Posts made by Jennifer

@functionalgirl, since aversions are common with pregnancy, could you be extra sensitive to one or more of the excipients in Cynomel? You may already be aware of this but just in case you aren’t, you may find salt helps relieve the nausea.

@Insomniac said in Why it's hard to overcome a bad childhood. Dr. Lipton explains that 95% of our operational programming is completed by age 7:

In my case I had attempted to block out my past and focus on things like chemicals, hormones, environmental toxins, food, light and exercise but ironically ignoring my past was not helpful to moving forward because it should be involved in your search for solutions.

Same here. I focused on all the same things and aside from exercise, they only served as a distraction. What helped me most was adopting a self-love practice and release work. First, I got a picture of myself as a little girl and made a promise to her that I would do better by her, now that I knew better, and would have her back no matter what. Then I grieved. I grieved everything I had lost like my innocence, a childhood and my best friend. If you’ve ever grieved, you know that it comes on in waves of emotions and mine was mostly rage that needed to be released or else consume me—trauma got my past, but I was damned if it was getting my future—so I expressed it through non-destructive ways such as punching my mattress, screaming in the shower and climbing the stairs in my house. I think the gentleness of feminine energy is so healing, but sometimes healing requires the proactive and goal-oriented nature of masculine energy so climbing the stairs with the goal of climbing mountains again, something I hadn’t been able to do since my spine collapsed, was a powerful way of transmuting the energy of trauma.

I had a log on the old Ray Peat Forum where I documented my recovery, shared very personal things about myself like the molestation, and I had written up a final update I never posted before leaving that touched on this very topic. Coming from someone who is on the other side of trauma, perhaps my words will be of comfort to those still in the thick of it. If we have the courage to see our healing through to the end, trauma reveals to us what we’re made of. There is a reason why we suppress things, and when you’ve stacked up enough fed-ups and gathered the kind of strength it takes to face the phantom—your trauma—you regain your power and see the force to be reckoned with that you were designed to be. This place is not for cowards, and having survived hell, you are dangerous. You are a threat to the status quo. You are no longer easily abused, manipulated or quick to blame yourself. You are also a beacon of light for others who are where you once were. You aren’t a victim, you’re a miracle.

@Kvirion said in Why it's hard to overcome a bad childhood. Dr. Lipton explains that 95% of our operational programming is completed by age 7:

@Jennifer said in Why it's hard to overcome a bad childhood. Dr. Lipton explains that 95% of our operational programming is completed by age 7:

We can lead a horse to water with the intention of having it drink, but what if it doesn’t believe it can drink because all the other horses don’t believe they can drink so they don’t? Thank God for all the exceptions breaking the rule.

Yes, is so well said. I noticed that some of my friends are willing to improve and some will do everything to avoid facing their demons... and stay being a (traumatized) normie - with their mantra - next time I will do the same but better...

I’ve noticed the same thing among my friends and family. As much as I wish it weren’t the case, I can understand their resistance to facing trauma. Not only is it painful to relive, it can be overwhelming when starting the process of healing only to realize that it’s not just our own trauma we are having to overcome, but generational and societal trauma too so I applaud anyone who attempts it because they aren’t just healing themselves, they’re healing the collective. I like to think of it as reweaving the web of life. Each of us are a strand in it so what we do to ourselves we do to the web and what we do to the web we do to ourselves.

@RawGoatMilk88 said in If t3 supplementation is low enough <25mcg, does the thyroid continue to function?:

If t3 supplementation is low enough <25mcg, does the thyroid continue to function?

Given what Ray said below, I doubt it’s enough to fully suppress the thyroid:

“As long as it's divided so that you don't get a big dose of T3 all at once it should be o.k. to take a total of 25 mcg T3 and 100 of T4. That would be similar to the traditional 2 grain dose of Armour thyroid. A healthy person should produce the equivalent of about four grains per day, so with 2 grains of supplement, or the equivalent, there isn't a risk of over-dosing.”

However, even if it did, Ray said this:

“Experimenters using isotopes gave large doses of thyroid until the subjects' glands were completely shut off, and when they stopped giving the doses, everyone's gland returned to normal activity in just 2 or 3 days. The gland is extremely quick to adjust its activity, both up and down, except when it's inhibited by stress, or PUFA, or estrogen, etc.”

https://raypeatforum.com/wiki/index.php/Ray_Peat_Email_Exchanges#Thyroid_Hormones

@sneedful, you’re welcome.

@yerrag, I understand. I personally saw and lived through my mum’s trauma from her early years, even watched her die in my arms because of it, but I stand by my comment. I am proof that “children never fully recover from abuse” isn’t true. Some children, many even, but not all as Insomniac’s statement implies. Just like it was our parent’s choice to overcome their past, it was our choice to overcome ours and our parent’s and the collective’s/society’s by extension. We can lead a horse to water with the intention of having it drink, but what if it doesn’t believe it can drink because all the other horses don’t believe they can drink so they don’t? Thank God for all the exceptions breaking the rule.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0G-piKUnWk

@Serotoninskeptic, great! I hope you like it.

@Insomniac said in Why it's hard to overcome a bad childhood. Dr. Lipton explains that 95% of our operational programming is completed by age 7:

Children never fully recover from abuse. Molested girls never seem to have completely normal relationships as adults.

I’m proof the above isn’t true. I was molested as a little girl, suffered neglect, but I don’t entertain dysfunctional relationships. I used to think that my inability to get close to a man was because of the past sexual abuse, but after working tirelessly to overcome trauma, find my voice and treat myself better than the past ever did, I realized I attracted men dominant in distorted, masculine energy and it’s distorted, masculine energy that I can’t get close to. I’m attracted to, and trust, energy in its divine state. My instincts were on point.

@Serotoninskeptic, yep! I use the PS’ gelatin in my dad’s meals and the collagen in his coffee.

@Serotoninskeptic, have you tried adding some instant coffee to your hot chocolate? It really brings out the cocoa’s flavor. And you get the best of both worlds.

I’ve been giving my family Perfect Supplements’ collagen for years now:

https://www.perfectsupplements.com/search.php?search_query=Collagen&section=product

You may find this blog post useful:

https://www.mamavation.com/food/gelatin-collagen-jello-benefits-brands.html

@Serotoninskeptic, which do you enjoy more? The caffeine in coffee (and black tea) boosts my mood, but so does the enjoyment I get from drinking hot chocolate and brewed cacao nibs.

You’re welcome, @RawGoatMilk88.

@Mossy, I started my dad on NDT and it was his first time taking thyroid, yes. Knowing that Dr. Barnes used NDT on his patients and thyroid glands were a regular part of my ancestors’ diet, I felt more comfortable starting him on desiccated thyroid. I felt so comfortable with it, I planned on supplementing it indefinitely myself after optimizing my thyroid function, to mitigate the stress of living in a cold climate and being a caregiver, and I just came across this quote by Ray the other day that supports the idea:

“[T3 for someone who's been chronically running on adrenaline?] When T3 is used in small doses, such as 3 or 4 mcg at a time, it can be very effective for lowering adrenalin by letting glucose be more fully oxidized. It’s helpful to keep a chart of your waking and midday temperature and pulse rate to watch the cumulative effects of the T3, so you can adjust the dose. A dose at bedtime typically makes it possible to go to sleep quickly; it should be supported by things like orange juice, cheese, and milk. A natural desiccated thyroid product, in the long run, is a convenient way to keep your metabolic rate where it should be.”

https://raypeatforum.com/wiki/index.php/Ray_Peat_Email_Exchanges#Thyroid_Hormo

@Tarzan17 said in Ideas/tips for insatiable hunger at night:

@Jennifer yeah, for some reason eating more during the day never seems to help my hunger at night. Ive intentionally tried this to see if id desire to eat even a little less at night… but no noticeable difference what so ever… and the problem with ice cream is that i would need A LOT of ice cream before i feel full… it’s not exactly a filling food i think my past habit of ‘volume eating’ has conditioned me to seek that physical ‘fullness’ sensation which is so hard to achieve with calorie dense easy to digest foods. But then your typical high volume foods aren’t exactly the friendliest on digestion (popcorn, yogurt with lots of fruit, certain veggies, smoothies to name a few)

I understand. When I was transitioning from a plant-based diet to an ancestral one, it took months before I felt satisfied on calorie dense food. You would need a lot of ice cream, but would it cause you physical discomfort? I needed a lot, too. This was back when commercial ice cream still came in 2 quart containers, and I averaged an entire one daily. It took gaining weight for my appetite to settle down so I’m wondering if yours will too after you’re weight restored? However, going by your response to Mossy, do you feel anxious about gaining weight?

Well, that’s what easy. lol Here’s the process of making D3 from lanolin:

“To get vitamin D from lanolin, supplement manufacturers first purify it and crystallize it, then put it through a chemical process that produces a substance called 7-dehydrocholesterol. The 7-dehydrocholesterol is then liquefied in an organic solvent and exposed to ultraviolet radiation. These chemical changes turn 7-dehydrocholesterol into a substance called vitamin D-3. Next, supplement manufacturers further purify and crystallize this vitamin and add it to their products.”

https://www.livestrong.com/article/414363-difference-between-vitamin-d-from-fish-oil-lanolin/

@Sippy, I’m not positive, but I would think lanolin has to go through a chemical process to become a hormone, similar to how the plant steroid diosgenin in wild yams goes through a chemical reaction to produce progesterone? I would think in the very least, lanolin would have to be exposed to UV light to contain D3. I’ll do some googling and see what I can find.

@RawGoatMilk88, when someone has heart disease, my first suspicion is hypothyroidism, and I put my own father on thyroid after he had bypass surgery. Dr. Broda Barnes observed a 94% reduction in coronary heart disease in the 1,569 patients he treated for hypothyroidism using desiccated thyroid. Here is a quote by Ray you might find useful:

“If someone is in a precarious condition, even smaller amounts of thyroid at a time might be better. For example, a man in the hospital right after a heart attack started taking one mcg per hour; the doctors had said that at the rate his enzymes were rising they would be expected to keep rising for another day, but they started decreasing exactly when he started the small doses, and they had decreased the next day when he left the hospital, without symptoms. T3, sugar, and aspirin are the most heart-protective things.”

https://raypeatforum.com/wiki/index.php/Ray_Peat_Email_Exchanges#Thyroid_Hormones

Hi @pabloag10, maybe try splitting up your Armour pills into doses containing no more than 4 mcg of T3 and have each dose with meals that contain plenty of carbs and salt to slow its absorption and prevent an adrenaline response? Ray said:

“During the first week or two of supplementing thyroid, there is usually an intensification of the effect of adrenaline. It’s necessary to watch a variety of signs, especially the temperature of hands and feet and the amount of water evaporated, to judge the actual effect of thyroid. The effect of thyroid after the level of adrenaline has normalized is to increase the depth of relaxation.”

And:

“If too much thyroid is taken suddenly, a person who has been deficient in thyroid is likely to experience an excess of adrenaline. Since the body normally produces about 4 mcg of T3 in an hour, taking 10 or 20 mcg at once is unphysiological.”

https://raypeatforum.com/wiki/index.php/Ray_Peat_Email_Exchanges#Thyroid_Hormones

@Tarzan17, have you tried having the frequent mini meals during the day or increasing your calories at breakfast and lunch so that your blood sugar is stable and your body’s energy requirements met by evening? When I had digestive issues and an insatiable appetite, ice cream was one food that was gentle on my gut and satisfying.