My Long PFS Journey

Member Stories
#414
  1. I went to an ENT and he did a laryngoscopy and diagnosed me with Laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR) he prescribed proton pump inhibitor but i’m not taking any medication, i’ll just go with lifestyle changes. It’s also a factor that every time a vocal chord is inflamed doctors usually just mark it as LPR, whereas there could be several other reasons as well. And more microbiome disruption doesn’t sound good to me.
    He said LPR could mean I have GERD too but i’m like…whatever lol.

The reason i am taking all these supplements and pentoxifyllin is because they are known to work against plaque. That is my biggest concern right now so i’m throwing the kitchen sink at this problem. I want these plaques to go away or dissolve and not get worse and calcify. Taurine, magnesium are known to work against fibrosis and pentoxifyllin dilates the blood vessels to improve blood flow. I am just afraid that this might effect sensitivity.

Iodine i’m taking because i only use celtic sea salt. That means i don’t have any other way to get iodine in my diet. And apparently iodine is necessary for thyroid function? I just bought iodine from “trace minerals” from the vitamin shoppe, supplementing like twice a week 3 drops each time.

Its good to have a presence like yours on this forum.

#415

GERD is likely a symptom of too much stomach acidity and/or acid escaping your stomach (i.e. hiatal hernia). We know from research that histamine controls stomach acidity for digestion purposes and too much of it (AKA histamine intolerance) would cause too much stomach acid and thus acid reflux. PPIs are antacids (lowers stomach acidity) but they would also through off your microbiome balance and causes new shifts (e.g. increase Firmicutes to Bacteroidetes ratio).

We also know that there are specific gut bacteria convert amino acid histidine (from protein breakdown) to histamine. Your body would normally breakdown excess histamine through DAO & HNMT enzymes. However, too much of this bacteria results in too much histamine, which your body can’t breakdown and POF histamine intolerance occurs. Histamine isn’t necessarily bad since it serves many functions in the body but too much of would lead to allergies, food sensitivities, mood issues, acid reflux, disrupted immune system, etc. etc.

Your workaround is either to take probiotic strains that are known to breakdown histamine or to increase DAO & HNMT enzymes. Probiotic strains Lactobacillus Rhamnosus GG, Lactobacillus plantarum 299V, Bifidobacterium lactis, Bifidobacterium infantis (Align), and E. Coli Nissle (Mutaflor) are some strains that can help eliminate/reduce histamine issues. I’ve cycled each for 2-3 weeks and within 4 months time-frame, my histamine issues are largely gone.

Both Iodine and amino acid tyrosine are needed to make thyroid hormones. I was asking about your iodine dose because too much iodine can actaully raise TSH value and also acts as antibiotic/mineral chelator. Taurine is non-essential sulfur based amino acid that serves numerous functions such as bile salts and breaking down neurotransmitters. However, mega-dosing it gave me anhedonia in the past probably due to breaking down dopamine.

I’ve used all sorts of supplements, amino acids, isolated vitamins, minerals, you name it. They did help but I would always end up with more imbalances since there are countless interactions. My modest advice is to depend on diet alone to supply you with your needs.

Thanks for your thoughtful words @blackkey1996 :pray:
Get well soon

1 Like
#416

Hey sorry for not including the rest of my results. I only extrapolated the ones which were either high or low. Now that I’ve attached my whole report, what do you think re my gut diversity? Sorry for flooding you with these questions man…

  • I have attached the full results. I also tried to calculate the Firmicutes value with the Bacteroidetes value and my number was 0.853. I don’t know if that’s the right way to do it lol.

  • Regarding H Pylori; i always thought everybody had it? I guess that’s not true. Do you think my numbers mean that i’m like screwed for a while, i’m kind of tense over this particular pathogen. I thought my “Opportunistic Pathogens” were the major issue but I guess this takes priority. I was on a cycle of Doxcycline last year around this time for 3 months. That’s all I remember. I also had a wisdom teeth extraction and I was prescribed pain killers but only took them as needed. I’m glad i tested negative for the virulence factors for h pylori though.

  • As for the iodine; its 3 drops = 225 mcg iodide as potassium iodide.

  • I got my DHEA and Cortisol bloods done around 9 AM, like within 1.5 hours of waking up. But I know these are snapshots and not completely accurate. I do get the picture though, with the level of inflammation my adrenals are probably weakened.

You’re right about taking too many supplements. I think i’ll just stick to just pentoxifyllin and magnesium to fulfill my needs. Cialis only when necessary. Thanks so much man. My step 1 in tackling this to fix everything wrong with my gut report where i’ll expect the adrenals and thyroid to recover along with this along with mild exercise like four/week. and then step 2 is to increase testosterone which I believe will allow me to get back in balance.

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#417

Good job on sharing the full report @blackkey1996 It helps draw a better picture. So, there are good news and bad news but this means you have grounds to cover and improve your health considerably. Ok here we go:

  • You do have native Lactobacillus. Most reports I’ve seen had none. This is good news for you. Still try and boost Lactobacillus through blueberry; dark chocolate; & almonds.

  • You do have Bifidobacteria. This is also great news. Again try and boost them with Bimuno (B-GOS prebiotic).

  • No E. Coli. I suspected this. E. Coli are under Proteobacteria phylum. They’re needed for serotonin synthesis, CoQ10, tyrosine, vitamin K production. You can give probiotic Mutaflor (E. Coli nissle) a try. Also eat stuff with fucose (yep you read it correctly). Sea weed, hazelnuts, and figs are good sources.

  • Faecalibacterium prausnitzii (butyrate producer) count is ok(ish). This is the most abundant bacteria species in the gut and produces butyrate, which works like a fuel for endothelial cells. Butyrate also reduces lactate so increasing it will likely help resolve your histamine issues. You need to boost Faecalibacterium. Try ghee for now.

  • Undetectable akkermansia. This is also important species that helps the renewal process of gut lining. Include pomegranate extract in your diet.

  • Firmicutes to Bacteroidetes ratio is 0.06. This is very, very low. I suspect doxycycline had something to do with this. While there’s no standard/established value, the healthy average is 2.1. You need to increase Firmicutes and/or reduce Bacteroidetes. Consume inulin fiber through supplement or foods (onion, asparagus, garlic, apples, walnuts, etc.).

  • No Zonulin. This is marker for leaky gut. So that’s good.

  • No Calpractin. This is marker of gut inflammation. You’re good there.

So, my conclusion is that while you don’t seem to have inflammation in your gut (apart from increased H. Pylori that you can take probiotic BioGaia Protectis to control), you still have to work on the above things to improve your health.

1 Like
#418

Gotcha. Thank you very much again for this detailed analysis. Based on my high steatocrit and low elastase, do you think i’m dealing with some pancreatic problem?

#419

Wow , I must of spent 6 hours reading over this thread yesterday, and wanted to say thank you to you for doing this!

I don’t want to hijack your thread but I have lots of questions if I could ask them somewhere?

Also just reading above would HCG mono therapy have helped you raise both your total test and therefore estrogen?

And did you do a full adrenal panel? Did you feel adrenals have been the main thing impacted ?

1 Like
#420

6hrs!! Never imagined the thread could be this long :grin: It really documents my journey from day 1. The number of twists and turns that I had to take to find the right path are staggering but there’s light at the end of the tunnel. This cursed syndrome is surmountable through knowledge and determination. So, welcome aboard.

I begun my journey taking dozens of supplements everyday but now I’m almost on nothing and feeling my best. There were numerous ups and downs but there was an upward trend.

This summarizes my 3+ years journey:

  1. Tweaking/increasing testosterone/estrogen through vitamins, minerals, boosters, herbs, hormones, etc. Did numerous bloods to track progress & do further tweaks. This proved to be unsustainable long-term.

  2. Focused on amino acids & herbs to biohack brain to boost feel-good neurotransmitters such as dopamine & serotonin. This also worked intermittently.

  3. Concluded that true issue lies in adrenals. Did many bloods for adrenals. Followed a special routine to try to help heal adrenals (diet; supplements; sleep; training; meditation, etc.). This also worked intermittently.

  4. Adrenals were partially healed but there was still missing element. Figured that something else is causing adrenal issues.

  5. Did deep digging into excess inflammation hypothesis. Found out that sources of inflammation include autoimmunity; gut dysbiosis; chronic allergies; chronic stress (mental & physical); poor sleep; poor nutrition. Concluded that adrenals will only heal if underlying inflammation sources are resolved.

  6. Took necessary steps to remove all potential inflammation sources such as removing dental mercury amalgams; Titanium implants; forgotten stitches from previous surgery. Noticed improvements but still not 100%

  7. Assumed that primary inflammation is due to immune system dysfunction that’s driven by gut dysbiosis. Did microbiome analysis and did tons of research on microbiome and potential links to adrenals, hormones & body functions.

  8. Trialed with numerous herbs, probiotics; prebiotics; diet plans and saw progressive improvements over time in symptoms.

  9. Dropped everything else and focused on healing the gut through holistic approach. Did microbiome analysis to confirm. Adrenals were healing along the way and persistent symptoms vanishing one after another.

@Underprepared

3 Likes
#421

I can’t thank you enough for this. Most of what I’ve seen both on this forum and others leads back to adrenals and gut and the immune system.

An expert in this field is Dr Mariano who is an neuroendocrinologist , I’m thinking of visiting him but I’m in the UK and he’s in California!

Lots of body builders etc trust him as he deals with there problems after Deca and trenbolone use

1 Like
#422

Alas, it’s pathetic to pay so much time and money and try so many drugs.

#423

Damn machine translation, how can it be translated like this.

#424

Decades of fighting is admirable and heartbreaking.

#425

doomed80您好，我对于维生素d3/k2的反应也不是很好，我只吃了一滴就会导致很多的问题，比如：
1.心悸
2.身体发麻发冷
一滴含有500iu维生素d3和12.5微克k2