Quote from Viktor on November 28, 2021, 7:48 am

Hi! I will try to be as succinct as possible. My story goes as follows:

• 2017-2018 - started eating lots of chicken/beef liver, cod liver, eggs, dairy on a regular basis as part of the "healthy lifestyle" I was maintaining back then. I think I may have been averaging around 20 000 IU vitamin A per day during some periods lasting for a couple of months, then take a short break from livers and start all over again.
• 2018-2019 - noticed my first symptoms that got progressively worse: dry eyes (couldn't even cry at all - confirmed by cutting onions and watching Hachi: A Dog's Tale), flaky scalp, gut issues, yellowish tint to my skin. My palms and fingers were all in cracks from working out and the blisters were yellow-orange as well. Also, enter sleep disturbances and mood swings/anxiety.
• 2020-2021 - ditched liver, but continued to eat eggs and dairy. And the main thing, I added lots and lots of carotene-rich foods to my diet, such as carrots (1-2 every day), bok choy, and broccoli (which are also known goitrogens). The issues became really debilitating some months after: poor bile flow, undigested foods in stool, elevated anxiety, feeling cold and tired, very dry skin on the hands and feet. Lab results showed a similar pattern every time: low WBC, low-normal free T4, low free T3, normal TSH. I visited numerous doctors during the several months of feeling like complete shit and was treated for gut infections, decreased bile flow, low thyroid with kelp iodine pills, etc. Nothing seemed to make a noticeable difference. However, when I ditched beta-carotene altogether, I noticed that my condition greatly improved.
• late 2021 - finally put 2 and 2 together thanks to a couple of members on Ray Peat forum and Grant's interviews. I understand now that I've been overdosing on vitamin A for years and it has finally caused my body not to be able to tolerate it any longer. I adopted a low-A diet a week ago.

Here's an interesting reaction I've been noticing. When I eat foods with preformed A (retinol), I don't get as many symptoms. I know that my liver stores must be full of it, but I don't notice any really serious issues. My skin, lips, and eyes are still a bit dry, and I know it will improve overtime.

However, when I ingest anything with beta-carotene (a small golden delicious apple, zucchini pancakes, or some spices like paprika), my metabolism crashes. I'm fatigued, irritable, freezing like hell, and my digestion comes to a screeching halt. I now seem to understand why - when we eat retinol, we can't pass it through, meaning it will get absorbed anyway and be used or stored even if the liver's capacity is full. It's a bad thing, for sure, but when the state of vitamin A toxicity has already been reached, a small dose doesn't add too much.

Beta-carotene, on the other hand, needs to be converted, and that process fully depends on the numerous bodily systems that are involved: digestion, thyroid, liver/bile function, etc. When the body knows that it shouldn't convert more beta carotene to retinol as the liver is already full of vitamin A, it will make everything possible to disrupt the process by essentially disrupting the whole metabolism altogether. I feel great as long as I avoid all sources of carotenoids for now.