• Welcome to Phoenix Rising!

    Created in 2008, Phoenix Rising is the largest and oldest forum dedicated to furthering the understanding of, and finding treatments for, complex chronic illnesses such as chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), fibromyalgia, long COVID, postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS), and allied diseases.

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  1. S

    I'm currently exploring the connection between humidity levels and MCAS.

    Interesting. I know my eyes have been doing a lot better once i got a humidifier. I like to keep it above 45% relative humidity. This is the one I got. Once you set the humidity, it'll turn on and off by itself. I'm sure there are others that work the same.
  2. S

    Symptoms best on an empty stomach: diagnostic clue?

    In an old post of mine, there is a link to a video of a presentation you might find relevant. It discusses how POTS patients often have associated gastrointestinal symptoms, in particular rapid gastric emptying. This may explain some of your symptoms. Hope this helps.
  3. S

    Carnivore Diet

    Hi @belize44 I've been carnivore for about two years now. I used to take quite a few supplements, but now only take a few. Copper - this helps quite a bit with histamine intolerance. Vitamin D/K - Don't notice anything here, just trying to not get sick. Magnesium - I only take a very small...
  4. S

    Carbs/Sugar practically puts me in a coma - Why does this happen?

    I have similar issues. I have been carnivore for almost two years now and it has helped a great deal. Before carnivore, I was definitely getting blood sugar spikes from carbohydrates. I put this down to rapid gastric emptying, which appears to be a common symptom associated with POTS and...
  5. S

    Question on Vaccines

    A DTaP vaccine was one of a few factors I suspect may have worsened my condition 6 years ago. I was also stressed out, and pushing my my physical limits. I watched a video many years ago about the Gardasil vaccine. I don't have a solid personal opinion on the vaccine issue, but they claimed...
  6. S

    Is there a safe exercise-free weight loss diet for people with ME?

    I agree with the low carb suggestions. I would even suggest trying keto after you adjust to lower carbs. Lots of people with diabetes seem to be doing well on a low-carb high-fat diet. If you are interested, check out the forums at diabetes.co.uk. It's an excellent resource.
  7. S

    Low blood sugar symptoms without low blood sugar

    Before I switched over to a truly low carb diet, I experienced these "low blood sugar feelings" all the time. I did a good amount of self testing with the glucose monitor trying to figure out what was going on, but never found actual low blood sugar. Instead I found blood sugar spikes...
  8. S

    I can't eat protein

    What were you eating exactly? In particular, how much fat were you eating? Some people, like me, seem to do better on higher fat to protein ratios, 2:1 or 3:1 on a gram for gram basis. What happens when you have a meal consisting of only fat with no protein or carbs?
  9. S

    Temperature regulation

    I've noticed the same temperature regulation problems. I had a huge improvement in my cold tolerance this past winter after I started the carnivore diet. It seems fairly well known that protein has a thermogenic effect, that is, it warms you up. Here's an example reference, but there are plenty...
  10. S

    Nicotine, tobacco and Cfs has anyone benefited?

    I find nicotine/tobacco very helpful for hypersensitivity and mood. I think it helps my POTS a little too. Definitely doesn't make it worse. Interestingly I find tobacco much more effective than nicotine alone. Not sure what is actually happening there, but it might be from one of the minor...
  11. S

    Carnivore Diet for ME?

    Anecdotal Improvement in EDS Symptoms from Carnivore Diet
  12. S

    Anecdotal Improvement in EDS Symptoms from Carnivore Diet

    In this podcast, Dawn Leighton, MD discusses how the carnivore diet greatly improved her EDS symptoms. Sounds like she has extreme hypermobility, and prior to starting the carnivore diet she had daily subluxations. She also discusses reductions in pain, an increase in her ability to exercise...
  13. S

    Crazy adrenaline surges for 5 days

    Hi @Irinasis33 I've found that Clonidine is very effective for these types of episodes. I take 1/4 of a 0.1 mg pill, so that is just 25 mcg ( micrograms ). Clonidine supresses the release of norepinephrine ( R ), and for me at least, takes care of that jacked up, overstimulated, adrenaline...
  14. S

    Adrenergic reaction after eating

    Hi @Wolfcub , Have you looked into "rapid gastric emptying" and its relation to POTS? @ryan31337 linked to a very informative video presentation in this post.
  15. S

    Alternative to peanut butter?

    Sure! I'm not really arguing this issue either way. Just wanted to know to what @bertiedog was referring since I don't watch the BBC. Thought others might want a look too. So you are saying the Daily Mail isn't reliable? Hmmm ;)
  16. S

    Alternative to peanut butter?

    Here's a Daily Mail article, which contains the claim, brought up by @bertiedog, that olive oil is a pretty good choice for cooking.
  17. S

    Alternative to peanut butter?

    In the US, trimmings are just the fat that is cut from meat before it is sold. This might have a little bit of meat attached, but should be mostly fat. Your chunk of pure white fat might also be suet, which is the fat found in the abdominal cavity, around the kidneys for example. So, I'm not...
  18. S

    Alternative to peanut butter?

    You might tolerate the yolks better than the whites. I think that is the case for most people. Maybe worth a shot. Sorry to hear the tallow didn't work out. You could also ask a butcher for fat trimmings or suet, and eat that with your meat. It's the same fat that goes into making tallow, just...
  19. S

    Alternative to peanut butter?

    It just has to do with whether the fish is fresh or not. If the fish has had time for the bacteria and enzymes to turn histadine into histamine, then it will be high. The canning process is pretty bad in this respect. Not sure about smoking. It probably depends how the fish was stored before and...
  20. S

    Alternative to peanut butter?

    I see that you still eat fish. You could test whether histamines are a problem for you by eating some fish that is not fresh. For example, a can of sardines. The histamine load there is pretty high. This might help you narrow down the problem.
  21. S

    Alternative to peanut butter?

    @outdamnspot , Do you have source for tallow being high histamine? I've only heard the opposite, and my experience suggests it is not. Some of your symptoms could be adaption ( usually it takes a little longer though ), just having too much fat, or intolerance to rendered animal fat. But...
  22. S

    Alternative to peanut butter?

    I use the fridge. If I'm not going to be using the tallow for a month or more, then I'll store it in the freezer. I haven't noticed any difference between cooking techniques. I do sleep better if I don't eat after dinner though. I just try to make sure I eat enough in the day/evening so I'm not...
  23. S

    Alternative to peanut butter?

    Keep us posted. My first couple weeks of zerocarb were a little rough, not too bad though. More than a few times I had a little too much animal fat in one sitting and got some nausea. I think tolerance grows as the body adapts to the diet. Good luck!
  24. S

    Alternative to peanut butter?

    I noticed I had problems with tree nuts years ago. Every time i had them my POTS seemed to be worse the next day. It took me longer to ditch peanut butter, because the symptoms from it were different. Sometimes my nose would get stuffed up immediately. But usually it would cause my nose to get...
  25. S

    Alternative to peanut butter?

    That's strange. It's definitely not normal to source tallow from broth. I would guess that line in the description is just wrong, but I don't know. By definition, tallow is just rendered fat. This product is also getting pretty pricey. Grassfed tallow in the US can be found for around US$7/lb...
  26. S

    Alternative to peanut butter?

    At room temperature, tallow is a solid and has waxy, grainy type of texture. You can definitely just eat it in this state, but I dislike the texture. At 35C or so, the tallow melts and has the same texture as any other oil. At this point it is drinkable.
  27. S

    Alternative to peanut butter?

    That looks pretty close. I'm not sure what the definition of dripping is. I've read some comments that it may contain some meat juices in addition to fat, whereas tallow is just the fat. I've also read the opposite - that dripping and tallow are the same thing. So in short, I'm not 100% sure...
  28. S

    Alternative to peanut butter?

    @outdamnspot I've had similar issues with peanut butter and some other vegetable oils. My main fat source now is animal fat. I use grassfed beef tallow to supplement any lean cuts of meat by just throwing more into the frying pan before cooking the meat. To me, tallow tastes very neutral...
  29. S

    Horrible "funny turns" after eating

    Sounds like this could be dumping syndrome. Do you have POTS? In this post @ryan31337 discusses his symptoms and links to a conference presentation where the speaker connects POTS and dumping syndrome. I seem to suffer from this, so it was well worth a watch for me.
  30. S

    Bizarre tooth pain that come and goes.

    I've had sensitive and painful teeth, which according to my dentist due to the acidic condtions as a result of a somewhat dry mouth. The enamel just gets eaten away little by little. As much as I hated the I idea of more flouride, I started using Fluoridex Sensitivity Relief toothpaste which...