Greetings

[Sophist]

Hello Folks,

I don't normally do the introduction part, just quietly read along. I guess primarily because I've not much to say to a bunch of anonymous internet people. However, since Charlie is working on a questionnaire as a rough introduction, I'll give it a shot.

What's your age?

Baby boomer, not yet 50.

How did you find the forum?

A search term not specifically related to Peat's work. I don't recall what it was.

How did you find Ray Peat's work?

I came across him many years ago. Not sure exactly in relation to what, but suspect it was an early investigation into iodine and the thyroid.

How long have you been Peating?

I'm not. My family primarily follows the Weston Price Foundation guidelines.

What is your favorite part about Peating?

n/a

What is the worst part?

n/a

What are your health issues?

None, but I've had plenty in my past following a misdiagnosed bout of meningitis which almost killed me, and did successfully destroy my immune system for a couple of years.

In fact, that cemented my distrust of the medical system and launched my investigations into the preserving of one's own bodily integrity by one's own efforts.

I've taken an orthomolecular approach in treating my family and myself with great success. I've found it incredibly rewarding to solve the conundrums of life that the medical system can't seem to manage, and each success spurs me on to investigate more. I've rebuilt my immune system (haven't had a cold/flu in years), kick-started my thyroid, cured my wife and myself of allergies, gingivitis, etc. Most recently, a cat bite evolved into a high fever and swelling of my hand overnight. I decided to put my beliefs to the test and deal with it myself, and within hours the fever was gone and the swelling was reduced. Over the last couple of years I've studied a bit of chemistry and biochemistry, but my background is in engineering.

What other questions should we ask?.......

That's not for me, but I'll add that I'm not familiar enough with those trying to implement Peat's regimen into their lives to comment.

My reason for joining is I am fascinated by Peat's work. I've not investigated some of his more interesting claims, so I have no opinion other than to state he puts forth a compelling argument. I've compiled as much as I have been able to locate, and in the brief time I've been here here I've accumulated a bit more. So for that I thank you all. All I require is the time to devote to looking into them in-depth.

I'm here to learn. Over the years I have changed my mind on many things many times. I refuse to become mired in a model of someone else's theory, so I'm always looking at alternate viewpoints.

So, with that I'll quietly retire into the background and see what might be of use.

 

[charlie]

Sophist, welcome to the forum.

Was wondering how you took care of the cat bite?

 

[Sophist]

It was actually only a small bite, but landed in an unfortunate location. It had only nicked an area, but directly on a vessel. I washed it and applied iodine immediately. I went to bed and experienced some really odd dreams and awoke to the realization I was running a fever. My hand was swollen, red and had developed a hard lump between the base of my thumb and index finger. The spot where I was bitten (base of the index finger) had already healed.

I decided to forgo the round of antibiotics I knew would be coming and proceeded to handle it with vitamin C, which hadn't failed me yet. I took 6 grams immediately, then 3 grams every 30 minutes until my fever was gone. I then took 4 grams every hour until the redness and localized warmth in my hand was gone. The fever was gone in 4 hours, but the warmth and redness in my hand didn't dissipate until the next day. I never experienced any loose bowels from the vitamin C during the entire affair, which follows the observations of Pauling that the body will utilize the available C in times of healing stress.

Just as an added boost I took oregano oil and olive leaf extract as well. It took about 3 days for the swelling and the hard lump to completely disappear.

I discussed this with a family friend who is a doctor and she named a bacterium commonly present in cat saliva and proceeded to tell me a horror story of a patient she had had. I'm fortunate to know two people within the medical profession who are very open minded and have incorporated alternative treatments into their daily practice. So, no odd looks or lectures

There are a plethora of alternative views out there, and many with merit. But people are individual in their metabolism and experiences vary accordingly. I notice a few here are investigating pregnenolone. This is a good example; when I first took it I experienced an arrhythmia. I put it down to having taken it on an empty stomach and there having been an unforeseen delay in my eating. The second time I took it I experienced a horrible case of arrhythmia to where I was awoken in the middle of the night by it. It continued until I did a vagal maneuver which brought me back into a normal rhythm. I continued experiencing minor palpitations until I ingested some magnesium citrate and haven't had a single one since. In my opinion, one should be very cautious using pregnenolone and should insure their magnesium levels are adequate before experimenting. Overall, it was a horrifying experience.

BTW, I only ingested 20mg, way beneath what others are using here. I read a quote where Peat felt that negative experiences on pregnenolone were a result of contaminants, but he might want to consider that many are deficient in magnesium and pregnenolone exacerbates the symptoms. Particularly in people who are experimenting with it due to symptoms of dysregulated hormone rhythyms, of which a magnesium deficiency can be an important factor.

...and thanks for the welcome and the forum Charlie.

 

[charlie]

Cool thanks for sharing!

I second the motion for being really cautious with pregnenlone.

 

[Dan W]

Welcome, Sophist. And that sounds like a useful warning about pregnenolone and magnesium deficiency.

 

[BingDing]

Welcome to the forum, Sophist. Interesting handle! Peatarian, who is no longer active here, said it's important to use a lot of sugar when using pregnenelone. It's buried in an old thread, an unfortunate feature of these kinds of forums.

I'm curious what brand of vitamin C you use, if you don't mind sharing.