Dave's Recovery Log - April 2016

[DaveFoster]

Dave, I read what you wrote about your dad, mom, and brother. What an exceptionally heavy load to have to handle at your age. My heart goes out to you. You are doing well given your circumstances. Anyone would crumble in that situation. You are exceptionally intelligent, talented, and honest. And you have a whole long life of better possibilities ahead of you. Your life can turn around and get unbelievably better. One can heal, but it takes time. Real healing has its own pace and can't be rushed. I suffered a lot when I was young. It's really hard, but being with and going through fear can be empowering. But it's also good to find some support when everything is too overwhelming. I had mountain sickness once, it was horrible. And raising CO2 can be way more of an intense process than one realizes. Hope things settle for you, and that you find and get what you need right now.

Thank you, Heidi. I'm just trying to stay positive and find happiness. I'm thankful that I'm young, so I have a lot of time to work this out.

 

[Jayfish]

Yea it sounds like a serious case of anxiety/panic attacks caused by adrenalin. Scary stuff.

I think transitioning to a bit more sustainable diet would be a really good idea. I have found simple ground lamb with a bit of store bought chicken broth to be very calming. Maybe try some solid foods, ruminent meat would be a good idea.

Good luck!

 

[DaveFoster]

Yea it sounds like a serious case of anxiety/panic attacks caused by adrenalin. Scary stuff.

I think transitioning to a bit more sustainable diet would be a really good idea. I have found simple ground lamb with a bit of store bought chicken broth to be very calming. Maybe try some solid foods, ruminent meat would be a good idea.

Good luck!

Thanks, I agree. When I stay with my family, I'll eat more solid foods.

 

[tara]

I'm going to cut baking soda down to 1 TBSP/day.

You were taking more than 1 TBSP baking soda every day?! Why? I thought you decided to cut out the extreme experiments?
Unless/until you get UpH readings averaging under 7, I'd lay off it altogether. If you decide to try some again in the future, when you are not running too alkaline, consider 1/2 tsp.

Have you read up on milk-alkali syndrome?

 

[DaveFoster]

You were taking more than 1 TBSP baking soda every day?! Why? I thought you decided to cut out the extreme experiments?
Unless/until you get UpH readings averaging under 7, I'd lay off it altogether. If you decide to try some again in the future, when you are not running too alkaline, consider 1/2 tsp.

Have you read up on milk-alkali syndrome?

I have. I'm currently at 3-4 TSP (1-1.3 TBSP), which I react with my OJ. Most of the CO2 bubbles out, so it's pretty flat. I don't take any other supplements, and I have NaCl to a balance it.

I'll do another urine test tomorrow morning. If it's undesirable, then I'll definitely do what you said.

 

[tara]

I'm currently at 3-4 TSP (1-1.3 TBSP), which I react with my OJ. Most of the CO2 bubbles out, so it's pretty flat.

OK, if it's all reacted with OJ, and not going into you as sodium bicarbonate, that's not so alarming. :)

But if you keep getting high UpH, then maybe there could be benefit in not counteracting the acid in OJ so much, so still might be good to reduce it, as you say.

 

[DaveFoster]

OK, if it's all reacted with OJ, and not going into you as sodium bicarbonate, that's not so alarming. :)

But if you keep getting high UpH, then maybe there could be benefit in not counteracting the acid in OJ so much, so still might be good to reduce it, as you say.

Whew, you had me worried for a minute.

 

[tara]

Whew, you had me worried for a minute.

Sorry. Just don't want you getting another reason to hang out in hospital. :)

 

[DaveFoster]

@tara Touche.

 

[CarbAppreciator]

Whew, you had me worried for a minute.

Its still a lot of sodium. If you decide to stop the baking soda, I suggest you titrate down(maybe 1 tsp less/day) instead of cutting it off all at once. Your body has adapted to super high sodium intake and you are likely to suffer unless you titrate, especially in your condition. You should probably titrate with any supplements from here on out. Did you get any labs from the hospital?

 

[DaveFoster]

Its still a lot of sodium. If you decide to stop the baking soda, I suggest you titrate down(maybe 1 tsp less/day) instead of cutting it off all at once. Your body has adapted to super high sodium intake and you are likely to suffer unless you titrate, especially in your condition. You should probably titrate with any supplements from here on out. Did you get any labs from the hospital?

I did suffer actually dropping from 2 TBSP to 1 TBSP. I try to keep my sodium intake above 5 grams/day.

As for labs, not yet. I'm going back home, and I suspect my old doctor will help me out; he took care of my mom, and I trust him a great deal as a doctor and friend.

I'm almost positive that a large amount of my symptoms are from overeating while doing Buteyko + the BreathSlim device too often. It's causing some hypoxia and a stress response. Having not done the breath device, I feel pretty great right now, but the device itself helped me to feel great. I'll move forward gradually.

 

[CarbAppreciator]

Awesome man, good choice to go home.

 

[Koveras]

Have you had your cholesterol checked?

 

[DaveFoster]

Have you had your cholesterol checked?

Have not. Will that tell me my level of systemic inflammation? My leukocytes were elevated, but that was a while ago.

 

[Koveras]

Have not. Will that tell me my level of systemic inflammation? My leukocytes were elevated, but that was a while ago.

More that low cholesterol can associated with some mental health issues and is something that might have been affected by letrozole. Although the exact influence on the lipid profile seems to be mixed it definitely has an effect on those pathways in the liver/brain/systemically and it may be that some individuals are more susceptible than others.

"...the use of AIs have been associated with loss of bone density, arthralgia, myalgia, a negative effect on lipid metabolism, and cardiovascular risk (Tomao et al., 2011). Mood disturbances, somnolence, anxiety, fatigue, hot flashes, and memory impairment have been reported among patients receiving anastrozole as adjuvant therapy."

Aromatase inhibitors and mood disturbances. - PubMed - NCBI

Below is copied from Danny Roddy (recommend others support his work / subscribe to the Patreon feed)

Cholesterol and Well-Being

“The controversy began with Muldoon et al.'s meta-analysis of cholesterol-lowering trials, which suggested that lowering cholesterol increased non-illness mortality. This was followed by a number of reports indicating that suicide levels were higher in low-cholesterol groups and that depression was related to low cholesterol. The significance of these observations for psychosomatic research is the implication that the psychobiological relationship between lipids and psychological well-being might be much more complex that had previously been thought.”[1]

“The effects of academic final examinations on serum cholesterol levels were studied on 2 groups of medical students. A significant increase in the mean total serum cholesterol levels were observed during examination periods as compared to control periods of relaxation. These findings support previous reports of the effects of mental tension on serum cholesterol levels.”[2]


“Cholesterol concentrations in suicide attempters were found to be significantly lower compared with both psychiatric and normal controls, when sex, age, psychiatric diagnosis, and physical conditions (serum total protein and red blood cell count) were adjusted for. This significant relationship was observed in mood disorders and personality or neurotic disorders, but not in schizophrenia spectrum disorders. These results support the previous claim that lower cholesterol level is associated with an increased risk of suicidal behavior.”[3]


“The functions of cholesterol parallel the functions of other sterols in plants and other types of organism. Its functions have been refined and extended with the development of other steroids, such as progesterone, as biological requirements have evolved, but cholesterol is still at the center of this system. To deliberately interfere with its synthesis, as contemporary medicine does, reveals a terrible arrogance.”[4]


1. Cholesterol and psychological well-being (1995)

2. Effects of Periodic Mental Stress on Serum Cholesterol Levels (1959)

3. Low serum cholesterol in suicide attempters (1997)

4. Cholesterol, longevity, intelligence, and health (2007)

 

[DaveFoster]

@Koveras

Thanks for all the info. Sorry for the late reply. I don't think my use of letrozole for three days in minute doses would cause those, however.

I'll post this here; I should have done so first:

Let me just say that I'm really thankful for all the help and advice on this forum. I've taken a break off of school, but I'm still doing work. I've been doing Buteyko breathing, taking no supplements, and working very minorly.

I currently have costochondritis (inflammation of the lung cartilage), and I have high adrenaline symptoms in the morning and no energy throughout the day (but no high adrenaline throughout the day due to salt and Buteyko breathing). I feel exhausted and even moving is hard. My body temperature hovers around 98.6, and my pulse is normal.

My calorie consumption has been very low; mostly just trying to get milk in for protein. I've been eating eggs, orange juice, and coconut oil. I will add in liver, and I'm just starting to add in my fat-soluble vitamins.

Here's my iron tests:

3/26/2016

IRON 83 ug/dL 50 - 160 ug/dL
TIBC 453 ug/dL 246 - 436 ug/dL
% SATURATION 18 % 13 - 50 %
FERRITIN 22 ng/mL 22 - 322 ng/mL

5/4/2016 (5-6 weeks later)

IRON 113 ug/dL 50 - 160 ug/dL
TIBC 407 ug/dL 246 - 436 ug/dL
% SATURATION 28 % 13 - 50 %
FERRITIN 13 ng/mL 22 - 322 ng/mL

Should I supplement iron? My ferritin is too low, but all the other values seem to reflect better iron status (as I've eaten a few high iron meals with meat in the mean time.)

I feel so exhausted all the time, and I have no appetite. My rib cage hurts, and I'm depressed because of it. Any help would be very much appreciated.

 

[InChristAlone]

That doesn't look like iron deficiency anemia. Could be other reasons for low ferritin, and is commonly associated with hypothyroidism. I wanted to ask about your low calorie intake though, no one can heal with lack of energy intake, I know personally I struggle with my appetite and orthorexia and it is very damaging, how about eating whatever increases your appetite?

 

[DaveFoster]

That doesn't look like iron deficiency anemia. Could be other reasons for low ferritin, and is commonly associated with hypothyroidism. I wanted to ask about your low calorie intake though, no one can heal with lack of energy intake, I know personally I struggle with my appetite and orthorexia and it is very damaging, how about eating whatever increases your appetite?

Thanks for the reply, Janelle. For my appetite, I don't have one. I'm going to start eating oysters, liver, and cooked vegetables. I'll probably add in some meat as well.

I feel truly depressed; like there is no motivation in me whatsoever. Not the usual anxiety, stress, or anything, as if I've taken clonidine in the afternoon.

 

[YuraCZ]

"Should I supplement iron?"

Taking iron from supplements is dangerous. Liver with vitamin C for better absorption is all you need..

 

[Luann]

You mentioned that you sleep on the floor, @Dave, did you see the post on here yesterday or so on different sleeping positions? It says that - or one of the commenters said, hard to remember - that not using a pillow will help keep your mouth shut, what with the gravity of your head being nea the floor. It seems to work, short-term at least, so maybe that could help increase CO2 for you.