I read it blocks the effects of opioid medication. Care to elaborate how it works to our advantage?
I have to get some blood tests first, then after that will start the LDN.
It has something to do with endorphins acting inside the brain that can help many diseases that are neurological based.
I have just had my first dose Rifaximin 200mg. Will be using it for a week 200mg 3x a day . Hopefully things work out as it did for you. There are no major sides with this drug right?
I have taken rifaximin several times–it really helped my diarrhea and SIBO. There are no side effects since rifaximin is not absorbed through the intestinal tract. It is amazing. It stays inside the intestines to take care of any bacteria in there that can be causing gut issues. Since there is the gut-brain connection it may help a lot of people out there.
Low Dose Naltrexone also works with the gut-brain connection, but it works in the brain first, whereas rifaximin works in the gut first.
Keep us posted!!!
Quick update:
So I’ve been on DHEA (20mg-25mg a day) for 3 weeks and while it did raise both my serum DHEA-s and E2 considerably (confirmed by tests), it lowered my Cortisol judging by symptoms.
Low Cortisol symptoms:
-Lowered blood pressure. I get head spinning when I stand up too quickly or when I use Sauna.
-Stomach ache
-Slight nausea
-Night awakenings
-Slight headaches
-Salt cravings
-Mild joints ache
-Mood swings
-Morning tiredness despite getting enough sleep
-Blood sugar changes
-Night sweats (from blood sugar changes)
-Metalic taste in mouth
-Feeling burn out post heavy workout
-Decreased appetite
-Frequent urination
Btw, my libido & erections were also negatively impacted. I did a small topical cortisone test the other night and woke up feeling 100% and this confirms my suspicion. I’ll get tested for Cortisol (AM & PM).
In light of the above, I stopped DHEA for now and will try to balance both DHEA & Cortisol back to normal range. The ideal ratio should be 4:1 (Cortisol being 4). If you have low DHEA that’s confirmed by testing and must take it then aim for no more than 5mg/d.
I tried DHEA with the approval of my doc, and it just increased my blood DHEA levels, but I had no effect. At least I did not spend too much $ on it.
@Crossroads
Unless your bloods show very low level of it alongside low sex hormones then I can’t really see any real value to it. It mostly works as a pool for other sex hormones and it mostly converts to E2 in Men. My E2 has gone up significantly in only three weeks on it, which solved the longstanding low E2 issue for me (for now).
Problem is; I think DHEA is also supressive to adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) in doses of ~25mg/d because 3 weeks into it I started to suffer largely to get up in the morning and begun experiencing several low cortisol symptoms including reduced exercise tolerance and delayed recovery time. I never came across this in literature and how people are taking 200mg/d is beyond me!
I saw numerous PFSers mention post workout depression. This is mostly low Cortisol issue. It appears as if my DHEA was low in first place because my Cortisol was high due to some sort of inflammation that my body’s trying to deal with. High Cortisol leads to low DHEA (inverse relationship) and this leads to low sex hormones (Testosterone, DHT, E2) and thus hampered sexual function. Most people would jump straight to trt to compensate for reduced sex hormones and feel increased libido. In this case they’re by passing the real issue. The root cause to the problem would be to treat the source of inflammation leading to increased Cortisol (gut issue; physical or mental stress; infection, sleep deprivation… etc.). Once treated, Cortisol:DHEA would balance out and libido would come back in full swing.
It’s easy to get hormone blood tests for ACTH and Cortisol, for anyone reading this.
Adrenal dysfunction is real.
Adrenal “fatigue” is a pseudoscience thing that is mentioned a lot on the interwebs; we have to be careful not to get taken in by people that want us to spit in tubes or pay them hundreds of dollars.
Yep it’s certainly REAL. I, for one, have led a very stressful life that was very taxing on my adrenals since I always reacted badly to stressful situations and was put on corticosteroids in the past but decided to go off of them for good in 2014 and Man did it feel awful for months on end. I literally slept all day everyday and could barely function. I can tell you having dysfunctional adrenals affect almost every aspect of life. Yep, I should get ACTH & Cortisol teated ASAP! They’re critical to well being and even libido. I finally figured why I had low E2 all those years! I didn’t have issues with my testis or aromatase enzyme deficiency. It was my adrenals all along! Driving DHEA-s up to mid range elevated my E2 so quickly! DHEA-s must have been low because my adrenals were utilizing >90% of Pregnenolone to produce Cortisol leaving only <10% for DHEA-s and other sex hormones. This means I was under tremendous stress and didn’t even realize it. PFS is extremely stressful by itself. I bet that dealing with PFS and those hopeless thoughts of impending doom for so long while still trying to function normally within society have put tremendous stress on my adrenals leading to dysfunction.
I bet many of the symptoms people often attribute to low T are actually caused by suboptimal adrenals.
I got my AM Cortisol and my ACTH testing this morning with all my other key thyroid and gonad hormones. We will see what comes up.
Right after I came back from that blood draw I started LDN–low dose natrexone. I have an open mind to see if it helps me in some way!
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Good luck bro. Let us know how it goes
Uodate:
I’m now trying to target the root causes of inflammation mainly in the gut so I’ll try the following: clove powder; oregano oil; and cumin.
My goal is to reduce overall inflammation to enable the adrenals to function properly. My latest Thyroid test came back with mediocre tsh; ft4 & ft3. Inflammation increases RT3 and in order to decrease I’ll have to either take T3 or lower systemic inflammation. My T level, however came back high 500s and this indicates gonads are fine. The missing peace of the puzzle lies in the Adrenals (particularly Cortisol & DHEA-s). I’ll get AM Cortisol tested first thing in the morning tomorrow.
In the meantime, I’ve placed an order for licorice root. I read it may help with Cortisol.
Btw, anyone tried S. Boulardii?
Some inflammation is normal–without it we cannot fight off pathogens. How do you know you have too much inflammation? Have you gotten blood tests that show anything?
@Crossroads
I had CRP tested which shown high normal result but it still is not a reliable way to measure inflammation. You’re absolutely correct about “some” inflammation being beneficial. Actually, histamine secreted from mast cells creates inflammation so that immune system can do its job.
That said, chronic inflammation is a different ball game altogether. See the adrenals are responsible for the production of many key hormones that regulate body temperature, blood sugar, blood pressure, sexual function, mood, stress response among others. These hormones are made from pregnenolone (mother of all hormones). Below is an over simplistic sketch for hormones pathway:
Adrenals respond to inflammation/stress by producing Cortisol (from pregnenolone) to have it under control otherwise a small mosquito bite would turn into a massive swollen bruise and simple day to day labor and activities would result in agonizing pain in joints and muscles. Same goes for mental stress.
By having chronic inflammation, the body would shift more pregnenolone § toward Cortisol production pathway leading to less P available for DHEA pathway and thus less sex hormones. This explains why over training leads to lower Testosterone levels and thus sexual dysfunction. In my case, for example, DHEA-s always came borderline low indicating that my Cortisol was chronically high. I tried to cheat nature through supplementing exogenous DHEA and while this did raise DHEA-s initially, it led to lowered Cortisol output (adrenal suppression). I knew my Cortisol was lowered because I was getting new kind of symptoms I never had before. My thyroid was also adversely affected.
We need an optimal Cortisol:DHEA to function properly (just like T:E2) and to do just that we need to look for sources of chronic inflammation and treat them.
I’ve started to target gut inflammation (again) and this time around I’m using spices as an alternative to prescription antibiotics.
I’m combining oregano, clove, cumin, cinnamon & ginger taken first thing in the morning. I’m currently experiencing what appears to be die-off symptoms such as fatigue, runny nose, headaches, nausea, etc. Strangely though, I’m feeling clear in my head and the mild brain fog that has been persisting for a while has been lifted. My memory is improving too.
The die-off symptoms usually result from bacteria and microbes dying and releasing proteins and toxins into the blood stream tricking immune system into thinking that this is some sort of infection and thus releasing histamine and causing temporary inflammation. Once gut inflammation is cleared. The adrenals will be less strained and hence Cortisol:DHEA should logically normalize. This in turn should optimize Thyroid and lead to lower rT3 and higher T3 in return.
Update:
The die-off symptoms are horrific! I took the antibacterial/microbial combo around 6:30am today and within 20mins I started to get hyper symptoms (cold sweats, extreme fatigue, headaches, vertigo, runny nose, skin rash, etc.). I usually get BMs afterwards and feel the urgency to urinate and this may mean that my liver and kidneys are working overtime.
However, when I get a long nap I usually feel significantly better.
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Update: I found out that some of the severe symptoms (cold sweats, extreme fatigue, nervousness) I experienced in the early morning yesterday were actually due to lowered blood sugar level (hypoglycemia) from Cinnamon and Anise Plant since they are known to bring blood sugar level down. Cinnamon also lowers cholesterol.
Today I only took Oregano, Clove & Cumin and the symptoms are much more tolerable (mild skin rash, slight headache, and some GI issues). On the positive side, I’m observing sustained improvements in cognition, mood & tolerance to stress. I’m waiting for libido surge, though!
Other supplements I’m on are regular multivitamin, 60mg CoQ10, 250mg Ca, and ~60mg Mg.
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Good news: I’ve noticed euphoric sensations and pleasant feelings since yesterday afternoon. Masturbation did not result in post-orgasmic depression/lows like before. Actually, I felt mellow afterwards like sort of Oxytocin rush.
Today I woke up with moring erection snd feeling sense of euphoria with mental sharpness. My BMs are much better too. The only thing that’s really bugging me is the night sweats that come in waves (sometimes better sometimes worse). I’m also working on improving my libido.
I’m so hopeful this is finally curing the core issue. Signing out.
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More good news: I’m still getting feelings of euphoria, calmness, and with good cognition and experiencing morning erections that are long (~5 minutes). Libido still got room for improvements.
Targeting gut inflammation has done me wonders so far. I know so because GI symptoms have been continuously improving and this correlates with improvements in all other areas. I’m also getting comments on how leaner I look with less fat around the midsection.
Btw, I’ve also been including honey and beef liver in my diet while balancing electrolytes intake (Mg, Ca, Na, K). They maybe be contributing to this too.
So these improvements are all coming from oregano, cumin, etc…?