A bloody mess..

I got my period on Juli 1'st. This time it was only 3-4 days late, which is a huge improvement, since the last 2 months, my period was 14 days late everytime. I still got the mood swings this time, the pre-water retention, swollen sore breasts, and it started about 14 days before my period, which is NOT my idea of fun. I only had 1 day of cramps though, which is new.
Even though cycles isn't the most thrilling thing in the world, I do find it quite interesting and I feel for men, in a way because a womens cycle is a good way to track how your hormones are doing and if what your doing (diet, exercise) has an effect.
When I was going from low carb and dieting in general, to high starch, high calories, I went from very irregular periods (coming every 3-6 months, even up to a whole year at one point) to regular periods in about 3 months. In those first 3 periods, they were still irregular but only with weeks. I experienced pre-water retention, swollen sore breasts, mood swings, you name it, I had it. Eventually they became regular and my pre-symptoms started subsiding. I even remember one time, it came totally unexpectedly because I didn't have any symptoms. Only difference was that my periods was now a little heavier than in my teen years, which was always very light.
Now going full blown sugarlicious my periods became irregular once again, being about 14 days late. I got full blown acne and all my pre-period annoyingness (is that even a word?) came right back. Of course, I stuck it out like a champ -insert innocent smiley here- and eventually my acne stopped. On my 3'rd period in Sugar Land, my period is only 3-4 days late. I still had the pre-menstrual crap but only 1 day of cramps (signs of improvement) AND my period has become lighter and not clotting (hope your not eating jam on toast while reading this)
Every girls hates having their period but I must admit I'm looking forward to my next one because it is in the name of science! I have no doubt in my mind that I am on the right track. Sugar has been the missing link in my diet and the ONLY thing I have been avoiding like the plague in the same time period my health started declining.
 

PUFA's -the liquid toxic!

I had to make a "quick" blog post today as Undertow made my brain go wandering, with his answer to my question about how he was going on the "sugar-diet". Here is what he replied:

"Sheila,
So far so good, I am doing one large fruit/juice meal later in the afternoons to increase sucrose intake. It does increase acne. Here are my thoughts on that. These are just thoughts, based on my own research on me. Skip if you don't want to read about acne theories...

Acne seems to be related to insulin resistance (high insulin and increased androgen levels, and increased sebum production) and inflammation (stored PUFA's, stress, etc). I can make my acne flare with a low-fat diet and flare when increasing fruit intake, but make it subside when doing low carb, high fat. So how is that related?

Eating low fat (meaning extremely low PUFA, and using SAT fat only, sparilingly), high unrefined starch, with lean protein, allows the body to release stored PUFA. Released through calorie deficit, fasting or exercise. So this would be low grade inflammation, having stored PUFA's in bloodstream, and could increase insulin resistance. This definitely causes acne for me. I grew up with Mazola in everthing!

Increasing fruit, means increasing fructose, which can mean more trigylcerides in the blood, along with stored PUFA's (if released). More fat in the blood, means insulin resistance will likley be higher. This will cause acne for me, but not for someone with a good metabolism, low insulin levels and nominal blood glucose clearance. My last blood test from about a year ago, showed slightly evelated fasting insulin.

So what does all this mean... Seems like to cure acne and reduce sebum production, you need to remove excess stored PUFA's in your body (eat very low fat, ie minimal butter/ghee/coconut oil), get glucose clearance and insulin levels under control (eat lots of unrefined starch without fat, with increasing fruit load without fat), get sunshine, get some exercise, get your sleep...

Why does low carb reduce acne; lowered insulin, lowered fructose and insulin spikes, less stored PUFA's released due to high fat intake.

Why does milk cause acne grief? It spikes insulin very very well, and contains lots of fat to cause insulin resistance in the person with lowered metbolic rate.

Peat also has said that sucrose will increase the metabolic rate, which will cause thyroid and vitamin A levels to compete. This may be a factor as well. Accutane is vitamin A derivative, and works at decreasing the size of the sebaceuos glands, and most likely inhibiting the thyroid, so lowered metabolism; think low carb. Genetics, probably a factor as well."

Thank you Undertow! Very interesting, is all I can say. My thoughts has also lingered around insulin and androgen production (acne) and how some of all this can relate to me and my issues. In fact, a lot of my problems stems from PCOS symptoms which has all to do with increased androgen production that seems to worsen when insulin gets high. PCOS-women is more often than not, overweight and they get told that loosing weight and going low carb, will help eliminate their problems -and I believe them! BUT there is two sides to the story..

Here is my theory WHY: Women with PCOS have insulin resistance, high triglycerides (fat in the blood) -meaning the body is competing against using fat or sugar as energy. Their fatty tissue is loaded with PUFA's which is why the fat is so hard to lose, because PUFA's inhibits the thyroid (low metabolism) which also explains the saying: "Fat is a way for the body to protect itself from a toxic world". -It really is! Loosing weight means releasing toxic PUFA's into the bloodstream, which again will cause a lowering of the metabolic rate, making it even harder to lose more toxic fat. If you have, let's say 50-100kg to lose, that could be a dangerous road to take. Not all fat is the same. Not understanding that, is not seeing the whole picture. Your body ALWAYS tries to protect you! It doesn't care how much fat you carry, as long as it can protect you from the toxicity of it.
This would also explain why, every time I don't get enough calories, my temperature drop immediately. I believe that is because my body then has to release fat (PUFA's) as energy. The PUFA's then inhibits my thyroid, causing my temperature to drop.
Now HOW do I release the toxic PUFA's from my tissue WITHOUT harming myself in the process?? THAT's what I want to know..! 

A day in my shoes..

This is how a day easily could look:

Morning. Raw milk, frozen fruit, oats, syrup.

 

Before noon. 1 carrot.

                                                   

Around noon. Crispbread with cheese and jam.

                                            

Afternoon. A glass of raw milk, and some watermelon.

                                                                                                         

Dinner. Lamb with potatoes, beans, onions, butter and a little ketchup.

                          

A little later..Dessert. Watermelon, orange juice with gelatin.

                                                                      

Evening snack. Crispbread with cheese, jam and a glass of orange juice.

What I have noticed in the last couple of weeks, is that I haven't smelled that ammonia smell, I sometimes smell when sniffing in hard, after something as simple as walking. From my research, ammonia is a byproduct of protein and you get the ammonia smell when your body doesn't have sufficient carbohydrates to use for energy, instead it is forced to break down muscle tissue for energy. Small note: I DON'T EAT LOW CARB?! Eating high starch didn't help one bit on the ammonia smell but sugar seems to have cured the problem. I will say that I have only noticed it recently. It didn't happen over night (maybe I wasn't eating enough sugar in the beginning) I've actually battled with this ammonia smell for many years now, always smelled it after doing a session of hard cardio (more understandable when I WAS actually low carb, back then) in the gym, but later on it happened even after a walk.

The other night I woke up around 2-3 am felling a bit uncomfortable, I had some pain in my lower abdomen area. I got up because I felt like standing up. went to the toilet to pee. Afterwords I sat down on a chair. The pain got worse, now moving to my belly and all the way to my solar plexus. I quickly went back to bed because I was afraid if I didn't go now, I wouldn't be able to move later. In bed, it got way worse, I started getting cold sweat. The pain was excruciating. It constantly moved from lower abdomen to solar plexus area. Suddenly I felt like vomiting! If it isn't because I hate vomiting with a passion, I would have barfed! I was shaking like crazy. I fell down on the floor in a praying position -not because I believe in God but because it was the only position that felt somewhat comfortable! After about 30mins of hell, the pain subsided and I felt totally exhausted, like I had run a marathon! Next day I was feeling kinda blah, all day. My stomach was a little uneasy.
I went to the chiropractor because my back has felt locked and my mom who has been giving me massages, have noticed that my whole ribcage is twisted. I wanted to know if that could have caused my pain that night too. My chiropractor looked at my back and said it was crocked  and that my lower back had no movement what so ever. She said it most definitely could cause problems that spiraled out through my chest, solar plexus but she told me that the symptoms I had that night, more resembled  kidney stones. Never thought of that. I've actually had these "attacks" before. Something aint right, that's for sure.

Fell in the sugar trap and I don't want out!

Can't believe it has been so long since my last log post. I haven't been here since Christmas! Rosenfeltc (a blogger on 180 ) reminded me of my absence when he posted some questions in the comment section, in my last post. Let's just dive right into it.. I have to admit, I was starting to feel quite discouraged after reintroducing more carbs and calories in general, to my diet. even though I felt better than when I was obviously starving, and my period was back, I still had problems lingering. It felt like the honeymoon was over and some of my problems came back. My hands and feet were still ice cold (which is a true stress response) I still got dizzy when standing up and my energy still just wasn't quite there. I still wasn't able to keep my temperature up, it was hovering around 36 degrees, being higher in the morning and dropping as soon as I got up (sign of high adrenaline in fasted state). Also, my pulse never came above 60.
I believe it was April (late March) i started introducing sugar to my diet, as in Ray Peats recommendations. So more than 2 months have I been doing this.
How was my reaction? Terrible! Acne, bad (face, chest, back)! I felt like I was coming down with the flu! I almost gave up a few times because the acne was so bad, but I had to give this a fair chance before I could give my judgment. I also tried adding a natural thyroid supplement but had to stop it because my resting pulse reached 140 bpm and my blood pressure dropped even further! That was actually quite scary. Here is my theory on why I tink I reacted so dramatically to thyroid meds; 
For example when you go from a starch based diet to a sugar based diet, your adrenals have to kick in higher gear to support your new increased metabolic rate. When you eat starch only, you get satisfied quicker, eat less calories and therefor have a lower metabolic rate so your adrenals doesn't have to do much effort to keep thyroid and adrenals balanced. When you switch to sugar, your metabolic rate increases and your adrenals have to "wake up" and produce more adrenaline, cortisol to make up for inadequate thyroid function, until thyroid hormones eventually can balance out the adrenal hormones.
I believe my adrenals (at the time) was too weak to handle the extra thyroid hormones. Sudden increase in thyroid without the supporting adrenal hormones, yells disaster. It should be interesting to see how my body handles thyroid hormone, after eating a high sugar diet for many months -if I even need it at that time.



I will go more into depths about how my diet is currently looking, in the next blog post.
As of now, I don't have any reactions to sugar anymore. No acne. More energy. Better body composition. My temperature is higher (still not all the way there) And most important, no cold hands and feet! No stress reaction! That is huge!


Btw. I got a an 11 + years old root canal removed because of this blog post from Danny Roddy. Yes, it was infected. I just got it pulled out so now I am missing a tooth in my left side, and I am thinking about getting the other one (right side) pulled out too but I must admit, the thought of missing not 1 but 2 pretty important tooths for chewing, is making me think twice before I decide (plus I'll look funny) One thing is for sure, root canals are no good! read the blog post.
That is it for now... I'll be back!

Intermittent Fasting Fail and Ray Peat Articles!

Since my last blog post, I have tried some different things. I have cut down on acidic foods and increased my alkaline food intake. It's still too early to make any conclusions though. I also gave Intermittent fasting a go, for about a week and a half. In the beginning it seemed to work well, I snacked on carrots and beets upon wakening  and I didn't feel any hunger until around the 16 hour mark. Unfortunately after around a week or so, all the symptoms that I cured with RRARFing suddenly showed its ugly face again! I became dizzy and forgetful, like waking in a fog. Difficulty staying a sleep. Twice I actually had to get up and eat something, in the middle of the night, to fall back asleep which for me, is a clear sign of hypoglycemia.
Conclusion: IF was a fail for me. Maybe I am not healthy enough to pull it through or it might not be for me at all. I will leave it for now.
I was like a kid in a candy store, browsing through Ray Peats articles today. I've always felt that even though I have dealt with all my main stressors by excluding exercise and resting instead, eating lots of nutritious calories and getting plenty of sleep, I still showed signs of excessive cortisol or/and estrogen dominance, which also means I am deficient in progesterone.
Peat says that excess estrogen -or estrogen dominance act as a stress response in the body, meaning prolonged exposure to estrogen means prolonged exposure to cortisone:
 " Since Selye's work, it has been known that estrogen creates the same conditions as occur in the shock phase of the stress reaction. (And shock, in a potential vicious circle, can increase the level of estrogen.7)"


"They suggested that the bone loss sets in immediately when progesterone fails because cortisol then is able to dominate, causing bone catabolism; progesterone normally protects against cortisol. Other researchers have pointed out that estrogen dominance promotes mitosis of the prolactin-secreting cells of the pituitary, and that prolactin causes osteoporosis; by age 50, most people have some degree of tumefaction of the prolactin-secreting part of the pituitary. But estrogen dominance (or progesterone deficiency) also clearly obstructs thyroid secretion, and thyroid governs the rate of bone metabolism and repair. Correcting the thyroid and progesterone should take care of the cortisol/prolactin/osteo- porosis problem."
My most recent blood work showed the first signs of this bone loss progression.. It all makes so much sense to me now! 


I've also had trouble with my androgens being very dominant:
"It has recently been demonstrated that estrogen stimulates the adrenal glands, independently of the pituitary's ACTH. This can increase the production of adrenal androgens, leading to hirsutism, and other male traits, including anabolic effects.8"


Here is another quote from one of Peats articles:
"Blood sugar falls at night, and the body relies on the glucose stored in the liver as glycogen for energy, and hypothyroid people store very little sugar. As a result, adrenalin and cortisol begin to rise almost as soon as a person goes to bed, and in hypothyroid people, they rise very high, with the adrenalin usually peaking around 1 or 2 A.M., and the cortisol peaking around dawn; the high cortisol raises blood sugar as morning approaches, and allows adrenalin to decline. Some people wake up during the adrenalin peak with a pounding heart, and have trouble getting back to sleep unless they eat something."
This would explain why I still have trouble sleeping in general and why I sometimes feel the need to eat to be able to fall back asleep!

Peat says the best way to measure how well your thyroid is working, is by measuring BOTH your temperature AND your resting pulse. We all know that I increased my resting pulse by 20 bpm, which puts me at 60 bpm now. Peat says that healthy individuals are at a resting pulse of 85 bpm and unhealthy individuals are at 70 bpm.

My lab test has always showed an odd TSH in correlation to my T3 and T4, that is. My TSH being 0.20 -which would indicate hyperthyroidism, according to my oh so clever doctors, and then with my contradicting low levels of T3 and T4.
Here is Peats explanation:

 "Stress, besides suppressing the TSH, acts in other ways to suppress the real thyroid function. Cortisol, for example, inhibits the conversion of T4 to T3, which is responsible for the respiratory production of energy and carbon dioxide. Adrenaline, besides leading to increased production of cortisol, is lipolytic, releasing the fatty acids which, if they are polyunsaturated, inhibit the production and transport of thyroid hormone, and also interfere directly with the respiratory functions of the mitochondria. Adrenaline decreases the conversion to T4 to T3, and increases the formation of the antagonistic reverse T3 (Nauman, et al., 1980, 1984)."

My only question goes back to the old egg or chicken; Which came first? Is cortisol in excess because I am hypothyroid and therefor have adrenaline steaming in high gear? Or am I hypothyroid because I have cortisol (estrogen dominance?) in excess?

"But hypoglycemia also tends to decrease the conversion of T4 to T3, so heat production often decreases when a person is hungry. First, their fingers, toes, and nose will get cold, because adrenalin, or adrenergic sympathetic nervous activity, will increase to keep the brain and heart at a normal temperature, by reducing circulation to the skin and extremities. Despite the temperature-regulating effect of adrenalin, the reduced heat production resulting from decreased T3 will make a person susceptible to hypothermia if the environment is cool."


This would explain my cold hands and feet -and nose to be accurate (yes it gets cold too)! Finally!
It seems like my adrenals are STILL compensating for the lack of thyroid function. Maybe it would be wise for me to give thyroid medication another go... Just to give my body a gentle push in the right direction. No matter what, I am definitely giving the natural progesterone I ordered ages ago, a chance -with or without thyroid medication. At this point I feel like there isn't much I can lose.

Peats recommendations on how to observe your how well your thyroid is working:
" After eating breakfast, the cortisol (and adrenalin, if it stayed high despite the increased cortisol) will start returning to a more normal, lower level, as the blood sugar is sustained by food, instead of by the stress hormones. In some hypothyroid people, this is a good time to measure the temperature and pulse rate. In a normal person, both temperature and pulse rate rise after breakfast, but in very hypothyroid people either, or both, might fall."


Interesting reading! 
This will be my home assessment for my next blog post! Stay tuned! 


P.S. I got my period today which is officially the my first REGULAR period since i got sick! Last month it came on the 18'th and this month also on the 18'th!

Uric acid poisoning ?!

Winter is definitely here now. Snow, snow and more snow. I love winter! :-)
So how are things going? Pretty much the same. Temperatures are still really unstable. I ran out of my unrefined virgin coconut oil and have been using Palmin in my oatmeal,in the morning, which I normally only use for cooking. I got some new stash yesterday though. I have had a sneaking suspicion that Palmin doesn't get my temperatures up like my unrefined coconut oil does but I can not be certain. Normally my fingers get warm briefly from eating unrefined coconut oil in my oats, in the morning, but the past couple of weeks where I have been using Palmin instead, they have been icy. Hmmm.. I will take further notice of this, if it hold any water.
I still feel like I am gaining. Clothes continue to feel tighter and tighter. The past weeks I have been waking up to carbo face (water retention) Kinda feels like this problem is getting worse, which again leads me back to my last blog post about my kidneys. I found some knew info about that on Lisa's blog. She is reading a book about uric acid poisoning and how it relates to a lot of her problems. To my surprise, mine too! Well one of the many doctors I've been to, did actually say that I was very acidic and my kidneys had a hard time getting rid of the acid. He put me on a vegan diet AND and at least 4 l of water every day. That's a hell of a lot of water for a girl who is NEVER thirsty! The first error about this diet was it was too low in calories and crushed my already damaged metabolism even more. Second error was all the water consumption, it was too much for my system, especially when I'm never thirsty.
I am considering ordering this book by Alexander Haig: "Uric Acid as a factor in the causation of disease." but I have to admit, it scares me that the original book is almost 1000 pages long :-/
In short Dr. Haig recommends going vegetarian to clean out acidic poisoning. Eating a more alkaline diet will get rid of the uric acid. He also points out that uric acid poisoning is bad for the heat distribution and overall metabolism, which might explain why I still have trouble with my temperature/metabolism and my cold hands and feet.
The next few weeks I will focus on a more alkaline diet and take notice of any possible improvements.

Kidney problems?

Finally I got my period yesterday morning. It caught me a bit by surprise because I thought that train had left, for this month. I didn't have any real pre-cramps either, which I normally have ( I do have those cramps now though -there is no escaping, damn you uterus)!This also made my temperature drop, which at one point had been all the way up to the magic 37 number! Yesterday evening, it was all the way back to 35,7 :-( It's so fricking hard for me to keep those temperatures up!
Riles comment yesterday about cortisol inhibiting sodium loss and making kidneys produce hyptonic urine made me go on a little research which lead me to kidney problems. I've been told before, by my last doctor that I do have kidney and liver problems but I somehow haven't been able to untie the knots on this matter. Until I stumbled on this information:

• In the beginning, kidney failure may be asymptomatic (not producing any symptoms). As kidney function decreases, the symptoms are related to the inability to regulate water and electrolyte balances, to clear waste products from the body, and to promote red blood cell production. Lethargy,weakness, shortness of breath, and generalized swelling may occur. Unrecognized or untreated, life-threatening circumstances can develop.
  
• Metabolic acidosis, or increased acidity of the body due to the inability to manufacture bicarbonate, will alter enzyme and oxygen metabolism, causing organ failure.
  
• Inability to excrete potassium and rising potassium levels in the serum (hyperkalemia) is associated with fatal heart rhythm disturbances (arrhythmias) including ventricular tachycardia and ventricular fibrillation.
  
• Rising urea levels in the blood (uremia) can affect the function of a variety of organs ranging from the brain (encephalopathy) with alteration of thinking, to inflammation of the heart lining (pericarditis), to decreased muscle function because of low calcium levels (hypocalcemia).
  
• Generalized weakness may be due to anemia, a decreased red blood cell count, because lower levels of erythropoietin produced by failing kidneys do not adequately stimulate the bone marrow. A decrease in red cells equals a decrease in oxygen-carrying capacity of the blood, resulting in decreased oxygen delivery to cells for them to do work; therefore, the body tires quickly. As well, with less oxygen, cells more readily use anaerobic metabolism (an=without + aerobic=oxygen) leading to increased amounts of acid production that cannot be addressed by the already failing kidneys.
  
• As waste products build in the blood, loss of appetite, lethargy, and fatigue become apparent. This will progress to the point where mental function will decrease andcoma may occur.
  
• Because the kidneys cannot address the rising acid load in the body, breathing becomes more rapid as the lungs try to buffer the acidity by blowing off carbon dioxide. Blood pressure may rise because of the excess fluid, and this fluid can be deposited in the lungs, causing congestive heart failure.

 I kinda knew most of these things already but I guess I wasn't really aware of how many of these symptoms actually fits me like a hand in a glove.
I by no means, think that I have kidney failure. I just think my kidneys aren't working like they should.

For a long time I have had problems with my electrolyte balance and I often get generalized swelling or edema.  Basically I have great trouble with keeping the right water balance within and out of the cells.
Lethargy, weakness and shortness of breath is how I feel often.
My last doctor visit revealed that my body didn't use oxygen properly, it didn't get into the cells. I was too acidic and my body couldn't get rid of the waste product.
He also monitored my heart because it tends to skip a beat, every now and then. He found nothing wrong with it though, which I believe is true (nothing is wrong with my heart)! I believe the answer lies in my inability to control my electrolytes. As we now I also have high sodium.
I have been tested high on blood UREA, on several occasions. And I am also low in calcium.
I have a low red blood count which is almost anemic which explains the whole chain reaction explained above.
Only thing that doesn't fit, is a decrease in appetite, which I believe is only something you encounter when your kidneys are about to sign off.

Now I sit with the feeling; was upping my sodium intake a bad idea then? Suggestions for kidney-friendly-diet is low sodium, which I have done in the past. I just don't think cutting out things is a long term solution.
Maybe this explains why I am never thirsty? Because my kidneys have problems excreting and filtering urine?
If I obeyed my body completely, I wouldn't drink any water at all. I am literally NOT thirsty at all. Eating seems to be enough fluid for my body. I still force down 1,5 L because I am unsure what to do.