Lyme, Weight, and Blood Glucose

[New_to_Peat]

Hi folks! So for my entire life, I've been stick thin, and spent many of my early years very sick. Fortunately I seemed to get reasonably healthy in my late teens and 20's, other than some arthritis that spontaneously traveled from joint to joint (which I was unaware is a symptom of chronic Lyme, and I had enough tick bites as a child). My temperature has always been low (96's and 97's), but it didn't stop me from feeling like a furnace. I also had a bout of thyroiditis in my mid-teens, but thyroid function fully returned. Also had Shingles when I was 12. From 16 or so on, other than a few sinus infections, I've been healthy.

So starting last year I started feeling chilled during times I had never been cold before, and my weight was dropping without a change in diet. I've been around 150 lbs. for the last decade at 5'10", but my weight dropped under 140. I actually tried a bit of Peating, using more milk, oj, and coconut oil just to get more calories. I developed a wonderful case of SIBO that took me some 6 months to work my way out of. I visited the doctor, blood tests were normal (cholesterol was 202 or something, slightly high), he said I was fine.

Around three months ago I started daily gentle walks, sometimes I'd hike for an hour on some nice trails I'd found, or go for a bike ride. Nothing too strenuous. The gassy SIBO feelings had gone, but I was 135 lbs. and still concerned. Then last Monday I started feeling like I had the flu. By Thursday I had a very visible Erythema Migrans rash (looks like a bullseye) that is the calling card of Lyme. I've been on Doxyclycline since then, a two week course. My weight's down to about 131 now and my energy is non-existent. I really need calories to fight this, but I don't know where to get them.

My blood sugar has been giving me problems. My A1C and fasting glucose have always been fine in the past, but I've been getting dizzy occasionally after eating and decided to check what's going on. Today, fasting glucose ws 98 (yesterday it was 88), breakfast was two eggs, plenty of butter, sauteed mixed greens, a handful of black raspberries, and a banana. One hour after eating it was 116, two hours, down to 102. Seems okay. Yesterday, a ham sandwich and banana brought it from 91 pre-meal, to 165 2-hours later, 139 1-hour later, and 82 by 3-hours later. A couple cups of watermelon, plus some Kefir and an added tablespoon of cream spiked it about 20 points at one hour and it was almost baseline by two hours. So uh, apparently bread (maybe starch) is a bad option (I know it's bad for other reasons, but I've yet to fully eliminate grains), however, none of these meals helped my sluggishness.

One thing I've found out through cronometer is I haven't been eating nearly enough for a while now. I get 1600-1800 calories on average, mostly from milk, fruits, vegetables (some leafy greens, but not a lot, more so asparagus, potatoes, sweet potatoes, and veggy fruits like tomatoes and zucchini), some meat (chicken, beef, low fat fish), butter. Raw milk is illegal to sell where I'm at, and I've found out from the crap I have to choose from (highly pasteurized and homogenized) that I'm better off with just a glass or two a day. Milk combined with OJ is probably a no-go. Oranges (and just about any whole fruit) with anything else is fine. For some reason I bloat badly after eating coconut oil, even though it caused no problems the first year I ate it. Cream and butter cause no problems.

So what are my options? Go crazy with cream? Go crazy with orange juice? For whatever reason I tolerate whole fruits better than juice, but it also makes it harder to get easy calories. I need at least another 500 calories. I don't know how I'd respond to ice cream. Can fat (and not just polyunsaturated fat) really reduce glucose absorption, raising blood sugar? The biggest problem seems to be when I eat a huge meal, I'm satiated for many hours, and cramming more food on top causes it to sit like a freaking rock in my gut. Maybe I need to supplement some bitter greens or HCl.

So yeah, I'm sorry for the really long post, but I could really use some dietary advice. Once this course of antibiotics is up, I need to make the decision of seeing a Lyme specialist and undergoing many months of high dose antibiotic treatment, or relying on my own immune system (and the migrating arthritis makes it a distinct possibility I've had chronic Lyme for a while now). Either why, I think putting on some weight would help me.

 

[Giraffe]

Hi New_to_Peat, it seems your post got overlooked somehow.

Have you found a way to increase your calories?

I think for me the introduction of gelatine to my diet made a huge difference, also eating fruit (instead of vegetables) with meat & co. I suddendly was hungry all the time for a couple of weeks. I think I had to catch up with something.

 

[New_to_Peat]

Hi, thanks for the response! I have put back on five pounds, unfortunately I lost five more pounds after I posted, so no net gain, but I'm feeling much better than I was. I had to completely cut out carbs for a week while I was fighting the infection because they were making me feel like I was going to pass out, but my glucose metabolism has seemingly recovered, or at least, fruit doesn't seem to affect it much. So basically I've been gorging on all the fresh fruit that's been available over the summer. I plan on either trying a very high carb, low fat diet to see if I can improve my insulin sensitivity further, or just settling on a higher fat diet with carbs (mostly from fruit and some milk) staying around 100 grams a day.

I definitely want to try out gelatin, or making bone stock. Do you think it's important to get gelatin from grass fed sources (like the Great Lakes brand), or does it not really matter? I've also considered just supplementing some glycine alone since it supposedly helps with insulin sensitivity, and trying to get 10 grams of it a day through gelatin alone would get expensive.

 

[Giraffe]

If I were you I wouldn't do any dramatic changes to my diet. I think in the long run highish carb/lowish fat/adequate good quality protein is the best for most people, but as it is now you need to focus on getting in enough nutrients without upsetting your gut. You will see what a difference this makes. :)

When I introduced gelatine to my diet I used cheap products; I assume they were all porcine. In the beginning I prepared small batches of jello (3-5 g gelatine daily), then when I realized that I love the stuff and feel good with it, I slowly increased the amounts.

Do you tolerate the combination of fruits and dairy products (yoghurt, curd)? In my diet this was staple as long as I can remember. Now I have added gelatine to the mix.

I know that Great Lakes bovine gelatine has a (slightly) better amino acid composition than most (or all?) other brands, but I benefited just as well from the cheap ones.

http://raypeat.com/articles/articles/gelatin.shtml

Some types of cell damage are prevented almost as well by alanine and proline as by glycine, so the use of gelatin, rather than glycine, is preferable, especially when the gelatin is associated with its normal biochemicals. For example, skin is a rich source of steroid hormones, and cartilage contains “Mead acid,” which is itself antiinflammatory. - RP

 

[tara]

New_to_Peat

https://raypeatforum.com/forums/posts/96587/ I think in the long run highish carb/lowish fat/adequate good quality protein is the best for most people, but as it is now you need to focus on getting in enough nutrients without upsetting your gut. You will see what a difference this makes. :)

I agree. At least without upsetting your gut more than necessary - there may not be a way around it being uncomfortable to begin with. Chronic undereating can cause gastroparesis and slowed peristalsis. But eating enough consistently for a while can apparently often help towards reversing that.
I think high blood sugars can sometimes be a consequence of undereating. But once blood sugar regulation is compromised, it is not always easy to get it back in top form again. There are several threads discussing that.

For someof us, one banana and a few berries would not be enough carbohydrate to balance a couple of eggs. I think I'd need more than that.

Cholesterol at 202 doesn't look like too high to me. You may need that as a substrate for ramping up your metabolism. The top of the 'normal' range may be a good place to be.

Do you have any recent thyroid hormone test results? Peat tends to interpret them differently than many

Have you had a look at the top of the Diet subforum?

Can you make yourself smoothies and such-like with your fruit so that you can eat more of it more easily? Good that cream and butter cause no problems - that can help with getting in more fuel. I like cream on fruit salad or in smoothies (actually, cream is delicious, full stop. :)). You could also try adding a bit of sucrose to milk/fruit/smoothies/fruit juice jellies. I find I handle commercial fruit juice better if I add a bit of baking soda to it. How do you do with potatoes? Some people avoid them because starch gives them trouble, but if they don't bother you badly, they've got a bit going for them - some useful protein and minerals along with the calories.

If you haven't already seen it, there're some thoughts in this thread about recovery from undereating (not all directly from Peat):
viewtopic.php?f=11&t=4028

I think there are people who seem to have largely recovered from possible Lymes by attending to the rest of their metabolism.
Hope you can be one of them.

Good luck.

 

[New_to_Peat]

Hello again, I'm sorry for being away for so long, but life has a way of getting the way of things. I've been consuming plenty of gelatin, fruit, and milk. My weight's climbed another five pounds, unfortunately all of it seems to have gone straight to my waistline. My blood sugar levels, which had recovered somewhat, are now getting out of control. 20-30 carbs is shooting it over 160. I enjoy potatoes, and tolerate them just fine, but they hammer my blood sugar. I'm beginning to suspect I have LADA, since I don't fit the typical Type 2 Diabetic and really shouldn't be this insulin resistant. Unfortunately my doctor is refusing to do anymore testing until my A1c hits 7, and seems to think it ridiculous that I could be a late developing Type 1. I'm considering just paying out of pocket to have antibodies tested to see if my body's attacking my beta cells, as well as C-peptide to check my current beta cell output. If I do have LADA, I'm left with the question of whether or not I want to eliminate dairy completely, as there's a strong correlation between the disease and casein. It would suck, as not only is it nutritious, but I've always enjoyed it. I'm not even sure avoiding it would stop the auto-immune response if it's already started (and that's if casein is even a factor).

Here are my Thyroid results from back in early July:

TSH - 0.957
Total T4 - 9.7
Free T4 - 1.56
Free T3 - 3.0

The Free T3 is a little low. Total T3 wasn't measured, so I don't know if it's poor conversion from T4 to T3, or T3 to free T3.

 

[Giraffe]

Sorry to hear of your new trouble. I was thinking about you today when I read an older thread - Peating and viral load - personal experiences. Maybe you find something for you there.

Regarding free T3 and free T4: Peat's view is that the idea of "free hormones" being the active ones is rubbish. You might want to read here post 100090. When I searched this (internet) I read that in most cases T3 and free T3 are closely linked to each other. Unusual ratios are seen in certain diseases.

In your original post you wrote that you tolerate fruit fine, but get too little calories this way. Are dried fruits an option?

post 101394 If I do have LADA, I'm left with the question of whether or not I want to eliminate dairy completely, as there's a strong correlation between the disease and casein. It would suck, as not only is it nutritious, but I've always enjoyed it.

If you still enjoy dairy, it would be strange if it caused you trouble. Bias warning: I believe in cravings.

post 101394 I enjoy potatoes, and tolerate them just fine, but they hammer my blood sugar.

Does eating them with plenty of butter help?