I recently stumbled across Ray Peat’s work via Georgi Dinkov’s interview with Dr. Mercola.
In the interview Dr. Mercola decided to stop his Low Carb lifestyle and go the higher carb lifestyle. I started the Ray Peat lifestyle with the carrot salad, the coconut oil, raw milk, honey, OJ etc…yeah it all tastes so good. Love honey and carrots.
Ok, so this is me 49 year old female with hypothyroidism/low sex hormones, 5’4” 128 lbs scale is climbing, waste-line is expanding.
My entire life I have been feeling unusually cold, dealt with constipation and had high cholesterol. The docs always shrugged their shoulders that by the time I am 40 I will have to be on a Statin. Due to always feeling cold I moved to Arizona, enjoying the heat.
Seeing my parents declining health with a purse of meds, I decided to learn as much as possible about health prevention versus treatment. Went to a health fasting clinic for a 10 day fast to get rid of chronic migraines and year round seasonal allergies. Felt so proud of the end results. No more migraine and no more miserable allergies. That was 5 years ago.
Obviously I have been hypothyroid for well over 30 years, after having read Dr. Barnes book that explains my miscarriages and infertility. A lot more health challenges are making sense to me.
December 2022 I found a thyroid/hormone specialist on the East coast via Telehealth medicine and she got me on T4/T3 and thyroid. She started slow and low with 5 mcg T3 (Cytomel) and NP (15 mcg), checking labs every 6 weeks with adjusting. After 5 months she had me on 50 mcg T3 2x a day and NP 15 mg 2x a day, with T3 blood serum at 2.8.
On top of that she topped of my testosterone which gave me the motivation to move via yoga and lifting 2x a week. I slept great, felt strong when lifting heavy weights, was motivated to organize and clean the house. All well. It took 6 months of daily Testosterone cream application to get it to a level of 40 ng/dL and I felt great.
September 2023 I needed to change to a local NMD, she changed my Thyroid to 60 mcg (NP) and 12.5 Cytomel (T3) 1x a day and gave me licorice root extract to pull the testosterone down. My free T was at 5 ng/ml. That was 5 months ago. Now I am 10 lbs heavier, all the weight gain is in the middle section and on my hips. Shorts and pants are all tight. I cancel my yoga classes a lot as I don’t feel like driving there. For me Testosterone was the hormone that got me motivated to do things, to clean the house, to exercise, to connect with people.
Here are some blood results.
July 2023
Cholesterol 299
Alkaline Phosphatase: 96
ALT: 34
Protein, total: 6.4
Sodium: 133
Iron: 96
Testosterone: 72 ng/dL
Free T3: 2.8
DHT: 20 ng/dL
Prolactin:7.6 ng/mL
RT3: 10 ng/dL
Total Estrogen: 248 pg/mL
September 2023—start of new NMD —recommendation was made to stop ALL Testosterone and take Licorice Extract to lower Testosterone ASAP, lower Cytomel to 50 mcg per day and NP to 60 mcg per day. 6 weeks later results are as follow:
October 2023
Cholesterol: 238
Alkaline Phosphatase: 137
ALT: 21
AST: 10
GGT: 29
Protein, Total: 6.0
Sodium: 129 (never above 133) WHY?
Iron: 162
Testosterone: 5 ng/dL
Free T3: 2.5
FSH: 21.6
DHEA-S: 80.5
DHT: Not done
Prolactin: Not done
RT3: Not done
After this blood test Testosterone got pulled and Cytomel, NP got lowered.
Result: My body fat went from 20.7%-24% within 5 months (way before I discovered Peat)
The scale was in an upward trend since everything got lowered/reduced. Diet/exercise stayed the same until the last few weeks when I started Peating. I am 5.4”128 lbs sitting with a hat and socks outside at 75F.
For the last 5 weeks I have been on:
DHEA 5 mg 1x a day
Cytomel 12.5 mg 2x a day
NP 60 mg 2x a day
Dinkov mentioned that DHEA should be paired with Pregnenolone so I added that to the mix. 5 mg DHEA with 30 mg Pregnenolone—Is that good?
Focus all my meals on getting enough protein with carbs being fruits/potatoes/honey.
Started lowering meat consumption due to high iron levels, drinking coffee with it in the AM to prevent iron absorption. Taking Aspirin (325 mg), Niacinamide, NAC with milk thistle (for liver support), B Vitamin Complex , TocoVit, Progesterone from Health Natura, Pregnenolone from Health Natura, Vitamin D 3/K2 every other day, Vitamin K2/MK-4, grapeseed extract).
Question: How can I increase my sodium? I am taking LMNT packages 3-4 per day, I salt my food all the time. Bringing fruits in I had hoped that it would bring electrolytes in. Due to higher carb intake my serum protein has decreased. I simply cannot eat mountains of food, nor have I in the past.
What should be a normal Testosterone level for women? I read somewhere 30-40 ng/dL is where women feel best. Being at 5 ng/dL is NOT for me. That’s where I started out 14 months ago when I went down the rabbit hole on thyroid and testosterone. 5 ng/dL seems to be my baseline when not taking testosterone.
Also where should the DHEA-S be?
Daytime temperature is typically around 97.6-98.0—rarely above, unless I sit in the sun with my meal.
My cholesterol doesn’t seem to budge, always stays in the higher range, sodium hasn’t come up in years, liver enzymes have climbed up (I guess it has to do with the Testosterone?). Why is Cytomel not chewing through the cholesterol? Why aren’t the temps climbing?
One bowel movement per day. According to Ayurveda one ought to have one bowel movement after each meal. That would be a dream :)
Lot’s of questions.
I will go in for blood tests next week again.
I don’t want to step into my mother’s foot steps. Round butterball with a bag of meds.
Thank you so much in advance,
The Dolphin
In the interview Dr. Mercola decided to stop his Low Carb lifestyle and go the higher carb lifestyle. I started the Ray Peat lifestyle with the carrot salad, the coconut oil, raw milk, honey, OJ etc…yeah it all tastes so good. Love honey and carrots.
Ok, so this is me 49 year old female with hypothyroidism/low sex hormones, 5’4” 128 lbs scale is climbing, waste-line is expanding.
My entire life I have been feeling unusually cold, dealt with constipation and had high cholesterol. The docs always shrugged their shoulders that by the time I am 40 I will have to be on a Statin. Due to always feeling cold I moved to Arizona, enjoying the heat.
Seeing my parents declining health with a purse of meds, I decided to learn as much as possible about health prevention versus treatment. Went to a health fasting clinic for a 10 day fast to get rid of chronic migraines and year round seasonal allergies. Felt so proud of the end results. No more migraine and no more miserable allergies. That was 5 years ago.
Obviously I have been hypothyroid for well over 30 years, after having read Dr. Barnes book that explains my miscarriages and infertility. A lot more health challenges are making sense to me.
December 2022 I found a thyroid/hormone specialist on the East coast via Telehealth medicine and she got me on T4/T3 and thyroid. She started slow and low with 5 mcg T3 (Cytomel) and NP (15 mcg), checking labs every 6 weeks with adjusting. After 5 months she had me on 50 mcg T3 2x a day and NP 15 mg 2x a day, with T3 blood serum at 2.8.
On top of that she topped of my testosterone which gave me the motivation to move via yoga and lifting 2x a week. I slept great, felt strong when lifting heavy weights, was motivated to organize and clean the house. All well. It took 6 months of daily Testosterone cream application to get it to a level of 40 ng/dL and I felt great.
September 2023 I needed to change to a local NMD, she changed my Thyroid to 60 mcg (NP) and 12.5 Cytomel (T3) 1x a day and gave me licorice root extract to pull the testosterone down. My free T was at 5 ng/ml. That was 5 months ago. Now I am 10 lbs heavier, all the weight gain is in the middle section and on my hips. Shorts and pants are all tight. I cancel my yoga classes a lot as I don’t feel like driving there. For me Testosterone was the hormone that got me motivated to do things, to clean the house, to exercise, to connect with people.
Here are some blood results.
July 2023
Cholesterol 299
Alkaline Phosphatase: 96
ALT: 34
Protein, total: 6.4
Sodium: 133
Iron: 96
Testosterone: 72 ng/dL
Free T3: 2.8
DHT: 20 ng/dL
Prolactin:7.6 ng/mL
RT3: 10 ng/dL
Total Estrogen: 248 pg/mL
September 2023—start of new NMD —recommendation was made to stop ALL Testosterone and take Licorice Extract to lower Testosterone ASAP, lower Cytomel to 50 mcg per day and NP to 60 mcg per day. 6 weeks later results are as follow:
October 2023
Cholesterol: 238
Alkaline Phosphatase: 137
ALT: 21
AST: 10
GGT: 29
Protein, Total: 6.0
Sodium: 129 (never above 133) WHY?
Iron: 162
Testosterone: 5 ng/dL
Free T3: 2.5
FSH: 21.6
DHEA-S: 80.5
DHT: Not done
Prolactin: Not done
RT3: Not done
After this blood test Testosterone got pulled and Cytomel, NP got lowered.
Result: My body fat went from 20.7%-24% within 5 months (way before I discovered Peat)
The scale was in an upward trend since everything got lowered/reduced. Diet/exercise stayed the same until the last few weeks when I started Peating. I am 5.4”128 lbs sitting with a hat and socks outside at 75F.
For the last 5 weeks I have been on:
DHEA 5 mg 1x a day
Cytomel 12.5 mg 2x a day
NP 60 mg 2x a day
Dinkov mentioned that DHEA should be paired with Pregnenolone so I added that to the mix. 5 mg DHEA with 30 mg Pregnenolone—Is that good?
Focus all my meals on getting enough protein with carbs being fruits/potatoes/honey.
Started lowering meat consumption due to high iron levels, drinking coffee with it in the AM to prevent iron absorption. Taking Aspirin (325 mg), Niacinamide, NAC with milk thistle (for liver support), B Vitamin Complex , TocoVit, Progesterone from Health Natura, Pregnenolone from Health Natura, Vitamin D 3/K2 every other day, Vitamin K2/MK-4, grapeseed extract).
Question: How can I increase my sodium? I am taking LMNT packages 3-4 per day, I salt my food all the time. Bringing fruits in I had hoped that it would bring electrolytes in. Due to higher carb intake my serum protein has decreased. I simply cannot eat mountains of food, nor have I in the past.
What should be a normal Testosterone level for women? I read somewhere 30-40 ng/dL is where women feel best. Being at 5 ng/dL is NOT for me. That’s where I started out 14 months ago when I went down the rabbit hole on thyroid and testosterone. 5 ng/dL seems to be my baseline when not taking testosterone.
Also where should the DHEA-S be?
Daytime temperature is typically around 97.6-98.0—rarely above, unless I sit in the sun with my meal.
My cholesterol doesn’t seem to budge, always stays in the higher range, sodium hasn’t come up in years, liver enzymes have climbed up (I guess it has to do with the Testosterone?). Why is Cytomel not chewing through the cholesterol? Why aren’t the temps climbing?
One bowel movement per day. According to Ayurveda one ought to have one bowel movement after each meal. That would be a dream :)
Lot’s of questions.
I will go in for blood tests next week again.
I don’t want to step into my mother’s foot steps. Round butterball with a bag of meds.
Thank you so much in advance,
The Dolphin
