Skinny Peater's Say Hi

[churchmouth]

Hi,

Is there anyone out there like me?

28yr old male, 70kg, 6ft. Never been able to create fat on my body (through eating many different ways, including junk food lifestyle). Always been hungry/ craving sort of person, so I was eating a lot of extra meals per day my whole life..

Where does the food go? People answer say I have a high metabolism (blessed).

Yet I am cold (low basal, AND poor circulation = numb extremities), have poor skin (oily, dandruff, acne), low energy. Positive is my Pulse is good (80bpm+)

The 'excellent' genetics of not accumulating fat, means I am exempt from having thyroid problems (according to most).

TSH is about 1.6, Free T3 is upper range and T4 is lower range.
Cholesterol is high, testosterone is out of range high, SHBG is out of range high (endocrinologist said she has seen this in skinny people before, but is otherwise baffled), free test is below optimal for my age.

Primarily I am wondering if there is any other 'skinny peaters' who can correlate any of the same condition, and have any experience/ success to share?

Otherwise I am alone, have you any ideas?

I haven't tried T3 yet (will order some mexican cynomel).

Am I possibly just cold due to having low fat? Is thyroid not for me?

Cheers

 

[churchmouth]

To expand on the idea running through my head about being skinny and temperature.

Could it just be that the main central heating area of my torso body, is warm, but for it to get to the periphial locations (extremities, head etc), I have lost a bit of temperature by the time it arrives due to less insulation? Maybe I need to switch to rectal measurements for temperature.

Maybe my body refuses to keep my extremities warm on the basis that it would probably cook my more important organs in trying to achieve that.

I should probably experiment with over-dressing for warmth (mimic having some fat).

 

[Constatine]

Hi. I am a relatively skinny Peater with the same story as you. 6'2 80kg (which is not overly skinny but I've been 70kg before). I've never been able to put on any fat either but overall my health is very good (but not right now due to a insect bite). What elevation do you live at? How is your digestive system? How many calories a day do you eat? It sounds like your metabolism is inefficient. What foods do you actually eat? Perhaps more protein in your diet would be beneficial as too much sugar and not enough protein (and maybe fat) can make you lose weight.

 

[Tarmander]

Hello! I am overweight and run at 99F most of the time with great circulation and hot hands. I am not apart of the club... I was wondering though how long have you been doing Peaty stuff?

 

[Pointless]

I have Crohns disease and have always been skinny. Now that I take Cyproheptadine, I have gained a bit of weight. I'm slightly overweight. Being overly skinny with a high pulse and cold extremities sounds like serotonin and adrenaline.

 

[PhilParma]

6'3", currently 71kg/160lbs.

I was down to as low as 137lbs earlier in the year. I lost a lot of weight while initially restricting PUFA's because combining carbs with too much SFA gave me terrible brain fog and fatigue. Randle Cycle I suppose. Simply standing up and keeping mentally focused felt like intense exercise. So, for the past few months I've been absolutely slamming carbs in an effort to gain weight, all while keeping dietary fat quite low. Doing that I've gained 20lbs of what seems like mostly muscle. Brain fog and fatigue are basically gone on low-fat.

Sourdough bread has helped. I gained some weight using sugar as the sole carb source, but I think my liver hit a wall. I need starch.

 

[Constatine]

I have Crohns disease and have always been skinny. Now that I take Cyproheptadine, I have gained a bit of weight. I'm slightly overweight. Being overly skinny with a high pulse and cold extremities sounds like serotonin and adrenaline.

Good point.

 

[Energizer]

Peat has written about how stereotypes can often influence medical decisions, having known very thin people who went to the doctor and had all signs of hypothyroidism but were not treated due to being thin. If you suspect you are hypothyroid, charting your temperature and pulse over the weeks can be helpful in determining your metabolism over time. Often people that are thin can also be thin due to other reasons, such as eating few calories, despite being hypo. If you have cold extremities that can be a sign of hypothyroidism, it could also be that you are not eating enough of the right foods. High cholesterol is also very common in hypothyroidism. A thyroid supplement tends to lower cholesterol.

 

[DrJ]

Second the possibility you're running on adrenaline and may have uncommonly high 'reserves' (e.g. you are not reaching adrenal fatigue in the 6-12months most do). Seriously doubt you're running on thyroid, which is where you want to be. If you are taking in a lot of calories, but not reaching the high-energy rest state with signs of good thyroid function, a few guesses... Not enough vitamins, especially B vitamins, vitamin A, and perhaps vitamin D (and zinc?) if you have the oily/dandruff/acne situation. What about your protein intake? I'd guess that you'd want to be taking in at least 140g/day of low-tryptophan protein from dairy and a little shellfish, which is a substantial enough amount that you need to make a plan to achieve it as well as track it.

Have you ever tried just eating a bunch of good-quality (no carageenan, like Haagen-Dazs) ice cream throughout the day? I've tried an experiment of just ice cream for 10 days (plus 2.5g glycine 2X/day) and I basically feel awesome, no dry skin or other skin problems, everything - especially digestion - seems to function very well. I just put on weight. I'm already at 69-70kg normally at 5'10", so that's unwanted weight for me, but maybe you want to put some on... A good intake of saturated fat (and no PUFA) can fix a lot of problems, but will tend to cause weight gain. And who doesn't want to eat ice cream all the time? Also, if you're hypothyroid, you'll want to be taking magnesium, and if you go the ice cream route, you'll need to match the calcium with magnesium (by weight) to prevent constipation. Another high-saturated fat approach to add variety is the Boulder potato chips cooked in coconut oil dipped in cream cheese, to which you can add salt (to taste) to help suppress adrenaline and spare magnesium.

Another thought is to take some theanine to suppress adrenaline. If you take a theanine (or two) and start to feel really relaxed and chilled out, I would say adrenaline is likely the culprit.

As someone already said, serotonin resulting from bacterial endotoxin could be a culprit. The approach there for me would be to take a large dose of activated charcoal (~1-3g) or a tablespoon of non-PUFA legit horseradish to clear it out. If that's the culprit though, you'll need a more sustainable long-term plan to deal with it.

 

[InChristAlone]

Cyproheptadine fixed this issue for me. It's adrenaline.

 

[churchmouth]

Cypro has a pretty strong relaxing effect on me, very quickly (and waking by alarm very difficult too). I think I'd like to take a few weeks off work without stress (probably means no travel either) and focus on sun , calories and regular cypro. I also have some mexican thyroid in the mail., though if my adrenals are "stuffed" , ie cortisol and adrenaline is whack, then I see warnings that thyroid isn't recommended.

New results are in.. after a few months of pure peatin'.. TSH has risen which I am suprised by, but reflects how I feel a bit worse at the moment.
New discovery is estrogen is high too.. but I could have guessed with the elevated SHBG.

 

[churchmouth]

None of my doctors have suggested I am hyperthyroid yet, despite being skinny/catabolic.
Probably because I go to them with a reasonably high TSH (1.5 to 2.8), and average looking fT3/fT4 levels, and complaints of being cold/ low BBT.

However I am finding some of my odd lab results strongly suggesting I am hyperthyroid. I have high total testosterone/ Estrogen and SBHG (but lower albumin), which is seen in the hyperthyroid according to the studies/ literature below. I just don't know (chicken and egg) if hyperthyroid came first or the hyperadrogens.

Countering that, High LDL (another issue I have) is not usually seen in hyperthyroidism. as lipid levels are usually seen to be lowered with increased catabolism of LDL.

Experimented with T3 and my temperature improved moderately but my face started feeling strangely hot (like it is radiating heat). After experimenting with nibbling on T3 for 2 weeks, I had my TSH re-tested and my TSH had dropped from 2.8 to 1.

Trying a small dose of T4 (12mcg per night) at the moment. Unexpectedly not noticing much but I am on nightshift temporarily so not the best time to

Studies:
Effects of Thyroid Dysfunction on Lipid Profile
Effects of Thyroid Dysfunction on Lipid Profile

Thyroid hormones act indirectly to increase sex hormone-binding globulin production by liver via hepatocyte nuclear factor-4α
Serum levels of free and bound testosterone in hyperthyroidism. - PubMed - NCBI

Serum levels of free and bound testosterone in hyperthyroidism.
http://jme.endocrinology-journals.org/content/43/1/19.full

Article:
The Effects of Hyperthyroidism on Testosterone Levels

 

[churchmouth]

Hi. I am a relatively skinny Peater with the same story as you. 6'2 80kg (which is not overly skinny but I've been 70kg before). I've never been able to put on any fat either but overall my health is very good (but not right now due to a insect bite). What elevation do you live at? How is your digestive system? How many calories a day do you eat? It sounds like your metabolism is inefficient. What foods do you actually eat? Perhaps more protein in your diet would be beneficial as too much sugar and not enough protein (and maybe fat) can make you lose weight.

Sorry I never responded. Sea level and digestion is pretty good, though occasionally (once or twice a week) I can have a pretty gassy episode. I am pretty low fat consumption at the moment, I thought I felt better that way.

 

[Regina]

I have Crohns disease and have always been skinny. Now that I take Cyproheptadine, I have gained a bit of weight. I'm slightly overweight. Being overly skinny with a high pulse and cold extremities sounds like serotonin and adrenaline.

Same here.

 

[GreekDemiGod]

28yr old male, 70kg, 6ft.

I am very similar to you. However, I suspect I have more muscle mass than you.
Used to have cold-ish extremities, that has improved a lot since eating the RP way.

Second the possibility you're running on adrenaline and may have uncommonly high 'reserves' (e.g. you are not reaching adrenal fatigue in the 6-12months most do). Seriously doubt you're running on thyroid, which is where you want to be. If you are taking in a lot of calories, but not reaching the high-energy rest state with signs of good thyroid function, a few guesses... Not enough vitamins, especially B vitamins, vitamin A, and perhaps vitamin D (and zinc?) if you have the oily/dandruff/acne situation. What about your protein intake? I'd guess that you'd want to be taking in at least 140g/day of low-tryptophan protein from dairy and a little shellfish, which is a substantial enough amount that you need to make a plan to achieve it as well as track it.

Interesting hypothesis

I do most of this, still not feeling energetic.
Adrenaline would cause sleep issues too, wouldn't it? I have that too.

 

[GreekDemiGod]

As someone already said, serotonin resulting from bacterial endotoxin could be a culprit. The approach there for me would be to take a large dose of activated charcoal (~1-3g) or a tablespoon of non-PUFA legit horseradish to clear it out. If that's the culprit though, you'll need a more sustainable long-term plan to deal with it.

I need to try charcoal. What would be the sustainable long-term plan ?

 

[Inaut]

i use it before bed and i sleep well and wake up chilled out (but tired). i wonder how long i can use it consistently for before it starts being detrimental

 

[DrJ]

What would be the sustainable long-term plan ?

Reducing endotoxin / serotonin production by some combination of the following... Reducing intestinal bacteria or at least reducing gram-negative bacteria in favor of gram-positive bacteria. Reducing tryptophan consumption or at least ratio of tryptophan to the 'BCAA' amino acids, or increasing conversion of tryptophan to niacin rather than serotonin with adequate calcium and health situation (kynurenine pathway). Reducing intestinal transit time. Maybe some others I'm forgetting...

 

[GreekDemiGod]

I just revisited this thread today and now I understand it all better.

@churchmouth How's life, man?

I will underline our common points.

• Never been able to create fat on my body - Check, unless I bulk in a large caloric surplus
  
• People answer say I have a high metabolism (blessed). Uncertain here.
  
• Yet I am cold (low basal, AND poor circulation = numb extremities) Check
  
• have poor skin (oily, dandruff, acne) - Check
  
• low energy.
  
• Cholesterol is high. Check. High-ish in my case.

@DrJ I have also revisited your reply.

Seriously doubt you're running on thyroid, which is where you want to be. If you are taking in a lot of calories, but not reaching the high-energy rest state with signs of good thyroid function.
​

Sounds like totally my case.

Another thought is to take some theanine to suppress adrenaline. If you take a theanine (or two) and start to feel really relaxed and chilled out, I would say adrenaline is likely the culprit.​

I never tried Theanine, however when I drink tea, I sense the feeling of "relaxed and chilled out"

 

[GreekDemiGod]

Cyproheptadine fixed this issue for me. It's adrenaline.

Could you expand a bit on what did it fix? Did it made you run efficiently on thyroid.