velvethound62 said:Which hormones are we talking about? Bloodwork results🙂I went to Quest Diagnostics—checked my CK and LDH (those are markers for muscles and joints) plus the CEA tumor marker... everything came back perfectly within the normal range, except for my cholesterol, which was sitting at 8.7.
How on earth did you fix those symptoms? WHAT STEPS DID YOU TAKE??? I need some advice immediately, urgently!!!!!
There was this one stretch of time where everything felt exactly the same... I mean, my symptoms were just totally identical. Let me see if I can actually try to describe it... maybe...
It all started with this stinging, itchy sensation around my rear right after I used the bathroom... honestly, it went on for years, I think. I always tried to make sure I headed straight for the shower immediately after using the toilet just to avoid that burning feeling, you know? But then things just... they got worse. My stools became softer and softer, and the stinging was getting way more intense. After I’d go, there would be this inflamed ring around the rectum area. It felt like my stool was incredibly acidic, almost like it was actually eating away at my skin. I really had this gut feeling—maybe I'm wrong, but it felt like my body was just dumping bile uncontrollably, like there was too much bile in my intestines and my system was just trying to flush it out as fast as possible. And the frequency... yeah, it picked up too. I started having to run to the bathroom two, three, maybe even four times a day.
It’s just been this constant, shifting wave of symptoms hitting me all at once... I mean, like what you mentioned, too—my quads started aching by the time I hit the second floor of my building, almost like I'd crushed a heavy leg day at the gym or something, which is crazy because I haven't worked out at all lately. It's weird. And honestly, there are so many other things going on. The stuff that really messes with my head is the brain fog... I just can't concentrate. Everything feels weak. Then there's the mental side of it, too—this creeping anxiety, maybe even a little bit of paranoia, plus just feeling totally lethargic and apathetic most of the time. And then, out of nowhere, I get these bouts of hypoglycemia symptoms several times a day... just total confusion, the shakes, sweating, and feeling freezing cold. Even caffeine has become such a trigger; I swear, just the taste of it on my tongue makes me feel incredibly jittery and on edge. This past winter was especially brutal with the cold, too. Since I smoke, I'd try to step outside, but I couldn't even finish half a cigarette before the shivering and teeth-chattering started. It’s been cycling through these different phases for about two years now, I guess. Though, if I really think back, I've had some rectal irritation starting way back, maybe five or six years ago... I don't know.
So, basically, that whole bathroom issue pretty much cleared up within a few days once I switched up my diet. I went almost completely keto—like, zero carbs—and within two days, most of those symptoms I mentioned earlier just vanished, and things finally started moving normally again. Though, I guess I’m not entirely sure if I actually fixed the root cause or something, because now that I’ve started slowly reintroducing carbs, my movements are still mostly fine—just a little softer, maybe—but that itching and irritation around the area is starting to creep back in. I don't know what to make of it... honestly. Part of me suspects it might be some kind of bacterial thing, you know? Like, if there were bacteria present, cutting out carbs would naturally calm them down, so that would actually make sense. But then again, another possibility—and I'm just speculating here—could be something hormonal. Like, a total hormonal imbalance. I can't prove it or anything, obviously, but I wonder if it's an overproduction of catecholamines—you know, like adrenaline, noradrenaline, dopamine, and cortisol—just trying to compensate for some kind of thyroid hormone deficiency... maybe? I don't know.
So, I changed up my diet, right? And for like, a whole month, I actually felt pretty amazing. It wasn't perfect—some symptoms were still hanging around—but I was doing okay. Then, out of nowhere, one day while I was just eating some chicken and spinach, I suddenly felt totally sick. Like, within five minutes, everything just went south. I ended up stuck in bed for three days straight with this weirdly low fever, maybe around 96 degrees... and ever since then, it’s been rough. I got all foggy again, lost my focus, and that weakness just came rushing back. My digestion stayed fine, though, as long as I keep the food on track. That whole episode really pushed me to go get my thyroid checked out. Turns out, my hormone levels are sitting right at the very bottom edge of the scale. Most doctors here wouldn't even bother treating it because technically, I'm still "within range," I guess. But, I decided to start treatment anyway about a month ago, and man, it made a difference. I got my focus and concentration back so fast. Everything feels more stable now. I’m even noticing other stuff... my blood pressure has leveled out, and I don't feel like I'm freezing all the time anymore. Even the random muscle aches have calmed down, and I think I might actually have the energy to get back into sports soon. Maybe.
So, yeah, I’ve definitely been blaming a massive amount of stress for everything... but honestly, I think if your body is actually ready for it, you don't even feel it as stress. It's more like, when your system is totally compromised, then every little thing becomes stressful. I guess doctors talk about stress way too much. Stress doesn't really exist when you're healthy. But man, just try trying to fix errors on a major bank's production server—where every minute of downtime costs a fortune—while you're dealing with hypoglycemia, and then you'll see what real stress feels like... You can't even remember your own dad's name because five people are standing over your shoulder breathing down your neck, yelling at you to fix something *now* because something else is waiting in line... that's how stress happens. At one point, even just going to the grocery store felt overwhelming. And so? Now I'm working both Saturdays and Sundays from 8 to 4, and I'm getting married in three weeks, so I don't snap and lose my cool over things like... people parking their cars wrong like I used to...
Eh, the diet I'm talking about is mostly LCHF. I think any version with very low carbs will work for you (there's the Atkins induction phase, though personally, I think it's way too much meat)... For me, the best is the Optimal Diet by Jan Kwasniewski. So, the emphasis is on high fat rather than high protein... I mean, you can eat meat, but the whole point isn't just gorging on meat, it's mainly about the fats... healthy fats, animal fats, dairy fats, and fats from nuts... No vegetable oils except for tropical ones (like coconut or palm) and olive oil. Flax is great, but it's not exactly something you eat like a meal, and neither is fish oil... You cook your food in lard or butter, not sunflower oil or whatever mystery stuff they call "vegetable oil." And absolutely no margarine or whatever artificial crap.
And you should absolutely avoid sugar and large amounts of carbs (bread, dough, potatoes, rice, beans)... plus caffeine and all those other stimulants. Eat eggs normally, especially the yolks and stuff like that. As for carbs, stick to vegetables you can eat raw and fruit, but not too much—berries are probably best... Basically, most of this is the exact opposite of mainstream medicine. The only place where medicine and this diet actually agree is that fats from nuts, tropical fats, olive oil, fish oil, and flax are healthy. When it comes to animal and dairy fats, the opinions are diametrically opposed. Same goes for carbs and eggs, more or less. I'm no doctor, I'm just sharing info I've gathered through research and testing it out on myself...
