My father will not be a centenarian. May he rest in peace...
***
I spent some time last autumn in the Neurology section, with him. All those elderly people trying to still function, battling it out, and the nurses and doctors assisting them in Purgatory, matter-of-factly... My respect for the medical establishment, imperfect as it may be, has increased even more. They have not saved my father, but they did extend his life by a few months...
***
A neurologist thought I may suffer from a subclinical case of vasculitis. She had me try "Lyrica", which I could not endure. My pain, at its worst, is not worth the side effects and the zoning out. I tried "Gabaran" as well -- much easier on me: I composed many songs on the one and only pill I tried. I am glad to know there are such powerful painkillers out there, but I hope I will never have to use them consistently.
The neurologist also suspected an incipient diabetic neuropathy. Given my high genetic risk of diabetes, over 40%, I figured my following Dr. Peat's recommendations for almost a year must have been quite unfortunate. Luckily for me, her suggestion to help with this one worked wonders: "Milgamma" (B1 as a benfotiamine and B12). It was literally like growing back a bunch of nervous endings... I had come to accept that my right big toe had left the system for some idiosyncratic reason and I was not too worried (I should have been!) Well, I was overwhelmed to feel it return to me! Regeneration after degeneration, so there is hope!
So... I dropped my sugar consumption to almost zero. Peat was definitely wrong for me on this front!
No more weird numbness for me. That is a winner! And no, I don't miss OJ. I see it now, for myself, as the orange specter of diabetes.
Another huge improvement was the disappearance of the CA-125 marker. I cannot be sure what brought that about. Except giving up sugar, I did not do any other spectacular diet changes.
One small thing I can think of is that I increased garlic consumption. My body was craving it. If it turns out this new garlic habit got rid of some incipient tumor, hey... The stench is a small price to pay. I also brought a bunch of PUFA back into my life in the form of potato chips -- I have to have them at least once or twice a week, dipped in my garlic salsa...
Thyroid function -- I am still at 25 mcg T4, but with my free T4 bumped up into a mid-range of normalcy (it used to hover to the lowest normal and even under that), with a rather high TSH by US standards (2.6). I think this is a pretty reasonable spot, I am sleeping well, I no longer experience those "hit by a truck" moments... Some days are better than others, energy-wise. My weight is pretty much the same and nobody guesses my age, so I am alright. Actually, I look much better than I feel and people look confused and rather skeptical when they hear about my troubles.
I stopped measuring all the other hormones, I will let my body deal with them. I experimented with supplementation of most and I didn't like it one bit. Maybe I am oversensitive, or maybe I have a low tolerance -- my 23andme results show me as a slow metabolizer for many substances (including coffee, yet another reason for me to not follow Peat), so perhaps I should stay away from any "bio-hacking" that involves hormones. Nobody knows for sure how they work, anyway, so why be a guinea pig, life is too short even without self-experimentation.
In my search for the perfect seaside, I visited Cyprus and loved the taste of their produce... I hated the pollution, though...
I hope you are all doing well and staying healthy and gorgeous.
I am actually quite happy with my performances on cognitive tests -- with the notable exception of attention, where I score in the average zone... I would not play with things like T3 to increase my focus... My mood does not need help, either. It stays high for no particular reason. Now, if I could have more energy and less nagging pains during the flares of my mysterious disease, that would be a welcome change...
ReplyDeleteHi Isadora
ReplyDeleteHave you considered resetting your daytime core temperature. There is a website called 'Fix low body temperature by Steve Richfield'? I have reset mine following his info, without resorting to any hormones or supplements. After finding my average temps over 3 years at 36C I have now averaged 36.9C since day 1of the reset in April this year. My next step is to take nascent iodine only. I have started Yoga and rebounding to increase lymph flow. Your use and success with garlic may indicate that you need the sulphur, onions are also good. It's nice to read your reports again, best wishes.........Mike
Hi Mike,
ReplyDeleteNice to hear from you again, too! Thanks for the tips, I will look into the body temp reset technique you recommend, I am glad it worked for you! I will look into nascent iodine as well... But Yoga is not for me, I simply cannot agree with that kind of wear and tear on the body.
Yes, the garlic was a bizarre thing, I was very much into it last autumn, when simply the idea of it would cause me to salivate and I was gobbling it up desperately, almost every other day, for a few weeks. Then it subsided, but I still crave it at least twice a week.
Hi Isadora.
DeleteThe organic sulphur contents of onions and the garlic family is what the tonsils use for the lymph system to deal with parasites, bacteria and toxins. My suggestion on using Yoga comes from the concept to increase lymph flow and drainage from the body. Some specific gentle inverted postures in Yoga e.g. standing forward bend and downward facing dog properly executed use gravity to free up slow or blocked lymph. These two postures should not cause wear and tear. Rebounding on a mini trampoline is probably a more efficient 'exercise' and more fun' a bit like a sink plunger to free up a blocked drain using positive and negative gravity. Sluggish lymph drainage effects the ability of all systems in the body to function optimally, this includes heart, gut, adrenal and thyroid function. The Patrick Jordan books are very informative on this subject, especially 'The Operator's Manual For The Hu-man Body', 'Doof' and 'ICD 999'. I would be very interested to learn from you of the mechanisms for wear and tear using Yoga. I keep an open mind on everything. Before I take up a regime on anything I research it beforehand, perhaps I've missed something.
To your health and happiness
Mike
Hi Mike,
DeleteWhy don't I crave onions as well, I wonder? I gave away my trampolin -- I couldn't bring myself to be diligent about using it, something didn't feel right in all that bouncing business in the same wear-and-tear kind of way... Or maybe it was sheer laziness, which is the only reason I can find for not using my inversion table more often... I don't have much to offer in the way of Yoga not being a safe way to use one's body but what is being said in pieces like this NY Times article: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/08/magazine/how-yoga-can-wreck-your-body.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0, which I add to my intuition and previous attempts at taking it up. I don't know, I tend to object to this entire moving lymph concept, probably since I got a bit more familiar with Thai massage. The only time I enjoyed massage was at the Wat Po temple, so I took some books and read that its principles are precisely moving lymph around -- but then, they were saying that this is not recommended in cancer patients. How does one know one has a budding cancer in one's body? So, I primitively concluded that one should better stop shaking one's lymph and calm down..:) Just listen to one's lazy body and give it a break, it is having a hard enough time just dealing with the daily stuff...:))) That being said, I will read everything you recommend, and thank you!
Thanks Isadora
DeleteI'll check out the article on Yoga
Best wishes
Mike
Hi Isadora
DeleteIn my opinion free flowing lymph is more likely to prevent toxin build up and any cancerous material can be evacuated more efficiently. The problem with some forms of massage to move lymphatic fluids can be due to the health of the lymph system to start. If you have a chronic [long term] low daytime body temperature then the lymph can become congested. Most supplements contain substances that can glue up your lymph system e.g. stearates. A body operating at optimal temperature is better suited to moving lymph than one at a cooler temperature. If you have hardened lymphatic congestion then I agree with you when you say that massage or relevant Yoga postures can be deleterious by causing internal lacerations, the dried and hardened lymphatic networks can break and leak into connective tissue. According to A. Vonderplanitz reversing lymphatic congestion takes a long time. His recommendation is to take a hot bath for 1-1.5 hours at a temperature of 39C-43C every 3-4 days to dissolve hardened lymph and drinking upon entering the hot bath a blended mixture of 0.25-1 cup of unripe pineapple [for the protein digestive enzymes, not stated, but probably protease] with 3-6 tablespoons of coconut cream with 1-3 tablespoons of raw unsalted butter with 1-2 tablespoons of raw cream. Measured ingredients should be adjusted for the size of the person. I have reset my body temperature as stated before using the Steve Richfield method. Daily use of long hot showers seems to me to have the same effect of 2 long baths per week. The lymph has to drain somewhere for proper elimination. In my experience a gut free of excessive amounts of bio-film[bacteria] followed by the heat treatment combined with pineapple and very small amounts of Nascent iodine and finally some form of gentle rebounding [feet don't have to leave the surface of the rebounder] plus a gentle version of the downward dog or forward hang in this sequential order can gradually improve lymph flow.
Best wishes
Mike
Hi Isadora,
DeleteI forgot to mention that Vonderplanitz says "The best lymphatic massage is to touch the skin so lightly that it almost tickles, causing great neuro-stimulation between the brain and whole body that stimulates and relaxes all circulatory systems."
Mike
Nice to hear from you again, and that you're feeling better.
ReplyDeleteGarlic is an anti-bacterial, its good against h. pylori and c. diff.
Refined (neutral flavor) coconut oil seems to work well for me.
Hey Kiran,
ReplyDeleteHow have you been, lately? Are you still following Ray Peat's advice? How is your blood sugar? Glad you stopped by!..
Still doing the Peat thing. Blood sugar is ok, except if I eat beans or drink coke from a plastic bottle (BPA?).
ReplyDeletehi isadora...
ReplyDeletei find your attitude very refreshing...
what is the latest report on your navagations and explorations into the workings of your "human condition" ?
paul
Hello,
ReplyDeleteI've been flirting with the Peat diet for a few months now and I also started experiencing chronic pain, migraines, crappy mood and digestive issues (things I didn't have before). My friends from the forum keep trying to convince me to stick with it but it doesn't make sense to me that there should be such a long down-time with a diet that's supposed to help you heal!
What are you doing now and what have you found through your research? Any new blogs and help for people who are recovering from the Peat recovery diet? LOL
Hi, sorry for my late reply, I forgot I had this blog somewhere! I wrote another post to answer your question... Yeah, careful there with Peating, unless you are genetically in a good area for that diet, you risk big time. I honestly think it could have killed my by now if I had persisted with all that coffee and sugar and if I had dared go for those dreadful hormones on top of it all! How was I ever so naive?.. And how did a scientist ever believe in all that? I believe I was saved by my rather liberal access to the medical community and my 23andme sobering experience. As to the raypeatforum... Sociologists should study it... Or maybe the FDA should have a say in such phenomena?..
ReplyDelete