Glucose loading cures everything?
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@S-Holmes maybe this whole time you weren’t eating enough easily digestible carbs?
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@LetTheRedeemed said in Glucose loading cures everything?:
@S-Holmes maybe this whole time you weren’t eating enough easily digestible carbs?
Or as the doctor says, I was unable to convert food to fuel very efficiently.
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@gentlepotato said in Glucose loading cures everything?:
@josh said in Glucose loading cures everything?:
Is it because the HPA axis becomes more sensitive with every trauma, and more ready to switch into sympathetic mode, stress cascade and ultimately more fat metabolism, inhibiting glucose metabolism. Maybe flooding the system with glucose stops the stress hormones from needing to be activated and slowly over time this makes the HPA axis less reactive through neuroplastic pathways being desensitised.
Do you have any sources for this understanding of the HPA axis? That the HPA axis "becomes sensitive", what does that mean? The neuroplastic approach is a very mental one, often seen mentioned by people who believe in the biopsychosocial model. I'd say it's very far from a bioenergetic approach.
Sorry from a technical standpoint i am fairly unqualified. i have had an intimate relationship with trauma though over the last two years. Iv tried to take knowledge and see how it sits and feels on my own body, staying open minded.
I believe in the bioenergetic view of increased energy makes you more able to deal with stress and trauma. I have felt things that trigger me become easier to deal with as i have more resource, using bioenergetic principles. I also know triggers of hardwired stress responses to pretty innocuous things still remain as i feel the adrenaline effects of them everyday.
So from my basic understanding, i think the hypothalamus can send false flags to the pituitary, and each time the pituitary fires off the adrenals, this down regulates your metabolism. This in turn makes your HPA axis much more sensitive to firing as your resources for stressors such as false flags becomes much lower. I can see where i was confusing, in a way the hpa axis isnt more sensitive, its just doing its job, its actually due to low energy, and the hpa axis is filling in the gaps.
It funny (it really isnt) but i notice this in the morning when my temps are low im super reactive to triggers, whereas in the evening i barely react to them. Inversely if im being triggered alot, after the adrenaline has settled my temps will drop. It just shows how bidirectional the relationship between stress and energy ate.
Iv tried the 4x 25g dextrose for the last 4 days and on the first day my tinnitus went for 6hrs in the afternoon which was a big deal. The next 3 days my tinnitus didnt go. What i think happened is it is having an effect, but naturally after day one i felt a bit better, and pushed myself a bit harder, hence lost the gains, and adrenaline(cause of my tinnitus) stepped in again. Will give it time and hopefully will start to improve my brains carb metabolism. This alongside experimenting with increasing co2 which has been super helpful.
Btw i do think if you can boost your metabolism and be less reactionary to triggers. I believe we all have triggers, but this less our bodies react to these triggers the less important they become to the brain and slowly fade away like old memories, and you dont re traumatise yourself each time there is a trigger (book:the brain that changes itself). i think there is room for neuroplasticity alongside bioenergenetics, but this is only my opinion
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@S-Holmes juice or white rice?
Regardless, I would start thyroid again now that you’re consuming enough carb calories.
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@josh said in Glucose loading cures everything?:
@gentlepotato said in Glucose loading cures everything?:
@josh said in Glucose loading cures everything?:
Is it because the HPA axis becomes more sensitive with every trauma, and more ready to switch into sympathetic mode, stress cascade and ultimately more fat metabolism, inhibiting glucose metabolism. Maybe flooding the system with glucose stops the stress hormones from needing to be activated and slowly over time this makes the HPA axis less reactive through neuroplastic pathways being desensitised.
Do you have any sources for this understanding of the HPA axis? That the HPA axis "becomes sensitive", what does that mean? The neuroplastic approach is a very mental one, often seen mentioned by people who believe in the biopsychosocial model. I'd say it's very far from a bioenergetic approach.
Sorry from a technical standpoint i am fairly unqualified. i have had an intimate relationship with trauma though over the last two years. Iv tried to take knowledge and see how it sits and feels on my own body, staying open minded.
I believe in the bioenergetic view of increased energy makes you more able to deal with stress and trauma. I have felt things that trigger me become easier to deal with as i have more resource, using bioenergetic principles. I also know triggers of hardwired stress responses to pretty innocuous things still remain as i feel the adrenaline effects of them everyday.
So from my basic understanding, i think the hypothalamus can send false flags to the pituitary, and each time the pituitary fires off the adrenals, this down regulates your metabolism. This in turn makes your HPA axis much more sensitive to firing as your resources for stressors such as false flags becomes much lower. I can see where i was confusing, in a way the hpa axis isnt more sensitive, its just doing its job, its actually due to low energy, and the hpa axis is filling in the gaps.
It funny (it really isnt) but i notice this in the morning when my temps are low im super reactive to triggers, whereas in the evening i barely react to them. Inversely if im being triggered alot, after the adrenaline has settled my temps will drop. It just shows how bidirectional the relationship between stress and energy ate.
Iv tried the 4x 25g dextrose for the last 4 days and on the first day my tinnitus went for 6hrs in the afternoon which was a big deal. The next 3 days my tinnitus didnt go. What i think happened is it is having an effect, but naturally after day one i felt a bit better, and pushed myself a bit harder, hence lost the gains, and adrenaline(cause of my tinnitus) stepped in again. Will give it time and hopefully will start to improve my brains carb metabolism. This alongside experimenting with increasing co2 which has been super helpful.
Btw i do think if you can boost your metabolism and be less reactionary to triggers. I believe we all have triggers, but this less our bodies react to these triggers the less important they become to the brain and slowly fade away like old memories, and you dont re traumatise yourself each time there is a trigger (book:the brain that changes itself). i think there is room for neuroplasticity alongside bioenergenetics, but this is only my opinion
Dr. Peat says that tinnitus is caused by gut inflammation. So heal the gut, heal the tinnitus? I have it too. My gut is healing, top down. Not going to provide the gory details at this time, but gut dysbiosos has been a lifelong issue for me so I'm probably looking at a year or more before I'm 100%.
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@LetTheRedeemed said in Glucose loading cures everything?:
@S-Holmes juice or white rice?
Regardless, I would start thyroid again now that you’re consuming enough carb calories.
My first morning temp is at least 98°. My late afternoon temp is at least 99°. These are consistent. I think I should forego the thyroid for now. The last thing I want right now is to risk a thyroid storm.
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@S-Holmes nice
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@josh I'll try to respond more later, but wondering if you know that adrenaline and cortisol are activated when blood sugar is low? They're a part of the blood sugar regulation. If you feel adrenaline in the morning there's a good chance your blood sugar has dropped too low during the night.
(Low cortisol is also commonly seen in HPA axis dysregulation, serum or free. I've been trying to find how that may affect blood sugar regulation, if anyone has the answer let me know!)
I've had a daily meditation practice for a decade and do lots of things that are now considered "neuroplastic exercises" (fairly new concept, but it's been around in other forms), but in my experience avoiding low blood sugar with enough food was way more efficient than neuroplastic exercises, when the goal was to not activate the stress hormones
A year of enough food, eating often, nutrient dense meals and white sugar did more for my HPA axis imbalances than a decade of neuroplastic exercises, and my sense is glucose has done even more to balance those hormones.
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@gentlepotato said in Glucose loading cures everything?:
@josh I'll try to respond more later, but wondering if you know that adrenaline and cortisol are activated when blood sugar is low? They're a part of the blood sugar regulation. If you feel adrenaline in the morning there's a good chance your blood sugar has dropped too low during the night.
(Low cortisol is also commonly seen in HPA axis dysregulation, serum or free. I've been trying to find how that may affect blood sugar regulation, if anyone has the answer let me know!)
I've had a daily meditation practice for a decade and do lots of things that are now considered "neuroplastic exercises" (fairly new concept, but it's been around in other forms), but in my experience avoiding low blood sugar with enough food was way more efficient than neuroplastic exercises, when the goal was to not activate the stress hormones
A year of enough food, eating often, nutrient dense meals and white sugar did more for my HPA axis imbalances than a decade of neuroplastic exercises, and my sense is glucose has done even more to balance those hormones.
Good info here!
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@LetTheRedeemed said in Glucose loading cures everything?:
@S-Holmes nice
Thanks! Who knew glucose was the missing macro (nutrient)!
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Time for more glucose! It has dropped .2 (thats POINT 2) degrees in the past hour. After glucose it will rise to 99.1 or 99.2.
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@S-Holmes do you have a food source for glucose? Or will you be plucking dextrose pills for life?
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Thanks @S-Holmes and @gentlepotato, your replies show alot of care and i really appreciate that :).
Thats really interesting about how Ray Peat says tinnitus is from dysbiosis in the gut, i will look into his work on this.
Thanks @gentlepotato i think you are right that i struggle to keep my blood sugar high enough through the night. During the day i eat very regularly to make sure my blood sugar stays up, but the night i am definitely still having problems with. Iv tried a few things to get me through the night without waking, and i think milk and honey with some fruit at bedtime gave my best results. Actually the glucose supplementation iv done recently has worsened my sleep i think because maybe its entering and exiting the blood too quick. Have you had any luck with anything to keep your blood glucose up through the night?
Im now trying to use the glucose supplementation in an intuitive way, like first thing in the morning or if symptoms show up.
Thanks also for the experience on how important blood sugar regulation is, it gives me hope im on the right track. Trying to work out the different effects of sucrose, glucose, fructose and lactose atm.
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@LetTheRedeemed said in Glucose loading cures everything?:
@S-Holmes do you have a food source for glucose? Or will you be plucking dextrose pills for life?
I use glucose in powdered form. The ultimate goal is to heal completely so you're able to get enough from food, but that varies with age and the magnitude of one's illness. I hope to be able to go on a lower maintenance dose in time. Stress and aging will burn through it faster, so I'll use it on an "as needed" basis.
Dr Stephens says that glucose is more, or just as, important to the body as water and oxygen. If your body doesn't have the ability to efficiently convert food to fuel, straight dextrose/glucose seems to be the best option.
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@josh We (husband and I) have glucose in cocoa before bed and that seems to help us get better sleep. Having some glucose water (or Smarties candy tablets) beside the bed in case blood sugar drops should also help.
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Did nobody here get blood sugar drops from glucose? I only tested it a couple of days like 3 or 4 times a day just 5g dextrose. Always felt good but after like half an hour get a heavy blood sugar drop afterwards. What does this mean? To low of a does the body need some time to adopt?
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@Mr-X said in Glucose loading cures everything?:
Did nobody here get blood sugar drops from glucose? I only tested it a couple of days like 3 or 4 times a day just 5g dextrose. Always felt good but after like half an hour get a heavy blood sugar drop afterwards. What does this mean? To low of a does the body need some time to adopt?
I don't do well with glucose on an empty stomach, and yes, there is an adjustment period. But it looks like your starting dose was very low. You need about 30 grams per bolus to begin with. If you choose to go the Mercola route, you need to keep the glucose coming all day long rather than 3 or 4 doses a day recommended by Dr Stephens. Hope that makes sense.
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Thanks @S-Holmes, when you started did you put 30g dextrose in your hot chocolate? Do you use a lesser dose now you are more used to it?
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@josh said in Glucose loading cures everything?:
Thanks @S-Holmes, when you started did you put 30g dextrose in your hot chocolate? Do you use a lesser dose now you are more used to it?
I use 3 Tbsp. That's ~30 grams. Also, glucose/dextrose is less sweet than sucrose so 30 grams is just right (for me). Rather than using a lesser dose you have to increase the doses with glucose therapy until symptoms subside.
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@S-Holmes interesting. Are you looking into why the liver could be having trouble getting glucose from food? It's not too hard to get glucose from rice or fructose (most fruit sugars are 40% glucose already, and with a decent liver, converting fructose to glucose isn't too hard, no?).
