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lil chick's log
@sarabeth, you said (on Tim's thread) "It is interesting, the ways Vitamin A toxicity seems to really mess with metal metabolism."
I think that so much of this has to be worked out. Would @jiri have been through so much (and it does sound awful what you have been through, Jiri! Sigh!) If it wasn't for VA?
My mind goes to the idea of the bipolar person. Full of energy one minute, crashed the next. And then subject to psych pharmaceuticals and endless couch conversations when perhaps what they are experiencing is 100% physical. I'm thinking of one extended family member (who passed from suicide) at this moment. And wondering if this might have been the case for him.
I truly believe my hair turned white much too young, (started being solidly white in the front at about 45) although I will agree that at 57 now I can't get away with saying it is "prematurely white" LOL. However, when I do online age guessers my hair puts me at 73.
I think I see a zone of my hair coming in a bit darker, working from the back forward.
However, I suppose I'm eating LESS copper foods now, NOT MORE.
Hubs has some symptoms of varicosity, while I've got the unhappy capillaries. I'm beginning to think of these as also about copper. So I found this blurb
To cut to the chase, for good veins what you need is all of the things we run low on here: B vities, C, E, K, and copper.
B vities get used up detoxing A. C also seems to be important (scurvy seems just so high VA)...And an overloaded fat soluble vitie can lead to what appears to be an UNDERLOAD load of others (E, K) (and D too).
It could be that we have the copper laying around to get things done, but when VA toxic we don't have the OTHER things necessary to UTILIZE the copper properly. And so the body stores it by, hoping to do the work later?
Just a thought.
Jam making and Oxalates?
I can't quite remember what thread it was, but we talked about berries and I mentioned a symptom after making (and lots of taste testing) of raspberry jam. I think it was Jiri who said the feeling might be from oxalates. I want to call it "itchy teeth" or "itchy gums" or something. I want to say there is a sort of "sour" or acidic feeling to it.
Well, here I am again, with the same exact feeling after the yearly grape jam session.
Some of the detox symptoms I have experienced might be about oxalates rather than VA, (because my diet is inadvertantly lower now). Maybe I'm starting to react to sudden influxes of it?
It appears to me that a spoonful a day is about all that I should take of raspberry or grape jam.
Sometimes it is hard to decide what to spread on toast.
Thoughts on scurvy after a brief note regarding jam.
Regarding the problems with jam making, I sort of wonder if this has to do with the sensitivity of my mouth lately. (For instance, having trouble implementing Tim's tooth protocol). As with many of my mucus membranes, we're talking dry, delicate, easily inflamed etc. I suppose it could be that the hot, acidic jam is just too much.
I got to thinking about scurvy again last night, as I mentioned on the thread about Grant's 6 year update.
I was thinking about how perhaps the special circumstances of old-school sea travel (which are sort of mirrored in some vacations) might bring on scurvy for many reasons.
The inner ear organs that sense balance probably have nutritional needs. (much like the intricate eye organs) When they are being over-used they may have increased nutrition needs. Perhaps, as part of your body's response to motion, the body sends extra help to the area and VA arrives with the rest of the squad. And depending on your overload, this could be disastrous.
I'm sure that being in the sun (as a sailor would have been, running sails and swabbing decks) also caused VA detox of the skin and eyes, increasing nutritional needs as well. (a person on vacation might also experience this)
And I'm thinking sleeping wasn't so easy and stress was high, increasing the needs of the adrenals. (a person on vacation might also not sleep well)
A friend of a friend went on a cruise and developed a horrible case of vertigo that appeared permanent even after going ashore. He suffered for several years and eventually committed suicide. 🙁 There are lots of tempting high-VA foods on cruises. Which brings up the point that when traveling you are often at the whim of other cooks, and not necessarily eating your usual staples. Old school sea travelers were not able to fulfill cravings either.
Subjects: H202. Travel aversion.
@tim, it took longer this time, but my alternative method (soaking my tooth brush in H202) has made my mouth sore.
It's too bad because I can see it helps.
I saw one guy online who was "packing" small amounts of baking soda and peroxide paste purposefully into problem areas. I could try that in future, although I'm a bit scared to use h202 at all now. What do you think of coconut oil pulling?
This seems to be a constant thing for me (and others I'm related to) that we have no tolerance for anything but gentle food and water, and that the side effects of meds/herbs/etc become odious quickly.
Regarding travel, my family thinks I have developed travel phobia, but I state that a phobia is an unfounded fear and I have plenty of real reasons to hate travel.
I read on the internet yesterday that this is instead called "TRAVEL AVERSE". I'm glad to have this moniker to pull out now as needed.
"Travel aversion, not to be confused with hodophobia, is a condition experienced by people that dislike or disapprove traveling. People who abstain from travel may see traveling more as a chore than as a leisure."
I'm an odd mix of a person, on some hands I'm "hale" like you'd expect a homesteader to be. But on the other, I've suffered from a real lack of resiliency. It confuses people when I don't want to go to their destination wedding or some such, they decide I'm just heartless.
I once heard that a woman put "I told you I was sick" on her gravestone, LOL. :') I totally understand where she was coming from.
At least I do suffer much less now from food attacks and headaches. I'm sleeping more soundly. Perhaps I will get to the point when I'm only SLIGHTLY travel averse and not SERIOUSLY travel averse. 🙂
Sorry to hear that H2O2 has that effect for you. I've used it for a long time and it has never been a problem for me.
I don't think coconut pulling will do anything helpful, I could be wrong though.
"Denmark is always at the top of the list of the world’s happiest countries, so there is a number of studies that put their happiness in the limelight. For sure, Danish people seem to know a great deal about happiness at home – they even “invented” an expression for it, called “hygge,” which cannot be translated into just one word but is described as “a feeling of cozy contentment and well-being through enjoying the simple things in life.”"
An embarrassing post about all things yellow.
My intuitions are that in general 1. My body is trying to get rid of things but isn't properly buffering/escorting dead VA out 2. that my body is working on things in the heart/center of me, and is possibly moving stuff around to get the work done and cares much less about how things look or feel at the surface or doorways
In response to these intuitions I decided to dabble in small doses of B-vities (against my resolution to avoid supps). A little history: I react poorly to B-vities. Just as beans were an issue, and sunshine, I supposed that my prior problems with VB were healing crises.
First I bought a nice bottle of riboflavin (because of the study about cyclic vomiting syndrome and riboflavin). And then, on a whim, I bought a cheap full-spectrum B (with C) at my grocer . (hubs and a friend were both against me taking just the one B-vitie) (and I don't want to spend a lot on a bottle, take one pill, and never take the rest).
To avoid B-vitie reactions, I've been taking the tiniest dose. I break it into 4 or 5 pieces and take a tiny piece at breakfast and another at dinner. This has worked well.
I read one nutrition expert say that you can tell if you are getting enough B-vities because your pee will be bright yellow--there is that color again. I don't always pee bright yellow, and so perhaps I have been deficient. Is this yellowness ...VA being (properly) escorted away? There was once an interesting thread here, that I enjoyed, about whether pee is yellow because of VA.. https://ggenereux.blog/discussion/topic/wrong-forum-dumb-question-but-still/
The small dose is enough to change my pee color . Both the expensive and cheap b-supps give me a bit of short-term stomach pain on ingestion, better to take with lots of food.
I'm experiencing a resurgence of some symptoms including rosacea flare (which led to impetigo), itchy torso, lips peeling (yellow peels, ew) and extra tinitus. On the plus side, my urethra seems happier about the toxicity of my urine. And so I keep swallowing these little chunks of B-vitie. Because an unhappy urethra is not a good place to be.
Regarding doorways and debris I do NOT think that the darkening of my groin skin has gotten any better with my version of lowered VA. (just how embarrassing is this post going to be?) To me, this might be what Ourania's bain derivatives (BD) are about. I'm intuiting that VA baggage is being left at the lost-and-found of the groin area when not properly escorted. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acanthosis_nigricans (and similarly in sweaty places like the arm pit) IMO this might be a sign that escorting out is incomplete. I find it interesting that topical lemon juice is used for this, and wonder if it would help as much as VB. Perhaps the acidity breaks it up, or perhaps it is the VC in the lemon.
My rosacea has led to infection before (impetigo). I'm about to start musing here. I often just use antibiotics for that, but black walnut tincture (BWT) is the trad cure for it. BWT is too colorful for the face. Interesting that impetiego is caused by staph aureus (golden staph, there is our yellow color cropping up again). I've heard that black walnut has iodine. Black walnut is often used as a fungal cure. Yellow fungal issues... that makes me think of the toenail infections which have come up here lately and are big with the VA toxic people in my life including myself. It wonder about the relationship between fungal symptom (how many here have gone down the candida blind alley?) and VA overload. Like my chicken's gleet problems that have gotten better on lowered VA.
@jaj has recommended that I look into sulfur, and I will. Gosh, I just looked at an article about sulfur foods and sulfur seems as ubiquitous as VA, maybe more.
One thing mentioned here is that your water can be high in sulfur and that could be going on here.
"Sulfur, calcium, and phosphorus are the three most abundant minerals in the human body (3Trusted Source). " (another source says the 7th most abundant)
"Your body uses sulfur for various important functions, including building and repairing DNA, as well as protecting your cells against damage. Thus, including enough sulfur-rich foods in your diet is vital for your health (2Trusted Source).
Yet, some people report feeling better when eliminating or drastically reducing sulfur-rich foods from their diet."
Doesn't this sound strangely like the apologetic things we hear about VA? LOL
I should probably stop drinking red wine, because of the natural and added sulfites. Something makes me want it, though.
Edited to add just one more embarrassing yellow thing. I was looking at my teeth with a magnifying mirror in bright sunlight and realized they were quite yellow around the base and behind the teeth. And so I have begun oil pulling again. In the past I thought that my teeth became whiter from oil pulling. The yellowness really made me think about the VA's stored all around (even in bone?). The oil made me think about the fact that VA is fat soluble. If oil pulling lessens yellowness, why not take advantage of it? I haven't seen much down-side to oil pulling except that it is a PIA. What if the reason our gums recede is because there is VA in the teeth?
Good luck @lil-chick!
I occasionally do oil pulling for several reasons, that all fit very well with VA detox. In the same line as Bains Derivatifs, anything that goes out is out.
Thank you for this long post!
I'm 18 months into my personal, admittedly lackadaisical, version of lowered-VA. Here are my original complaints, each followed by status. To cut to the chase, the most important fixes are my head pressure, surfer's eye, and being generally less inflammatory and more comfy in my body. I think I was heading for Menier's disease and Lupus, and these aren't things that fix overnight. I was actually doing a bit better before starting up the VB supp mentioned above. It stirred the pot and it is taking a long time to get back to where I was before.
Edited to add: Husband thinks he hasn't seen much for himself, either good or bad.
Inner ear: Vertigo, Tinnitus, less acute hearing, motion sickness. Status: Vertigo is somewhat better, still not a good traveler but gaining a bit of confidence. Tinnitus is slightly worse, which does affect my hearing. Ears still pop.
Eyes, nose: onset of astigmatism at age 40, Extremely dry eyes including rough patches on the white (pinguicula or surfers eye), constantly running nose, eyes unable to self-clean, light sensitivity. Status: I think my eyesight is the same. I think my dry eye and light sensitivity are somewhat better. The surfer's eye is a lot better. My nasal passages are still not very happy. Runny, itchy.
Mense abnormalities: painful menses and ovulation which has now turned to medium amounts of hot flashes. Status: Hot flashes are somewhat easier.
Urethra problems: urinary tract infections. Status: I have had zero UTI's during detox, which is good, I tend to get them in spring but didn't this year. But my urethra isn't really an entirely happy place yet.
Skin problems: The lupus butterfly, papular rosacea, torso rashes and itching, scaly skin on arms and legs, cracking and peeling lips, occasional impetigo, cracking nostrils, facial oranging, sun sensitivity (sun poisoning). Status: The lupus butterfly area is still active, still has papules, although it appears to me to be less swollen and "breaking up". Torso rashes and itching can still be brought on by sweating, but are generally not happening otherwise. Peeling lips and cracking nostrils--the same. Facial oranging comes and goes. Had a bit of impetiego that went away easily with treatment. I did not cover up to garden this year (like I usually do), and although I didn't push the limits, I didn't get sun poisoning or badly burned. People commented on my tan.
Vascular problems: spider veins, Raynaud's Phenomenon. Status: My spider vein areas feel less "delicate" but they haven't resolved. I can't comment on the Raynauds until winter.
Musclular issues: foot cramps, back and neck spasms, aches and pains. Status: aches and pains are much less, foot cramps are somewhat less, and I got through this fall's hard work without a back or neck spasm.
Migraine and Headaches problems: Migraine including occasionally with aura, Frequent headaches and head pressure, Chronic Vomiting syndrome (considered to be a form of migraine). Status: I have had zero true migraines. I have had zero debilitating headaches, but occasional light detox headaches that feel like a slight hangover. I have had 3 Vomiting episodes, which sounds bad but I would have probably expected at least double that, maybe triple.
Skeletal issues: wrists seemed to be shrinking, prayer sign (bent fingers), poor shoulder posture. Status: I think my wrists look a bit stronger. Prayer sign the same, posture and other crookedness still are an issue. Left foot wants to turn in now, and that is new.
Hair: hair went completely white in my 40's, some body hair scant, temple hair scant, coarse, frizzy hair. Status Head hair is growing fast (as are my nails). More armpit and leg hair. Don't think hairline has changed.
Sleep issues: just generally poor sleep. Status: Sleeping sounder, although have started snoring on my back which is new. Able to sleep in, when before I'd be too achy to stay in bed late. I slept 11 hours in a row recently. So unusual for me.
Dental issues: gingivitis, uncomfortable bite. Gingivitis is still bad in the front, but is better on the sides. Bite doesn't seem too different.
Thanks @lil-chick for your health update. It sounds like you are making great progress in some areas but perhaps not as fast as you would like in other areas.
I wondered if you have had your minerals looked at? I have hair analysis every 6 months & this has told me that running the detox for a long time has, for me, depleted certain minerals that I need to supplement so I don’t run too far into deficiency. For skin & eye problems zinc is a very important one I believe & some people (me) require supplementation to keep it at a healthy level (needs to be assessed properly). I guess zinc depends to some extent on how much red meat you are eating. I prefer white meat to steaks but that may not be true for you. I was wondering if your minerals could be depleted & this was stalling some of your healing. From my understanding, excess vitamin A does damage itself but also does damage by causing essential nutrient deficiencies. During the detox there is still plenty of vitamin A around to cause these deficiencies. Garrett Smith says ‘poison on the way in & poison on the way out’.