Quit Smoking And All (digestive) Hell Broke Loose

[denise]

I'm hoping to get some ideas about wft my gut has been doing recently. I'll need to give some background, so I'm sorry in advance for the length:

2009 - I started smoking to help cope with my world ending. Just 1-2/day for a couple years , then went up to 3, then 6. After I became a stepmother in 2013, I went up to 9/day...
2013 - Confirmed I had uterine fibroids. I'd always had painful periods, but at least they were short. They'd been getting longer, and I had a definite lump in my pelvic area, so I figured that's what was going on.
- Also discovered that I had a large goiter. It was pushing on my trachea and needed to be watched, lest it kill me either by cutting off my oxygen or cutting off the blood supply to my heart...
2014 - By this time, my quality of life had been destroyed by the fibroids. I was bleeding 14 days each month, and had another week of PMS and extreme bloating. Also, this year, I suddenly started having totally liquid BMs. I had one normal BM in the 10 months I was paying attention. It says something about my state of mind (wrt the fibroids) that this diarrhea thing hardly fazed me.
Late in 2014 I had uterine artery embolization done. It was the best thing I ever did for myself, but it hurt like a mother f*cker. As a bonus, the antibiotics that they gave me stopped the diarrhea.

Somewhere in here, because I was researching thyroid stuff almost incessantly, I came across this forum. I ended up curing my hypoglycemia simply by drinking OJ first thing in the morning. Suddenly I could eat anything for breakfast without crashing or getting sick. I hadn't been able to eat anything but eggs/bacon for many years, and couldn't drink coffee until I'd eaten something.

Almost exactly one year ago, I had surgery to remove most of my thyroid. It was growing out of control, and there really didn't seem to be any other option at this point. It was HUGE. It was going to kill me.

Fast forward to this spring. My TSH is still not normal (for me; it was 3.5, when my normal is 1.4), but I haven't decided the best thing to do yet. I don't like the idea of having to take something for the rest of my life. (Plus my local ENT has fired me as a patient...)

March 2016 - I decide to quit smoking. I do it easily by reading Allen Carr's book. (That man is a genius.) Seriously, I quit smoking as soon as I finished reading the book and haven't looked back (sort of--keep reading).

Here's where the problems started. Within a few days, my appetite went through the roof. I could eat any quantity of anything and not get full. Also, my hypoglycemia came back, goddammit! And to top it off, I was bloated constantly, no matter what I ate. I went online and found that this is more common than you might think (even on thyroid boards people saying that when they quit, they went hypo again). Lots of people like to play psychologist and say that ex smokers are just transferring their addiction from smokes to food. bull****. This was hunger unlike anything I'd ever experienced, not some kind of coping mechanism. After a couple weeks, I decided to try the potato hack. I was curious about it anyway, and I figured that if I could only eat potatoes, I could eat as many as I wanted and still have a relatively sane calorie count.

What I didn't expect is that after 24 hours of eating potatoes, the bloating was GONE. And it stayed gone until about 24 hours after I started eating normally again. I got interested in all the fiber/resistant starch/probiotics stuff and have been playing around with that ever since, but without the results I was hoping for. (Yes, I realize this is an anti-Peat approach.)

So I quit smoking (which was supposed to be GOOD for me) and now I'm bloated and gained over 10 pounds. To be quite honest, I'm pissed. I try to do the right thing, and this is how I'm rewarded.

So here I am asking for suggestions--not necessarily what to do but WTF do you think happened?? I just don't understand it. If I knew what was going on, I could devise a strategy. The only strategy with any merit is to start smoking again...

Oh, also in June/July I tried taking T3 and felt no benefits whatsoever. All it did (when I took too much) was make me fatigued.

Thanks to anyone who actually read all this. And TIA for any suggestions.

Denise

ETA: I forgot to mention my depression, PMS, brain fog, lack of motivation, etc. that came along with all of this. I've read that cigs actually suppress estrogen, and I think that's true, because my periods were PERFECT for a year--until I quit smoking. Grrr. I'm terrified it'll just keep getting worse. I think I have actual trauma from my fibroid experience. Fortunately, at least the voracious hunger has largely passed. It happens now only occasionally.

 

[jaguar43]

When the doctors first diagnosis you as having a goiter, did they put you on thyroid medication ?

I don't know how cigarettes suppress weight gain. But I have also known people who put on weight after quitting. I do think that is a symptom of being low thyroid.

PMS has been describe by Ray Peat as being low progesterone and if you are low progesterone then you have most likely estrogen. Ray Peat has a study on his website showing that people who ate soybeans were more likely to get a goiter. I think this is an analogy of the problems you face. Since removing a goiter doesn't fix the underlying problem.

Since the trusted thyroid brand Grossman has stop sell their products. I am skeptical to recommend a brand. Haidut has a few of them for sale but I haven't used them. I would recommend using Progesterone since it can help with your other symptoms. I think Ray Peat has an article on how to use progesterone

 

[beta pandemic]

nicotine is known to put ulcerative colitis into remmision there are studies proving this. i also read an article about a 24 yr old in england who battled ulcerative colitis for years and it disapeared upon smoking 4 cigs/day. he said nicotine patches had the same effect but were too expensive.'Doctors don't always know best:' Student claims he cured debilitating bowel disease by taking up smoking

i know this is probably going against what most would reccomened but i would say do not stop smoking. find out the minimum number of cigs you need/day and try to lower it slowly over time.

in my country a 20 pack of additive free organic cigs are cheaper than most other brands.

trust your own experience above all else. good luck.

 

[Emstar1892]

There's a video on YouTube called the dangers of quitting smoking by eric berg which is quite useful for outlining some of the things that are going on.

For me, when I smoke my tsh drops to 1.45. When I quit, it rises to 3.2 within about 4 weeks. Then I start shedding hair, losing my mind and getting bloated/constipated. Wish I'd never started because I don't know how to quit!!!

The return of hypoglycemia when you quit will be the sharp drop in cortisol upon cessation. This is well documented - even people with no history of hypoglycemia can develop it upon cessation for this reason. That'll also explain the rise in appetite as your body is trying to keep sugar up to balance your low cortisol (which will be bringing down the thyroid with it).

Antibodies also commonly spike upon cessation, but I'm not sure of the reason, unless there's such a thing as "healing mode"...

 

[Catcream]

I used to be smoker , one who stopped and started
and i would drop and gain literally pounds in a week depending on my smoking status. Smoking can disguise hypothyroidism by speeding up your metabolism . I finally stopped forever and for months my bowels stopped moving , my pulse dropped to mid fifties and I put on a stone however you will readjust , recalibrate. I was baffled as to what was happening too - and almost started smoking again ! However, good diet, maybe lower your fat intake and get smaller plates...I know this sounds a bit silly but it actually does work ! Definitely look into supplementing with progest e for mental well being.

 

[denise]

When the doctors first diagnosis you as having a goiter, did they put you on thyroid medication ?

I don't know how cigarettes suppress weight gain. But I have also known people who put on weight after quitting. I do think that is a symptom of being low thyroid.

PMS has been describe by Ray Peat as being low progesterone and if you are low progesterone then you have most likely estrogen. Ray Peat has a study on his website showing that people who ate soybeans were more likely to get a goiter. I think this is an analogy of the problems you face. Since removing a goiter doesn't fix the underlying problem.

Since the trusted thyroid brand Grossman has stop sell their products. I am skeptical to recommend a brand. Haidut has a few of them for sale but I haven't used them. I would recommend using Progesterone since it can help with your other symptoms. I think Ray Peat has an article on how to use progesterone

My ENT let my try taking T3 when they found the goiter, but he told me he didn't expect it to help. He only let me stay on it for a month or so, though, because my TSH went so low (like .13). By the time I even tried the T3, it had grown 3 cm in 18 months, so the prognosis wasn't looking good, and no other measures I'd taken (mostly to lower estrogen during my fibroids crisis, which I was hoping would in turn help my thyroid) did anything. I did persevere until I found a surgeon who agreed to leave most of my right lobe intact, though, so at least I'm not totally without a thyroid.

I have used Progest-E but have never felt anything from it. I am one of those people who seems to be resistant to a lot of things (although I've also read that others have had poor luck with Progest-E over the last couple years), so although I tried nearly every supplement ever known to reduce estrogen, the best success I ever got was maybe a 5% reduction in symptoms.

I'm pretty sure I'm going to give Haidut's Progestene a shot. And maybe one of his thyroid meds.

 

[denise]

nicotine is known to put ulcerative colitis into remmision there are studies proving this.

That's so crazy about the UC!
I have actually considered doing what you suggest--smoking just the # each day that would keep my body functioning normally--but I'm a bit afraid to now. The Carr book got me into a really good head space for quitting, and I don't want to undo that. But we'll see. Eventually if I can't get this sorted out I may try it. I've read several accounts by people who decided to smoke again just to get rid of the side effects, and who literally watched their bloated belly shrink before their eyes as they puffed on that first cigarette. ?? I don't like not understanding things.

There's a video on YouTube called the dangers of quitting smoking by eric berg which is quite useful for outlining some of the things that are going on.

For me, when I smoke my tsh drops to 1.45. When I quit, it rises to 3.2 within about 4 weeks. Then I start shedding hair, losing my mind and getting bloated/constipated. Wish I'd never started because I don't know how to quit!!!

The return of hypoglycemia when you quit will be the sharp drop in cortisol upon cessation. This is well documented - even people with no history of hypoglycemia can develop it upon cessation for this reason. That'll also explain the rise in appetite as your body is trying to keep sugar up to balance your low cortisol (which will be bringing down the thyroid with it).

Thanks for the video suggestion. Regardless of whether his theory is correct, I do think he's right that if you're going to quit, you should get your nutritional ducks in a row first. If only I'd known this could happen... On the other hand, neither of my sisters had this experience when they quit (and it's not something you hear about every day) so why would I have expected it? I'm sorry for your own nonsmoking health woes. Have you tried a nutritional/supplement strategy while quitting (like taking thyroid, etc.) to avoid the fallout?

Interesting about the hypoglycemia. Makes sense. Damn, I wish I'd researched all this beforehand...

I used to be smoker , one who stopped and started
and i would drop and gain literally pounds in a week depending on my smoking status. Smoking can disguise hypothyroidism by speeding up your metabolism . I finally stopped forever and for months my bowels stopped moving , my pulse dropped to mid fifties and I put on a stone however you will readjust , recalibrate. I was baffled as to what was happening too - and almost started smoking again ! However, good diet, maybe lower your fat intake and get smaller plates...I know this sounds a bit silly but it actually does work ! Definitely look into supplementing with progest e for mental well being.

Just in the last week I've been inspired to try a VLF diet for a bit. Maybe if I did that for a month or so I could reset my metabolism and get past this post-smoking health roadblock. I don't know...

 

[Emstar1892]

It

That's so crazy about the UC!
I have actually considered doing what you suggest--smoking just the # each day that would keep my body functioning normally--but I'm a bit afraid to now. The Carr book got me into a really good head space for quitting, and I don't want to undo that. But we'll see. Eventually if I can't get this sorted out I may try it. I've read several accounts by people who decided to smoke again just to get rid of the side effects, and who literally watched their bloated belly shrink before their eyes as they puffed on that first cigarette. ?? I don't like not understanding things.



Thanks for the video suggestion. Regardless of whether his theory is correct, I do think he's right that if you're going to quit, you should get your nutritional ducks in a row first. If only I'd known this could happen... On the other hand, neither of my sisters had this experience when they quit (and it's not something you hear about every day) so why would I have expected it? I'm sorry for your own nonsmoking health woes. Have you tried a nutritional/supplement strategy while quitting (like taking thyroid, etc.) to avoid the fallout?

Interesting about the hypoglycemia. Makes sense. Damn, I wish I'd researched all this beforehand...


Just in the last week I've been inspired to try a VLF diet for a bit. Maybe if I did that for a month or so I could reset my metabolism and get past this post-smoking health roadblock. I don't know...

It doesn't happen to everyone, no. In fact the first time I quit was when I was 18 - I quit for 4 years, and never had any problems. This time though, completely different story.

About the cortisol thing, I wish I'd known it too! I was near collapse when I tried at a time that my levels were at rock bottom (a few weeks ago). My blood sugar would drop during the night and wake me up with sweats! In the morning i couldnt move to get up. Since researching why it was happening to me I've already come across 2 addisons patients who went into adrenal crises a few weeks into cessation. Terrifying!!!

Anyway, good luck to you. Sorry it's been crap so far. With the digestion, enzymes helped me a lot :)

 

[denise]

It
It doesn't happen to everyone, no. In fact the first time I quit was when I was 18 - I quit for 4 years, and never had any problems. This time though, completely different story.

About the cortisol thing, I wish I'd known it too! I was near collapse when I tried at a time that my levels were at rock bottom (a few weeks ago). My blood sugar would drop during the night and wake me up with sweats! In the morning i couldnt move to get up. Since researching why it was happening to me I've already come across 2 addisons patients who went into adrenal crises a few weeks into cessation. Terrifying!!!

Anyway, good luck to you. Sorry it's been crap so far. With the digestion, enzymes helped me a lot :)

Wow, crazy about the blood sugar crashes! If I were doing it over, I think maybe I'd use the nicotine gum or something to ramp down so that I wasn't dealing with the fallout all at once.

 

[denise]

I just got my TSH tested again for the first time in 6 months. In February, it was 3.5. In late March, I quit smoking. As of yesterday, my TSH is 6.2! Good God, no wonder I feel like ***t. But although this isn't good news, it sort of is, because at least now I know for sure what the problem is. The doctor wants me to come in and talk about treatment, but since I intend to just use haidut's Tyromix, I'm not sure I'll bother.

 

[bionicheart]

I'm hoping to get some ideas about wft my gut has been doing recently. I'll need to give some background, so I'm sorry in advance for the length:

2009 - I started smoking to help cope with my world ending. Just 1-2/day for a couple years , then went up to 3, then 6. After I became a stepmother in 2013, I went up to 9/day...
2013 - Confirmed I had uterine fibroids. I'd always had painful periods, but at least they were short. They'd been getting longer, and I had a definite lump in my pelvic area, so I figured that's what was going on.
- Also discovered that I had a large goiter. It was pushing on my trachea and needed to be watched, lest it kill me either by cutting off my oxygen or cutting off the blood supply to my heart...
2014 - By this time, my quality of life had been destroyed by the fibroids. I was bleeding 14 days each month, and had another week of PMS and extreme bloating. Also, this year, I suddenly started having totally liquid BMs. I had one normal BM in the 10 months I was paying attention. It says something about my state of mind (wrt the fibroids) that this diarrhea thing hardly fazed me.
Late in 2014 I had uterine artery embolization done. It was the best thing I ever did for myself, but it hurt like a mother f*cker. As a bonus, the antibiotics that they gave me stopped the diarrhea.

Somewhere in here, because I was researching thyroid stuff almost incessantly, I came across this forum. I ended up curing my hypoglycemia simply by drinking OJ first thing in the morning. Suddenly I could eat anything for breakfast without crashing or getting sick. I hadn't been able to eat anything but eggs/bacon for many years, and couldn't drink coffee until I'd eaten something.

Almost exactly one year ago, I had surgery to remove most of my thyroid. It was growing out of control, and there really didn't seem to be any other option at this point. It was HUGE. It was going to kill me.

Fast forward to this spring. My TSH is still not normal (for me; it was 3.5, when my normal is 1.4), but I haven't decided the best thing to do yet. I don't like the idea of having to take something for the rest of my life. (Plus my local ENT has fired me as a patient...)

March 2016 - I decide to quit smoking. I do it easily by reading Allen Carr's book. (That man is a genius.) Seriously, I quit smoking as soon as I finished reading the book and haven't looked back (sort of--keep reading).

Here's where the problems started. Within a few days, my appetite went through the roof. I could eat any quantity of anything and not get full. Also, my hypoglycemia came back, goddammit! And to top it off, I was bloated constantly, no matter what I ate. I went online and found that this is more common than you might think (even on thyroid boards people saying that when they quit, they went hypo again). Lots of people like to play psychologist and say that ex smokers are just transferring their addiction from smokes to food. bull****. This was hunger unlike anything I'd ever experienced, not some kind of coping mechanism. After a couple weeks, I decided to try the potato hack. I was curious about it anyway, and I figured that if I could only eat potatoes, I could eat as many as I wanted and still have a relatively sane calorie count.

What I didn't expect is that after 24 hours of eating potatoes, the bloating was GONE. And it stayed gone until about 24 hours after I started eating normally again. I got interested in all the fiber/resistant starch/probiotics stuff and have been playing around with that ever since, but without the results I was hoping for. (Yes, I realize this is an anti-Peat approach.)

So I quit smoking (which was supposed to be GOOD for me) and now I'm bloated and gained over 10 pounds. To be quite honest, I'm pissed. I try to do the right thing, and this is how I'm rewarded.

So here I am asking for suggestions--not necessarily what to do but WTF do you think happened?? I just don't understand it. If I knew what was going on, I could devise a strategy. The only strategy with any merit is to start smoking again...

Oh, also in June/July I tried taking T3 and felt no benefits whatsoever. All it did (when I took too much) was make me fatigued.

Thanks to anyone who actually read all this. And TIA for any suggestions.

Denise

ETA: I forgot to mention my depression, PMS, brain fog, lack of motivation, etc. that came along with all of this. I've read that cigs actually suppress estrogen, and I think that's true, because my periods were PERFECT for a year--until I quit smoking. Grrr. I'm terrified it'll just keep getting worse. I think I have actual trauma from my fibroid experience. Fortunately, at least the voracious hunger has largely passed. It happens now only occasionally.

Smoking as in cannabis? Because I have been smoking for 2-3 years and my periods have gotten heavier, longer, and more painful. It was recently confirmed that I have a fibroid and I believe it is due to the estrogenic qualities of MJ. My gyno wants to put me on birth control to shrink my fibroid and uterus that appears have enlarged as well. (I'm 27, no kids) I'm freaking out as to what I should do!
My TSH is currently 1.89 mI and T4 is 1.0 ng
estradiol=51 pg
progesterone=0.5ng
should I supplement with Tyromix or progesterone to try to shrink the fibroid? I tried progesterone and kept having panic attacks (healthnatura brand) Have you had any relief with thyroid or other supps? Thanks!
(I'll post this elsewhere if this isn't appropriate..)

 

[denise]

Smoking as in cannabis? Because I have been smoking for 2-3 years and my periods have gotten heavier, longer, and more painful. It was recently confirmed that I have a fibroid and I believe it is due to the estrogenic qualities of MJ. My gyno wants to put me on birth control to shrink my fibroid and uterus that appears have enlarged as well. (I'm 27, no kids) I'm freaking out as to what I should do!
My TSH is currently 1.89 mI and T4 is 1.0 ng
estradiol=51 pg
progesterone=0.5ng
should I supplement with Tyromix or progesterone to try to shrink the fibroid? I tried progesterone and kept having panic attacks (healthnatura brand) Have you had any relief with thyroid or other supps? Thanks!
(I'll post this elsewhere if this isn't appropriate..)

No, I was smoking cigarettes, which I've read can actually lower estrogen. I don't have any experience with MJ.

I wish I had some good advice for you about the fibroid! I tried so many things at the time, and I could barely put a dent in it. If it were happening now, I'd probably focus on Gonadin and Diamant as well as Tyromix. (A few months ago, my period was getting a bit worse, but when I started taking the combo of Gonadin/Diamant, it immediately went back to normal. Much more effective than when I tried Progestene or Progest-E.) Do you have other hypo symptoms (low temps, etc.)? I think a more holistic approach (balancing thyroid and other hormones and improving digestion, for example) would serve you better overall, especially if you ever want children.

As for the panic attacks, I'm nothing like an expert, so take this for what it's worth, but it may have been because the progesterone was revealing your estrogen dominance (i.e., the progesterone was doing what it was supposed to, but making things feel worse before they feel better). Did you by chance ever try taking very large doses during a panic episode? Apparently that can help. But as I said, this is just based on things I've read. I have no experience dealing with that in particular. (I did just find this--have you seen it?)

Good luck! I know it sucks. But fortunately, although fibroids can be hell, at least they aren't urgent or deadly, so try not to feel pressured to do anything drastic (or take something you don't want to take, like BC). Take your time and do the right thing for ALL of you, and hopefully your uterus will fall back in line. :)

 

[thomas00]

Smoking increases stomach acid and alters gut flora. That might have played a role.

 

[bionicheart]

No, I was smoking cigarettes, which I've read can actually lower estrogen. I don't have any experience with MJ.

I wish I had some good advice for you about the fibroid! I tried so many things at the time, and I could barely put a dent in it. If it were happening now, I'd probably focus on Gonadin and Diamant as well as Tyromix. (A few months ago, my period was getting a bit worse, but when I started taking the combo of Gonadin/Diamant, it immediately went back to normal. Much more effective than when I tried Progestene or Progest-E.) Do you have other hypo symptoms (low temps, etc.)? I think a more holistic approach (balancing thyroid and other hormones and improving digestion, for example) would serve you better overall, especially if you ever want children.

As for the panic attacks, I'm nothing like an expert, so take this for what it's worth, but it may have been because the progesterone was revealing your estrogen dominance (i.e., the progesterone was doing what it was supposed to, but making things feel worse before they feel better). Did you by chance ever try taking very large doses during a panic episode? Apparently that can help. But as I said, this is just based on things I've read. I have no experience dealing with that in particular. (I did just find this--have you seen it?)

Good luck! I know it sucks. But fortunately, although fibroids can be hell, at least they aren't urgent or deadly, so try not to feel pressured to do anything drastic (or take something you don't want to take, like BC). Take your time and do the right thing for ALL of you, and hopefully your uterus will fall back in line. :)

Thanks! I'll look into haiduts supplements, and probably go ahead and try the tyromix... I'm going to try the high dose progesterone as well, as I just took the smaller dose. I'm reading through the link you sent me too, thanks :)