Any Tests To Demonstrate Metabolic Function?

[daydreamer]

Hi

I am a 45yr old male, I have played sports and lifted weights my entire life, I have been 167lbs with a nice 6pack and muscular frame

Over the last 2 years I have had massive stressors in my life and have been dealing with anxiety and depression
I made the mistake of staying on .25 klonopin daily for 5yrs and tried celexa 10mg for 6 months. I am now 1 mo clean of klonopin and 2 mo off of celexa, but still suffering symptoms of anxiety

I have always thought to have a "fast" metabolism, I never could put on weight, had a clean diet, however the last 2 years have gained 17lbs with a bloated gut and more belly fat

I know that these meds could trigger an issue with metabolic function as well as stressors and that I am newely off of them and it may take time

Are there any blood, saliva or very reliable testing that would indicate metabolic function?

my BP is 120/80 or lower my pulse is between 60 - 70 resting

Thank you
Daydreamer

 

[Hans]

Hey man.
You can:

• check your lactate pyruvate ratio which will give an indication of your glucose oxidation.
• do a thyroid panel (TSH, T3, T4, rT3). Additionally, you can check parathyroid hormone, which if high, could indicate low vitamin D and calcium intake. PTH promotes inflammation and slows the metabolism.
• check prolactin and serum serotonin
• check oxygen consumption and utilization. Checking oxygen saturation and CO2 in the blood is helpful but not perfect.
• check cortisol to DHEA ratio. DHEA and DHEA-S drops with stress, which would lead to a low cortisol to DHEA ratio. Upping DHEA, as well as the other youth hormones such as pregnenolone and progesterone, will help cope with stress or at least restore the youth hormones to normal.
• test cholesterol. High cholesterol would indicate low cholesterol utilization and low-ish androgens.

It seems that most of your issues started in the gut due to stress. Is your stress over or not? I'd really focus on improving the gut and digestion as indigestion and gut irritation will always increase serotonin, cortisol, estrogen, prolactin and nitric oxide, which will promote fat gain. So eat easy to digest food, eat when you're not stressed, maybe use digestive enzymes, and maybe consider a serotonin antagonist to lower high serotonin for now. Activated charcoal helps to bind endotoxins in the gut and lower serotonin. Idealabs got a new product that can help lower excess gut bacteria if that is a concern to you and will help with digestion and lower endotoxins and serotonin. Aspirin is very good for lowering serotonin and cortisol in my experience.