has been calculated using the CKD-EPI creatinine equation. Pleas
e note that adjustment for race is no longer recommended by NICE.(NICE
Guidance NG 203)

Serum gamma-glutamyl transferase level 24 u/L [< 61.0]

Liver function tests
Serum total protein level 80 g/L [60.0 - 80.0]
Serum albumin level 45 g/L [35.0 - 50.0]
Serum globulin level 35 g/L
Serum alkaline phosphatase level 58 u/L [30.0 - 130.0]
Serum alanine aminotransferase level 36 u/L [< 50.0]
Serum total bilirubin level 7 umol/L [< 21.0]

 

[Callmestar]

Update: Had a few days here and there of feeling less depleted. Digestive enzymes and Bile salts supplementation possibly helping.

Most of the time still feeling pretty awful. I need to eat to replenish but at the same time, sometimes eating seems to make me suddenly become really unwell. White potatoes seem to be a bit of problem. I also have this strange metallic/onion like taste in my mouth and also similar body odor which instinct says to me I have too much of something in the body that I'm struggling to clear.

 

[Callmestar]

Metabolomix test result:

Thoughts welcome if anyone has any ideas. To note, both my blood creatine on a seperate blood test when this test was taken, was high, and my urine creatine for this test is also verging on high, despite my urine being dilute and clear. If that makes any sense whatsoever? Just thought I'd add that information because this test is all done via urine, other than the omegas/fatty acids part.

 

[dadavid]

Your TSH still > 3 ?
I heard dr peat say he has never seen a person whose TSH>2 and is healthy.

 

[Callmestar]

Your TSH still > 3 ?
I heard dr peat say he has never seen a person whose TSH>2 and is healthy.

I got it down to about 1 with cynoplus. Made absolutely no difference to how I felt. If anything I felt worse.

 

[dadavid]

I got it down to about 1 with cynoplus. Made absolutely no difference to how I felt. If anything I felt worse.

I have been hypothyroid for a long while. Lots of problems arise. After fixing it with thyroid meds - it took so long to start feeling better. And yes every change I've made seemed to get things worse.

 

[Callmestar]

Update:
I had a few weeks of feeling a little better up until recently. I have to admit, I stopped with the regular 6 meals a day type thing with so much sugar. I was feeling worse and getting fat and my cholesterol through the roof. Thyroid didn't help me either. I reverted back to 3 meals a day and started feeling a little better. I then added bile salts, and pancreatic/digestive enzymes under the suspicion I have a lack of bile, which I still believe to be true due to floating light coloured stools and always feeling deficient/depleted. As well as the link cholestasis have to high cholesterol. Adding this again made me feel another level better and I have about 2 or 3 weeks of feeling maybe at 50% but that's a big increase from where I had been at around 20% feeling like utter death on the majority of days. I then caught Covid for the second, time, wasn't a major issue, lasted about a week then was back to the same level of feeling about 50%. Until about 10 days ago now when I went out for dinner and had a nasty reaction to some food. Not sure exactly what the culprit was, there were multiple possible allergens but it really knocked me back and I felt down at 10% / really unwell for about 48 hours and haven't full gotten back to anywhere near feeling ok since. This has happened a few times where I'll eat something and within 15 minutes or so, I start feeling very strange, brain fog, anxious, dizzy, bloated, extreme sudden fatigue. It's horrendous. It doesn't shift for usually 24 to 48 hours and even after that it's like there some lingering effects.

So yes, I'm now back at the shitty 20% of what I'd see as good health. 100% being the best health I could be in, 0% being the worst. Clearly there's some sort of digestion/bowel issue going on, or some allergy/intolerance. Not sure exactly what it is though. I remain dehydrated, depleted, and generally feel like crap. The battle goes on.

 

[Korven]

Update:
I had a few weeks of feeling a little better up until recently. I have to admit, I stopped with the regular 6 meals a day type thing with so much sugar. I was feeling worse and getting fat and my cholesterol through the roof. Thyroid didn't help me either. I reverted back to 3 meals a day and started feeling a little better. I then added bile salts, and pancreatic/digestive enzymes under the suspicion I have a lack of bile, which I still believe to be true due to floating light coloured stools and always feeling deficient/depleted. As well as the link cholestasis have to high cholesterol. Adding this again made me feel another level better and I have about 2 or 3 weeks of feeling maybe at 50% but that's a big increase from where I had been at around 20% feeling like utter death on the majority of days. I then caught Covid for the second, time, wasn't a major issue, lasted about a week then was back to the same level of feeling about 50%. Until about 10 days ago now when I went out for dinner and had a nasty reaction to some food. Not sure exactly what the culprit was, there were multiple possible allergens but it really knocked me back and I felt down at 10% / really unwell for about 48 hours and haven't full gotten back to anywhere near feeling ok since. This has happened a few times where I'll eat something and within 15 minutes or so, I start feeling very strange, brain fog, anxious, dizzy, bloated, extreme sudden fatigue. It's horrendous. It doesn't shift for usually 24 to 48 hours and even after that it's like there some lingering effects.

So yes, I'm now back at the shitty 20% of what I'd see as good health. 100% being the best health I could be in, 0% being the worst. Clearly there's some sort of digestion/bowel issue going on, or some allergy/intolerance. Not sure exactly what it is though. I remain dehydrated, depleted, and generally feel like crap. The battle goes on.

Do you feel like your symptoms get worse during periods of high stress or when you exert yourself/exercise? Or is it only when you eat something you react negatively to? If there is some kind of CFS element to your problem of feeling dehydrated and crappy (*which may not be the case) it is important to be mindful about pacing yourself and not overdoing things. When I was very sick even the smallest effort would take me from feeling 60-70% okay'ish to 10% feeling like death again. Again, may not be a problem for you but something to keep in mind.

Also, did you ever try the "washing out the stomach with pints of hot water" protocol? I know I'm spamming this but it literally fixed my gallbladder problems overnight. Honestly drinking hot water did what 100+ expensive supplements failed to do, including bile salts/TUDCA/taurine/pancreatic enzymes, and so on.

Another thing that may help is keeping a food journal, or doing some sort of elimination diet, to see if there are any specific foods that makes your condition worse. It seems like some foods are really bad when you have a sluggish gallbladder, potatoes being one example as it triggers CCK release.

 

[Korven]

Another idea, a parasite cleanse might not be a bad idea if you suspect malabsorption issues. Sorry if TMI but parasites can also hide in the bile ducts and liver and obstruct the flow of bile.

 

[LLight]

Do you think you could be zinc deficient?

 

[Callmestar]

Update: I've not been on here for about a month and a half. Probably an indicator in itself that I've been feeling a bit better and not posting in desperation literally feeling like I'm on the verge of collapse!

I'll be honest, I abandoned much of of the typical peat stuff as I just felt I was getting worse. I gave it a decent go for maybe 8 or 9 months. I still eat many of his favored foods and milk is my main drink now but other than that, I've stopped thyroid meds, tapered off. They didn't help me at all. I've stopped eating every couple of hours, although I do drink milk throughout the day. I've gone back to two large meals a day, a late breakfast/lunch and then dinner. There may be a snack in between and there is always milk so I'm not starving. Changing to this, as well as taking bile salts and digestive enzymes seem to have made a positive difference. My stools no longer constantly float which I'm taking as a good sign as they would always float when I was very unwell. I've also been using techniques such as 'the lightening process' & 'ans rewire' under the suspicion I have some sort of nervous system dysfunction or M.E./Chronic fatigue syndrome. These techniques/programs as mainly based of calming/regulating the nervous system and rewiring neural pathways that may be stuck in the patterns or physical symptoms.

I've stated previously in this thread how I feel my level of health is by giving a percentage where 0% is the worst possible health and 100% is the best health. I was at around 20% for the past year or so with some peaks and and some periods being even lower. right now I'd say I'm up to around 50%. I can function relatively normally if I'm not having to do very much but i'm still dehydrated all of the time, and have periods where I feel depleted, although these are less frequent. I can do some light exercise here and there but am nowhere near full capacity or energy. Hopefully things can continue to improve over time.

I think partly, constantly trying to find an answer through testing, supplements, always trying a new diet etc etc was partly keeping me unwell. Who knows, maybe there is still some underlying medical cause to be found that may fix me, but at the moment, working on just remaining calm, eating a decent diet, reducing the stress on the nervous system, making sure food is digesting adequately via bile and digestive enzymes, and rewiring my brain/nervous system that was stuck in patterns of these symptoms, seems to be keeping me on the right track. The dehydration which I initial came here for though, hasn't changed and still drags me down unfortunately.

 

[gomkat]

Update: I've not been on here for about a month and a half. Probably an indicator in itself that I've been feeling a bit better and not posting in desperation literally feeling like I'm on the verge of collapse!

I'll be honest, I abandoned much of of the typical peat stuff as I just felt I was getting worse. I gave it a decent go for maybe 8 or 9 months. I still eat many of his favored foods and milk is my main drink now but other than that, I've stopped thyroid meds, tapered off. They didn't help me at all. I've stopped eating every couple of hours, although I do drink milk throughout the day. I've gone back to two large meals a day, a late breakfast/lunch and then dinner. There may be a snack in between and there is always milk so I'm not starving. Changing to this, as well as taking bile salts and digestive enzymes seem to have made a positive difference. My stools no longer constantly float which I'm taking as a good sign as they would always float when I was very unwell. I've also been using techniques such as 'the lightening process' & 'ans rewire' under the suspicion I have some sort of nervous system dysfunction or M.E./Chronic fatigue syndrome. These techniques/programs as mainly based of calming/regulating the nervous system and rewiring neural pathways that may be stuck in the patterns or physical symptoms.

I've stated previously in this thread how I feel my level of health is by giving a percentage where 0% is the worst possible health and 100% is the best health. I was at around 20% for the past year or so with some peaks and and some periods being even lower. right now I'd say I'm up to around 50%. I can function relatively normally if I'm not having to do very much but i'm still dehydrated all of the time, and have periods where I feel depleted, although these are less frequent. I can do some light exercise here and there but am nowhere near full capacity or energy. Hopefully things can continue to improve over time.

I think partly, constantly trying to find an answer through testing, supplements, always trying a new diet etc etc was partly keeping me unwell. Who knows, maybe there is still some underlying medical cause to be found that may fix me, but at the moment, working on just remaining calm, eating a decent diet, reducing the stress on the nervous system, making sure food is digesting adequately via bile and digestive enzymes, and rewiring my brain/nervous system that was stuck in patterns of these symptoms, seems to be keeping me on the right track. The dehydration which I initial came here for though, hasn't changed and still drags me down unfortunately.

Did anyone in this mention autoimmune for pituitary? Or sjogrens? Also, I believe I was sodium deficient at one point so I started supplementing. It worked in that case for several months but I also have issues occasionally with excessive thirst and clear urine where supplementing doesn’t help.

 

[LLight]

Do you think you could be zinc deficient?

Not sure if you check the forum anymore but I think copper could be a good candidate too.

It believe it could be important to the fluid restriction response.

First it seems like it can be part of a complex with antidiuretic hormones (vasopressin / oxytocin) and that it could influence their potency or copper could have a role where the hormone drop it (if it's the case), maybe mitochondria?

Copper is also part of the antioxydant enzyme (SOD) which are involved in the dehydration response.

There is a also a connection between copper, bile acids and the associated nuclear receptors LXR and FXR, which as I already explained, are all connected to water homeostasis.

Finally, I've seen two testimonies of people having less needs to drink water when they began supplementing copper.

Sources:

Metal-dependent hormone function: the emerging interdisciplinary field of metalloendocrinology

Abstract. For over 100 years, there has been an incredible amount of knowledge amassed concerning hormones in the endocrine system and their central role i

academic.oup.com

Liver X receptors and copper metabolism: New frontiers for the oxysterol receptors

Taken together, all those studies open new perspective for the oxysterol receptors, LXRs, involved not only in controlling lipid metabolism, inflammation, water transport, and cell proliferation, but also in regulating copper homeostasis.

 

[Callmestar]

Not sure if you check the forum anymore but I think copper could be a good candidate too.

It believe it could be important to the fluid restriction response.

First it seems like it can be part of a complex with antidiuretic hormones (vasopressin / oxytocin) and that it could influence their potency or copper could have a role where the hormone drop it (if it's the case), maybe mitochondria?

Copper is also part of the antioxydant enzyme (SOD) which are involved in the dehydration response.

There is a also a connection between copper, bile acids and the associated nuclear receptors LXR and FXR, which as I already explained, are all connected to water homeostasis.

Finally, I've seen two testimonies of people having less needs to drink water when they began supplementing copper.

Sources:

Metal-dependent hormone function: the emerging interdisciplinary field of metalloendocrinology

Abstract. For over 100 years, there has been an incredible amount of knowledge amassed concerning hormones in the endocrine system and their central role i

academic.oup.com

Liver X receptors and copper metabolism: New frontiers for the oxysterol receptors

Hi, thanks. I have some copper supplements. Can't say I've noticed anything positive from them. But will give them another go. You get to a point where you don't know if something is doing you any good or more damage as no supplement seems to make any difference whatsoever. I can't see a supplement being the key to me getting better at this point.

 

[Callmestar]

Did anyone in this mention autoimmune for pituitary? Or sjogrens? Also, I believe I was sodium deficient at one point so I started supplementing. It worked in that case for several months but I also have issues occasionally with excessive thirst and clear urine where supplementing doesn’t help.

Yes Pituitary, Sjorgrens etc have all been explored. Sjorgrens was negative. Nobody really knows whats going on. I've tried taking extra sodium on many occasions and it's not helped.