High Sedentary Heart Rate and Hot Flashes (Guy)

[Mauritio]

Doesnt goat cheese contain caprylic acid,is there any significant amount of it?

I dont think it's enough.

 

[Vileplume]

Same cause as before imo. Have you tried caprylic acid and high salt ?

I have tried high salt, but I have not yet tried caprylic acid. Which kind do you buy?

I have MCT oil at home. Do you think this will supply enough? I’ve also found several online that come in the form of calcium cyprilate and magnesium cyprilate. Do you get it in pill form?

 

[Mauritio]

I have tried high salt, but I have not yet tried caprylic acid. Which kind do you buy?

I have MCT oil at home. Do you think this will supply enough? I’ve also found several online that come in the form of calcium cyprilate and magnesium cyprilate. Do you get it in pill form?

I get the caprylic acid in pills from now foods . But MCT oil should work as well . A teaspoon is a good amount to start. You have to take it long term though...

 

[Vileplume]

I get the caprylic acid in pills from now foods . But MCT oil should work as well . A teaspoon is a good amount to start. You have to take it long term though...

I will give it a shot. Thank you.

 

[gaze]

@Vileplume how are you doing?

 

[Vileplume]

@Vileplume how are you doing?

Hey man, thanks for checking in. I have made some improvements, and sometimes I'll go 3-4 days feeling good, high confidence, loving, enjoying life, outgoing and great sense of humor. But inevitably, after these good periods, things dip back down and I spend another 4-5 days feeling anti-social, tired, jaded, spiteful, hypo.

Current supplements:
-one grain thyroid (NDT)
-a few mcg of t3 (cynomel) sprinkled through the day
-vitamin D
-vitamin K
-some progesterone.
-magnesium glycinate (contains silica) 800 mg/day

Diet:
-raw goat milk (1/2 gallon per day)
-gelatin (20g a day)
-honey (8 tbsp per day)
-some meat (4 oz per day)
-grapes (2 lbs per day, have tried other fruits but they seem to mess me up, see below)
-liver (once or twice per week)
-coffee (four cups per day -- maybe too much, but sometimes it works well for me)
-try to get as much salt as possible
-daily carrot salad (with 1 tbsp MCT oil)
-daily mushrooms

Core Symptoms
-temps still rarely get above 98.2 during the day
-hot flashes
-tachycardia
-poor digestion, with a white coated tongue and constipation or poorly formed stools.

Observations:
Hot flashes: from what I’ve read, the most likely causes are nitric oxide and (with) low blood sugar. But these in turn likely stem from poor digestion, creating a circle of poor energy production, which loops back around. When I get a hot flash, my thoughts become muddled, I lose all my energy, and my world outlook becomes dim almost instantly. I get so frustrated and want to punch walls, scream into pillows.

-Lately, my hot flashes have become continuous, they happen all day long. It's like anytime I'm hot I will get a hot flash, where my core temperature will drop 2 degrees, I will sweat, and the above symptoms will occur. I've read that hot flashes can be a hyperthyroid symptom, but I had them even before taking thyroid, and t3 temporarily made them better.

-Anything that increases my metabolism seems to increase my hot flashes--thyroid, coffee, red light/sunlight. However previously, these things have all had very beneficial effects for me at times, so I know they have their place in my arsenal. For some reason they're just too much for my body right now, even though my temps are low.


Tachycardia (resting heart rate often nearing 100): Seems to go along with my hot flashes. When my pulse gets below 80, I never get hot flashes and I feel great. And when I have hot flashes, my pulse is always above 90 bpm.

-Some foods seem to reliably keep my heart rate low (for example, keeping berries and honey as my main carb source, or using OJ as my only carb source) but these strategies thus far mess up my digestion after a few days, making my tongue really white and gunky. My stomach starts to feel really impacted and gunked up as well.

-Switching from low fat pasteurized, vitmain-added milk to raw, full fat milk did help my tachycardia, but not enough to solve it entirely, and I still get plenty of hot flashes even with this raw milk.


Poor digestion: the main signifier of my poor digestion is my tongue, which is often coated in a yellowish, orange-ish white. When my tongue gets coated in white, the hot flashes get worse. It gets the worst when I drink a lot of OJ and use mushrooms as my only fiber source (mushrooms work fine when my tongue is otherwise clear, but combined with lots of OJ, mushrooms are a no-go). Berries lower my tachycardia, like I said above, but they lead to a gunked up tongue overtime, and then the hot flashes come back.

-I can never fully eradicate the white bacterial coating, but the closest I get is when I eat a lot of grapes and prioritize solid foods, using milk and coffee as my only liquids. This way, my frequent urination stops and my tongue clears up, although my temperatures stay low even in this case. Still, using grapes as my primary fruit source (and honey and milk for carbs as well) has been the least evil option so far. It doesn't make me feel ideal, but it makes me feel the least bad of all the carb options I've tried.

-I've tried rice, potatoes, berries, OJ, OJ concentrate, melon, watermelon, peaches, and apple juice as carb sources. Pretty much all of them gunk up my stomach and tongue. Watermelons and ripe melons do digest well and leave my tongue clear, but I cannot reliably find ripe melons year-round and watermelons make me pee a lot and end up giving me an anxiety attack (I've had one several times after eating watermelon specifically).


Thyroid: I had hot flashes even before starting thyroid. Months ago, in February, T3 only, spaced in 1-2 mcg doses taken throughout the day, solved my hot flashes and tachycardia for a few weeks. At the time, I was on spring break so my stress was low. I added in NDT as well to keep things stable, and it made my sleep much deeper. It worked great! But it stopped working, and I began to get more hot flashes.

-Lately I've noticed that taking thyroid can trigger hot flashes. This is true for both T3 and NDT. But, thyroid has fixed other problems for me -- I no longer have morning panic attacks, I sleep through the night, I don't have afternoon panic attacks like I used to get either. And overall, when I'm not having hot flashes, my brain works way better than it used to.

-I don't want to stop thyroid because I think thyroid is overall helping, due to the things I mentioned above, and because it lowered my cholesterol from high range to healthy range. Something else seems to be causing my hot flashes and tachycardia. Maybe it's that I need to adjust my dose down (currently at 1 grain), or maybe I need to increase the t3 ratio (currently 3:1 t4:t3 ratio.). Or maybe I need to be more intentional about when I take thyroid. I've read some people saying that stress makes them convert more t4 to reverse t3, so they need to take their thyroid at night, when environmental stress levels are typically lower.


Possible plans of attack (might do all of them):
-Begin dosing NDT at night instead of throughout day: This would mean I don't take NDT before work, but take my full grain (or maybe half) at night. I would take t3 during work if needed, but I might try without any during the day.
-Blood sugar regulation part 1: I plan to try dosing B1, B3, and taurine throughout the day with meals to help with blood sugar regulation. But during some of my recent "good spurts," I've felt great without any of these things, so I don't think they're the solution.
-Blood sugar regulation part 2: I can also try eating more fruit and less protein to keep insulin more stable, but I already eat quite a bit of fruit.
-Focus on foods that keep my tongue clear as possible: this means eating grapes, meat, raw milk, honey as the bulk of my diet, with liver and gelatin as well. I've tried this diet before, andI I feel okay on it, but my temps still stay below 98.4 and I often feel kinda "meh," like I usually do.

Questions/puzzles:
-Why, after a diet switch (like from grapes+maple syrup to berries+honey) do I feel good for a few days, then after 4-5 days begin to feel bad? It's like a pendulum that swings back and forth, and I only feel good when it's in the middle. I just can't figure out how to keep it in the middle.
-Which do you think is more likely to be the root of my problems: blood sugar dysregulation, or poor digestion? I know they feed each other, but which one would you tackle as a higher priority?

Also just want to thank everyone so far for your feedback. @Mauritio I've been trying the high salt and one tbsp MCT oil, and I believe it is helping, but I still face many of my symptoms. It's only been about a week though. I appreciate your help.

 

[gaze]

Hey man, thanks for checking in. I have made some improvements, and sometimes I'll go 3-4 days feeling good, high confidence, loving, enjoying life, outgoing and great sense of humor. But inevitably, after these good periods, things dip back down and I spend another 4-5 days feeling anti-social, tired, jaded, spiteful, hypo.

Current supplements:
-one grain thyroid (NDT)
-a few mcg of t3 (cynomel) sprinkled through the day
-vitamin D
-vitamin K
-some progesterone.
-magnesium glycinate (contains silica) 800 mg/day

Diet:
-raw goat milk (1/2 gallon per day)
-gelatin (20g a day)
-honey (8 tbsp per day)
-some meat (4 oz per day)
-grapes (2 lbs per day, have tried other fruits but they seem to mess me up, see below)
-liver (once or twice per week)
-coffee (four cups per day -- maybe too much, but sometimes it works well for me)
-try to get as much salt as possible
-daily carrot salad (with 1 tbsp MCT oil)
-daily mushrooms

Core Symptoms
-temps still rarely get above 98.2 during the day
-hot flashes
-tachycardia
-poor digestion, with a white coated tongue and constipation or poorly formed stools.

Observations:
Hot flashes: from what I’ve read, the most likely causes are nitric oxide and (with) low blood sugar. But these in turn likely stem from poor digestion, creating a circle of poor energy production, which loops back around. When I get a hot flash, my thoughts become muddled, I lose all my energy, and my world outlook becomes dim almost instantly. I get so frustrated and want to punch walls, scream into pillows.

-Lately, my hot flashes have become continuous, they happen all day long. It's like anytime I'm hot I will get a hot flash, where my core temperature will drop 2 degrees, I will sweat, and the above symptoms will occur. I've read that hot flashes can be a hyperthyroid symptom, but I had them even before taking thyroid, and t3 temporarily made them better.

-Anything that increases my metabolism seems to increase my hot flashes--thyroid, coffee, red light/sunlight. However previously, these things have all had very beneficial effects for me at times, so I know they have their place in my arsenal. For some reason they're just too much for my body right now, even though my temps are low.


Tachycardia (resting heart rate often nearing 100): Seems to go along with my hot flashes. When my pulse gets below 80, I never get hot flashes and I feel great. And when I have hot flashes, my pulse is always above 90 bpm.

-Some foods seem to reliably keep my heart rate low (for example, keeping berries and honey as my main carb source, or using OJ as my only carb source) but these strategies thus far mess up my digestion after a few days, making my tongue really white and gunky. My stomach starts to feel really impacted and gunked up as well.

-Switching from low fat pasteurized, vitmain-added milk to raw, full fat milk did help my tachycardia, but not enough to solve it entirely, and I still get plenty of hot flashes even with this raw milk.


Poor digestion: the main signifier of my poor digestion is my tongue, which is often coated in a yellowish, orange-ish white. When my tongue gets coated in white, the hot flashes get worse. It gets the worst when I drink a lot of OJ and use mushrooms as my only fiber source (mushrooms work fine when my tongue is otherwise clear, but combined with lots of OJ, mushrooms are a no-go). Berries lower my tachycardia, like I said above, but they lead to a gunked up tongue overtime, and then the hot flashes come back.

-I can never fully eradicate the white bacterial coating, but the closest I get is when I eat a lot of grapes and prioritize solid foods, using milk and coffee as my only liquids. This way, my frequent urination stops and my tongue clears up, although my temperatures stay low even in this case. Still, using grapes as my primary fruit source (and honey and milk for carbs as well) has been the least evil option so far. It doesn't make me feel ideal, but it makes me feel the least bad of all the carb options I've tried.

-I've tried rice, potatoes, berries, OJ, OJ concentrate, melon, watermelon, peaches, and apple juice as carb sources. Pretty much all of them gunk up my stomach and tongue. Watermelons and ripe melons do digest well and leave my tongue clear, but I cannot reliably find ripe melons year-round and watermelons make me pee a lot and end up giving me an anxiety attack (I've had one several times after eating watermelon specifically).


Thyroid: I had hot flashes even before starting thyroid. Months ago, in February, T3 only, spaced in 1-2 mcg doses taken throughout the day, solved my hot flashes and tachycardia for a few weeks. At the time, I was on spring break so my stress was low. I added in NDT as well to keep things stable, and it made my sleep much deeper. It worked great! But it stopped working, and I began to get more hot flashes.

-Lately I've noticed that taking thyroid can trigger hot flashes. This is true for both T3 and NDT. But, thyroid has fixed other problems for me -- I no longer have morning panic attacks, I sleep through the night, I don't have afternoon panic attacks like I used to get either. And overall, when I'm not having hot flashes, my brain works way better than it used to.

-I don't want to stop thyroid because I think thyroid is overall helping, due to the things I mentioned above, and because it lowered my cholesterol from high range to healthy range. Something else seems to be causing my hot flashes and tachycardia. Maybe it's that I need to adjust my dose down (currently at 1 grain), or maybe I need to increase the t3 ratio (currently 3:1 t4:t3 ratio.). Or maybe I need to be more intentional about when I take thyroid. I've read some people saying that stress makes them convert more t4 to reverse t3, so they need to take their thyroid at night, when environmental stress levels are typically lower.


Possible plans of attack (might do all of them):
-Begin dosing NDT at night instead of throughout day: This would mean I don't take NDT before work, but take my full grain (or maybe half) at night. I would take t3 during work if needed, but I might try without any during the day.
-Blood sugar regulation part 1: I plan to try dosing B1, B3, and taurine throughout the day with meals to help with blood sugar regulation. But during some of my recent "good spurts," I've felt great without any of these things, so I don't think they're the solution.
-Blood sugar regulation part 2: I can also try eating more fruit and less protein to keep insulin more stable, but I already eat quite a bit of fruit.
-Focus on foods that keep my tongue clear as possible: this means eating grapes, meat, raw milk, honey as the bulk of my diet, with liver and gelatin as well. I've tried this diet before, andI I feel okay on it, but my temps still stay below 98.4 and I often feel kinda "meh," like I usually do.

Questions/puzzles:
-Why, after a diet switch (like from grapes+maple syrup to berries+honey) do I feel good for a few days, then after 4-5 days begin to feel bad? It's like a pendulum that swings back and forth, and I only feel good when it's in the middle. I just can't figure out how to keep it in the middle.
-Which do you think is more likely to be the root of my problems: blood sugar dysregulation, or poor digestion? I know they feed each other, but which one would you tackle as a higher priority?

Also just want to thank everyone so far for your feedback. @Mauritio I've been trying the high salt and one tbsp MCT oil, and I believe it is helping, but I still face many of my symptoms. It's only been about a week though. I appreciate your help.

for the fast heart beat: was there a time in your life when you did not experience it whatsoever? when did it begin? did you have it before you started supplementing vitamin K, progesterone, etc? I personally get heart palpitations from vitamin K, but if you had it before that then that is probably not your problem. Its all definitely a a gut issue. with a temp of 98.2, you really should feel quite normal, thats only very slightly low. Many people are in the 96 and 97s. I dont think thyroid is your main problem, but some sort of allergic response. Things are so individual, for example ray probably doesn't eat honey, or grapes, or berries, and definately not maple syrup cause he thinks its an allergen. Do you eat seafood at all? Also some people react badly to gelatin, especially powder. The feeling of wanting to punch a wall is definitely a serotonin, estrogen, cortisol thing, and you're correct about it being all gut related. have you done a stool test?

 

[gaze]

actually, I take that back. I just read your first post again, and a heart rate flucation from 54 to 112, is definit New posts ely a a thyroid problem. I do think the allergic response is still playing a big role though. and Your temp is strange, do you feel worse at 98.3 than you do when its lower?

 

[Vileplume]

for the fast heart beat: was there a time in your life when you did not experience it whatsoever? when did it begin? did you have it before you started supplementing vitamin K, progesterone, etc? I personally get heart palpitations from vitamin K, but if you had it before that then that is probably not your problem. Its all definitely a a gut issue. with a temp of 98.2, you really should feel quite normal, thats only very slightly low. Many people are in the 96 and 97s. I dont think thyroid is your main problem, but some sort of allergic response. Things are so individual, for example ray probably doesn't eat honey, or grapes, or berries, and definately not maple syrup cause he thinks its an allergen. Do you eat seafood at all? Also some people react badly to gelatin, especially powder. The feeling of wanting to punch a wall is definitely a serotonin, estrogen, cortisol thing, and you're correct about it being all gut related. have you done a stool test?

Yes, I do think it's a gut problem. I am a high school teacher, and I didn't have this problem over the most recent summer, right when I transitioned from carnivore to adding in fruit. I felt really good eating lamb, frozen fruit, honey, and gelatin. That's it -- I wasn't supplementing anything, just coffee and liver as supp-foods. My temps were good (98.6+), my heart rate was calm, and I had one poop everyday, but it was a great and satisfying poop. My gut felt great, and my tongue bacteria was minimal. My problem back then was just a really low heart rate during sleep. I had no calcium source, though. So I introduced raw goat milk, and this made my poops a little worse. Since then, my poops haven't been good. It's been 6-7 months without good pooping. But I love the taste of raw goat milk, and it supplies so many good nutrients, while helping my calcium:phosphate ratio. Plus, I have had sporadic great poops with milk in my diet. Maybe milk is part of the problem. Since adding the milk back in, I haven't taken a break from it, although I've tried different brands. The raw goat milk makes me feel the best of all the milks, and when I first introduced it, my temps, mood, and pulse were very solid for a month straight. Then, when I began the school year as a teacher, things started to get worse. Do you think perhaps my work stress could be the/a source of my problems?

I also am reluctant to remove the milk because I want to keep it as my primary calcium source. Perhaps I could try going back to my summer diet (no goat milk) for a few weeks and see if things get better.

I haven't done a stool test, but that might help. I could probably order one through my doctor. Do you think this could offer some key information?

actually, I take that back. I just read your first post again, and a heart rate flucation from 54 to 112, is definit New posts ely a a thyroid problem. I do think the allergic response is still playing a big role though. and Your temp is strange, do you feel worse at 98.3 than you do when its lower?

Yes, I think thyroid is a big problem too. On carnivore, my heart rate dipped down to 33 at one point. Nowadays, it will dip down to 50 in my sleep, and get up to 100+ when I'm sedentary during the day. Allergies might be the problem, but I've switched out basically every part of my diet, except goat milk. I've eliminated maple syrup, grapes, honey, meat, and eggs, each for a short time. I have tried using Peat's template exactly, but the high liquid content didn't work for me. So far, grapes, milk, and honey (or maple syrup) have been the most friendly carb sources, although I know that they're not ideal. Maybe I'm allergic to goat milk or dairy?

I feel better at 98.3 than lower. The higher my temp, the better I feel. But lately, I just can't get that temp up.

I appreciate your thoughts about the K maybe causing it. If it was the K, would it make sense for the problem to get better at times, then worse, then better again, even with a consistent dose of K?

Thank you.

 

[gaze]

Yes, I do think it's a gut problem. I am a high school teacher, and I didn't have this problem over the most recent summer, right when I transitioned from carnivore to adding in fruit. I felt really good eating lamb, frozen fruit, honey, and gelatin. That's it -- I wasn't supplementing anything, just coffee and liver as supp-foods. My temps were good (98.6+), my heart rate was calm, and I had one poop everyday, but it was a great and satisfying poop. My gut felt great, and my tongue bacteria was minimal. My problem back then was just a really low heart rate during sleep. I had no calcium source, though. So I introduced raw goat milk, and this made my poops a little worse. Since then, my poops haven't been good. It's been 6-7 months without good pooping. But I love the taste of raw goat milk, and it supplies so many good nutrients, while helping my calcium:phosphate ratio. Plus, I have had sporadic great poops with milk in my diet. Maybe milk is part of the problem. Since adding the milk back in, I haven't taken a break from it, although I've tried different brands. The raw goat milk makes me feel the best of all the milks, and when I first introduced it, my temps, mood, and pulse were very solid for a month straight. Then, when I began the school year as a teacher, things started to get worse. Do you think perhaps my work stress could be the/a source of my problems?

I also am reluctant to remove the milk because I want to keep it as my primary calcium source. Perhaps I could try going back to my summer diet (no goat milk) for a few weeks and see if things get better.

I haven't done a stool test, but that might help. I could probably order one through my doctor. Do you think this could offer some key information?

Yes, I think thyroid is a big problem too. On carnivore, my heart rate dipped down to 33 at one point. Nowadays, it will dip down to 50 in my sleep, and get up to 100+ when I'm sedentary during the day. Allergies might be the problem, but I've switched out basically every part of my diet, except goat milk. I've eliminated maple syrup, grapes, honey, meat, and eggs, each for a short time. I have tried using Peat's template exactly, but the high liquid content didn't work for me. So far, grapes, milk, and honey (or maple syrup) have been the most friendly carb sources, although I know that they're not ideal. Maybe I'm allergic to goat milk or dairy?

I feel better at 98.3 than lower. The higher my temp, the better I feel. But lately, I just can't get that temp up.

I appreciate your thoughts about the K maybe causing it. If it was the K, would it make sense for the problem to get better at times, then worse, then better again, even with a consistent dose of K?

Thank you.

Interesing, I had very similar problems with milk. It made my stool more hard and pebble like, but I love the taste, its easy calories, and it generally makes me feel good. It is possible you have a lactose issue, you could try simply adding in lactase drops and seeing what happens. You could try cutting out milk here and there, and instead adding in some cheese and eating it with some white rice or white bread. If you didn't tolerate white rice last time, you may tolerate it better if your not drinking milk, as many find milk and starch dont mix well. Im not sure about the vitamin K. I know when I just rubbed a few drops on my leg, it made me feel really spaced out and gave me intense heart palpitations. I wouldnt classify them as fast, rather very "hard", like it was beating out of my chest. That too definitly seems like its doing something with calcium. calcium, magnesium, and the heart are very intertwined. Have you tried magnesium bicarbonate instead of glycinate? You just get sparkling water like san pelligrino, then pour out one table spoon of water and put in one table spoon milk of magnesia and shake. wait a couple hours and the water should be clear. I find that form to be the least allergenic or irritating to the intestine. and it also feels relaxing. You may also want to consider cutting back on liver, in general hypothyroid people need very little vitamin A, which eggs, juice, carrot, butter provide plenty enough of. I got a panic attack when I was eating liver constantly a couple years ago, it could have also been excess copper or iron too though. Sometimes, less nutrition is better. more refined foods, more "normal" foods. like the average person who just eats pizza, sandwiches, meat and rice. Im not saying for you to do that, but in general eating less extreme and especially meals you enjoyed as a kid might help. The gluten can still cause horrible problems for many though, so keep an eye out if you do decide to try out unrefined sourdough

 

[LeeRoyJenkins]

Following... you're describing me to a t... with a couple exceptions. It all started when I switched from low carb paleo to peating, so far less petty stuff has helped.

 

[Vileplume]

Interesing, I had very similar problems with milk. It made my stool more hard and pebble like, but I love the taste, its easy calories, and it generally makes me feel good. It is possible you have a lactose issue, you could try simply adding in lactase drops and seeing what happens. You could try cutting out milk here and there, and instead adding in some cheese and eating it with some white rice or white bread. If you didn't tolerate white rice last time, you may tolerate it better if your not drinking milk, as many find milk and starch dont mix well. Im not sure about the vitamin K. I know when I just rubbed a few drops on my leg, it made me feel really spaced out and gave me intense heart palpitations. I wouldnt classify them as fast, rather very "hard", like it was beating out of my chest. That too definitly seems like its doing something with calcium. calcium, magnesium, and the heart are very intertwined. Have you tried magnesium bicarbonate instead of glycinate? You just get sparkling water like san pelligrino, then pour out one table spoon of water and put in one table spoon milk of magnesia and shake. wait a couple hours and the water should be clear. I find that form to be the least allergenic or irritating to the intestine. and it also feels relaxing. You may also want to consider cutting back on liver, in general hypothyroid people need very little vitamin A, which eggs, juice, carrot, butter provide plenty enough of. I got a panic attack when I was eating liver constantly a couple years ago, it could have also been excess copper or iron too though. Sometimes, less nutrition is better. more refined foods, more "normal" foods. like the average person who just eats pizza, sandwiches, meat and rice. Im not saying for you to do that, but in general eating less extreme and especially meals you enjoyed as a kid might help. The gluten can still cause horrible problems for many though, so keep an eye out if you do decide to try out unrefined sourdough

With calcium so helpful in so many bodily processes, it makes me nervous to cut it out long term. Maybe I would do better with sheep cheese though, or with no milk at all. Again, over summer I was just frozen fruit, honey, gelatin, lots of lamb. I was high phosphate, low calcium, but I felt better, more energy, better digestion. Weird.

What have you done about milk in your case? Did you cut down?

I love magnesium bicarbonate water. I was making that a lot earlier this year and I think it did help, but then my diet became so full of liquids. Perhaps I can reduce some milk, add magnesium bicarbonate water, and add more meat too (because I ate it over summer and it felt good).

 

[Vileplume]

Following... you're describing me to a t... with a couple exceptions. It all started when I switched from low carb paleo to peating, so far less petty stuff has helped.

Glad to meet people who have battled similar issues! What have you noticed as most helpful or harmful?

 

[LeeRoyJenkins]

Glad to meet people who have battled similar issues! What have you noticed as most helpful or harmful?

Still working on it, mine seems to be gut, liver, iron, copper and maybe hypo related. There are a ton of people that have major endo problems once reintroducing carbs. Coffee makes things worse for me. No matter how much food, cream or sugar I have with it. I can NOT handle vitamin a at all (any kind) despite trying multiple times over the years. Aspirin helps, as does salt, as does pau d` Arco. B2 also seems to help in moderation. I also seem to suffer from sulfur issues as well. Food sources of b1 also seem to help.

 

[Vileplume]

Still working on it, mine seems to be gut, liver, iron, copper and maybe hypo related. There are a ton of people that have major endo problems once reintroducing carbs. Coffee makes things worse for me. No matter how much food, cream or sugar I have with it. I can NOT handle vitamin a at all (any kind) despite trying multiple times over the years. Aspirin helps, as does salt, as does pau d` Arco. B2 also seems to help in moderation. I also seem to suffer from sulfur issues as well. Food sources of b1 also seem to help.

Thanks for sharing. I'm excited for us to get to the bottom of this. That's interesting because immediately upon adding fruits and coffee back after carnivore, my body did well with them. However, over time, that has gotten worse. What have been your most friendly carb sources?

 

[LeeRoyJenkins]

Thanks for sharing. I'm excited for us to get to the bottom of this. That's interesting because immediately upon adding fruits and coffee back after carnivore, my body did well with them. However, over time, that has gotten worse. What have been your most friendly carb sources?

Starches. Corn, potatoes (heavily salted) and rice. I can't eat much fruit... 6 years on it still runs right through me.

 

[gaze]

With calcium so helpful in so many bodily processes, it makes me nervous to cut it out long term. Maybe I would do better with sheep cheese though, or with no milk at all. Again, over summer I was just frozen fruit, honey, gelatin, lots of lamb. I was high phosphate, low calcium, but I felt better, more energy, better digestion. Weird.

What have you done about milk in your case? Did you cut down?

I love magnesium bicarbonate water. I was making that a lot earlier this year and I think it did help, but then my diet became so full of liquids. Perhaps I can reduce some milk, add magnesium bicarbonate water, and add more meat too (because I ate it over summer and it felt good).

Yea cutting out completely would be a bad idea. If you look at cultures around the world, they don't drink an excessive amount of dairy. I think the average is somewhere around 1-2 cups a day, often in coffee, ice cream, etc.. But in places like france, greece, and other countries, they eat a good amount of cheese. Ive found that to be a little better, so I usually drink like 2 cups of milk, usually when I really crave it or im thirsty, and I also eat like 2-3 ounces of cheese. sometimes vegteble broth water as well. I think around 1000 mg calcium is enough for most people, however if you can digest milk perfectly than having more is probably completely Ok. I personally did'nt really feel good doing 2 quarts of milk a day, just didnt crave it at that point and it was throwing off my hunger cues.

 

[Mauritio]

Hey man, thanks for checking in. I have made some improvements, and sometimes I'll go 3-4 days feeling good, high confidence, loving, enjoying life, outgoing and great sense of humor. But inevitably, after these good periods, things dip back down and I spend another 4-5 days feeling anti-social, tired, jaded, spiteful, hypo.

Current supplements:
-one grain thyroid (NDT)
-a few mcg of t3 (cynomel) sprinkled through the day
-vitamin D
-vitamin K
-some progesterone.
-magnesium glycinate (contains silica) 800 mg/day

Diet:
-raw goat milk (1/2 gallon per day)
-gelatin (20g a day)
-honey (8 tbsp per day)
-some meat (4 oz per day)
-grapes (2 lbs per day, have tried other fruits but they seem to mess me up, see below)
-liver (once or twice per week)
-coffee (four cups per day -- maybe too much, but sometimes it works well for me)
-try to get as much salt as possible
-daily carrot salad (with 1 tbsp MCT oil)
-daily mushrooms

Core Symptoms
-temps still rarely get above 98.2 during the day
-hot flashes
-tachycardia
-poor digestion, with a white coated tongue and constipation or poorly formed stools.

Observations:
Hot flashes: from what I’ve read, the most likely causes are nitric oxide and (with) low blood sugar. But these in turn likely stem from poor digestion, creating a circle of poor energy production, which loops back around. When I get a hot flash, my thoughts become muddled, I lose all my energy, and my world outlook becomes dim almost instantly. I get so frustrated and want to punch walls, scream into pillows.

-Lately, my hot flashes have become continuous, they happen all day long. It's like anytime I'm hot I will get a hot flash, where my core temperature will drop 2 degrees, I will sweat, and the above symptoms will occur. I've read that hot flashes can be a hyperthyroid symptom, but I had them even before taking thyroid, and t3 temporarily made them better.

-Anything that increases my metabolism seems to increase my hot flashes--thyroid, coffee, red light/sunlight. However previously, these things have all had very beneficial effects for me at times, so I know they have their place in my arsenal. For some reason they're just too much for my body right now, even though my temps are low.


Tachycardia (resting heart rate often nearing 100): Seems to go along with my hot flashes. When my pulse gets below 80, I never get hot flashes and I feel great. And when I have hot flashes, my pulse is always above 90 bpm.

-Some foods seem to reliably keep my heart rate low (for example, keeping berries and honey as my main carb source, or using OJ as my only carb source) but these strategies thus far mess up my digestion after a few days, making my tongue really white and gunky. My stomach starts to feel really impacted and gunked up as well.

-Switching from low fat pasteurized, vitmain-added milk to raw, full fat milk did help my tachycardia, but not enough to solve it entirely, and I still get plenty of hot flashes even with this raw milk.


Poor digestion: the main signifier of my poor digestion is my tongue, which is often coated in a yellowish, orange-ish white. When my tongue gets coated in white, the hot flashes get worse. It gets the worst when I drink a lot of OJ and use mushrooms as my only fiber source (mushrooms work fine when my tongue is otherwise clear, but combined with lots of OJ, mushrooms are a no-go). Berries lower my tachycardia, like I said above, but they lead to a gunked up tongue overtime, and then the hot flashes come back.

-I can never fully eradicate the white bacterial coating, but the closest I get is when I eat a lot of grapes and prioritize solid foods, using milk and coffee as my only liquids. This way, my frequent urination stops and my tongue clears up, although my temperatures stay low even in this case. Still, using grapes as my primary fruit source (and honey and milk for carbs as well) has been the least evil option so far. It doesn't make me feel ideal, but it makes me feel the least bad of all the carb options I've tried.

-I've tried rice, potatoes, berries, OJ, OJ concentrate, melon, watermelon, peaches, and apple juice as carb sources. Pretty much all of them gunk up my stomach and tongue. Watermelons and ripe melons do digest well and leave my tongue clear, but I cannot reliably find ripe melons year-round and watermelons make me pee a lot and end up giving me an anxiety attack (I've had one several times after eating watermelon specifically).


Thyroid: I had hot flashes even before starting thyroid. Months ago, in February, T3 only, spaced in 1-2 mcg doses taken throughout the day, solved my hot flashes and tachycardia for a few weeks. At the time, I was on spring break so my stress was low. I added in NDT as well to keep things stable, and it made my sleep much deeper. It worked great! But it stopped working, and I began to get more hot flashes.

-Lately I've noticed that taking thyroid can trigger hot flashes. This is true for both T3 and NDT. But, thyroid has fixed other problems for me -- I no longer have morning panic attacks, I sleep through the night, I don't have afternoon panic attacks like I used to get either. And overall, when I'm not having hot flashes, my brain works way better than it used to.

-I don't want to stop thyroid because I think thyroid is overall helping, due to the things I mentioned above, and because it lowered my cholesterol from high range to healthy range. Something else seems to be causing my hot flashes and tachycardia. Maybe it's that I need to adjust my dose down (currently at 1 grain), or maybe I need to increase the t3 ratio (currently 3:1 t4:t3 ratio.). Or maybe I need to be more intentional about when I take thyroid. I've read some people saying that stress makes them convert more t4 to reverse t3, so they need to take their thyroid at night, when environmental stress levels are typically lower.


Possible plans of attack (might do all of them):
-Begin dosing NDT at night instead of throughout day: This would mean I don't take NDT before work, but take my full grain (or maybe half) at night. I would take t3 during work if needed, but I might try without any during the day.
-Blood sugar regulation part 1: I plan to try dosing B1, B3, and taurine throughout the day with meals to help with blood sugar regulation. But during some of my recent "good spurts," I've felt great without any of these things, so I don't think they're the solution.
-Blood sugar regulation part 2: I can also try eating more fruit and less protein to keep insulin more stable, but I already eat quite a bit of fruit.
-Focus on foods that keep my tongue clear as possible: this means eating grapes, meat, raw milk, honey as the bulk of my diet, with liver and gelatin as well. I've tried this diet before, andI I feel okay on it, but my temps still stay below 98.4 and I often feel kinda "meh," like I usually do.

Questions/puzzles:
-Why, after a diet switch (like from grapes+maple syrup to berries+honey) do I feel good for a few days, then after 4-5 days begin to feel bad? It's like a pendulum that swings back and forth, and I only feel good when it's in the middle. I just can't figure out how to keep it in the middle.
-Which do you think is more likely to be the root of my problems: blood sugar dysregulation, or poor digestion? I know they feed each other, but which one would you tackle as a higher priority?

Also just want to thank everyone so far for your feedback. @Mauritio I've been trying the high salt and one tbsp MCT oil, and I believe it is helping, but I still face many of my symptoms. It's only been about a week though. I appreciate your help.

No problem. From what you state ,it looks like you're facing a fungal issue . So MCT oil should help ,you can increase the dosage after some time .
Also , some of the things like milk , coffee or even gelatin might make the digestion issues worse , speaking from my own experience. I'd try to leave them out for some time / replace them.

 

[Jennifer]

I felt really good eating lamb, frozen fruit, honey, and gelatin. That's it -- I wasn't supplementing anything, just coffee and liver as supp-foods. My temps were good (98.6+), my heart rate was calm, and I had one poop everyday, but it was a great and satisfying poop. My gut felt great, and my tongue bacteria was minimal. My problem back then was just a really low heart rate during sleep. I had no calcium source, though.

Have you tried eggshell calcium? You could try going back to a diet of meat, fruit, honey and gelatin and/or cut back on the milk, but still have a good calcium source? Also, was the coating on your tongue better or worse with the pasteurized low-fat goat’s milk? I’m just wondering if the bacteria and/or histamines in the raw milk (or possibly even the extra fat—Ray told me that dairy fat is hard for some people to digest) are contributing to the coating and other symptoms.

Im not saying for you to do that, but in general eating less extreme and especially meals you enjoyed as a kid might help.

Great suggestion! Going back to eating what I enjoyed as a kid helped me immensely. I made a few tweaks based on my current state, but only consuming what I truly enjoy has worked wonders.

 

[Vileplume]

Yea cutting out completely would be a bad idea. If you look at cultures around the world, they don't drink an excessive amount of dairy. I think the average is somewhere around 1-2 cups a day, often in coffee, ice cream, etc.. But in places like france, greece, and other countries, they eat a good amount of cheese. Ive found that to be a little better, so I usually drink like 2 cups of milk, usually when I really crave it or im thirsty, and I also eat like 2-3 ounces of cheese. sometimes vegteble broth water as well. I think around 1000 mg calcium is enough for most people, however if you can digest milk perfectly than having more is probably completely Ok. I personally did'nt really feel good doing 2 quarts of milk a day, just didnt crave it at that point and it was throwing off my hunger cues.

Great info here, about what those cultures do and about your experience. It surprises me that it's been so difficult to identify my problem foods because I've meticulously recorded all my meals and supplements since last May. I felt good until around August, then started feeling bad. How could I have missed the culprit? As I look back, it seems that since the true culprit might be a digestive problem/bacterial imbalance, that would explain why the cause has been so tricky to pin down. Perhaps the bacterial imbalance settled in over time, so that my problems manifested weeks or even months after I had introduced the problematic food.

Now, my best guess for the problem food is milk. I felt really good for the month when I first introduced milk, so I thought it was helping me (which I think it was in many ways -- calming, stabilizing, good for sleep) but like @Mauritio indicated, milk may have been feeding a bacterial or fungal imbalance, that was benign at first (why I didn't feel bad at first) but grew over the months that followed. I've been doing two quarts a day (at least) for 6-7 months, and my problems have just gotten worse.

At first first I felt good, but then I developed these in order: less satisfying elimination and less bulky stools, lower HRV (heart rate variability) as measured by my apple watch, less deep sleep (also measured by watch), then lower sociability, then less energy, then lower temps, then more of a tendency toward frustration, then w rapidly worsening white tongue, then worse memory and lower confidence, then tachycardia set in, and finally the hot flashes got worse and worse. I'm not sure how I managed to overlook all the initial signs. I still felt good early on when the first signs developed, and by the time the later ones set in, I had been drinking milk for so long that I thought one of my more recent changes must be causing my problems. This was around November, and since then I have changed everything in my diet except eliminating milk.

For the past two days I have consumed no dairy and I think I feel better. I know that having no dairy in the diet sets me up for the problems of low calcium, so I don't plan to keep milk out forever. But I think a week or two-long experiment with no milk could be really helpful. Maybe my hot flashes will go away, and then I can try reintroducing it slowly. Maybe I need to take some time to fully eradicate my bacterial issues, then retry milk. My current plan is to cut dairy from my diet for a week or two, and see.

No problem. From what you state ,it looks like you're facing a fungal issue . So MCT oil should help ,you can increase the dosage after some time .
Also , some of the things like milk , coffee or even gelatin might make the digestion issues worse , speaking from my own experience. I'd try to leave them out for some time / replace them.

Thanks man. Looking back on my experience, from that list milk seems most likely. I improved a ton in June, and at the time I consumed lots of coffee and gelatin. Then, when I added milk in, about a month later things started to creep downhill. It definitely could be coffee and gelatin too, but I will eliminate milk first and see how that goes.

Have you tried eggshell calcium? You could try going back to a diet of meat, fruit, honey and gelatin and/or cut back on the milk, but still have a good calcium source? Also, was the coating on your tongue better or worse with the pasteurized low-fat goat’s milk? I’m just wondering if the bacteria and/or histamines in the raw milk (or possibly even the extra fat—Ray told me that dairy fat is hard for some people to digest) are contributing to the coating and other symptoms.



Great suggestion! Going back to eating what I enjoyed as a kid helped me immensely. I made a few tweaks based on my current state, but only consuming what I truly enjoy has worked wonders.

Thank you Jennifer, for this suggestion. I think I will do exactly that -- replicate my diet from when I felt great over summer, dairy free, and see how it goes. I'll go two weeks with just those foods you name (minus the calcium) to see how I do digestively, and if things improve, I will gradually add things back in, with one of the first being eggshell calcium.

The coating on my tongue, my stomach feelings, my HRV, and my hot flashes were all about the same, on low fat goat milk, as they were with full fat raw. If anything, transitioning to raw reduced my tachycardia a bit. At first I thought the added synthetic vitamins might be the problem, which might be true, but I still had all my worst symptoms with both milks. Another possibility for success could be raw goat milk with the fat skimmed off -- I have yet to try this.