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Hey all!
I wanted to share my improvements with you guys, but first some backstory.
I started experiencing hypometabolism long ago, around age 10. However, things didn't really get bad until I go a tooth abscess. The tooth was pulled, and I was put on ABX, Amoxicillin and Flagyl, specifically. This is where things really took a nosedive and I developed POTS and a whole host of issues.
One of these issues was/is hot flashes. These hot flashes are not strictly from excess estrogen, but strongly relate to low blood flow and hypometabolism. When I get them, I am usually already in a bad state, and they make me feel worse. They can come on within a few minutes of standing, and as I stand I can feel energy draining from my head and my muscles. Then I feel a hit of uncomfortable heat hit me and my skin feels very cold to the touch.
I've tried to reduce them by nuking estrogen, but that hasn't really worked. In fact, doses of 25mg Exemestane daily and 50-100mg of DHT do NOT reduce them in a substantial way.
Instead, they strongly correlate with my digestive function, specifically the bloating that takes place immediately after I eat. These hot flashes are more of a result of excess blood being redirected to my digestion, probably being an characteristic of POTS. When I digest fine, I don't get them. Dr. Ray Peat argues that hot flashes are a result of falling energy, and blood being redirected to the core of the body. This certainly makes sense, and clearly is the better explanation in my case.
Anyways, I spent a lot of time trying to target the hypometabolism directly. I tried basically every reasonable tactic to improve mitochondrial function, but that profited little (besides TTFD). However, then I discovered that Cholestyramine was quite helpful. It would produce a powerful but transient relief, so clearly biotoxins were an issue and it was them causing the hypometabolism. (That may not be that profound, but it is important information since I've taken plenty of ABX in the past and those did nothing).
This led me to try the next best thing, an antibiotic in the form of yogurt. To my surprise, it worked, and it worked quite well! Now, I've been eating this L Reuteri yogurt for the past month or so, and it's still helping when regular ABX would have stopped working. It's not a complete and magical cure, but if I play my cards right, I can avoid having a single hot flash, which is especially notable because I work a physical job. Since these hot flashes are drops in energy, whenever I experience them, I pretty much have to stop working and wait it out. Besides great discomfort, I feel very drained physically.
Now that's the yogurt, but I also wanted to talk a little about DHT. While it may not have been too effective against the hot flashes, it certainly has been effective in other areas. In fact, it's probably the most potent and reliable intervention besides the yogurt that I have tried. This is no surprise, given that it's a potent estrogen and glucocorticoid antagonist, inflammation reducer and overall potent anti-diabetic agent. In my experience, it's the best option among the androgens, since it doesn't aromatize, something that I do a lot during the aforementioned hot flashes.
I've used probably 25-50mg daily for the past 2-3 months at this point, and it's been massively helpful. The clarity and mental energy, the physical energy and muscle tone, CNS stimulation, and the assertiveness have been very very helpful. I'm quite surprised how much improvements I get despite my health state.
I also use a bit of TUDCA (250-500mg daily) to boost the anti-bacterial action of the yogurt, and some exemestane (12.5mg EOD) to further reduce estrogen. Together, these interventions allow me to occasionally forget that I have POTS in the first place! It's not that I'm symptom free, but my working hours went from 2-3 to like 8-10!
I still have plenty of things to watch out for, like diet and nutritional deficiencies. I also recently flew too close to the sun and took some Azithromycin which put me back for a solid week, but I am already making a comeback! (it makes hot flashes worse, which is why I thought I could handle it now, but I guess not. It's been shown to cause mitochondrial damage I think) (Context of why I took it)
Anyways, that's it for now. I tend to write out all of the details, so this post is like 1% of what I wanted to say haha. I hope I included all the relevant details.
Big thanks to @Korven over at the RayPeatForum for helping me with the yogurt.
I wanted to share my improvements with you guys, but first some backstory.
I started experiencing hypometabolism long ago, around age 10. However, things didn't really get bad until I go a tooth abscess. The tooth was pulled, and I was put on ABX, Amoxicillin and Flagyl, specifically. This is where things really took a nosedive and I developed POTS and a whole host of issues.
One of these issues was/is hot flashes. These hot flashes are not strictly from excess estrogen, but strongly relate to low blood flow and hypometabolism. When I get them, I am usually already in a bad state, and they make me feel worse. They can come on within a few minutes of standing, and as I stand I can feel energy draining from my head and my muscles. Then I feel a hit of uncomfortable heat hit me and my skin feels very cold to the touch.
I've tried to reduce them by nuking estrogen, but that hasn't really worked. In fact, doses of 25mg Exemestane daily and 50-100mg of DHT do NOT reduce them in a substantial way.
Instead, they strongly correlate with my digestive function, specifically the bloating that takes place immediately after I eat. These hot flashes are more of a result of excess blood being redirected to my digestion, probably being an characteristic of POTS. When I digest fine, I don't get them. Dr. Ray Peat argues that hot flashes are a result of falling energy, and blood being redirected to the core of the body. This certainly makes sense, and clearly is the better explanation in my case.
Anyways, I spent a lot of time trying to target the hypometabolism directly. I tried basically every reasonable tactic to improve mitochondrial function, but that profited little (besides TTFD). However, then I discovered that Cholestyramine was quite helpful. It would produce a powerful but transient relief, so clearly biotoxins were an issue and it was them causing the hypometabolism. (That may not be that profound, but it is important information since I've taken plenty of ABX in the past and those did nothing).
This led me to try the next best thing, an antibiotic in the form of yogurt. To my surprise, it worked, and it worked quite well! Now, I've been eating this L Reuteri yogurt for the past month or so, and it's still helping when regular ABX would have stopped working. It's not a complete and magical cure, but if I play my cards right, I can avoid having a single hot flash, which is especially notable because I work a physical job. Since these hot flashes are drops in energy, whenever I experience them, I pretty much have to stop working and wait it out. Besides great discomfort, I feel very drained physically.
Now that's the yogurt, but I also wanted to talk a little about DHT. While it may not have been too effective against the hot flashes, it certainly has been effective in other areas. In fact, it's probably the most potent and reliable intervention besides the yogurt that I have tried. This is no surprise, given that it's a potent estrogen and glucocorticoid antagonist, inflammation reducer and overall potent anti-diabetic agent. In my experience, it's the best option among the androgens, since it doesn't aromatize, something that I do a lot during the aforementioned hot flashes.
I've used probably 25-50mg daily for the past 2-3 months at this point, and it's been massively helpful. The clarity and mental energy, the physical energy and muscle tone, CNS stimulation, and the assertiveness have been very very helpful. I'm quite surprised how much improvements I get despite my health state.
I also use a bit of TUDCA (250-500mg daily) to boost the anti-bacterial action of the yogurt, and some exemestane (12.5mg EOD) to further reduce estrogen. Together, these interventions allow me to occasionally forget that I have POTS in the first place! It's not that I'm symptom free, but my working hours went from 2-3 to like 8-10!
I still have plenty of things to watch out for, like diet and nutritional deficiencies. I also recently flew too close to the sun and took some Azithromycin which put me back for a solid week, but I am already making a comeback! (it makes hot flashes worse, which is why I thought I could handle it now, but I guess not. It's been shown to cause mitochondrial damage I think) (Context of why I took it)
Anyways, that's it for now. I tend to write out all of the details, so this post is like 1% of what I wanted to say haha. I hope I included all the relevant details.
Big thanks to @Korven over at the RayPeatForum for helping me with the yogurt.