Peata's Log For Weight Loss & Misc

[Peata]

Some things about supplements...

The other day I found sodium chloride tablets at a little pharmacy. It was the last bottle on the shelf, I got the impression they may never restock it. So I bought it just to have on hand. I've taken 1/2 tablet here and there, with food. No problem. The other night I had a cramp and took a whole tablet. Within a couple of minutes I knew something was going wrong. I developed nausea and had to run to the bathroom. I vomited four times - complete emptying of dinner from a couple hours before. Then I was fine with no lingering nausea. I guess I know what to take if I ever need to cause myself to vomit for some reason. Otherwise, I won't be taking a full tablet again.

Oddly, the only supplements I've felt I want/need to take on a regular basis these days are caffeine pills and theanine. For a week, all my other stuff is sitting on the shelf without enticing me to use it or feeling like I need to. I was taking various things - sometimes Vit. E, glycine daily, bits of Cyproheptadine, Dramamine, small amount of B complex, magnesium, b1, and more. I will probably taken some of them again.

I was taking B1 quite a lot, but it hasn't given me the effect I got a couple years ago from it, so I probably don't need the extra atm.

The theanine I was using was from Sundown brand - only kind of theanine I could find in town. It is a "Stress Formula" and besides theanine, contains chamomile, lemon balm and lavender. Not sure of the estrogenicity of some of those, but it has worked well for relaxing, counter-acting jitters of caffeine, and helping reduce cough. I just received my pure theanine powder today so I'll be using it.

One last thing, I got some Lion's Mane powder because I needed one more thing in the cart to get free shipping and it seemed interesting. Haven't tried it yet. I feel like I need just a little more brain boost that I'm not getting from the caffeine and theanine. I have OK energy and I can function at work. It's not so much a brain fog as just being a little dulled - memory could be a bit sharper, thoughts could be a little clearer and less ocd-ish. I would like a bit more focus too. I'm OK when I need to be, but it seems like a little more strain than should take. I may start the lion's mane today. I hear it is a cumulative thing that can take weeks to show any improvement, if it's going to.

 

[Peata]

My weight started to go back up again. I've been having one of those cycles where some of the "pms" symptoms come directly AFTER the period. Cravings, mild breast tenderness, bloat, etc.

I experimented for 4 - 5 days with nicotine (gum) to boost metabolism and reduce some fat, lower estrogen, boost cognition, etc. But it never seemed to do much for me. Maybe some increased temps, but I couldn't get past the drunk-but not drunk-feelings. Granted, they were mild, but I didn't like feeling mildy nauseated and head spinning, and just an overall "blah" feeling. My head did not get clearer. Plus my appetite actually increased, especially for things like chocolate cake and candy. That could have been a weird estrogen thing going on like I mentioned above, the rare time I get PMS cravings and such after period instead of before. So I can't blame the weight on the nicotine.

Using nicotine probably sounds desperate, and maybe it was, but I was hoping I could try it for a week and see if I noticed any improvement then go from there. Using it like we do caffeine and some people do other uncouplers. Turns out, I didn't even want to continue longer than I did. I didn't worry about getting "hooked" because I'm of the camp that believes it's the other thousands of chemicals in cigarettes and smoking itself that makes it addictive, and that nicotine probably isn't anymore "addicting" than coffee, but I'm just stating my opinion. And how it applies to me. Not anyone else. I did not get the slightest addiction with the small amount I used for the short amount of time I used it.

So anyhoo... I am going back to what I tried earlier in the year = lowering fat and starch. Now that my metabolism seems to be working better, perhaps lower fat will have an effect on me now.

 

[Dean]

I've been considering giving nicotine a try myself. Sorry it didn't work out for you.

 

[Peata]

Also, I did not start the Lion's Mane after all. I am not sure if I will anytime soon, but I do like it as a flavoring for gravies and sauces. It is a very rich, delicious mushroomy - umami - flavor.

 

[Peata]

A couple other thoughts after doing more reading and thinking. I do believe my weight increases and persistence of weight has to do with elevated stress hormones mostly. I came to this woe after a lot of calorie restriction and low carb. I couldn't really lose any weight easily when I started this, but I was able to lose some in Fall 2013 when I got serious about it, until I hit a very stressful patch of life in Nov. 2013. And the weight started packing on by the end of Jan 2014. I was eating a lot more fat then but was also stressed a lot of the time. Estrogen has always been a problem for me, and I'm sure insulin not being able to work properly at times, and inflammation.

I am going to keep on the l-theanine as it doesn't seem to cause me any problems. Before this past weekend I was starting to do real well on it, but then I had the estrogen issue and also lowered/stopped the theanine dose temporarily. So now that I'm back on track I intend to keep taking the higher amounts (prob at least 800 mg. daily) and see if getting the stress hormones and serotonin good and lowered will help. I'm also using some of the same supplements I did in fall 2013 when I was able to lose some weight, such as a little energy drink powder (has caffeine, taurine, B vitamins), some B1, maybe a little aspirin and more of the "peat basics" I was eating then. It's hard to remember exactly because my chronometer got wiped out somehow back in July 2014 so I lost all those notes and records of what I was eating and supplementing. I can piece a lot of it together from memory and my old "3 months in" log. I think I was taking small amounts of niacinamide then, but I don't have any now.

So basically I'm going to try to do lower fat, lower starch, higher sugar. Supplements: theanine, energy drink (for b's, caffeine, taurine), maybe a little alka seltzer, B1, caffeine and/or coffee. I'm not going to fuss about calories as much because I think my body got used to the lower calories after months of it. Which isn't good. Maybe I need to shake things up just a bit. For exercise, I do some walking and pushups, crunches.

 

[Peata]

Open to more suggestions.

 

[charlie]

Do you even Pansterone?

I am with you on Theanine, but doing small doses of it, if I go big headache starts to come on. Could this be the effect of draining serotonin too fast from the brain? Brain calls on fuel to quick for the body to keep up with? I wonder...

Agree on b-vitamins, obviously I am haiduts brew because dude is genius.

Caffeine I seemed to naturally push away from, so gonna go with that and see what happens. I eat when I am hungry, and if I get more hungry I eat more, and sometimes you gets so hungry like Giraffe just posted about, that you are still hungry even with a full belly. So I will just pour the sugar on then, any way I can get it. Honey is my new love. Although gotta start of low on that too.


A relaxing walk in breath taking scenery, or even out in the woods will do wonders.

 

[Peata]

post 106389 Do you even Pansterone?

You should make a funny infomercial for haidut's products, Charlie.

No, I haven't tried that one yet, but I'm looking into it.

post 106389 I am with you on Theanine, but doing small doses of it, if I go big headache starts to come on. Could this be the effect of draining serotonin too fast from the brain? Brain calls on fuel to quick for the body to keep up with? I wonder...

You may be on the right track with that, or something to do with the MDMA receptors or GABA. Theanine has been gentle and only good for me, thank goodness no headaches. I get enough of those from niacinamide (even low doses) so I had to stop experimenting with it. I hope you figure the theanine out, if you want to use it. Maybe haidut or someone has an idea.

 

[charlie]

post 106402 You should make a funny infomercial for haidut's products, Charlie.

I would not put my name behind it like I have if I was not confident in the product.

I truly hope he never outsources on the final product. Maybe he could put someone to work in the community or something, or quit his 9-5 and do it himself.

 

[Peata]

post 106404

post 106402 You should make a funny infomercial for haidut's products, Charlie.

I would not put my name behind it like I have if I was not confident in the product.

I truly hope he never outsources on the final product. Maybe he could put someone to work in the community or something, or quit his 9-5 and do it himself.

Definitely.

I was just teasing about the informercial, though I do think it would be funny if someone made one for youtube.

 

[charlie]

Do you even Thea?

 

[Peata]

Well, I have stopped the weight gain that was slowly creeping back, now just hoping to see more actual loss.

So far, only one cystic acne lesion since ovulation, and a couple smaller pimples. That's a huge improvement. I normally have cysts all around jawline. We will see what the next week holds.

This week my chronic diarrhea is back. I don't know what to think. I guess I'll have to start the Pepto Bismol treatment again. But I don't understand why the serotonin lowering things have never helped this. I guess because it's bacterial... ? Especially since the Pepto worked on it before when anti-serotonin does not. My diet has changed somewhat in the last week. I have been eating a lot of starch. Too much, no doubt. Maybe that tempted some bad flora in there.

 

[Peata]

My gut has taken a serious hit. At times I feel some cramping deep down similar to what happened last year when I took a course of antibiotic that nearly destroyed my gut. I had the worst cramps of my life then and I won't go into the detail, but I had to take med for pain to stay on top of it. Later a colonoscopy showed no problem.

But now the bad feeling (along with diarrhea all day) has come back. The pain isn't anywhere near what it was, on a scale of 1 - 10 the pain was 10 last year, but maybe 3 now. I'm just saying it feels similar, the same kind of pain in the same area, just a lot milder. But if the antibiotic last year did something to my gut bacteria to cause the pain and other symptoms, and then I'm having a milder but similar experience now - the only thing I know I did differently recently is up the starch. So maybe that starch has things off balance. Besides the diarrhea and cramps, I've had a lot of gas.

Of course I will lay off the starch. I did try a cup of leftover potato soup this a.m. but there came the symptoms, including the weird head feelings and whatnot - I had to take 1/2 Dramamine to get it under control.

I did not increase the starch for any particular reason, I dunno, it just worked out that I ate a lot this week. I truly hope that is the reason for these problems and by decreasing it I will be OK.

So the starch is going back down and I'll rely more on fruit and sugars again. I will use Pepto as well.

btw: I am not going NO starch, as I was doing fine when it was just lower than it is now. The problem seemed to come when I increased starch and also ate a lot of pasta, potatoes, a little beans.

 

[cantstoppeating]

post 106388 Open to more suggestions.

I believe it has been some time since you've been on this Peating journey.

In that time, have you managed to cobble together a few dollars for some elementary blood tests? A liver panel? Cholesterol? Prolactin?

Good day.

 

[SQu]

Sorry to hear. Apologies if I'm stating the obvious but I've really noticed the seasonal nature of your up and down turns. True for many or most of course but yours really stand out. If there's any seasonal thing you haven't already focused on perhaps it might be worth re/considering. Sun, light come to mind of course.

 

[tara]

post 109366 btw: I am not going NO starch, as I was doing fine when it was just lower than it is now. The problem seemed to come when I increased starch and also ate a lot of pasta, potatoes, a little beans.

Eating lots of wheat used to go with mild diarrhea for me. Other starchy foods did not do it. So I mostly switched (way before reading Peat) to rice noodles, rice, oat porridge, pancakes made with other grains, 'gluten-free' breads, etc. Didn't solve any of my other problems, but sorted the chronic low level diarrhea I'd been living with for years.

 

[Peata]

Thanks guys, I'm doing well since I cut way down on all the starch just in the last 24 hours. Other than that potato soup yesterday morning, only starch since then is half a bagel this a.m. without problems. The bloating went down and the diarrhea is gone today. Cramps are gone. I feel a lot better, for sure.

I'm eating low fat proteins like Weight Watchers cheese sticks, boneless skinless chicken breasts with homemade honey mustard sauce, occasional fish, nonfat yogurt, skim milk. Carbs are the highest macro and protein is medium. I try to keep fat at 10% or less.

I probably sound worse off in my posts than I am overall, I was just focusing on that problem. I like to give updates for good or bad.

And yes, I said before that I've had bloodwork and testing over the last year and nothing comes back that is abnormal other than issues I already knew about, such as mild hiatel hernia. I've been tested negative for SIBO, lactose intolerance, parasites, had endoscopy, colonoscopy. I've had blood tests and they are in normal ranges. Over my life I've had hormones tested and they are always normal, but I know that does not tell what is in the tissues. So I am done with tests for now. I am going by how I feel and making adjustments.

Things are going better. My gut feels so much better today, and besides the improvements I mentioned above, I've also had more energy and clearer thinking today. I'm in last week of luteal phase and hormones seem much better. I made a post elsewhere that I may find and paste here about how I think my fatty liver is healing. At least going by improvements I've been seeing in the last 2.5 weeks.

Plus, I am seeing the scale go down a little again. I (re)lost 5# in 2.5 weeks since I changed my diet (except for the setback this week with the starches).

 

[Peata]

Just noting: I recently tried to increase cyproheptadine, but I will reduce it again. For about two weeks, I was taking one mg. a few times per day and a little more at night. Then I started doing 4 mg + at night, but it's left me groggy and irritable during the day. I am not sure if it's caused a little depression too. So I'm going back to the lower dose. One good thing is, it doesn't seem to have increased my appetite like it used to when I took it all the times before.

 

[cantstoppeating]

post 109575
...

And yes, I said before that I've had bloodwork and testing over the last year and nothing comes back that is abnormal other than issues I already knew about, such as mild hiatel hernia. I've been tested negative for SIBO, lactose intolerance, parasites, had endoscopy, colonoscopy. I've had blood tests and they are in normal ranges. Over my life I've had hormones tested and they are always normal, but I know that does not tell what is in the tissues. So I am done with tests for now. I am going by how I feel and making adjustments.

...

By "normal" you mean within lab reference ranges?

I'm sure you've browsed these forums long enough to know that Peat-centric ranges differ to lab reference ranges.

I'm assuming you also know that Prolactin is a reliable indicator of serotonin and estrogen activity.

I'm also assuming you've read most of haidut's threads and the numerous recommendations for blood tests like a liver panel and its usefulness in diagnosing liver issues, for example.

Are you saying that you did a bunch of blood tests, saw that they were within the lab reference ranges and then called it quits? And that you'd rather go by your whimsical and fluctuating feelings?

 

[thebigpeatowski]

Hi Peata... a few thoughts: I'm in agreement with SQu on the sunshine or red light or a tanning booth.

Also, even though you've tested negative for SIBO, those tests can be inaccurate.

Regardless, you have an irritable bowel. All the symptoms that you describe stem from the dreaded hormonal/gut flora imbalance. You don't really need to test for Prolactin. You already know what estrogen symptoms feel like. An irritated gut can make too much serotonin, so ya don't really need to waste time and money on testing for these things that you already know are issues.

I react to Cyproheptadine the same way, way tooooo groggy and depressed the next day.

What works better for me is good old fashioned Russian Penicillin a.k.a. Raw Garlic, just one dose followed by the carrot salad with stop the endotoxin driven estrogen/serotonin mess in it's tracks...oh, and total avoidance of wheat, even small amounts will keep feeding the microbes that you're trying to eradicate.

Btw in my completely non-expert uneducated opinion, these microbes are responsible for weight gain and difficulty managing blood sugar too.

I haven't got caught up on everybody's logs, but have you tried going completely 100% grain free for 30 days just to see what happens?