Heavy Brain fog and energy fluctuation - history of depression and anxiety

[Gondwanaland]

Flax oil just little fresh and cold pressed

I don't eat oil from seed either. I used to ad freshly ground flax to my food to help bowel movements, but it is too inflammatory for me.

I am not trying to convince you to change your diet. I was just trying to help you to figure out why you react badly to healthy foods and vitamins because I do too.

P.S. http://www.spring.org.uk/2015/01/th...n-gut-bacteria-and-depression-and-anxiety.php

 

[Santino]

Yes I react to the food. But that´s not because of the diet style underlying but because of the substances in the foods.

By the way: I experienced a few times that when I use my after shave creme, I have significant more brain fog. Have to watch out for this more often, but it happened so often now, that I cannot leave it by "by accident". Today I used peeling before, so the blood flow into my skin was already higher. Then I used the after shave and skin cream and ca. 15 min later I had heavy brain fog. I don´t have this type of brain anymore...

Could that really be?! I know that the skin can absorb substances. Does anybody have same experiences? It is not parfum creme. Just normal creme to use after shaving...

 

[Santino]

Update:

I even got these allergy like symptoms from lactulose after using it about 10 days. I have no idea how this is possible, as lactulose is a "carbohydrate" and I don´t think that one can be allergic to a carbohydrate.

So maybe this has something to do with the impact it has on the microbiome.

On the other hand, altough I stopped taking it since 3 days, I now have had diarrhea the last 3 days. Today it seems to get better. The only factor was lactulose. But it did not have this effect all the time. So this is also quite unusual.

Today the Lithiumorotat arrived and I began immediately to try it out. Took 5mg 1 hour ago. I will try 10mg each day for the next week and see if I feel any difference.

Next Thursday I will have a examination by a naturopath who wants to see if I have SIBO. And when I look at my symptoms (getting brain fog when I eat foodmap, especially inulin, having constipation, now diarrhea, had gastric symptoms the last year), I ask myself why I did not look at this before, as I always knew about this condition.

When I did the fructose hydrogen-test, I reacted within 30 minutes, which is also indicating SIBO.

I hope that this naturopath can help me to get better.

When my gastric symptoms got worse the last days, I also experienced more anxiety and depression.

I have no idea what to do about the allergic symptoms. I just can avoid all trigger I know.

What I found out is, that I definitively react to silicon dioxide. I found the third product where this is ingredient which I cannot tolerate and logic thinking one lets silicon dioxide being the possible cause.

I will ask manufacturers of medications I also reacted to to see what the ingredients are there.

Best regards

 

[Santino]

I just saw, that another substance which is in the supplements I mentioned (where the silicon dioxide is in) could cause the reaction. So I cannot say if it is silicon dioxide or the other substance.

The other substance is: microcrystalline cellulose.

How did I come to this fact?

I took one Bio-Tech Lithium today. And after 2 hours I seem to feel little flaring of the allergy like symptoms. But it is so weak, that I still cannot say 100% for sure. But after I started to feel this, I freaked out a bit because I was 100% sure that there were no ingredients in this Lithium product, where i react allergic to. (I searched a half day for this shit!!!!)

I don´t know why, but I always ignored the term microcrystalline cellulose in all the supplements. Maybe it is so common that I did not think about it anymore.

But as soon as I noticed this little flare up, I looked again at all supplements I reacted to and saw that all the supps I react to, where I thought it was the silicon dioxide, have also microcrystalline cellulose in it. So I have no idea what causes the reaction or if even both cause reaction...

I am still hoping that I don´t get a reaction, but from experience I know, that I am "good" in detecting the reaction...

FUCK THE SUPPLEMENT INDUTRY!!! WHY THE HELL ARE THEY PUTTING ALL THIS USELESS SHIT INTO THE CAPSULES??? WHEN I THINK ABOUT THE RASON (FILLING, COLOR, SMELL), I JUST THINK THAT THEY ALL MUST BE NAIVE IDIOTS!!!

 

[brenda]

They are not naive. Pharmaceutical companies are increasingly buying out small supplement companies so no wonder we have more suspect fillers to keep us sick. Who cares whether we take meds or supps so long as we don't get better. Only buy from reputable independent sources with no fillers.

 

[Gondwanaland]

I now have had diarrhea the last 3 days

I think this is expected from lactulose.

I thought it was the silicon dioxide, have also microcrystalline cellulose in it

I don't know about the SD, but the MCC can be high in salicylates.

I will try 10mg each day for the next week and see if I feel any difference

I would wait one week before increasing

When I did the fructose hydrogen-test, I reacted within 30 minutes, which is also indicating SIBO.

This coulb be the underlying cause of your reactions. There are a number of threads here addressing gut health with useful information.

 

[Quokka]

I even got these allergy like symptoms from lactulose after using it about 10 days. I have no idea how this is possible, as lactulose is a "carbohydrate" and I don´t think that one can be allergic to a carbohydrate.

So maybe this has something to do with the impact it has on the microbiome.

Lactulose is a simple sugar and feeding it to the microbiome will change the balance of bacteria in the gut over time. Many of our good bacteria like simple sugars but so do the the bad ones and they tend to grow out of proportion when well fed. My own opinion is that the bad bacteria are growing on the lactulose. Since the body can recognise this imbalance, it invokes your immune system and you get a reaction. I don't think feeding our gut regular doses of any simple sugars is good for it long term.

Garlic, onion, modern wheat are all high in FOS. When I eat these I suffer from depression, sometimes to the point of suicidal thoughts (and once, action). Recovering from an overdose of FOS, I shift from depression to anxiety before moving back to normal. I also lose energy and gain brain fog. Sounds a lot like your experiences. All of these mood swings, both up and down, can happen in a matter of hours. (I don't have any of the mental illnesses that cause mood swings, it's purely the FOS in these foods.)

As my CFS specialist explained to me, FOS has a negative effect on the growth of E. Coli in our gut. E. Coli makes seretonin, carnitine, ubiquinol and B12; lose our E. Coli and we lose a source of these helpful substances. I take Mutaflor probiotic, which is a Nissels strain of E. Coli, and eat GOS-high foods every day to sustain my E. Coli (broccoli, pulse beans like kidney, red, black or navy beans). This gives me energy, keeps me happy, and I don't suffer from as much brain fog.

The consequence of this is constipation. E. Coli firms up the stool as all those GOS-high foods cause gas which slows the transit of food through the gut. Bifidobacteria helps cure constipation. Nicely textured poo is a healthy balance of both. Resistant starch is meant to grow bifidobacteria and I take resistant starch (Red Mills Unmodified Potato Starch) every day, just a teaspoonful as I'm still working up to higher doses.

I wasn't sure what the resistant starch was doing till I ran out and didn't take it for a fortnight. Suddenly I was weaker, with loose sloppy stools, yelling at my loved ones like a maniac and generally all around unhappy and angry. Needless to say, within 5 days of being back on the RS, I'm back to happier, more energy, sleeping better and less brain fog. Resistant starch may have a great benefit for bifidobacteria, but I'm pretty sure it helps support my E. Coli too, probably by supporting a healthier better-balanced microbiome.

Hope my experience with foods helps you to manage yours, Santino.

 

[Santino]

@Gondwanaland: I did not take the lactulose anymore when I get the diarrhea. So this was not to expect.
By the way: I talk about mcg of cellulose. I don´t think that anybody would react to micrograms of salicylates, because then he could not eat anything but meat.

@Quokka:
I did intensive research and I think you are wrong. Lactulose was shown in many RCT´s to be bifidogenic. It also lead to decrease of clostridia. So it is a very good prebiotic. That was the reason I took it. But prebiotics are not good if you have SIBO. Maybe that´s the reason why I react to it with diarrhea after 2 weeks.

FOS is definitively bifidogenic and beneficial for your gut flora. But I always speak about healthy humans with no infections.

In any case: Feeding the gut microbiome was the reason I took Lactulose.

Does anybody know a product where I get Lithium without any additives? I cannot find any. I cannot get it trhough water as I had to drink 8l everyday....

It is so frustrating, that they put all this crap into the supplements...

 

[Santino]

just bought my lithiumorotate from http://biosciencenutra.com

They say it is pure powder. Hope to get what I bought...;-)

 

[Quokka]

@Quokka:
I did intensive research and I think you are wrong. Lactulose was shown in many RCT´s to be bifidogenic. It also lead to decrease of clostridia. So it is a very good prebiotic. That was the reason I took it. But prebiotics are not good if you have SIBO. Maybe that´s the reason why I react to it with diarrhea after 2 weeks.

FOS is definitively bifidogenic and beneficial for your gut flora. But I always speak about healthy humans with no infections.

In any case: Feeding the gut microbiome was the reason I took Lactulose.[/QUOTE]

I'm sure your research was good and that lactulose and FOS encourage the growth of Bifida. Maybe your problems aren't with Bifida? Pre- and pro-biotics are only useful if the bacteria they encourage are in trouble. It's possible that you've over-encouraged your bifida. A healthy gut isn't about having high levels of bifida, it's about having the right levels in balance with the other good bacteria.

In case it wasn't clear in my post, I suspect that your E. Coli population is struggling. I base this on your reaction to foods containing FOS, when you wrote "I do not tolerate inulin/FOS/fructans. They trigger brain fog and depression in me. I do tolerate the GOS. They just lead to some gas but nothing more." FOS suppresses the growth of E. Coli, which, if the population is already struggling, leads to the symptoms you mentioned.

Don't take my, or anyone's, word for it, have you had your faeces tested for the ratio of the bacterial populations within it? I read that you'd had your poo tested for parasites and candida but that's not the same thing. If you haven't had the ratio test, that would be a great place to start investigating why your gut helping routine isn't working as expected.

I have mine tested regularly every two years or so and my doctor bases his recommendations on those tests. It's been a great help. The company I get the tests from call it an Extended Microbial Faecal Analysis (the link is to the company's description of the test).

As a point of interest, I found this description of how Bifida soften the stool. Something I didn't know before our conversation.

Some Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus species can enhance bowel regularity and mucous secretion by converting bound bile salts into free bile salts. These free bile salts cause more water to be pulled into the colon which softens the stool and aids in elimination.

That's enough from me, even I'm getting tired of the sound of my own typing

 

[Santino]

Thanks for dour great reply.

So: softening of my stool was also what I wanted because I had very dry and hard stool and low motility.

I don't know how this will end but from experience I would say, in 1-2 days, I will be constipated again.

I never read a study where an overgrowth happened through prebiotics. The studies where done with healthy humans. People who had lack of bifido reacted with more growth than people who had already enough bifidos.
As we found out that bifidos play an important role in depression and anxiety and aging, you sure want to be high in these from out what is found out yet.

But you are right that this is a bit simple thinking as there are so many species where we know nothing from.


Yes I did testing for dysbiosis:

2,5 dears ago:
Severe lack of enterococcus
Lack if bifido abd lacto
Overgrowth of e. Coli
For the rest normal.

1 year ago:
Lack of enterococcud
(Bifido and lacto unfortunately where not measured in this labor)
Overgrowth of e.coli (haenolytic and lactose-fermenting)
Calprotectin was 270 because of the inflammation

From the doctor I had to take mutaflor and symbioflor (where I reacted allergic to)

Half year ago:
Way to much e. Coli (the "good" form)
No enterococcus measureable

I think everything got worse after then. I did not enough research about e.coli but the most thinks I read (e.g. From Dr. Amy yasko) suggest that it is no good idea to take e. Coli.

I had tobsearch long time tonfibd a probiotic with no additves and which contains enterococcus. I now take one since ca. 7 weeks. It contains bifidos, entero and lacto.

I definitively won't take coli anymore. I would have to test my flora again but the naturopath I now found is not so interested in the bacteria but more on other parameter in the stool what I understand well because:
You want to know if you have leaky gut and if you have paradites/bad bacteria overgrowth. Because no matter what the outcome is, you always want to restore gut flora. And prebiotics are great for that but not if you have SIBO or some forms of infections. You would have to address this first.


I hope that the examination next week will find sibo because theb, there is a logic causative factor for the psychological and gut symptoms. Still not for the allergy symptoms but when I can deal with the first I won't need most supplements I tried last.





By the way: Microcrystalline cellulose is the devil for me, as I woke up will all the symptoms today :-/.

Maxbe silicon dioxide is also bad for me but now I cannot say for sure abymore....

 

[Santino]

Hey,

I had some better last weeks because I reintroduced meditation to my morning routine.

Firstly this gave me more peace and happiness during all day. All symptoms got little better but the problem (already before meditation) was, that I used to have these allergy-like symptoms and I really had no idea where it comes from. Secondly I noticed much more manic symptoms. Last day I had really bad manic symptoms. This was a bit like anxiety attacks. I know that this is due to the meditation because the first hypomania I ever had was induced through meditation. But I thought that this time (with the new stability though the ketogenic diet) it could be just enhancing my mood...Not so...

All following this thread know about my experiments with liver and fermented cod liver.

Now, I have a reaction since ca. one week. I don´t know why. It seems that it comes from the self made ghee. I cannot say for sure but until now this would be only logical consistent possibility.
Ghee contains moderate amounts of vitamin A from animals, which is also in liver and fermented cod liver in very high amounts. I just ate liver 2 times (one time from pork with no reaction). Then 1 serving co liver oil with no reaction but heavy reaction with second serving and the second time I ate calf liver after all that was very bad reaction.

I many moderate reactions in the last week and there must be a "new" sensivity to a substance I use since weeks. And the only logical could be ghee. I tried today excluding all other possible triggers and just ate butter and chicken. It got not better and I even had some flare up.

Tomorrow I will leave out ghee and see if it gets better.

If not, this would mean that these symptoms first time in my life are not only acute after triggering but they would firstly stay for no obvious reason.


If they will fade away tomorrow this would mean my absolute favorite and most calorie spending food: Ghee, would fall away. For all you this may sound crazy, but I loved my diet, just because of ghee. Really. I have to live a very restricted ketogenic diet and without butter this restriction goes so far that from loving the diet my feelings change to hating it. I would be depend on fats like goose fat, olive oil, flax oil. These are nice oils but there is nothing but the buttery taste and I rarely like to have the other tastes. There was NO meal in the last months where I did not eat some ghee.

Many would think: Why should it trigger now then? I ask myself the same question but maybe that my vitamin A level was enhanced because the 4 liver experiments. A normal person never could get toxicity or something from a few dosages of natural vitamin a. But my reaction to the liver is really fact. They were strong, absolutely out of my normal symptoms and could only be caused by liver.

The only thing flco and liver have common is the high content in vitamin A and maybe D. And butter is the only product which also contains this much vitamin A.

I have had some reactions here and there which I could not explain or I explained it with other things which also were unlikely (lactulose).

So maybe this was ghee all the time. But in fact I have had coffee with ghee EVERY MORNING the last 2 months. And I did not have reactions have my morning coffee. Most times I had reaction with lunch or dinner.

Though from a logical perspective, ghee would be the only possibility. Otherwise I must be allergic to 3 foods at once from one day to another which I eat since 4 months as my only veggies: carrots, zucchini, green beans...


I really freak out. I am anxious because I now lost controle over my symptoms. I don´t know why they occure and why they do not fade away. The only explanation for that is Ghee as the root cause and this would make me depressive, because I would have to live a diet I do not like and where cannot identify with the major food sources.

So these are all bad new for me and thats the reason I did not sleep last night and I am just hopeless lying in bed, asking myself if I am able to finish my study with these fucking health problems. I remember myself 6 yers ago and wish I had my old life back. Could eat everything. Had no autoimmune diseases, could do whatever I want and eat whatever I want.

I hate my life and I find it fucking unfair that I not even can eat my last restrictions. That´s fucking unfair and I feel like I would say leave me alone to somebody who determines all this. But I do not believe in this so my frustrations ends up no where but by myself.

I found a diet where I was stable and where I did not have any reaction to foods. I never experienced that I react this way. I ask myself if I overlooked something but...No...nothing new introduced, all foods ben eating for the last 2 months and my entire life.

That is crazy. If I did not have a brother, a sister and my parents, maybe I would just jump in front of a train because this all makes no sense. I fall down and stand up 100 times. And I as soon as I feel safe and try to build up some things gain, everything breaks down and I have to call my parents, that I need help because everything crashed.


Doctors cannot help me. Naturopaths cost a lot of money and advice me to take things I cannot tolerate...

Fuck all that!!!!


P.S. Sorry for letting of my frustration. There is no intention to attack anybody or even get a reply. I just want to let my frustration into the world!

 

[Gondwanaland]

I am sorry you are in such a bad place.

I have found this site very useful to balancing nutrients:
http://www.acu-cell.com/acn2.html in this page you find vitamin A. I see that you are +/+ VDR Bsm. What are your levels of 25OH-D and 1,25-D?

 

[Santino]

I dont know my recent levels. But 25 oh was measured in summer 2013 and summer 2014. Both times it was between 45-50.

I will have a look at this side.

I need to find some alternative food but in my understanding other animal fats should also provide Vitamin A. So maybe they would trigger as well. Maybe that is the reason I reacted to pork again?! I don't know and I am tired of figuring all that out.

I notice that my mood is completely out of order because of my reaction to Ghee. Because I depend so much on it and I feel like loosing controle. At night I felt overexcited and anxious. In tthe morning anxiety/aggression attacks and now it seems to go into the depresion until the anxiety comes. I know this situation from my time with the autoimmune disorder behinning.

I cant understand why my body reacts to Ghee because I ate it (200g per day!!!) for 2,5 months. I find this impossible. And the lack of understanding makes me feel like I have no controle. I dont know today if I could have reaction tomorrow even if I stick to my rules.

This is just impossible...

 

[Santino]

Today I fasted till until 3pm.

I then ate Zucchini, carrots and chicken. Now 2 hours later I feel the allergy symptoms flaring up again.

I don´t understand that. What is going on in my body? What should I do now?

I won´t be able to sleep tonight and this will again trigger my bipolar mood swings....

 

[Gondwanaland]

I think you are having adrenal fatigue. You shouldn't fast at this point.
http://www.drrind.com/therapies/metabolic-symptoms-matrix

My suggestions are magnesium oxide 3x 200mg daily away from meals. Magnesium oxide is the only thing that helped me with food intolerances. Saccharomyces boulardii should also help. I buy Florastor by Merck at my local drugstore.

Sodium ascorbate 2x 100mg daily. I know you don't tolerate it right now, neither do I (after taking magnesium and S. boulardii I started tolerating mixed ascorbate salts in a dosage less than 200mg daily). I think you should try to build up tolerance to it. Start with tiny bits.

Try mixing your own electrolyte drink with salt, sodium bicarbonate, potassium, magnesium, calcium. You will need more sodium and magnesium. The right proportion is the one that tastes better.

I cant understand why my body reacts to Ghee because I ate it (200g per day!!!) for 2,5 months. I find this impossible.

It is a cumulative process. Fat soluble vitamines stay longer in the body and you haven't given your body time for clearance. Digestive enzymes (esp. bromelain and lipasefor fats and protease and pepsin for aminoacids) could help somewhat.

I reacted to pork again?!

Histamine build up comes to my mind.

But my reaction to the liver is really fact.

Histamines+copper+vitamin A

Doctors cannot help me. Naturopaths cost a lot of money and advice me to take things I cannot tolerate...

The best help I got so far was from homeopaths.

anxiety/aggression attacks

This could be excess copper.

Edit -- I suggest you try vitamin B5 as well.

 

[Santino]

Thank you.

Why do you think I have adrenal fatique? I had good enegery the last weeks. Felt better every week. But it seems that the meditation made me hypomanic. In any case I had good energy all day.

And the symptom is really like I am poisened or as if toxins are released in blood. Feeling like flu, sweating on head and face, joint pain, uptiight jaw muscles, weakness.

Or it is an allergic like reaction of my immune system. I do react the same way to vitamin c. It is exactly the same. Give me vitamin c now and I need to go to the hospital with shives and extreme weakness abd sickness.

I have a big problem:
I did try some things out now and at this moment every food triggers the symptoms, especially carrots. But even today where I just ate sone fresh chicken, i reacted after every meal with a flare up of the symptoms.

I never had that before. The only logical explanation is that cumulation of vitamin a has taken place and now does not get out of my system as fast as vitamin c or water solible vitamins. I dont meab hypervitaminosis as this is impossible with natural foods except liver or cod liver on a regular basis.

So my body would not tolerate moderate amount of vitamin a in the blood the way he also does not tolerate vitamin c. But the reaction from vitamin c dies go away within one day.

But why should my body react like being poisened when getting some higher amounts of vitamin a and c?

I tried to build tolerance to vitamin c for 4 weeks last summer. The reaction just got worse or always stays bad wheb givensmall dises everyday....

I dont know what to eat now. Maybe I should try to est just foods low in a and d for a few days and see if it fades away?!

This all is really crazy. I think I should go to a doctor and tell all this. There must be sonething to find when my body feels so sick?!

 

[Gondwanaland]

I came to a point with salicylate intolerance where I could only tolerate rice and potatoes. Then I started taking magnesium oxide and the intolerances went gradually away. Magnesium is needed in every liver pathway. I am sure you can benefit from it as well, at least a little.

Magnesium Antagonists / Inhibitors:
Sodium, potassium, iron, selenium, copper, lithium,
silicon / silica, manganese, Vitamin A, Vitamin B1,
Vitamin C, Vitamin E, niacin / niacinamide, PABA,
Vitamin K, folate, choline, uric acid, alcohol, w6 (e.g.
primrose, pumpkin seed oil), [calcium,* Vitamin D*].

 

[Santino]

May I ask you ho they found out that these are antagonists? Because I read from many (e.g.) Vitamin C, that this is synergistic with magnesium.

Still not tolerating anything, so I had to switch the diet. I think that it must have to with the excessive Vitamin A I ate in the last 2,5 months...
I ate about 250 g Ghee a day which is already about 7500 IU Vitamin A. but it cannot be hypervitaminosis because the body would stop producing Vitamin A from plant food then. But I get severe reaction to carrots. So it would mean that my body still converts as much as he can.

Today I try fish (which contains no vitamin A) and coconut oil as I cannot tolerate any other vegetable oil due to the actual situation with vitamin A. I do not know if it is the vitamin A. But when I leave that out completely today, it should fade away the next 2 days.

I needed coconut as an energy source and it would have been the next food I wanted to try on the ketogenic diet.

So today I try it out, but I think I have to switch to rice and potatoe plus coconut if I will tolerate it because I can´t just eat fish and coconut oil. I need some insoluble fiber for my gut. At the same time I need energy of course.

I would try to just eat some protein and oil in the morning and begin to eat carbohydrate at afternoon and in the evening to have stable blood sugar. Maybe I can prevent depressive states then. The ketogenic diet took away depression which I was unbelieveable grateful for. I do not want to go back into these bipolar depression swings. manic states like anxiety and irritability are not as destroying one as depression....




Best regards.

 

[Gondwanaland]

May I ask you ho they found out that these are antagonists? Because I read from many (e.g.) Vitamin C, that this is synergistic with magnesium.

I don't really care how they found thosse interactions, because that site has been a life-saver for me. Perhaps they put vit C as antagonist because it promotes vit E regeneration, and the fatty vitamins antagonize magnesium as a general rule.

I ate about 250 g Ghee a day

Even too much water can be poisonous, and water is easier on the body than fats.

I needed coconut as an energy source and it would have been the next food I wanted to try on the ketogenic diet.

I needed coconut as an energy source and it would have been the next food I wanted to try on the ketogenic diet.

My problems were triggered by coconut products. Beware.

There is a chapter about magnesium and bipolar disorder in this book (free download):
http://www.adelaide.edu.au/press/titles/magnesium/
I haven't read it, but perhaps it helps you?

Whishing you the best