Ray Peat email advice responses archive

cs3000

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{2023 page 49}:

[Ray on music]

Soprano recorders are inexpensive (and fit the hands better than the more expensive, mellower altos), and are convenient for sporadic playing.
Playing tunes stimulates the brain in some of the same ways that speaking does, but without the pressure; for example, people who stutter when they speak usually don't when they sing.
The good thing about recorders is that they are convenient, so you can play a little whenever you feel like it, while doing other things. When I was a kid I played violin for a while, but gradually realized that my neck was much too long, and my little finger too weak and slow, for that instrument. In high school I played trumpet, mostly because it was the cheapest instrument, but eventually I bought an old french horn for $25, and an oboe, and in Paracho, Michoacan, ten years ago I finally got a cello--that had always been my favorite instrument.
Every time you make sounds on a musical instrument, you are stimulating organized processes in your body--it's a kind of nourishment.

[tianeptine]

The functions of tianeptine overlap with Periactin (notice the shapes of the molecules), cascara (emodin), vitamin K, and tetracycline, but the sulfur atom in tianeptine can make it allergenic for some people. I think combinations of safe things, including coffee, thyroid, pregnenolone, and aspirin, can work better than tianeptine.

I've been getting it from Farmacia del Nino, but Cynoplus is good too.
Many people don't need a supplement, especially during the summer, so it would just be a wasteful nuisance to use it when it's not needed.

[Doses of methylene blue and cyproheptadine]

I think you're right to be cautious with experiments during the hot
season. I think the appropriate doses of methylene blue and
cyproheptadine are similar to those of T3, a few micrograms, rather than milligrams.

[Methylene blue once a week]

**It works as a catalyst for energy production, and I think it can be very effective even in small doses analogous to the effects of thyroid hormone. I suspect that one milligram continues to have good effects for about a week.

[Activated charcoal]

Activated charcoal can absorb many toxins, including bacterial endotoxin, so it is likely to reduce serotonin absorption from the intestine. Since it can also bind or destroy vitamins, it should be used only intermittently. Frolkis, et al. (1989, 1984) found that it extended median and average lifespan of rats, beginning in old age (28 months) by 43% and 34%, respectively, when given in large quantities (equivalent to about a cup per day for humans) for ten days of each month.

Aging, stress, and heavy consumption of alcohol increase the permeability of the intestine, causing increased absorption of microbial toxins. Laxatives, carrot fiber (not carrotjuice), activated charcoal, and a small amount of sodium thiosulfate decrease the formation and absorption of toxins, increasing the organism’s adaptive capacity

[aspirin]

If a newly discovered substance had aspirin’s antiinfective, anticancer, antistress, antioxidant and antiinflammatory actions it would be the most researched substance in history.

[tobacco]

The carbon monoxide isn’t likely to be absorbed in dangerous amounts if the smoke isn’t inhaled. I think the safest way to use tobacco is either transdermally or orally; it has a laxative and anti-inflammatory effect.

[Nasal snuff]When I was a kid it was very popular; I think the effect is the same as oral-swallowed, only quicker, with efficient nicotine absorption.

Jan 2023
Question:
How does this non-verbal experience of the surrounding environment relate to the state you´re in when on LSD? I had a few experiences with LSD and theyve all been extremely different. Yesterday i took 150 mcg and had the most intense disconnection from the common received reality. I think the trip was that intense because i totally dropped into the feeling of the drug.The perception for time and space totally dissolved and i found myself in a non-functional state in which i totally lost touch to any layers of meaning; especially language. It would take too long to describe everything that happened, but i´m trying to put my experience into context and understand what happened. I read that you think that the hallucinations are due to depletion of brain glycogen and that it could be harmful. I don´t feel like i was hallucinating (depending on how you define it), but it felt like i was able to access more layers of reality. For example i could see, smell and feel much better. At the same time at a certain point of the trip i stopped being able to put all the sensory input into a broader context. It felt like it was a state before any judgment of meaning based on cultural influences is made. I perceived things as they were but they didn´t relate to each other. I´m wondering what your “behind closed doors” opinion and experience with LSD is. What exactly is happening in the brain when taking larger dosages of LSD? How does LSD work on a molecular level? How does the state of the organism influence its effect? Do you think these effects are other layers of reality or just the effect of brain glycogen depletion?

Ray:

I think the loss of context for the senses is evidence of an excessive amount, consuming energy faster than it’s created; I think the desirable thing is to increase the contextual meanings so that the perceived time span is maximized, a prophetic-interpretive process.

Question:
Once i had 3 times the amount i had a few days ago. This loss of context for the senses didn´t happen then. It might have something to do with the amount of food i´ve eaten, but i think the biggest difference was my ability to let go emotionally of any fear/expectation. It was like i flipped any internal switch so to speak.

You´ve mentioned in "A Biophysical Approach to Altered Consciousness” that a hallucinogenic compound can be predicted by its electron-donor-potential. If i understand correctly you think that senses work by some sort of resonance. If an excessive dose of LSD is supplying too much energy which leads to hallucinations what exactly are the sense resonating with? How does the emotional “switch” change the things we resonate with

[consciousness]
Ray:

Szent-Gyorgyi and Freeman Cope suggested that biological molecules are semiconductors, possibly superconductors. Between a donor and acceptor molecule, an electron sometimes resonates, forming a weak bond that strongly absorbs electromagnetic energy, and they suggested that bands of such electrons exist in cells. Within and between these delocalized electrons, I suspect that there is a more subtle resonance, an electron spin resonance. Arrays of such bands of electrons would be extremely sensitive antennas. Michael Persinger, in the video No More Secretes, describes the potential interactions of such electronic systems with other fields in the environment. An implication of this would be that our consciousness doesn’t exist just in our head.

[pufa]

If the metabolic rate stays high relative to calorie intake, the pufa will be burned quickly, without having an opportunity to shape the physiology very much. Other things become relatively more important as the pufa intake approaches zero---methyl donors, phosphate excess, iron/copper ratio, etc.

I've only had a few occasions to try speaking German, in Romania and Croatia, for example.

[allergy & rum]

Once in Mexico I accidentally ate something that I’m intensely allergic to, but I had a glass of white rum at the same meal, and there was no reaction at all. It’s an effective antioxidant, anti-inflammatory.

[Technique of observing reactivity feeling in your abdomen, shifting attention, guy called Gurdjieff ]

Observing those situational reactions is the starting point that usually leads to getting control of them. While alone, and feeling relaxed and free of the tensions, shift your attention to an image of one of the authorities, for example a parent, and notice the change that occurs in your body, especially the abdomen, then shift your attention again to a neutral situation, until the body sensation subsides. With a few trials, it becomes more controllable. Gurdjieff called it “remembering yourself.” With practice, you can do it while in the presence of the authorities. Since it keeps you at ease, it changes your way of relating to them, and they notice immediately; they can react badly. Another view of the situation is that your “model of the world,” or “Acceptor of Action,” has become more generalized, and your personal energy can flow more productively into meaningful projects, rather than being dissipated in the tensions that sustain the interpersonal power relationship.

[Ray on craving specific foods?]

Any craving is a good starting point, because we have several biological mechanisms for correcting specific nutritional deficiencies. When something is interfering with your ability to use sugar, you crave it because if you don’t eat it you will waste protein to make it.

[Ray on lyme disease being resolved with antibiotics typically easily]

Yes, the spirochetes can be killed with a couple of weeks of antibiotics. But there are some doctors who specialize in permanent treatments. A few doctors have used the internet to create a chronic Lyme cult. Doxycycline, penicillin G and amoxycycline all usually work well.

And the studies:
Curr Treat Options Neurol. 2013 Aug;15(4):454-64.
Nervous system lyme disease: diagnosis and treatment.
Halperin JJ.
Department of Neurosciences, Overlook Medical Center, 99 Beauvoir Avenue, Summit,
NJ, 07902, USA, john.halperin@atlantichealth.org.
OPINION STATEMENT: The tick-borne spirochete responsible for Lyme disease is
highly antibiotic-sensitive. Treatment related misconceptions can be attributed
to confusion in three principal realms: (1) the appropriate approach to diagnosis
(who should be treated); (2) necessary and appropriate treatment; and (3) what
actually constitutes nervous system infection and to what extent this mandates
different treatment.

Nat Rev Rheumatol. 2011 Mar;7(3):179-84.
A case revealing the natural history of untreated Lyme disease.
Schoen RT.
Section of Rheumatology, Yale University School of Medicine, 60 Temple Street,
New Haven, CT 06510, USA. robert.schoen@yale.edu
Furthermore, this case also demonstrates that
infection with Borrelia burgdorferi can persist for years in untreated patients;
however, antibiotic therapy is still likely to be effective, despite long-term
infection.

Clin Infect Dis. 2010 Feb 15;50(4):512-20.
Antibiotic treatment duration and long-term outcomes of patients with early lyme
disease from a lyme disease-hyperendemic area.
Kowalski TJ, Tata S, Berth W, Mathiason MA, Agger WA.
Section of Infectious Disease and Departments of Medical Education, Gundersen
Lutheran Medical Foundation, La Crosse, WI 54601. USA. TJKowals@gundluth.org

Lakartidningen. 2006 May 3-9;103(18):1454; author reply 1455.
[Penicillin V is the first choice in the treatment of erythema migrans].
[Article in Swedish]
Bennet L, Stiernstedt S, Berglund J, Hagberg L, Karlsson M, Olsson I, Ornstein K.
Comment on
Lakartidningen. 2006 Mar 1-7;103(9):668.

Rev Neurol (Paris). 1985;141(12):780-5.
[Meningoradiculitis caused by a spirochete (Borrelia burgdorferi) after arthropod
bite].
[Article in French]
Dupuis M, Mertens C, Gonsette RE, Nuytten W, Bouffioux J, Dobbelaere F.

Arch Neurol. 1989 Nov;46(11):1190-4.
Cefotaxime vs penicillin G for acute neurologic manifestations in Lyme
borreliosis. A prospective randomized study.
Pfister HW, Preac-Mursic V, Wilske B, Einhäupl KM.
Neurologische Klinik der Universität, Klinikum Grosshadern, München, West
Germany.

Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 1996 May;40(5):1104-7.
Concentrations of doxycycline and penicillin G in sera and cerebrospinal fluid of
patients treated for neuroborreliosis.
Karlsson M, Hammers S, Nilsson-Ehle I, Malmborg AS, Wretlind B.
Department of Infectious Diseases, Danderyd Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden.

Neurology. 1994 Jul;44(7):1203-7.
Comparison of intravenous penicillin G and oral doxycycline for treatment of Lyme
neuroborreliosis.
Karlsson M, Hammers-Berggren S, Lindquist L, Stiernstedt G, Svenungsson B.
Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden.

Nervenarzt. 2009 Oct;80(10):1239-51.
[Neuroborreliosis].
[Article in German]
Kaiser R, Fingerle V.
Neurologische Klinik, Klinikum Pforzheim, Kanzlerstrasse 2-6, 75175, Pforzheim,
Deutschland. rkaiser@klinikum-pforzheim.de

Scand J Infect Dis. 2008;40(11-12):985-7.
Neuroborreliosis recurrence: reinfection or relapse?
Krabbe NV, Ejlertsen T, Nielsen H.
Department of Infectious Diseases, Aalborg Hospital, Aarhus University Hospital,
Aalborg, Denmark.

Minerva Med. 2009 Apr;100(2):171-2.
Analysis of a flawed double-blind, placebo-controlled, clinical trial of patients
claimed to have persistent Lyme disease following treatment.
Wormser GP, Shapiro ED, Halperin JJ, Porwancher RB, O'Connell S, Nadelman RB,
Strle F, Radolf JD, Hovius JW, Baker PJ, Fingerle V, Dattwyler R.

Clinical Infectious Diseases Volume 31, Issue 3Pp. 848-849.
Possibility of the Use of Oral Long-Acting Tetracyclines in the Treatment of Lyme Neuroborreliosis
Andrea De Maria and Alberto Primavera

J Infect Chemother 2000 Mar;6(1):65-7
In-vitro and in-vivo antibiotic susceptibilities of Lyme disease Borrelia
isolated in China.
Li M, Masuzawa T, Wang J, Kawabata M, Yanagihara Y.

Pediatrics 2002 Jun;109(6):1173-7
Comparative study of cefuroxime axetil versus amoxicillin in children with early
Lyme disease.

Br J Dermatol 2002 May;146(5):872-6
Long-term prognosis of patients treated for erythema migrans in France.

Arch Mal Coeur Vaiss 2001 Dec;94(12):1419-22
[Lyme disease presenting as infarction pain. A case report]
[Article in French]
Meimoun P, Sayah S, Benali T, Bore AL, Bailly J, Beausoleil J, Jeleff C, Maitre
B.

In 1933 Reich published The Mass Psychology of Fascism, and the next year Freud expelled him from psychoanalysis; that was the year that Andre Breton excommunicated Dali from surrealism. Both Reich and Dali had important (but dangerous) insights into the effects of the authoritarian culture on consciousness—the destruction of reality by the imposition of an “essentialist” attitude. Dali’s Persistence of Memory, 1931, described the fluidity of reality and consciousness. Later, Dali aligned himself with the fascist side, and his 1954 Decomposition of the Persistence of Memory shows the quantized consciousness. Starting in 1945, the fascist culture blossomed in the US, so people who speak English now have constant contact with the dead essences, and very little incentive to evaluate them. Business/government marketing techniques adjust the meaning-units periodically, so that they are always available to provide the needed frame for the discourse of the moment. A lot of work goes into it.

[Methylene blue dose]

I think the most important therapeutic effects are in the range of a tenth of a milligram to one milligram per day, and the doses that inhibit MAO are in the range of hundreds of milligrams. I don't recommend it for anything that can be corrected by diet, thyroid, aspirin, antihistamine, progesterone, etc.

[A and D ratio]

I don’t think the ratio matters, the need for them can vary in opposite directions, for example, with lots of sunlight there’s no need to supplement D, but the need for A increases. Vitamin E protects against an excess of A.

Question:
I sometimes feel like my mind/personality are not located within or attached to my body or even related in any way...is this real? its usually when I'm struggling physically, like if I've eaten something fibrous that upsets my digestion. Any thoughts you have on this would be amazing to hear...its actually quite scary when it happens.

[Peat on nausea, intestine]

The intestine is powerfully related to consciousness, affecting not only our moods but even the way we feel ourselves in relation to our surrounding space. For example, motion sickness demonstrates the way our sense of movement in space is attached to our stomach and intestine—if we are on a ship, looking at things inside the ship that aren’t moving in relation to our body, the real motion sensed by our body conflicts with what our eyes are seeing, and we interpret the inner movement as nausea, but if we just glance at the horizon, the inner sensation of motion suddenly is interpreted accurately as our body moving through space, and the nausea disappears. When there are actual forces being applied to our intestine from the inside, created by bacterial growth, gas, and toxins, our consciousness tries to make sense of it, and the result can be dizziness, a sense of disorientation or falling, so that our sense of location can seem ambiguous or confused.

Jan 6, 2023

An uncle of mine who was a post-master told my father, around 1950, that they were able to read first-class letters without opening them. I knew that suspicion of the government wasn't paranoia. Around 1961-62 I knew some people who worked at Ryan Aeronautical in San Diego, where the first remotely piloted drones were being made, who told me that the government was using devices that could monitor vital signs of a person being interviewed, as a lie detector, without the person being aware of it. They described experiments in which people could be made sick by electronically imposing a lower frequency of brain waves. As I recall it, I came into contact with these three people (one, Clear Waters, said he was a minister, his name was memorable) in connection with my efforts to start the school. I didn't know why they would be telling me CIA secrets, and I was aware that anyone I met might be reporting my behavior, but at the time I was doing some simple bioelectric experiments with my mother's house plants, and was glad to have the information. My suspicion that they were using their bits of information to gain my confidence was confirmed in 1968, when the November issue of a magazine, I think it was Harper's, published a chapter from the not yet published book, The Secret Life of Plants, by Christopher Bird and Peter Tomkins, who were both associated with the CIA. In that chapter, they described experiments supposedly done by Paul Blondel at Blake College in San Diego. I wrote a letter to the editor, saying that there was no Paul Blondel at Blake College, and that the experiments described were done by me in Santee (a town east of San Diego). The magazine didn't publish my letter, but when I got a copy of the book, that part of the story had been deleted. The experiments I did in the period 1961-63 were just variations of work that had been described to me in the late 1950s by an old guy who said he had been doing that research in Germany before the war, but the university with his records had been
destroyed. I think it was in the mid-1960s that Cleve Backster, ex-CIA, moved his polygraph school to San Diego, and began publicizing his work with plant bioelectricity. My interpretation of the whole episode is that there is probably a gossip-culture around the government's military research, and that some of the gossip-aura might be deliberately planted, to give the impression that the whole thing could be pure fiction. I think the talk about special kinds of radiation is likely to be in that category, red herrings to emphasize the idea that suspicious people aren't in touch with reality.

A while ago, I wrote to ray regarding the use of one nicotine toothpick (3mg nicotine per toothpick) here and there. He said :

"I think that small amount is probably safe."

Some of the modifications have been shown to be seriously harmful, in a variety of ways. Science journals are heavily controlled by big corporations, research funding and careers can be ended when the research doesn’t please the corporations, the government regulatory agencies are effectively owned by the corporations that they regulate, and the mass media propagate the information that serves the corporations. A few individuals and groups are helping to publicize the dangers.

[low thyroid & adrenaline]

The body tends to compensate for low thyroid by increasing adrenaline; increasing the thyroid supplement gradually over a period of weeks, it's possible to lower the adrenaline. It's necessary to use extra sugar and salt, and foods with calcium and magnesium, during that time.

I think the single idea I would emphasize most would be that just being balanced requires a fairly high level of metabolic energy, and that good thyroid function and good nutrition are essential for that.
Another important idea for anyone in a medicalized society to consider is that the system’s inability to cure cancer and heart disease and mental problems results from fundamental misconceptions about the nature of the organism. Your forum will help to correct some of those misconceptions.

[vitamins minerals needed as metabolic rate increases]

And the coffee, like the glucose, stimulates your metabolic rate and both of those, by increasing your metabolic rate, are going to increase your general nutritional requirements: minerals and all of the vitamins have to be adequate and if you don’t substitute the sugar for things like fruit, milk, cheese, shellfish, eggs and so on, then you will very likely become deficient in biotin and Vitamin B6 and pantothenic acid, selenium and copper are things that are among the first to become deficient if you try to run on too much coffee and sugar and not enough food.

==

The low altitude of Yucatan makes the climate oppressive; the Patzcuaro area is perfect. House construction is the main safety factor; old adobe was reinforced with horse hair and was flexible, safer than concrete. I think electrical fields of the earth/solar system are important for earthquakes. The earthquakes I’ve seen during the night were accompanied by lightning.

==

It depends on the climate. Thick cement walls, with insulation on the outside, keep the temperature relatively steady, so that the day’s heat keeps the nights warm, and cool nights keep the days from overheating. My favorite houses have been adobe, with thick mud walls and high ceilings. For example, an old house in Mexico with neither heating nor cooling stayed around 69 degrees F most of the time.

Aug 8, 2023
I asked him a question before:
Do you think looking for marriage (instead of doing casual sex and uncommitted relationships) and wanting to have children are both signs of high metabolism?
Ray:

i think good health goes with a desire for a permanent relationship.

NathanK said:
I asked Ray something similar last year when I first started on T3 and my throat was feeling a little tight and also had some adrenaline issues. I'll paraphrase what he said:

"...catecholamines inhibit TSH and when that stress is relieved then TSH would activate or at least enlarge the gland... PUFA and estrogen are other possible inhibitors of of secretion, permitting enlargement... Too much or too little iodine could account for enlargement rather than activation."

cs3000

{page 48 pt.1 }

[Vitamin C]

**Ray:
Yes, more than 20 years ago, I pointed out the amount of heavy metal
contamination, and the frequent reactions I had seen, to Pauling, and he
just said I should use Bronson's C, as if that would have been made with
anything except Hoffman-LaRoche's stuff. (It was Pauling's own
description of the manufacturing process for sulfuric acid, using a
"lead room," that got me thinking about the dangers of things
manufactured with it.) I guess ADM is making a large fraction of
ascorbic acid now, so I wouldn't be surprised if some of it was worse
than when the heavy metal studies were published several years ago.

[Ray Peat's experiences and work with C]

**The alteration of production processes in vitamin E manufacture when the
evil soybean monopoly bought the industry from Eastman Chemical is
analogous to what happened earlier in the vitamin C industry, as profits
were maximized. The dramatic vitamin C studies in the 1930s often used
only 15 or 25 milligrams per day. In 1953, my first experience with it
(which was still sold as "cevitamic acid")involved 50 mg per day, and
over a period of just 2 or 3 days, my chronic awful poison oak allergy
disappeared. Up until this time, it was still too expensive to sell in
large doses. Around 1955 or '56, new manufacturing methods made it cheap
(and, for some reason, the name changed from cevitamic to ascorbic) and
the average tablet went up to 500 mg. The first time I tried the new
form, around 1956, I developed allergy symptoms within a couple of days.
Over the next 20 years, my own increased sensitivity to synthetic
ascorbate led me to look for such reactions in others. The same
people who reacted to it often reacted similarly to riboflavin and
rutin, which were also made from cornstarch by oxidation. I ascribed the
reaction to some industrial contaminant that they had in common,
possibly the heavy metals introduced with the sulfuric acid. The heavy
metal contamination of synthetic ascorbate is so great that one 500 mg
tablet dissolved in a liter of water produces free radicals at a rate
that would require a killing dose of x-rays to equal. The only clean and
safe vitamin C now available is that in fresh fruits, meats, etc. The
commercial stuff is seriously dangerous."

Dec 19, 2022
[High altitude]

**Humidity is likely to be a lot lower in Colorado. During the first few days at a higher altitude it's good to be less active than normal, but in general for health there's nothing better than higher altitude. The moderate altitude of C. Springs almost never produces signs of altitude sickness; 9000 feet often does, unless the person adapts gradually.

[Altitude sickness]

**Aspirin is usually enough, extra sugar and salt. Diamox is usually helpful for 12,000 feet and above.

[coffee?]

**I use a fine grind, and moisten the grounds slightly with warm water first, then slowly add water of increasing temperature. The tastier aromatic things dissolve first at low temperature, and as they are removed the hotter water gets the progressively less soluble things. It makes a very intense, dark, almost opaque extract.

[?]

**Fruits vary in their protein content and amino acid balance; if we had more knowledge about the amino acids in each fruit, a pure fruit diet might be ideal, but I think it would be risky without that information. Independent researchers have trouble buying the reagents needed for that kind of study, so I haven't done it.

**Both pregnenolone and progesterone are safe in large amounts (except that progesterone can be anesthetic if hundreds of milligrams are taken at once), and help with nerve repair and restoration. Vitamin K (Thorne Research drops, 10 mg/day) and aspirin help to normalize brain metabolism. Symptoms are partly from a poor balance of dopamine and serotonin, and cyproheptadine could help by reducing the serotonin dominance. Bright incandescent bulbs, especially the clear front reflector bulbs that are used for heating, sold at farm and hardware stores, have the red-orange wavelengths that are beneficial; they can shine on the head (all sides) and neck, the red light penetrates very well. They can be used all day if you like, as long as they don't cause over-heating.

[Schizophrenia]

**Those people were given a brief trial of pregnenolone by relatives,
and weren't responsible for taking it themselves; they weren't in
situations that would have supported the necessary changes, I think
people with that diagnosis are just too hard to deal with. It's pretty
standard to give thyroid to kids, Barnes was more perceptive than most
doctors, and knew what to look for.

[Red light & pregnenolone]

**I made some devices for exposing the legs or abdomen to about 100 red
LEDS for use during the night, to avoid the annoying effect on the
eyes. They were too bothersome to use regularly. 12 to 15 hours/day
exposure to bright daylight or good incandescent light is enough
therapeutically. The main issue currently with pregnenolone is the
presence of trace allergenic impurities. I ate an average of about
3000 mg/day for a year, then to economize, reduced it to about 500 mg
for a few years, then the factory I was getting it from closed, and I
was allergic to other brands. I don't recall describing relapses. Does
that institute have the video on their website? I spoke to the Smart
Life Forum, which later changed its name. Since even a moderate amount
of progesterone can shrink the penis, young men typically use it only
for seizures.

[Bipolar fixed by thyroid , schizophrenia improved by pregnenolone or progesterone]

**I've had a couple of friends who were classically manic-depressive. I
watched the woman go through several of her annual cycles, a few weeks
of suicidal depression, and a few of really psychotic mania, and saw
that I could see them coming a few weeks in advance, with changes in
her sleep cycle and temperature cycle. When the mania was coming on,
her waking temperature would be higher than usual, and then by 10 or
11 a.m. it would be much lower. I knew that was the pattern of high
nocturnal cortisol, from hypothyroidism. Her cycles had been getting
worse for 20 years, but when she used thyroid to normalize her
temperature cycle, there were no more psychotic cycles, and there
hasn't been a recurrence in over 20 years. I've known a few
schizophrenics who began acting more normally immediately after taking
pregnenolone or progesterone, but who relapsed when they stopped
taking it; I think it would be necessary to change their diet and keep
them supplemented with those, and thyroid, for a few weeks, to allow
their nervous systems to repair themselves.

Dec 19, 2022

**Yandell Henderson died in 1944, and V.I. Vernadsky died in 1945. With
the accession of Truman to the US presidency, cultural and scientific
progress has been operating in reverse. Here and there bits of
knowledge have been created, but they drift in the sewage tsunami of Big Science.

**My article on cascara talked about the analogous effects of carbon
dioxide, vitamin K, emodin, and the tetracyclines. Some of the
experiments with Buckyballs show similar effects of a large resonant
system, an electron-withdrawing effect that lowers inappropriate
excitation and inflammation. A direct current flow through the body
towards the oxidizing brain can be intensified or dulled by an
external field.

[expansive activities to offset entropy of a small living environment]

For rats, the alternative to an enriched environment has been living
in a rat box, sort of the equivalent of a Tokyo apartment. Gardening, learning to play a musical instrument, sculpting and drawing, are good; practicing the marital arts, going to new places and taking different routes to old places, listening to an unfamiliar language--anything that involves participation and action or learning.
**Finding novelty and opportunity in a large context, rather than
habitual, ritualized, or trivial activity. Stimulating conversation
and spontaneous sex are good examples. Our (industrialized corporate) cultures are designed to exclude meaningful activity as far as possible. Music, theater, literature, research, adapting to a new culture, and political innovation are activities that can be meaningful.

[Electrical and magnetic stimulation]

**The brain is always organizing itself, and although some of the DC,
AC, and magnetic stimulation effects are positive, I think they are
also likely to have other harmful effects. Any stimulating radiation
is a potentially disorganizing influence (red light has an antiexcitatory effect). I think supporting the brain's own organizing processes is the right approach to therapy. Neurosteroids stabilize nerves, and allow repair processes to proceed. Good nutrition, light, thyroid, etc., provide the energy. Meaningful activity is the other necessity.

**The southeastern states are remarkably unhealthy. In general the high
altitude of Colorado and New Mexico is very good for health, but there
are some areas with pollution from the military and mining, that
should be investigated carefully before moving. When I'm in Bayard,
NM, I feel very good, but I have never seen so many people carrying
oxygen tanks anywhere else, probably former miners, but windstorms and
forest fires can put a lot of bad stuff into the air.

Dec 20, 2022
[thyroid pregnenolone progesterone to reverse pigmentation]

**It's pigmentation that I've seen go away completely when people used
thyroid or pregnenolone or (women) progesterone. It's usually thought
to be related to allergy and adrenal deficiency.

[Dark circles under eyes]

**The dark around the eyes is caused by slightly leaky capillaries, and
they are commonly blamed on allergies. Although glucocorticoid
treatment sometimes helps, my experience has been that hypothyroidism
was responsible.
**The dark eye circles are usually considered to be from an adrenal
problem, and thyroid deficiency is one thing that can be responsible,
but there are other things that could be responsible, and blood or
saliva tests could give you a better idea".

[Coffee]

**I've never measured it, but it's probably about half a cup of dry
coffee to make two cups of liquid. I start with warm water, and end
with boiling water, so the temperature of the product probably doesn't
get much above 45 degrees C; it loses the red-orange color if it gets
too hot.

Dec 20, 2022
[Deficiencies worsened by increasing metabolic rate, thyroid improves absorption of some nutrients so they rise in tandem if you start slow]

**Increasing the metabolic rate, thyroid can increase the need for
nutrients, so if your diet is already deficient in something, it can get
worse. Thyroid improves the assimilation of some nutrients, so it can help
to correct deficiencies, but only if you start very slowly.

[Consciousness, electric universe, metabolic conditions
I was reading Bohm and thinking about consciousness in terms of implicate
order. It almost seems like an energetic storage organ of that futurity.
It's sort of like how carbohydrates are often stored as complex
polysaccharides in plants. The internal complexity of a nervous system and
consciousness "field" are sort of like a coiled spring for the larger
system. It is not for the organism itself, I don't think.
I also got an interesting conceptual image that tied what I was
talking about previously to this. Looking at the universe through the
"electric universe" theory, this field of ecological futurity would resonate
nonlinearly throughout the universe. In essence, it might be the seed of
life in other systems somehow. The extent to which life develops on our
world could influence the development of life on another planet.

Ray:

**I think that view of consciousness is right, that it's a
resonance with cosmic fields. Metabolic conditions probably affect the
degree to which we are tuned into it. "Every thing that lives Lives not
alone, nor for itself," Blake's phrase in the Book of Thel, recognizes the
connections. Ecological futurity is a very Blakean idea.

[Gravity]
Question:
I believe that the strength of resonance determines the complexity of structure when collapsed by hysteresis.
What do you think? I think that Blake would be proud. Or he may yell
at me to get off his lawn, like he did when he yelled at that soldier and
ended up in jail.

Gravity and other forces comprise different qualities of
hysteresis in discreet bodies. Hysteresis generates force through the
collapse of resonant potentials into difference and thus tension. The
production and conversation of substance causes tension, which results in
the two bodies wanting to resolve that tension. Hence why gravity acts on
each body's center of gravity (or area of least tension... or strongest
tension in relation to the other). Gravity is the difference in that
potential between those bodies. The reason why the force gets stronger is
simply due to something like the inverse square law, which could apply to
resonances and fields. The same goes for strong and weak nuclear force and
magnetic force. Hysteresis in these cases has different qualities of
directionality. Momentum or structural vectors from the history of the
system.

Ray:

**If a large number of bodies, each with its center of gravity, are
falling toward each other, just as they are about to coalesce, where is
their center of gravity? I.e., if we on the earth were about to fall into
the sun, would our weight be the same as elsewhere? Measurements of gravity
are so imprecise, I wonder if it's really known exactly where a center of
gravity is.

Question:
Do you think that gravity as it is understood today is an
adequate concept for explaining why we stick to the earth? I'm wondering if
part of the problem of a unified field theory is that our premises are
centuries old.

Ray:

**Einstein was working with the junk that had accumulated in the
19th century, and I think the main reason he treated it seriously was to
show the German academicians what jerks they were. I don't think he realized
that the reason the irrational quantum mechanics came into existence was
largely because he had explained the photoelectric effect using a mistaken
view of the solid state, atoms as purely localized stuff. With that, it was
logical to see light as particulate.

[Altitude]

**5000 feet is helpful, higher is better. The low latitudes from
Bolivia to Mexico have many comfortable little cities at good altitude. I
have usually preferred places between 2000 and 2600 meters. Since the days
warm up quickly at high altitude, the old houses were designed to retain the
heat during the cold nights, by having thick adobe walls, about a meter
thick.

[Thyroid hormone resistance]

**If you are eating enough protein, about 100 grams, and salt and
thyroid, then I would consider the steroids--something might be interfering
with your production of pregnenolone and DHEA. Things that could do that
would be very low cholesterol, or a deficiency of vitamin A (retinol), or
possibly other deficiencies.

**If your cholesterol is above 200, and the thyroid supplements
didn't warm you up, it's possible that something is interfering with your
steroid synthesis, which might be a deficiency of something like vitamin A,
or interference from something like iron or carotene. Have you tried a
supplement of pregnenolone or DHEA? Were any other hormones, such as
prolactin, measured? If you are taking the aspirin regularly, you should
make sure to get vitamin K, from kale, liver, or a supplement. Anemia, like
cold feet, is a common sign of low thyroid function.

Dec 20, 2022

**I have noticed that when I'm most relaxed and at high altitude
my oxygen saturation is in the range of 89% to 94%, lower with more
relaxation. When I'm walking fast uphill, it is around 99% (I think that
could mean that my fingers are consuming less). If my fingers are cold
(i.e., not using much oxygen) the number is higher. If you pump blood
through a cold corpse, the hemoglobin will stay 100% saturated."

**Changing bacteria can make a big difference, but I think
cultural-psychological factors can cause effects like that. There have been
times when I would have bad reactions to many foods in the US, and a day or
two later in Mexico I would be able to eat anything. The familiar culture is
full of inconspicuous signals that activate inflammatory-stress hormones,
and a complete change of culture activates a different set of more adaptive
hormones. I think the experimental analogy is the restraint stress syndrome
in animals; if they can do something to counter the stress, they don't
develop the inflammatory reactions. High thyroid activity is somewhat
protective against the everyday restraint stressors."

**I don't think there is a functional ratio between them (A & D),
independent of everything else. Calcium, phosphate, protein, vitamins and
minerals are involved in preventing improper calcification.

**Vitamin A can lower stress hormones, and that might help with the
calcium-vitamin D metabolism.

[Temperature drop after breakfast]

**I think the decrease of temperature after eating breakfast
explains more about the stress hormones than saliva tests could. The normal
temperature cycle is lowest around 3 or 4 AM, and highest about 12 hours
later. When the temperature falls in the morning, it implies that the night was stressful, rather than restorative.

[Foods]

**Milk and sugar, custard with a minimum of egg (only
natural vanilla for flavor), eggs, meat, and sweet ripe orange juice, are
the easy things to digest. Even small amounts of plant material can cause
inflammation for some people".

**If you make your own chips with masa harina fried in coconut oil, they are pretty safe. Having been cooked in alkali, it's already partly digested, so it's the safest kind of starch".

**Shell fish are good sources of several trace minerals,
cooked greens (with the water they cook in) are good sources of molybdenum and calcium.

**Only when I'm in Mexico, where they make little tamales made with corn boiled in lye from wood ashes.

**Occasionally in the US I get Mission pork rinds, and
crush them into a power and soak them in hot coconut oil to remove the
unsaturated fat, then drain it; it makes a very tasty paste, for carrot salad, etc.

**Starch should be avoided. Chocolate is highly allergenic
for many people. Some ice creams are incredibly bad. Haagen Dasz seems to be
o.k., vanilla and coffee, anyway. Sea food and meats are easy to digest; starches are the worst things for inflammation.

**I think reducing the stress hormones, partly by balancing the nutrients, is more important than the number of calories. With bone broth, it's the cartilage, ligaments and tendons that are helpful; marrow has a lot of iron, and it's good to limit the amount of iron and phosphate. Well cooked greens have a high ratio of calcium and magnesium to phosphate, and these help to activate oxidative metabolism. Endotoxin from bacterial overgrowth is important in both diabetes and fatty liver. Aspirin helps to lower inflammation and blood glucose, while promoting oxidative metabolism. Coffee has some similar effects.
Some people have told me that using fructose eliminated the fat from their liver; I think its reduction of phosphate might be involved in its protective effects, while supporting oxidative metabolism."

[Preparing for a period of societal chaos / deflation event]

**"I keep enough cash on hand to get to Mexico in situations of frozen accounts or imminent supply chain breakdown; in rural Mexico, the essential supply chains are so short that they are very stable. In Coeneo, we used to use fallen branches as fuel in the water heater, but now there’s a plastic solar water heater on the roof, that didn’t cost much. Solar electricity is a very good idea—electricity and city water are subject to scarcity and rationing. Having a good supply of durable staples is always convenient, even without major calamities."

[Milk , calcium , high uncoupling pulling fuel through oxidation process so fast that it doesn't get the chance to cause random oxidative damage]

One of the reasons a lot of people give, if they have overcome the idea that milk forms mucous, or is a risk for diseases and so on; one of their arguments is that it makes them fat. But, all the research on animals, and as far as it goes, human research, shows that milk is probably the best reducing foods there is. The mechanisms for that are now known. Not only the anti-stress effects of casein, and a good balance of saturated fats and so on, but the calcium alone is very important metabolic regulator, that it happens to inhibit the fat-forming enzymes fatty acid synthase, and incidentally that's a characteristic enzyme that goes wild in cancer. But calcium and milk inhibit that fatty acid synthase, reducing the formation of fats and at the same time it activates the uncoupling proteins in the mitochondria, which are associated with increased longevity.
Because they, by increasing the metabolic rate, the uncoupling proteins burn calories faster but they protect against free-radical oxidation. That they pull the fuel through the oxidation process so fast in effect, that none of it goes astray in random oxidation, where if you inhibit your energy producing enzymes you tend to get random, stray oxidation that damage the mitochondria. So the uncoupling proteins burn calories faster, at the same time that your reducing fat synthesis and milk is, as far as I know, they only food does both of those things simultaneously.

cs3000

page 48 pt.2 (formatting)

[Thyroxine T4 as solo medication]

There's almost no context in which I would speak of
"an appropriate dose of T4," since thyroxin is so effective as an
antithyroid substance. It's appropriate if you are also taking T3, or if you want to shrink your thyroid.

[Fruit sugar to raise cholesterol if too low for thyroid conversion to hormones? protein]

Thyroid will dependably correct your pregnenolone production, if you have enough cholesterol, vitamin A, and protein. The cholesterol will be consumed to make pregnenolone and progesterone and bile acids. If cholesterol is below 160, fruit sugar helps to raise it. The protein is needed to detoxify estrogen, unsaturated oils, etc, and to maintain the T3. Protein deficiency gives antithyroid signals, and T4 will be used to make reverse T3 to inhibit T3's effects.
About 3 mcg of T3 especially if it's taken with milk
or gelatine-rich salty soup is effective for stopping the nocturnal alarm reaction.

The first couple of years that I took pregnenolone, I
suppose I ate more than a kilogram of it, but when I realized how much it
was costing, I found the minimum that's effective, which is very similar on a weight basis for rats and humans; about 30 mg per day is the adequate normal maintenance dose, but it can generally be taken spaced as much as ten days apart, 200 mg per 7 days, 300 mg per ten days. A rat given thousands of milligrams in a single dose shows no side effects, except a loss of appetite while its stomach is full of the powder.

[Edema, thyroid fix]

Diuresis is an effect of thyroid, pregnenolone and progesterone, as antagonists to estrogenic edema. The alarm reaction that happens at night has its effects in every organ; for the brain, it's similar to epilepsy; for the intestine and bladder, the effect can be either adrenergic or cholinergic, ie, too little or too much muscle tone; the blood becomes more concentrated. The bowel reaction causes absorption of endotoxin, which is a broad-spectrum poison; carrot salad, laxatives, etc.,
are especially important during the adjustment time.

[Cholesterol protective against toxins]

Cholesterol has a long history as a protectant against many toxins; I think this relates to the fact that people with very low cholesterol have such a high incidence of endotoxin-related symptoms. It might also relate to the therapeutic effects of eggnogs, though it takes a lot of eggs to raise the cholesterol a little.

[Eye color & UV]

Blue eyes don't filter out as much U.V. and blue light, so people who work outside for years are more susceptible to light damage if their eyes aren't pigmented. Prostaglandins and probably heavy metals can cause pigment to increase with aging; generally, melanin is protective against free radical damage, so the continued light color suggests that you haven't been overexposed to some of the irritants.

Yes, I bought a place in Coeneo, Michoacan, several years ago, and have been fixing it up for that sort of thing. Things have been happening that have kept me in Oregon longer than I planned. The idea of Blake College was similar in many ways to Ivan Illich's CIDOC in Cuernavaca at the same time, and although there might be some classes, they aren't the basic idea--"retreat," with criticism and unplanned events, might be a better description of what I have in mind.

In physiology lab, my partner had to adjust the millivoltmeter, because when I put my hand near it, the indicator pegged at the top of the scale. When the professor was demonstrating the force of a grasshopper's leg, students rested their fingers on its foot, and the professor activated the electrical stimulator, and it would raise their finger. He did it with all the other students, and then turned away, lecturing, when I moved up to try it (he didn't like my attitude). When I touched my finger to the grasshopper's foot, it extended its leg, and held it, until I broke the contact; I repeated it a few times, and students started watching what I was doing; I stopped when he turned around to glare at me. I knew a woman who worked at the Exploratorium in San Francisco, and she wanted to show me around after hours. The cloud chamber for demonstrating cosmic rays was turned off, and she plugged it in. After a minute, a mist began forming in it (lines of droplets formed by the cosmic rays passing through), so I stepped forward to get a closer look. As I moved, the mist disappeared in a cylinder in the center of the case, so I stepped back, and the clear area retreated with me; we looked at each other, and I stepped up again, and the clear area advanced, as if it was attached to my body; it did it a couple of times, and then the cloud stabilized, and wasn't affected by my presence. It seemed to represent a field that extended about two feet from my torso. I think similar things aren't very rare, but people prefer to treat them as imaginary. I recently saw an Italian film, Agata and the storm, about a woman who made electrical things malfunction.

[EFA pufa deficiency, ray had half of his calories as sugars]

I'm now getting at least half of my calories as sugar, and it would be more if the fruits were available. A few years ago, more than half my calories were from fat--butter, coconut oil, cream, beef and lamb. Because of the ~2% pufa in those fats, I decreased them, in favor of sugars. to deplete myself of the pufa as far as practicable. I considered hydrogenated coconut oil, but haven't found a reliable source without additives. In the US, I haven't found any commercial skimmed-milk cheese that doesn't have serious problems, such as using aspergillus enzymes or other additives that bother me. I'm having liver and shellfish about once a week, much less meat generally. Did you read about William R. Brown's experiences with the fat-free diet?
Yes, 0% pufa is the goal. Bacterial endotoxin is probably fairly harmless when there's no pufa.

[Timeframe for thyroid]

It takes at least two weeks for a given dose of T4 to reach a steady
concentration in the body, apart from the hormonal-metabolic changes
that it will cause, so I think you probably increased the dose too
quickly. The half-life of T3 is much shorter, so by using doses of
less than 5 mcg at a time, it's possible to increase your liver's
glycogen storage and your other tissues' sensitivity to adrenergic
stimulation, without accumulating any excess T4. During that time,
having orange juice or other sweet fruit frequently, avoiding eating
protein by itself, will help to lower the stress hormones.

[Ray had 400 grams of carbs and 200g of meat at this time. Eating large amounts of sugar to replenish stores in a few days, distaste for it and lower blood pressure as signal enough]

It usually takes me just a few days of eating extremely large amounts of sugar (milkshakes, marshmallows, ice cream, etc.) to replenish my stores. Sugar stops tasting especially good when I have had enough, and my pulse pressure, the difference between top and bottom blood pressure numbers, falls well below 50 points.
Normally, I usually have around 400 grams of carbohydrate. I have about 3 quarts of milk, varying amounts of orange juice (probably over a quart on average), eggs, and about 200 grams of meat or fish, with other things such as coca cola, cheese, ice cream, cheese cakes, some coconut oil and butter, occasional tropical fruits.

[Rays painting]

Lately I have been using mainly water based paints, as a result of the scarcity of turpentine, which I had previously used with oil paints. About ten years ago I got a can with the familiar "pure gum spirits of turpentine" label, that contained mineral spirits. I tried three other brands that turned out to be variations on gasoline. The main turpentine stills in the US closed several years ago. Your mention of someone in Mexico reminded me that I had read that it's still being produced there--where does that person live? If it's possible to locate a store in Mexico that sells it, they might be willing to send a bottle of it to my place in Mexico.

[Knowledge as shared enhancement vs commodity]

Knowledge isn’t a commodity, especially not a fungible commodity, as the medical business sees it. Consciousness and culture are part of the life process. It is exactly the commoditization of medical knowledge that makes it dangerous, and generally stupid. Doctors buy their knowledge, and then resell it over and over; it’s valuable as a commodity, so its value has to be protected by the equivalent of a copyright, the system of laws establishing the profession. Without its special status, its worthlessness would be quickly demonstrated. When A.C. Guyton wrote his textbook of medical physiology (the most widely used text in the world) in the 1950s, it was trash; as it was studied and applied by generations of physicians, it was still trash. The most compliant patients who bought their treatment from the most authoritative, Guytonesque, doctors were buying their own disability and death.
Each time you learn something, your consciousness becomes something different, and the questions you ask will be different; you don’t know what the next appropriate question will be when you haven’t assimilated the earlier answers. Until you see something as the answer to an urgent question, you can’t see that it has any value. The unexpected can’t be a commodity. When people buy professional knowledge they get what they pay for, a commodity in a system that sustains ignorance.

[Do you personally enjoy being in Mexico more so than in Eugene?]

Yes, anyplace in Mexico above 5000 feet altitude is very good--I always have a sense of euphoria in Mexico, seldom in the US. Even with the effects of television on the culture, people still have more of a sense of what's real.

Once when I was sick in Mexico my landlady gave me some unfamiliar pills, and as soon as I recovered I had an intense craving for sour things, that I had never experienced before or since; I suspected the drug might have caused some deficiency.
For a few days I squeezed lemon onto everything, and even ate them
plain, with pleasure. Then suddenly, the craving stopped. Animal studies show that there are chemically appropriate cravings, but they are guided by categories of nutrients that naturally occur together in foods. Certain amino acids are detected as signals for protein, but others aren't, and I think certain B vitamins work as signals. When I suggested to a girl friend that salt craving was rational, she began salting her food according to her premenstrual appetite for it, and stopped having her regular premenstrual swelling. It has worked for nearly everyone--I suspect that the few people who say it doesn't work don't know what cravings are. Some people are very mechanical about food, and think there should be something like medical instructions for everything they do.

Before I discovered that I couldn't tolerate starches, and was having fairly copious bowel bleeding, I experimented by taking some sips of 2% dental lidocaine gel, and within a few minutes felt general relief, and didn't have any more bleeding for a long time (until Breyer's added gums to their ice cream).

The antiinflammatories and local anesthetics themselves have some antiviral effects--aspirin, Benadryl, procaine, lidocaine, belladonna, cascara, etc. Have you tried topical Lanacaine or TigerBalm?

[Bowel inflammation]

I had similar problems, had to eliminate practically all foods, then gradually found ways to increase my tolerance for some of them. Thyroid, progesterone, lidocaine, sugar, DHEA, atropine, pregnenolone, bamboo, cyproheptadine, cascara, flowers of sulfur or sodium thiosulfate, penicillin, aspirin, vitamin D, etc".

The basic problem of intestinal inflammation leads to bleeding in response to the extra irritation of certain foods. I have known people whose bleeding was stopped by thyroid alone; in my own experience, a small amount of 2% lidocaine solution, swallowed once, ended bleeding that had been occurring every day.

[Training non dominant hand for brain recovery?]

Yes, training the non-dominant hand stabilizes the nervous system, according to work done by Pavlov's followers. Kurt Goldstein used some similar principles with brain damaged patients. N.P. Bekhtereva used internal stimulation for some similar effects.

Fiziol Zh SSSR Im I M Sechenova 1984 Aug;70(8):1092-9
[Neurochemical aspects of therapeutic electric stimulation].
[Article in Russian]
Bekhtereva NP, Dambinova SA, Gurchin FA, Smirnov VM, Korol'kov AV
Comparative analysis of the CSF and blood protein-peptide composition in
Parkinsonian patients performed with the aid of indwelled electrodes prior to and after therapeutic electrical stimulation (TES) of the brain subcortical
structures, revealed a therapeutic effect in the form of reduced muscular
rigidity and a mental activation with a positive emotional response. After theTES the protein content in the biological fluids tended to become normalized and the the range of low-molecular protein-peptide fractions changed. A high-performance liquid chromatography, bidimensional electrophoresis and thin-layer chromatography revealed about 5-6 factors of peptide nature with the molecular mass less than 5000 daltons in the CSF and blood after the TES. These factors were shown to exert a biological effect upon muscle preparation of the leech."

When I get sour oranges I make marmalade from the peels, if they are organic. Shred, soak, cook slowly simmering in water for about an hour before adding sugar, and letting that simmer without boiling until it thickens a little. When it’s cool it thickens more. The peels are rich in antiinflammatory chemicals [naringin and naringenin], more than the juice, and the marmalade is a good way to get sugar with the cottage cheese or parmesan.

That looks like the old fashioned electric range, that’s very safe. We noticed that when we turned on a new induction burner, our cat looked worried, and wouldn’t get near it; I think they put out a much larger field than the standard old resistance element.

Like Paris in 1870, democracy or socialism tends to fail when all the surrounding countries invade. The USSR survived despite being invaded by the US, Canada, British Empire, Estonia, Poland, France, Australia, Italy, Greece, Serbia, Czechoslovakia, and Japan. Cuba survived for several decades despite invasion, embargo, and sabotage. Venezuela survived the coup and subsequent attempts, and now is embargoed like North Korea, cutting off much of its trade. It didn’t have socialism, but it wanted to charge royalties on the oil that was taken, the way Mexico did. The Spanish Republic was murdered by Hitler with the support of France, England, and the US.

It isn’t a matter of perspective, it’s a matter of mental clarity and the knowledge of how things work, and why. The system of corporations isn’t separable from the government that enforces its established institutions; courts, police, and military serve the system, not individuals. Nelson Rockefeller said he understood Marx's principles as well as anyone, but he applied them for his own benefit. People usually talk about Marx and Lenin without having read them, which is like religious kids talking familiarly about the devil—they have heard that he’s bad.

Question:
In clinical trials (stage I & II) for treating traumatic brain injury progesterone was effective but in stage III the dose was increased from 1 or 2mg/kg/day intravenously to 12mg/kg/day and it had no effect compared to the placebo. It was proposed in several papers that progesterone may have a U-shaped dose response curve which would perhaps explain these results. I wonder if the high dose might be depleting brain glycogen but I have trouble believing that this alone would eliminate all protective effect.
If you are familiar with these trials do you have any idea why a larger dose or some other procedural factor might have eliminated the progesterone's neuroprotective effects?
Are you aware of any evidence of a U-shaped dose response curve for progesterone?
Randy B. Howard, Iqbal Sayeed, Donald G. Stein. Suboptimal dosing parameters as possible factors in the negative Phase III clinical trials of progesterone for TBI. J Neurotrauma 2016
http://sci-hub.ac/10.1089/neu.2015.4179

Ray Peat:

Although the history of phase III studies might suggest that someone doesn’t intend for them to succeed, what’s clear is that ignorance increased the likelihood of failure in the progesterone study. Soybean oil is brain toxic, and it’s not an adequate solvent for progesterone, so much of the progesterone was probably trapped in the spleen, failing to protect the brain from the toxic effect of the fatty acids. Oral progesterone lowers nitric oxide and prostaglandins, protects against histamine and serotonin, and reduces the formation of free fatty acids. Dissolved in vitamin E, it’s taken up from the intestine in chylomicrons, and safely made available to the brain, and the vitamin E and progesterone both protect the brain by inhibiting nitric oxide and heme oxygenase (source of carbon monoxide and free iron). The protective effects increase with dose; extremely high doses produce anesthesia, which wouldn’t be a problem for traumatic brain injury patients, but starting with about 50 mg at a time a person can adjust the dose according to how they feel.

Food Chem. 2012 Sep 15;134(2):920-5.
Comparative effects of tocotrienol-rich fraction, α-tocopherol and α-tocopheryl
acetate on inflammatory mediators and nuclear factor kappa B expression in mouse
peritoneal macrophages.

2. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2000 Oct 10;97(21):11494-9.
gamma-tocopherol and its major metabolite, in contrast to alpha-tocopherol,
inhibit cyclooxygenase activity in macrophages and epithelial cells.

Free Radic Biol Med. 2004 Aug 1;37(3):325-38.
Inflammatory mediator and beta-amyloid (25-35)-induced ceramide generation and
iNOS expression are inhibited by vitamin E.

Brain Res. 2008 Feb 8;1193:120-7.
Protective effect of nitric oxide synthase inhibition or antioxidants on brain
oxidative damage caused by intracerebroventricular arginine administration.

Free Radic Biol Med. 2007 Nov 15;43(10):1439-52. .
Cytoprotective properties of alpha-tocopherol are related to gene regulation in
cultured D-galactosamine-treated human hepatocytes.

Lipids Health Dis. 2011 Dec 20;10:239.
Inhibition of nitric oxide in LPS-stimulated macrophages of young and senescent
mice by δ-tocotrienol and quercetin.

Question:
Do you have any thoughts on the safety of pyrantel pamoate as an anthelminthic in humans?

Ray Peat:

It seems to be safe.

Q:
What would be your approach with using supplemental progesterone if you were a newly pregnant female?

Ray:

It’s necessary to know the general situation, including the balance of nutrients in the diet, the metabolic rate, temperature, pulse rate, body weight, age. and menstrual cycle history.

Q:
Would it be a matter of using more the worse the individual situation is?
Would I be right in thinking that the dose should gradually increase during the pregnancy? I.e; starting with one drop per day, and adding a drop every month?

Ray:

Katharina Dalton sometimes gave the same amount all the way through pregnancy, but sometimes it’s no longer needed when the placenta makes enough. The nutritional discoveries of Tom Brewer, Jay Hodin and others support progesterone production. Thyroid hormone makes the use of progesterone easier.

Q:
I’ve recently moved to a rural area, with lots of sheep and cattle. I’m sure I’d be able to access fresh thyroid glands here. This morning I’ve been thinking about the idea of making my own NDT as a fun experiment. Just googling on how that could be done I’ve found instructions like this;
“Remove the fat and connective tissue directly the sheep is killed. Reject cystic, hypertrophied or otherwise abnormal glands. Mince. Dry at 90° to 100° F. 32.2° to 37.7° C.. Powder the dried product. Remove all fat by washing with petroleum spirit and again dry.”

Do you know much about how it could be done at home?

Ray:

Medical grade acetone is good for the defatting. They stay greasy if the fat isn’t all removed, but that’s o.k. if they are frozen. Much of the fat can be removed by cooking them, then they can be powdered.

Q:
Do you have an idea of what percentage of absorption there is when applying steroids dissolved in vitamin-e on the lips?

Ray:

It’s much higher than on the skin, probably around 50%, but usually it migrates into the mouth, with close to 100% absorption.

Q:
Have you had any progress on finding a decent quality pregnenolone? Do you think if someone had a bunch of money, they could approach a manufacturer somewhere and they could figure out how to produce a very clean product?

Ray:

I think the surest thing would be to arrange contract production by one of the giant steroid producers—preferably the one that took over Syntec’s product. It would probably be more expensive than getting it from the places that produce it as the end product. They might still be using the same technology from the crude saponin to pregnenolone. New, more efficient technologies that are more profitable sometimes produce radically different products, for example ascorbic acid after 1955 and vitamin E after the 1990s.

jgs130

I have pages 21,16, and 12. The problem is that their screenshot. I not sure if that would be helpful. Let me know.

ThinPicking

Thank you

cs3000

@jgs130 nice , thanks yeah if u send them in a pm i can type them out so it shows up in search function (or ctrl + f twice)

@ThinPicking gonna put up a page at a time until it hits where expulsia archive is at

{page 47}

[Topical DHT]

It’s effective topically, but it might take several milligrams on the skin to absorb one mg.

[Why ray reduced his protein intake]

Question: I've noticed you're steering away from protein lately. Considering how much you've emphasized adequate protein in the past (around 100 grams per day) for thyroid, progesterone, dhea, the livers ability to excrete things etc. You must have learned new things that made you changed your mind a bit?

Ray: A study by the national academy of sciences of men and women in the army found that 100 grams per day was necessary for both men and women to work efficiently, Previous studies for example of students, found that 80 grams was enough to maintain nitrogen balance. for several decades, a very large proportion of women who "dieted" to prevent weight gain were damaging their health by eating much less. however, everything has a context, and in recent years fad diets have advocated high protein diets for everyone, without regard to age or activity. Certain amino acis in excess promote inflammation , aging, tumor growth and inhibit oxidative metabolism and the threshold for those effects decreases as the metabolic rate slows. "Body builders" in middle age are very often damaging their health by eating far more protein than needed for building muscle. After middle age, just shifting the ratio of carbohydrate to protein can radically increse the metabolic rate, reduce the ratio of cortisol to anabolic hormones, and improve health.

[MS like symptoms... including numbness in some finger tips, loss of dexterity in those same fingers, depression.]

Have you tried pregnenolone? DHT is probably safe, since it can’t turn into estrogen.

Thanks. Is there anything else I should try for sudden onset of possible MS-like symptoms (numbness in hands, clumsiness, mild visual distortion, memory problems)? I take thyroid, aspirin, pregnenolone, vitamin A. I just started taking more vitamin D, and using the chicken lights more.]

That list of symptoms reminds me of the first woman I knew who used progesterone for MS. She recovered completely, and gave a good lecture to my endocrinology class at the NCNM naturopathic school.

Iran J Med Sci. 2015 Nov;40(6):507-514.
Progesterone Enhanced Remyelination in the Mouse Corpus Callosum after Cuprizone Induced Demyelination.

Pak J Pharm Sci. 2015 Jul;28(4 Suppl):1563-6.
Review: Effect study of sex hormone in the multiple sclerosis of common
neurological disorders.

Acta Neurol Scand Suppl. 2015;132(199):62-70.
Hormonal and gender-related immune changes in multiple sclerosis. Airas L(1).

EMBO Mol Med. 2013 Jun;5(6):891-903. doi: 10.1002/emmm.201202124. Epub 2013 May 17.
A TSPO ligand is protective in a mouse model of multiple sclerosis.

 J Neurochem. 2010 Aug;114(3):921-32.
Sex-dimorphic changes in neuroactive steroid levels after chronic experimental
autoimmune encephalomyelitis.

Maturitas. 2003 Dec 10;46 Suppl 1:S71-5.
Differential effects of progestins on the brain.
Gruber CJ, Huber JC.

[progesterone for male with MS like symptoms effect on testosterone / sex function]

Are you getting enough protein, calcium, and vitamin D? Have you checked your temperature? I took some very big doses of progesterone 30 and 40 years ago, and more recently use small amounts regularly, and it hasn’t affected my sexual function, except a couple of time briefly affecting the sensation of ejaculation. Pregnenolone, and/or a combination of DHEA and progesterone can give similar effects while avoiding the anti-testosterone action.

[DHEA turning to estrogen when taking a few mg]

I don’t think that’s a risk with 5 mg or less. Things that protect against aromatase include aspirin, thyroid, vitamin D, pregnenolone, and sugar.

[parathyroid hormone problems, insomnia, eczema, etc.?]

What about your TSH? A small dose of thyroid at bedtime, and/or something sweet or salty, will often improve sleep.

[Neutrino sea, how to visualize Kozyrev idea of time's physical effect on objects]

I think it has to be seen in terms of “fields” or “ether.” The same perspective helps to interpret Rupert Sheldrake’s and Frank Brown’s and Halton Arp's ideas. I think Horace Dudley’s “neutrino sea” is a reasonable approach. Changes, energy, absorbed by the “sea” affect other processes in the sea; the idea of a gravitational lens describes similar facts, but with different assumptions.

[Ear pain connected to intestine]

I think there are nervous reflexes that cause symptoms in particular places when certain places in the intestine are inflamed. Sometimes antiinflammatory things such as aspirin, antihistamines, caffeine, can break the pattern, sometimes one of the antiinflammatory antibiotics (tetracycline or erythromycin) is helpful, and different fibrous foods—maybe cooked mushrooms—or laxatives might help, but it’s good to consider whether low thyroid function, low vitamin D, or a deficiency of calcium relative to phosphate might be the original problem.

[Two cups of white sugar safe a day with a diet of lots of beef, lots of coca cola, an occasional egg, cheese, butter, and a little orange juice. I also eat liver or liverwurst, canned oysters, and scallops when I can.]

If the sugar calories are too high you gain fat weight, otherwise it’s o.k. when the rest of your diet is rich in nutrients, as you describe.

[DHEA solubility]

The first time I used DHEA it was in olive oil, but I don’t remember the proportions, but 50 mg in 50 ml should be o.k.; warming the oil while stirring it is quicker; in an average kind of vitamin E, it was stable in a 4% solution. The students who came to Blake College sometimes experienced a sudden improvement in their abilities, away from the authoritarian situations.

If oxidized ldl is already oxidized, does it continue to cause lipid peroxidation in our blood vessels and cause inflammation and oxidative stress? Or is oxidized LDL only partially oxidized, and being so, it would continue to have a pathological effect?

Ray:

Yes, the oxidized fragments keep spreading the oxidation, with the smaller products often being the most toxic.

[HRV heart rate variability measure]

I wonder what your thoughts are on HRV - heart rate variability. I'm curious as I see it used in a lot of wearables and it is said to be a measure of heart health.

I wanted to read more about it. But reading to simple article on it, I am discouraged to explore further the topic as it seems to be tied favorably to the idea that the lower the heart rate, the more healthy.

Ray:

I think it’s just a fad, deriving from an evidence-free theory about the parasympathetic nervous system. Anxiety and hypertension decrease the effects of breathing on heart pumping.

[Achilles tendon reflex for thyroid status. QT interval as gauge for hypothyroidism (heart muscles relaxing ability)]

Hello Ray!
I hope you can help me out there. I seem to recall you having said something about the QT intervals as indicative of how responsive heart muscles are in relaxing, and with that it can be used as a gauge for hypothyroidism.

This lines up also with the behavior of the Achilles tendon as used in the Achilles Tendon reflex test. While the Achilles tendon test requires one to observe the speed of the reflex and make a qualitative judgment on thyroid status, I find having an ECG and using the computed QTc value more easy to use to determine the thyroid state.
I have been using 440 msec as my basis. If the value value is higher, one is hypothyroid. Is this a correct cut-off value to use?

Ray:

I think it might be quite a bit shorter than 440 when thyroid level is best.

[Prescription progesterone "Prometrium" problems?]

A little peanut oil isn’t a serious problem, but if it contained silica or titanium I wouldn’t use it. I don’t know whether they are using safe dyes. The progesterone is good, but the other things help to give it a “product identity."

[Temperature 96.9 waking but rises to 98.3]

I think that’s the effect of a mild hypothyroidism, in which the morning food increases the conversion of T4 to T3. In more serious hypothyroidism, the stress hormones can rise excessively during the night, raising the waking temperature; in that situation, having carbohydrate in the morning lowers the stress hormones, allowing the temperature to fall.

[Taking 50 mcg of T3, plus T4]

How long have you used that dose? Are you getting enough protein, vitamin D, calcium?
T4 accumulates, building up over a period of weeks. Sunlight exposure can help to increase the metabolic rate.

[Sitting in CO2 bag / feel good in Santa Fe / lidocaine]

Adapting to altitude is probably better than the bag because of electrical air ionization effects and the sunlight. Lidocaine has some antistress, antiinflammatory effects, stabilizing cells.

['BPD' bipolar diagnosis]

I’ve known a couple of people with that diagnosis who were just poorly nourished and very hypothyroid.

[Particular biological problems or deficiencies for 'BPD']

Vitamin D deficiency, various vitamin B deficiencies, hypothyroidism, and poisoning from bad intestinal flora, especially when the diet contains starches and raw vegetables. When the problem is nutritional or toxic, increased thyroid dosing increases the stress hormones, instead of decreasing them.

[Testosterone active orally]

A small amount of testosterone either in olive oil or as powder seems fully effective when swallowed; DHEA, similarly effective, but with about 3 times the dose.

[Follow up on "Since RNA vaccines haven't been used before, there's no way of telling in detail, but there's no doubt general immunity will be seriously damaged. Looking at the dismal results of vaccination campaigns so far, I think it could reduce world population by 80 or 90%." Do you think the deaths will occur over many decades and be reported as increases in cancer, heart diseases, etc.?]

It’s what could happen if the proposed universal application of these experimental genetic treatments takes place. I’ve been following the biological warfare research for many years, and I think it’s plausibly deliberate. Ron Unz describes it as the “excluded third possibility.” American Pravda: 'The Truth' and 'the Whole Truth' About the Origins of Covid-19
If a nucleic acid code for the viral spike protein becomes integrated into our system, the expected outcome would be a chronic decline in vitality and general health, a tendency toward increased inflammation, and an accelerated rate of aging and the diseases of aging, such as circulatory disease, cancer, and rheumatic diseases.

[Land near Zacapu]

The prospect of inflation makes land in Mexico, with its low taxes, seem very desirable. If the area is very rainy, it might be possible to collect enough water (https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/371867), but I would want something with a well or stream access, and water rights. The growing season is short at 7800 ft. There’s a lot of nice looking land around Zacapu, but something to investigate, if the land has a well, is what the trend in the water table has been—in Coeneo, the water level in the wells has fallen seriously in recent years.

[Collecting rainwater vs well]

Big sheets of plastic to line cisterns aren’t very expensive. I made a concrete tank, one meter deep, that’s about half above ground, that I intended as a small swimming pool, and during the rainy season we pump some of the water into the well, helping with the ground water. Plastic-lined ponds work in some areas. Friends in Coeneo had a big house built in 1900, and they used city water, but when the city’s pump failed, having thousands of gallons under the patio was convenient.

[RF radiation level of .0030 miliwaters / m2 safe compared to a reading of .0004]

I think it’s safe. Limit guidelines in U.S. are from 200 uW/cm2 to 1000 uW/cm2 (2 W/m2 to 10 W/m2) for RF radiation depending on frequency. Countries developed different standards based on either *Thermal Effects *Non-Thermal Effects or *Precautionary Considerations.
Conversion Chart, World Exposure Limits, Human Exposures ...
https://mdsafetech.org › conversion-and-exposure-limit…

windinthepines
{thanks to windinthepines and others for posting these}
[The rest I'll post aren't from me. They were sent to me from friends or collected from Facebook groups. I hope I'm not repeating any. Please let me know if I am.]

[In one of the latest podcasts with Danny Roddy you mentioned some cultures being very open based on what was the indigenous background culture. In Mexico, which of the various "subcultures" do you consider best/most open? I have thought it could be Michoacan, but I perceived it had a int of conservatism in a way.]

I was thinking of the Mixtecos of the Oaxaca-Veracruz area. The Tarascans of Michoacan probably contributed to the conservatism there, very good at staying independent by outwitting the Spaniards.

[Dealing with grief of not having children, other people as extended family]

In small tribal villages, everyone functioned as family members, and the “extended family” function persisted longer in agricultural societies, but has disintegrated in recent times. The idea of wives and children as a man’s property blended with the doctrine of “genes,” so that ownership and inheritance of property/genes became a deep part of our culture’s ideology. I think the sense of sharing, participating in, contributing to social life is primary, and the sense of private ownership usually has harmful effects on the people involved. Have you had tests recently for TSH and cholesterol?

[Dental fillings]

I think Sorel cement is the best filling material, but few dentists know about it. Gold is safe in the presence of RF radiation.
The zinc eugenol fillings are often used, and they can last a long time; I’ve known several dentists who were willing to use them, but they call them temporary.

[Zinc eugenol fillings safer than ceramic or gold?]

They are all very safe (especially the real baked ceramic used for inlays and crowns).

[Composite resin fillings toxic?]

If they are very small they are probably o.k.

[To help prevent dementia, or to help with fatigue and obesity, would 10 mg DHEA be a good dose for a woman over 40?]

Without progesterone it can cause a moustache to grow.
Tests could show whether it’s being converted to estrogen.

[Reverse osmosis water from stations at supermarket]

That’s the kind I use. Distillation can produce purer water, but it’s probably expensive and unnecessary.

[Complex question about choosing between housing options in relation to cell tower proximity]

I think the small town is safer.

[Lead in ceramics from China for making coffee]

If it doesn’t have a shiny glaze, it’s probably not a lead problem. I use glass and a paper filter, but I’ve often though that a perforated ceramic or glass dripper would be more convenient. I like to start with some warm water before adding hot water, to avoid breaking down aromatic things before extracting the caffeine.

[Nickel in stainless steel coffee maker]

The shiny, high nickel kind can when it’s new, but nearly all the mobile nickel goes into the first ten batches.

[Cookware, glass steel pans]

I normally use glass pans, Pyrex or Vision, but sometimes use the steel pans without nickel. Although they darken a little when they age, they don’t rust.
There are two main types of stainless steel, magnetic and nonmagnetic. The nonmagnetic form has a very high nickel content, and nickel is allergenic and carcinogenic. It is much more toxic than iron or aluminum. You can use a little "refrigerator magnet" to test your pans. The magnet will stick firmly to the safer type of pan
I think the nickel content should be less than 2%; the magnetic pans are hard to find (used stores sometimes have old ones), because people generally prefer the slick high nickel type.

[Large ovarian cyst]

Everyone that I have known with ovarian cysts got them to break by taking a large dose of progesterone. If you have tried that without effect, than maybe the surgery is necessary. Naloxone is another thing that sometimes corrects ovarian cysts.
Most often it was a single dose of about 100 mg.
I’ve heard from women who didn’t have shrinkage with progesterone but did with prolonged high thyroid supplementation. Fluid filled capsules anywhere in the body respond to hypothyroidism by swelling, and they shrink in the presence of increased thyroid hormone.

Am J Obstet Gynecol. 1973 Jun 15;116(4):551-6.
Preoperative hormonal therapy of cystic adnexal masses
W J Spanos

[Healing emotional trauma from childhood]

I think the lingering effects involve changes in the brain’s metabolism of neurosteroids. Just saturating the system with the hormones has to be combined with redirection of attention, until new habits of attention and brain metabolism are formed. Ordinary authoritarian relationships, which are the norm, make everyone forget what it felt like to just be a self, before language and assigned identities existed. When relaxing after a very nice meal, pleasant feelings pass through the torso. Getting into the habit of looking for those feelings whenever you have a free moment, you can make them occur more often; they represent part of self-possession. The state of the brain models the state of those perceptions; the crucial neurosteroids that let new patterns develop are pregnenolone, progesterone, vitamin D, and (cautiously) a little DHEA; the energy-supporting high calcium diet supports their metabolism. With practice, this sense of well being and wholeness grows.

[Things to try when not tolerating thyroid]

Have you tried things to change your intestinal flora, such as antibiotics or bacteriophage? Have you used cyproheptadine for the anxiety?
I use mostly penicillin, but erythromycin is good for preventing constipation and reducing inflammation.

[Erythromycin dose]

People vary greatly in sensitivity, but I find that 250 mg once a day has a strong effect on the bowel.

[Carcinoid tumor diagnosis, Vit D niacin]

It’s commonly associated with deficiency of vitamin D and niacin. Besides watching thyroid function, blood CO2, and TSH, using acetazolamide might be helpful if tumors are identified.

BMC Cancer. 2013 Aug 8;13:378.
Combination of carbonic anhydrase inhibitor, acetazolamide, and sulforaphane,
reduces the viability and growth of bronchial carcinoid cell lines.

[Worth using imagining and scope to verify carcinoid tumor presence?]

No, I think good tests of 5-HIAA, serotonin, and platelets, while doing the corrective things, is the right approach. Have you used ciproheptadine for symptoms?

[Doctors want to use MRI with gadolinium]

The MRI technology was developed (in the 1970s, by Ray Damadian) specifically because of its ability to distinguish tumor tissue from normal tissue without using a contrast medium, because of the appearance of the cell water even if the shape of the tissue hasn’t changed, but since the tumors they are looking for form actual lumps, it doesn’t take any specialized MRI technique.

Science. 1972 Dec 22;178(4067):1288-90.
Recognition of cancer in vivo by nuclear magnetic resonance.
Weisman ID, Bennett LH, Maxwell LR Sr, Woods MW, Burk D.

Magn Reson Med. 1992 Mar;24(1):53-63.
Proton nuclear magnetic resonance studies on water structure in peritumoral
edematous brain tissue.

[Mechanism by which a variety of substances help alliveriate hunger symptoms for periods of a few weeks-- myo-inositol, metformin , niacinamide]

For such different substances to have similar effects, I think it’s likely that they were acting on the intestinal bacteria, temporarily changing their production of toxins.

[Follow up on question about intestinal bacteria]

Have you tried psyllium hulls or ground flaxseed? A bacteriophage, such as Florassist or Floraphage sometimes changes the intestinal flora helpfully. Two antiseptic bacteria are sometimes available in a supplement to improve intestinal ecology: Bacillus subtilis and Bacillis licheniformia.

[CO2 bathing, tank from welder shop]

I get mine from a welder’s shop, and the valve on the tank works for filling a big plastic bag, but because the tanks are heavy, it’s convenient to use a hose for filling a tub. My tank’s valve is like a water faucet, and a simple rubber hose screws onto it, it doesn’t need a pressure gauge or anything fancy. A lighted candle is good for telling when the tank is full enough, it goes out when the CO2 reaches the flame. The flow should be fairly slow so that it doesn’t create turbulence that blows the gas out of the tank.

[Why the town Eugene?]

Eugene used to be the least conservative town, with a history of wobblies, socialists, and communes. Ashland has had a slightly progressive aspect, but generally southern Oregon was dominated first by the early immigrants, then the immigrants from the southern US states in the depression, and more recently by the creepy right-wingers who didn't go to Idaho. California is horribly expensive, crowded, and just generally awful, with fumes from crop dusting and millions of cars.

[Thyroid & adrenaline , thyroxine not suitable in addisons disease until treated as lowers cortisol]
From May 2018, I asked about case studies where thyroxine (T4) precipitates adrenal crises

Acute adrenal crisis precipitated by thyroxine. - PubMed
Primary Adrenal Insufficiency Misdiagnosed as Hypothyroidism in a Patient with Polyglandular Syndrome
Deterioration of symptoms after start of thyroid hormone replacement - BMJ. 2001
Levothyroxine replacement before glucocorticoid replacement leading to adrenal crisis in a case of autoimmune polyendocrine syndrome type II (Schmidt syndrome)
Thyroxine replacement precipitating adrenal crisis - Endocrine Abstracts (2009) 19 P64

Why does this happen? Would the same thing happen with T3?

Ray:

Addison’s disease should be immediately recognizable by any medical student; prescribing thyroxine for Addison’s disease is the sort of thing they call medical mistakes, and try not to admit to in court.
Active thyroid hormone is needed for the adrenals to use cholesterol to make the hormones, and nutritional deficiencies, especially vitamin A, can limit the ability to produce the steroids. Selenium is needed for local conversion of T4 to T3. Supplementing T4 will reliably increase T3 in healthy people, but not in sick people.

[Caffeine raising acetylcholine / inhibiting acetylcholinesterase?]

Hi Dr. Peat, Do you think there is significance to caffeine inhibiting human acetylcholinesterase? There seems to be a "moderate" inhibitory effect but there are no in vivo studies as far as I know.
Do you know of anyone who's had problems with coffee or caffeine that indicated elevated acetylcholine?

Ray Peat: If it’s integrated with meals it’s safe.

[Silicon dioxide in tablets, Coffee]

Ray Peat:

Pre-ground coffee is good, but freshly ground beans have a little more flavor. Products with silicon dioxide should be avoided.

[Saturated fat]

Someone shared an email where you advised a maximum of 30% dietary fat. You seem to praise saturated fat almost in a supplemental context but not as a bulk of the diet. Do you think exceeding that amount above 30%, even with only saturated fats and no PUFA, causes metabolic problems?

Ray Peat:

Hydrogenated coconut oil doesn’t contain any PUFA; I have used larger amounts of that, with no visible effects.

In your recent newsletter you mention the catabolic effects of living in the mountains. Can you elaborate on that, what about the mountains is catabolic? Thank you

Ray:

That was to point out how bad science is predominant in some areas.

[T3 intolerance]

I think it would help with your symptoms and hormone regulation if you raise the vitamin D to 50 or 60 ng/ml. If you take the glandular thyroid in one dose, it’s best around bedtime. Have you kept a record of its effects on your pulse rate and temperature, especially before getting up in the morning? By powdering the Cynomel, and dividing each tablet into about 20 pieces, each dose will be just enough to be able to sense an effect, starting within seconds, and then fading away in the next few hours. By checking your pulse rate, you’ll be able to correlate the dose with changes in the fatigue and waakness. If you space the doses by 3 or more hours, after several days you should be able to see some slight but consistent changes in your pulse rate, and when you do, whether it’s slower or faster, wait for it to be steady at that rate for a few days before deciding to increase the dose. T3 and vitamin D work closely together, and help to keep calcium out of soft tissues; that lets them store up more energy, while reducing inflammation and anxiety.

[Adult growth hormone deficiency / How to temporarily lower IGF-1]

Has your vitamin D been tested? It can alleviate a GH deficiency. It should be around 50 ng/ml, or 125 nmol/l.

Endocrine Abstracts (2016) 41 EP908
Vitamin D status of adults with growth hormone deficiency
Ivayla Uzunova1, Georgi Kirilov1, Sabina Zacharieva1 & Krassimir Kalinov2
Conclusion: Data from our study demonstrated considerably high prevalence of hypovitaminosis D in GHD adults, with lower 25(OH)D concentrations among the subgroup with AOGHD. T

[Cushings disease]

Taking high doses of cyproheptadine to relieve possible Cushing's disease symptoms (Rebound elevation of Cortisol following cyproheptadine withdrawal in Cushing’s disease from a pituitary macroadenoma - Journal of Endocrinological Investigation, A Case of Serotonin Syndrome Following Cyproheptadine Withdrawal)

Both of those articles are mostly about medical ineptness, more concerned with words than with a particular person’s problem. There are many ways to reduce cortisol, and they can be combined. Saliva tests could conveniently show the immediate effects on cortisol of a particular dose of aspirin or cyproheptadine or progesterone, etc., making it possible to adjust the dose. Bromocriptine and cabergoline are also often used for treating Cushing’s.

[Aspirin that smells like vinegar]

Aspirin breaks down into acetic acid and salicylic acid; if it’s extremely sour, a little baking soda would neutralize the acid, and salicylic acid has almost the same effects as aspirin.

[Beta thalassemia minor , low cortisol, microcytosis and copper deficiency]

Cyclic progesterone is safe, but the need for it decreases as thyroid function increases. A couple of people have found that they could increase their tolerance for thyroid by starting with a transdermal solution, very diluted in water--e.g., ten mcg in three ounces of water, starting with a drop of solution on the hand. It was an allergist who discovered that, from his experience with desensitizing doses
If your cortisol is steadily extremely low, then taking some with each bit of thyroid would be appropriate, since it takes effect immediately. Prolonged use, combined with low thyroid function, wouldn't be good.
Have you used the progesterone on a monthly cycle? Was the estrogen measured when you were using progesterone?
Has your cortisol been measured? The slightly high DHEAS suggests that your adrenals are being slightly over-stimulated.
Do you eat shell fish regularly? A copper deficiency can cause microcytosis; excess zinc, molybdenum, and sulfur can contribute to a copper deficiency. Increasing thyroid helps with copper assimilation and hemoglobin production, and would lower your cholesterol. Normalizing your vitamin D might help to increase the hemoglobin.

[When is the best part of the cycle to test estrogen and progesterone for menstruating women?]

For a single test, the luteal phase, a few days after ovulation.

[Iodine hypersensitivity]

Too much iodine interferes with thyroid function, and that slows down the liver, letting T4 accumulate. The high TSH shows that your T4 isn’t high now, and selenium and progesterone will help to restore functions. Cynomel is the product with the least iodine, and it would be good to periodically test doses of about one microgram (starting by dissolving a tablet in an ounce or two of water, and testing the water starting with just a drop or two per day).

[Your thoughts on living in an A/C controlled environment; can that be harmful?]

Some of them can spread allergens and infections.

[Do you exercise at all?]

I occasionally do things like cutting wood, doing repairs, etc.;
physical exertion is good, especially when it feels good.

[Does raw milk have any benefits over pasteurized, and if one is able
to obtain it, is it better even though the bacteria could potentially kill?]

It's important to get it from a clean dairy. Pasteurization reduces
the content of vitamin B2 and B12 and folic acid very slightly, but the
main differences are that raw milk should taste better, and it generally
doesn't have the additives that are in most commercial milk.

jgs130

@cs3000 Yea I tried uploading on the thread. The file is too big. How would I pm you ? Does the forum have that option ?

cs3000

@jgs130 yep click my name then the three dots on the right start new chat , (can also block people there to hide the spam threads), max upload in pm is 2mb , if its bigger than that u can resize in paintnet without losing much quality (image at the top toolbar -> resize -> by percentage)

jgs130

@cs3000 I tried to resize it and save it on my desktop. Then I tried to upload it on the chatroom and here on the thread and I get an error message that I don't have enough privileges for that action. I don't know what to say. Let me know what you think.