Blue Hands/feet, Immune Dysfunction, Low Platelets, Low RBC/Hb, Low Testosterone And HCG

[_Chris_]

Here's my story:

I'm a 20 year old male in the UK. During my first year at uni, I began to experience quite a number of health problems. Around a similar time to getting a Staph infection in my hand (October 2016), my platelet count plummeted and has stayed low ever since (around 40/50 x 10^9/L). I also began to experience other health issues around this time as well, including low LH and low testosterone, despite having normal FSH. My testosterone went as low as 1.8 nmol/L. I also have low RBC/Hb count.

Last August, I reluctantly started hCG and have been on and off it ever since. I seem to be hyper-responsive to hCG, as, at one point, my testosterone went up to around 28 nmol/L (upper limit), and I wasn't even taking it that often. However, my estradiol levels also rose to around 206 pmol/L (upper limit is 150!). It's worth noting that, even though I raised my testosterone, my RBC/Hb count has still remained low.

Now, this is my BIGGEST CONCERN: I seem to have some kind of immune system dyfunction. When I arrived in France last year, I just randomly broke out in hives when I was on the balcony. For the rest of the holiday, I continued to break out in hives whenever I had a shower or went swimming in the sea/pool. It was definitely worse in the sea though. Aside from the hives, my circulation would completely and utterly shut down, leaving me feeling cold, light-headed, and with blue/purple hands, feet, ankles, legs etc. (plus blotches everywhere else).

I am no longer in France, but I still persist with Raynaud's-type symptoms (although not as bad), where my hands and feet are usually very blue/purple, especially in the morning or after showering. One day last summer, I even broke out in hives here in my garden (in the UK). I also have dry skin around my ankles, with loss of hair, due to poor circulation. It seems as though I am having some kind of low-grade immune response to everything in my environment. I'm wondering if that initial Staph infection in my hand is still present and has been hypersensitizing my immune system.

I am currently under the care of an endocrinologist, a haematologist and a rheumatologist, who have done every test under the sun, including bone marrow biopsies and viral tests, which all appear "normal". As they say, I am a bit of an unusual case!

It's also worth noting that, during university, I was consuming A LOT of mackeral (PUFA), which could have definitely altered my immune system. Also, I was overtraining and depressed etc. I've reached a point where I'm fed up of feeling depressed and like a sick patient.

I've recently started Tyromix, which seems to help slightly. I've also started eating liver, which seems to really give me a boost. I don't want to be taking hCG, but I can't seem to get off it. I see that Idea Labs sells products, such as Pansterone and Kuinone, which are apparently quite good at raising testosterone naturally. Has anyone had any experiences with these? I also have slight Scoliosis. Could K2 help with that?

I only found this forum a few weeks ago, but I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions as to what I could do, or what might be the cause? @haidut ?

Any input would be much appreciated. Thank you :)

 

[tara]

Hi,

I'm no expert, but a couple of thoughts:

Have you had a go at measuring your body temps? (Many thermometers take 5-10 mins to stabilise at body temp, even if they say they're done quicker). This can give an indicator of base metabolism, and something to monitor as you adjust and recover.

I used to get some of that raynauds-like white/blue fingers. Seldom now. Basic energy production required. Low general energy, low body temp, and/or low system CO2 can do it, maybe other things.

For me, histamine-like symptoms often respond to breakfast. Low blood-sugar can make one more vulnerable to them. It might be more complicated than that, but simplest things first. :) Salt sometimes helps.
Or maybe some specific micronutrient could be missing. I had a skin issue a while ago that fixed when I added a very small amount of zinc. Skin and immune system both need some. Oysters are Peat's recommended source, if you tolerate and have some available. I used a supplement.

Presumably something is holding back energy production in your system, so it's a matter of trying to figure where the bottlenecks might be. First in line is considering inputs - eg food nutrition - fuel, protein, minerals, vitamins. Sunlight. Oxygen/CO2.

Be aware that thyroid supps and other tactics to raise metabolism require fuel and other nutrients, and some people under-estimate how much they need.
Do you want to tell what else and roughly how much you are eating?
Can vary from person to person, but typical for a young man your age would be of the order of 3500 cals/day.
Also decent amounts of protein, minerals and vitamins.

Have you cut back the mackerel eating now?
The Great Fish Oil Experiment

If you haven't yet read about Peat's anti-PUFA ideas, you can read some of his articles about fats on his articles page. Hopefully you've come across the idea that he favours saturated fats, and favours fruits etc.

 

[_Chris_]

I have tried measuring my body temp a couple of times in the morning, and they came back fairly lowish (can't remember the exact number). Over the year/months, my ability to tolerate the cold has definitely gone down though, which is one of the reasons I decided to try the Tyromix in the end.

With me, my doctors describe it as "acrocyanosis", rather than Raynaud's, because the cause of it seems to be different. It's more the fact that I have really bad micro-circulation for some reason, which is why my skin and hair quality has declined so rapidly.

Salt seems to help with me too. I think that I tend to excrete a lot of salt for some reason, even though I don't tend to sweat that much. I've been supplementing zinc for a while, but the skin problems still persist. Over the summer, I used the have really scaly skin on my legs, but that's gone now (although it's still dry). I think that my skin problems are probably more caused by a lack of blood supply, which would also explain the hair loss/thinning.

I don't really track how much I'm eating, but I'm pretty sure that it's more than enough. I've now changed what I eat, but until fairly recently, I was consuming A LOT of vegetables (mainly broccoli), which probably wasn't doing me much good. Over university and prior to university, I was an advocate of the whole low-carb craze, which also wasn't great, considering how much I was training. I've started to add in a lot more sugars, mainly after the gym. Protein-wise, I'll usually have things like liver, eggs, white fish etc.

I've completely stopped having mackerel now, hoping that things will gradually improve.

Thanks for getting back to me :)

 

[tara]

I think that I tend to excrete a lot of salt for some reason, even though I don't tend to sweat that much.

Both losing salt easily and not sweating much are apparently common when metabolism is low.

I don't really track how much I'm eating, but I'm pretty sure that it's more than enough.

If you haven't had a go at leat at roughly measuring for a couple of typical/average days, you may well not know. Most people don't. I'd strogly recommend you do this at least for a couple of typical days. cronometer.com or similar makes it relatively simple to get a rough estimate.

Over university and prior to university, I was an advocate of the whole low-carb craze, which also wasn't great, considering how much I was training.

This could have had effects on your metabolism that continue to affect you.

I've started to add in a lot more sugars, mainly after the gym.

How much and in what form?

Protein-wise, I'll usually have things like liver, eggs, white fish etc.

These look useful.
Are you getting some calcium? Magnesium, potassium, etc? Cronometer helps assess that too.

 

[tara]

How's your breathing? Relaxed, diaghragmatic, nasal at rest including in sleep?
Or fast/hard, thoracic, oral?
Have you ever played with relaxed/slowed breathing exercises to see if they improve circulation to your extremities? Chronic hyperventilation can reduce circulation to the periphery significantly, and can sometimes be noticibly reversed by attending to this. Diet and other conditions can affect the breathing - either worsening or improving hyperventilation. I had to change my eating to improve my breathing.

 

[_Chris_]

Ok, I'll give chronometer a try.

How much and in what form?

I've been having more fruit here and there. After the gym, I usually consume dextrose in a shake, rather than just sucrose, as it definitely seems to help with recovery.

Are you getting some calcium? Magnesium, potassium, etc?

I was originally relying on vegetables as a main source of these. However, I've been cutting back on vegetables, so I probably am even lower in them now. However, I've been supplementing Magnesium Bisglycinate for a while now, which has been an absolute life-saver! For calcium, I might start trying crushed egg shells, which has been suggested on this forum before.

How's your breathing?

I always make sure that I breath through my nose, even at the gym and during sleep. I use nasal strips and mouth tape at night to try and make sure that I don't hyperventilate/snore.

I had to change my eating to improve my breathing.

I definitely notice that, the more carbohydrates I have, the more I feel the need to breath through my mouth, especially during exercise. Do you know why this would be? It really seems to lower my fitness.

 

[tara]

I definitely notice that, the more carbohydrates I have, the more I feel the need to breath through my mouth, especially during exercise. Do you know why this would be? It really seems to lower my fitness.

For me I think I needed more carbohydrates at times, but also more minerals etc needed to be able to use them - just refined sugar in large quantities wasn't always helpful. Timing can also make a difference - getting the carbs/sugars when we need them and can use them, and in the quantities we can use.

 

[achar45]

Cataplex E2 from Standard Process is a vitamin e product known to help with circulation in particular.

 

[_Chris_]

Cataplex E2 from Standard Process is a vitamin e product known to help with circulation in particular.

Can't vitamin E thin the blood though? With my low platelets, my blood is already pretty thin. I don't want to further increase my chances of bleeding etc.

 

[EIRE24]

What do you eat now, what pattern is your eating schedule and how many calories do you eat?