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Matt's log
Hi all, here is my log
Main problems: gut health, food sensibilities, inability to gain weight
Began a low VA in May 2020
1 moth on low VA diet
How I poisoned myself
I took isotretinoin to fix mild acne at age ~14, a couple year later acne came back but much stronger, this led me to take isotretinoin again but in bigger dosages. Later I found out that the acne was caused by high GI foods (white rice), during this time I transitioned on a plant based/vegan diet that lead me to more problems.
Turning point 1: keto
On September 2018 I transitioned on a keto diet, this completely healed my acne. I gained a bit of the weight that I have lost on a plant-based diet, but I was still underweight. In 2019 I began eating a lot of liver. During this time, I got two gastroenteritis that really wrecked up my gut health making me progressively sensible to more and more foods. Ultimately, I was sensible to all high GI foods, high fiber foods, pork, eggs and iodized salt. The last two still give me heart palpitations. I get diagnosed with gut dysbiosis and hydrogen sulphite sibo. From 2019 till now I lost around 5 kg of weigh, making me even more underweight.
Turning point 2: antimicrobial protocol
A couple of months ago (April-May 2020), helped by a nutritionist, I started a natural antimicrobial protocol. The excessive gas that I was experiencing when eating certain foods lessened and I became able to tolerate high GI foods again (white rice, white bread).
Current health situation:
I have now finished the antimicrobial protocol and I'm now taking Megaspore probiotic and S. boulardii to transition my gut microbiome in something healthier. With every meal I take a digestive enzyme and HCL. With water I take bentonite clay to help with the detoxing and die off symptoms.
Diet:
My diet is composed of beef, white bread, apples, dates, bananas, ribes juice, olive oil and scallops. I'm now trying lentils.
I eat around 2500 kcal to 3500 kcal a day.
Current Symptoms:
I'm underweight and seemingly unable to gain weight. I'm probably around 5-7% body fat, I have veins over my belly.
When my gut health is suffering, for example by too much die off (from the antimicrobial herbs), after incorporating the very strong probiotic that I have mentioned or after eating the wrong food I get depressed and unmotivated.
I have some little "acne" (like rough skin) on my triceps that I didn't had before, it might be a VA detox symptom or due to a food that I have introduced.
Some days I need a lot more sleep, other days I feel very week in my workouts.
Plan:
I will donate blood as soon as I can, currently I'm unable to do so due to the virus situation. I want to donate blood to lower ferritin (currently at 300) and to lower VA.
Tanning a lot (currently low VD).
Supplementing with B1, I have ordered a benfotiamine supplement.
Supplementing magnesium.
Doing a hair mineral analysis.
Introducing legumes.
Big thanks to each member of this forum and to his founder, I learned a lot by reading older posts and logs. When I will solve my problems I will post it here. I also plan to post updates each month.
Thank you for reading,
have a nice day you all,
Mattia
High ferritin can be also due to inflammation or some viral, bacteria issues. You should also test ceruloplasmin and copper with zinc in serum.. Btw taking just B1 can deplete other B vitamins. Taking low dose B complex is better idea..
@jiri, thank you for you answer.
I also have an enlarged limph node on my neck that migh be a sign of infection. Do you happen to know how I can test for and identify a possible viral, bacteria issue?
I will test for copper/zinc ration with the hair mineral analysis.
I have a couple B1 deficency symptoms, I will try to take b1 with a meal, if I will se benefits I will consider the b complex.
Thank you again
@mattia I would go to a doctor if he can run some tests. I have also done hair tissue mineral analysis, but it is a good idea to know where is your ceruloplasmin. Because high ceruloplasmin means you have some issues with infections, inflammation. You can also calculate from serum copper and ceruloplasmin how much copper is bound to ceruloplasmin and how much is free causing oxidative stress in the body. I have low copper in serum, but my ceruloplasmin is even lower so I have 3x more free copper than is upper reference range.. So in my case it is due to adrenal issues that can't give liver signal to make ceruloplasmin or simply liver can't make ceruloplasmin due to some toxic overload most likely.. Btw if you take B1, take with it at least B2 also and the blood donations are good idea. Every year 2-3 times and you don't need to worry about iron causing issues. Reducing iron is huge for good health.. Especially for males. I think a lot of health issues that older males have can be from oxidative stress from high iron..
Update 25.06.2020
Current situation
Somedays I have va detox symptoms such as low energy and increased need for sleep but it may happen only 1 in 15 days.
I produce yellow/green stools, I read that many people think that's copper detox but it can't be in my case. Before this diet I was eating a ton of red meat and now I have actually reduced my zinc intake. So it can't be copper detox. I think that it's retinol going out.
Sometimes after eating or when I'm stressed I experience a pain under my last left rib. But it's getting better.
I finished the antimicrobial protocol and I almost finished taking the strong spore based probiotic. My digestion is much stronger and I am able to tolerate much more foods.
My multiples swollen lymph node and my inability to gain weight might been correlated, it coul be a viral infection as @jiri pointed out. I went to the doctor today and he proceeded in doing some tests. I hope that he will find something.
Plan
Finish with the probiotic and monitor digestive symptoms
Supplement high doese vitamin C and magnesium
Doing a phlobotomy to lower ferritin and va
keep going with the low va diet
@mattia I wouldn't take probiotics. It is hit or miss with them exactly like with antibiotics. Some people have crazy health issues after taking some probiotics. I think anitibiotics will help more people than probiotics. They can "reset" your intestine flora and the new one will develop according what you eat..
Phlebotomy reduces iron but not vA in any significant way. Hookworm therapy has more potential to simultaneously reduce both iron and vA, it also helps regulate the immune system and improve autoimmunity. Only Necator Americanus is currently used which doesn't drink much blood, I think in the future people will realize the potential of the old world hookworm (Ancylostoma Duodenale) for daily blood loss (much healthier to lose a small amount of blood daily than one large amount every few months which is a big stress on the body) as well as vA lowering and immune regulating effects. Leech therapy is a very old and health promoting practise, leeches reduce iron and the anti coagulants they secrete into ones blood stream are very good for helping with cardiovascular issues: https://www.smh.com.au/national/little-suckers-clear-the-path-to-the-brain-20080726-gdsns6.html
If I was unable to give blood and had high ferritin I would order some Necator Americanus as well as some leeches (you can keep them as pets). I wouldn't recommend anyone do this though without plenty of research.
Probiotics are often harmful, at best a waste of money. The most effective supplements to improve gut health are dysbiosis herbs.
vC increases endogenous oxalate production, promotes heme iron absorption, does other bad stuff and contains an unnatural enantiomer. We probably don't benefit from more than the RDA.
Megadoses of B vitamins are likely harmful. As I have pointed out previously transketolase which is measured to test for thiamine deficiency is reduced along with a whole raft of enzymes when someone takes Accutane. This likely applies to Hypervitaminosis A as well. Looking at the causes for why micronutrients are not easily replenished is a far more logical approach than trying to brute force megadoses on the body when intake amounts are obviously not the reason for the deficiency.
Not eating a balanced diet that contains all food groups makes it likely one will suffer from nutritional imbalances. Restricting any macronutrient group will create negative health effects.
It's unlikely we would ever excrete enough copper or retinol at once to change stool colour.
Everyone knows that some sun, exercise and fresh air is very healthy. Extending that to mean full body tanning, calisthenics and avoiding high indoor CO2 levels (with the use of a CO2 meter) helps us maximize the potential of this health promoting trifecta. In the future we are going to see a lot of research coming out about the harm caused by high CO2 levels. The research indicating the importance of low CO2 levels is very new.
@tim-2 "It's unlikely we would ever excrete enough copper or retinol at once to change stool colour." how can you be so sure? Before low vit A diet I was trying to "fix my copper" and when I had the most crazy "copper dump" symptoms my stool the next day was almost always orange/golden.. Btw I wasn't eating food that could create this stool color...