Suspected Cerebrospinal Fluid Leak

iPeat

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As the title suggests, I believe I may be suffering from a CSF leak from my orbital bone (I broke it and had surgery on it about 20 years ago). I have recently increased my K2, D, and Calcium intake per day and have been having some tonsil stones fall out (some pretty big ones). I'm taking this as a good sign.

However, I've recently been getting a salty taste in the back of my throat. I started digging into this symptom and it seems that CSF leak would fit the bill, on top of a bunch of other symptoms I've been having for a very long time that I never associated with anything (i.e. orthostatic headaches on a weekly/bi-weeky basis).

I'm probably going to get this checked out but it seems like a pretty rare disorder that might take some doctor-convincing to get looked at. It also seems like there'd be a lot of imaging involved, which I'm not excited about.

Just curious if anyone has any experience with this or any information that might help me with attempting to possibly fix this myself, if that's even possible at all.
 
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By orbital bone, do you mean around the eye, right?

Is it the cheekbone or the top AKA the frontal/forehead part?

Sounds pretty dangerous regardless -- and I wouldn't push it by waiting too long. You can possibly get internal/cranial bleeding or such if it worsens.

I would think if it is the upper orbital area -- which is the frontal bone -- that might be even worse since it is closer to the brain.
 
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iPeat

iPeat

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By orbital bone, do you mean around the eye, right?

Is it the cheekbone or the top AKA the frontal/forehead part?

Sounds pretty dangerous regardless -- and I wouldn't push it by waiting too long. You can possibly get internal/cranial bleeding or such if it worsens.

I would think if it is the upper orbital area -- which is the frontal bone -- that might be even worse since it is closer to the brain.

Yes, my eye bone, basically. I fractured it when I was younger. The artery behind my nasal cavity was also cut and needed to be cauterized (20 years ago). If I do have CSF leakage, which I really suspect is going on, then I'm guessing that's where it's coming from - right behind my nose, next to my eye.

Researching CSF leaks, I'm realizing I've had a lot of the symptoms for a very long time. So I'm not crazy worried about anything happening in the short term. I'm seeing that there's a bunch of people who have lived with a leak for decades. I'm more worried about it getting worse or the risk of meningitis.

I have a hunch (quite possibly I'm wrong), that I had some sort of calcification plugging up whatever damage was there and my increased focus on decalcification may have dislodged that.

Seems like CSF leaks are highly correlated with connective tissue disorders, which I would also believe I have. I'm not a "doctor person" so I'm not diagnosed with anything.

What from a Peat perspective would someone need to do to increase connective tissue strength and/or heal it?
 
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Thyroid working properly should help, I would think, with connective tissue strength. Are you good in the thyroid area? TSH, T3, T4, RT3 have been checked?

Other than that, anabolic hormones should improve connective tissue strength, like androsterone/maybe SARMs/etc. -- but you need to really be smart about seriously using that stuff since it might introduce new problems if you're not prepared for how to deal with adding them in to a cycle/the changing metabolism/gene expression/etc. You can also try and do it the natural route which should be everyone's first step -- increasing androgenic/anabolic activity with possibly exercise and/or supplements/diet changes if necessary.

So I guess you could start there, which is pretty much Peat's whole core stance -- thyroid, cellular energy, metabolism, hormones, etc.

But there are lots of unsafe things people live long with that never become very serious I guess, yeah (bad thyroid/diet/etc. being some).
 
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iPeat

iPeat

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Thyroid working properly should help, I would think, with connective tissue strength. Are you good in the thyroid area? TSH, T3, T4, RT3 have been checked?

Other than that, anabolic hormones should improve connective tissue strength, like androsterone/maybe SARMs/etc. -- but you need to really be smart about seriously using that stuff since it might introduce new problems if you're not prepared for how to deal with adding them in to a cycle/the changing metabolism/gene expression/etc. You can also try and do it the natural route which should be everyone's first step -- increasing androgenic/anabolic activity with possibly exercise and/or supplements/diet changes if necessary.

So I guess you could start there, which is pretty much Peat's whole core stance -- thyroid, cellular energy, metabolism, hormones, etc.

But there are lots of unsafe things people live long with that never become very serious I guess, yeah (bad thyroid/diet/etc. being some).

Thanks for the responses. I've been supplementing thyroid for almost 2 years and I still can't seem to get it right. Blood test before I found Peat showed a TSH of 1.2 and high cholesterol. No tests since, and I was full-on Keto at that time. I use pulse and temp mostly, sometimes the heel test (but that one is difficult).

For example, I have a physical job and my waking temp/pulse is pretty good (98°/75). They will rise when I get going to 98.4/80(ish). The weird thing is that when I'm working, I will randomly check my pulse and it'll be upper 80s/low 90s, while physically active. It will rise to high 90s/100s when I sit down for lunch. Then lower to 80s again when I start working again. Seems like it should be opposite to me.

Currently on 1 grain on NDT with some added t3 to make a 1:2 ratio t3:t4. I was on 2 grains of NDT at one point but I felt like I was going hyperthyroid whenever I got hot, even though my pulse/temp was ok.

I actually just picked up androsterone for that reason. Used it in the past but saw no benefit. Using a different solvent this time. I'll look into SARMs, thanks. Since "Peating" my energy level has been horrible (I crash when I get home) so exercising has been very difficult to accomplish, but you're probably right.
 
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iPeat

iPeat

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Ok, so after some digging, I'm sure that a cranial CSF leak is what's going on with me.

For anyone who gets orthostatic headaches (feel worse when you stand up or strain) that coincide with POTS, brain fog, fatigue, or any weird neurological symptoms like tinnitus or blurry vision, this video may be worth checking out. He even mentions high prolactin and hypothyroidism being associated with the decreased intracranial pressure, which puts more weight (literally) on the pituitary, which actually causes it to appear larger on an MRI.



I may actually be "lucky" in the fact that mine is cranial and I could taste the fluid. I truly feel for those who don't have that luxury, and go half their lives suffering. This seems to be a highly misdiagnosed problem.

If anyone has any ideas of what I can do to strengthen and/or fix a hole in the dura mater, I'm all ears. I'm loading up on K2 (40mg/day), gelatin, and some anabolic supplements at the moment. I'm kind of lost beyond that. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Also, if anyone who has Peat's email could ask his opinion on CSF leaks, I'd owe you big time.
 

RealNeat

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Ok, so after some digging, I'm sure that a cranial CSF leak is what's going on with me.

For anyone who gets orthostatic headaches (feel worse when you stand up or strain) that coincide with POTS, brain fog, fatigue, or any weird neurological symptoms like tinnitus or blurry vision, this video may be worth checking out. He even mentions high prolactin and hypothyroidism being associated with the decreased intracranial pressure, which puts more weight (literally) on the pituitary, which actually causes it to appear larger on an MRI.



I may actually be "lucky" in the fact that mine is cranial and I could taste the fluid. I truly feel for those who don't have that luxury, and go half their lives suffering. This seems to be a highly misdiagnosed problem.

If anyone has any ideas of what I can do to strengthen and/or fix a hole in the dura mater, I'm all ears. I'm loading up on K2 (40mg/day), gelatin, and some anabolic supplements at the moment. I'm kind of lost beyond that. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Also, if anyone who has Peat's email could ask his opinion on CSF leaks, I'd owe you big time.

Did you ever get this figured out?
 
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iPeat

iPeat

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Did you ever get this figured out?
Yes - sort of. I went to specialist and he said I have a CSF leak. I refused a CT scan of my head so my insurance company refused to pay for anything further. I never had it repaired but I've found a way to manage it properly so I don't have many issues beyond the occasional screaming headache (once every couple months I'll get a cluster of them).

I work a physical job and realized I was tensing my face and head when I lifted heavy objects or bent over. Once I made that connection, I consciously keep my face relaxed when lifting. I also try to exclusively squat instead of bending over at the waist.

I'd say the problem is about 95% gone. I would even guess that the hole may even have closed somewhat.

I emailed Peat and he recommended pregnenlone so I megadosed that for awhile also.
 

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