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Possibly Accutane Related?
I recently read Extinguishing the Fires of Hell and part of Poisoning for Profits and all of the vitamin A related issues sound very familiar to me and was wondering if it could be related to my previous accutane use. Was hoping to get some feedback as I don't want to immediately jump to the conclusion I am overloaded with Vitamin A, however it does seem likely at this point. Below is a summary of my history:
- Around age 14 got severe cystic acne.
- Around age 15 went on accutane for the 1st time.
- Around age 18-19 while in the Army got cystic acne again and went on accutane for the 2nd time. Previously was 100% cleared from 1st use. The dermatologist that gave it to me was hesitant to do so from what I remember as you weren't supposed to do it again from what I remember.
- Around age 26 got what I would diagnose as Hidradenitis suppurativa. Was never diagnosed but researching it this is what I concluded at the time. After a couple of years this went away not sure why. Once in a while will have slight recurrences but nothing as how it once was.
- Around age 31 went on a "keto" diet. Eating standard keto foods of butter, heavy cream, salads, eggs, etc. Also started taking lots of vitamin and mineral supplements. Did ok for about a year and lost weight, then all of a sudden could not longer handle the diet (mentally could not do it any longer and hunger increased substantially). Ended up gaining a bunch of weight after this.
- Around age 34-36 began having a cascade of health issues: weight gain as mentioned, receeding gums, constantly tired, acne returned (not as bad as when I was younger and more random or so I thought), eczema or psoriasis on lower legs, extremely dry skin, very dry eyes in winter, had appendicitis and my appendix removed, lethargy, dry/chipping finger nails, thinning hair, very dry/thick skin on ankles, bones hurt/ache sometimes, hair growth in places I never had it (maybe just aging?), developed type 2 diabetes and went on metformin, and probably more that I just can't think of off the top of my head right now.
So that brings us to today and I am now 37. Before reading Grant's books I had thought it was all maybe just insulin related, or maybe I was just "addicted" to food and this was all caused by the weight gain after I ate keto, or maybe I just have bad genetics. However now I am thinking this all may be related to the Vitamin A levels in my body and my 2 stints taking accutane. I don't to just immediately jump to that conclusion though as I do feel it would be nice to just point the finger at something and blame that so I want to guard against that initial instinct and look at the situation as objectively as possible which is why I am posting here and looking for some feedback hopefully.
A couple of other things I wanted to mention related to my own personal reactions to certain foods that I have noticed before I was ever aware of this Vitamin A toxicity hypothesis but do seem to line up with it are:
- If I eat dairy I get really bad cystic acne. It could be anywhere on my body as well (inner thighs, behind my ears, face, back, etc.) I used to love and always drink milk and had read that foods causing acne is a myth a long time ago and believed it. It was only in the past couple of years I changed my thinking based on my personal experiences.
- If I take liver tablets (Beverly Ultra 40) I have the same issue as with dairy.
- If I eat butter or eggs my appetite (especially for sugary food) jumps considerably. I try to avoid both now and I think the fact that keto pushes both so hard and I forced myself to try and eat both a lot has potentially done me a lot of extra harm.
Ultimately I do think this sounds like Vitamin A toxicity, but I am open to other opinions, hearing from anyone with similar experiences, or just any feedback in general. It may also be more than Vitamin A and could be in part due to any number of other items added to our food supply or removed from it, or possible something else I am not even aware of. If it is Vitamin A though I guess I am not sure where to start. A strict beef only carnivore diet seems like the most direct route to healing to avoid any and all other confounding variables however I am not sure I could eat like that long term. Adding just white rice may help with that, but then I have to be careful with my blood sugar so I am not sure that will work either.
Well this post has been long enough and I thank anyone that has taken the time to read it. I also want to thank Grant for all of his hard work researching these issues and providing it to the public for free. He certainly did not have to put himself out there and let everyone know what he discovered when looking into his own health issues, and he definitely didn't need to do it for free. So thank you for your public service and may God bless you for that.
Yes you will benefit from 1-2 years of low vit A diet 100%... Btw do you have amalgams?
I had to look up what that was, but I am not sure. I have silver fillings however I don't know for sure what materials were used and I don't see them being removed/replaced anytime soon.
@mikeg because mercury from amalgams will eventually damage your gut and when you have leaky gut. The main symptom with digestive issues is acne.. + if you had bad diet low in protein, key minerals + a lot of guys today with porn masturbate a lot = zinc is depleted from the body really fast. Which will worsen digestion, damage gut even more. Then you go on accutane, which will deplete your B vitamins, Zinc etc.. All of this is perfect scenario for vit A toxicity. Especially when you start "eat healthy" after that with some paleo, keto, vegan, weston price, Ray Peat or whatever. Which are diets loaded with vit A... Safe removal of amalgams and going low on vit A for 1-2 years will transform your health...
@jiri Wanted to get your take on this new stuff from gbolduev regarding accutane. Looks like hackstasis members found the 99% cure for PFS, which involves proviron and HCG. So asked in relation to accutane. I do think as the VA comes out our vit D will go up naturally. But wonder if the ERa would then downregulate on its own. I had both sky high ferritin and low VD after accutane.
"I assume in accutane it goes this way.
you take accutane, this then lowers vit D absorption, Vit D thru VDR controls AR signaling, Vit D blocks AR signaling.
So if you take accutane which is vitamin A, your D goes way down, and your AR is not blocked. It is super strong. So you are losing hair.
since your AR is super strong, its signaling blocks ERa. and you have high ferritin, and no iron in blood. ERa density overexpresses since low vit D state keeps AR strong.
So now if you take vit D loading, this blocks AR, and frees ERa signaling, but ERa density is already HUGE since AR was blocking it., so vitamin D feels like it will shut you down. since ERa is even more suppressing than AR.
So you need to load vitamin D and keep taking it. and then run HCG or clomid to downregulate ERa.
and I think you will be recovered.
So PAS is a regular shut down, but with vit D deficiency at the same time thus a shut down from AR and ERa."
@orion who knows Gbolduev have some new theory every month or so hehe.. But I think most people are low in vit D for sure. Just because their skin is crazy sensitive. So they can't go outside and harvest some UVB... Smith says that taking vit D will lower your potassium(on hair test) by increasing calcium. Which is also not good. I think I will do tanning bed for vit D this winter instead of taking "rat poison D" 😀 It feels really good to do tanning bed in the winter when there is no natural sun basically. The body craves that UVB like crazy... I will combine that with my home made near infra red sauna..
@jiri sounds good, I sunbathed tons this summer, and it didn't seem to give any positives or negatives, I probably still have absorption and conversion issues. I will really start considering getting one of the Sperti lights for at home, been thinking about is for years.
Or something similar: https://www.sperti.com/
Thanks for everyone's feedback. For me, after learning about Vitamin A I am hesitant to add anything to my diet that is man-made or has been altered by humans in any way. It seems like that is how we got into this whole mess in the first place. There are just too many unknown possibilities for us to take into account in my opinion.