Blog

9

I started Paleo a year ago. It fixed a gazillion of health problems for me. But the few remaining problems, while I know how to fix them, they contradict one another. I'm at a loss. Here are the facts:

  • IBS for 10 years, high inflammation all that time
  • High DHEA-S, and relatively high estrogen.
  • Started Paleo a year ago (~100 gr of net carbs).
  • Malabsorption. Even months after I started Paleo and eating 3000% of the RDA of B12, I'm still deficient in it (I supplement now). Because my gut is in a mess, it's possible that I'm deficient on other nutrients too, even if I eat all kinds of foods.
  • Fatty liver. This hasn't gone away in the one year of being Paleo (for others it goes away within 3 months!)
  • I lost 20 lbs originally with Paleo, but then my weight loss stalled. I was left still obese.
  • In December I had a lipid panel, which showed high cholesterol and high triglycerides. Not diabetic. Normal T4 and TSH.
  • I started Paleo-ketogenic (up to 30 gr of net carbs daily) 5 months after I started Paleo, for two months, in February.
  • On March I went low calorie in addition too, because just like the Paleo diet, the Paleo-ketogenic stalled for me, and I couldn't lose weight (even with exercise)
  • Late March I went into HIBERNATION. My body just shut down.
  • I started eating more carbs, up to 80-100 gr of carbs again, felt more alive, but I was still feeling fatigued.
  • After started eating more carbs, my eczema came back. More incidents of IBS-D too.
  • The months passed by, and I was feeling MORE AND MORE fatigued and tired, and COLD. Low temp too. My eye would close all by itself, and I wanted to go crawl into the bed and sleep more. Lost some hair too. I spent July being more cold and tired than April.
  • I stopped exercising in April because I couldn't do it anymore, I was just shut down.
  • In June, I did another lipid panel. Cholesterol still high, and triglycerides OFF THE SCALE. Iron, calcium, folic acid, rest of blood was ok (except for one type for blood which is caused by low B12).
  • August came, and I developed high blood pressure. I was put on medication to bring it down, which I stopped 3 days later because I got VERY LOW blood pressure (which tells me that my high blood pressure was a symptom of something else, and not a chronic condition that I suddenly developed).
  • In the last week I upped my net carbs to 150-200 gr (more fruits and a bit of rice/potatoes) and I feel less fatigued.
  • Despite all this regimen, I haven't lost more than 5 lbs since the original weight loss of 20lb. I'm still obese, I'm still Paleo, and I'm still at a plateau many-many months later.

Other things to know about me:

  • I sleep well, but I sleep really late at night, 3 AM. I can't sleep earlier. I work at home, so I don't go out much either. Melatonin probably screwed, dark circles on my eyes.
  • I take D3 in the morning, 5000 IU (I'm at 38 ng/ml). I also take K2 Mk4, Mg, fish oil among others.
  • I have a fibroid in a very atypical location (0.03% chance to have it where I have it near my bladder). I was put on temporary menopause (Lupron) in August to try and shrink it, since the surgery will be very hairy, and not a typical fibroid surgery, so the surgeon needs all the help he could get.
  • I have a polyp in my uterus. I will remove this after my fibroid gets removed (it's impossible to remove it now, the fibroid is blocking it).
  • I don't drink enough water, I don't like the water in the US (tastes... diluted).
  • I eat eggs/avocado for brunch with a grapefruit, and then meat or fish with veggies for dinner. I eat fruits for dessert. Since I sleep late, I'm known to open sardine cans at 1 AM. I also do dairy (I need goat kefir for my IBS). Depending on the day, I eat between 1500 and 2000 calories. I'm doing offal, coconut oil, bone broth, fermented foods, the whole hard-core paleo shebang.

I made a lot of research about all this, and I now know that my fatigue was because I pushed my IBS-battered body too far with the ketogenic and later the low-calorie diet. My body was simply too screwed up to keep up with such a big change from glucose to ketones, or to get used to less food (since it couldn't absorb nutrients it needed more food, not less). Combined with B12 deficiency, malabsorption, and high cortisol (March/April was stressful to me because of a project I was working on), I'm pretty sure I developed high rT3. I have all the hypothyroid symptoms, and yet I'm not hypothyroid, which leads to one thing: excess rT3. The natural cure for this is to simply eat more carbs (150-200 gr, net), which I started doing recently. The Jaminets have a good article about this.

But the high triglycerides might point towards insulin resistance (I was pre-diabetic pre-Paleo). And my fatty liver is still there! I saw it on the MRI just a few weeks ago, when checking out my fibroid.

So what do I do to fix all these conditions? Insulin resistance/fatty-liver/triglycerides requires me to eat fewer carbs/calories and lose weight (which I can't, at least not without eventually driving myself into hibernation because of starvation due to malabsorption), but my adrenals/thyroid hormones are out of balance because I went low carb while my body can't absorb nutrients (resulting in starving it in a bad way). What can I do to fix all that? What's the right balance I need to hit to fix all these conflicting problems?

It seems that the first thing that needs to be fixed is malabsorption, since that could make me lose weight with less effort, which will eventually fix the rest. But how do you even fix that? Is it even fixable at this point, after 10 years of IBS screwing my insides pretty bad?

UPDATE Feb 21 2013: Yesterday I found out that I was celiac all these years, not IBS. My celiac test was negative in 2002, but it's known to not be a sensitive test. After all this time on Paleo, I still have fatty liver, high triglycerides, high cholesterol. It's likely not my thyroid to blame though. Is it possible that my celiac is making things difficult to fix and lose weight? (I'm still obese after all this time doing Paleo, 1.5 years, having lost only 25 lbs out of the 55 lbs I had to lose).

flag
Eugenia, have you tried LIVE (from your refrigerated section) probiotics? The reason why I ask it is because of malabsorption. Sounds like your gut flora is not working well. Also, how about fermented cod liver oil and (sounds like you need it too) butter oil? Do you eat liver once or twice per week? Do you eat raw bitter greens (your liver might need cleansing)? Have you tried adding milk thistle to your food? Have you tried water kefir? I think things will get better once you help your gut to function better. – VB Aug 29 at 11:33
Oh, and you have dark circles under your eyes not from not sleeping right. I was sleeping 16 hours per day and still had them. It has something to do with your gut/liver/kidneys (that whole GAPs thing). – VB Aug 29 at 11:38
I got many of your problems when doing paleo (and I have almost recovered now from all the problems paleo gave me), and I would be just dead from that kind of foods, and so little food. Offal, bone broths, animal fat, ferments etc. are like death to me, no energy etc. Not saying that you have the same kind of metabolism I do, but I still wanted to add that you are not alone in not doing so well with those kind of foods. I do hope that you find something that works for you (I think weight loss comes after you are healthy, not the other way around), and I wish you much strength! – mM Aug 29 at 12:56
have you been given a upper endoscopic biopsy of your intestine for Celiac disease? (It's the "gold standard" test) I know it took me a good 3 years to heal the previous 21 years of undiagnosed celiac disease – bambamkam Aug 29 at 13:25
VB: yes, I took probiotics in the beginning for a few months, also I make my own goat yogurt/kefir. I now take the fermented liver/butter oil too, and I eat offal and greens. I haven't tried milk thistle. – Eugenia Aug 29 at 19:55

11 Answers

4

You need to eat enough to have energy... Once you get there try walking 4-5 days/week for 20-30 minutes...

You need to walk for your health...

link|flag
Thank you Eric, will do! – Eugenia Aug 29 at 10:24
2

Perfect Health Diet.

link|flag
1 
 i agree, paleo doesn't work well for everyone, i moved to PHD, starches do help but never the less, both diets are better than SAD in my opinion – hardeepsura Aug 29 at 12:36
Agreed, PHD is the way for me as well. – scottts Aug 29 at 15:00
That is absolutely the most obsessive and impossible diet I've ever heard. No matter how you look at it, the food you eat is both bad and good for you. All of it. "Pefect health" is impossible. – Flourishing Nov 18 at 10:02
2

When I had a tumour, my ND recommended applying castor oil externally on the area, covered by a piece of plastic, then a hot water bottle; ultrasounds showed how it shrunk, then disappeared, avoiding medical intervention, to my immense relief. I'm newly segueing towards a paleo diet, and loving it so far; the most relief was getting off fruit, using yams, other starchy veggies to keep my carbs up for now. I have this higher carb meal at supper, which seems to help me sleep at night. For a few years now, occasional colon hydrotherapy has helped enormously in making me feel astoundingly terrific, and probably helped with nutrient absorption. But mostly, I'd do whatever it takes to drink enough water (squeeze lemon/lime into it, leave large, nice goblets of it sitting out in strategic places - e.g. at your computer) and start with that before breakfast. And I'd try to sleep while it's dark and get out for a quick walk in the morning to get daylight into your eyes. Get some good audio books to listen to in bed at night. Even if you lie there awake for hours till you're used to going to bed that early, at least it will be dark so you can start improving your sleep patterns. You've worked so hard at improving your health, you owe it to yourself to especially do the last two things.

link|flag
1

I concur re: malabsoprtion. Also your sleep cycle is really key.

Your D3 is still quite low. Optimal is 50-60 ng/ml and if you have any inflammatory condition, 60-80 ng/ml helps a lot. It may also help your sleep cycle/timing to regulate. Your 3 am bedtime is not physiologic & is likely contributing to some cortisol derangement.

Are you taking Magnesium? 200-600 mg in the early eve may help you to sleep earlier.

If you are having malabsorption issues, then a low FODMAPS diet could help. Avocadoes absolutely kill me--as well as most fruits. Without good absorption, your supplements are not likely to help.

Kombucha tea may be helpful re: probiotics.

Progesterone cream may be helpful in shrinking your fibroids, but I wouldn't do in in conjunction with Lupron.

Try to get out for a gentle/slow walk every day. Even 15 min will help. It will help your insulin resistance as well as increasing your metabolism.

link|flag
1 
 I'm getting 100 mg of Mg daily. Thank you for the helpful reply Dragonfly, appreciated. I got new blood work results today btw, my B12 is 1040 now, I'm not deficient anymore on it (I was supplementing for 2 months). – Eugenia Aug 29 at 17:33
That's not much Mg, considering the amount of D you need (and they are co-factors.) If you can, try doubling it & see how you feel. BTW, D sufficiency will help with fat loss, too. – Dragonfly Aug 29 at 19:20
0

You need GAPS and now.

Do yourself a favor and get Dr. NCM's book.

link|flag
I'm familiar with GAPS, since I started Paleo after doing a bit of SCD. The problem with GAPS in the beginning is that it doesn't really let you eat a lot, I'm afraid of spooking my rT3 even more. – Eugenia Aug 29 at 6:33
I have heard of so many people tanking their metabolism with gaps, that I think it's the last diet I would try with an already downregulated metabolism, and hpa dysfunction resulting from that... – mM Aug 29 at 12:59
What does yr PHP say? OP's covered a lot of the "full GAPS" steps already. Intro can go pretty quickly if necessary (and you're careful re FODMAPS, goitrogens etc). I wonder if the chance of improving your gut function (and GAPS is the only out-of-the-box protocol I know of that aims for this) is worth the temporary hit to the thyroid. Maybe it's a turning point? Endocrine issues are a b!tch, for sure. I totally see your bind and I sympathise without having anything great to add, unfortunately. I do agree with whomever said that health precedes weightloss. And fighting biorhythms is risky. – LaurenM Aug 29 at 13:47
Sometimes if we have a complex issue, the best way to fix it is to go back to basics. You've done all of this stuff that's backed by research. You've taken these supplements and I'm willing to bet that you feel like they don't help much at all. Return to the basics. – BoneBrothFast Sep 1 at 14:39
@mM I've never heard of anyone tanking their metabolism with GAPS. And you shouldn't assume that slow metabolism = 100% a bad thing 100% of the time. There are biological and environmental reasons for why the metabolism might slow down. I have heard of people feeling like poop on it in the initial stages, which makes sense and is actually a good thing. – BoneBrothFast Sep 1 at 14:41
0

b vitamins are stock vitamins, they must ALL be present to work. So an onslaught of just b12 is purely placebo. Too much fruit if obese, get out more like it or not, drink water like it or not, sleep earlier, and everything you need u covered. you say you're paleo, but youcreally aren't listening to what paleo is. also FODMAPS.

link|flag
I take offense from your comment. You take me for some kind of idiot and you call me non-Paleo (even if I'm more compliant than 99% of the people who say that are Paleo). You say "too much fruit if obese", but did you actually read carefully that if I don't eat I get shut down? How else would I go to 150 gr net carbs and function? By eating rice? As for "going out more" I do what I can, when all I can have strength to do is crawl on the couch. As for taking B12 is placebo, I wouldn't be so sure about that. We don't know if I'm deficient on the rest. I wasn't deficient on folate-B9 for example. – Eugenia Aug 29 at 10:24
1 
 Also, there was a time earlier in the year where I WOULD sleep earlier, where I WOULD exercise, where I WOULD eat less/no fruit (as mentioned in my original post). And guess what: it didn't work either. Still no weight loss, still high triglycerides. That's why this question was posted here. Because I need someone with the right experience to point me to a direction OTHER than "do proper Paleo and all will work fine", because I tried that, and it didn't work fine. I'm obviously missing some kind of information that goes beyond that. – Eugenia Aug 29 at 10:30
0

I would recommend you read a book called "The Diet Cure" by Julia Ross...I'll leave the bulk of the book to you to find, but it sounds like you are deficient in amino acids and have a sluggish thyroid...Perhaps even a problem with yeast growth.

I am transitioning to paleo, but also using her guidelines her book, as well as using amino acids as supplements (although I am down to just the complete and l-tyrosine right now)

I would encourage you to check out that book...It certainly can't hurt :-)

I wish you the best with your journey <3

link|flag
Sorry, I missed the bit about you already knowing that your thyroid is an issue...Thyroid tests are unreliable...Ross has a good portion of that book dedicated to thyroid/adrenal issues and how to have them properly diagnosed. I highly recommend you check it out...Sometimes to get what works best for us, we have to take the best parts of several ideas :-) – Karma Aug 29 at 13:14
0

This year I got a lot of blood work done and the only thing that seemed wrong was I failed an oral glucose tolerance test. I suspect most paleo people would, since 75g of glucose in one shot is pretty unnatural. But I dropped out carbs again and noticed the sluggishness, but this time I made a point of eating more fat, even if I didn't feel like it. I even got some ox bile to help digest the extra fat.
It is working- I don't think the problem is thyroid because I got that tested, the problem is not having enough ketones. I could cheat regularly as long as I made reasonably paleo-esque choices and stay at the weight I wanted, but I the scale doesn't actually say much about health. I was keeping myself in a situation where my body was not happy with the level of any of it's fuel sources. For the last year or two, the standard paleo answer has been to increase carbs. This has not been a good strategy for me. Yes it initially makes me feel better, but starches seem to bring on depression, and sugars ramp up my appetite and encourage binging. Meanwhile, blood sugar swings are likely causing some damage.

So I am guessing keeping your ketones high and eating enough calories could work for you too.
For many of us, paleo ends up being a good template to start from, but there are necessary deviations to make for our particular situations.

link|flag
0

Give your body some mitochondrial support. I have found excellent tips for this on the website of Dr Myhill

Once your surgeries are over, get your hormones checked. All of them. By a specialist in BHRT.

link|flag
0

Check out leptin and Lyme disease.

link|flag
0

Have you considered candida?

How alkalising is your diet?

link|flag
I don't know. I eat veggies and fruits. I don't think it's candida. I used to have some, but it's now controlled. – Eugenia Feb 21 at 10:59

Your Answer

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.