Jennifer's Recovery Log

[Jennifer]

As you know I'm very open to the existence of candida
as a real and maybe widespread gut disease.

So I'm curious what is being taught about it in medical schools
that makes doctors so certain it is just hypochondria.
And what elements of that teaching your Dr. O came to challenge and why.

Candida's existence as a gut disease
seems a little like the problem in proving the existence of UFOs.
People say they see UFOs,
but there never seem to be convincing photos.

With candida,
there are these alternative explanations,
like that the yeasts hide out in the dark recesses of the bowel
using biofilms to hide and protect themselves.
Seems like as many colonoscopies as are performed,
someone would be able to photograph or videotape these candida nests.

Or to invent a test that would prove candida's existence.

As I say, I'm very open to the existence of a candida disease in the bowels.
Just pointing out some of the frustrating things about how it is thought about.
And as I say,
it would seem to be one of those areas where the mainstream medical thinking
and Peat's thinking coincide.

Yeah, I'll definitely ask Dr. O. I see her in 3 weeks so I should have an answer then.

With the upper endoscopy, it was my understanding that if there was an overgrowth, the camera would see the yeast attached to tissue.

With Ray, I did see a quote or interview (?) where he mentioned how there can be an overgrowth of yeast, usually coinciding with a bacterial overgrowth, in the small intestine. He makes mention of yeast in the colon too and his advice is to use flowers of sulphur in both cases. In the case of the small intestine, his dietary recommendations, in theory, should target/prevent an overgrowth by eliminating the food the critters live off of, thus keeping it relatively sterile like he says it should be. Obviously in thebigp's case, she tried all of Ray's usual advice but was still dealing with an overgrowth so it's not always that simple, unfortunately.

 

[Peat's_Girl]

I don't know Bunny. Like I told you in my email, I just worry that you're not getting enough calories.

How about making a list of the foods that make you feel good/ bad and the degree of badness.

For example, bone broth -- no reaction. Ice cream --slight pain that goes away right after. Potatoes --horrible gas.

I don't know! Maybe the ones that cause pain are the ones to stay away from, and the one with the slight reaction are something you can potentially eat?

I hope the nystatin works for you...

 

[Jennifer]

I don't know either, Kitty! I'm eating over 2500 calories a day and there's just no way for me to get in more. My gut is hurting as it is. My list of good and bad foods is currently very simple. All foods bother me now. No matter what I eat, the painful rashing and scabbing all over my face won't go away. The lower intestinal pain, churning gut and brain fog are back, along with that large lump in my cecum that I can feel when lying down at night. That developed while on 80/10/10 and continued for a few years after I stopped the diet.

 

[Peat's_Girl]

Aww, bunny I'm so sorry.... ;(

I really do think you need a vacation and to eat without analysing too much.
(Easier said than done, I know. And really lame advice from one OCDer to another.)

Did you try the bone broth like I told you? Are you taking the Nyastatin? Is it doing anything?

Maybe if the bone broth works for you you can start stewing more?
Have you tried cooking all your food into broths?
Like stewing fruits with tons of sugar and making vegetable+bone broths with tons of salt?
(Did you do okay on white sugar? Maybe you should switch to that from honey?)
Maybe you're missing some minerals in vegetables? I started eating some veg and I feel less constipated.

Hmm... What about coconut oil? Do you have that daily? It's very healing to the gut. When I was cramping on my LFNS experiment the cramps would stop if I ate a whole young coconut (flesh and the entire juice) or in the absence of the coconut fruit I would eat a tablespoon of coconut oil and drink some ginger tea.

Speaking of! Ginger tea from real ginger root was huge help.
My BF would make that for me. He would take some ginger and grind it and put hot water on it. It's really spicy and unpleasant to drink but it works.

Please please please try to find some young coconut and try it. I really think it's a healing food, especially the water (the commercial kind is crap).

I can send you some of that coconut spread I found at the market. It's got the sweetness of honey, the fruitiness of dried fruit, the healing powers of coconut and the creaminess of butter! <3

Get well bunny-rabbit! xoxox

 

[Jennifer]

Aww, bunny I'm so sorry.... ;(

Thanks, Kitty! I promise I'll write you later!

 

[Jennifer]

Below are my blood test results that I said I'd post. A few are still pending:

Glucose - 85 mg/dL [65-99]
BUN - 25 mg/dL [6-26]
Creatinine - 0.89 mg/dL [0.55-1.02]
Calcium - 9.1 mg/dL [8.2-9.8]
Sodium - 140 mmol/L [134-146]
Potassium - 4.0 mmol/L [3.5-5.1]
Chloride - 105 mmol/L [98-110]
CO2 - 29 mmol/L [21-32]
Albumin - 4.5 g/dL [3.4-5.0]
Bilirubin Total - 0.6 mg/dL [0.2-1.0]
Alkaline Phosphatase - 87 U/L [45-117]
Protein, Total - 7.2 g/dL [6.4-8.2]
ALT (SGPT) - 32 U/L [7-40]
AST (SGOT) - 20 U/L [8-30]
BUN/Creatinine Ratio - 28.09 (H) Ratio [8.00-20.00]
Iron - 97.0 ug/dL [50.0-170.0]
Iron Bind Capacity, Tot - 438.0 ug/dL [250.0-450.0]
Ferritin - 14.3 ng/mL [8.0-252.0]
Enhanced Estradiol - 33.85 pg/mL
Testosterone Total - 45 ng/dL [14-76]
Progesterone Total - < 0.21 ng/mL
Luteinizing Hormone - 32.63 mIU/mL
Follicle Stim. Hormone - 5.97 mIU/mL
Vitamin B12 - 570 pg/mL [193-986]
Vitamin D (25-Hydroxy) Total - 28.0 ng/mL (L)
TSH - 4.650 uIU/mL (H) [0.358-3.740]
Free T4 - 0.82 ng/dL [0.76-1.46]
Free T3 - 2.31 pg/mL [2.18-3.98]
Thyroglobulin Antibody - 17.00 U/mL [<=60]
Thyroid Peroxidase Antibody - 28.50 U/mL [<=60]
Cholesterol - 178 mg/dL [<200 Desirable]
Triglycerides - 91 mg/dL [<150 Normal]
Cholesterol, HDL - 45 mg/dL [<40 Low >=60 High (Optimal)]
Cholesterol, LDL Calculated - 115 mg/dL [<100 Optimal 100-129 Near/Above Optimal]
Chol/HDL Ratio - 3.96 mg/dL [<=4]
Non-HDL Cholesterol - 133 mg/dL
Vitamin B6 - 15.2 ng/mL [2.1-21.7]
DHEA-Sulfate - 152 mcg/dL [23-266]
T3, Reverse - 13 ng/dL [8-25]
Vitamin B1 - 13 nmol/L [8-30]

I also got a hematology report and everything checked out normal.

Yeah, so that's about it! I don't really have anything to say for once so I'll let tonight's song do the talking...

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=4UqfrH74wc0

 

[tara]

I'm not strong on reading lab results, but looks like lots of parameters are fine, but TSH has shot up? IIRC, last time you had it tested it was almost non-existent, so you cut back on thyroid supp? Maybe some wherein between would suit you better? As you know, I favour slow and small increments in thyroid supps.

I don't know what normal progesterone, or progest:estrogen ratio is supposed to be. Is that low for progesterone? Or can't tell because no estrogen result?

 

[Jennifer]

I'm not strong on reading lab results, but looks like lots of parameters are fine, but TSH has shot up? IIRC, last time you had it tested it was almost non-existent, so you cut back on thyroid supp? Maybe some wherein between would suit you better? As you know, I favour slow and small increments in thyroid supps.

I don't know what normal progesterone, or progest:estrogen ratio is supposed to be. Is that low for progesterone? Or can't tell because no estrogen result?

Yeah, my TSH is the highest it's ever been with my previous level at almost 0. I got off of NDT after writing Ray because he said this about my low cholesterol (145 at the time)..."When your cholesterol is so low, your body can't respond fully to a thyroid supplement. Thyroid should cause the conversion of cholesterol to pregnenolone, progesterone, DHEA, and the other neurosteroids, but when cholesterol is too low it just increases stress hormones instead."

So besides trying to raise my cholesterol to get rid of the depression, I was also trying to raise it to get back on NDT without suffering the massive anxiety and other stress hormones I was getting while taking it. I was trying to get more sugars in while lowering intestinal inflammation because Ray said that this is a source of low cholesterol. I could swear I read where Ray mentions that cholesterol levels should be at least 200 before beginning thyroid supplementation, but I'm at only 178.

Progesterone is suppose to be 5-10x that of estrogen. Estradiol is measured in pg/mL and progesterone measured in ng/mL so when I put those numbers into a converter (http://endmemo.com/sconvert/pg_mlng_dl.php), I get estradiol 33.85 pg/mL equals 3.385 ng/mL. My progesterone level was .21 ng/mL so way too low.

The lab's reference ranges for progesterone are...

Normal females:
Follicular: 0.15-1.40 ng/mL
Luteal: 3.34-25.56 ng/mL
Mid-Luteal: 4.44-28.03 ng/mL
Postmenopausal: 0.0-0.73 ng/mL
Males: 0.28-1.22 ng/mL

And for enhanced estradiol...

Follicular: 19.5-144.2 pg/mL
Midcycle: 63.9-356.7 pg/mL
Luteal Phase: 55.5-214.2 pg/mL
Post Menopausal: ND-32.2 pg/mL
Males: ND-39.8 pg/mL

The problem is, regardless of the dose, I bleed up to 3 weeks out of each month if I take progeste-e. I'm back to not having a period now that I haven't been on it or the minocycline in a while. I was still getting my period while on minocycline despite stopping progest-e months earlier. Ray said this in one of his books..."Spotting," "breakthrough bleeding," and abnormally long periods are often caused by hypothyroidism." so I have to get my cholesterol up so I can get back on NDT and use progeste-e without the excessive bleeding. That's my thought process, anyway. :?

 

[Amazoniac]

Drum roll for b6 and reverse t3..

 

[tara]

Yeah, my TSH is the highest it's ever been with my previous level at almost 0. I got off of NDT after writing Ray because he said this about my low cholesterol (145 at the time)..."When your cholesterol is so low, your body can't respond fully to a thyroid supplement. Thyroid should cause the conversion of cholesterol to pregnenolone, progesterone, DHEA, and the other neurosteroids, but when cholesterol is too low it just increases stress hormones instead."

So besides trying to raise my cholesterol to get rid of the depression, I was also trying to raise it to get back on NDT without suffering the massive anxiety and other stress hormones I was getting while taking it. I was trying to get more sugars in while lowering intestinal inflammation because Ray said that this is a source of low cholesterol. I could swear I read where Ray mentions that cholesterol levels should be at least 200 before beginning thyroid supplementation, but I'm at only 178.

That makes sense to me. Always seem to be trade offs with the different tactics.

 

[Jennifer]

That makes sense to me. Always seem to be trade offs with the different tactics.

Yeah, after seeing my progesterone level and the fact that my cholesterol still isn't high enough for NDT supplementation, I decided to start on progest-e right away in hopes of combating the depression and lowering my TSH. In the past, I was able to drop my TSH by two points in just 6 weeks with high doses of progest-e and lots of bed rest. Add to that, my spine has been hurting a lot more these past couple of months and progest-e usually eleviates much of the pain. I'm hoping the bleeding won't be excessive this time around, but I'm willing to deal with it for now. I figure as my gut continues to heal, my cholesterol will go up and the bleeding should normalize.

 

[Peat's_Girl]

Non-Bleeding Hearts Club- Hi five! ;D

Ew.

Oh and I realised that if I virtually search anything on the forum my name will come up 80% of the time. Which means I have asked about everything and annoyed nearly anyone on the forum!!!
SUCK IT TURNIP!

 

[Jennifer]

Non-Bleeding Hearts Club- Hi five! ;D

Ew.

Oh and I realised that if I virtually search anything on the forum my name will come up 80% of the time. Which means I have asked about everything and annoyed nearly anyone on the forum!!!
SUCK IT TURNIP!

It's sad how when I wasn't having periods, women were telling me how lucky I was. Now I desperately wait to see it and I'm in awe when I do! It's sort of like seeing Santa Claus. Once a year there's lots of red that comes down the chimney and I'm in awe when it does. Yep! I went there! Now if only it would bring with it that trip to Bora Bora I've been asking for. :P

I have a feeling if we searched for the word rash, there would be pages of nothing but my posts.

Well, that does it for this week on embarrassing comments. Stay tuned for next week. If anything, I'm sure autocorrect will get one past me and make me look bad!

 

[Jennifer]

So I started high dosing the progest-e and I've been so out of it. By the end of the first day I felt really calm, but I realized today how out of it I've been feeling since. I don't know if it's because I had been running on stress hormones and the progest-e is reducing them so I'm now feeling their effects. With my TSH as high as it is now, I'm thinking my adrenals were having to work overtime to compensate (which might explain the pretty shiners I developed) and progest-e is now calming them. I noticed today that the shiners have lightened up quite a bit which leads me to believe they weren't allergy induced like I had previously questioned.

Besides the lethargy, my tongue has become quite white again since the addition of progest-e. I had this problem the last time I was using it so I'm going to look into an alternative for taking it. *TMI Warning* If I could find a way to use it vaginally without it seeping out, I think that would help me avoid the possible gut irritation it may be causing. Every time I've tried using it that way, it just comes right back out. Would it be fine to use an entire day's worth all in one dose when I go to bed? I was thinking being in a horizontal position avoids the gravity issue.

I'm seeing Dr. O in a couple weeks to go over my blood test results, particularly the results of the urine 5-HIAA serotonin metabolite test. I need to get this depression under control. I've had years of practice keeping calm in extremely stressful situations and even when there's a firestorm of emotions brewing inside, but that of course doesn't actually address the underlying cause of my current mental state. Just because I can take the beatings doesn't mean it's healthy to. I grew up with a mother who suffered from suicidal depression so I'm all too familiar with how terrible it is.

If things don't start to improve shortly, I'll be scrapping everything and starting over. It's obvious that I'm out of alignment with my body in some way. It's crazy how extreme the depression has become in just a year's time. The only time it was worse was when I was put on estrogen after fracturing and had that moment where I lost it and contemplated checking out of life permanently. I've developed the tools to cope, but I shouldn't have to. I've had points in my life where I was at complete peace just sitting in silence so I know what it feels like on the other side of the veil and that I don't have to settle for a life of mental anguish.

Tonight's song...

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EB7au2PdddQ

 

[Peat's_Girl]

My squirrel-bunny! (Yes, for you, I deviated from my bound-to-balcony schedule and am writing this from my tablet so it will take me an hour!!!)

Take heart! I think scrapping (which is what I've been doing) is the way to go. I don't need to tell you that regardless of my physical abstinence from the computer I'm always here for you. So if this storm needs an outlet you know where to send it to.

About the PE dripola... ;D
I definitely have some help with packing it in there (wow, that's a lot more dirtier than I initially planned for it to sound), but in the absence of such help, I do something Marylin Monroe swore by to get those perfect legs! (I put them up against the wall trying to make them as straight as possible against the wall. It's REALLY hard to do.) After 5 minutes I think it should absorb.

Another TMI, have you tried putting it around the "chocolate starfish area" (J calls it that! haha!)?
The membrane there absorbs things just as good if not better as the mouth. But if you want to use it vaginally, maybe you need to mix it with some coconut oil as a carrier.

I also know of a progesterone cream that a woman with PCOS developed. I never tried it but I tried her PCOS Energy Boost formula and it was a huge help to me. She has really good info and very dedicated to helping others. I actually wanna try it too so if you do let me know how it goes. Progest-E orally makes me cough like crazy.

Here's the link:

http://www.progesteronetherapy.com/prog ... z3f7zzvhrP

 

[sunmountain]

Hi Jennifer,

I'm so sorry to hear you're struggling with depression. I am too at present. I haven't felt this unmotivated and sad since a while. I'm going to look on the forum to see if there's anything I can take to help alleviate this. Have you tried any supplements or drugs for it?

 

[Jennifer]

My squirrel-bunny! (Yes, for you, I deviated from my bound-to-balcony schedule and am writing this from my tablet so it will take me an hour!!!)

Thank you, my luminous kitty! I appreciate the sun goddess taking the time to hammer out some pearly words for me in that tablet of hers. :)

Help packing it in there, eh? You made that one too easy for me so I won't even go there. Hehe! Anyhow, thank you for the suggestion. I used to love doing the Viparita Karani pose. It's like a narcoleptic's dream. I'll get to channeling my inner Marilyn, pronto!

Well, I must say I'm a sad girl. I thought "what area is the chocolate starfish?" So it's the anus a.k.a balloon knot. Thank you, Yahoo answers and the many bizarre questions people ask you. :P I guess I could try there too. I'll have to experiment! Err...moving on!

Thank you very much for the link. :)

 

[Jennifer]

Hi Jennifer,

I'm so sorry to hear you're struggling with depression. I am too at present. I haven't felt this unmotivated and sad since a while. I'm going to look on the forum to see if there's anything I can take to help alleviate this. Have you tried any supplements or drugs for it?

Aww...I'm sorry you're dealing with depression, sunmountain. I know you and I were also dealing with it around the same time, in the past. Of course, like me, you're also dealing with a bacterial overgrowth so maybe your serotonin/estrogen levels are elevated? Low cholesterol can also be a culprit. Do you happen to have any recent blood labs for your estrogen, progesterone and cholesterol levels? Also, Ray recommended I get the urine 5-HIAA serotonin metabolite test done so that's another avenue you could check.

I think in this case, progest-e is our friend. VoS mentioned to me about lisuride to reduce the effects of serotonin. There's also activated charcoal.

I have something that's weighing on me emotionally right now, but I still think the sadness comes down to estrogen and serotonin. I ended up having this really bad feeling yesterday that I just couldn't place and I started crying like a baby. I couldn't control it. Come to find out I started my period. My emotions are all over the place and I'm just trying my best to separate valid feelings from stress hormones.

 

[Jennifer]

Drum roll for b6 and reverse t3..

B6 is 15.2 ng/mL (2.1 - 21.7) and Reverse T3 is 13 ng/dL (8 - 25). :)

 

[sunmountain]

I don't have a period anymore (thank you, universe!), and I'm also crying like a baby these days. At the drop of a hat. Very emotional. Maybe pump even more progest-e than I am. I have lisuride lying with me, but don't know if I should take it because I have methane/constipation type sibo, and if I am constipated, doesn't it mean low serotonin?

Going next week to do cholesterol test, PTH, prolactin, few others. Doesn't prolactin give an indication of serotonin or estrogen?

I'm doing charcoal and carrot salad, and they do help.

Do you know what type sibo you have -- hydrogen or methane? Hydrogen is easily treated; methane very difficult, and I have methane.