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Rain/snow triggers depression
My big improvement for the last 3-4 weeks was interrupted with a setback. I have brain fog again, headache at every meal, and my gums are more inflamed than I've ever seen before -- even some gum bleeding in the morning before eating anything. It coincided with a shift in the weather: lots of wind leading to a bit of rain, which is unusual here.
I have experienced this many times before -- that I'm doing well for weeks, then the weather shifts to be windy and then rainy, or it starts snowing, and I feel strongly depressed. A few times I'd notice the new depression first, then I'd look out the windows, and see that it started snowing since I last checked.
I may have triggered it worse this time since I went running during a particularly windy time. One time, years ago, I went for a short run as snow started falling and quickly got very stressed out despite being warm enough.
I'm speculating that it's related to retinoids in the lungs that trigger asthma in some people: see https://www.researchgate.net/publication/11841467_Could_bronchial_asthma_be_an_endogenous_pulmonary_expression_of_retinoid_intoxication
The only remedy that seems to help me is possibly drinking more water.
Same here on the bleeding gums! I wonder what the mechanism is behind this and how many people experience this. I’m 4 weeks in to low VA.
Hi Dan, Gswitch,
Please see my comments in the following thread regarding a possible mechanism.
https://ggenereux.blog/discussion/topic/cherry-angioma/
Someone recently shared this case study that documents this effect.
https://www.gastrojournal.org/article/0016-5085(82)90132-9/pdf
Reversible Hepatotoxicity Associated with Hepatic Vitamin A Accumulation in a Protein-Deficient Patient
Hi Grant, I read both links but could not find any info on bleeding gums. Is this common when decreasing vitamin A?
Hi Gswitch,
Bleeding gums is a well-documented symptom of vitamin A toxicity, and of course that of scurvy too.
I don’t think it is common when adopting a low vit A diet. I think about three people here have reported it now. In a way, it is more evidence that adopting a low vit A diet is, at least temporarily, increasing the serum levels of it.
So, I think it’s tied in with the overall detox phase that other people are reporting. It’s just affecting different people in different ways. And, strangely, many other people are not experiencing this detox phase, or not in any significant way. I don’t understand why.
Just for the record, I'd stopped brushing my teeth for weeks (!), so feel free to blame that for my gum inflammation. I do also have flaky patches on my face, dry/hard patches on my hands, bloody nasal mucus, and slightly dry/cracked lips, but that might be attributed to a low humidity climate. Also I had somewhat alarming rectal bleeding, but that could be explained by a temporarily high-fiber diet.
So although these particular symptoms are about the worse they've ever been, they're not worse than what I had at times months before starting the diet. So I'd hesitate to call them "detox." On the other hand, before beginning the low Vitamin-A diet, my diet was already low in Vitamin A, except for the 12,000 iU supplements -- and the couple weeks of carrots and half-and-half... So maybe I've been having "detox" on-and-off for the last couple years.
My uninformed guess: Maybe "detox phase" symptoms are caused by too low fiber, which acts as a binder? (I'd eat tons of fiber if I could, but it definitely gives me low mood, brain fog, frequent awakening, rectal bleeding, and uncomfortable throat fullness)
After another brief rain shower yesterday with difficult brain fog and feeling gross/tired, I realized I've been keeping my windows open lately and taking walks/running in the wind. Today I've stayed inside and I'm able to work all day. I'm guessing it's from dry desert winds that have me breathing either allergens or positive ions, although I don't notice any lung-related symptoms. So perhaps I can tolerate rain and snow if the climate is less dry or mountainous.