Chris-R
Member
- Joined
- Nov 20, 2019
- Messages
- 27
My TSH is in the “normal range” at 1.6, but, I have all of the symptoms of hypothyroidism or at least hypometabolism which btw all came on at once after a prolonged period of extremely high stress (I was sued in court for big big $$). I suffer with cold hands and feet, cold spells, brittle coarse dry hair, hair fall, facial edema, ridged finger nails, sudden patches of dry flakey skin, crazy dandruff, severe debilitating brain fog, low mood/depression, poor initiative, poor libido, terrible erections, can barely get out of bed in the morning… So even though I might not have classical Hypothyroidism aka thyroid not producing enough hormone, I am still quite confidant I have issues with either T4 – T3 conversion and/or elevated reverse T3 and/or issues with T3 absorption/utilization. I used to eat tons of vegetable oils, raw vegetables, soy, and beans and had a lot of gallbladder discomfort at the beginning of my issues, so there’s a good chance T4 to T3 conversion is hindered at my liver. Anyways…
I found that a low carb and/or no carb diet based on meat and eggs (and some fruit if low carb) does the following: Brings incredible mental clarity (compared to debilitating brain fog at least). Makes my face and body tone and lean. Can hop right out of bed in the morning. Greatly improved mood. High energy. Sex drive becomes insanely high. Very good erections and sexual performance.
But…. These improvements all come with a price. I firmly believe that the reason low carb/no carb feels so good to me is because, in response to the lack of adequate T3 and overall poor respiratory metabolism, my body has compensated by turning on the stress hormones adrenaline and cortisol and the glycolytic metabolism in order to keep me functioning as a human being and to keep my energy up, and therefor, because low carb/no carb activates the stress metabolism and stress hormones even further, it means I feel more energetic. The thing is, it doesn’t change the fact that I am in a stress state. My homeostasis is basically that of someone who is very close to the edge and so I can be angry and aggravated extremely easily. Many things both large and small in the world around me are often perceived as either an annoyance or a threat and I must remind myself to "chill" and gain perspective. Also, I still get really cold hands and feet and sometimes bad cold spells (cortisol and adrenaline duhhh). In this stress state, caffeine doesn’t affect me in a normal way either. Instead of providing energy or a boost, caffeine just pushes my body immediately over the edge and my gallbladder becomes tense, heartrate becomes elevated, breath becomes short, temper becomes short, etc.
So the answer is to get the body out of the stress state then, right? Feed it more sugar, continue avoiding PUFA, raw carrot salads, saturated fat, adequate protein, oysters, liver, shellfish, small dose aspirin here and there. You know… "Peating".
For now the answer is, NO. My body engages the stress hormone system to compensate for the under-performing respiratory metabolism. So what happens when you eat foods and take supplements that suppress the stress hormones and reduce the stress state in that scenario ? Did you guess yet? Yup, that’s right, you go back to feeling like absolute crap. Stress hormones have become my way of maintaining. So when I knock those down, in comes the brain fog, depression, chronic fatigue, puffy face, poor libido, poor erections. Oh sure, my hands and feet can stay warmer and there are no more cold spells. So great… I am now a useless, depressed, brain-fogged lump with warm hands and feet… Hooray.
Rather than being upset about the stress metabolism, I am instead grateful that my body at least has the energy reserves to kick that system into gear in order to keep me going. It’s nice to know that I have a backup system ready to go when needed. I can simply just take the carbs way down and manage the subsequent edginess and sensitivity by taking Chinese licorice root, ashwagandha and nettle leaf, deep breathing, cold showers, good exercise. I’ll also have a bowl of banana nice-cream around 7pm-8pm so that the carbs stay low enough to keep the stress metabolism going (keep ME going), but still getting enough sugar for restful sleep. Keep using digestive bitters on the tongue to stimulate the vagus nerve and keep cleaning my liver and gallbladder. This is still FAR from ideal though. The low/no carb stress state diminishes my creativity (I am a musician) and I can tell that my full human potential and complexity is hindered. I’m probably going to try a month long T3 taper up - taper down protocol to see if I can clear out the T3/RT3 issue and then get into the relaxed state along with well-functioning oxidative metabolism.
I hope this triggered some interesting thoughts for you.
I found that a low carb and/or no carb diet based on meat and eggs (and some fruit if low carb) does the following: Brings incredible mental clarity (compared to debilitating brain fog at least). Makes my face and body tone and lean. Can hop right out of bed in the morning. Greatly improved mood. High energy. Sex drive becomes insanely high. Very good erections and sexual performance.
But…. These improvements all come with a price. I firmly believe that the reason low carb/no carb feels so good to me is because, in response to the lack of adequate T3 and overall poor respiratory metabolism, my body has compensated by turning on the stress hormones adrenaline and cortisol and the glycolytic metabolism in order to keep me functioning as a human being and to keep my energy up, and therefor, because low carb/no carb activates the stress metabolism and stress hormones even further, it means I feel more energetic. The thing is, it doesn’t change the fact that I am in a stress state. My homeostasis is basically that of someone who is very close to the edge and so I can be angry and aggravated extremely easily. Many things both large and small in the world around me are often perceived as either an annoyance or a threat and I must remind myself to "chill" and gain perspective. Also, I still get really cold hands and feet and sometimes bad cold spells (cortisol and adrenaline duhhh). In this stress state, caffeine doesn’t affect me in a normal way either. Instead of providing energy or a boost, caffeine just pushes my body immediately over the edge and my gallbladder becomes tense, heartrate becomes elevated, breath becomes short, temper becomes short, etc.
So the answer is to get the body out of the stress state then, right? Feed it more sugar, continue avoiding PUFA, raw carrot salads, saturated fat, adequate protein, oysters, liver, shellfish, small dose aspirin here and there. You know… "Peating".
For now the answer is, NO. My body engages the stress hormone system to compensate for the under-performing respiratory metabolism. So what happens when you eat foods and take supplements that suppress the stress hormones and reduce the stress state in that scenario ? Did you guess yet? Yup, that’s right, you go back to feeling like absolute crap. Stress hormones have become my way of maintaining. So when I knock those down, in comes the brain fog, depression, chronic fatigue, puffy face, poor libido, poor erections. Oh sure, my hands and feet can stay warmer and there are no more cold spells. So great… I am now a useless, depressed, brain-fogged lump with warm hands and feet… Hooray.
Rather than being upset about the stress metabolism, I am instead grateful that my body at least has the energy reserves to kick that system into gear in order to keep me going. It’s nice to know that I have a backup system ready to go when needed. I can simply just take the carbs way down and manage the subsequent edginess and sensitivity by taking Chinese licorice root, ashwagandha and nettle leaf, deep breathing, cold showers, good exercise. I’ll also have a bowl of banana nice-cream around 7pm-8pm so that the carbs stay low enough to keep the stress metabolism going (keep ME going), but still getting enough sugar for restful sleep. Keep using digestive bitters on the tongue to stimulate the vagus nerve and keep cleaning my liver and gallbladder. This is still FAR from ideal though. The low/no carb stress state diminishes my creativity (I am a musician) and I can tell that my full human potential and complexity is hindered. I’m probably going to try a month long T3 taper up - taper down protocol to see if I can clear out the T3/RT3 issue and then get into the relaxed state along with well-functioning oxidative metabolism.
I hope this triggered some interesting thoughts for you.
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