linnae
Member
- Joined
- Sep 29, 2016
- Messages
- 23
Hello! Im new here and so thankful to have found such an amazing community! I just spent most of today scouring the threads for information and while it was all so interesting and helpful (and contrary to everything i have ever heard) I'm so confused! So, I thought i would try and ask for your insight because my issues seem to cross multiple threads but I am sure are all related somehow.
Also, I apologize for the length of this in advance and I thank all who read it in its entirety.
Currently I have severe stage 3/4 adrenal stress syndrome aka HPA axis dysfunction. I have been working with Dr Lam since May and also a bio identical hormone doctor.
Here is a brief about my history:
I am a recovering alcoholic, sober for 10 1/2 years. I was a functional alcoholic and used it as a coping mechanism for stress amd anxiety. I drank heavily for about 3 years when i was under constant stress- was in a job that i hated and felt trapped in and also my son was diagnosed with autism. All of my health problems started after i quit drinking.
I spent the the first 5 of the last 10 years focused on helping my son and let my health decline.
Immediately after I quit drinking i had adrenal fatigue type stmptoms but didnt know thats what they were- postural hypotension and reactive hypoglycemia. I added more salt and ate more frequently which helped for a while.
Then i met a nutritionist to help with my son and we started a low carb diet and I actually felt great from it. Since i was cooking and it was just him and i, i did the diet too by default, thinking it would help my issues too. Then we did the GAPS diet for 2 years and it was really hard but rewarding for my son, as he recovered from the autism symptoms. My son transitioned off gaps nicely but i didnt. Within that 2 years on the gaps i started developing food sensitivities and started eliminating foods. My energy levels began to tank and my anxiety levels rose. I was constantly stressed.
Because i hated my job, when my son was old enough i went back to a school- 15 hours per week. The stress of school was intense as iwas also working 32-38 hourse per week. I had an adrenal crash then but was able to function thru it by taking lots of vitamins and daily naps.
After I graduated, about 2 years ago now, I started my own business and quit my other job. I was hoping that the stress level would go down but it was just a different kind of stress.
Then I got into the 'wired and tired' state where i couldnt shut off. I started having lots more food issues, anxiety, more blood sugar issues, sleep issues, was constantly exhausted to the point where my bones ached, and then the allergies started- seasonal, dander, perfumes, everything., I think I was running on pure adrnaline everyday!
This past fall I decided to start the GAPS diet again because that is supposed to help with allergies. Shorty after I started having low blood pressure drops after eating and discovered I had now developed a histamine intolerance. Gaps diet is high in histamine. Not sure where to turn so i started working with a functional med doctor in February who ran abunch of expensive tests and said i had toxic bowel syndrome and high levels of candida and to do a low fodmap diet. It didnt address any of my blood pressure or sugar issues so he referred me to a bio identical hormone doctor.
During this time my adrnals completely crashed and i became mostly bedridden. This was in April and I saw the hormone doctor in May. He ran a pretty comprehensive metabolic panel and the findings were that my liver enzymes were elevated, all sex horomes were very low and i was estrogen dominant, my cortisol levels were at a normal rhythm but higher than should be in am and lower than should be at night, my dhea was very low, and my thyroid panel looked good (he said i was making good amounts but whether my cells could use it was another story). He gave me a compound progesterone cream at 5% and dhea at 1%- low doses at my request due to my sensitivities. This way i could titrate up as body could tolerate.
I also started seeing Dr Lam in May. I find that thier protocols and level of support are very helpful but i havent made any real progress.
6 weeks ago i was starting to feel good so i went and had acupuncture and chiropractic and it was way too much for my system and i had the worst crash ever. Severe heart palpitations, trouble breathing, anxiety, worse hypoglycemia, constant headache, and I was completely bed ridden for 5 weeks. I thought I was dying and contemplated going to the ER but I knew that it was all hormonal and they wouldnt help me so I pushed thru amd rested and did deep breathing. I am just finally starting to come around again within the past few days.
Currently i am in bed 95% of the day. My energy levels are low. Just getting up to make food is exhausting.
My diet consists of really only meat with meat broths and vegetable broth.
I cannot tolerate any fiber and havent been able to for about 3 months. i get terrible indigestion and migraines. I dont have any issues with meat though.
I have had diarrhea for the past 6 months.
I think i may have sibo, i know i did when i was drinking.
My blood sugar is a mess- i have to eat every 90 min to 2 hours 24 hours a day- i havent slept more than 2 hours at a time for 6 months!!! When i crash i cant tolerate any form of sugar at all but when im not crashing carrot juice or apple juice diluted helps me feel better.
Currently my histamine levels seems to be low because i have been trying teaspoons of sauerkraut juice off and on and have had no reactions yet.
I also eat a lot of fat- coconut oil, duck fat, tallow, and avocado oil.
I feel like I am starving even though i am eating about 2+ lbs of meat per day! I dream about food- moslty sugar- which is why Im glad i found Ray Peat! However his diet goes against everything ive been taught- that Sugar is bad!
So, the supplements i am taking are progesterone, dhea, Pantotheanine, vitamin C, chromium, phytoplankton, and a multi vitamin. Everything is topical due to my severe digestive issues and also very small doses. Dr Lam says that in this stage of adrenal stress the liver is over burdened and the extra cellular matrix is toxic so there can be paradoxical reactions.
Phew! After all that (and thank you for reading!) I need advice on were I hsould start. I need to move forward very sowly to avoid further crashees. I do plan to continue with Dr Lam because i really feel they are helping and also my hormone doctor too. But neither of them can guide me with diet and i feel that is my biggest hangup with why im not getting any better and also why I got so sick to begin with. I realize stress played a big part but the low carb diet, i think, is what lowered my tolerance for stress to begin with.
So, I thank in advance for your bits of wisdom and I welcome any insight and guidance!.
Also, I apologize for the length of this in advance and I thank all who read it in its entirety.
Currently I have severe stage 3/4 adrenal stress syndrome aka HPA axis dysfunction. I have been working with Dr Lam since May and also a bio identical hormone doctor.
Here is a brief about my history:
I am a recovering alcoholic, sober for 10 1/2 years. I was a functional alcoholic and used it as a coping mechanism for stress amd anxiety. I drank heavily for about 3 years when i was under constant stress- was in a job that i hated and felt trapped in and also my son was diagnosed with autism. All of my health problems started after i quit drinking.
I spent the the first 5 of the last 10 years focused on helping my son and let my health decline.
Immediately after I quit drinking i had adrenal fatigue type stmptoms but didnt know thats what they were- postural hypotension and reactive hypoglycemia. I added more salt and ate more frequently which helped for a while.
Then i met a nutritionist to help with my son and we started a low carb diet and I actually felt great from it. Since i was cooking and it was just him and i, i did the diet too by default, thinking it would help my issues too. Then we did the GAPS diet for 2 years and it was really hard but rewarding for my son, as he recovered from the autism symptoms. My son transitioned off gaps nicely but i didnt. Within that 2 years on the gaps i started developing food sensitivities and started eliminating foods. My energy levels began to tank and my anxiety levels rose. I was constantly stressed.
Because i hated my job, when my son was old enough i went back to a school- 15 hours per week. The stress of school was intense as iwas also working 32-38 hourse per week. I had an adrenal crash then but was able to function thru it by taking lots of vitamins and daily naps.
After I graduated, about 2 years ago now, I started my own business and quit my other job. I was hoping that the stress level would go down but it was just a different kind of stress.
Then I got into the 'wired and tired' state where i couldnt shut off. I started having lots more food issues, anxiety, more blood sugar issues, sleep issues, was constantly exhausted to the point where my bones ached, and then the allergies started- seasonal, dander, perfumes, everything., I think I was running on pure adrnaline everyday!
This past fall I decided to start the GAPS diet again because that is supposed to help with allergies. Shorty after I started having low blood pressure drops after eating and discovered I had now developed a histamine intolerance. Gaps diet is high in histamine. Not sure where to turn so i started working with a functional med doctor in February who ran abunch of expensive tests and said i had toxic bowel syndrome and high levels of candida and to do a low fodmap diet. It didnt address any of my blood pressure or sugar issues so he referred me to a bio identical hormone doctor.
During this time my adrnals completely crashed and i became mostly bedridden. This was in April and I saw the hormone doctor in May. He ran a pretty comprehensive metabolic panel and the findings were that my liver enzymes were elevated, all sex horomes were very low and i was estrogen dominant, my cortisol levels were at a normal rhythm but higher than should be in am and lower than should be at night, my dhea was very low, and my thyroid panel looked good (he said i was making good amounts but whether my cells could use it was another story). He gave me a compound progesterone cream at 5% and dhea at 1%- low doses at my request due to my sensitivities. This way i could titrate up as body could tolerate.
I also started seeing Dr Lam in May. I find that thier protocols and level of support are very helpful but i havent made any real progress.
6 weeks ago i was starting to feel good so i went and had acupuncture and chiropractic and it was way too much for my system and i had the worst crash ever. Severe heart palpitations, trouble breathing, anxiety, worse hypoglycemia, constant headache, and I was completely bed ridden for 5 weeks. I thought I was dying and contemplated going to the ER but I knew that it was all hormonal and they wouldnt help me so I pushed thru amd rested and did deep breathing. I am just finally starting to come around again within the past few days.
Currently i am in bed 95% of the day. My energy levels are low. Just getting up to make food is exhausting.
My diet consists of really only meat with meat broths and vegetable broth.
I cannot tolerate any fiber and havent been able to for about 3 months. i get terrible indigestion and migraines. I dont have any issues with meat though.
I have had diarrhea for the past 6 months.
I think i may have sibo, i know i did when i was drinking.
My blood sugar is a mess- i have to eat every 90 min to 2 hours 24 hours a day- i havent slept more than 2 hours at a time for 6 months!!! When i crash i cant tolerate any form of sugar at all but when im not crashing carrot juice or apple juice diluted helps me feel better.
Currently my histamine levels seems to be low because i have been trying teaspoons of sauerkraut juice off and on and have had no reactions yet.
I also eat a lot of fat- coconut oil, duck fat, tallow, and avocado oil.
I feel like I am starving even though i am eating about 2+ lbs of meat per day! I dream about food- moslty sugar- which is why Im glad i found Ray Peat! However his diet goes against everything ive been taught- that Sugar is bad!
So, the supplements i am taking are progesterone, dhea, Pantotheanine, vitamin C, chromium, phytoplankton, and a multi vitamin. Everything is topical due to my severe digestive issues and also very small doses. Dr Lam says that in this stage of adrenal stress the liver is over burdened and the extra cellular matrix is toxic so there can be paradoxical reactions.
Phew! After all that (and thank you for reading!) I need advice on were I hsould start. I need to move forward very sowly to avoid further crashees. I do plan to continue with Dr Lam because i really feel they are helping and also my hormone doctor too. But neither of them can guide me with diet and i feel that is my biggest hangup with why im not getting any better and also why I got so sick to begin with. I realize stress played a big part but the low carb diet, i think, is what lowered my tolerance for stress to begin with.
So, I thank in advance for your bits of wisdom and I welcome any insight and guidance!.