@Corngold

My office space at work is right by a nursing station, which is usually bustling and noisy, so that tracks. I can close my door and put headphones on, but often the sound bleeds in, so this could certainly be a factor. It didn’t always used to be an issue, but I feel like it’s definitely contributed to feelings of fatigue way more over the past year.

@Corngold

I don’t think I have issues with cholesterol conversion. I get anywhere between 70-120 g fat/day depending on if I’m trying to eat lower fat. I eat 3 eggs/day and ample dairy products, so I must be getting more than enough dietary cholesterol. Blood cholesterol is in the 170-180s, which isn’t too high nor too low I think.
Being the dietitian I am, I almost always get most of my nutrition/micronutrients from food and so I only supplement periodically (a bottle of B-vitamins or thiamine every once in a while), otherwise I’m pretty skeptical of supplements out there, plus too many supplements might cause issues as Peat suggested. I understand aspirin’s safety but I also only use it sparingly, I try not to use anything if I don’t have any overt/exaggerated symptoms.

@Milk-Destroyer

I tried pregnenolone last summer/fall, didn’t really do much for me. I’m envious of the folks who report any of the positive effects from reduced anxiety, improved mood, and increased energy. I’ve tested at doses of 70–150 mg, which I think is pretty standard. Do I need to increase the dose? Also, I have the powder from Health Natura and I usually tried to let it dissolve sublingually on an empty stomach, I’m assuming this is the best way to take it.

@Corngold said in Solutions for head heaviness?:

I was stretching, doing certain routine stretches and had very limited relief until doing PT (Where I think some of the mental and nervous connections were made).

Seems like you were working with a fairly holistic PT - I'd have to do some research to find a good one near me. I live in a metro area so there's lots of specialists, shouldn't be too hard to find one.

Do you drink coffee? I started adding milk and sugar and am digesting coffee far better, getting more energy, and no cortisol-like stomach pain and jitters.

For many years I drank it black without anything in it, but for the past several years I started to add cream and coconut oil, I rarely added sugar as I didn't like the taste of it with sugar in it. Fortunately, I found maple syrup to combine well with the flavors of coffee, so I actually just started to add that over the past couple months. I also got into a decaf stint last year (April-Dec) as I was bit desperate in terms of finding relief - ultimately I found no benefit, but I did enjoy not being dependent on caffeine/coffee, so now I operate on a 5-days on during the week/2-days off during the weekend, which has been working well for me in terms of limiting dependence and maintaining the psychoactive effects. The caffeine during the week helps a bit with working, but I'm still not operating at the level I'd like to be at.

I can't find Peat talking much about biofeedback (if you know where he does, feel free to link) whereas GNM proceeds first from biofeedback / environment interaction.

Not aware of any sources, but I might search Peatbot to see if he had any references to biofeedback. I think the biofeedback approach could be quite beneficial for me moving forward, I appreciate you bringing up GNM as a resource, it's something I'm going to read a bit more about.

I wrote in a different thread that Dr. Sarno differentiated between placebo and lasting pain relief when he talked about TMS (tension myositis syndrome) being largely driven by unconscious rage. "Placebo" treatments are temporarily useful. He thought / measured that lasting relief came when patients accepted their pain was stemming from unconscious rage and not mechanical, physical issues. Very worth reading his books.

My take is there are mechanical causes of pain. However, the mechanical component is always linked to a mental component. So every movement or repetition is corresponding to a mental criterion. I know that playing an instrument can cause carpal tunnel or joint pain but I'm certainly convinced that mental stresses go along with this ability, just as physical work or procedures are accompanied with a mental directedness which might be under distress.

I looked a little bit into TMS previously - again, it's a case where I'd like to believe it's purely physical so I can address it with physical modalities, but seems like it's time to seriously consider the emotional/mental aspect. My acupuncturist who does cupping therapy on me has said that the muscles where the pain is located are very very tight, so it could still be an issue mainly rooted in my posture/chronically knotted muscles, but it can't hurt to also try to address any corresponding mental factors in order to optimize relief. Anything to get my head screwed on tighter at this point.

@sushi_is_cringe Update: Before bed I did a trial of 10 minutes of head/neck lymph massage using my wife's Gua Sha. I noticed it was a bit easier to wake up this morning, which is an issue I've been struggling with for a few years now. Still not as seamless a transition to waking as I'd like, but somewhat improved. My head also felt a bit lighter during my morning routine, but of course the sensation returns when I'm at work - the heaviness might be more work-related than I previously thought. The improvements could be placebo, so I'll have to be consistent with it for a few nights to check for continuing improvement.

@Corngold

When my back pain is at its worst, I feel that "need to drive into it" very much so. Using the foam roller brings temporary relief, but I'm honestly probably not using it long enough - I usually use it for a couple minutes which helps but the pain usually returns when I'm doing something like dishes or putting my toddler to bed. I wonder if a stricter daily regimen of >=15 minutes a day would bring more lasting relief and if it might have an effect on the head sensation. I don't really have bad or frequent headaches, only every once in a while, as is typical for most folks I imagine - the head heaviness is painless but is definitely felt. It's very distracting/draining, and likely associated with the low energy state/brain fog.

Regarding the German new medicine concepts, it sounds like the main idea that various stressors (physical, emotional/mental, biochemical, etc.) interrupt the natural healing & regenerative processes of certain organs, and in the case of the brain, the interruption of the healing process can lead to edema/cerebral pressure that contributes to headaches? Seems consistent with Peat, any of these stressors probably lowers brain glucose which interrupts the healing/highly energetic processes and leads to headache. I wonder what he would say about the heaviness sensation, maybe I'm always on the cusp of headache but not quite crossing the hypoglycemic threshold to produce pain? During my low-carb years I always wanted to wear a CGM, but I haven't really thought about it since making an effort to increase my metabolic rate. Might be worthwhile to investigate continuous blood glucose trends for a week or two?

@sushi_is_cringe I’ll have to find a guide on this and try it out tonight, thanks for letting me know.

@Corngold said in Solutions for head heaviness?:

I've recommended this before on other threads but consider physical therapy. If you're busy fine, but if you're open minded about solving any muscle or neck/head tension it may be life-changing (was for me after terrible neck pain/shoulder pain, headaches, etc).

I don’t feel so much neck/head tension, it’s really just the front-of-the head heaviness. However, my mid-upper back is always quite sore at the end of the day, which I attribute to several years of lab technician work in college and needing to be hunched over to work in hoods, so there might be a connection there. I’m friends with a few physical therapists at my work, I could ask them about what might be going on and they might have some good advice and guidance on exercises that might help.

@Corngold said in Solutions for head heaviness?:

This is very relatable. Conflict over the supplements and/or the environment, in addition to other stresses outside of work I think make distraction and stress relief the most attractive option. Maybe you're not believing in what you're doing. I'm in a similar spot. It sounds like you have a lot on your mind and a lot to balance... sounds like heaviness.

Spot on, I absolutely do not believe in what I’m doing lol. I went into becoming a dietitian after a few years of low-carb and subsequently learning about increasing the metabolic rate, so I questioned my entire education. I knew my job options would be limited in terms about holistic practice and fulfillment

I feel like I'm meeting my energetic baseline but paradoxically, instead of feeling spiritual courage and fortitude it's more like I become aware of an absence in "directedness" and remain neutral.

I resonate with this feeling in my current energy state, the absence of “directedness” you describe I think makes it hard for me to take action on things, and especially with regards to future planning.

I think PUFA is damaging and sub-optimal but I think the other side is that many people are living over 90 and probably don't know what PUFA is. My opinion is once a certain thing is treated as "poison" so many other things can be thought of this way too. I'm not saying it isn't damaging but there are lots of factors involved.

The mind is powerful, have definitely met lots of old folks who are PUFA-laden yet doing fairly well give their advanced age - clearly there’s more to their energy and health-span than the potentially damaging components of their diet.

@sushi_is_cringe Thanks for the reply. I agree in thinking massage might help, just don’t have the time to schedule one at the moment - I have a foam roller that I keep neglecting to use, might need to be more consistent with it to get the lymph flowing better. I’d also like to follow it up with cardio, but every time I go for a run recently, I am consistently sore for the next 3-4 days, sometimes for up to a week, not really sure what’s going on with that, maybe deconditioning since I’ve been running less after becoming a parent?

In terms of my patients, most of them are 65+ and chronically ill with many comorbities and no intention in changing their dietary behaviors or lifestyle - I have to see every patient that comes to our facility no matter what, not because they actually wants dietary advice. I get a patient here or there where I can talk about improving digestion or including more helpful foods (juices, milk, meats, ice cream) to restore energy and gain some weight, but for most of them, they don’t really care to receive any pro-metabolic nutritional intervention (this is one of my many dissatisfactions with my current role). I certainly don’t blame myself or internalize any failure for being unable to help folks, I’m glad to help where I can, it’s just that my job is 95% unhelpful supplement prescriptions and standard dietary advice I’m forced to provide (and a great deal of mind numbing documentation that follows). I’m optimistic that in my next job I’ll be able to affect meaningful change in my patients/clients lives.