Pointless' Log

[Pointless]

So here's my log. I'll try to keep this to the point (haaaaah.... )

Here are some issues I'm hoping to address through diet and supplements:

"Crohn's disease" (or inflammatory bowel disease as I prefer to call it because I feel that doesn't miscategorize the issue)
mild acne
red, patchy skin somewhat like rosacea but without the flushing
hemorrhoids
gallstones
low body temperature
trouble sleeping without lowering cortisol
premature ejaculation, low libido, soft erections

Ummm I'm sure I have more issues but that's all I can think of

Biometrics: waking body temp used to be 96.0, but now it's been raising. Daytime temp is usually around 97.0-97.5 but went up to 98.0 with the help of MB and caffeine. It was once at 98.3 but I don't know why and I haven't been able to get it that high since. I breathe very slowly, and a hyperventilate when I breathe at a "normal" rate. I can slow my breathing to around once every 55 seconds and keep it there if I breathe very deeply while relaxing my mind. I think this points to a metabolic issue.

Diet: pork, rice, butter, lots of salt incl potassium (is added potassium bad in the Peat paradigm?), eggs, sandwiches, ice cream, cookies. I'm looking to eliminate the cookies and eat more fruit and juice. The fiber gives me gas, but I think I can build up a tolerance.

Exercise: lift weights. I go heavy but just do 1 set of around 4 or 5 exercises. I also do intervals. I'll do 4 intervals for 35 seconds going to my absolute maximum. I do this about twice a week. I'm also interested in deep breathing and meditation as an adjunct to healing. With deep breathing, I can raise my body temperature .4 to .5 degrees reliably.

I'm a supplement guy and have tried dozens and dozens. Supplements I currently take:
A Life Extension multivitamin
Vitamin C (helps with hemorrhoids)
P5P and zinc 150 mg each (also helps with hemorrhoids. I have huge B6 and zinc needs. I get rings on my fingernails even taking 50 mg zinc. Pyroluria caused by liver sluggishness?)
Riboflavin (very low ferritin, my gastroenterologist wants me on iron. I was taking that, but it upsets my digestion and my ferritin never got to where it needs to be. It keeps going down)
Calcium (I have to take a ton of calcium with every meal, 1.8 grams. If I don't, I get diarrhea. This could have to do with toxic bile, pH, or maybe calcium bioavailability through the fat solubles. I donno, but I don't want to have to take this much calcium forever.)
Silicic acid (I was doing a heavy metal detox before. This is a supplement I looked into to chelate aluminum. I found that it lowered my cortisol as indicated by sleepiness and increased eczema with higher doses. A few other things helped also, but I take this at night to help me sleep. I stopped with melatonin because it's metabolism-lowering.)

As for a heavy metal detox, I now believe that a slow metabolism is the root cause of toxic buildup.

Recently, I have started experimenting with some Peat supplements:
Caffeine (200 mg is waaaay too much, even with a heavy meal. I'm very sensitive to caffeine. I had like 12 bowel movements that day and was very jittery and only slept about 30 minutes that night. I tried a quarter tablet yesterday, and it wasn't as bad.)
Methylene blue (2 drops of Kordon methylene blue from the fish store. Good focus and nootropic effects. The combination of MB and 50 mg caffeine substantially raised my body temperature which is very tough to do)
EstroBan (I tried this last night and slept like a rock. Vitamin D makes my calcium therapy ineffective, but we will see what happens. I'm certain I have issues with the fat solubles)
Vitamin E (stomach upset, headaches, lack of appetite. Will reduce dose. I'm not combining it with EstroBan)

I have also ordered these and want to experiment on them:
Lapodin (hoping it helps with sleep, serotonin, estrogen, inflammation. Aloe is a common remedy for Crohn's disease, so maybe this extract can help without exacerbating diarrhea)
MitoLipin (lots of clinical trials on inflammatory bowel disease for this one. I've tried phosphatidylcholine in the past, and I loved how it felt)
TyroMax (I've never tried thyroid hormone, and I have high hopes for this solving or at least being a critical component in solving most of my issues)

Any encouragement or advice would be appreciated. I know I'm not doing it 100% RP-style yet, but there's just so much to assimilate, and I'm having trouble applying to dietary suggestions all at once.

 

[Blossom]

Welcome to the forum Pointless.
It sounds like you have a good plan.

I'm having trouble applying to dietary suggestions all at once.

I wouldn't worry about doing everything at once. In some ways it's better to make changes one at a time so you can better judge the effects.

MitoLipin (lots of clinical trials on inflammatory bowel disease for this one. I've tried phosphatidylcholine in the past, and I loved how it felt)

I'm really liking this supplement so far but it's only been three days. I don't have Crohns but I have had some gluten issues recently after not being as careful as I should have been (for celiac so inflammation) and it seems to have helped some already along with being more mindful of cross contamination issues.
We have another member with inflammatory bowel issues that has had some positive results. His name is @Wilfrid if you want to check out his posts.

 

[Pointless]

Welcome to the forum Pointless.
It sounds like you have a good plan.

I wouldn't worry about doing everything at once. In some ways it's better to make changes one at a time so you can better judge the effects.

Yes, I think you're right about that. I've been experimenting with niacinamide to make me tolerate more caffeine. I thought maybe the jitters and excessive bowel movements could be solved with some sugar and reduced FFAs to jumpstart my glucose metabolism. It might've helped a little, but I still can't tolerate the caffeine high. It seems that everything in this paradigm takes a long time, so I will go back to adding things one at a time.

The thing that has definitely helped me is Vitamin E. It really reduces my mucus production and allergies, which I hope is indicating lowered estrogen. It doesn't seem to help with serotonin, though, because I've felt depressed, aggressive, and giddy lately, which I know are all serotonin symptoms. No blood tests now, nor can I afford them, so this guesswork is all I have going for me at the moment. Maybe the niacinamide and vitamin E in combination can help with this, but it doesn't address my most troubling symptoms like inflammation or low metabolism.

Maybe TyroMax can help with the acne, low metabolism, and inflammation all at once. That would be ideal, but supplementing with thyroid is troublesome for so many people.

I tried Lapodin last night, 12 drops. I got a warm feeling with pain in my gut and some stomach rumbling, but no bowel movements. This doesn't surprise me given my inflammatory bowel disease. I think I used too much. Also, I'm worried that the DMSO can lower my ferritin and push me into anemia, because it's made my ferritin go down before. It did make me really relaxed, though, but nothing indicating relief from any symptoms. I'll try 1 or 2 drops from now on.

I can't post too much definite right now because I've added too many things at once to make any clear connections.

I'm really liking this supplement so far but it's only been three days. I don't have Crohns but I have had some gluten issues recently after not being as careful as I should have been (for celiac so inflammation) and it seems to have helped some already along with being more mindful of cross contamination issues.
We have another member with inflammatory bowel issues that has had some positive results. His name is @Wilfrid if you want to check out his posts.

Wilfrid didn't post in the MitoLipin thread, and I ran a search for all posts of his with the word MitoLipin, and nothing came up. Did you mean he had success with this supplement or Peating in general?

 

[Blossom]

Wilfrid didn't post in the MitoLipin thread, and I ran a search for all posts of his with the word MitoLipin, and nothing came up. Did you mean he had success with this supplement

Yes, I meant he had some success with Peating in general.

 

[DaveFoster]

Be careful with caffeine. If you don't have tolerance, it can make your life very miserable. It will wreck your sleep until you're acclimated, which takes one to two weeks.

 

[Pointless]

Thanks for your replies. This caffeine is definitely not jiving with me. I will lay off it for now as I try other things and maybe add it in later. I have some methylene blue, so maybe 1 mg caffeine with some methylene blue is really the best approach.

 

[lindsay]

Welcome!! I don't have inflammatory bowel disease, but I have a LONG history of bowel troubles, including IBS with constipation, gallbladder disease and appendicitis (thank you Zelnorm - please note sarcasm; both have been removed surgically). I am very sensitive to almost all foods and have to eat carefully - no starch for this little lady. And certainly no fried food.

I regularly get issues with endotoxin and the things that have helped me the most to stay regular (though it sounds like you have the opposite issue) are organic oranges, organic OJ, carrots, beets and spaghetti squash. If you want something truly powerful for gut healing, I would try gelatin. I had a really horrible episode in March that left me feeling "raw" and inflamed. So I went back to Great Lakes red can of gelatin and have felt the slow healing process. I don't always love it, because it reduces bowel movements for me sometimes, but that might be helpful in your case. I make it into gummy candy. It's actually a great pair with caffeine too. I just made some gummies with chai tea and cream and sugar the other day - super delicious!

Another food you might find helpful is cheese - like gouda, cheddar, emmentaler, etc. I found cheese and eggs (via custard) very helpful after my appendicitis. I still eat cheese regularly (try to choose cheeses with animal rennet).

Wishing you much healing!

 

[tara]

Hi Point,
I don't have the gut issues you do, but have a couple of thoughts.
Are you getting any magnesium in your diet? If not, my hunch would be to try transdermal first, rather than oral, since many people find it speeds transit and it looks as though you won't be looking for that effect at this stage.

Are you managing to eat and digest enough with your digestive difficulties (how much?)? If not, I'd be cautious about adding much caffeine or thyroid supp, since that could increase stress in this context.

If you are having trouble with the fibre in fruit, have you tried really well strained OJ or completely clear apple juice? Or cooking fruit thoroughly (with sucrose to taste)? Some people here say they do better with little fibre.

Have you had an experiment with replacing the wheat and other gluten grains or maybe all grains (possible exception for white rice) with other carbs for a week or two to see if it makes a difference?
Have you seen Peat's article on carrageenan? Unless you are choosing one of the rare gum-free ice-creams, there could be a gut-burden there?

I guess you've seen Peat's point pork is often quite high in PUFA compared with ruminant meats? It makes sense to choose foods that bother your gut less, but if beef, lamb etc agree with you, they may have advantages over pork.

Caffeine (200 mg is waaaay too much, even with a heavy meal. I'm very sensitive to caffeine.

I get 200mg caffeine being a bit much if you are sensitive. I get noticable effects from 1/2 tsp decaffeinated coffee powder.

 

[sladerunner69]

caffeine can easily raise your serotonin levels if your metabolism isnt already healthy enough to process it. For years caffeine gave me a very sore bum and breathlessness and listlessness which are elevated serotonin symptoms that result from excess bile production. Again caffeine will induce bile production if you are acclimated, which took me years of gradual build up. These days I can drink 5 cups or so spread evenly throughout the day without serotonin problems, but just one or two cups used to be a problem for me a couple years back, even though I have always drank coffee.

 

[Pointless]

Hi Point,
I don't have the gut issues you do, but have a couple of thoughts.
Are you getting any magnesium in your diet? If not, my hunch would be to try transdermal first, rather than oral, since many people find it speeds transit and it looks as though you won't be looking for that effect at this stage.

I'm in remission now and not having any serious gut issues. I take magnesium malate now, but sometimes I do transdermal. I forgot to mention that in my original post.

Are you managing to eat and digest enough with your digestive difficulties (how much?)? If not, I'd be cautious about adding much caffeine or thyroid supp, since that could increase stress in this context.

I think I'd like to increase my calories from sugar, but I get lots of protein, fat, and starch. Calories calories calories is my mantra. I'm 167 pounds, very low body fat %, so I eat as much as I can.

If you are having trouble with the fibre in fruit, have you tried really well strained OJ or completely clear apple juice? Or cooking fruit thoroughly (with sucrose to taste)? Some people here say they do better with little fibre.

I agree. I'm going to buy some apple juice today. I do the best on that. OJ is the worst of the juices as far as gut sensitivity, but maybe it's the pulp. Anything acidic upsets my digestion quite a bit.

Have you had an experiment with replacing the wheat and other gluten grains or maybe all grains (possible exception for white rice) with other carbs for a week or two to see if it makes a difference?

I used to be very gluten sensitive, also casein and eggs would cause bipolar symptoms and serious gut problems. I abstained for a few years, but now it seems to have gone away. I was negative on a gluten allergy test from the doctor a few months ago.

Have you seen Peat's article on carrageenan? Unless you are choosing one of the rare gum-free ice-creams, there could be a gut-burden there?

I haven't read this article (so much info), but I knew carrageenan was not good for the gut. I should look into this.

I guess you've seen Peat's point pork is often quite high in PUFA compared with ruminant meats? It makes sense to choose foods that bother your gut less, but if beef, lamb etc agree with you, they may have advantages over pork.

I knew that pork was higher in PUFA, yes. I can't say that I'm PUFA free, but I eat a lot less than most people. I buy pork because it's cheaper mostly. I'm looking to maybe add some balanced protein from gelatin, also.

I get 200mg caffeine being a bit much if you are sensitive. I get noticable effects from 1/2 tsp decaffeinated coffee powder.

I've stopped the caffeine and methylene blue for now. Emodin I also stopped for a while to gauge effects from other supplements and diet changes. I've tried half a teaspoon of MitoLipin last night and 1 drop of TyroMax this morning. My temp went from 96.7 to 97.4, but this is after rising and taking a hot shower. My acne has been breaking out pretty bad now, so I'm trying 50,000 IU vitamin A with some transdermal vitamin E to hopefully minimize the joint pains I get from high-dose Vitamin A. I'm hoping TyroMax will help with this, too, but I'm building up slowly. Too many variables to make a detailed report. I usually add things one at a time.

I got some blood work done on Saturday. TSH, ferritin, and cholesterol as ordered by my doctor. This should give me a baseline for working with thyroid.

 

[Pointless]

BLOOD TESTS! woooooo

Sodium 146 (135-146)
Potassium 5.0 (3.5-5.3)
Chloride 105 (98-110)
Calcium 9.8 (8.6-10.3) Electrolytes increased into normal range. They were all low before, especially potassium and calcium.

CO2 29 (19-30)

Albumin 4.4 (3.6-5.1) This used to be really low, especially when I was in the hospital 2 years ago, but it's come way up

Bilirubin 0.3 (0.2-1.2)
Liver enzymes in mid normal range

Ferritin 48 (20-345) yaaay I finally raised this up. The funny thing is, the past few weeks, I haven't even been taking my iron pills. I have been taking a riboflavin pill every day, though, because I heard that can boost iron absorption and utilization.

TSH 3.44 (0.4-4.5) Doctor said this was "perfect". OK whatever. It's never been this high except when I was taking iodine a few years back and it was super high like 15. I'm starting slowly on TyroMax.

Cholesterol 158 (125-200)
HDL 60 (>=40)
Trig 119 (<150)
LDL 74 (<130) Always had low cholesterol

Urine pH 6.5 (5-8) Everything else is good too.

Hemogram good.

 

[tara]

More thoughts from a non-expert.

I think I'd like to increase my calories from sugar, but I get lots of protein, fat, and starch. Calories calories calories is my mantra. I'm 167 pounds, very low body fat %, so I eat as much as I can.

How much do you think that typically is?

Sodium 146 (135-146)

Good that your electrolytes came up. Was that from drinking less do you think, or other metabolic factors? I guess you are getting enough salt/sodium now - more not needed.

Cholesterol 158 (125-200)

THat's looking a bit low to support thyroid supps - eating a lot more sugar may help. I think Peat has said it's good to have total cholesterol over at least 160, preferably over 200 before supplementing thyroid. Cholesterol is the substrate for the steroid hormones, and thyroid helps with the conversion. (Maybe yr dr said this was perfect too?)

TSH 3.44 (0.4-4.5) Doctor said this was "perfect". OK whatever. It's never been this high except when I was taking iodine a few years back and it was super high like 15. I'm starting slowly on TyroMax.

That makes sense to me if you can provide enough fuel to support it, esp. since you are already very lean, and can get cholesterol up.

Urine pH 6.5 (5-8) Everything else is good too.

Perfect (though this can easily vary across the day).

 

[Pointless]

More thoughts from a non-expert.

How much do you think that typically is?

Good that your electrolytes came up. Was that from drinking less do you think, or other metabolic factors? I guess you are getting enough salt/sodium now - more not needed.

I just made a rough estimate on my calories using a website, and I think it's between 3 and 4 thousand per day. This should come up with me adding juice, as I usually drink water. I bought 2 gallons of apple juice. I will try to raise my cholesterol. Hopefully the sugar will help. I've been eating around 3 eggs and half a stick of butter every day for around a year, and it never came up. I might have absorption issues. Also, my gallbladder doesn't work too well, and I have pale stools. I put 2 teaspoons of salt in my pot of food, and it usually takes me 2 days to eat it, so I get about a teaspoon of salt per day. I know some people are eating much more, and I'm not averse to that except that it makes my food taste really salty even with a lot of meat.

Of course, yes, my doctor thinks my cholesterol is stupendous lol

 

[tara]

I think it's between 3 and 4 thousand per day

If your gut is managing to absorb a lot of this, it seems reasonable - or more any time you are hungry for more.

Salting to taste, as Peat recommends, may be a good guide.
Hope the apple juice works for you. Some people find they have to try different brands to get one that suits them.

 

[Pointless]

So one drop of TyroMax makes me relaxed with a lower stress response, which is nice. But it makes me kind of sleepy, moderate decrease in strength, feeling out of breath. This is with a quart of ice cream. What's the best way to fuel thyroid? Would pregnenolone help if I can't get my cholesterol up? Are eggs helpful here? Or is glycogen my big problem? Would niacinamide help or hurt? I'm willing to try a few things. I know nothing is for sure.

 

[Pointless]

No more tiredness or weakness with TyroMax after a few days. My body temp is raising. Daytime temp went up to 98.1 immediately after applying one drop and doing deep breathing. Yaaay

I do get irritable and anxious, though. This effect has been there since day one. I've had this weird urge to watch videos of people telling scary stories on YouTube. One of them scared the living daylights out of me. I could feel the adrenaline. Usually I'm IMPERVIOUS to fear. I've been like that since around junior high when the depression first set in. Thyroid might be making me more sensitive to adrenaline. I'm still feeling the adrenaline the next day. This may be a good thing if my body can recalibrate itself, but I am abstaining from anything adrenaline-producing.

Rosacea-like redness I've had great success with copper salicylate, an anti-inflammatory. This isn't directly RP but it intersects a lot with aspirin. Ask me if you want more info on this.

 

[Pointless]

After a workout, I felt dysphoric. I get like this when I have too much sugar. I sprayed myself with homemade magnesium chloride, not only did the carb-induced dysphoria go away (something that I've noticed very consistently with magnesium and sugar), but my temp went from 96.4 to 98.1. Wow

 

[Pointless]

I just went to the gym. My strength is down. I can't lift as much weight. But my endurance and recovery is way up. Last time I did 4 intervals of sprints for 40 seconds each. It took me 20 minute to do this. This time, I did the same thing in 10 minutes! In the past, my best workouts were done while fasting, so maybe the reduction in stress hormones is decreasing my strength. But my improved oxidation is improving everything else.

I'm sweating more. I used to never sweat. I feel calmer as long as I use my Pansterone. My temp is way up.

My bowels are flaring a bit, along with my hemorrhoids. I have some gelatin coming and hope that will help rebuild things. Maybe Kuinone will help, too. Some cyproheptadine is on the way, too.

My sugar consumption is way up, and I'm metabolizing it a lot better with biotin.

So far I'm very happy with my Peat ideas and see a lot of good changes.

 

[Pointless]

So I got my cyproheptadine in last night. I tried 1 mg and didn't feel anything. So I used another mg. I felt like I would've hallucinated or been a bit disoriented if I took more. I woke up pretty tired, but I was determined and ready to go. My gut feels AMAZING. This is great, because I have been diagnosed with inflammatory bowel disease or Crohn's disease. I had major surgery 2 years ago, and I had parts of my colon removed. I even had a tear in my intestinal wall that was causing major problems, as you can imagine. Anything that raises catecholamines, whether it's serotonin or dopamine, makes the inflammation noticeably worse judging by diarrhea, hemorrhoids, and abdominal pain. High gut serotonin is a known issue and trigger factor for Crohn's disease. The cyproheptadine really seems to be helping so far, though. Of course, this is all in the context of an energy-rich diet. It's just one day in, but I'm very hopeful. My allergies and mucus problems are improving too.

If the cyproheptadine controls my serotonin enough, I can add in methylene blue. This really helps with sexual problems, and maybe it will help me regrow some hair. But health is a bigger priority for me. The problem with methylene blue is that it makes the gut inflammation worse by raising serotonin.

Magnesium really helps me get my temps up. I can't make my temps budge without it, but when I use it topically, my temps go up more than 1 degree.

I'm also trying thiamine and famotidine for carbonic anhydrase inhibition. I feel that famotidine would overlap with cyproheptadine, so I'm taking F in the morning and C at night with 500 mg thiamine. It makes me breathe much more slowly and fully. When I control my breath, I feel very good and get warm. It makes my gut inflammation go down, too.

Adding biotin 15 mg 2x/day, I can eat tons of sugar without getting bad effects like I used to. For years and years, I would get depressed and dysphoric if I ate too much sugar. Now I'm also gaining weight! I gained 5 pounds in a few days. I decided to cut a lot of fat after that.

My diet right now is gelatin, pork, rice, skim milk, apple juice, salt, sandwiches 2 or 3 times a week. Next things to add are liver and OJ.

Other supplements I'm taking:
TyroMax 1 drop/day (tried 2 drops today and felt good)
Pansterone 1 drop/day
for hemorrhoids: P5P 150 mg/day, zinc 50 mg/day, vitamin C 3 g/day. I get hemorrhoids without these, and I'd like to decrease my doses on these for sure.
Kuinone. This boosted my very low ferritin. I'm hoping it can help my liver out, because I know I have liver problems and gallstones. Maybe hair regrowth?
MitoLipin. This helps my acne a lot, but I still have a lot of scarring and redness. I have some SolBan and MelaNon on order and will try that.

I'm still very sensitive to vitamin A. 1 dose of 25,000 IU topically or internally makes my joints hurt. Even with high dose vitamin E and K2 or D to balance out the A. Maybe it has to do with how much calcium I eat.

Issues to solve:
gallstones and liver function
hemorrhoids (maybe cyproheptadine will help here?)
eczema
aesthetic problems: hair loss, muscle mass, acne, red patchy skin, dark undereye circles

Thanks for reading about my problems

 

[Dopamine]

Phenibut would most likely eliminate your hemorrhoids, also helps with stress and sleep. Works for me every-time. Any GABA agonist should help with that really.

I'm also interested in deep breathing and meditation as an adjunct to healing. With deep breathing, I can raise my body temperature .4 to .5 degrees reliably.

I hope you're not hyperventilating. buteyko breathing or bag breathing is what you should look into.

Lysine seems to be great for antagonizing gut serotonin if cyproheptadine ever stops working for you. Also ondansetron.

Have you tried aspirin?