Quote from ggenereux on March 24, 2026, 3:07 pm

This progress report was shared with me via email.

 

I am 39 months into low vitamin A paradigm.

 

In November, 2022 my sacroiliac joint went out violently.  I could not stand, walk, sit nor lie down.  I went 5 months in that rough shape.  Besides that pain I had other symptoms - joint pain, numbness, tingling, edema, cramps,,,....   The most immediate problem was that the pain precluded sleep.  I barely got in 3 naps a day 10 to 15 minutes each before waking up screaming in pain.  

 

Once I grokked concept of isotretinoin induced sacroiliitis, I started depleting vitamin A.  During my third month, I got a 90 minute nap.  I slowly improved and April 15, 2023 I slept 10.5 hours straight and hung up my walker.  I have improved since with some ups and downs.  

 

These last few months I found improvements to problems that predate 11/22/2022.  I sleep much better, longer and easier.  I wake up to pee far less often.  My kidneys and bladder ache far less and work far better.  I rarely cramp.  I gained weight.  My range of motion and working strength is far better.  My endurance and stamina is improved.  I am much more comfortable and a nicer guy if that is possible.

 

I credit the first couple years of improvements to depleting vitamin A.  I credit these latest improvements to depleting vitamin A and repleting calcium.  

 

Before 11/22/2022, I ate paleo / keto nose to tail.  I ate plenty of vitamin A.  After the acute pain started I dropped the vitamin A intake.  I did it without studying since the pain was easily associated with vitamin A foods.  That association made it easier to find Grant Genereux's writing.

 

In the first months of 2023, I worked myself onto a diet with zero organ meats.  I ate beef, chicken, oats, apple, dates, kiwi, avocado oil and salt.  I supplemented charcoal, sunfiber, zinc, molybdenum, selenium, magnesium, vitamin K, potassium, thiamine and melatonin.

 

Later that year I deleted melatonin, thiamine and potassium.  I added in niacin and bananas.

 

In 2024, I deleted niacin and added rice.  In 2025, I realized that low vitamin A diets are low in calcium too and that vitamin A toxicity depletes calcium.  I tried a few different types of calcium supplements and settled on calcium phosphate with magnesium glycinate lysinate.  Improvements prompted more study.

 

I am still improving.  I eat far less overall and almost no supplements.  I gained weight first time in years.  I rarely cramp.  Range of motion and strength improvements are massive.  Endurance and stamina are increasing.  More than anything, I hurt far less and less often.

 

I now eat a simple and excellent diet.  Surprised at how good it tastes and feels.  Beef, chicken, lemon, chicken broth, swiss cheese, salt, dates, apple(sauce), kiwi, oats, rice, potato, banana, blueberry.  Every week I take some charcoal, psyllium husk powder, calcium phosphate, magnesium glycinate lysinate.  Also added Fiji water for the silicic acid (aluminum depleting).  

 

Life is good and getting better.  It is a relief to eat food without daily supplements.  More and more convinced supplements cause problems as often as they help repair them.  It is one of life's greatest pleasures to eat good tasting food that feels good as well.  

 

I am grateful to Grant Genereux for his ongoing work sorting this out and keeping open a place we can discuss it.  I am grateful to Garrett Smith for his advice early on in my plight.  I am grateful to Hope Tipton for helping me from my third month in through to today.  Questionable if I would have continued through the first 3 years of depleting vitamin A without her.  More questionable if I would have figured out significance of repleting calcium without her.  Grateful to everyone else on Grant's, Garrett's, Nate Allen's and Hope's blogs for helping me sort as we go.  Thank you all.  Now let's go.