They also use it for this reason in autistic kids, raising GABA, reducing glutamate. Read this: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2722878/
Keto can be very good for people who deal with anxiety after PFS/PSSD/PAS. Not so good for the anhedonics.
I have emotional blunting and did keto for a couple months. Didn’t notice any effects in either direction.
I think others like @BrongFogBoy recorded the same
I have some level of emotional blunting, vastly improved on a year ago, having pursued low carb most of that time. No worsening so far, 4 weeks into keto. If anything, it has improved because my improved cognition has given me a mood lift.
I should say, blunting from PFS can be different from blunting from PSSD. Other causes.
Hi guys im on Carnivore diet for 4 weeks and got some small morning wood improvements, nothing drastic now. Apart from trying to stay positive and away from this site, i get depressed some days and think how we actually may deceive ourselves and think this condition is not 100% reversible… i really feel time to time this is permanent and we missed the train you know… I want to ask:
Do you guys think is there a chance to recover for the people who suffer for 5+ years? When i read the recovery stories, the %90 of them happens max after 3 years of suffering… so this is my 5th year with Post Accutane Syndrome and i just got worse with time…
Im starting to think that my body is adapted to this new normal? Am i thinking pessimistic or 5 years is not a deadline? Good thing is my penis is never got androgen deprived i get daily erections cuz im a mild case. Thank you all. Any long time sufferer experiencers or references appreciated.
I really can’t remember a good recovery story who had pfs for 5+ years… before. It made me think.
The time you are suffering is not the key factor, so don’t worry for that.
With PAS recoveries are very rare. It is close to my 9th year now and sexual sides are still there.
If you haven’t achieved any improvements with your diet you could try to include 24 hours fasting at least one a week.
Many people here in this forum has recovered with just a strict diet such as paleo, ketogenic or carnivore. But unfortunately, it took some of these people up to 3 years even with a perfect diet to achieve a good recovery.
Yes you are thinking pessimisticly. I’ve had PAS for 10 years and I still feel hope to recover. I think the keto or carnivore diet is a good bet
Have you tried anything to get better? And it probably seems like PAS doesn’t recover because of the smaller sample size
Have you tried this diet too? What happened.
Hello Cooper,
Unfortunately, I’m still not completely recovered, but I can share you following experiences.
For me are the carnivore, keto or paleo diet very similar. It’s the carbohydrates that make the difference.
The carnivore diet or the zero carb diet is by far the best diet for me for better libido / sexdrive, but I stopped it because the diet led me to severe sleep problems.
I try to avoid all carbs until dinner. Normally I don’t eat anything for breakfast.
For dinner I do carb backloading without any heavy protein meals to improve my sleep quality.
As carbohydrate resources I use potatoes, rice or fruit, but never more than 100 grams.
I regularly do intermittent fasting for 16 hours or 24 hours.
Sry for my English if you can see some mistakes
Just to follow up, I decided to come off of keto to check if a couple of apparent side effects of it were related to keto, and they were. This does not mean I am off it for good, I just wanted to see if keto was the culprit.
Namely, I was getting a buildup of tartar on the back of my teeth, which was frankly horrible. I was brushing the back of my teeth every day, but it persisted and built up every day and was almost impossible to entirely brush away. A small price to pay for the improved cognition, perhaps, but it was not enjoyable. I have been off keto for the past 10 days and it has entirely gone away. I found this reddit thread explaining it.
I also wanted to see how much power / strength keto was sapping me of and found my workouts after returning to carb intake so much more fulfilling. I realise this is a known aspect of keto, but I wanted to see for myself. I was feeling so shitty during workouts while on keto that I was often not doing my full workout. With carbs I was pushing heavier, going longer, feeling better. I have found gym work to be so beneficial in all this, that I am questioning whether the inhibition that keto places on me is worth it.
What’s more, while I thought I was feeling more energetic, I realised that in fact I was actually low on energy. The first morning after returning to carbs, I came downstairs to make my morning coffee and realised that I actually did not feel so tired that I NEEDED it. I realise that having only been on keto for 5 weeks and having slipped off the wagon for a day in the middle of that (returning to ketosis with a fast), I was likely still adjusting to keto and that this fatigue would probably go away with time as my body adjusted to using ketones. But it was such a huge difference.
Right now I am transitoning back to keto, sort of, having reduced carb intake over the past couple of days, and today I am likely to follow my keto eating pattern.
However, I am wondering whether to try an anti-inflammatory diet instead, which is also very low carb, but allows me more fruits and vegetables and stuff. I am wondering if I limit the carb rich fruits and veg and only eat some wholegrain carbs (brown rice, etc) if I could get (at least some of) the cognitive benefits of keto without so many of the drawbacks.
Will update again.
EDIT: I forgot a very critical negative of the keto I noticed, mainly because the pain has gone away so it is out of my mind. Over the summer I developed bad pain in my lower back (I injured it when I was much younger and tend to have a bad couple of weeks every year, however this time it wouldn’t go away). I eventually successfully managed to rehab to almost painlessness / full mobility between mid-August and early-October through physio assigned exercises. After starting keto, the pain came back, and no matter how much stretching and exercises I did, it persisted. Since going back to carbs the pain has pretty much gone away again, despite the fact I have only been to the gym and done my stretches maybe three times in the past ten days (I was previously going daily). It is starting to tighten up a bit now, but I know from those three sessions that I can do my stretches and get significant relief. This is an absolutely MASSIVE drawback for me with regards to keto, because the pain and restricted mobility is very inhibiting.
Funny things is everyone i know, abuse their bodies and still have 10x better libido and sexual health than rest of us. I never heard someone losing their penis size due to bad diet… we are the most healthiest people living on earth with all of these protocols/diets and yet we are the most unhealthiest ones.
This thought is making me so angry at life. I have a friend who eats just Mcdonalds, carb high food and drinks alcohol/cigarettes everyday and still he has an amazing libido with no problems down there… just like how i used to be before Accutane. This is often makes me angrily cry. Unfair!
It is because our neurotransmitters and chemical balances are fucked up, everything is out of whack and righting that chain of interactions with diet and exercise is a LONG TERM thing (IMO – this is obviously not gospel or proven).
I say this because this morning I got the first sustained morning wood without cialis / viagra intake in the days before EVER since PFS hit me 2 years ago, having taken the serotonin boosting 5-HTP. More of that on the 5-HTP thread I started. Please do read that though, don’t run out to buy some based on this post alone (I am about to update now), because it is not all good.
It is worth remembering that people do give themselves persistent sexual dysfunction from certain abusive lifestyles, like long-term smoking, alcohol and drug use, and even through incredibly poor diet.
@acne1776 @Marki87 @WeCanBeatThis Please fill out our patient survey. It will be of tremendous benefit to our cause to do so. Apologies if you’ve already given a reason as to why you can’t.
I am midway through, I will gradually complete it when I have time. It is too long for one sitting.
I wanted to do a 3 month no-carb diet and quit after 1 month. My stomach couldnt handle it anymore and my brain was revolting. I didnt feel any improvements of any sort during this one month. I was however in a less good mood because I felt a bit stressed the whole time.
Cats and dogs eat grass … to vomit only they have stomach problems.
You look like you’re putting forth effort so I’ll respond; low energy on a keto diet is often due to low electrolytes. When you go into keto you drop your water weight, and with it, electrolytes. When you wake up in the morning you can try 1/4 teaspoon of sea salt (not table salt, sea salt) in a glass of water. If you feel sluggish drink plenty of water, like two liters (64oz) over the course of a couple of hours. You can find nice electrolyte mixes to drink throughout the day, but the sea salt in the morning does wonders.
Lack of energy on keto is low electrolytes or low water consumption. You may be surprised how much water you need to drink to flush the gross out.