Another carnivore victim saying hi & a couple questions

[DonKeebat]

Another carnivore victim here. Started carnivore in late 2019 for no particular reason other than thinking it would be a healthy way of eating.
Added carbs back in early this year after hearing Georgi on Doc Mercola.
Always felt good on carnivore, including sufficient energy and great sleep – but - I developed peripheral neuropathy (in pinky toes) and serious MPB hair loss. I also could never build meaningful muscle, despite lifting weights every other day (duh).
Now I’m up at 190lbs from 175lbs @ 6’1”. Some of it fat, some of it muscle I believe. In my late 50’s.
Feeling 90% energy and overall good. Waking heart rate 75 bpm, coming up to 80 during the day. Waking temp 98.3, coming up to 98.6 midday.
Daily intake is 3500 – 4000 cal, mostly from OJ, low/no fat milk, 2 eggs, 200g sirloin or ground beef, cane sugar, honey, maple syrup, coffee, smoothies from frozen fruit (mostly mango) and 1 or 2 fresh bananas. 1 or 2 cans of smoked oysters per week.
I’m supplementing with 2x 325mg aspirin, 10.000 Iu D3, 200mg k2, Vitamin E (deltagold) 250mg, some glysine and/or collagen, 3x 50mg niacinamide, 2x 150mg Methylene blue, 2x 300mg benfotiamine, 2cl of Toxinless’ magnesium bicarbonate and a drop of lugol’s every other day.

Now here is what I am wondering about – ever since I added carbs back in I have to pee within 30 minutes of consuming any liquid. Probably 8-10 times per day overall.
It's about ½ to ¾ the amount I’d normally pee. At night I only have to go once though.
Is that something that will normalize once my system is adapted/metabolism back up? I just want to make sure I am not creating another problem right now.

The other question would be – any specific pointers to regrow my hair? I know that this is discussed all over the place with mediocre success at best, but I am wondering if there might be something more specific after it’s know what caused my hair loss.

Thanks y’all and happy weekend!

 

[Michael Mohn]

Welcome to the the Ray Peat Forum!

A lot of keto/carnivore folks who reintroduce carbs in their diet need to do so slowly over some weeks and month. Weight gain and other problems can go out of control otherwise.

Glucose, salt, albumin increase blood volume and intracellular fluids, giving the body a buffer for nutrient uptake. Maybe prolonged carb restriction does reduce the body's ability to hold extra fluids.

Your diet looks good. I think you have to give it some time to get the full benefits.

Hair loss is tricky. Ray's pro metabolic approach produced some of the best alternative theories to alopecia/hair loss but the success rate is rather humbling. I let the Pros chime in first.

 

[DonKeebat]

Welcome to the the Ray Peat Forum!

A lot of keto/carnivore folks who reintroduce carbs in their diet need to do so slowly over some weeks and month. Weight gain and other problems can go out of control otherwise.

Glucose, salt, albumin increase blood volume and intracellular fluids, giving the body a buffer for nutrient uptake. Maybe prolonged carb restriction does reduce the body's ability to hold extra fluids.

Your diet looks good. I think you have to give it some time to get the full benefits.

Hair loss is tricky. Ray's pro metabolic approach produced some of the best alternative theories to alopecia/hair loss but the success rate is rather humbling. I let the Pros chime in first.

Thank you Michael :)
Yes, starting slow would have been the way to go - but I made the mistake and went all in, loading up with OJ and milk. So taking it slow is not an option anymore. I don't see my weight gain as a problem though. These extra 15 lbs did not hurt and I feel quite well otherwise.
Just hanging in there, waiting for the frequent peeing to resolve itself for now I guess.

 

[John mcclain]

Congratulations on experimenting and broading your mind to different ideas...but when it stops working and you get too fat and feel much worse go back to what worked for you ....enjoy

 

[DonKeebat]

Congratulations on experimenting and broading your mind to different ideas...but when it stops working and you get too fat and feel much worse go back to what worked for you ....enjoy

Thanks John, I am not afraid of getting to fat at all. I'm floating around 190 -195lbs which is just fine at my somewhat muscular 6'1". i am feeling good overall and I sure like me my fruit, honey and maple syrup Not going back to carnivore ever again. I'm just trying to figure if there is anything wrong with my frequent peeing.

 

[Blossom]

You should probably start checking your blood glucose just to make sure you are tolerating the increase in carbs okay. I’d personally do a pre meal stick and 1-2 hours post (including any times you just consume liquids) for several days. Frequently urinating can be a sign of diabetes. Since you already went all in it would probably be wise to know how well your body has adjusted rather than simply guessing. You report feeling good hopefully this isn’t the issue.

 

[DonKeebat]

You should probably start checking your blood glucose just to make sure you are tolerating the increase in carbs okay. I’d personally do a pre meal stick and 1-2 hours post (including any times you just consume liquids) for several days. Frequently urinating can be a sign of diabetes. Since you already went all in it would probably be wise to know how well your body has adjusted rather than simply guessing. You report feeling good hopefully this isn’t the issue.

Thank you Blossom. Yes, diabetes is what I was wondering about but I do not have any other symptoms typically associated with diabetes. That's why I am looking for feedback on here. You are certainly right about not making this a guessing game though. ...fixing to get me some blood glucose meter.

 

[Charais]

My husband had the frequent pee issue and found Cinsulin at Costco. Cinnamon regulates blood sugar I guess. Anyway 4 caps a day fixed the problem. He thinks returning to eating carbs again pushed him towards being pre-diabetes.

 

[DonKeebat]

My husband had the frequent pee issue and found Cinsulin at Costco. Cinnamon regulates blood sugar I guess. Anyway 4 caps a day fixed the problem. He thinks returning to eating carbs again pushed him towards being pre-diabetes.

Thank you Charais. I am making my own "golden milk" (tumeric, ginger, cardamom, cylon cinnamon, milk, honey, coconut oil). I have that a few times a week, so maybe I am covered on the cinnamon side for now. Will keep Cinsulin in mind if my peeing issue won't go away in the near future.

 

[John mcclain]

I glad u watched georgi because if you keep eating like him you will end up looking like him.very over weight and bald and taking everything under the sun in order to keep pushing for optimal health,no amount of cokes oj or caffeine will do it and next you will be taking thyroid meds and swallowing carrot salads all day...you are pre diabetic get that sorted quick or you'll be on metformin or insulin to deal with all these exogenous carbs you cant handle.

 

[DonKeebat]

I glad u watched georgi because if you keep eating like him you will end up looking like him.very over weight and bald and taking everything under the sun in order to keep pushing for optimal health,no amount of cokes oj or caffeine will do it and next you will be taking thyroid meds and swallowing carrot salads all day...you are pre diabetic get that sorted quick or you'll be on metformin or insulin to deal with all these exogenous carbs you cant handle.

Thanks John. Georgi eats mostly soup from what I gathered, I sure don't. From what I can see looking at him sitting behind a desk, I think he's "stocky" at worst. I think he lost his hair in his younger years, overexerting himself physically while on low carb. Just like I lost my hair, but on zero carb. He might be selling almost every supplement under the sun, but I think he only takes aspirin, MB an one or two other supplements. Should it turn out that I have bloodsugar problems, I'll sort them out without prescription drugs.

 

[DonKeebat]

Update:

I checked my blood glucose level with a finger pricker thing for 3 days in a row. (did 3 pricks/readings for every measurement as these things seem to be all over the place in terms of accuracy. So the following numbers are the average of 3 days, 3 pricks each time. Reporting the average of 3 days seems fine to me as they were always in that range).

Fasting glucose in the morning : 99

1hr after a quart of coffee w plenty of honey and sugar + 20oz of OJ : 92

10 min after big ol’ fruit smoothie w eggs (600kcal) : 98
1hr after big ol’ fruit smoothie w eggs (600kcal) : 98
2hr after big ol’ fruit smoothie w eggs (600kcal) : 95

1hr after another dinner smoothie/last meal of day : 113

...so, I’m almost flat lining. According to mainstream medicine this seems to be good – but - I heard Georgi say in a interview that a spike to around 150ish after a meal is ideal.

Thoughts?

Still peeing a lot, but started adding more salt. Aiming for a total of ~3+ Tsp of (Redmond) salt per day.