Trouble Breathing/ Shortness Of Breath

[Jen]

I am SO happy to read this, I’ve thought of you often!

I am wondering if you have pinned down which foods were really causing the breathing issues? And thrilled to hear that fruit is not only safe but healing for you!

 

[Jennifer]

Thank you, @Jen! I appreciate that you thought of me. That's so nice of you.

Yep, I figured out it was animal protein triggering the attacks, I'm just not sure why. Tests came back negative for food allergies and histamine (even tried an antihistamine without success). My total cholesterol was down to 120 — Ray said 145 or below points to adrenal failure — and my BP was dropping as low as 85/50 — the systolic is reflective of adrenal strength — so I question if the concentrated protein was somehow affecting my weak adrenals (which I suspect are weak due to my thyroid), possibly by dropping my blood sugars. I struggled with hypoglycemia before adopting a fruitarian diet 4 years ago and periodically after reintroducing animal protein into my diet last February.

I always made sure to have plenty of carbs with proteins, but I did notice the proteins triggering an insatiable appetite for sugar — I was eating full jars of honey daily but still wanting more. I did have a brief period where I developed shortness of breath for about a week and then it resolved until I started taking the B complex and had that bought of insomnia and subsequent adrenaline attacks. I plan on trying plant proteins from sprouted split peas and defatted Valencia peanuts to see if it's protein in general I'm reacting to or just animal protein, but I'm less than eager to mess with my current state given how great I'm feeling. Being able to breath and stay upright is a beautiful thing. lol

 

[InChristAlone]

Thank you, @Jen! I appreciate that you thought of me. That's so nice of you.

Yep, I figured out it was animal protein triggering the attacks, I'm just not sure why. Tests came back negative for food allergies and histamine (even tried an antihistamine without success). My total cholesterol was down to 120 — Ray said 145 or below points to adrenal failure — and my BP was dropping as low as 85/50 — the systolic is reflective of adrenal strength — so I question if the concentrated protein was somehow affecting my weak adrenals (which I suspect are weak due to my thyroid), possibly by dropping my blood sugars. I struggled with hypoglycemia before adopting a fruitarian diet 4 years ago and periodically after reintroducing animal protein into my diet last February.

I always made sure to have plenty of carbs with proteins, but I did notice the proteins triggering an insatiable appetite for sugar — I was eating full jars of honey daily but still wanting more. I did have a brief period where I developed shortness of breath for about a week and then it resolved until I started taking the B complex and had that bought of insomnia and subsequent adrenaline attacks. I plan on trying plant proteins from sprouted split peas and defatted Valencia peanuts to see if it's protein in general I'm reacting to or just animal protein, but I'm less than eager to mess with my current state given how great I'm feeling. Being able to breath and stay upright is a beautiful thing. lol

When I was sick for sure concentrated protein caused attacks, but I didn't necessarily blame the protein I blamed my poor health. I was very thin too. Eating whatever I wanted and not just health food like in the eating disorder recovery groups was a big part of my recovery. That included pasta, ice cream, unlimited junk food (I know I know I'm going to die!) No milk though because I don't like it. I gained weight and now don't have poor adrenal and thyroid health. Thing is all of that can come back if I drop calories too much skip meals or otherwise just don't eat enough for my activity or stress levels. I am still obviously sensitive, my body thinks it's going to die if I don't give it enough high calorie food. I don't see any reason why I shouldn't give it what it wants especially since I'm not obese. Very lean people tend to have low adrenals and thyroid and thus hypoglycemia. I see it in my younger son who will have meltdowns if he doesn't eat enough. He could live on a mostly carb diet but he needs protein to thrive and be more stable not to mention build up his very thin body.

I know you mentioned in the past that you tried an eat the food approach and it wasn't working. I can totally get that, not everyone can heal on gluten and dairy, but I believe your insulin sensitivity will heal if you can gain weight to a BMI of roughly 22-25. So I hope your protein attempts will turn out to be good! Keep trying! Glad you feel so much better.

 

[japanesedude]

I've found that magnesium and babyaspirin are very effective for shortness of breath.

 

[Jennifer]

When I was sick for sure concentrated protein caused attacks, but I didn't necessarily blame the protein I blamed my poor health. I was very thin too. Eating whatever I wanted and not just health food like in the eating disorder recovery groups was a big part of my recovery. That included pasta, ice cream, unlimited junk food (I know I know I'm going to die!) No milk though because I don't like it. I gained weight and now don't have poor adrenal and thyroid health. Thing is all of that can come back if I drop calories too much skip meals or otherwise just don't eat enough for my activity or stress levels. I am still obviously sensitive, my body thinks it's going to die if I don't give it enough high calorie food. I don't see any reason why I shouldn't give it what it wants especially since I'm not obese. Very lean people tend to have low adrenals and thyroid and thus hypoglycemia. I see it in my younger son who will have meltdowns if he doesn't eat enough. He could live on a mostly carb diet but he needs protein to thrive and be more stable not to mention build up his very thin body.

I know you mentioned in the past that you tried an eat the food approach and it wasn't working. I can totally get that, not everyone can heal on gluten and dairy, but I believe your insulin sensitivity will heal if you can gain weight to a BMI of roughly 22-25. So I hope your protein attempts will turn out to be good! Keep trying! Glad you feel so much better.

Thanks for the advice, Janelle! You and your dietary preference would have fit right in with us at the Youreatopia forum. :) Unfortunately for me, extra weight didn't help. While refeeding, I finally managed to gain weight but it took upwards of 10,000 calories a day and after a year and a half, I couldn't maintain that amount anymore and landed in the hospital due to the serious digestive issues it caused. As soon as I went back to my normal caloric intake (3000+), all the weight I gained fell right off and I had improved nothing.

I made the mistake of thinking, mainly based on some pretty crappy events with people who I thought loved me, that there was something wrong with my body and that my size meant I should follow the same advice given to those who have an eating disorder. Lesson learned. Thankfully, I get enough protein just from consuming so many calories, but I'm wanting to figure out if it's concentrated protein in general that triggers the SOB or animal protein because it would settle something in my mind that I've questioned for years now.

 

[InChristAlone]

Thanks for the advice, Janelle! You and your dietary preference would have fit right in with us at the Youreatopia forum. :) Unfortunately for me, extra weight didn't help. While refeeding, I finally managed to gain weight but it took upwards of 10,000 calories a day and after a year and a half, I couldn't maintain that amount anymore and landed in the hospital due to the serious digestive issues it caused. As soon as I went back to my normal caloric intake (3000+), all the weight I gained fell right off and I had improved nothing.

I made the mistake of thinking, mainly based on some pretty crappy events with people who I thought loved me, that there was something wrong with my body and that my size meant I should follow the same advice given to those who have an eating disorder. Lesson learned. Thankfully, I get enough protein just from consuming so many calories, but I'm wanting to figure out if it's concentrated protein in general that triggers the SOB or animal protein because it would settle something in my mind that I've questioned for years now.

I should have also said that I know you eat plenty of calories! I personally never went above about 3100 even when I was underweight. I am curious what were you eating to get to 10,000? My main focus with recovery was eating what I felt satiated me and kept me warm in the winter months and not eating only the foods I thought were healthy. Addressing anxiety outside of diet was huge as well. Somatic experiencing and the DARE approach. I basically called my anxiety it's bluff, asked for more of it like "come on anxiety give me all you got!"and then went about my day as if I wasn't anxious. Stopped focusing so much on how food made me feel. Which is hard because of the shortness of breath and other symptoms. I probably still focus too much on symptoms. In my head too much analyzing every little thing. Letting go was big!

 

[ecstatichamster]

I have noticed people sometimes react badly to collagen. Itchy skin, joint aches, and in your case shortness of breath -- all symptoms of allergies to something in collagen I suppose.

 

[Jennifer]

I should have also said that I know you eat plenty of calories! I personally never went above about 3100 even when I was underweight. I am curious what were you eating to get to 10,000? My main focus with recovery was eating what I felt satiated me and kept me warm in the winter months and not eating only the foods I thought were healthy. Addressing anxiety outside of diet was huge as well. Somatic experiencing and the DARE approach. I basically called my anxiety it's bluff, asked for more of it like "come on anxiety give me all you got!"and then went about my day as if I wasn't anxious. Stopped focusing so much on how food made me feel. Which is hard because of the shortness of breath and other symptoms. I probably still focus too much on symptoms. In my head too much analyzing every little thing. Letting go was big!

That's okay! I didn't think you were implying that I starve myself or anything. :) I think it's great that you were able to eat freely. Given you do best with more refined foods, I can see it being just what you needed to heal. For me, caring about the quality of a food I feed myself and others is no more unhealthy than not caring about the quality of a food. It has everything to do with my motivation, whether it's love or fear based, and my caring is an act of love and not an eating disorder. Anyone who feels extreme pain or the relief from it just by what they eat can understand, I'd imagine. And I totally agree with the importance of addressing anxiety outside of diet. Knowing my triggers was a huge step.

I made most of my food from scratch and used sprouted flours for digestibility. Some of the things I consumed — fruit/juice, soups like creamy butternut squash, French onion and New England clam chowder, French bread veggie grinders, mashed creamer potatoes with jam, grass-fed hotdogs, tourtière with maple syrup, poutine, quiche, scrambled eggs with crab and potato hash browns, egg croissant sandwiches with fig jam, crêpes with butter and cinnamon sugar, brioche French toast with maple syrup, oatmeal with coconut cream and maple syrup, whole milk goat yogurt with raw honey, ice cream with fruit compotes etc. and occasionally a piece of raspberry zinger cake from a local bakery and gelato, EVOO marinated buffalo mozzarella, sun dried tomato and roasted garlic and an EVOO honey poppy seed fusilli salad with pineapple from a little Italian shop.

 

[Jennifer]

Hi @sugarbabe! May I ask, when your panic attacks were at their worst, were you consuming gelatin at the time and if so, did you find it helpful or in the very least that it didn't worsen them? I found my can of marine gelatin while I was organizing my pantry and it dawned on me that I never trialed it to see if it was an animal protein that didn't trigger the shortness of breath. I want to try it, but I'm a little nervous to do so and thought I'd ask you your experience first.

 

[InChristAlone]

Hi @sugarbabe! May I ask, when your panic attacks were at their worst, were you consuming gelatin at the time and if so, did you find it helpful or in the very least that it didn't worsen them? I found my can of marine gelatin while I was organizing my pantry and it dawned on me that I never trialed it to see if it was an animal protein that didn't trigger the shortness of breath. I want to try it, but I'm a little nervous to do so and thought I'd ask you your experience first.

Gelatin/glycine is actually a bit risky for me. Depends on the source. Purifed versions seem the worst. From food the best. But I know people who really need glycine and thus get benefits.

 

[Jennifer]

Gelatin/glycine is actually a bit risky for me. Depends on the source. Purifed versions seem the worst. From food the best. But I know people who really need glycine and thus get benefits.

Hmm...okay. Thanks, Janelle! :) I'll try only a tiny amount first then since I don't have any seafood broth on hand.

 

[Stifler]

Sure, I just downloaded and put a typical day in, not sure what to screenshot to show best? Here’s one. Sorry if that’s lame I’m not familiar with it. I didn’t add supplements... I’m also taking a b vitamin complex, vitamins ADK, vitamin E, and added a really small amount of desiccated thyroid capsule and progesterone oil from forefront health (which is how I found ray peat and seems to follow his guidelines. Let me know if I can send something else

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I strongly believe you are consuming too much salt. I ended up in the ER for this as well when first incorporating salting my orange juice.

Symptoms: nausea (felt like I was going to pass out), heart POUNDING, brain fog and headaches.

If you are experiencing these symptoms after eating something salty, I would strongly recommend utilizing something to balance (what works best for me is Organic OJ - no pulp)

 

[Jen]

I’m sorry to hear you dealt with these uncomfortable symptoms too. Now that I have been clear of this for awhile I can say in my case it definitely wasn’t the salt (that was something I have always had a lot of and still hasn’t changed) but sensitivity to gelatin/collagen I had taken, I think it has to do with the histamines not being tolerated due to high estrogen. I had also gone all in on peaty foods and supplements and my health was not good so it was just too much for my body. With stomach issues and diarrhea came high serotonin, adrenaline symptoms, etc. Even the small amount of thyroid I took would cause pounding heart. Going slow and gradually introducing/increasing thyroid when I could handle it (and after adding b vitamins enough to make up for a long time deficit) all helped me get my health back.

I firmly believe too many people that find Peat, go too hard and do too much at first and cause themselves issues, myself included. Slowly changing current lifestyle/diet and introducing his ideas gradually is the key. Now, every time I try something and notice a weird reaction, i just back off and start even more slowly. Listening to my body and what it can handle has made all the difference.