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No More Burning Skin
@orion that is very encouraging, thank you! I also took vitamin A, cod liver oil, and desiccated liver sporadically on top of eating around 46K IU daily, so I’m in pretty bad shape. At least I don’t lay awake all night feeling like my skin is burning off - hopefully everything else improves with time.
Also, I’ve been tanning, exercising, and eating about 3000 calories a day in meat, potatoes, and greasy potato chips. So I should be getting enough protein and fats.
I can try the charcoal, but I can’t donate blood - I done weigh enough!
It's been just over five weeks since I started (minus accidental slip-ups), and here is my progress thus far:
- Eczema: Good - almost gone. Some itchiness mostly at night on my arms, legs, and trunk
- Acne: Good - still have a few bumps, but not all over my face, as I did before. Very few cystic acne lesions. Still lots of brown spots on my face, but this may be due to tanning (I have been tanning for a while to help with Raynaud's and winter depression).
- Insomnia: Better. I wake up after four hours every night, but I get back to sleep as long as I haven't eaten something problematic. Also I have noticed what Grant mentioned - great dream recall, whereas I didn't remember any before.
- Raynauds: Unfortunately, no improvement. It doesn't help that I live in NH.
- Depression: Same. I feel this way every winter.
- Dry eye: Excellent! Even in the dry winter weather, my eyes are no longer painfully dry and I can see much more clearly. I still have Pingueculae.
- Hair loss: Much, much less, and I have noticed some eyebrow and eyelash regrowth as well.
Quote from eliza1275 on March 10, 2019, 6:30 amIt's been just over five weeks since I started (minus accidental slip-ups), and here is my progress thus far:
- Eczema: Good - almost gone. Some itchiness mostly at night on my arms, legs, and trunk
- Acne: Good - still have a few bumps, but not all over my face, as I did before. Very few cystic acne lesions. Still lots of brown spots on my face, but this may be due to tanning (I have been tanning for a while to help with Raynaud's and winter depression).
- Insomnia: Better. I wake up after four hours every night, but I get back to sleep as long as I haven't eaten something problematic. Also I have noticed what Grant mentioned - great dream recall, whereas I didn't remember any before.
- Raynauds: Unfortunately, no improvement. It doesn't help that I live in NH.
- Depression: Same. I feel this way every winter.
- Dry eye: Excellent! Even in the dry winter weather, my eyes are no longer painfully dry and I can see much more clearly. I still have Pingueculae.
- Hair loss: Much, much less, and I have noticed some eyebrow and eyelash regrowth as well.
Excellent update, I hope the healing continues, thanks for sharing!
I have heard others doubt the validity of the vitamin A poisoning hypothesis, and I would like to add the following data point. I have had my health problems for about ten years, beginning with unintended weight loss, the worst eye dryness my doctors had even seen, eczema that progressed to the feeling of being burned by acid from the inside out (I wasn't wrong), hair loss, headaches, insomnia, and the list goes on. I researched it feverishly, and although I am a trained engineer like Grant, I only came up with reasons such as salicylates, oxalates, glutamates, and allergenic cross-reactivity. None of these completely explained why every single vegetable except for the flesh of white potatoes bothered me. It didn't matter whether it was organic, well-washed, well-cooked, etc... if I ate a vegetable, I would be up all night with burning and stabbing pains all over my body.
Out of desperation, twice in the past ten years, I ate only steak and potato chips, and my symptoms went away. But I worried about being deficient in vitamin A, so I took supplements, and got worse once again. Only after reading Grant's ebooks did I decide to embark on a similar diet again, and I am feeling fantastic because of it. So it may be a "fringe theory", but it works for me, and that is all I care about at this point. I have a lab order to measure my vitamin A in a few months, and it will be interesting, but whatever the results, I don't care to eat much vitamin A ever again.
For over a year, I have been periodically using a full-spectrum infrared sauna as well as a tanning bed. Recently, I noticed that on days I use the sauna but do not go tanning, my skin itches terribly (even though I shower after the sauna), and I do not sleep at night. On days I use both, I have no itching and actually sleep well. (On days I just tan, I also seem to sleep well, and on days when I do neither, the results are mixed). I recall reading that UV light can decompose some retinoids on the skin, but what about infrared light? Does it bring retinoids to the surface?
Probably too soon to post again, but I am at 7 weeks and wanted to update because I am seeing some changes:
- Eczema: Gone. No itchiness at night.
- Acne: Almost none
- Insomnia: Still sporadic, but better than before, and with great dream recall.
- Raynauds: A little better, thought it is hard to tell with weather getting a little warmer
- Depression: None.
- Dry eye: Gone. Still have pinguecula
- Hair loss: Normal - very little when brushing
- Weight - gaining. I have been very slowly gaining since beginning, but now I am starting to feel uncomfortable. I can still stand to gain, I just worry about it not slowing down. Anyone else?
- Diet - Still mostly beef, potatoes, some rice, potato chips. I eat a lot of potato chips, which may be the reason for the weight gain. I may try to start adding in home made baked goods again, and/or try eating more rice instead of chips. In the past, eating rice as a staple seems to cause me itching and insomnia.
Quote from eliza1275 on March 22, 2019, 11:52 am- Diet - Still mostly beef, potatoes, some rice, potato chips. I eat a lot of potato chips, which may be the reason for the weight gain. I may try to start adding in home made baked goods again, and/or try eating more rice instead of chips. In the past, eating rice as a staple seems to cause me itching and insomnia.
I cut up potatoes in french fry shape, toss in a bit(1TBsp) of olive or high oleic safflower, with pinch of garlic and onion powdered. Cook at ~450F on oven for about 10mins flip and another 10mins. Makes great home fries, and a lot less fat then potato chips.
That extra fat you might be getting is PUFA from chips, so that could definitely be part of the weight. Do you think you are eating more calories then required? are you hungry or satiated?
Thank you for the suggestion, @orion. I am not eating more calories, in fact - I was eating more calories this winter when I was trying to gain weight, and the weight was difficult to gain! But I am eating more fat, for sure. Maybe I'll try the homemade fries, and eat the potato chips in moderation (something I don't do well!)
Quote from eliza1275 on March 22, 2019, 12:14 pmThank you for the suggestion, @orion. I am not eating more calories, in fact - I was eating more calories this winter when I was trying to gain weight, and the weight was difficult to gain! But I am eating more fat, for sure. Maybe I'll try the homemade fries, and eat the potato chips in moderation (something I don't do well!)
I have been eating chips lately too, after avoiding them for a long time, since the PUFA content. But doing zero VA they seem to agree with me as snack once in awhile now.
2 month mark progress:
- Eczema: Gone. Occasional mild itchiness at night.
- Acne: Mostly gone, but experiencing a breakout from eating cake and frosting recently (not typical in my diet)
- Insomnia: Still sporadic, but better than before, and with great dream recall.
- Raynauds: A little better, thought it is hard to tell with weather getting warmer
- Depression: None.
- Dry eye: Gone. Still have pinguecula
- Hair loss: Normal - very little.
- Diet - Beef, potatoes, some rice, pretzels, homemade breads. I feel better snacking on pretzels instead of potato chips, but will still have chips on occasion. Also occasional candy that is low to no vitamin A.