Lecarpetron's Insomina+digestion Log

[Lecarpetron]

I'm starting a log to keep a record of where I've been and what I'm trying.

First, current condition:
I'm a 32 y/o female, major problems are slow digestion, insomnia, and severe menstrual cramps. My waking temp is good, then drops to low 97s, then rises to normal around 2pm. Pulse is solid at 80-85.

History:
- I've had many skeletal issues, including minor hip dysplasia, surgery to move the plates of my skull as a baby, and bone tumors. I had frequent ear infections and deviated septum surgery as a kid, so I think I have poorly developed facial structure. Wisdom teeth impacted, tons of cavities. I think I wasn't able to use Calcium well due to other nutritional deficiencies growing up.
- Constipation since birth.
- After getting my period at age 11, I got severe cramps and cystic acne. At 17, I was put on The Pill to relieve these symptoms.
- Shortly after turning 24, I developed serious insomnia. I saw quite a few world-renowned sleep doctors as things deteriorated. One such doctor suggested that I take up distance running to "tire myself out"; I started doing half marathons, and shortly thereafter started eating vegetarian to try to be more "healthy" in hopes of curing my insomnia.
- At age 30, I was undereating thanks to vegetable consumption, plus running 25 miles per week. I got a stress fracture, a broken tooth, and dx of osteoporosis within a span of 6 weeks. I stopped taking The Pill, and my period disappeared. I quit running.
- At 31, I started eating everything after stumbling across Matt Stone. I got my period back.
- Now at 32, my period is getting more painful each month. I have to take large quantities of Mg citrate/Niacinamide to keep digestion going. I sleep ok, not great, ~6 hours per night. Since eating so much for nearly a year, I have gone from adult lifelong weight of 115 lb to 140 lb (I'm 5'6"). I'm guessing quite a bit of what I've gained has gone to bones/organs, with maybe 5-10 lb to excess fat. From time to time, my metabolism will pick up, and I'll have great digestion and feel my stomach rumbling, I'll feel warm, alert, social, sleep like a rock. It's a dramatic change, but I've yet to figure out precisely how to trigger it or keep it going. As time goes on, I hope to trigger this state more often and maintain it longer.

Goals:
- First and foremost, effortless sleep and digestion.
- Fix my painful periods so I am at a point where I feel healthy enough to have a baby. I am hoping I can get to this stage by age 35.
- Improve some aesthetics...I want to restore my hair and skin color, get white teeth, get rid of dry skin. I'm interested in experimenting with K2 in hopes of fixing minor skeletal deformities. I realize it may be too late for this, but my body reacted so strongly (albeit painfully) to K2 that I suspect a window may be at least cracked open.
- Direct my career in a way that gives me purpose and helps others.

Current food and supplements:
- Diet is pretty much normal American meals with a Ray Peat spin and PUFA avoidance. Lots of 2% milk (with coffee powder, sugar stirred in), salted oj, gelatin, scrambled eggs, fruit salad, hash browns, greek yogurt, quesadillas, chocolate, shrimp, raw oysters, carrot salad, but also some pasta, meat, pizza, croissants, burgers, and beer. 2500 cal/day, with pinches of salt constantly.
- Vitamins: K2 (15 mg/day split in 3 doses), A (Nutrisorb, 5000 IU), D3 (5000 IU), Niacinamide (750 mg at night)
- Minerals: Mg citrate (Natural Calm, 500 mg at night)
- Other: 1 grain NDT, 1 strip of Progest-E during whole cycle, a few aspirins a week

Planning to add:
- Cyproheptadine for sleep
- Copper peptides to put in my shampoo and face lotion
- LED red light, I read recently that this helps reset circadian rhythm
- weight lifting to improve body comp
- T3/T4, because NDT just doesn't seem strong enough to get the job done
- MitoLipin or any other super PUFA depleters

Comments welcome :) Thanks for reading. I plan to update once a month regarding temps, digestion, and sleep.

 

[Lecarpetron]

Yesterday I took 4 drops of BSP T3, one with each meal and before bed. 1 drop of BSP T4 before bed. This replaced my usual NDT. I felt warm and alert during the day...but also well into the night (felt overheated with racing heartbeat), until 2am when I finally fell asleep. Going to scale back to 2 drops T3 and one drop T4.

Also, I tried to go without processed food yesterday and ate only whole foods like milk, OJ, cottage cheese, fruit, dates, oysters, fish, mashed potatoes. I felt hungry at bedtime and had trouble eating enough to fall asleep. Need to brainstorm foods that are Peaty and nutrient dense but still warm, heavy, and satiating...some replacement for pizza, pasta, and burgers. Perhaps the T3 jacked up my calorie requirements.

 

[James IV]

Yesterday I took 4 drops of BSP T3, one with each meal and before bed. 1 drop of BSP T4 before bed. This replaced my usual NDT. I felt warm and alert during the day...but also well into the night (felt overheated with racing heartbeat), until 2am when I finally fell asleep. Going to scale back to 2 drops T3 and one drop T4.

Also, I tried to go without processed food yesterday and ate only whole foods like milk, OJ, cottage cheese, fruit, dates, oysters, fish, mashed potatoes. I felt hungry at bedtime and had trouble eating enough to fall asleep. Need to brainstorm foods that are Peaty and nutrient dense but still warm, heavy, and satiating...some replacement for pizza, pasta, and burgers. Perhaps the T3 jacked up my calorie requirements.

Have you ever tested your blood sugar? Your symptoms sound a lot like overload, rather than deprivation. If that's the case, eating more food will only exacerbate the problem.

 

[Lecarpetron]

Interesting, thanks. No, I've never had a blood sugar test. Which symptom makes you think I'm overloading food, specifically? I thought deprivation was more likely to lead to insomnia, slow transit, and bad cramps.

 

[Lecarpetron]

Update: fell asleep at 3:30am last night. Warning signs included a having a Sprite (CO2 craving?) after dinner, eating half a box of cereal with milk between 10pm and 1am (glucose shortage?), HR 90 bpm, and feeling the "zaps" every time I would get close to sleep. Not sure if the zaps are adrenalin or cortisol...it feels almost like a light burning sensation in my chest. Also, trying to sip air while going to bed made me feel like I was suffocating. I ate 1/3 bottle of Progest-E out of desperation and felt sedated but not relaxed.

It is 1000x easier to avoid the nighttime stress reaction than it is to get rid of it, which takes ~4 hours for me. I just can't figure out a precise recipe for avoiding it. No exercise, taking Mg, and daytime sun exposure are not enough. I think I am eating enough. Ordered cypro 3 weeks ago and it is still not here.

Side note, last period was awful. No abatement of cramps/nausea/acne yet whatsoever.

 

[Kray]

I'm starting a log to keep a record of where I've been and what I'm trying.

First, current condition:
I'm a 32 y/o female, major problems are slow digestion, insomnia, and severe menstrual cramps. My waking temp is good, then drops to low 97s, then rises to normal around 2pm. Pulse is solid at 80-85.

History:
- I've had many skeletal issues, including minor hip dysplasia, surgery to move the plates of my skull as a baby, and bone tumors. I had frequent ear infections and deviated septum surgery as a kid, so I think I have poorly developed facial structure. Wisdom teeth impacted, tons of cavities. I think I wasn't able to use Calcium well due to other nutritional deficiencies growing up.
- Constipation since birth.
- After getting my period at age 11, I got severe cramps and cystic acne. At 17, I was put on The Pill to relieve these symptoms.
- Shortly after turning 24, I developed serious insomnia. I saw quite a few world-renowned sleep doctors as things deteriorated. One such doctor suggested that I take up distance running to "tire myself out"; I started doing half marathons, and shortly thereafter started eating vegetarian to try to be more "healthy" in hopes of curing my insomnia.
- At age 30, I was undereating thanks to vegetable consumption, plus running 25 miles per week. I got a stress fracture, a broken tooth, and dx of osteoporosis within a span of 6 weeks. I stopped taking The Pill, and my period disappeared. I quit running.
- At 31, I started eating everything after stumbling across Matt Stone. I got my period back.
- Now at 32, my period is getting more painful each month. I have to take large quantities of Mg citrate/Niacinamide to keep digestion going. I sleep ok, not great, ~6 hours per night. Since eating so much for nearly a year, I have gone from adult lifelong weight of 115 lb to 140 lb (I'm 5'6"). I'm guessing quite a bit of what I've gained has gone to bones/organs, with maybe 5-10 lb to excess fat. From time to time, my metabolism will pick up, and I'll have great digestion and feel my stomach rumbling, I'll feel warm, alert, social, sleep like a rock. It's a dramatic change, but I've yet to figure out precisely how to trigger it or keep it going. As time goes on, I hope to trigger this state more often and maintain it longer.

Goals:
- First and foremost, effortless sleep and digestion.
- Fix my painful periods so I am at a point where I feel healthy enough to have a baby. I am hoping I can get to this stage by age 35.
- Improve some aesthetics...I want to restore my hair and skin color, get white teeth, get rid of dry skin. I'm interested in experimenting with K2 in hopes of fixing minor skeletal deformities. I realize it may be too late for this, but my body reacted so strongly (albeit painfully) to K2 that I suspect a window may be at least cracked open.
- Direct my career in a way that gives me purpose and helps others.

Current food and supplements:
- Diet is pretty much normal American meals with a Ray Peat spin and PUFA avoidance. Lots of 2% milk (with coffee powder, sugar stirred in), salted oj, gelatin, scrambled eggs, fruit salad, hash browns, greek yogurt, quesadillas, chocolate, shrimp, raw oysters, carrot salad, but also some pasta, meat, pizza, croissants, burgers, and beer. 2500 cal/day, with pinches of salt constantly.
- Vitamins: K2 (15 mg/day split in 3 doses), A (Nutrisorb, 5000 IU), D3 (5000 IU), Niacinamide (750 mg at night)
- Minerals: Mg citrate (Natural Calm, 500 mg at night)
- Other: 1 grain NDT, 1 strip of Progest-E during whole cycle, a few aspirins a week

Planning to add:
- Cyproheptadine for sleep
- Copper peptides to put in my shampoo and face lotion
- LED red light, I read recently that this helps reset circadian rhythm
- weight lifting to improve body comp
- T3/T4, because NDT just doesn't seem strong enough to get the job done
- MitoLipin or any other super PUFA depleters

Comments welcome :) Thanks for reading. I plan to update once a month regarding temps, digestion, and sleep.

Hello- I wonder if you would be able to give an update from this original post with regard to your comment on "minor hip dysplasia". Was this something diagnosed and if so, at what age, and was there ever any treatment given? I am curious if your running ever exacerbated it? As of today, are you under treatment for dysplasia, or have any current symptoms?

I have a female family member who may have hip dysplasia, and who may be more interested in alternative therapy, rather than conventional.

Anything you might have to offer is appreciated, and I hope your overall situation has greatly improved.