new and trying

[healthbound]

Hi!

What's your age? 42, female

How did you find Ray Peat's work? I came across RP's work a couple of years ago. A lot sounded very good to me, but I couldn't wrap my head around eating sugar, so I must have moved on. I am constantly trying to figure out how to feel well and came across RP's work again. His work about hormones really resonates with me and I have been researching all of his work and the forum non-stop for a week or two.

How long have you been Peating? A week. I still don't really know what I am doing, but I am trying.

What is your favorite part about Peating? Being able to consume milk & cheese without guilt (dairy seems to be a dirty word in the holistic health world).

What is the worst part? The sugar is a little confusing. I have been hypoglycemic for the last 12-15 years. I just started adding in sugar and I think I may have gotten a little carried away and felt kind of ill two days ago. I think I have to mostly stick to fruit and a little honey.

What are your health issues? 5 1/2 years ago (right after the birth of my second child) I had major thyroid problems (I think my pregnancy threw my endocrine system completely out of whack!). I lost all of the baby weight (and then some) two months after delivery, I started losing hair, sweating a lot... I went to an endocrinologist and they diagnosed me with Hashi's. 4 years ago I was diagnosed with breast cancer (estrogen positive!). In hindsight, i have always been estrogen dominant. My hormones are not on track. I feel better than i did a year ago, but I don't feel wonderful (which is my goal). My sleep hasn't been great for years (I used to be a rock star sleeper). My hair is still falling out way more than i like. I feel tired more than i should be and i have anxiety. My gut says that if i could get my hormones straightened out, that i would be in good shape. For the record, I have been working diligently on my health for the last 4 years: paleo, yoga, supplements, trying to get sleep, almost no sugar (b/c all of the literature says that sugar feeds cancer), little to no alcohol.

What does your diet consist of? If you post a detailed outline of your diet members can take a look at it and maybe see things that can help optimize it.
typical day:
coffee (with cream, honey & coconut oil), my version of an orange julius (oj, milk, one ice cube, one egg yolk, gelatin, couple drops of stevia blended in mixer), cheese, small salad (always with lots of carrots), roast beef, g-free pretzels, steak, potatoes, cooked green beans in butter, yogurt

A couple of questions:
1.) I did not realize that melatonin was not good for me, for the last 4+ years I have been taking a lot (sometimes 10mg a night) to help get to sleep. I have just completely stopped the melatonin but in its place, I have been using Benadryl (I need something to help get to sleep). Is Benadryl ok to take nightly?
2.) I know RP does not like yogurt? What is the problem with it?
3.) My new supplement list:
aspirin, milk thistle, b complex, b1 100mg, niacinamide 750mg, digestive enzymes, magnesium, vit e, p5p (just got this today - it's 50 mg - I was going to take it every other day), vitamin A should be here tomorrow. Any other suggestions for lowering estrogen and cortisol?

If anyone has any advice or suggestions for me, I welcome the info!!! I have been on the forum constantly for the last week and a half and truly appreciate everyone's contribution. :)

 

[Tarmander]

Welcome! As far as sleep goes, a lot of people like Cypro. I haven't tried it but I do take l-theanine before bed and that seems to really help with sleep.

As for advice. Don't get carried away with the supps, in my experience taking too many all at once really sped me up and was stressful. Bottom line, if supps interfere with my sleep, I hold off. Start on liver asap. That above anything else gives me a lot of nutrition without the danger of over doing it on supps.

Remember the point isn't to reach some pancea of health but to be de-stressed, relaxed, and happy. Good luck! Take it slow!

 

[Blinkyrocket]

I've taken Benadryl too and it really feels good, relaxing and warm, and sleepy, I would choose to be sleepy all day over stressed although I guess that's just unrealistic :)
Benadryl is great at low doses but it can have SSRI function at doses of 150+ mg
You only need like 6 mg for a hypnotic effect, drugs apparently have different actions at different doses, and it's antihistamine action is at low doses of 6 mg or less I think. Which makes me wonder why the tablets come in 25mg.

 

[tara]

healthbound

If you've been avoiding sugar for a long time (I did, too, after reading advice about hypoglycemia many years ago), it may take a while for your system to adpt to a change to more sugar. Fruit gives you useful minerals, along with the sugar, so that's good. Peat has said that a craving for sugar usually indicates a need for sugar, so these days I tend to follow my taste, which has me drinking a lot of juice. I've eaten/drunk a lot more sugar in the last 2 years than the previou two decades, and this last year I've had very little trouble with what I think was sugar dropping too low/fast.

There are threads on sleep. For me, I think key factors for good sleep include eating enough - up until the last few months I often needed snacks in the night to get back to sleep, keeping warm, and retraining breating to more nasal, diaphragmatic. I've used Progest-E and cyproheptadine for other reasons, and they helped with sleep too.

One of Peat's concerns about eating large amonts of yogurt is the lactic acid, which he sees as a drain on energy (a spoonful for flavouring is probably no big deal). Some people here eat strained or Greek yogurt, from which much of the lactic-acid-containing whey has been removed. It has higher protein than straight curdled milk. IIRC, he found a cup of yogurt or keffir could trigger migraines for him. People's tolerance probably varies.

50mg P5P sounds like a lot, even every other day. 5mg might be a better dose - maybe you can split your tablets upinto several pieces? Haidut has posted on this recently.

Good luck. :)