Don't know what to do anymore, need help!

Evo

New Member
Joined
Aug 10, 2015
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1
Hello,

This is going to be a very long post because I'm beyond desperation and just don't know what do anymore and I really really hope that someone can help me! Pardon me if I make any grammatical mistakes, I'm not a native English speaker. I suffer from a lot of strange symptoms and have read sooo many health articles, forums and books that I just don't know who to believe and what to do anymore.

So, basically this is (a bit) of my story:

I was a pretty healthy, happy and outgoing child but started to become very insecure and somewhat depressed when I was 13. I also suffered from a (mild form) of acne so my docter put me on the Diane pill (very high estrogen birth controll pill) when I was 14. I got great skin, but became very introverted, also because this pill gave me horrible belly aches, gas and diahrrea. After numerous test and trips to the docter and hospitals I was diagnosed with IBS. I now know that my symptoms could be caused by high estrogen - high serotonin in the gut. Fastforward 6 years, I switched to a different birth controll pill (Yasmin), which had a bit less estrogen and I felt somewhat better. I started at university and started to drink a lot which worsened much of my problems. I also experimented with XTC and I noticed that when I was on XTC it was the only time that I felt truly happy and had no gas/diarrhea/pain in my belly. I never really understood this because XTC is supposed to release more serotonin so I thought this would contribute to more problems in your belly (diarrhea, vomiting etc) but it didn't. After using drugs for about a year I became severely depressed, although not "the unique" depression because I could sleep very well, had no constipation, just a lack of energy, no motivation, very low sense of attachment to other people, little emotions etc. When this happened, something inside me snapped and I decided it was time for a change:
I quit the pill, stopped drinking alcohol, stopped taking drugs, ate a lot of fruit and veggies, less grains and gluten, took fermented cod liver oil and probiotics and started reading about healthy food and how nutrition can affect the body/health. Initially I felt a bit better and slowly came out of my depression. However, from January this year something has gone wrong. It started with an UTI which became bad so I had to treat it with antibiotics. Strangely, after these antibiotics I felt kind of great, very clear in the head (probiotics gave me more diarrhea). In February and March I felt great and the only supplement I took was Magnesium Taurate which I think enhanced my mood a bit.

But then, in may, i started a lot of different supplements and some things just got out of control. I started supplemented with Inositol/Choline and at first I felt reaaaally great, happy, calm, foccussed, clear head, social. Like I never felt before in my life. I took about 500 mg of each a day. However, after about three weeks of this I started to became really sleepy, irritated, sweaty, it pushed my blood sugar so low that I woke up sweating and starving in the middle of the night and just had tot eat something so I decided to discontinue cold turkey. The next week I felt awful: sweaty, feverish, chills all over, massive brain fog, very depressed (like the withdrawal symptoms of ssri) and I became very very obsessed. I just wanted to fix all my symptoms really quickly so I decided to take the following supps:
- GLA
- Vitamin B complex (with methylated forms)
- Calcium Ascorbate
- Natural antifungals
Initially I felt a bit better, and then one night I decided to drink some Kefir (fermented milk drink made from organic raw milk) and I woke up with a huuuge brain fog, visual snow (like that on the television, only then in your eyefield) very depressed feelings.
I also have a lot af acne, my skin pigment is starting to 'fade' in my face (not like vitiligo but almost like there is too little pigment) my hair is greying rapidly (Im 23..), I have a lot of facial hair and growth of hair on my body and my heartbeat is reeaaallly fast (my blood pressure is okay). The only thing that is really gone for the first time in my life is all the gas and diarrhea.
It has now been a month since I have stopped using all supplements, started eating a lof for metabolism (gained 3 kg) and I feel the worst I have ever felt.
I just don't know what to do anymore. I look and feel like complete sh*it (pardon the language). And I have so many questions:
- Have I driven my serotonin too high by using inositol (sentisizes recoptor)
- Have the probiotics in the kefir done something in my gut
- Some say brain fog has to do with low thyroid, but I tested them in march and they were fine
- I know for sure that I have screwed op my neurotransmitters, and I think I have high serotonin and low dopamine but I just don't know (and then you also have gaba and acetylcholine)
- I also think i have low histamine because i fit litterally all the criteria and have taken a few histamine lowering supplements (I have never had allergie issues in my life) They say low histamine causes excess copper and estrogen and this in turn lowers thyroid and causes excess serotonin
- I also think I have some sort of form of overmethylation because I broke out horribly from the Vitamin B complex

I should maybe do a lot of tests but that is very expensive here in my country and I'm just a student. Also a lot of thing I read regarding serotonin/dopamine/methylation/histamine are really contradictory.
Can someone pleaaase help me? I just don't know what to eat anymore because I'm afraid it will make something worse.

Many thanks in advance and sorry for the long post!
 

tara

Member
Joined
Mar 29, 2014
Messages
10,368
:welcome Evo

There's lots in your post - I'll just respond to a few point for now.

Glad you stopped the estrogen BCP (hope you use other BC if you need it), and the alcohol and drugs.

Peat stopped drinking keffir when he noticed he got migraines from it. I think he suspected it had too much lactic acid for him. He tends to recommend fresh milk and cheese over keffir and yogurt.

Some people feel much better after antibiotics. It can reduce endotoxin burden on the liver and the rest of the system. Milder methods of reducing endotoxin (and estrogen reabsorption) include daily raw carrot/salad or cooked bamboo shoots (Peat's recommendations) or activated charcoal now and then (may have it's down sides, but many be worth it now and then).

I guess you've reads Peat's article on serotonin? He considers excess serotonin to be a problem.

I have found cranberry juice effective for preventing UTIs (though it's not enough to stop one that is already established - I'd go for antibiotics when that happens). Others have recommended D-mannose as very effective.

You can get a bit of an idea about your metabolism at little cost by getting a thermometer to monitor your body temperature, and measuring your pulse at teh same time. If you have the numbers from your thyroid lab tests, you can post them here if you like. Drs quite often consider thyroid hormones to be "normal" in ranges that Peat would consider likely hypothyroid. Also, maintenance calories may give a rough idea about metabolism too.

Do you want to post a bit about what and how much you are eating? I tend to recommend getting nutrition in place before jumping into more supplements. Key points include minimising PUFA (polyunsaturated fat) consumption (favour some saturated fats like coconut oil and butter), getting enough protein, carbs and micronutrients. You can use cronometer to assess your nutrient intake, but don't believe their calorie recommendations - they are generally too low. Also making sure to get regular sunlight (or extra red light when there's no sun to be had) and sleep. If you haven't yet had a look at the sticky post at the top of the Diet subforum, I'd recommend it.

I'd also recommend starting to read through Peat's articles and interviews to get more of an idea of his perspective.

Good luck
 

4peatssake

Member
Joined
Feb 7, 2013
Messages
2,055
Age
62
:welcome2 to the forum Evo.
tara gave you some great input.

I think posting your current diet is a great starting point. Then you can begin to see what foods are contributing to your issues and which ones you tolerate and build from there.

Temperature and pulse are good indicators and tracking them and food is really helpful to begin to get an accurate view of what is going on.

Glad you found us. :)
 

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