Solutions for head heaviness?
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@Corngold said in Solutions for head heaviness?:
This is very relatable. Conflict over the supplements and/or the environment, in addition to other stresses outside of work I think make distraction and stress relief the most attractive option. Maybe you're not believing in what you're doing. I'm in a similar spot. It sounds like you have a lot on your mind and a lot to balance... sounds like heaviness.
Spot on, I absolutely do not believe in what I’m doing lol. I went into becoming a dietitian after a few years of low-carb and subsequently learning about increasing the metabolic rate, so I questioned my entire education. I knew my job options would be limited in terms about holistic practice and fulfillment
I feel like I'm meeting my energetic baseline but paradoxically, instead of feeling spiritual courage and fortitude it's more like I become aware of an absence in "directedness" and remain neutral.
I resonate with this feeling in my current energy state, the absence of “directedness” you describe I think makes it hard for me to take action on things, and especially with regards to future planning.
I think PUFA is damaging and sub-optimal but I think the other side is that many people are living over 90 and probably don't know what PUFA is. My opinion is once a certain thing is treated as "poison" so many other things can be thought of this way too. I'm not saying it isn't damaging but there are lots of factors involved.
The mind is powerful, have definitely met lots of old folks who are PUFA-laden yet doing fairly well give their advanced age - clearly there’s more to their energy and health-span than the potentially damaging components of their diet.
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@Corngold said in Solutions for head heaviness?:
I've recommended this before on other threads but consider physical therapy. If you're busy fine, but if you're open minded about solving any muscle or neck/head tension it may be life-changing (was for me after terrible neck pain/shoulder pain, headaches, etc).
I don’t feel so much neck/head tension, it’s really just the front-of-the head heaviness. However, my mid-upper back is always quite sore at the end of the day, which I attribute to several years of lab technician work in college and needing to be hunched over to work in hoods, so there might be a connection there. I’m friends with a few physical therapists at my work, I could ask them about what might be going on and they might have some good advice and guidance on exercises that might help.
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@sushi_is_cringe I’ll have to find a guide on this and try it out tonight, thanks for letting me know.
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@peatyRD said in Solutions for head heaviness?:
mid-upper back is always quite sore at the end of the day
Also interesting. When I had the neck and shoulder pain and headaches the center top of my back (lower cervical spine area) always felt really tight and inflamed. Like, as if it were knotted and just very inflamed. I wanted the PT to drive into it and etc. I'm almost certain, now, that it was triggered by lots of anger related to work and other things outside of work. But again this is probably different and it may not be the same tissue or pain involved at all, plus I don't think I've had head heaviness, only headaches and migraines (maybe related or not).
Here is another perspective that could possibly be linked up with Peat's analytical and mechanistic perspective of nutrition:
German New Medicine by Dr Ryke Geerd Hamer - Psychic Roots of Disease - Gift to English speaking People by Bjorn Eybl (Dr Ryke Geerd Hamer & Caroline Markolin PhD)
Headache
Possible causes
General healing symptom: The cause is the need for more room in the brain (brain/cerebral edema). The pressure on the meninges causes headache. The brain itself has no pain receptors. Light to medium headache = healing-phase.Severe to extreme headache = healing-crisis.
• Following the consumption of certain foods or drinks: For some people, foods are conflict tracks (= >allergy). The conflict activity is triggered through consumption. The affected organ must not necessarily be a digestive organ > healing-phase = headache.• The result of being poisoned: Most medications,
alcohol, nicotine, and other drugs, put the body into
artificial stress, making them sympatholytic substances. If the sympathetic nervous system is stimulated, we feel “high.“ The effect of most medications is based on this vegetative change.
Healing-phases and the pain associated with them are
interrupted. When the poisonous effects diminish, the
individual starts healing repair of the poisoning
headache (for instance, analgesics-headache).• Hypoglycemia of the brain through any healingphase: During the healing-phase, especially the
healing-crisis, the brain has a much stronger need
for sugar. A low glucose level causes or increases
the brain edema > headache. Thus a regular application of biological glucose in the case of brain
pressure symptoms is important for therapy.• Hypoglycemia of the brain, as a result of a fear / revulsion conflict or a refusal conflict, regardless of
whether alpha cells or beta cells are affected, can
cause a temporary hypoglycemia with headache,
according to the phase. (See p. 219)• Meningitis: Mostly in connection with a stiff neck >
healing-phase of the skull bones > moral-intellectual self-worth conflict. The meninges are stretched out because of the bone edema > brain pressure caused by the periosteum and its need for space > headache.
• Excessive exposure to the sun of the head or neck
(sun stroke). Temporary swelling or inflammation of
the meninges > headache. (See p. 69)
• Some headaches come from the meninges and are
linked to the trigeminal nerve: The outermost of the
3 layers of the meninges (dura mater) is identical to
the periosteum of the skull.
• The periosteum reacts according to the pharynx,
mucosa pattern with pains during the conflict activity
= loss-of-face-conflict. (See trigeminal neuralgia
type II, p. 63.)
Syndrome amplifies any kind of headache.I'm also fairly certain that many of my headaches were brought on by low blood sugar. Once I started increasing sugar / fruit and carbs, I've noticed almost no headaches.
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When my back pain is at its worst, I feel that "need to drive into it" very much so. Using the foam roller brings temporary relief, but I'm honestly probably not using it long enough - I usually use it for a couple minutes which helps but the pain usually returns when I'm doing something like dishes or putting my toddler to bed. I wonder if a stricter daily regimen of >=15 minutes a day would bring more lasting relief and if it might have an effect on the head sensation. I don't really have bad or frequent headaches, only every once in a while, as is typical for most folks I imagine - the head heaviness is painless but is definitely felt. It's very distracting/draining, and likely associated with the low energy state/brain fog.
Regarding the German new medicine concepts, it sounds like the main idea that various stressors (physical, emotional/mental, biochemical, etc.) interrupt the natural healing & regenerative processes of certain organs, and in the case of the brain, the interruption of the healing process can lead to edema/cerebral pressure that contributes to headaches? Seems consistent with Peat, any of these stressors probably lowers brain glucose which interrupts the healing/highly energetic processes and leads to headache. I wonder what he would say about the heaviness sensation, maybe I'm always on the cusp of headache but not quite crossing the hypoglycemic threshold to produce pain? During my low-carb years I always wanted to wear a CGM, but I haven't really thought about it since making an effort to increase my metabolic rate. Might be worthwhile to investigate continuous blood glucose trends for a week or two?
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@sushi_is_cringe Update: Before bed I did a trial of 10 minutes of head/neck lymph massage using my wife's Gua Sha. I noticed it was a bit easier to wake up this morning, which is an issue I've been struggling with for a few years now. Still not as seamless a transition to waking as I'd like, but somewhat improved. My head also felt a bit lighter during my morning routine, but of course the sensation returns when I'm at work - the heaviness might be more work-related than I previously thought. The improvements could be placebo, so I'll have to be consistent with it for a few nights to check for continuing improvement.
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@peatyRD said in Solutions for head heaviness?:
I usually use it for a couple minutes which helps but the pain usually returns when I'm doing something like dishes or putting my toddler to bed
Anecdotally I was rolling on my foam roller with the huge knobs for 10-15 minutes. Also have a hard muscle-knot targeting ball that I use occasionally. I was stretching, doing certain routine stretches and had very limited relief until doing PT (Where I think some of the mental and nervous connections were made).
@peatyRD said in Solutions for head heaviness?:
It's very distracting/draining, and likely associated with the low energy state/brain fog.
Do you drink coffee? I started adding milk and sugar and am digesting coffee far better, getting more energy, and no cortisol-like stomach pain and jitters.
@peatyRD said in Solutions for head heaviness?:
Might be worthwhile to investigate continuous blood glucose trends for a week or two?
I don't see why not...seems popular in the Peat community. I do not monitor blood sugar, but I notice that I eat more carbs and have 3 meals a day to keep up with my job and feel generally much better than trying to restrict calories, eat lots of protein, etc. It's so counter-intuitive to what literally 99% of people will say is good or recommend.
Yeah, the GNM guy Dr. Hamer sadly passed on, just as Dr. Peat is no longer here. Their tracts of work are here in some capacity for us to piece together. I can't find Peat talking much about biofeedback (if you know where he does, feel free to link) whereas GNM proceeds first from biofeedback / environment interaction.
@peatyRD said in Solutions for head heaviness?:
The improvements could be placebo, so I'll have to be consistent with it for a few nights to check for continuing improvement.
I wrote in a different thread that Dr. Sarno differentiated between placebo and lasting pain relief when he talked about TMS (tension myositis syndrome) being largely driven by unconscious rage. "Placebo" treatments are temporarily useful. He thought / measured that lasting relief came when patients accepted their pain was stemming from unconscious rage and not mechanical, physical issues. Very worth reading his books.
My take is there are mechanical causes of pain. However, the mechanical component is always linked to a mental component. So every movement or repetition is corresponding to a mental criterion. I know that playing an instrument can cause carpal tunnel or joint pain but I'm certainly convinced that mental stresses go along with this ability, just as physical work or procedures are accompanied with a mental directedness which might be under distress.
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@Corngold said in Solutions for head heaviness?:
I was stretching, doing certain routine stretches and had very limited relief until doing PT (Where I think some of the mental and nervous connections were made).
Seems like you were working with a fairly holistic PT - I'd have to do some research to find a good one near me. I live in a metro area so there's lots of specialists, shouldn't be too hard to find one.
Do you drink coffee? I started adding milk and sugar and am digesting coffee far better, getting more energy, and no cortisol-like stomach pain and jitters.
For many years I drank it black without anything in it, but for the past several years I started to add cream and coconut oil, I rarely added sugar as I didn't like the taste of it with sugar in it. Fortunately, I found maple syrup to combine well with the flavors of coffee, so I actually just started to add that over the past couple months. I also got into a decaf stint last year (April-Dec) as I was bit desperate in terms of finding relief - ultimately I found no benefit, but I did enjoy not being dependent on caffeine/coffee, so now I operate on a 5-days on during the week/2-days off during the weekend, which has been working well for me in terms of limiting dependence and maintaining the psychoactive effects. The caffeine during the week helps a bit with working, but I'm still not operating at the level I'd like to be at.
I can't find Peat talking much about biofeedback (if you know where he does, feel free to link) whereas GNM proceeds first from biofeedback / environment interaction.
Not aware of any sources, but I might search Peatbot to see if he had any references to biofeedback. I think the biofeedback approach could be quite beneficial for me moving forward, I appreciate you bringing up GNM as a resource, it's something I'm going to read a bit more about.
I wrote in a different thread that Dr. Sarno differentiated between placebo and lasting pain relief when he talked about TMS (tension myositis syndrome) being largely driven by unconscious rage. "Placebo" treatments are temporarily useful. He thought / measured that lasting relief came when patients accepted their pain was stemming from unconscious rage and not mechanical, physical issues. Very worth reading his books.
My take is there are mechanical causes of pain. However, the mechanical component is always linked to a mental component. So every movement or repetition is corresponding to a mental criterion. I know that playing an instrument can cause carpal tunnel or joint pain but I'm certainly convinced that mental stresses go along with this ability, just as physical work or procedures are accompanied with a mental directedness which might be under distress.
I looked a little bit into TMS previously - again, it's a case where I'd like to believe it's purely physical so I can address it with physical modalities, but seems like it's time to seriously consider the emotional/mental aspect. My acupuncturist who does cupping therapy on me has said that the muscles where the pain is located are very very tight, so it could still be an issue mainly rooted in my posture/chronically knotted muscles, but it can't hurt to also try to address any corresponding mental factors in order to optimize relief. Anything to get my head screwed on tighter at this point.
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@peatyRD said in Solutions for head heaviness?:
Seems like you were working with a fairly holistic PT - I'd have to do some research to find a good one near me. I live in a metro area so there's lots of specialists, shouldn't be too hard to find one.
Yes, I later discovered the company is trained in the bio-psycho-social model, which is related to Dr. Sarno's work and psychogenic pain. I think it's very effective and am very grateful.
@peatyRD said in Solutions for head heaviness?:
I started to add cream and coconut oil,
Of course do what works for you. I find the coco oil is better for me eaten at night with ice cream. In morning it is too abrupt and gives me racing heart beat.
@peatyRD said in Solutions for head heaviness?:
very very tight
Yes, I heard the same thing about my upper back. Honestly I think I felt some acknowledgment that I work hard and deal with unfavorable situations. Psychotherapy would come in and say "let's change that" without acknowledging the present position. So I guess the way of acknowledging the present circumstances is helpful. Psychotherapy somewhat neglects the body or at least has a thin view of what the body is doing and how drugs and food interact with the body and stress overall. I think they largely believe the "imbalance in the brain" nonsense that was pushed by drug companies. I think there's an imbalance, but it's obviously in the gut because that's where serotonin is produced, which goes right back to Peat's work with pro-metabolic food!
I went to a massage a few years ago and felt temporary relief but it basically became worse in time.
Finally went to the PT but I was not open to chiropractors because I've heard they can cause damage. The PT was doing some reduced intensity chiropractic work which I think is fine (never caused overt pain).@peatyRD said in Solutions for head heaviness?:
but seems like it's time to seriously consider the emotional/mental aspect.
If you believe you can get better that will at least start you on the right way. Sarno posits mild oxygen deprivation being a physical cause of pain. Maybe this is also true for head heaviness. Do you take B vitamins or eat plenty of food with B vitamins?
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Was listening to an old generative energy at work today and Danny asked Ray "Does good posture come from good health or does good posture bring good health or vice versa?" and Ray answered along the lines "Good health brings about an energetic and springy individual. Pregnenolone can help to increase that springyness..." So maybe try pregnenolone? lol
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Mainstream science says pregnenolone is made from cholesterol. Can you produce good pregnenolone levels eating high cholesterol foods? It does say olive oil and coconut oil, which sounds fine.
https://www.livestrong.com/article/72359-convert-cholesterol-pregnenolone/
Lol... "Dr. Petre."
There are good fats, too, which can help protect the heart instead of hurting it, Dr. Petre says. "Eating healthy fats like nuts, fish, avocado, chia or flax seeds, olive or coconut oil will naturally increase the [material] needed to make more pregnenolone," she says.
I wonder if they're trying to clown Peat.
Peat:
"When we metabolize cholesterol, what happens is under the influence of thyroid hormone, which stimulates oxidation, and vitamin A, which activates the enzymes to clip a chain off cholesterol, thyroid and vitamin A are the factors we need mostly for producing pregnenolone from cholesterol. So if you're low in cholesterol or thyroid or vitamin A, you're necessarily going to be deficient in pregnenolone, and pregnenolone is the immediate precursor to progesterone and DHEA."
I'm not really big on supplements beyond aspirin but I suppose you make a good point.
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I tried pregnenolone last summer/fall, didn’t really do much for me. I’m envious of the folks who report any of the positive effects from reduced anxiety, improved mood, and increased energy. I’ve tested at doses of 70–150 mg, which I think is pretty standard. Do I need to increase the dose? Also, I have the powder from Health Natura and I usually tried to let it dissolve sublingually on an empty stomach, I’m assuming this is the best way to take it.
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I don’t think I have issues with cholesterol conversion. I get anywhere between 70-120 g fat/day depending on if I’m trying to eat lower fat. I eat 3 eggs/day and ample dairy products, so I must be getting more than enough dietary cholesterol. Blood cholesterol is in the 170-180s, which isn’t too high nor too low I think.
Being the dietitian I am, I almost always get most of my nutrition/micronutrients from food and so I only supplement periodically (a bottle of B-vitamins or thiamine every once in a while), otherwise I’m pretty skeptical of supplements out there, plus too many supplements might cause issues as Peat suggested. I understand aspirin’s safety but I also only use it sparingly, I try not to use anything if I don’t have any overt/exaggerated symptoms. -
@peatyRD
hmm. I've actually had a heavy head lately. To me it feels like a direct consequence of restraint of language, feeling anger, and lack of personal space.
I wonder if you feel crowded or lack personal space? In the past I've worked in open office plans and it was awful - the strain required to think and drown out noise, plus the feeling of exposure and lack of personal space. I don't know, just throwing out ideas that may help. -
My office space at work is right by a nursing station, which is usually bustling and noisy, so that tracks. I can close my door and put headphones on, but often the sound bleeds in, so this could certainly be a factor. It didn’t always used to be an issue, but I feel like it’s definitely contributed to feelings of fatigue way more over the past year.
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@peatyRD sounds like it.
Buteyko or periodic breathing techniques, EFD or getting a break and going outside.
