ILoveSugar History

[iLoveSugar]

I also have experience my feet falling asleep all the time of late. Like if my daughter sits on my lap for more than one minute, or I sat down for a couple minutes, they get very uncomfortable and fall asleep. No idea what causes this.

 

[Sea]

post 100862

post 100812

post 99930
My current diet is as follows:

Wake up, drink 4oz coffee with full cup of milk and 2 tbs sugar
shake (rinsed cottage cheese, sugar, coc oil, fruit juice,salt, sometimes ice cream in it)
carrot salad
another shake from above
parmesan reggiano cheese with shake

Other foods but not daily are oysters, liver, steak, potato chips, coke/pepsi, bamboo shoots

I get between 2k-3k calories per day, and even at that, it's very hard. My stomach is always bloated.

I may have forgot things, so I may continue to add to this.

If you are always bloated I would suspect the milk, sugar, ice cream or fruit juice. Milk is very difficult to digest the more hypothyroid you are and I really wouldn't bother with milk unless your digestion is good. Sugar is also difficult to digest because it can feed overgrown bacteria, I think honey, refined starches/potato(eat them with honey to avoid a crash), juices with 0 fiber(usually cheap from concentrate juices have the fiber removed), fresh squeezed orange juice, or sodas are preferable when you are in such a state. Ice cream might also be causing you problems and is another food I wouldn't bother with until your digestion is fixed. I think that greek yogurt, cheese, or goat products are easier sources of dairy to digest.

Your diet is probably very low in sodium. I think that when you are hypothyroid, it can be very difficult to meet caloric requirements without starches. I think that when you remove starches you can have an even higher sodium requirement(6+ teaspoons). And, I think that there is a massive difference between consuming like 2 or 3 teaspoons of salt and 6+ teaspoons/day. Generally, the more hypothyroid you are, the more salt you will require and salt really helps a lot with digestion.

Other than the carrot salad you aren't getting much fiber. I think that the more hypothyroid you are, the higher your requirement for fiber is. Fiber helps the liver detoxify stuff, and the more hypothyroid you are the further behind your liver is going to be. I would experiment with just adding like 5-10 carrots to your shakes and drinking it spread out throughout the whole day although not necessarily everyday as I think you usually will reach a point where more fiber is just taking up space and no longer helping.

Since minocycline was unbearable for you that indicates that it was working and killing off bacteria. The problem was your body was to weak to handle it, which isn't surprising since you already feel sick and minocycline is a super strong antibiotic. You could try a weaker antibiotic like tetracycline or doxycycline, or wait until you feel a lot better from your diet and then try minocycline again.

Yeah, I think milk is problematic as well. I just have no idea how to get what I need from other sources. Potatoes make me extremely arthritic for days. I also got the same results from Doxycycline.

IMO, the only things you need to worry about are the macro nutrients, specifically protein and carbohydrates. Micro nutrients aren't that important and if you eat and actually digest enough food you will get more than enough nutrients to stop feeling so poorly. If a food is causing you to bloat, then it is not helping you regardless of how many nutrients it contains. Further, this food will also be screwing up your digestion of everything that you eat at the same time and in the hours following that food since bacteria will be having a party off of the food you couldn't digest leading to problems digesting everything else, potentially for the whole day.

I think that people can usually tolerate potatoes if they are peeled, boiled for at least an hour, and eaten without any fat. If potatoes don't work, white rice is another option that is easily digested by most people, again it helps to boil it with more water, for a longer period of time, and to avoid fat when eating it. Fat may prevent presorption of starches, but it also slows down the digestion of them so that they go further down the intestine before they are absorbed which can allow bacteria a better chance at them. Honey is another food that you might be able to digest better than table sugar which I think can cause problems if it is not heated and further broken down. When sugar is in the form of soda, or other sugary commercial drinks I think it tends to be well tolerated. Honey can also help in the digestion of starches, and prevent or lessen blood sugar problems that hypothyroid people will often get from consuming pure starch. Instead of juice it is also pretty easy to find frozen concentrated orange juice which will give you 600 calories/12oz and allow you to cut down your water intake. Aside from a lack of carbohydrate, I think a lack of sodium is a big cause of bad digestion. Being hypothyroid you will rapidly lose salt, and you may need to consume quite a lot of salt to have good stomach acid. I suggest adding 2 teaspoons of salt to each 2 quarts of fluids you drink, and try to eat more salt in general. I have taken to just consuming a pinch of sodium every hour or so which increases my daily sodium intake by at least 2 teaspoons. If you try this make sure to let the sodium fully dissolve in saliva before swallowing.

For protein usually lean proteins are going to be easier to digest then stuff like milk, steak, oysters, and liver. You are already eating cottage cheese and parmesean cheese which probably aren't causing a problem. You could also try greek yogurt, and leaner meats like turkey, chicken or low fat fish which aren't optimal, but can help you to actually digest and reach a higher protien intake. Ray Peat has said that a low protien intake is one of the main causes of hypothyroidism and he recommends a minimum of 80 grams every day, but says that he often didn't feel great without 130-150 grams of protien/day.

Many people also demonize gluten, and it isn't an optimal food, but many products made with refined white flour are actually quite easy to digest and gain energy from compared with something like milk. Some of these foods may also elicit a stronger digestive response as many people crave them more than a food like white rice.

Also, caffeine, thyroid, aspirin and I think niacinimide can help in the short term with digestion, and the more calories you eat, the better you will be able to tolerate these things. I found that the drink red bull was very beneficial for digestion before I took antibiotics which solved most of the problems.

 

[Blossom]

Yeah, Sea has some really good points especially about eating enough food that you can tolerate/digest well.

 

[Stilgar]

Reading over this thread was like reading my own ups and downs (mostly downs) of the last year. It has been awful.

Nothing consistent, one day ok, the next day bad. One morning ok, the afternoon bad. One hour good, the next hour, bad. It was exhausting. The only relationship I kept was my partner's, because somehow he was patient enough to see it through. I had no stamina, would crash out at work after a few hours, and sleep endlessly. Wake up exhausted after 10 hours sleep. I felt my most bad when I was dosing loads of thyroid and had a TSH of 0.001. I blamed bad thyroid dosing, pregnenolone, my sugar intake (it got to the stage where I thought I had to eat pretty much every 20 minutes in order to be ok), my protein intake, and my multitude of supposed diagnoses and deficiencies. I was stubborn, got myself tied in knots, and would go in constant loops where I thought something helped me, only to hinder me. I couldn't leave the house to go on trips, days out or anything, because I would have crazy histamine 'attacks', wobbly legs, dizziness, irritability and complete, all consuming depression.

I discussed various things with Ray, and he gave me incredible advice, that was always so on point. He gave advice to my partner too, which helped inform my own choices. I never really got it at the time, distracted by my own hunches about various things I thought were wrong. It took me a while to really take his advice to heart and see how I should apply his major points to my life.

Essentially, in his perfectly indirect way, Ray told me and my partner:

1) That pregnenolone would help high cortisol, high serotonin state, and would manage high adrenaline from thyroid dosing
2) That you should focus on easy to digest, non-irritating foods
3) That if you want to use cyproheptadine, it should be used temporarily to alleviate symptoms, and you should have rest periods in which you experiment to see which foods have an allergic effect on you
4) That 2 litres of milk per day would be advisable to guarantee sufficient protein and calcium intake
5) Leg pains and wobbly legs are often a sign of intestinal irritation


Nowhere did he suggest I had vitamin deficiencies. Nowhere did he suggest all sorts of supplements, except pregnenolone and thyroid.

Now, I am not saying that the advice he gave me was somehow exclusive of what Ray thinks is ok or not. That is besides the point. Everything has positive and negative effects. Many things will work for different people at different stages of healing. But his central tenets are key to healing even the most damaged person.

This is how got on the road to getting better. I drank two litres of milk, consistently. I quit ALL supplements. Every last precious one that I relied so heavily on to 'feel good'. I stopped caring about deficiencies. Even magnesium. I started to unpick all the little bits in my diet - even a strong honey could set me off, or bad supermarket orange juice. I eat milk, fish, good chocolate, gelatine, white sugar, refined coconut oil, oranges or juice when I can (they are very unsweet at the moment), coffee, egg yolks and masa harina. It is basic, but it is helping.

This is when you start using pregnenolone. Pregnenolone will reveal your true metabolic state. I hated it when I used it in the past. Now it is like gold dust. It makes intestinal irritants blindingly obvious. If I am not on enough thyroid, I will get instant an histamine attack from a food irritant, when on pregnenolone. I think so many negative reactions from pregnenolone are a direct result of revealing reliance on cortisol and adrenaline because of intestinal irritation. Pregnenolone will help you use thyroid better - but you have to break the cycle by stopping the intestinal irritation.

Then as you heal, you can incorporate other foods to make your diet as nutrient dense, but as easy to digest as possible, and I imagine many of the supplements will just fall away.

 

[Stilgar]

Reading over this thread was like reading my own ups and downs (mostly downs) of the last year. It has been awful.

Nothing consistent, one day ok, the next day bad. One morning ok, the afternoon bad. One hour good, the next hour, bad. It was exhausting. The only relationship I kept was my partner's, because somehow he was patient enough to see it through. I had no stamina, would crash out at work after a few hours, and sleep endlessly. Wake up exhausted after 10 hours sleep. I felt my most bad when I was dosing loads of thyroid and had a TSH of 0.001. I blamed bad thyroid dosing, pregnenolone, my sugar intake (it got to the stage where I thought I had to eat pretty much every 20 minutes in order to be ok), my protein intake, and my multitude of supposed diagnoses and deficiencies. I was stubborn, got myself tied in knots, and would go in constant loops where I thought something helped me, only to hinder me. I couldn't leave the house to go on trips, days out or anything, because I would have crazy histamine 'attacks', wobbly legs, dizziness, irritability and complete, all consuming depression.

I discussed various things with Ray, and he gave me incredible advice, that was always so on point. He gave advice to my partner too, which helped inform my own choices. I never really got it at the time, distracted by my own hunches about various things I thought were wrong. It took me a while to really take his advice to heart and see how I should apply his major points to my life.

Essentially, in his perfectly indirect way, Ray told me and my partner:

1) That pregnenolone would help high cortisol, high serotonin state, and would manage high adrenaline from thyroid dosing
2) That you should focus on easy to digest, non-irritating foods
3) That if you want to use cyproheptadine, it should be used temporarily to alleviate symptoms, and you should have rest periods in which you experiment to see which foods have an allergic effect on you
4) That 2 litres of milk per day would be advisable to guarantee sufficient protein and calcium intake
5) Leg pains and wobbly legs are often a sign of intestinal irritation


Nowhere did he suggest I had vitamin deficiencies. Nowhere did he suggest all sorts of supplements, except pregnenolone and thyroid.

Now, I am not saying that the advice he gave me was somehow exclusive of what Ray thinks is ok or not. That is besides the point. Everything has positive and negative effects. Many things will work for different people at different stages of healing. But his central tenets are key to healing even the most damaged person.

This is how got on the road to getting better. I drank two litres of milk, consistently. I quit ALL supplements. Every last precious one that I relied so heavily on to 'feel good'. I stopped caring about deficiencies. Even magnesium. I started to unpick all the little bits in my diet - even a strong honey could set me off, or bad supermarket orange juice. I eat milk, fish, good chocolate, gelatine, white sugar, refined coconut oil, oranges or juice when I can (they are very unsweet at the moment), coffee, egg yolks and masa harina. It is basic, but it is helping.

This is when you start using pregnenolone. Pregnenolone will reveal your true metabolic state. I hated it when I used it in the past. Now it is like gold dust. It makes intestinal irritants blindingly obvious. If I am not on enough thyroid, I will get instant an histamine attack from a food irritant, when on pregnenolone. I think so many negative reactions from pregnenolone are a direct result of revealing reliance on cortisol and adrenaline because of intestinal irritation. Pregnenolone will help you use thyroid better - but you have to break the cycle by stopping the intestinal irritation.

Then as you heal, you can incorporate other foods to make your diet as nutrient dense, but as easy to digest as possible, and I imagine many of the supplements will just fall away.

 

[answersfound]

Reading over this thread was like reading my own ups and downs (mostly downs) of the last year. It has been awful.

Nothing consistent, one day ok, the next day bad. One morning ok, the afternoon bad. One hour good, the next hour, bad. It was exhausting. The only relationship I kept was my partner's, because somehow he was patient enough to see it through. I had no stamina, would crash out at work after a few hours, and sleep endlessly. Wake up exhausted after 10 hours sleep. I felt my most bad when I was dosing loads of thyroid and had a TSH of 0.001. I blamed bad thyroid dosing, pregnenolone, my sugar intake (it got to the stage where I thought I had to eat pretty much every 20 minutes in order to be ok), my protein intake, and my multitude of supposed diagnoses and deficiencies. I was stubborn, got myself tied in knots, and would go in constant loops where I thought something helped me, only to hinder me. I couldn't leave the house to go on trips, days out or anything, because I would have crazy histamine 'attacks', wobbly legs, dizziness, irritability and complete, all consuming depression.

I discussed various things with Ray, and he gave me incredible advice, that was always so on point. He gave advice to my partner too, which helped inform my own choices. I never really got it at the time, distracted by my own hunches about various things I thought were wrong. It took me a while to really take his advice to heart and see how I should apply his major points to my life.

Essentially, in his perfectly indirect way, Ray told me and my partner:

1) That pregnenolone would help high cortisol, high serotonin state, and would manage high adrenaline from thyroid dosing
2) That you should focus on easy to digest, non-irritating foods
3) That if you want to use cyproheptadine, it should be used temporarily to alleviate symptoms, and you should have rest periods in which you experiment to see which foods have an allergic effect on you
4) That 2 litres of milk per day would be advisable to guarantee sufficient protein and calcium intake
5) Leg pains and wobbly legs are often a sign of intestinal irritation


Nowhere did he suggest I had vitamin deficiencies. Nowhere did he suggest all sorts of supplements, except pregnenolone and thyroid.

Now, I am not saying that the advice he gave me was somehow exclusive of what Ray thinks is ok or not. That is besides the point. Everything has positive and negative effects. Many things will work for different people at different stages of healing. But his central tenets are key to healing even the most damaged person.

This is how got on the road to getting better. I drank two litres of milk, consistently. I quit ALL supplements. Every last precious one that I relied so heavily on to 'feel good'. I stopped caring about deficiencies. Even magnesium. I started to unpick all the little bits in my diet - even a strong honey could set me off, or bad supermarket orange juice. I eat milk, fish, good chocolate, gelatine, white sugar, refined coconut oil, oranges or juice when I can (they are very unsweet at the moment), coffee, egg yolks and masa harina. It is basic, but it is helping.

This is when you start using pregnenolone. Pregnenolone will reveal your true metabolic state. I hated it when I used it in the past. Now it is like gold dust. It makes intestinal irritants blindingly obvious. If I am not on enough thyroid, I will get instant an histamine attack from a food irritant, when on pregnenolone. I think so many negative reactions from pregnenolone are a direct result of revealing reliance on cortisol and adrenaline because of intestinal irritation. Pregnenolone will help you use thyroid better - but you have to break the cycle by stopping the intestinal irritation.

Then as you heal, you can incorporate other foods to make your diet as nutrient dense, but as easy to digest as possible, and I imagine many of the supplements will just fall away.

Great post! Thank you!

 

[Peata]

1) That pregnenolone would help high cortisol, high serotonin state, and would manage high adrenaline from thyroid dosing
2) That you should focus on easy to digest, non-irritating foods
3) That if you want to use cyproheptadine, it should be used temporarily to alleviate symptoms, and you should have rest periods in which you experiment to see which foods have an allergic effect on you
4) That 2 litres of milk per day would be advisable to guarantee sufficient protein and calcium intake
5) Leg pains and wobbly legs are often a sign of intestinal irritation

The bolded above is what i have discovered to be true so far for me too.

I don't know enough yet about pregnenolone, and i don't drink much milk atm.

But for example, I find the cyproheptadine works best for me when I cycle off of it after about 2 months.

 

[answersfound]

post 101318

1) That pregnenolone would help high cortisol, high serotonin state, and would manage high adrenaline from thyroid dosing
2) That you should focus on easy to digest, non-irritating foods
3) That if you want to use cyproheptadine, it should be used temporarily to alleviate symptoms, and you should have rest periods in which you experiment to see which foods have an allergic effect on you
4) That 2 litres of milk per day would be advisable to guarantee sufficient protein and calcium intake
5) Leg pains and wobbly legs are often a sign of intestinal irritation

The bolded above is what i have discovered to be true so far for me too.

I don't know enough yet about pregnenolone, and i don't drink much milk atm.

But for example, I find the cyproheptadine works best for me when I cycle off of it after about 2 months.

How long do you cycle off?

 

[Peata]

How long do you cycle off?

I don't know if it matters, but the latest was 2.5 months. I felt I needed to start back on it for the emotional/mental benefits more than anything, and probably could have started on it weeks ago for that.

 

[iLoveSugar]

I'm such a muddled mess and today/tonight was one of my worst days ever. I'm in a serious maniac/depressed state and feel like I am seriously helpless. I've never felt this way, but can't help to. I also DO know that my gut is central to this, because with any movement, gurgle, gas, etc, it increases my depression and helpless thoughts.

My main "I have no idea what to think" concerns are:
1) Thyroid--I am obviously extremely hypo, but taking it seems to do nothing. It's been 3-4 days without it, and I feel worse than ever, but being on it, I still feel like death. All my tests show to be good as well. Temps are low though and pulse is so up and down.

2) Milk-- my million dollar question. I desperately would love to know if this is detrimental to me right now or not. I feel like it may be adding to my fog, fatigue, depression, bowel issues, etc, but feel like it's so incredibly important as it provides so much of what I need. Trying to replace it seems like a nightmare as well. I have also gone a few days without it, and noticed nothing. Without it though, I definitely seem to undereat. I've asked RP several times if this could be detrimental to me, and he never has said he thought it could be. One thing I do know is that milk has been central to my diet all along. Even now, cottage cheese (strained and rinsed) is my main source of food, about 2-3 cups per day in shakes. It's been a little lower since recently having 2-4 cups of milk per day with 2-4 oz coffee.

3) Gut irritation. All I know is that I am ALWAYS slow digestion, bowel pains many times before going, hemmrhoids, stomach always feels hard, I feel like food/liquid just sits in my stomach and ferments, etc. Fixing my chronically slow and bad gut seems all but impossible at this point. It seems like ALL food, rather than certain foods are doing me harm right now. No matter what I put in me, just not good.

4) All the DROWSY drugs, bromocriptine, cyprophetadine, clonodine, benadryl, etc. I absolutely can not tolerate drowsy drugs. I am SOOOO tired and fatigued and fogged all day, that I just lay in a ball ''wired and depressed". The few times I have taken drowsy drugs, I literally hallucinate because it elevates all my neurological symptoms.

5) The fight between starch and no starch. I know everyone says this works for me, or this works for me, but NEITHER starch, nor no starch has worked for me, so it's hard to decipher what to do. I know my depression is at an all time high right now.

It just seems that new symptoms keep on piling up, and I KNOW that life is becoming increasingly harder. I thought life was over a year ago, and things that I could do a year ago or impossible now, like going to stores, playing ball medicine free, sitting or standing for more than 30 seconds, etc. This is all impossible now.

 

[iLoveSugar]

And just a few extra notes:

I will say this--none of my symptoms are come and go. They are with me EVERY second of EVERY day except for when I am sleeping. I never have good moments or good days. I have no idea if Lyme is causing all of this, vesitibular issues, etc. Trying to find someone to truly help me muddle through this doesn't really seem possible. And trying to live on my own and keep up with the daily life is also almost not possible. The only thing keeping me here right now is my 2 kids. They are worth more than life itself. Their Mom left me due to me feeling like this, so now it's sink or swim. I just wanted to let it be known though that I don't have hyperglycemic moments, swings of up and downs, etc. My dizziness, fog, fatigue, wobbly, etc, if every second of every day.

Edit: I never feel well, at all, but if I had to pick my best moments, it would be immediately after waking up, for maybe 5 minutes at most, and right before bed, from about midnight to 3 AM (due to insomnia), and every third or 4th day at whichever time I decide to take a small piece of a benzo. Just wanted to add that. It's one of the reasons why I mentioned possible vestibular issues. If I had gut irritation, one would think I would feel better with the change of diet. I've gone a long time with no starch, additives, etc. Never felt anything.

 

[answersfound]

whether the thyroid is doing something or not, i think you need to get it in your system and evaluate it over a 3 month period, rather than expect to feel something each day. if you can get your T4 and T3 values to the top of the range, then atleast you know that it one variable that is being addressed. just take the thyroid and forget about it. maybe work your way up to two grains.

 

[iLoveSugar]

I have a constant vibrating/stimulating sensation in my brain, that will never go away. I keep thinking stimulants like thyroid, caffeine, etc make it worse. I am on and off thyroid like a kid on a playground.

 

[iLoveSugar]

Adrenaline, serotonin and other tests if anyone cares to look.

 

[answersfound]

post 101270

post 101256

post 101254 I do know that Cypro was supposed to make me relax also, but I was a disaster. In any event, I am spending every day a tired wreck now. My slow bowels and bad digestion are absolutely at the forefront though.

I seen this: Clonidine lowers blood pressure by decreasing the levels of certain chemicals in your blood.
What if my BP is already low sometimes?

and your heart to beat more slowly and easily.
And right now my heart rate is in the high 50's low 60's.

Maybe Haidut will reply. I tend toward a high heart rate so...
I don't think it would be good to lower an already low heart rate or blood pressure.

Adrenaline combined with hypothyroidism can have paradoxical effects. Most hypothyroid people have low heart rates even though they run mostly on adrenaline and cortisol. I would still get the clonidine and ask your doctor about starting with a low dose of 25mcg as mention in the previous post. This would be 1/4 tablet of the regular 100mcg dose. If heart rate does not change and blood pressure is normal then I would take another 25mcg an hour later. I would not take more than 100mcg in a single day.

What's the next best thing after clonidine? Pregnenolone?

 

[messtafarian]

Maybe you should try an autoimmune protocol diet, like SCD. No grains, no legumes, no caffeine, no alcohol, no starches and NO DAIRY.

You don't have to do this forever, just long enough to see if it helps. You can always cycle off if you don't think you're eating enough. You can also fill in the calories with saturated fat -- ghee, coconut oil. Then just experiment to see what you seem to be tolerating.

Maybe you're really not tolerating dairy. Peat is pro-milk for lots of reasons but I still can't drink a full glass of milk without destroying my digestion.

 

[iLoveSugar]

I did SAD and GAPS for 3 years before Peat.

 

[iLoveSugar]

I took .5 mg cyprophetadine last night, and once again I am incredibly droggy, and my entire body hurts.

 

[Such_Saturation]

Try coffee with the cyproheptadine.

 

[charlie]

post 101329 I have a constant vibrating/stimulating sensation in my brain, that will never go away.

Are you getting the vibration anywhere else?