I'm going to start logging things in one place for my own sanity, records, and in the hopes that perhaps it could contribute to the body of knowledge and experiences on this forum.
Quick background/timeline:
Quick background/timeline:
- Dealt with depression, anxiety, skin and personality problems for life, worsened exponentially at the (relatively late) onset of menstruation at 15
- Stressful and isolated childhood
- Brother developed IBS severe enough he had to drop out of high school
- I developed BDD during teens, escalated to anorexia/orthorexia at 18, became a vegan
- Started to recover from that via various means including therapy at 22 but still struggled with some bulimic behavior
- Tried paleo and found that I was less swollen, brain fogged, just seemed "better", but it wasn't sustainable, bulimic compulsions for CARBS increased
- Came across Ray Peat in 2014 while living in sunny LA, began experimenting extensively with his diet recommendations
- Realized conclusively I can't tolerate unfermented milk of any type (you name it, I tried it) but the main revelations were that
- It's important to eat enough, food should not have to be an enemy
- Hormones can be manipulated to my benefit
- Starch causes me problems that sugar does not
- Food powerfully alters my mood and overall wellbeing
- I have histamine intolerance
- Tried progesterone (progest-e) one of the most important things I ever did in my life, had major reduction in anxiety, depression, tender/swollen/fibrous breasts, lower body water retention, retained those improvements even after stopping supplementation
- Tried thyroid, results were mixed, still unsure I've ever been able to get the dosing on this right or if it's really the right drug for me. There was a time I was convinced this was a necessity, now I'm not as sure, but I have gone back on it recently (about 50mcg t4, 25 mcg t3 a day) since I moved back to the dark northwest and started struggling a lot with fatigue again
- These revelations led me to experiment further for several years, to the point that I was able to live a more normal life and make a lot of progress becoming a well-adjusted adult. But I still haven't found a solution that truly stabilizes me and as a result I think I need to pursue pharmacological solutions more intently.
- My inner ears constantly itch to the point that it drives me insane (new symptom as of 2018)
- My eczema on my hands has gotten much worse
- I get pain in the duodenum area of my gut from time to time, sometimes chronically, usually triggered by high histamine foods or a long period of high starch intake
- I have chronic gastritis since getting food poisoning in 2016
- I had more cavities this year than I ever have in my life, lost significant enamel during my high orange juice intake phase. I have 3-4 cavities now and I had had 2 in my life, ever, prior to this
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