Beginning My Journey To Halt Early Baldness, Fix Metabolism, And Live With HIV

[BingDing]

Welcome to the forum from me, too, Platinum.

I know this is a stressful time but please don't take the cautionary posts lightly; big pharma is not your friend. They fund studies like that to plug into the trillion dollar patent/medical infrastructure and they really don't give a s*** about you.

The free testing is certainly a draw, it'd be ballsy to make yourself a control group of one. Read a lot more of Peat and be diligent about it, and don't actually take the medicine. On balance, Peat's ideas about viruses make as much sense as anyone's and provide more hope than big pharma ever has. Or ever will, come to think of it.

Best wishes whatever course you decide on.

 

[lexis]

I think you have to attack the high prolactin first. Vitamin A can bring it down.

 

[tara]

I'm quite willing to believe that the 'millieu interieur' is very important in resisting HIV-related disease, I'm quite willing to believe that there are sometimes misdiagnoses, and I do think the pharmaceutical industries' practices and motivations make them and the medical system entwined with them often unreliable.

However, as far as I can tell, the massive improvement in health and life expectancy of HIV+ people with access to medical resources over the last few years is in significant part down to medical research and relevant drugs. In the early 80's, an HIV diagnoses meant almost certain death within 5 years. Now it is common for people to live with it for several decades, and for much of that time to be resonably healthy. I haven't seen any evidence (though I can't say I've actively searched for it) to suggest it's because the avergage western HIV+ person has got so hugely much better at nourishing and taking care of themselves by non-medical means. Though I'm not up with the details, as far as I know some of the medicines are real life savers.

 

[dookie]

I think you have to attack the high prolactin first. Vitamin A can bring it down.

Are there studies which show vitamin A decreases prolactin levels?

 

[lexis]

post 108742

I think you have to attack the high prolactin first. Vitamin A can bring it down.

Are there studies which show vitamin A decreases prolactin levels?

viewtopic.php?t=6053

 

[Platinum]

Hey everyone, I updated my original post with a couple more sections. Just a little more history plus the supplements I had decided to buy so far. Go ahead and check it out.

This morning, I took my temp and pulse when I woke up. 97.6F and 80bpm. later, a little bit after I had finished breakfast, the temperature and pulse stayed the same. I did take multiple readings each time to be sure. pulse varied from 78 to 82.

I regret not starting these measurements 3 weeks ago before I changed my diet in a Peat direction. It would be interesting to see if I have already made progress.

 

[dookie]

post 108742

I think you have to attack the high prolactin first. Vitamin A can bring it down.

Are there studies which show vitamin A decreases prolactin levels?

viewtopic.php?t=6053

That study seems to have used a high dose of a form of vitamin a "acitretin", it was given for 3 months, and the prolactin drop doesn't seem so dramatic: "from 182 +/- 70 to 150 +/- 56 mU/l, p < 0.05".

Have you used vitamin A on yourself and have you noticed any prolactin lowering effect?

 

[franko]

post 108635 I am also newly diagnosed with HIV, starting medication this month, possibly this Wednesday the 11th.

In the latest Generative Energy podcast with Danny Roddy, Haidut mentions that there was a trial that ended in the mid-90s that successfully treated the symptoms of AIDS with 4 grams of aspirin daily.

I think that is the same study which is discussed in more detail in this thread: viewtopic.php?p=72604#p72604

 

[Platinum]

Well, my first study appointment happened last Friday and I got all the details. First, here's the study link for those curious: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02607930

2 year blinded study, although the unblinding only happens after all 600 participants complete 2 years. I'm one of the early ones, so I have to wait for everyone else. after unblinding I can do a 48-week open label extension phase until the medicine becomes FDA approved for the market. So, I can look forward for 3 years of free treatment if I stay in.

On the other hand, the DEXA scans are not optional...and they happen every 6 months, so possibly up to 6 times including the baseline which is scheduled for December 5th . I have very mixed feelings on this. I shared my concerns with the doc and unsurprisingly they said they consider the dose as very, very low while also acknowledging that radiation's effects are a cumulative thing. But I've read Peat's article and know that it could still cause problems. It was very timely that Danny and haidut were talking about this on the immunity episode of the podcast too..

The mixed feeling comes from the fact that I'm pretty hardcore into investing for early retirement and free medical treatment is so tempting because of that. I can't help but wonder if perhaps one can protect against the radiation with supplementation to counteract the negative effects. Anyone have any thoughts on this?

Besides the study, today marks 4 weeks of at least half of my calories coming from milk and OJ, supplementing 6tbsp collagen for 3 weeks, the B & E vitamins for 2 weeks, and my new supply of Vitamin A and refill of vitamin D arrived last Friday. So far I don't look or feel much different overall, I know it sometimes takes months and months to heal but I wish it could be faster. I also added a second 325mg aspirin to the daily regime, so it's one at breakfast and one at dinner. (mainly due to the talk using aspirin against HIV. It's on my list to research the forum about how quickly to ramp up the dose)

I've had dry skin and dandruff of the face and scalp for a while now, I'm hoping vitamin A deficiency was the issue but I don't how long it will take to see beneficial effects. I'm taking 20,000 IU daily for now.

Lastly, I'm still struggling with motivation to go to the gym and lift weights (I've pretty much always had this problem. My low T is probably a factor in this). It's kind of depressing to still see my flabby belly and chest in the mirror and know that I need muscle to burn the fat at rest. Trying to look on the bright side, it's probably good that I've worked on getting some of these other things settled first before tackling yet another habit.

 

[tara]

Hi,
Pros and cons on both sides - not sure what I'd do in your shoes.

If you are going to keep taking 300mg or more aspirin regularly, it might be wise to add a mg of vit-K. Unless you are eating massive amounts of leafy greens, natto, etc.

 

[Platinum]

post 110166 Hi,
Pros and cons on both sides - not sure what I'd do in your shoes.

If you are going to keep taking 300mg or more aspirin regularly, it might be wise to add a mg of vit-K. Unless you are eating massive amounts of leafy greens, natto, etc.

I have Life Extension Super K and Relentless Improvement 15mg K2 that I take daily :)

 

[tara]

post 110202 I have Life Extension Super K and Relentless Improvement 15mg K2 that I take daily :)

:)

 

[Platinum]

I'm getting worried folks.

Before I started 'Peating' I was 150 lbs and my blood pressure was consistently 120/79 all the time.

After I started Peating, my BP went to 140/80 and suddenly it had reached 140/90 with a weight of 159 lbs as of Saturday.

So, I"m gaining weight and blood pressure is on it's way up. What could be happening to me?

I tend to feel pretty bloated too

 

[tobieagle]

post 110161
I've had dry skin and dandruff of the face and scalp for a while now, I'm hoping vitamin A deficiency was the issue but I don't how long it will take to see beneficial effects. I'm taking 20,000 IU daily for now.

You have a TSH of 3 and you take 20k IU of Vitamin A a day.
That is not a good idea. I would stop taking it and work on your thyroid function/metabolic rate first.
Too much vitamin A supresses thyroid function.
With a TSH of 3 you probably don't need a lot more than 5k a day.
The fact that you gain weight and that your digestion gets worse supports that assumption.

You have started to take way too many supplements at once imo.
Slow down, get the basics right and slowly add new aspects to further improve your situation.

 

[Platinum]

post 113100

post 110161
I've had dry skin and dandruff of the face and scalp for a while now, I'm hoping vitamin A deficiency was the issue but I don't how long it will take to see beneficial effects. I'm taking 20,000 IU daily for now.

You have a TSH of 3 and you take 20k IU of Vitamin A a day.
That is not a good idea. I would stop taking it and work on your thyroid function/metabolic rate first.
Too much vitamin A supresses thyroid function.
With a TSH of 3 you probably don't need a lot more than 5k a day.
The fact that you gain weight and that your digestion gets worse supports that assumption.

You have started to take way too many supplements at once imo.
Slow down, get the basics right and slowly add new aspects to further improve your situation.

Ok, reduce A for now, makes sense

Are any of the other vitamins concerning too? I started most of the other supplements because they're supposed to help the metabolic rate. Every morning at my hotels I grab extra skim milk cartons and cups of orange juice to stash in the fridge for the day. Should I consider doing natural dessicated thyroid or wait and just increase sources of sugar?

 

[Platinum]

I've tried to start a list of all the different things I should be testing regularly (such as TSH, etc.) but there's so much info on the forum it's a little overwhelming. There's so many things that could be tested plus figuring out the best/cheapest source for the chosen few. Once I receive the bills for my previous tests I'll know if it's cheaper to do my own or ask my doctor.

 

[answersfound]

post 113102

post 113100

post 110161
I've had dry skin and dandruff of the face and scalp for a while now, I'm hoping vitamin A deficiency was the issue but I don't how long it will take to see beneficial effects. I'm taking 20,000 IU daily for now.

You have a TSH of 3 and you take 20k IU of Vitamin A a day.
That is not a good idea. I would stop taking it and work on your thyroid function/metabolic rate first.
Too much vitamin A supresses thyroid function.
With a TSH of 3 you probably don't need a lot more than 5k a day.
The fact that you gain weight and that your digestion gets worse supports that assumption.

You have started to take way too many supplements at once imo.
Slow down, get the basics right and slowly add new aspects to further improve your situation.

Ok, reduce A for now, makes sense

Are any of the other vitamins concerning too? I started most of the other supplements because they're supposed to help the metabolic rate. Every morning at my hotels I grab extra skim milk cartons and cups of orange juice to stash in the fridge for the day. Should I consider doing natural dessicated thyroid or wait and just increase sources of sugar?

Definitely get on desiccated thyroid. With a TSH of 3, it will be very difficult to bring it under 1 without it. Also, I find that when using desiccated thyroid I can tolerate a lot of liquids better.


I use this (Atrium brand) and Nutri-Meds, and both work well:

http://lifesolutionsnp.com/prd/thyroid-by-atrium

 

[tara]

Hi Platinum,
I've just scanned this thread again, and can't see what (and how much) you are eating. Unless I missed it, do you want to post about that? Have you run your typical diet through cronometer to see if there are any obvious gaps? (Ignore it's calorie recommendations - they are usually too low.)

It may be that trying some cautious thyroid supplementation would be helpful. I tend to favour checking nutrition before considering supplementing hormones. Sometimes tuning up nutrition can help resolve some issues. Even if it doesn't, you need good nutrition to support thyroid supplementation.

Have you got some numbers from monitoring temps and resting pulse? Along with they TSH reading, they add more data to help figure out how metabolism is running.
How are your energy levels, sleep, etc?

 

[Platinum]

post 113124 Hi Platinum,
I've just scanned this thread again, and can't see what (and how much) you are eating. Unless I missed it, do you want to post about that? Have you run your typical diet through cronometer to see if there are any obvious gaps? (Ignore it's calorie recommendations - they are usually too low.)

It may be that trying some cautious thyroid supplementation would be helpful. I tend to favour checking nutrition before considering supplementing hormones. Sometimes tuning up nutrition can help resolve some issues. Even if it doesn't, you need good nutrition to support thyroid supplementation.

Have you got some numbers from monitoring temps and resting pulse? Along with they TSH reading, they add more data to help figure out how metabolism is running.
How are your energy levels, sleep, etc?

Sure. Now, I find tracking my diet to be rather difficult due to my circumstances as a business traveler. 95% of my nutrition comes from complementary food and beverage courtesy of the Marriott, Residence Inn, or Other (preferences in that order) so I try to eat the most Peaty options available or the lesser evil if not available. I have no idea what the calories are in my dinner, so I eat to satiety. However, here's a sample menu:

Breakfast:
2 cups OJ (2TB of collagen hydrolysate mixed in)
2 cups Skim Milk or 2% when skim is out
Sometimes eggs, preferably the hard boiled, but usually they serve scrambled. I only take very small portions of the scrambled egg if any, because I don't know what's really in it - with salt added
A portion of potatoes (about a handful's worth) - with salt added
A portion of Pineapple/cantaloupe/honeydew/other fruit (another handful)
On the occasion I drink coffee, I mix a half cup of coffee with one of my milks and throw a couple sugar packets in.

Lunch:
If I'm lucky, the customer buys lunch and I try to choose 'healthy' (as healthy as restaurant food can be). Either way, if they buy or not,
I still bring this to hold me over until dinner:
A full coffee cup filled with OJ (so about 8oz maybe more) with 2 TB collagen premixed in.
Two half-pint cartons (16oz) of milk that I pack in my bag.

Dinner:
Another cup of OJ with 2 TB collagen
2 more half-pints milk
and whatever is on the dinner buffet:
This part varies a lot. If I'm at the Marriott, there's always a tray with a half dozen varieties of cheese to choose with veggies, and one or two hot appetizers and maybe even soup & salad. Some locations are better than others, ranging from just snacks to an entire meal of choices. I try to eat the most Peat-like that I can, but since I can't always avoid PUFA that's why I take my Vitamin E.
At Residence Inn: Monday night is nearly always chicken taco/nacho night with many toppings, Tues is something from the "grill" and some sides (or meatballs), Wed is usually desserts but sometimes they surprise with another dinner.

Dessert and/or before bed:
more milk, perhaps some dessert. Sometimes cheesecake, pie, maybe cookies. I don't eat a lot of the cookies, gluten and pufa and all that...

In cron-o-meter, if I enter:

OJ - 4 cups
Skim Milk - 8 cups
Pineapple - 1 cup chunks
Coffee - 0.5 cup
Sugar - 2 packets
Potatoes - 4 oz
Egg - 1 large
Gelatin - 6 tbps

I see that's 1529 calories, 118g protein, 251g carb, 8.7g fat. However, this doesn't include dinner and dessert, or the occasional customer bought lunch. I'm hoping that I'm minimum getting 2,000-2,500. What should I be shooting for you think? Most of the micronutrient RDA's are met, except iron at 59% and Manganese at 89% (only if I have pineapple), not that RDA's mean much I suppose. and of course I get K, E, D, most B's from pills too.

As for this week, I'm unfortunately stuck at a Hampton Inn for a few days, no evening food, so for dinner I'm having Daisy low fat cottage cheese, a small bowl of fruit, and Blue Bunny Vanilla Bean ice cream (all from the Wal-Mart across the street) to survive

 

[Platinum]

post 113124 Hi Platinum,

Have you got some numbers from monitoring temps and resting pulse? Along with they TSH reading, they add more data to help figure out how metabolism is running.
How are your energy levels, sleep, etc?

unfortunately I've slacked off on temp and pulse the last few weeks. I'll do some more tomorrow. Last month, temps ranged from low 97's up to the mid 98's some afternoons. pulse ranged from upper 70's to low 80's, mainly low 80's

In general, I sleep fairly well. I have more energy and motivation in the morning than afternoon on average but I can't complain most days... Right now I happen to feel pretty decent as I'm writing this. I've struggled to put myself into bed on time in the last week only because I've been online researching used cars but I just bought the one I wanted on Saturday so I'll be back on my 7-8 hours a night now (if I don't start staying up late reading about thyroid! ). I fell asleep just fine once I did go to bed and I wake up on time without an alarm. I have cheap orange safety glasses as evening blue blockers. I sometimes wake up at night but fall back asleep again. I try not to stress over my health problems but honestly it probably bothers me more than I let myself notice. I do have a feeling of having so much to do all the time, and not enough time to do it all. I then tend to procrastinate a lot by reading the forums or articles from my rss feed instead, since I'm not always in the mood to work on my personal projects.

Don't remember if I have mentioned this, but I've had mild tinnitus for a long time. I mainly notice when I go to bed because it's quiet. It's just slightly louder/more noticeable recently.