Help! Bladder Infection? Sibo? Mold Toxicity? No Clue?

[brentipold]

Hello All,

I've been a long time follower of Ray, but I believe this is my first post on here. I'm unsure where to begin, so I will just give a little preview of what I've been up to over the last 8 months, how my health has deteriorated, and the things I've noticed that help or make things worse for me. This will probably be long, but I would greatly appreciate some help as I haven't had much luck getting back on track, and am desperate to do so.

Over the past 8 months I've been working excessively, if you include travel, I would say about 12-14 hours a day for roughly 8 months between working a desk job, and rehabbing a duplex I purchased as an investment. Roughly eating around 2500-2700 calories would be my best guess, but could be lower. High sugar, 80-100 g protein, and probably higher fat than what is ideal.

Now mind you, I was never incredibly healthy before all this started, but I was happy with what I was doing in my life, and had pretty decent energy and stamina. My problems started for me about 2-3 months ago. I had been supplementing salt for years, around 1/4 tsp 2x a day with a tall glass of OJ, while getting the rest from food. I for some reason, which is unknown to me now, I decided to reduce the supplementing. Initially I actually felt better, and I had better energy and well being.

One day while working on the house, I just started to overheat, and once I stopped to relax I just felt very off, feverish almost, and needed to lie down, no appetite, had a loose stool, peed like 3x. I rested for a day or two and felt better, and decided to continue again. Now this kept happening to me about 5-6x before I really started to get alarmed.

In my eyes there's only two causes for what i'm going through. One is my body just breaking down from the unbelievable amount of stress I was putting on myself. The other is I was exposed to mycotoxins or just mold in general, and it got into my stomach and has been wrecking havoc on me. Now some people i've communicated w/ in the Ray Peat world, think i'm basically insane for thinking this. There was mold in the house, we kept all the windows open, but did not ventilate it that well still. It was a dirty environment. I will say that my partner on the project was completely not phased but it if it was an issue. The last time I went back to the house, I could only stay for minutes before my brain literally stopped working, I was unable to think really at all. Ever since that point, I really haven't been able to get back to being myself.

Now, do I think some of this is psychological? Probably some PTSD of the other bad experiences I had in there? Definitely a possibility.

What I've been going through since then has been awful, at least to me. I will list some of main issues i'm having below.

-Inability to tolerate hot weather.
-Feeling feverish, despite being 98.6
-Inflamed bladder
-Lethargic
-Inability to focus
-Tingling in hands
-Waking up to a limb being completely numb or tingly
-high anxiety
-excessive worry
- Waking up to pee
-poor sleep in general 3x a week at least
-burning urination
-weird cramp that always is in same spot and present 50% of the time.
-some very mild GERD symptoms, typically feeling like my throat is very itchy, voice changes, mild burning in chest, burping.
-dry mouth
-quite a bit of nausea when things are at their worst, and inability to eat, had to really force feed


There are probably more things to list, but I just can't think of them at this moment. The worst ones the inflamed bladder, feverishness, inability to tolerate heat, and bouts of nausea and anxiety.

When all this first started, I tried to add salt back in to the diet. When adding it to OJ it would burn like all hell when peeing, and towards the end of peeing I would get a stream of white cloudy urine. Like maybe it was removing an infection? I've been scared to add salt back in for the most part. I tried putting it in some bone broth and it didn't burn when I peed, but I immediately had the hot flashes come back and felt feverish and uncomfortable. Followed by a poor nights sleep of waking up to pee 3x.

So basically I have no idea what's going on. When I eat solid food, I generally feel better, but not even close to the point that I want to go back and work on the house. When I completely avoid salt, the bladder problem seems to be minimized, but not fully.

I do have some labs that'll post below, which I obtained, when I went to an urgent care when I had no idea what was going on. Urine tests came back negative, which is puzzling. Only diet changes I've made are less coffee and no coke, because I found that the coke would inflame my bladder.

I'll leave the speculating for you all, because I haven't a clue at this point. I'm just very frustrated, and have been trying to eat enough (which I currently fail at), and trying to minimize stress as much as possible.

 

[EIRE24]

Activated charcoal and cascara sagrada. Both worked to clear my kidney infection recently. Something else that worked wonderfully was slippery elm. Hope you start to feel better.

 

[btomczak]

I've tried charcoal on and off to no avail unfortunately.

 

[ecstatichamster]

have you considered antibiotics for a bit?

 

[brentipold]

One urgent care doc I spoke w/ offered to give me an RX for the abx that mess with your tendons, which I refused. But it's now dawned on me that I may have to go that route if things continue much longer, because I'm at my wits end.

I thought maybe all of this was just high cortisol that is suppressing my immune system.

 

[Peatful]

I think you have assessed yourself correctly.

High cortisol.
Some of the signs you have listed are all pointing in that direction.
You also are spot on with treatment of sorts.
You need to up your nutrition, but in a more intentional balanced way.
Eat small meals more frequently.
Have that coffee or coke after food.
Aim for macros roughly 40/30/30 at each meal.
Rest!

I don't have anything to offer in regard to the bladder issue, but once your cortisol/adrenaline response calms down, I believe things will fall into place.
You are bright and in touch with your body, which is more than half the battle.

 

[tara]

My non-expert first thoughts:
The tests show highish TSH (over 3) - possible consistent with somewhat low base metabolism/thyroid function. I imagine you've read Peat's articles on thyroid on his website.
Have you run your diet through cronometer or similar to check for micronutrient deficiencies?
Depending on how active you are and how big you are and your age, I wonder if you could be undereating a bit?

Some kinds of mold can be nasty, so if you're exposed to one of them, that can cause real problems. Not all molds are made equally troublesome. I don't know how you can go about testing. If your symptoms seem to be associated with time in this place that you suspect, and you are able to give yourself a break from it for a bit, it might help give you a break and a clue. And if it's the place, there are presumably other possible contaminants than mold, too.

 

[HLP]

D-Mannose will clear this up. You aren't taking calcium supps are you? Stop if you are. Your urine is too alkaline when it burns you. Drink some Coke or Pepsi it will acidify your urine.

 

[x-ray peat]

The last time I went back to the house, I could only stay for minutes before my brain literally stopped working, I was unable to think really at all.

That sentence says it all and sounds like a classic case of mold sensitivity. I am currently dealing with a mold issue so I have been doing lots of research on it. I would not go into the house anymore. Even with a mask you will still get spores on your clothes and bring them back home. I would suggest that you sub out the work and not risk your health anymore.

Look into the Dr Shoemaker protocol for detoxing the mold. Also A Visual Contrast Test can be done to determine if you have mold issues. You can find it online.

 

[mont109]

Hello All,

I've been a long time follower of Ray, but I believe this is my first post on here. I'm unsure where to begin, so I will just give a little preview of what I've been up to over the last 8 months, how my health has deteriorated, and the things I've noticed that help or make things worse for me. This will probably be long, but I would greatly appreciate some help as I haven't had much luck getting back on track, and am desperate to do so.

Over the past 8 months I've been working excessively, if you include travel, I would say about 12-14 hours a day for roughly 8 months between working a desk job, and rehabbing a duplex I purchased as an investment. Roughly eating around 2500-2700 calories would be my best guess, but could be lower. High sugar, 80-100 g protein, and probably higher fat than what is ideal.

Now mind you, I was never incredibly healthy before all this started, but I was happy with what I was doing in my life, and had pretty decent energy and stamina. My problems started for me about 2-3 months ago. I had been supplementing salt for years, around 1/4 tsp 2x a day with a tall glass of OJ, while getting the rest from food. I for some reason, which is unknown to me now, I decided to reduce the supplementing. Initially I actually felt better, and I had better energy and well being.

One day while working on the house, I just started to overheat, and once I stopped to relax I just felt very off, feverish almost, and needed to lie down, no appetite, had a loose stool, peed like 3x. I rested for a day or two and felt better, and decided to continue again. Now this kept happening to me about 5-6x before I really started to get alarmed.

In my eyes there's only two causes for what i'm going through. One is my body just breaking down from the unbelievable amount of stress I was putting on myself. The other is I was exposed to mycotoxins or just mold in general, and it got into my stomach and has been wrecking havoc on me. Now some people i've communicated w/ in the Ray Peat world, think i'm basically insane for thinking this. There was mold in the house, we kept all the windows open, but did not ventilate it that well still. It was a dirty environment. I will say that my partner on the project was completely not phased but it if it was an issue. The last time I went back to the house, I could only stay for minutes before my brain literally stopped working, I was unable to think really at all. Ever since that point, I really haven't been able to get back to being myself.

Now, do I think some of this is psychological? Probably some PTSD of the other bad experiences I had in there? Definitely a possibility.

What I've been going through since then has been awful, at least to me. I will list some of main issues i'm having below.

-Inability to tolerate hot weather.
-Feeling feverish, despite being 98.6
-Inflamed bladder
-Lethargic
-Inability to focus
-Tingling in hands
-Waking up to a limb being completely numb or tingly
-high anxiety
-excessive worry
- Waking up to pee
-poor sleep in general 3x a week at least
-burning urination
-weird cramp that always is in same spot and present 50% of the time.
-some very mild GERD symptoms, typically feeling like my throat is very itchy, voice changes, mild burning in chest, burping.
-dry mouth
-quite a bit of nausea when things are at their worst, and inability to eat, had to really force feed


There are probably more things to list, but I just can't think of them at this moment. The worst ones the inflamed bladder, feverishness, inability to tolerate heat, and bouts of nausea and anxiety.

When all this first started, I tried to add salt back in to the diet. When adding it to OJ it would burn like all hell when peeing, and towards the end of peeing I would get a stream of white cloudy urine. Like maybe it was removing an infection? I've been scared to add salt back in for the most part. I tried putting it in some bone broth and it didn't burn when I peed, but I immediately had the hot flashes come back and felt feverish and uncomfortable. Followed by a poor nights sleep of waking up to pee 3x.

So basically I have no idea what's going on. When I eat solid food, I generally feel better, but not even close to the point that I want to go back and work on the house. When I completely avoid salt, the bladder problem seems to be minimized, but not fully.

I do have some labs that'll post below, which I obtained, when I went to an urgent care when I had no idea what was going on. Urine tests came back negative, which is puzzling. Only diet changes I've made are less coffee and no coke, because I found that the coke would inflame my bladder.

I'll leave the speculating for you all, because I haven't a clue at this point. I'm just very frustrated, and have been trying to eat enough (which I currently fail at), and trying to minimize stress as much as possible.

Hello All,

I've been a long time follower of Ray, but I believe this is my first post on here. I'm unsure where to begin, so I will just give a little preview of what I've been up to over the last 8 months, how my health has deteriorated, and the things I've noticed that help or make things worse for me. This will probably be long, but I would greatly appreciate some help as I haven't had much luck getting back on track, and am desperate to do so.

Over the past 8 months I've been working excessively, if you include travel, I would say about 12-14 hours a day for roughly 8 months between working a desk job, and rehabbing a duplex I purchased as an investment. Roughly eating around 2500-2700 calories would be my best guess, but could be lower. High sugar, 80-100 g protein, and probably higher fat than what is ideal.

Now mind you, I was never incredibly healthy before all this started, but I was happy with what I was doing in my life, and had pretty decent energy and stamina. My problems started for me about 2-3 months ago. I had been supplementing salt for years, around 1/4 tsp 2x a day with a tall glass of OJ, while getting the rest from food. I for some reason, which is unknown to me now, I decided to reduce the supplementing. Initially I actually felt better, and I had better energy and well being.

One day while working on the house, I just started to overheat, and once I stopped to relax I just felt very off, feverish almost, and needed to lie down, no appetite, had a loose stool, peed like 3x. I rested for a day or two and felt better, and decided to continue again. Now this kept happening to me about 5-6x before I really started to get alarmed.

In my eyes there's only two causes for what i'm going through. One is my body just breaking down from the unbelievable amount of stress I was putting on myself. The other is I was exposed to mycotoxins or just mold in general, and it got into my stomach and has been wrecking havoc on me. Now some people i've communicated w/ in the Ray Peat world, think i'm basically insane for thinking this. There was mold in the house, we kept all the windows open, but did not ventilate it that well still. It was a dirty environment. I will say that my partner on the project was completely not phased but it if it was an issue. The last time I went back to the house, I could only stay for minutes before my brain literally stopped working, I was unable to think really at all. Ever since that point, I really haven't been able to get back to being myself.

Now, do I think some of this is psychological? Probably some PTSD of the other bad experiences I had in there? Definitely a possibility.

What I've been going through since then has been awful, at least to me. I will list some of main issues i'm having below.

-Inability to tolerate hot weather.
-Feeling feverish, despite being 98.6
-Inflamed bladder
-Lethargic
-Inability to focus
-Tingling in hands
-Waking up to a limb being completely numb or tingly
-high anxiety
-excessive worry
- Waking up to pee
-poor sleep in general 3x a week at least
-burning urination
-weird cramp that always is in same spot and present 50% of the time.
-some very mild GERD symptoms, typically feeling like my throat is very itchy, voice changes, mild burning in chest, burping.
-dry mouth
-quite a bit of nausea when things are at their worst, and inability to eat, had to really force feed


There are probably more things to list, but I just can't think of them at this moment. The worst ones the inflamed bladder, feverishness, inability to tolerate heat, and bouts of nausea and anxiety.

When all this first started, I tried to add salt back in to the diet. When adding it to OJ it would burn like all hell when peeing, and towards the end of peeing I would get a stream of white cloudy urine. Like maybe it was removing an infection? I've been scared to add salt back in for the most part. I tried putting it in some bone broth and it didn't burn when I peed, but I immediately had the hot flashes come back and felt feverish and uncomfortable. Followed by a poor nights sleep of waking up to pee 3x.

So basically I have no idea what's going on. When I eat solid food, I generally feel better, but not even close to the point that I want to go back and work on the house. When I completely avoid salt, the bladder problem seems to be minimized, but not fully.

I do have some labs that'll post below, which I obtained, when I went to an urgent care when I had no idea what was going on. Urine tests came back negative, which is puzzling. Only diet changes I've made are less coffee and no coke, because I found that the coke would inflame my bladder.

I'll leave the speculating for you all, because I haven't a clue at this point. I'm just very frustrated, and have been trying to eat enough (which I currently fail at), and trying to minimize stress as much as possible.

 

[mont109]

In May study published stating "Symptoms of cystitis probably caused by bacterial infection, even when tests are negative". You can search that - I'm new so can't publish a link. Nitrofurantoin is concentrated in urine so not likely to cause SIBO. Having said that, you might have better luck with doxycycline - article you can search: URINARY URGENCY AND FREQUENCY, AND CHRONIC URETHRAL AND/OR PELVIC PAIN IN FEMALES. CAN DOXYCYCLINE HELP

 

[brentipold]

Thanks

In May study published stating "Symptoms of cystitis probably caused by bacterial infection, even when tests are negative". You can search that - I'm new so can't publish a link. Nitrofurantoin is concentrated in urine so not likely to cause SIBO. Having said that, you might have better luck with doxycycline - article you can search: URINARY URGENCY AND FREQUENCY, AND CHRONIC URETHRAL AND/OR PELVIC PAIN IN FEMALES. CAN DOXYCYCLINE HELP

I have looked into cystitis and thought that might have been what is going on. I believe Ray said thyroid, and gelatin could help with it, but ya know, he says that about everything.

 

[brentipold]

I think you have assessed yourself correctly.

High cortisol.
Some of the signs you have listed are all pointing in that direction.
You also are spot on with treatment of sorts.
You need to up your nutrition, but in a more intentional balanced way.
Eat small meals more frequently.
Have that coffee or coke after food.
Aim for macros roughly 40/30/30 at each meal.
Rest!

I don't have anything to offer in regard to the bladder issue, but once your cortisol/adrenaline response calms down, I believe things will fall into place.
You are bright and in touch with your body, which is more than half the battle.

Thanks! That is exactly what I'm trying to incorporate now, along with having fun, and doing things to keep my mind off things.

 

[brentipold]

That sentence says it all and sounds like a classic case of mold sensitivity. I am currently dealing with a mold issue so I have been doing lots of research on it. I would not go into the house anymore. Even with a mask you will still get spores on your clothes and bring them back home. I would suggest that you sub out the work and not risk your health anymore.

Look into the Dr Shoemaker protocol for detoxing the mold. Also A Visual Contrast Test can be done to determine if you have mold issues. You can find it online.

That was a big factor for me as well, because when I went it hit me like a ton of bricks. I had been feeling much better, and had energy, and that night was the worst reaction I've had to it. Panic attacks, nausea, burping, pounding heart, peeing, it was actually pretty scary. But I do not completely rule out the panic attack was just PTSD of the whole previous times it happened. We had all the windows open, so it was probably just getting blown around. Compared to when it was cold, and no HVAC or windows on, so the spores were attached to something. Luckily I have a partner who's been continuing to work, and ventilate the house with fans.

When I was convinced it was mold, I had bought a mold detoxing supplement called MycoZX, I hadn't started taking it till yesterday. I will say this, I didn't have any bladder issues yesterday or today so far, and there has not been a time that this has happened in a week. Perhaps I am on to something. Anyway, I will continue taking it to see if it continues.

I am aware of the shoemaker protocol. I have tried charcoal, for days at a time, and did not have any relief of symptoms. Though I swear the first time I took it, my stool looked like it had mold literally attached to it, the kind of the stuff that grows on food after a few days, but who knows really.

 

[B-styles]

Hello All,

I've been a long time follower of Ray, but I believe this is my first post on here. I'm unsure where to begin, so I will just give a little preview of what I've been up to over the last 8 months, how my health has deteriorated, and the things I've noticed that help or make things worse for me. This will probably be long, but I would greatly appreciate some help as I haven't had much luck getting back on track, and am desperate to do so.

Over the past 8 months I've been working excessively, if you include travel, I would say about 12-14 hours a day for roughly 8 months between working a desk job, and rehabbing a duplex I purchased as an investment. Roughly eating around 2500-2700 calories would be my best guess, but could be lower. High sugar, 80-100 g protein, and probably higher fat than what is ideal.

Now mind you, I was never incredibly healthy before all this started, but I was happy with what I was doing in my life, and had pretty decent energy and stamina. My problems started for me about 2-3 months ago. I had been supplementing salt for years, around 1/4 tsp 2x a day with a tall glass of OJ, while getting the rest from food. I for some reason, which is unknown to me now, I decided to reduce the supplementing. Initially I actually felt better, and I had better energy and well being.

One day while working on the house, I just started to overheat, and once I stopped to relax I just felt very off, feverish almost, and needed to lie down, no appetite, had a loose stool, peed like 3x. I rested for a day or two and felt better, and decided to continue again. Now this kept happening to me about 5-6x before I really started to get alarmed.

In my eyes there's only two causes for what i'm going through. One is my body just breaking down from the unbelievable amount of stress I was putting on myself. The other is I was exposed to mycotoxins or just mold in general, and it got into my stomach and has been wrecking havoc on me. Now some people i've communicated w/ in the Ray Peat world, think i'm basically insane for thinking this. There was mold in the house, we kept all the windows open, but did not ventilate it that well still. It was a dirty environment. I will say that my partner on the project was completely not phased but it if it was an issue. The last time I went back to the house, I could only stay for minutes before my brain literally stopped working, I was unable to think really at all. Ever since that point, I really haven't been able to get back to being myself.

Now, do I think some of this is psychological? Probably some PTSD of the other bad experiences I had in there? Definitely a possibility.

What I've been going through since then has been awful, at least to me. I will list some of main issues i'm having below.

-Inability to tolerate hot weather.
-Feeling feverish, despite being 98.6
-Inflamed bladder
-Lethargic
-Inability to focus
-Tingling in hands
-Waking up to a limb being completely numb or tingly
-high anxiety
-excessive worry
- Waking up to pee
-poor sleep in general 3x a week at least
-burning urination
-weird cramp that always is in same spot and present 50% of the time.
-some very mild GERD symptoms, typically feeling like my throat is very itchy, voice changes, mild burning in chest, burping.
-dry mouth
-quite a bit of nausea when things are at their worst, and inability to eat, had to really force feed


There are probably more things to list, but I just can't think of them at this moment. The worst ones the inflamed bladder, feverishness, inability to tolerate heat, and bouts of nausea and anxiety.

When all this first started, I tried to add salt back in to the diet. When adding it to OJ it would burn like all hell when peeing, and towards the end of peeing I would get a stream of white cloudy urine. Like maybe it was removing an infection? I've been scared to add salt back in for the most part. I tried putting it in some bone broth and it didn't burn when I peed, but I immediately had the hot flashes come back and felt feverish and uncomfortable. Followed by a poor nights sleep of waking up to pee 3x.

So basically I have no idea what's going on. When I eat solid food, I generally feel better, but not even close to the point that I want to go back and work on the house. When I completely avoid salt, the bladder problem seems to be minimized, but not fully.

I do have some labs that'll post below, which I obtained, when I went to an urgent care when I had no idea what was going on. Urine tests came back negative, which is puzzling. Only diet changes I've made are less coffee and no coke, because I found that the coke would inflame my bladder.

I'll leave the speculating for you all, because I haven't a clue at this point. I'm just very frustrated, and have been trying to eat enough (which I currently fail at), and trying to minimize stress as much as possible.

'Medical Medium' book. Get it ASAP

 

[brentipold]

'Medical Medium' book. Get it ASAP

Can I have some context? lol

 

[B-styles]

Most accurate causes of disease ( including sibo, infections )Fruit high on list for cure/ prevention

 

[brentipold]

Most accurate causes of disease ( including sibo, infections )Fruit high on list for cure/ prevention

Interesting. I will say, it has an incredible amount of good ratings on Amazon. If I don't start to turn a corner soon, I will look into it. Thanks.

 

[B-styles]

'Life changing foods' as well

 

[brentipold]

'Life changing foods' as well

Such as?