ampersand
Member
- Joined
- Jul 4, 2015
- Messages
- 82
Hi everyone, I've been a lurker for a while, and probably won't post much or at all after this... just wanted to introduce myself just in case I end up having a question or something later.
What's your age? 40, female
How did you find the forum? Have been familiar with Ray Peat's articles for years, but came here via Matt Stone, youreatopia, etc.
How did you find Ray Peat's work? Can't remember when I first came across his articles.
How long have you been Peating? I'm not exactly Peating. Just started on Progest-E, about 5-8 doses daily of 2-4 drops each (hard to guage size). I'm currently on day 5.
What is your favorite part about Peating? The science and attention to hormones and metabolism.
What is the worst part? Orthorexia
What are your health issues? Eczema from childhood on, but mainly from age 14 on. Infertility, endometriosis, recently diagnosed cervical displasia, fatigue, hair loss, mild acne, spider veins, dental problems, salivary gland stones, mild melasma, currently overweight.
What does your diet consist of? I'm currently working at overcoming Orthorexia. In my late teens I wanted to cure my eczema and started on a Natural Hygiene Diet after reading the Diamonds' book Fit For Life. That progressed into veganism for several years. I also tried anti-Candida and low carb diets, wheat-free diets, Macrobiotic, Paleo, raw foods, juice fasts, water fasts, and then settled on WAPF for over a decade. For the last 2.5 years I've been trying Re-Feeding as per Gwyneth Olwyn's and Matt Stone's recommendations. This mainly consisted of around 8 months to a year of really eating quite a bit throughout each day without restricting any foods (other than the fact that my intake of PUFA's was not super high due to decades of being used to preparing mainly whole foods at home and using butter and coconut oil instead of vegetable oils). Doing this I gained 50lbs in 6 months. My weight then stabilized at around 200 lbs and has mainly stayed there without going up or down much. After around 8 months to a year of ReFeeding I lost my appetite somewhat and slipped back into my old habit of hardly eating anything between waking and late afternoon/evening. Around 4-7 pm my appetite wakes up and I get hungry and eat a big supper. I'm hoping the progest-e will help normalize my appetite. I have a tendency to live in my head and not notice that my body is hungry. Also, being low energy makes preparing meals seem like a huge chore. I think I always had this tendency and have always been able to go long periods between meals without feeling any immediate adverse effects. If I was busy with a project, a 24 hour fast was very easy for me and still is. I really need to work hard at eating regularly and frequently. I've been somewhat unintentionally doing intermittent fasting for more than 15 years, since my eating habits are so irregular. (Although it started out intentional, in my teens and early 20's I consciously resisted eating in the mornings (natural hygiene) or put off eating for as long as possible (to be as skinny as possible and in hopes of having nicer skin). I think at some point this got easier and easier to do until it became a deeply ingrained habit.)
I eat red meat around 4-5 times a week, mainly hormone and antibiotic-free beef or else wild venison. Chicken 2-3 times per week. White rice or potatoes almost every day. Good quality chocolate, good quality ice cream, fruit, moderate vegetables. 1-2 cups coffee daily with heavy cream, raw milk and raw honey. Some raw cheese on occasion. Eggs 2-3 times per week. Brown cow cream on top organic yogurts, 3-5 times per week. I add Great Lakes gelatin to a lot of things that I cook (rice or sauces or soups) and use a ton of butter and coconut oil. I drink a glass of raw milk, probably around 4-5 times per week. I would do it more often but forget. It's like I go all day forgetting about eating or drinking because I'm wrapped up in reading or work, and then when I finally "wake up" about eating late in the day, it's like there's too little time left to fit in all the things I think I should be eating. I generally drink 1 Mexican coke per day, with a squeeze of lemon because I like how it tastes better that way. A glass of apple cider 4-5 times per week. I don't drink a lot. I've NEVER restricted salt and have always used it pretty liberally. Sea salt, Himalayan salt and occasionally regular iodized salt when eating out or whatever. Also I go through phases of making sourdough bread at home. Those are all the things I eat most regularly, but I've been eating more processed and restaurant foods in the last few years in an attempt to introduce more variety and stimulate my appetite.
Before re-feeding and adding a lot of sugar and carbs and processed foods to my diet I was eating mainly a WAPF diet very high in saturated fats like butter, coconut oil and fats from meats. I was slender (not underweight), but I was consistently undereating/going for long periods between meals and my weight was very slowly and gradually creeping up. I developed severe chronic back pain due to degenerative disc disease. I started re-feeding in an attempt to cure my infertility, which didn't happen, but lo and behold, the refeeding cured my back problems.
My endometriosis is the most likely cause of my infertility. I started trying to conceive at the age of 30. My cycles were regular and normal, all the fertility signs were there, doctors said I was ovulating normally and had good egg reserves, hormones were all within normal range. Laproscopic surgery revealed severe endometriosis (although it never bothered me in terms of symptoms like pain or PMS).
I had a saliva hormone test done after I'd been refeeding for about 5 months and my hormones were all within normal range aside from a low progesteron:estradiol ratio, low cortisol in the afternoon and evenings, and very high DHEA-S for my age. My DHEA-S levels were more like what you'd see in an 18 yr old, even though I was 38 at the time. I don't put too much stock in these test results though, since I was in the oedema stage of refeeding (those of you who are familiar with youreatopia will know what I mean) and would have expected my hormones to be in some sort of transition at the time. I should probably get them retested again now. I suspect that if the high DHEA-S wasn't just some kind of fluke then it probably accounts for my mild acne and hair loss.
I am interested to see what kind of effect the Progest-e will have.
What's your age? 40, female
How did you find the forum? Have been familiar with Ray Peat's articles for years, but came here via Matt Stone, youreatopia, etc.
How did you find Ray Peat's work? Can't remember when I first came across his articles.
How long have you been Peating? I'm not exactly Peating. Just started on Progest-E, about 5-8 doses daily of 2-4 drops each (hard to guage size). I'm currently on day 5.
What is your favorite part about Peating? The science and attention to hormones and metabolism.
What is the worst part? Orthorexia
What are your health issues? Eczema from childhood on, but mainly from age 14 on. Infertility, endometriosis, recently diagnosed cervical displasia, fatigue, hair loss, mild acne, spider veins, dental problems, salivary gland stones, mild melasma, currently overweight.
What does your diet consist of? I'm currently working at overcoming Orthorexia. In my late teens I wanted to cure my eczema and started on a Natural Hygiene Diet after reading the Diamonds' book Fit For Life. That progressed into veganism for several years. I also tried anti-Candida and low carb diets, wheat-free diets, Macrobiotic, Paleo, raw foods, juice fasts, water fasts, and then settled on WAPF for over a decade. For the last 2.5 years I've been trying Re-Feeding as per Gwyneth Olwyn's and Matt Stone's recommendations. This mainly consisted of around 8 months to a year of really eating quite a bit throughout each day without restricting any foods (other than the fact that my intake of PUFA's was not super high due to decades of being used to preparing mainly whole foods at home and using butter and coconut oil instead of vegetable oils). Doing this I gained 50lbs in 6 months. My weight then stabilized at around 200 lbs and has mainly stayed there without going up or down much. After around 8 months to a year of ReFeeding I lost my appetite somewhat and slipped back into my old habit of hardly eating anything between waking and late afternoon/evening. Around 4-7 pm my appetite wakes up and I get hungry and eat a big supper. I'm hoping the progest-e will help normalize my appetite. I have a tendency to live in my head and not notice that my body is hungry. Also, being low energy makes preparing meals seem like a huge chore. I think I always had this tendency and have always been able to go long periods between meals without feeling any immediate adverse effects. If I was busy with a project, a 24 hour fast was very easy for me and still is. I really need to work hard at eating regularly and frequently. I've been somewhat unintentionally doing intermittent fasting for more than 15 years, since my eating habits are so irregular. (Although it started out intentional, in my teens and early 20's I consciously resisted eating in the mornings (natural hygiene) or put off eating for as long as possible (to be as skinny as possible and in hopes of having nicer skin). I think at some point this got easier and easier to do until it became a deeply ingrained habit.)
I eat red meat around 4-5 times a week, mainly hormone and antibiotic-free beef or else wild venison. Chicken 2-3 times per week. White rice or potatoes almost every day. Good quality chocolate, good quality ice cream, fruit, moderate vegetables. 1-2 cups coffee daily with heavy cream, raw milk and raw honey. Some raw cheese on occasion. Eggs 2-3 times per week. Brown cow cream on top organic yogurts, 3-5 times per week. I add Great Lakes gelatin to a lot of things that I cook (rice or sauces or soups) and use a ton of butter and coconut oil. I drink a glass of raw milk, probably around 4-5 times per week. I would do it more often but forget. It's like I go all day forgetting about eating or drinking because I'm wrapped up in reading or work, and then when I finally "wake up" about eating late in the day, it's like there's too little time left to fit in all the things I think I should be eating. I generally drink 1 Mexican coke per day, with a squeeze of lemon because I like how it tastes better that way. A glass of apple cider 4-5 times per week. I don't drink a lot. I've NEVER restricted salt and have always used it pretty liberally. Sea salt, Himalayan salt and occasionally regular iodized salt when eating out or whatever. Also I go through phases of making sourdough bread at home. Those are all the things I eat most regularly, but I've been eating more processed and restaurant foods in the last few years in an attempt to introduce more variety and stimulate my appetite.
Before re-feeding and adding a lot of sugar and carbs and processed foods to my diet I was eating mainly a WAPF diet very high in saturated fats like butter, coconut oil and fats from meats. I was slender (not underweight), but I was consistently undereating/going for long periods between meals and my weight was very slowly and gradually creeping up. I developed severe chronic back pain due to degenerative disc disease. I started re-feeding in an attempt to cure my infertility, which didn't happen, but lo and behold, the refeeding cured my back problems.
My endometriosis is the most likely cause of my infertility. I started trying to conceive at the age of 30. My cycles were regular and normal, all the fertility signs were there, doctors said I was ovulating normally and had good egg reserves, hormones were all within normal range. Laproscopic surgery revealed severe endometriosis (although it never bothered me in terms of symptoms like pain or PMS).
I had a saliva hormone test done after I'd been refeeding for about 5 months and my hormones were all within normal range aside from a low progesteron:estradiol ratio, low cortisol in the afternoon and evenings, and very high DHEA-S for my age. My DHEA-S levels were more like what you'd see in an 18 yr old, even though I was 38 at the time. I don't put too much stock in these test results though, since I was in the oedema stage of refeeding (those of you who are familiar with youreatopia will know what I mean) and would have expected my hormones to be in some sort of transition at the time. I should probably get them retested again now. I suspect that if the high DHEA-S wasn't just some kind of fluke then it probably accounts for my mild acne and hair loss.
I am interested to see what kind of effect the Progest-e will have.
ampersand
