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Serious start:11 September 2019
A person in my family (another with possibly low tolerance for A) had a travel-ling pain problem, and they even gave it a name (polymyalgia rheumatica) and gave him steroids for it. Interesting that many of our problems here are given steroids to get by.
IMO this points to the adrenal system as being perhaps part of how we deal with an overage of vitamin A in the system.
I spent many years trying to beef up my adrenals, with very little affect on the vitamin A symptoms.
I once caught a show on NPR and it was talking about how when an animal is domesticated (like they are doing with foxes)... In other words when an animal becomes TAME... (chosen through many generations for tameness) ...Several other genes march along with the tameness. One of these is lowered adrenal response! (makes sense if you think about it). I've never seen anything online to corroborate this. AND I actually think it may be because it isn't really a politically correct sort of thing. Another thing that is seen are color changes (such as are not seen in the wild)
Now, when some of us shared our genetics, it turned out that many of us were Northern European ancestry. In other words, a type of person who would have had to be living indoors many months of the year (confinement humans?) 🙂
Some of the whitest (and excellent) domestic animals come from Northern Europe, white farm dogs (great pyreneese), white saanen goats, white leghorn chickens...
Well, I'm very fair and so is my family member. Interesting, isn't it, that some people's hair gets darker on this diet.
Quote from hillcountry on September 26, 2019, 7:57 amDWL - your experience sounds like the makings of a good Ron Howard movie - I can't imagine going through that for months - glad to hear it has finally passed - I wonder how common it is out there in toxic-land - did you have any pain in bones prior to detox?
hillcountry, interestingly--I had very little bone pain before detoxing VA. Occasionally had pain in my right hip (not deep bone pain then) and sometimes had neck pain at the base of my neck. No limping, no meds, no treatment. Never had thigh, knee, ankle, back or shoulder pain; had no joint pain. Needless to say, the detox related bone pain was quite a surprise!
2 solid weeks of low vitamin A diet. Nothing much to report. I am not feeling better or worse.
Today I was reminded of my watery eyes when walking in a colder weather. I wonder if this could be related to vitamin A. My eyes get too watery, my nostrils to dry. This makes me think of a plumbing system having some blockages.
My diet is mostly rice, beef, beef broth, some black beans, bamboo shoots, coconut oil, olive oil. I am never tired of these foods! I make it into delicious congee and enjoy it 3 times per day. Potatoes raise my blood sugar to an advanced diabetes level. Parsnips and celeriac give me wind. But sometimes I fry them and really enjoy, all caution...to the wind. 😼
2 months have passed since my ‘serious’ beginnings (even though I was on a lowish VA diet for about 2 month prior).
I am feeling better than I have ever felt. I actually feel slightly “high” 😀. My mind is clear. I feel creative, inspired and healthy.
Major changes in my body are related to the bathroom visits. After a lifetime of constipation, I am shocked and delighted.
My nails are growing like never before. I basically have to walk around with the nail file in my pocket! 😂 My weight normalised (lost some) and it is now at a very good level.
I feel “chilled” most of the time until I don’t and there it is a short period of a slight excessive aggravation. 🤨 This passes fast and I am again my angelic self. (I noticed that yesterday when shopping. People chatting loudly and blocking in the shelf with an item I needed caused me some aggravation)
I realise what a tight-ass I had been over the years. I now laugh, and joke and ....read funny books. I am a voracious reader and - in the past - reading an encyclopaedia never seemed out of place. Next thing I will start watching comedies!
Diet: rice, potatoes and meat, cooked apples and apple juice, coconut oil and small amount of olive oil are still the basis. I also added some Medjool dates and I am sure this made a huge difference in my bathroom routine. About a week ago I started to experience hunger after my meals. Something was lacking... So, I added some butter or a very small amount of French cheese (10g) and the hunger does not appear any longer.
On occasion I have some chestnuts or other nuts in small quantity. I drink a small cup of cocoa with guarana daily.
With cheese, butter and dates - even in the very small quantities - it is no longer a vitamin A depleted diet. The cronometer says that I ingest about 400 iu of vitamin A. Still much less than any standard diet. I will continue to do so, because I never want to stop feeling the way I feel now. Life has gained another dimension.
I still have to take meds for hypothyroidism (lower dose) and have a full head of grey hair. Also, my sleep is not fantastic and falling asleep could be easier, so the journey continues.
that is awesome, Beata! Chestnuts sounds great, and they are only available here during the Christmas season, maybe I will pick some up. I remember reading about the use of Chestnut flour on a special diet long ago and wonder if they are a sort of "well behaved" food...? They do seem sort of bland and white!
I picked my own in the forest near by. Yes, they are very seasonal, so maybe this is why they are so good! They taste sweet to me and I eat them with my bowl of rice and meat soup that I never get tired of!
I am sure they could be made into flour. It actually sounds delicious.
My last post was in November 18, 2019 and since then the entire world changed. My low vitamin A journey went through some reconstruction, fell apart and then was reborn on Sept. 15.
I was doing pretty well and then the lockdown happened. For a reason that only gods would know I quit low vitamin A diet around March 20. Still eating whole foods and what one could consider a very descent diet, I included colourful vegetables, dairy and even some offal.
2 weeks into the lockdown I started to feel like walking on a precipice: deep depression, deep sadness - and I am not the person with a predisposition to depression. Then tinnitus appeared and has not left since. I had never had tinnitus so imagine my shock! The mental symptoms slowly receded but tinnitus remains.
On June 15 I decided to start Karen Hurd’s Bean protocol that includes beans, meat, vegetables, and nuts. I did it strictly for 3 months. Although I had some small improvements (better bowel movements, stronger nails, thinned xanthelasma), my blood test at 3 months mark did not show any significant changes in the thyroid antibodies. My last year tests were done before I started the low VA diet.
RESULTS:
Thyroid peroxidase antibodies 92.5 (0 - 34). Last year - 93.6
Thyroglobulin antibodies 72 (0 - 115). Last year - 59.2
Ferritin 207 (13-150). Last year 290. (The NHS labs has the range of 13-300)
Vitamin D and B12 within range. TSH and T4 out of ranges which is irrelevant as I am on T3 only therapy.
CRP 0.56 (0 - 5). Last year 1.62
So Ladies and Gentlemen - I am back on the low VA diet with a tail between my legs. My tinnitus is raging. Strangely enough (or not), since restarting the diet on September 15, I have a feeling of walking on the precipice - the same feeling I got when reintroducing VA foods in March. Does the influx and efflux of vitamin A create the same symptoms? It certainly appears so.
What else I noticed during the introduction of the VA foods? My skin regained yellowish hue, especially on the stretched palms of my hands. I have a hard time falling asleep and often need some melatonin.
It has been only one week since my return to low VA diet. Last night I had a very vivid dream in which I cried - profusely and sincerely. In my sleep I felt such a profound sadness that thinking about it now brings tears to my eyes.
I am going to test my thyroid again In December. Will low vitamin A diet affect my antibodies? We will see.
My diet now is this:
Proteins: mostly beef but also wild venison, goat and chicken, marine collagen.
Carbs: white and occasionally brown rice, occasionally potatoes and very rarely quinoa
Vegetables: mushrooms, bamboo shoots, parsnips and occasionally celery, rarely some peeled and seeded cucumber
Beans: mostly black but also other variety as I still have many kinds left from The Bean Protocol
Nuts: mixed (I read that nuts are not recommended on low VA diet but I am not sure why. Can anyone elaborate, please?
Salt, small amount of fava beans miso and fermented barley
Update:
For about 10 day after Restarting the low VA diet I had felt moody, tired and out of sorts. Then it was as if the switch was turned off. I started to feel much better - both mentally and physically.
October 2.
My eyes hurt. I remember getting this sort of pain in the past when staring into the computer screen for hours. I haven’t done anything like that lately, so why this pain?
I made some adjustments in my diet, namely I removed starches: rice, quinoa and potatoes. I noticed that I felt more hungry soon after my meals with starches. I might reintroduce some potatoes again and I seem to crave them sometimes.
I also removed celery and cucumber and introduced parsnips and celeriac. I like to ‘eat with the seasons’.
October 3.
The eyes pain is gone. It was gone yesterday after a few hours. This is a relief.
Aw, Tinitus. Mine is very changeable lately. Sometimes louder sometimes softer. One ear "pops" and the change in pressure can change the tone. The other never pops and I don't know if that's better or worse. Early on in my VA journey the non-popper "quacked". I've had this forever, I think it started as a young teen. Other people in my family have it too. I think travel makes it worse. Hubs wonders if it is due to earwax and I always write that off -- but someone did tell me their ear wax production got less when they went low VA. So who knows.
So many people are affected! I read the posts here from people who recovered, so I am hopeful.
@beata-2 Taking T3 is also not a good idea long term. People should take T3 only if they have some damage to the organ like from some injury or removal due to cancer etc.. I learned this years a go that I will not fix my body if I take thyroid hormones or any kind of hormones.. Low thyroid for most woman is due to issues with hormone (estrogen, progesterone) imbalance and mineral (zinc, copper, iron) imbalance and/or deficiency in key micronutrients like iodine, selenium etc.. By taking active hormone T3 you will just deplete your key micronutrients faster and cause oxidative damage.. I would start working with Dr. Smith and balance your hormones by balancing your minerals. That will naturally fix your thyroid.. And of course I can't forget vit A toxicity can make you hypothyroid as well.. So that is also part of the problem for sure..