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DiscussionLet's talk about it: Progress ReportsShanMan's progress

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ShanMan's progress

#1 · September 13, 2023, 6:06 pm

Quote from Shannon on September 13, 2023, 6:06 pm
Discovered I was likely vA dysregulated in mid-November 2022.

Thanks goes to:

Paola Dziwetzki for planting the seed and documenting her journey

Grant's blog and books for solidifying the model (this site was referenced from someone who found it in the https://Bornfree.life Discord chat)

Nutrition Detective's (Garret Smith's) volumes of material and weekly LYL chats (along with some amount of misinformation).

Rough toxification stages:

I'll be brief, and will update this log as I learn more.

Early stage in life
Diet: Tried to be "low fat". Fast food, meat / potatoes, milk / cheese, pizza (especially buffet's with ranch / garlic butter), lots of soda (Dr Pepper)
Symptoms: Adult acne, chronic allergies, dry skin, dandruff, joint issues later, sloooow motility / constipation [typically 6-7 days].

Early adulthood layered on alcohol playing a pro/con role, I imagine with the aldehyde load. I did have a bad case of mono the year I started trying alcohol (at the age of 22).

Late 20's I developed Hashimoto's and swallowing issues (food getting stuck at the bottom of my esopgagus)

Mid-30s
Diet: Switched to Paleo (removing eggs, dairy, soy, and gluten/wheat)
Symptoms: Chronic allergies disappeared, dry skin disappeared, acne disappeared, motility improved. The added fat likely improved cholestasis, I imagine, along with the higher amounts of Vitamin C / E.
Symptoms added: Started getting LOW blood counts, higher cholesterol (moved from 120 up towards 180), higher pulse.
An anecdote, but had three separate times where I tried high(er) dose Niacin (~1g) and ended up

Mid 30s
Diet: Switched to "Bulletproof" including bulletproof coffee made from homemade ghee, fish oil / krill oil, liver integrated, and ketogenic
Symptoms: Developed tinnitus, Blood Pressure issues, multiple food impactions, extreme dizziness / head pressure, LOW white blood cells, hemoglobin, and platelets, lower testosterone. The allergies, and such did not return.

Had another major BP and cardiovascular event along with head pressure in the Fall of 2019. Thought it might be thyroid hormone, and stopped it.

2020 (Feb thru July)
Diet: Same ketogenic diet (maybe a little more focused on EVOO, Salmon, Broccoli, etc), less BPC and liver, but added high dose B6 and high dose (25,000 IU) Vitamin A pulsed around 2-3x per week.
Note: Did this because an Organic Acid Test came up as B6 deficient (likely was not oxidizing B6 to Pyridoxic Acid) which is why I added the 100mg B6, and separately a naturopathic described why VitA was needed and I took her suggestion to add the VitA supplement, but pulsed.
Symptoms: Unbelievable tinnitus (started in left ear, moved to right), unbelievable head-pressure, inability to think, cardiovascular symptoms, sleepless nights / inability to sleep for more than an hour or so.

2021-2023
Diet: Believing B6 was my main issue, I went thru a multi-year low B6 diet. Still EVOO / ketogenic based. Big salad for lunch, broccoli / meat / olive oil for dinner. And lots of hot sauce. I hit another wall in 2023 when I had minor TBIs where I went on higher doses of fish oil (along with EGCG).
Symptoms: This time introduced extreme "burning voice box" along with the head pressures, tinnitus upticks, and the like.

Detox journey

November 2023 - First stage, I just removed broccoli and switched to cauliflower, and switched romaine to iceberg.
Symptoms: Head pressure started to improve. I could think better again! Coffee is 5 cups a day of 1/3 -1/2 caffeinated.

December 2023 - Same, but added an apple a day (granny smith), peeled. Not diet, but I had an appointment to start Testosterone pellets and went ahead. I should not have.
Symptoms: Things still improving. Started gaining weight. Did some more strenuous exercises (like lunges) and ended up causing knee and shoulder issues that persisted.

Alcohol was tried twice during December. Both times it caused reasonable headaches the night of/day after.

January 2023 - Same diet
Symptoms: Still improving, but got two major cold sores in rapid succession (within 10 days of each other)

Researched alternate ways of getting Vitamin D as I became aware of and convinced too much Vitamin D3 thru the gut was counterproductive. Decided to order Sperti UVB lamp.

February 2023 - Started adding beans to the diet. Also switched to beef (for the higher Zinc) much to my chagrin as I believed I still may be B6 sensitive. Started using Sperti UVB lamp.
Symptoms: Unbenownst to me, UVB greatly accelerates creation of retinol metabolic byproducts and the need for liver detox / removal. This started reversing my progress. I was getting major symptoms again of head pressure, tinnitus, and blood pressure fluctuations (along with sleep disruptions).

March 2023 - Still using Sperti UVB lamp. Removed fat and went full starch. My diet became a couple peeled apples, 400G+ of cooked rice (parboiled in charcoal, and finished in some coconut oil / ACV, then cooled), and ~200G of pressure cooked and drained ground beef. Completely stopped thyroid hormone. It seemed to cause heart pain issues during mid-day (believe this is from the higher detox level that T3 conveys)
Symptoms: Still having head pressure, tinnitus, and blood pressure issues. Thinking it was perhaps choline deficiency, I added Citi Choline later in the month.

April 2023 - Switched to outdoor sun exposure. Same rice / meat / bean diet, but made it up to 4 lbs of apple/day (peeled)
Symptoms - Head pressure lifted, especially later in the month.

May 2023 - Same rice / meat / bean diet, but started adding in bananas because the sheer amount of acid in eating apples throughout the day seemed to be eroding my dentin (where I already had exposed somewhat from gum recession). Tried some egg yolks and sunflower lecithin along with small amounts of Niacinamide at the end of the month of May.
Symptoms - Mostly improving. Though, I experienced retracement at the end of May when I introduced eggs, BUT that's also when UV index was greatly increasing down here in Texas. Unbeknownst to me, sun exposure is / was a factor.

June 2023 - Same diet, had a couple weeks of travel where I was both more outside and more inside. More outside generated a lot more symptoms than more inside (as I later found out).
Symptoms - Hit and miss. I had good periods that correlated to being inside more. I had thought I had sulfate issues because of a correlation to days I drank mineral water (especially San Pellegrino)

July 2023 - Tried doing some oatmeal in the mornings alongside the same rice/beans, meat and apples (peeled) + bananas
Symptoms - Still hit and miss, but more miss...this was around the summer solstice, so my likelihood over overwhelming detox was HIGH

August 2023 - Same diet, moved more towards bananas as fruit at the end of the month, along with started a 12 day, 3 eggs/day experiment (along with sunflower lecithin).
Symptoms - Because I avoided the sun, I normally had good days (head pressure wise), and mostly lower and predictable tinnitus. I even had a couple nights where I slept thru most of the night! (contrast to waking up 5-6x/night)

September 2023 - Same diet (other than the egg experiment)
Symptoms - Month isn't over, but eggs seemed to initially make things better, but stopping eggs was like falling off a cliff. Tinnitus and dizziness ramped up for 3 days, then dissipated.

I have attached some interesting graphs...(my try to turn them into images if that does not work)

Some learnings:

Choline does help (along with betaine if one can ensure they do not have Methionine issues). I'm not yet convinced egg yolks are useful early on. If they are, they maybe should be pulsed. I am skeptical that people sufficiently toxic could detox even 25% RDA that 3 eggs convey (alongside the ~1gram of Lutein / Zeaxanthin ).

Sun exposure may be contra-indicated for some time to some early on. (my earliest learnings came from a trip in March to Canada when I had BY FAR the greatest health week early in the detox...no Sperti, very little UVI)

Glucose driven metabolism is far superior to fatty acid oxidation as it more strongly supports NAD+ (and, downstream sirtuins for de-acetylization of enzymes allowing them to opearte). All of these are needed for cellular metabolism of aldehydes and such.

RHR may be a reliable indicator of progress for some. Though, it may be for me because of where the retinoids/carotenoids that spilled over the top of the liver went more.

Ozone modalities do seem to be helpful. I have done about two dozen DIV Ozone treatments alongside ozone water, and after adjusting for the "sun exposure" confounder, I have found them to be beneficial.

Thyroid hormone may be a consideration for some (I think I have seen this conversation a few times in the past)

Salt seems to be very very helpful for maintain BP, nerve conductivity, etc.

Charcoal is a must. Throughout the detox, I have done charcoal. My main regimen now is 1/4 tsp at night, and 1/4 tsp in the morning. I couple it with sunfiber as insurance against slow gut motility.

Zinc is mixed. It definitely helps my libido.

Symptoms:

Tinnitus - Improving thru the detox. I'd say it was a 4 to 5 out of 10 (it hit 8/10 with the 25,ooo IU supplements), but it's more like a 2 to 3 out of 10 nowadays.

Hyperacusis - Improving thru the detox. I still could not go to a rock concert without getting seriously hurt, but a noisy airport or diner doesn't set me back now.

Voice - The pain started dissapating 3 months in, and I am started to be able to sing again as of 7 months in (which requires higher pitches)

Dizziness / Head-pressure - Less and less periods of it as I move forward in time, especially if I avoid the sun. Still seems to happen later in the day (sometimes). Unsure exactly what the mechanism is here, but suspect that will go away.

Hair - Much less falling out. But, I bet that will be the last to get better. It did grey prematurely (I am 48 currently)

Weight - Weight loss has been stable for a few months now, but I did lose ~10 lbs from the start. Hopefully mostly in the visceral areas.

Low Blood Counts - Still there

High cholesterol - Seems to be lowering, at 130s now.

Hashimotos / Auto-immune thyroid - Still there, but imagine that will fall in a year or so.

Skin patches - Mostly gone. I had some red flakiness on my face/nose, and that seems to have gone away.

Teeth / gums - Slowed / stopped recession. Still not "pearly white" though.

Joints / Lower back pain - Greatly improved, but not 100% yet.

Muscles - Still probably going thru high cell turnover, but back to normal strength

Sun sensitivity - High. Seems to cause increase in downstream symptoms (along with Seborrheic dermatitis in a couple spots)

GI motility - ebbs and flows. Normally once/day, sometimes more. Seems to be related to good flow followed by bile duct / biliary duct impact that slows things. Probably a byproduct of the detox.

Discovered I was likely vA dysregulated in mid-November 2022.

Thanks goes to:

Paola Dziwetzki for planting the seed and documenting her journey
Grant's blog and books for solidifying the model (this site was referenced from someone who found it in the https://Bornfree.life Discord chat)
Nutrition Detective's (Garret Smith's) volumes of material and weekly LYL chats (along with some amount of misinformation).

Rough toxification stages:

I'll be brief, and will update this log as I learn more.

Early stage in life
Diet: Tried to be "low fat". Fast food, meat / potatoes, milk / cheese, pizza (especially buffet's with ranch / garlic butter), lots of soda (Dr Pepper)
Symptoms: Adult acne, chronic allergies, dry skin, dandruff, joint issues later, sloooow motility / constipation [typically 6-7 days].

Early adulthood layered on alcohol playing a pro/con role, I imagine with the aldehyde load. I did have a bad case of mono the year I started trying alcohol (at the age of 22).

Late 20's I developed Hashimoto's and swallowing issues (food getting stuck at the bottom of my esopgagus)

Mid-30s
Diet: Switched to Paleo (removing eggs, dairy, soy, and gluten/wheat)
Symptoms: Chronic allergies disappeared, dry skin disappeared, acne disappeared, motility improved. The added fat likely improved cholestasis, I imagine, along with the higher amounts of Vitamin C / E.
Symptoms added: Started getting LOW blood counts, higher cholesterol (moved from 120 up towards 180), higher pulse.
An anecdote, but had three separate times where I tried high(er) dose Niacin (~1g) and ended up

Mid 30s
Diet: Switched to "Bulletproof" including bulletproof coffee made from homemade ghee, fish oil / krill oil, liver integrated, and ketogenic
Symptoms: Developed tinnitus, Blood Pressure issues, multiple food impactions, extreme dizziness / head pressure, LOW white blood cells, hemoglobin, and platelets, lower testosterone. The allergies, and such did not return.

Had another major BP and cardiovascular event along with head pressure in the Fall of 2019. Thought it might be thyroid hormone, and stopped it.

2020 (Feb thru July)
Diet: Same ketogenic diet (maybe a little more focused on EVOO, Salmon, Broccoli, etc), less BPC and liver, but added high dose B6 and high dose (25,000 IU) Vitamin A pulsed around 2-3x per week.
Note: Did this because an Organic Acid Test came up as B6 deficient (likely was not oxidizing B6 to Pyridoxic Acid) which is why I added the 100mg B6, and separately a naturopathic described why VitA was needed and I took her suggestion to add the VitA supplement, but pulsed.
Symptoms: Unbelievable tinnitus (started in left ear, moved to right), unbelievable head-pressure, inability to think, cardiovascular symptoms, sleepless nights / inability to sleep for more than an hour or so.

2021-2023
Diet: Believing B6 was my main issue, I went thru a multi-year low B6 diet. Still EVOO / ketogenic based. Big salad for lunch, broccoli / meat / olive oil for dinner. And lots of hot sauce. I hit another wall in 2023 when I had minor TBIs where I went on higher doses of fish oil (along with EGCG).
Symptoms: This time introduced extreme "burning voice box" along with the head pressures, tinnitus upticks, and the like.

Detox journey

November 2023 - First stage, I just removed broccoli and switched to cauliflower, and switched romaine to iceberg.
Symptoms: Head pressure started to improve. I could think better again! Coffee is 5 cups a day of 1/3 -1/2 caffeinated.

December 2023 - Same, but added an apple a day (granny smith), peeled. Not diet, but I had an appointment to start Testosterone pellets and went ahead. I should not have.
Symptoms: Things still improving. Started gaining weight. Did some more strenuous exercises (like lunges) and ended up causing knee and shoulder issues that persisted.

Alcohol was tried twice during December. Both times it caused reasonable headaches the night of/day after.

January 2023 - Same diet
Symptoms: Still improving, but got two major cold sores in rapid succession (within 10 days of each other)

Researched alternate ways of getting Vitamin D as I became aware of and convinced too much Vitamin D3 thru the gut was counterproductive. Decided to order Sperti UVB lamp.

February 2023 - Started adding beans to the diet. Also switched to beef (for the higher Zinc) much to my chagrin as I believed I still may be B6 sensitive. Started using Sperti UVB lamp.
Symptoms: Unbenownst to me, UVB greatly accelerates creation of retinol metabolic byproducts and the need for liver detox / removal. This started reversing my progress. I was getting major symptoms again of head pressure, tinnitus, and blood pressure fluctuations (along with sleep disruptions).

March 2023 - Still using Sperti UVB lamp. Removed fat and went full starch. My diet became a couple peeled apples, 400G+ of cooked rice (parboiled in charcoal, and finished in some coconut oil / ACV, then cooled), and ~200G of pressure cooked and drained ground beef. Completely stopped thyroid hormone. It seemed to cause heart pain issues during mid-day (believe this is from the higher detox level that T3 conveys)
Symptoms: Still having head pressure, tinnitus, and blood pressure issues. Thinking it was perhaps choline deficiency, I added Citi Choline later in the month.

April 2023 - Switched to outdoor sun exposure. Same rice / meat / bean diet, but made it up to 4 lbs of apple/day (peeled)
Symptoms - Head pressure lifted, especially later in the month.

May 2023 - Same rice / meat / bean diet, but started adding in bananas because the sheer amount of acid in eating apples throughout the day seemed to be eroding my dentin (where I already had exposed somewhat from gum recession). Tried some egg yolks and sunflower lecithin along with small amounts of Niacinamide at the end of the month of May.
Symptoms - Mostly improving. Though, I experienced retracement at the end of May when I introduced eggs, BUT that's also when UV index was greatly increasing down here in Texas. Unbeknownst to me, sun exposure is / was a factor.

June 2023 - Same diet, had a couple weeks of travel where I was both more outside and more inside. More outside generated a lot more symptoms than more inside (as I later found out).
Symptoms - Hit and miss. I had good periods that correlated to being inside more. I had thought I had sulfate issues because of a correlation to days I drank mineral water (especially San Pellegrino)

July 2023 - Tried doing some oatmeal in the mornings alongside the same rice/beans, meat and apples (peeled) + bananas
Symptoms - Still hit and miss, but more miss...this was around the summer solstice, so my likelihood over overwhelming detox was HIGH

August 2023 - Same diet, moved more towards bananas as fruit at the end of the month, along with started a 12 day, 3 eggs/day experiment (along with sunflower lecithin).
Symptoms - Because I avoided the sun, I normally had good days (head pressure wise), and mostly lower and predictable tinnitus. I even had a couple nights where I slept thru most of the night! (contrast to waking up 5-6x/night)

September 2023 - Same diet (other than the egg experiment)
Symptoms - Month isn't over, but eggs seemed to initially make things better, but stopping eggs was like falling off a cliff. Tinnitus and dizziness ramped up for 3 days, then dissipated.

I have attached some interesting graphs...(my try to turn them into images if that does not work)

Some learnings:

Choline does help (along with betaine if one can ensure they do not have Methionine issues). I'm not yet convinced egg yolks are useful early on. If they are, they maybe should be pulsed. I am skeptical that people sufficiently toxic could detox even 25% RDA that 3 eggs convey (alongside the ~1gram of Lutein / Zeaxanthin ).
Sun exposure may be contra-indicated for some time to some early on. (my earliest learnings came from a trip in March to Canada when I had BY FAR the greatest health week early in the detox...no Sperti, very little UVI)
Glucose driven metabolism is far superior to fatty acid oxidation as it more strongly supports NAD+ (and, downstream sirtuins for de-acetylization of enzymes allowing them to opearte). All of these are needed for cellular metabolism of aldehydes and such.
RHR may be a reliable indicator of progress for some. Though, it may be for me because of where the retinoids/carotenoids that spilled over the top of the liver went more.
Ozone modalities do seem to be helpful. I have done about two dozen DIV Ozone treatments alongside ozone water, and after adjusting for the "sun exposure" confounder, I have found them to be beneficial.
Thyroid hormone may be a consideration for some (I think I have seen this conversation a few times in the past)
Salt seems to be very very helpful for maintain BP, nerve conductivity, etc.
Charcoal is a must. Throughout the detox, I have done charcoal. My main regimen now is 1/4 tsp at night, and 1/4 tsp in the morning. I couple it with sunfiber as insurance against slow gut motility.
Zinc is mixed. It definitely helps my libido.

Symptoms:

Tinnitus - Improving thru the detox. I'd say it was a 4 to 5 out of 10 (it hit 8/10 with the 25,ooo IU supplements), but it's more like a 2 to 3 out of 10 nowadays.
Hyperacusis - Improving thru the detox. I still could not go to a rock concert without getting seriously hurt, but a noisy airport or diner doesn't set me back now.
Voice - The pain started dissapating 3 months in, and I am started to be able to sing again as of 7 months in (which requires higher pitches)
Dizziness / Head-pressure - Less and less periods of it as I move forward in time, especially if I avoid the sun. Still seems to happen later in the day (sometimes). Unsure exactly what the mechanism is here, but suspect that will go away.
Hair - Much less falling out. But, I bet that will be the last to get better. It did grey prematurely (I am 48 currently)
Weight - Weight loss has been stable for a few months now, but I did lose ~10 lbs from the start. Hopefully mostly in the visceral areas.
Low Blood Counts - Still there
High cholesterol - Seems to be lowering, at 130s now.
Hashimotos / Auto-immune thyroid - Still there, but imagine that will fall in a year or so.
Skin patches - Mostly gone. I had some red flakiness on my face/nose, and that seems to have gone away.
Teeth / gums - Slowed / stopped recession. Still not "pearly white" though.
Joints / Lower back pain - Greatly improved, but not 100% yet.
Muscles - Still probably going thru high cell turnover, but back to normal strength
Sun sensitivity - High. Seems to cause increase in downstream symptoms (along with Seborrheic dermatitis in a couple spots)
GI motility - ebbs and flows. Normally once/day, sometimes more. Seems to be related to good flow followed by bile duct / biliary duct impact that slows things. Probably a byproduct of the detox.

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#2 · September 13, 2023, 6:42 pm

Quote from El on September 13, 2023, 6:42 pm

Quote from Shannon on September 13, 2023, 6:06 pm

Discovered I was likely vA dysregulated in mid-November 2022.

Thanks goes to:

Paola Dziwetzki for planting the seed and documenting her journey

Grant's blog and books for solidifying the model (this site was referenced from someone who found it in the https://Bornfree.life Discord chat)

Nutrition Detective's (Garret Smith's) volumes of material and weekly LYL chats (along with some amount of misinformation).

Rough toxification stages:

I'll be brief, and will update this log as I learn more.

Early stage in life
Diet: Tried to be "low fat". Fast food, meat / potatoes, milk / cheese, pizza (especially buffet's with ranch / garlic butter), lots of soda (Dr Pepper)
Symptoms: Adult acne, chronic allergies, dry skin, dandruff, joint issues later, sloooow motility / constipation [typically 6-7 days].

Early adulthood layered on alcohol playing a pro/con role, I imagine with the aldehyde load. I did have a bad case of mono the year I started trying alcohol (at the age of 22).

Late 20's I developed Hashimoto's and swallowing issues (food getting stuck at the bottom of my esopgagus)

Mid-30s
Diet: Switched to Paleo (removing eggs, dairy, soy, and gluten/wheat)
Symptoms: Chronic allergies disappeared, dry skin disappeared, acne disappeared, motility improved. The added fat likely improved cholestasis, I imagine, along with the higher amounts of Vitamin C / E.
Symptoms added: Started getting LOW blood counts, higher cholesterol (moved from 120 up towards 180), higher pulse.
An anecdote, but had three separate times where I tried high(er) dose Niacin (~1g) and ended up

Mid 30s
Diet: Switched to "Bulletproof" including bulletproof coffee made from homemade ghee, fish oil / krill oil, liver integrated, and ketogenic
Symptoms: Developed tinnitus, Blood Pressure issues, multiple food impactions, extreme dizziness / head pressure, LOW white blood cells, hemoglobin, and platelets, lower testosterone. The allergies, and such did not return.

Had another major BP and cardiovascular event along with head pressure in the Fall of 2019. Thought it might be thyroid hormone, and stopped it.

2020 (Feb thru July)
Diet: Same ketogenic diet (maybe a little more focused on EVOO, Salmon, Broccoli, etc), less BPC and liver, but added high dose B6 and high dose (25,000 IU) Vitamin A pulsed around 2-3x per week.
Note: Did this because an Organic Acid Test came up as B6 deficient (likely was not oxidizing B6 to Pyridoxic Acid) which is why I added the 100mg B6, and separately a naturopathic described why VitA was needed and I took her suggestion to add the VitA supplement, but pulsed.
Symptoms: Unbelievable tinnitus (started in left ear, moved to right), unbelievable head-pressure, inability to think, cardiovascular symptoms, sleepless nights / inability to sleep for more than an hour or so.

2021-2023
Diet: Believing B6 was my main issue, I went thru a multi-year low B6 diet. Still EVOO / ketogenic based. Big salad for lunch, broccoli / meat / olive oil for dinner. And lots of hot sauce. I hit another wall in 2023 when I had minor TBIs where I went on higher doses of fish oil (along with EGCG).
Symptoms: This time introduced extreme "burning voice box" along with the head pressures, tinnitus upticks, and the like.

Detox journey

November 2023 - First stage, I just removed broccoli and switched to cauliflower, and switched romaine to iceberg.
Symptoms: Head pressure started to improve. I could think better again! Coffee is 5 cups a day of 1/3 -1/2 caffeinated.

December 2023 - Same, but added an apple a day (granny smith), peeled. Not diet, but I had an appointment to start Testosterone pellets and went ahead. I should not have.
Symptoms: Things still improving. Started gaining weight. Did some more strenuous exercises (like lunges) and ended up causing knee and shoulder issues that persisted.

Alcohol was tried twice during December. Both times it caused reasonable headaches the night of/day after.

January 2023 - Same diet
Symptoms: Still improving, but got two major cold sores in rapid succession (within 10 days of each other)

Researched alternate ways of getting Vitamin D as I became aware of and convinced too much Vitamin D3 thru the gut was counterproductive. Decided to order Sperti UVB lamp.

February 2023 - Started adding beans to the diet. Also switched to beef (for the higher Zinc) much to my chagrin as I believed I still may be B6 sensitive. Started using Sperti UVB lamp.
Symptoms: Unbenownst to me, UVB greatly accelerates creation of retinol metabolic byproducts and the need for liver detox / removal. This started reversing my progress. I was getting major symptoms again of head pressure, tinnitus, and blood pressure fluctuations (along with sleep disruptions).

March 2023 - Still using Sperti UVB lamp. Removed fat and went full starch. My diet became a couple peeled apples, 400G+ of cooked rice (parboiled in charcoal, and finished in some coconut oil / ACV, then cooled), and ~200G of pressure cooked and drained ground beef. Completely stopped thyroid hormone. It seemed to cause heart pain issues during mid-day (believe this is from the higher detox level that T3 conveys)
Symptoms: Still having head pressure, tinnitus, and blood pressure issues. Thinking it was perhaps choline deficiency, I added Citi Choline later in the month.

April 2023 - Switched to outdoor sun exposure. Same rice / meat / bean diet, but made it up to 4 lbs of apple/day (peeled)
Symptoms - Head pressure lifted, especially later in the month.

May 2023 - Same rice / meat / bean diet, but started adding in bananas because the sheer amount of acid in eating apples throughout the day seemed to be eroding my dentin (where I already had exposed somewhat from gum recession). Tried some egg yolks and sunflower lecithin along with small amounts of Niacinamide at the end of the month of May.
Symptoms - Mostly improving. Though, I experienced retracement at the end of May when I introduced eggs, BUT that's also when UV index was greatly increasing down here in Texas. Unbeknownst to me, sun exposure is / was a factor.

June 2023 - Same diet, had a couple weeks of travel where I was both more outside and more inside. More outside generated a lot more symptoms than more inside (as I later found out).
Symptoms - Hit and miss. I had good periods that correlated to being inside more. I had thought I had sulfate issues because of a correlation to days I drank mineral water (especially San Pellegrino)

July 2023 - Tried doing some oatmeal in the mornings alongside the same rice/beans, meat and apples (peeled) + bananas
Symptoms - Still hit and miss, but more miss...this was around the summer solstice, so my likelihood over overwhelming detox was HIGH

August 2023 - Same diet, moved more towards bananas as fruit at the end of the month, along with started a 12 day, 3 eggs/day experiment (along with sunflower lecithin).
Symptoms - Because I avoided the sun, I normally had good days (head pressure wise), and mostly lower and predictable tinnitus. I even had a couple nights where I slept thru most of the night! (contrast to waking up 5-6x/night)

September 2023 - Same diet (other than the egg experiment)
Symptoms - Month isn't over, but eggs seemed to initially make things better, but stopping eggs was like falling off a cliff. Tinnitus and dizziness ramped up for 3 days, then dissipated.

I have attached some interesting graphs...(my try to turn them into images if that does not work)

Some learnings:

Choline does help (along with betaine if one can ensure they do not have Methionine issues). I'm not yet convinced egg yolks are useful early on. If they are, they maybe should be pulsed. I am skeptical that people sufficiently toxic could detox even 25% RDA that 3 eggs convey (alongside the ~1gram of Lutein / Zeaxanthin ).

Sun exposure may be contra-indicated for some time to some early on. (my earliest learnings came from a trip in March to Canada when I had BY FAR the greatest health week early in the detox...no Sperti, very little UVI)

Glucose driven metabolism is far superior to fatty acid oxidation as it more strongly supports NAD+ (and, downstream sirtuins for de-acetylization of enzymes allowing them to opearte). All of these are needed for cellular metabolism of aldehydes and such.

RHR may be a reliable indicator of progress for some. Though, it may be for me because of where the retinoids/carotenoids that spilled over the top of the liver went more.

Ozone modalities do seem to be helpful. I have done about two dozen DIV Ozone treatments alongside ozone water, and after adjusting for the "sun exposure" confounder, I have found them to be beneficial.

Thyroid hormone may be a consideration for some (I think I have seen this conversation a few times in the past)

Salt seems to be very very helpful for maintain BP, nerve conductivity, etc.

Charcoal is a must. Throughout the detox, I have done charcoal. My main regimen now is 1/4 tsp at night, and 1/4 tsp in the morning. I couple it with sunfiber as insurance against slow gut motility.

Zinc is mixed. It definitely helps my libido.

Symptoms:

Tinnitus - Improving thru the detox. I'd say it was a 4 to 5 out of 10 (it hit 8/10 with the 25,ooo IU supplements), but it's more like a 2 to 3 out of 10 nowadays.

Hyperacusis - Improving thru the detox. I still could not go to a rock concert without getting seriously hurt, but a noisy airport or diner doesn't set me back now.

Voice - The pain started dissapating 3 months in, and I am started to be able to sing again as of 7 months in (which requires higher pitches)

Dizziness / Head-pressure - Less and less periods of it as I move forward in time, especially if I avoid the sun. Still seems to happen later in the day (sometimes). Unsure exactly what the mechanism is here, but suspect that will go away.

Hair - Much less falling out. But, I bet that will be the last to get better. It did grey prematurely (I am 48 currently)

Weight - Weight loss has been stable for a few months now, but I did lose ~10 lbs from the start. Hopefully mostly in the visceral areas.

Low Blood Counts - Still there

High cholesterol - Seems to be lowering, at 130s now.

Hashimotos / Auto-immune thyroid - Still there, but imagine that will fall in a year or so.

Skin patches - Mostly gone. I had some red flakiness on my face/nose, and that seems to have gone away.

Teeth / gums - Slowed / stopped recession. Still not "pearly white" though.

Joints / Lower back pain - Greatly improved, but not 100% yet.

Muscles - Still probably going thru high cell turnover, but back to normal strength

Sun sensitivity - High. Seems to cause increase in downstream symptoms (along with Seborrheic dermatitis in a couple spots)

GI motility - ebbs and flows. Normally once/day, sometimes more. Seems to be related to good flow followed by bile duct / biliary duct impact that slows things. Probably a byproduct of the detox.
Hello, are you taking any supplements?

Quote from Shannon on September 13, 2023, 6:06 pm

Discovered I was likely vA dysregulated in mid-November 2022.

Thanks goes to:

Paola Dziwetzki for planting the seed and documenting her journey

Grant's blog and books for solidifying the model (this site was referenced from someone who found it in the https://Bornfree.life Discord chat)

Nutrition Detective's (Garret Smith's) volumes of material and weekly LYL chats (along with some amount of misinformation).

Rough toxification stages:

I'll be brief, and will update this log as I learn more.

Early stage in life
Diet: Tried to be "low fat". Fast food, meat / potatoes, milk / cheese, pizza (especially buffet's with ranch / garlic butter), lots of soda (Dr Pepper)
Symptoms: Adult acne, chronic allergies, dry skin, dandruff, joint issues later, sloooow motility / constipation [typically 6-7 days].

Early adulthood layered on alcohol playing a pro/con role, I imagine with the aldehyde load. I did have a bad case of mono the year I started trying alcohol (at the age of 22).

Late 20's I developed Hashimoto's and swallowing issues (food getting stuck at the bottom of my esopgagus)

Mid-30s
Diet: Switched to Paleo (removing eggs, dairy, soy, and gluten/wheat)
Symptoms: Chronic allergies disappeared, dry skin disappeared, acne disappeared, motility improved. The added fat likely improved cholestasis, I imagine, along with the higher amounts of Vitamin C / E.
Symptoms added: Started getting LOW blood counts, higher cholesterol (moved from 120 up towards 180), higher pulse.
An anecdote, but had three separate times where I tried high(er) dose Niacin (~1g) and ended up

Mid 30s
Diet: Switched to "Bulletproof" including bulletproof coffee made from homemade ghee, fish oil / krill oil, liver integrated, and ketogenic
Symptoms: Developed tinnitus, Blood Pressure issues, multiple food impactions, extreme dizziness / head pressure, LOW white blood cells, hemoglobin, and platelets, lower testosterone. The allergies, and such did not return.

Had another major BP and cardiovascular event along with head pressure in the Fall of 2019. Thought it might be thyroid hormone, and stopped it.

2020 (Feb thru July)
Diet: Same ketogenic diet (maybe a little more focused on EVOO, Salmon, Broccoli, etc), less BPC and liver, but added high dose B6 and high dose (25,000 IU) Vitamin A pulsed around 2-3x per week.
Note: Did this because an Organic Acid Test came up as B6 deficient (likely was not oxidizing B6 to Pyridoxic Acid) which is why I added the 100mg B6, and separately a naturopathic described why VitA was needed and I took her suggestion to add the VitA supplement, but pulsed.
Symptoms: Unbelievable tinnitus (started in left ear, moved to right), unbelievable head-pressure, inability to think, cardiovascular symptoms, sleepless nights / inability to sleep for more than an hour or so.

2021-2023
Diet: Believing B6 was my main issue, I went thru a multi-year low B6 diet. Still EVOO / ketogenic based. Big salad for lunch, broccoli / meat / olive oil for dinner. And lots of hot sauce. I hit another wall in 2023 when I had minor TBIs where I went on higher doses of fish oil (along with EGCG).
Symptoms: This time introduced extreme "burning voice box" along with the head pressures, tinnitus upticks, and the like.

Detox journey

November 2023 - First stage, I just removed broccoli and switched to cauliflower, and switched romaine to iceberg.
Symptoms: Head pressure started to improve. I could think better again! Coffee is 5 cups a day of 1/3 -1/2 caffeinated.

December 2023 - Same, but added an apple a day (granny smith), peeled. Not diet, but I had an appointment to start Testosterone pellets and went ahead. I should not have.
Symptoms: Things still improving. Started gaining weight. Did some more strenuous exercises (like lunges) and ended up causing knee and shoulder issues that persisted.

Alcohol was tried twice during December. Both times it caused reasonable headaches the night of/day after.

January 2023 - Same diet
Symptoms: Still improving, but got two major cold sores in rapid succession (within 10 days of each other)

Researched alternate ways of getting Vitamin D as I became aware of and convinced too much Vitamin D3 thru the gut was counterproductive. Decided to order Sperti UVB lamp.

February 2023 - Started adding beans to the diet. Also switched to beef (for the higher Zinc) much to my chagrin as I believed I still may be B6 sensitive. Started using Sperti UVB lamp.
Symptoms: Unbenownst to me, UVB greatly accelerates creation of retinol metabolic byproducts and the need for liver detox / removal. This started reversing my progress. I was getting major symptoms again of head pressure, tinnitus, and blood pressure fluctuations (along with sleep disruptions).

March 2023 - Still using Sperti UVB lamp. Removed fat and went full starch. My diet became a couple peeled apples, 400G+ of cooked rice (parboiled in charcoal, and finished in some coconut oil / ACV, then cooled), and ~200G of pressure cooked and drained ground beef. Completely stopped thyroid hormone. It seemed to cause heart pain issues during mid-day (believe this is from the higher detox level that T3 conveys)
Symptoms: Still having head pressure, tinnitus, and blood pressure issues. Thinking it was perhaps choline deficiency, I added Citi Choline later in the month.

April 2023 - Switched to outdoor sun exposure. Same rice / meat / bean diet, but made it up to 4 lbs of apple/day (peeled)
Symptoms - Head pressure lifted, especially later in the month.

May 2023 - Same rice / meat / bean diet, but started adding in bananas because the sheer amount of acid in eating apples throughout the day seemed to be eroding my dentin (where I already had exposed somewhat from gum recession). Tried some egg yolks and sunflower lecithin along with small amounts of Niacinamide at the end of the month of May.
Symptoms - Mostly improving. Though, I experienced retracement at the end of May when I introduced eggs, BUT that's also when UV index was greatly increasing down here in Texas. Unbeknownst to me, sun exposure is / was a factor.

June 2023 - Same diet, had a couple weeks of travel where I was both more outside and more inside. More outside generated a lot more symptoms than more inside (as I later found out).
Symptoms - Hit and miss. I had good periods that correlated to being inside more. I had thought I had sulfate issues because of a correlation to days I drank mineral water (especially San Pellegrino)

July 2023 - Tried doing some oatmeal in the mornings alongside the same rice/beans, meat and apples (peeled) + bananas
Symptoms - Still hit and miss, but more miss...this was around the summer solstice, so my likelihood over overwhelming detox was HIGH

August 2023 - Same diet, moved more towards bananas as fruit at the end of the month, along with started a 12 day, 3 eggs/day experiment (along with sunflower lecithin).
Symptoms - Because I avoided the sun, I normally had good days (head pressure wise), and mostly lower and predictable tinnitus. I even had a couple nights where I slept thru most of the night! (contrast to waking up 5-6x/night)

September 2023 - Same diet (other than the egg experiment)
Symptoms - Month isn't over, but eggs seemed to initially make things better, but stopping eggs was like falling off a cliff. Tinnitus and dizziness ramped up for 3 days, then dissipated.

I have attached some interesting graphs...(my try to turn them into images if that does not work)

Some learnings:

Choline does help (along with betaine if one can ensure they do not have Methionine issues). I'm not yet convinced egg yolks are useful early on. If they are, they maybe should be pulsed. I am skeptical that people sufficiently toxic could detox even 25% RDA that 3 eggs convey (alongside the ~1gram of Lutein / Zeaxanthin ).

Sun exposure may be contra-indicated for some time to some early on. (my earliest learnings came from a trip in March to Canada when I had BY FAR the greatest health week early in the detox...no Sperti, very little UVI)

Glucose driven metabolism is far superior to fatty acid oxidation as it more strongly supports NAD+ (and, downstream sirtuins for de-acetylization of enzymes allowing them to opearte). All of these are needed for cellular metabolism of aldehydes and such.

RHR may be a reliable indicator of progress for some. Though, it may be for me because of where the retinoids/carotenoids that spilled over the top of the liver went more.

Ozone modalities do seem to be helpful. I have done about two dozen DIV Ozone treatments alongside ozone water, and after adjusting for the "sun exposure" confounder, I have found them to be beneficial.

Thyroid hormone may be a consideration for some (I think I have seen this conversation a few times in the past)

Salt seems to be very very helpful for maintain BP, nerve conductivity, etc.

Charcoal is a must. Throughout the detox, I have done charcoal. My main regimen now is 1/4 tsp at night, and 1/4 tsp in the morning. I couple it with sunfiber as insurance against slow gut motility.

Zinc is mixed. It definitely helps my libido.

Symptoms:

Tinnitus - Improving thru the detox. I'd say it was a 4 to 5 out of 10 (it hit 8/10 with the 25,ooo IU supplements), but it's more like a 2 to 3 out of 10 nowadays.

Hyperacusis - Improving thru the detox. I still could not go to a rock concert without getting seriously hurt, but a noisy airport or diner doesn't set me back now.

Voice - The pain started dissapating 3 months in, and I am started to be able to sing again as of 7 months in (which requires higher pitches)

Dizziness / Head-pressure - Less and less periods of it as I move forward in time, especially if I avoid the sun. Still seems to happen later in the day (sometimes). Unsure exactly what the mechanism is here, but suspect that will go away.

Hair - Much less falling out. But, I bet that will be the last to get better. It did grey prematurely (I am 48 currently)

Weight - Weight loss has been stable for a few months now, but I did lose ~10 lbs from the start. Hopefully mostly in the visceral areas.

Low Blood Counts - Still there

High cholesterol - Seems to be lowering, at 130s now.

Hashimotos / Auto-immune thyroid - Still there, but imagine that will fall in a year or so.

Skin patches - Mostly gone. I had some red flakiness on my face/nose, and that seems to have gone away.

Teeth / gums - Slowed / stopped recession. Still not "pearly white" though.

Joints / Lower back pain - Greatly improved, but not 100% yet.

Muscles - Still probably going thru high cell turnover, but back to normal strength

Sun sensitivity - High. Seems to cause increase in downstream symptoms (along with Seborrheic dermatitis in a couple spots)

GI motility - ebbs and flows. Normally once/day, sometimes more. Seems to be related to good flow followed by bile duct / biliary duct impact that slows things. Probably a byproduct of the detox.

Hello, are you taking any supplements?

Shannon has reacted to this post.

#3 · September 13, 2023, 6:56 pm

Quote from El on September 13, 2023, 6:56 pm

Quote from Shannon on September 13, 2023, 6:06 pm

Discovered I was likely vA dysregulated in mid-November 2022.

Thanks goes to:

Paola Dziwetzki for planting the seed and documenting her journey

Grant's blog and books for solidifying the model (this site was referenced from someone who found it in the https://Bornfree.life Discord chat)

Nutrition Detective's (Garret Smith's) volumes of material and weekly LYL chats (along with some amount of misinformation).

Rough toxification stages:

I'll be brief, and will update this log as I learn more.

Early stage in life
Diet: Tried to be "low fat". Fast food, meat / potatoes, milk / cheese, pizza (especially buffet's with ranch / garlic butter), lots of soda (Dr Pepper)
Symptoms: Adult acne, chronic allergies, dry skin, dandruff, joint issues later, sloooow motility / constipation [typically 6-7 days].

Early adulthood layered on alcohol playing a pro/con role, I imagine with the aldehyde load. I did have a bad case of mono the year I started trying alcohol (at the age of 22).

Late 20's I developed Hashimoto's and swallowing issues (food getting stuck at the bottom of my esopgagus)

Mid-30s
Diet: Switched to Paleo (removing eggs, dairy, soy, and gluten/wheat)
Symptoms: Chronic allergies disappeared, dry skin disappeared, acne disappeared, motility improved. The added fat likely improved cholestasis, I imagine, along with the higher amounts of Vitamin C / E.
Symptoms added: Started getting LOW blood counts, higher cholesterol (moved from 120 up towards 180), higher pulse.
An anecdote, but had three separate times where I tried high(er) dose Niacin (~1g) and ended up

Mid 30s
Diet: Switched to "Bulletproof" including bulletproof coffee made from homemade ghee, fish oil / krill oil, liver integrated, and ketogenic
Symptoms: Developed tinnitus, Blood Pressure issues, multiple food impactions, extreme dizziness / head pressure, LOW white blood cells, hemoglobin, and platelets, lower testosterone. The allergies, and such did not return.

Had another major BP and cardiovascular event along with head pressure in the Fall of 2019. Thought it might be thyroid hormone, and stopped it.

2020 (Feb thru July)
Diet: Same ketogenic diet (maybe a little more focused on EVOO, Salmon, Broccoli, etc), less BPC and liver, but added high dose B6 and high dose (25,000 IU) Vitamin A pulsed around 2-3x per week.
Note: Did this because an Organic Acid Test came up as B6 deficient (likely was not oxidizing B6 to Pyridoxic Acid) which is why I added the 100mg B6, and separately a naturopathic described why VitA was needed and I took her suggestion to add the VitA supplement, but pulsed.
Symptoms: Unbelievable tinnitus (started in left ear, moved to right), unbelievable head-pressure, inability to think, cardiovascular symptoms, sleepless nights / inability to sleep for more than an hour or so.

2021-2023
Diet: Believing B6 was my main issue, I went thru a multi-year low B6 diet. Still EVOO / ketogenic based. Big salad for lunch, broccoli / meat / olive oil for dinner. And lots of hot sauce. I hit another wall in 2023 when I had minor TBIs where I went on higher doses of fish oil (along with EGCG).
Symptoms: This time introduced extreme "burning voice box" along with the head pressures, tinnitus upticks, and the like.

Detox journey

November 2023 - First stage, I just removed broccoli and switched to cauliflower, and switched romaine to iceberg.
Symptoms: Head pressure started to improve. I could think better again! Coffee is 5 cups a day of 1/3 -1/2 caffeinated.

December 2023 - Same, but added an apple a day (granny smith), peeled. Not diet, but I had an appointment to start Testosterone pellets and went ahead. I should not have.
Symptoms: Things still improving. Started gaining weight. Did some more strenuous exercises (like lunges) and ended up causing knee and shoulder issues that persisted.

Alcohol was tried twice during December. Both times it caused reasonable headaches the night of/day after.

January 2023 - Same diet
Symptoms: Still improving, but got two major cold sores in rapid succession (within 10 days of each other)

Researched alternate ways of getting Vitamin D as I became aware of and convinced too much Vitamin D3 thru the gut was counterproductive. Decided to order Sperti UVB lamp.

February 2023 - Started adding beans to the diet. Also switched to beef (for the higher Zinc) much to my chagrin as I believed I still may be B6 sensitive. Started using Sperti UVB lamp.
Symptoms: Unbenownst to me, UVB greatly accelerates creation of retinol metabolic byproducts and the need for liver detox / removal. This started reversing my progress. I was getting major symptoms again of head pressure, tinnitus, and blood pressure fluctuations (along with sleep disruptions).

March 2023 - Still using Sperti UVB lamp. Removed fat and went full starch. My diet became a couple peeled apples, 400G+ of cooked rice (parboiled in charcoal, and finished in some coconut oil / ACV, then cooled), and ~200G of pressure cooked and drained ground beef. Completely stopped thyroid hormone. It seemed to cause heart pain issues during mid-day (believe this is from the higher detox level that T3 conveys)
Symptoms: Still having head pressure, tinnitus, and blood pressure issues. Thinking it was perhaps choline deficiency, I added Citi Choline later in the month.

April 2023 - Switched to outdoor sun exposure. Same rice / meat / bean diet, but made it up to 4 lbs of apple/day (peeled)
Symptoms - Head pressure lifted, especially later in the month.

May 2023 - Same rice / meat / bean diet, but started adding in bananas because the sheer amount of acid in eating apples throughout the day seemed to be eroding my dentin (where I already had exposed somewhat from gum recession). Tried some egg yolks and sunflower lecithin along with small amounts of Niacinamide at the end of the month of May.
Symptoms - Mostly improving. Though, I experienced retracement at the end of May when I introduced eggs, BUT that's also when UV index was greatly increasing down here in Texas. Unbeknownst to me, sun exposure is / was a factor.

June 2023 - Same diet, had a couple weeks of travel where I was both more outside and more inside. More outside generated a lot more symptoms than more inside (as I later found out).
Symptoms - Hit and miss. I had good periods that correlated to being inside more. I had thought I had sulfate issues because of a correlation to days I drank mineral water (especially San Pellegrino)

July 2023 - Tried doing some oatmeal in the mornings alongside the same rice/beans, meat and apples (peeled) + bananas
Symptoms - Still hit and miss, but more miss...this was around the summer solstice, so my likelihood over overwhelming detox was HIGH

August 2023 - Same diet, moved more towards bananas as fruit at the end of the month, along with started a 12 day, 3 eggs/day experiment (along with sunflower lecithin).
Symptoms - Because I avoided the sun, I normally had good days (head pressure wise), and mostly lower and predictable tinnitus. I even had a couple nights where I slept thru most of the night! (contrast to waking up 5-6x/night)

September 2023 - Same diet (other than the egg experiment)
Symptoms - Month isn't over, but eggs seemed to initially make things better, but stopping eggs was like falling off a cliff. Tinnitus and dizziness ramped up for 3 days, then dissipated.

I have attached some interesting graphs...(my try to turn them into images if that does not work)

Some learnings:

Choline does help (along with betaine if one can ensure they do not have Methionine issues). I'm not yet convinced egg yolks are useful early on. If they are, they maybe should be pulsed. I am skeptical that people sufficiently toxic could detox even 25% RDA that 3 eggs convey (alongside the ~1gram of Lutein / Zeaxanthin ).

Sun exposure may be contra-indicated for some time to some early on. (my earliest learnings came from a trip in March to Canada when I had BY FAR the greatest health week early in the detox...no Sperti, very little UVI)

Glucose driven metabolism is far superior to fatty acid oxidation as it more strongly supports NAD+ (and, downstream sirtuins for de-acetylization of enzymes allowing them to opearte). All of these are needed for cellular metabolism of aldehydes and such.

RHR may be a reliable indicator of progress for some. Though, it may be for me because of where the retinoids/carotenoids that spilled over the top of the liver went more.

Ozone modalities do seem to be helpful. I have done about two dozen DIV Ozone treatments alongside ozone water, and after adjusting for the "sun exposure" confounder, I have found them to be beneficial.

Thyroid hormone may be a consideration for some (I think I have seen this conversation a few times in the past)

Salt seems to be very very helpful for maintain BP, nerve conductivity, etc.

Charcoal is a must. Throughout the detox, I have done charcoal. My main regimen now is 1/4 tsp at night, and 1/4 tsp in the morning. I couple it with sunfiber as insurance against slow gut motility.

Zinc is mixed. It definitely helps my libido.

Symptoms:

Tinnitus - Improving thru the detox. I'd say it was a 4 to 5 out of 10 (it hit 8/10 with the 25,ooo IU supplements), but it's more like a 2 to 3 out of 10 nowadays.

Hyperacusis - Improving thru the detox. I still could not go to a rock concert without getting seriously hurt, but a noisy airport or diner doesn't set me back now.

Voice - The pain started dissapating 3 months in, and I am started to be able to sing again as of 7 months in (which requires higher pitches)

Dizziness / Head-pressure - Less and less periods of it as I move forward in time, especially if I avoid the sun. Still seems to happen later in the day (sometimes). Unsure exactly what the mechanism is here, but suspect that will go away.

Hair - Much less falling out. But, I bet that will be the last to get better. It did grey prematurely (I am 48 currently)

Weight - Weight loss has been stable for a few months now, but I did lose ~10 lbs from the start. Hopefully mostly in the visceral areas.

Low Blood Counts - Still there

High cholesterol - Seems to be lowering, at 130s now.

Hashimotos / Auto-immune thyroid - Still there, but imagine that will fall in a year or so.

Skin patches - Mostly gone. I had some red flakiness on my face/nose, and that seems to have gone away.

Teeth / gums - Slowed / stopped recession. Still not "pearly white" though.

Joints / Lower back pain - Greatly improved, but not 100% yet.

Muscles - Still probably going thru high cell turnover, but back to normal strength

Sun sensitivity - High. Seems to cause increase in downstream symptoms (along with Seborrheic dermatitis in a couple spots)

GI motility - ebbs and flows. Normally once/day, sometimes more. Seems to be related to good flow followed by bile duct / biliary duct impact that slows things. Probably a byproduct of the detox.
It's interesting when you stop fat your liver enzymes go up quite a bit.

Quote from Shannon on September 13, 2023, 6:06 pm

Discovered I was likely vA dysregulated in mid-November 2022.

Thanks goes to:

Paola Dziwetzki for planting the seed and documenting her journey

Grant's blog and books for solidifying the model (this site was referenced from someone who found it in the https://Bornfree.life Discord chat)

Nutrition Detective's (Garret Smith's) volumes of material and weekly LYL chats (along with some amount of misinformation).

Rough toxification stages:

I'll be brief, and will update this log as I learn more.

Early stage in life
Diet: Tried to be "low fat". Fast food, meat / potatoes, milk / cheese, pizza (especially buffet's with ranch / garlic butter), lots of soda (Dr Pepper)
Symptoms: Adult acne, chronic allergies, dry skin, dandruff, joint issues later, sloooow motility / constipation [typically 6-7 days].

Early adulthood layered on alcohol playing a pro/con role, I imagine with the aldehyde load. I did have a bad case of mono the year I started trying alcohol (at the age of 22).

Late 20's I developed Hashimoto's and swallowing issues (food getting stuck at the bottom of my esopgagus)

Mid-30s
Diet: Switched to Paleo (removing eggs, dairy, soy, and gluten/wheat)
Symptoms: Chronic allergies disappeared, dry skin disappeared, acne disappeared, motility improved. The added fat likely improved cholestasis, I imagine, along with the higher amounts of Vitamin C / E.
Symptoms added: Started getting LOW blood counts, higher cholesterol (moved from 120 up towards 180), higher pulse.
An anecdote, but had three separate times where I tried high(er) dose Niacin (~1g) and ended up

Mid 30s
Diet: Switched to "Bulletproof" including bulletproof coffee made from homemade ghee, fish oil / krill oil, liver integrated, and ketogenic
Symptoms: Developed tinnitus, Blood Pressure issues, multiple food impactions, extreme dizziness / head pressure, LOW white blood cells, hemoglobin, and platelets, lower testosterone. The allergies, and such did not return.

Had another major BP and cardiovascular event along with head pressure in the Fall of 2019. Thought it might be thyroid hormone, and stopped it.

2020 (Feb thru July)
Diet: Same ketogenic diet (maybe a little more focused on EVOO, Salmon, Broccoli, etc), less BPC and liver, but added high dose B6 and high dose (25,000 IU) Vitamin A pulsed around 2-3x per week.
Note: Did this because an Organic Acid Test came up as B6 deficient (likely was not oxidizing B6 to Pyridoxic Acid) which is why I added the 100mg B6, and separately a naturopathic described why VitA was needed and I took her suggestion to add the VitA supplement, but pulsed.
Symptoms: Unbelievable tinnitus (started in left ear, moved to right), unbelievable head-pressure, inability to think, cardiovascular symptoms, sleepless nights / inability to sleep for more than an hour or so.

2021-2023
Diet: Believing B6 was my main issue, I went thru a multi-year low B6 diet. Still EVOO / ketogenic based. Big salad for lunch, broccoli / meat / olive oil for dinner. And lots of hot sauce. I hit another wall in 2023 when I had minor TBIs where I went on higher doses of fish oil (along with EGCG).
Symptoms: This time introduced extreme "burning voice box" along with the head pressures, tinnitus upticks, and the like.

Detox journey

November 2023 - First stage, I just removed broccoli and switched to cauliflower, and switched romaine to iceberg.
Symptoms: Head pressure started to improve. I could think better again! Coffee is 5 cups a day of 1/3 -1/2 caffeinated.

December 2023 - Same, but added an apple a day (granny smith), peeled. Not diet, but I had an appointment to start Testosterone pellets and went ahead. I should not have.
Symptoms: Things still improving. Started gaining weight. Did some more strenuous exercises (like lunges) and ended up causing knee and shoulder issues that persisted.

Alcohol was tried twice during December. Both times it caused reasonable headaches the night of/day after.

January 2023 - Same diet
Symptoms: Still improving, but got two major cold sores in rapid succession (within 10 days of each other)

Researched alternate ways of getting Vitamin D as I became aware of and convinced too much Vitamin D3 thru the gut was counterproductive. Decided to order Sperti UVB lamp.

February 2023 - Started adding beans to the diet. Also switched to beef (for the higher Zinc) much to my chagrin as I believed I still may be B6 sensitive. Started using Sperti UVB lamp.
Symptoms: Unbenownst to me, UVB greatly accelerates creation of retinol metabolic byproducts and the need for liver detox / removal. This started reversing my progress. I was getting major symptoms again of head pressure, tinnitus, and blood pressure fluctuations (along with sleep disruptions).

March 2023 - Still using Sperti UVB lamp. Removed fat and went full starch. My diet became a couple peeled apples, 400G+ of cooked rice (parboiled in charcoal, and finished in some coconut oil / ACV, then cooled), and ~200G of pressure cooked and drained ground beef. Completely stopped thyroid hormone. It seemed to cause heart pain issues during mid-day (believe this is from the higher detox level that T3 conveys)
Symptoms: Still having head pressure, tinnitus, and blood pressure issues. Thinking it was perhaps choline deficiency, I added Citi Choline later in the month.

April 2023 - Switched to outdoor sun exposure. Same rice / meat / bean diet, but made it up to 4 lbs of apple/day (peeled)
Symptoms - Head pressure lifted, especially later in the month.

May 2023 - Same rice / meat / bean diet, but started adding in bananas because the sheer amount of acid in eating apples throughout the day seemed to be eroding my dentin (where I already had exposed somewhat from gum recession). Tried some egg yolks and sunflower lecithin along with small amounts of Niacinamide at the end of the month of May.
Symptoms - Mostly improving. Though, I experienced retracement at the end of May when I introduced eggs, BUT that's also when UV index was greatly increasing down here in Texas. Unbeknownst to me, sun exposure is / was a factor.

June 2023 - Same diet, had a couple weeks of travel where I was both more outside and more inside. More outside generated a lot more symptoms than more inside (as I later found out).
Symptoms - Hit and miss. I had good periods that correlated to being inside more. I had thought I had sulfate issues because of a correlation to days I drank mineral water (especially San Pellegrino)

July 2023 - Tried doing some oatmeal in the mornings alongside the same rice/beans, meat and apples (peeled) + bananas
Symptoms - Still hit and miss, but more miss...this was around the summer solstice, so my likelihood over overwhelming detox was HIGH

August 2023 - Same diet, moved more towards bananas as fruit at the end of the month, along with started a 12 day, 3 eggs/day experiment (along with sunflower lecithin).
Symptoms - Because I avoided the sun, I normally had good days (head pressure wise), and mostly lower and predictable tinnitus. I even had a couple nights where I slept thru most of the night! (contrast to waking up 5-6x/night)

September 2023 - Same diet (other than the egg experiment)
Symptoms - Month isn't over, but eggs seemed to initially make things better, but stopping eggs was like falling off a cliff. Tinnitus and dizziness ramped up for 3 days, then dissipated.

I have attached some interesting graphs...(my try to turn them into images if that does not work)

Some learnings:

Choline does help (along with betaine if one can ensure they do not have Methionine issues). I'm not yet convinced egg yolks are useful early on. If they are, they maybe should be pulsed. I am skeptical that people sufficiently toxic could detox even 25% RDA that 3 eggs convey (alongside the ~1gram of Lutein / Zeaxanthin ).

Sun exposure may be contra-indicated for some time to some early on. (my earliest learnings came from a trip in March to Canada when I had BY FAR the greatest health week early in the detox...no Sperti, very little UVI)

Glucose driven metabolism is far superior to fatty acid oxidation as it more strongly supports NAD+ (and, downstream sirtuins for de-acetylization of enzymes allowing them to opearte). All of these are needed for cellular metabolism of aldehydes and such.

RHR may be a reliable indicator of progress for some. Though, it may be for me because of where the retinoids/carotenoids that spilled over the top of the liver went more.

Ozone modalities do seem to be helpful. I have done about two dozen DIV Ozone treatments alongside ozone water, and after adjusting for the "sun exposure" confounder, I have found them to be beneficial.

Thyroid hormone may be a consideration for some (I think I have seen this conversation a few times in the past)

Salt seems to be very very helpful for maintain BP, nerve conductivity, etc.

Charcoal is a must. Throughout the detox, I have done charcoal. My main regimen now is 1/4 tsp at night, and 1/4 tsp in the morning. I couple it with sunfiber as insurance against slow gut motility.

Zinc is mixed. It definitely helps my libido.

Symptoms:

Tinnitus - Improving thru the detox. I'd say it was a 4 to 5 out of 10 (it hit 8/10 with the 25,ooo IU supplements), but it's more like a 2 to 3 out of 10 nowadays.

Hyperacusis - Improving thru the detox. I still could not go to a rock concert without getting seriously hurt, but a noisy airport or diner doesn't set me back now.

Voice - The pain started dissapating 3 months in, and I am started to be able to sing again as of 7 months in (which requires higher pitches)

Dizziness / Head-pressure - Less and less periods of it as I move forward in time, especially if I avoid the sun. Still seems to happen later in the day (sometimes). Unsure exactly what the mechanism is here, but suspect that will go away.

Hair - Much less falling out. But, I bet that will be the last to get better. It did grey prematurely (I am 48 currently)

Weight - Weight loss has been stable for a few months now, but I did lose ~10 lbs from the start. Hopefully mostly in the visceral areas.

Low Blood Counts - Still there

High cholesterol - Seems to be lowering, at 130s now.

Hashimotos / Auto-immune thyroid - Still there, but imagine that will fall in a year or so.

Skin patches - Mostly gone. I had some red flakiness on my face/nose, and that seems to have gone away.

Teeth / gums - Slowed / stopped recession. Still not "pearly white" though.

Joints / Lower back pain - Greatly improved, but not 100% yet.

Muscles - Still probably going thru high cell turnover, but back to normal strength

Sun sensitivity - High. Seems to cause increase in downstream symptoms (along with Seborrheic dermatitis in a couple spots)

GI motility - ebbs and flows. Normally once/day, sometimes more. Seems to be related to good flow followed by bile duct / biliary duct impact that slows things. Probably a byproduct of the detox.

It's interesting when you stop fat your liver enzymes go up quite a bit.

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#4 · September 13, 2023, 8:47 pm

Quote from El on September 13, 2023, 6:42 pm
Hello, are you taking any supplements?

Yes, but they have varied based off of what I was learning and perceiving happening over time.

Currently, I generally take (but often skip a day or two):

~20mg of simple Thiamine a day
~20mg of simple Riboflavin (B2) a day
~200-300mcg of Biotin
~100-200mg of Betaine (a pinch or two)
~250mg of Citicholine
~10mg of Zinc Bisglycinate (I am skeptical of picolinate, and I have skipped the 10mg quite a bit)
~2-3mg Creatine
~500mg of Taurine (to help make bile)
Sunfiber
MgCl (a little bit in the water, once a week or so on the skin)
Activated Charcoal

The following I have messed with, but don't take:

Molybdenum (found it to cause too much detox or symptoms, probably get several hundred mcg in food)
Selenium (found it to cause too much detox, and when I calculate the amount I am getting from food, it's easily 200mcg)
Lactoferrin (found it to cause too much detox, but that may have been confounded by sun)
Niacin / Niacinamide (found it too cause too much detox, but it also may have been confounded by the sun)
K2 (unsure it's necessary, and may be generating it sufficiently in the gut now
Vitamin C (I really don't want to generate oxalate, and I'm pretty sure I get enough from fruit...bananas mainly now)

I am thinking of adding in:

Vitamin E "dry E" (low dose)
Iodine (from kelp, since it is low A)
Vitamin D3 (I'm really skeptical here, but I have GREATLY reduced my sun exposure....this one is tough)

puddleduck has reacted to this post.

#5 · September 13, 2023, 8:55 pm

Quote from El on September 13, 2023, 6:56 pm

It's interesting when you stop fat your liver enzymes go up quite a bit.

The enzymes (especially GGT) going up predate the change from high-fat to carbohydrate.

I honestly think it was the amount of fish oil combined with EGCG that I did as a response to an mTBI in September. I did about 4 days of 800mg net EGCG before backing off to 30mg/day. I stopped when I got the first spike in GGT back.

I have a hunch that EGCG greatly impacts certain P450 paths. I was actually taking it to help with the help in clearing out the brain (it is documented to help dissolve and detox amyloid, I believe).

At any rate, I have not taken EGCG at all. Not even had green tea (or Kombucha) since I saw the spike in GGT. And, I completely stopped the fish oil at the end of November when I became persuaded Vitamin A could be an issue, and could not find a reasonable source that would describe how much Vit. A was in typical fish oil.

Not that it matters, but there are definitely purified fish oils that concentrate DHA/EPA. And, I *used* to take these, but they all have un-stated amounts of Vitamin E. I had already backed off on "extra" Vitamin E earlier in the year. So, I avoided fish oil pills with Vitamin E.

I'm not yet convinced we need to be taking external DHA/EPA as long as we get very little PUFA, but every once in a while get a small amount of ALA. So, I do have a couple walnuts from time to time.

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#6 · September 14, 2023, 12:08 am

Quote from Shannon on September 13, 2023, 8:55 pm

Quote from El on September 13, 2023, 6:56 pm
It's interesting when you stop fat your liver enzymes go up quite a bit.
The enzymes (especially GGT) going up predate the change from high-fat to carbohydrate.

I honestly think it was the amount of fish oil combined with EGCG that I did as a response to an mTBI in September. I did about 4 days of 800mg net EGCG before backing off to 30mg/day. I stopped when I got the first spike in GGT back.

I have a hunch that EGCG greatly impacts certain P450 paths. I was actually taking it to help with the help in clearing out the brain (it is documented to help dissolve and detox amyloid, I believe).

At any rate, I have not taken EGCG at all. Not even had green tea (or Kombucha) since I saw the spike in GGT. And, I completely stopped the fish oil at the end of November when I became persuaded Vitamin A could be an issue, and could not find a reasonable source that would describe how much Vit. A was in typical fish oil.

Not that it matters, but there are definitely purified fish oils that concentrate DHA/EPA. And, I *used* to take these, but they all have un-stated amounts of Vitamin E. I had already backed off on "extra" Vitamin E earlier in the year. So, I avoided fish oil pills with Vitamin E.

I'm not yet convinced we need to be taking external DHA/EPA as long as we get very little PUFA, but every once in a while get a small amount of ALA. So, I do have a couple walnuts from time to time.

but why don't you try doing the grant thing. Don't take any supplements, everyone takes supplements. and thus it is impossible to know if the diet works

#7 · September 14, 2023, 2:26 am

Quote from Shannon on September 13, 2023, 8:55 pm

Quote from El on September 13, 2023, 6:56 pm
It's interesting when you stop fat your liver enzymes go up quite a bit.
The enzymes (especially GGT) going up predate the change from high-fat to carbohydrate.

I honestly think it was the amount of fish oil combined with EGCG that I did as a response to an mTBI in September. I did about 4 days of 800mg net EGCG before backing off to 30mg/day. I stopped when I got the first spike in GGT back.

I have a hunch that EGCG greatly impacts certain P450 paths. I was actually taking it to help with the help in clearing out the brain (it is documented to help dissolve and detox amyloid, I believe).

At any rate, I have not taken EGCG at all. Not even had green tea (or Kombucha) since I saw the spike in GGT. And, I completely stopped the fish oil at the end of November when I became persuaded Vitamin A could be an issue, and could not find a reasonable source that would describe how much Vit. A was in typical fish oil.

Not that it matters, but there are definitely purified fish oils that concentrate DHA/EPA. And, I *used* to take these, but they all have un-stated amounts of Vitamin E. I had already backed off on "extra" Vitamin E earlier in the year. So, I avoided fish oil pills with Vitamin E.

I'm not yet convinced we need to be taking external DHA/EPA as long as we get very little PUFA, but every once in a while get a small amount of ALA. So, I do have a couple walnuts from time to time.

I also already explained that when we follow a diet low in vitamin A, it is also low in polyunsaturated fats. That releases large amounts of vitamin A and polyunsaturated fats into the body. That makes you react very badly to the sun. You have to take saturated fats for that, beef tallow and the reaction to the sun disappears

Ourania has reacted to this post.

#8 · September 14, 2023, 2:31 am

@el We don't take supplements, and the diet is working!

El has reacted to this post.

#9 · September 14, 2023, 2:35 am

Quote from Ourania on September 14, 2023, 2:31 am

@el We don't take supplements, and the diet is working!

I don't think it's necessary to take supplements, I was very happy that it worked for you. what foods do you eat? do you eat saturated fat?

#10 · September 14, 2023, 2:59 am

We eat meat (beef, lamb, pork, roedeer, very little chicken or guinea fowl), white rice, white potatoes, very white wheat flour, iceberg lettuce, cauliflower, celery root, white of leeks, lemons, onions, garlic, black beans, chickpeas, oat porridge, honey, coconut palm sugar, white sugar, coffee once a day (home roasted).

Spices : oregano, bay leaves. No pepper. Gherkins in vinegar.

Everything only home cooked from scratch. Three times a week at least the meat is cooked in water, no roasting, to extract minerals. At least once a week minced beef raw (minced at home, then frozen at -25C at least a week). Bread is home made barley bread or flat wheat bread (pitta/chapati style).

Plenty of saturated fats in the meat. A bit of olive oil here and there. Sometimes sesame paste.

We only eat at lunchtime, at night we eat leftovers but not after 5 pm.

Rarely we eat fruit : fresh figs, banana, apple peeled, pineapple.

Hermes, Shannon and El have reacted to this post.

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