Brain Agitation/Hypersensitivity when eating Fat???

[Jwarrior77]

This may sound weird but each time I eat anything with fat in it my brain feels extremely agitated and hypersensitive. It almost feels like the neurons are going crazy. It becomes extremely hard to look at lights or other screens. It's also very worrying feeling as it feels like my brain would seize out or shut down. Does anyone have any possible clue to why this would happen? Does anyone experience anything similar to this??? Thanks.

 

[bensmith]

Yes i have this too. Its weird.

i had it with hppd before i had me too.

 

[Wolfcub]

@Jwarrior77 How long is it after eating fats that you have these symptoms? And is it all dietary fats, or any specific kinds?

 

[xebex]

I have this is too, I think for the most part it’s caused by too much glutamate (in me, you may be different) but might also find that the high fat foods you are eating are also high glutamate. But I also get the same thing from taking NT factor which is a specific type of fat called phospholipids. MCT oil has also had a similar effect with me. Don’t really understand it. Will follow to see if anyone else knows.

 

[Jwarrior77]

@Jwarrior77 How long is it after eating fats that you have these symptoms? And is it all dietary fats, or any specific kinds?

It happens pretty soon after eating maybe like 15 min to half hour? Not sure the exact time frame. Yeah pretty much all types of fat does it for me animal and vegetable. I noticed really high fat foods like fish makes it even worse. It's a shame because salmon, arctic char, and others are some of my favorite foods as they are very good for your health due to the vitamins and omega 3 fatty acids. It's weird because I went on the carnivore diet and had to eat very high fat and protein and didn't have any issues. I was eating beef tallow, fatty fish, bone marrow, you name it.

The diet helped me tremendously with my energy and other symptoms But about three months into it I started developing these horrible brain symptoms. I pinpointed it down to fat being the issue. I'm now on a standard carb diet. Part of me thinks that I over did it with the fat consumption but that can't be the case. People can be on high fat/protein low carb diets for years and never develop any issues.

I have a theory of what might be doing this but hopefully other people can chime in. I think a lack of pancreatic enzymes aren't breaking down protein/fat into simple fatty acids and amino acids. So these larger molecules are entering the blood stream and causing inflammatory issues and problems entering the cells for energy. I say this because pancreatic enzyme insufficiency seems to be a common occurrence in ME/CFS but also because when I was on the carnivore diet and having no issues, my lipase tested in the 244 area which is very good/normal. So I was breaking down fats effectively during that time.

Recently I had my lipase tested and it was 69 which is pretty low. When I've taken pancreatin when eating fatty foods it seemed to help with the cognitive issues but i started having issues with the amylase raising my blood sugar too much so I stopped taking it. I'm ruling out if I have diabetes with my endo at the moment. So because I stopped taking it these brain issues are raging back again. I'm going to experiment with taking pancreatin again because honestly having high blood sugar is better than these horrible symptoms each time I eat.

 

[Jwarrior77]

@xebex That could definitely be a contributing factor. I've been taking NAC as I'm pretty sure it helps get rid of glutamate. Can't tell if it has an effect on these symptoms. However it's same with me even healthy vegetable oils like olive, and coconut can do it also. I seem to have a harder time with animals fats though.

 

[bensmith]

I think corn oil might work ok for me. But yes no fats beyond that.

 

[Wolfcub]

I think a lack of pancreatic enzymes aren't breaking down protein/fat into simple fatty acids and amino acids. So these larger molecules are entering the blood stream and causing inflammatory issues and problems entering the cells for energy.

Yes, I was wondering the same thing. A kind of "leaky gut" scenario and a possible immune response? But wouldn't that be occurring via the small intestine, which would show up maybe 1-3 hours or so after eating? That's what I was thinking about primarily.

It just seems a bit soon for a leaky gut thing to come into play, if you feel symptoms almost immediately after eating. But I am not sure.

 

[Wolfcub]

Something odd.,.....I can rarely eat anything even vaguely substantial without involuntarily bursting into tears as soon as the food is eaten.
This has baffled me. I wondered : what brain chemicals are involved with that immediate reaction after "proper" food? (I mean simple healthy food. A tiny snack like a half apple etc wouldn't have the same effect emotionally.)

Then it struck me that blood is quickly directed to the stomach especially if eating when hungry. Blood supply is diverted from a lot of places, in order to serve digestion.

So I wondered if a sudden drain of cerebral blood supply could possibly cause (my) symptoms.

Yours may be very different to mine. But I wonder if there's a connection ?

Have you experimented with a "grazing" food schedule, rather than a "full meal" schedule?
I haven't yet, as I'm so set in my ways re: mealtimes. But might try it as an experiment.

 

[xebex]

@Jwarrior77 lots of good pints, you could be right about the enzymes. I have found NAC helpful for it so hopefully you will too!

 

[Tammy]

It's weird because I went on the carnivore diet and had to eat very high fat and protein and didn't have any issues. I was eating beef tallow, fatty fish, bone marrow, you name it.

The diet helped me tremendously with my energy and other symptoms But about three months into it I started developing these horrible brain symptoms. I pinpointed it down to fat being the issue.

Sounds to me like your liver got taxed from 3 months of high fat diet. A stagnant sluggish liver that is having a hard time doing its job may be causing your brain symptoms.