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  #136   ^
Old Sun, Apr-02-17, 08:55
WereBear's Avatar
WereBear WereBear is online now
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Plan: EpiPaleo/Primal/LowOx
Stats: 220/125/150 Female 67
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Progress: 136%
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So this neurotransmitters thing is popping in my brain like popcorn.

Found a great article on Neurotransmitter Depletion:

Quote:
For years it has been known in medicine that low levels of Serotonin and/or Norepinephrine can cause many diseases and illness. Some of the diseases and/or illnesses caused by or associated with low levels of Serotonin and/or Norepinephrine include:

Depression/Moody
Anxiety
Panic Attacks
Insomnia/Sleep disorders
Premenstrual Tension
Fibromyalgia
Obesity
Anorexia
Bulimia
"Hypoglycemia"
Chronic pain states
Migraines
ADD/ADHD
Restless Leg Syndrome
In addition, over 60 diseases and illnesses may be caused by or associated with neurotransmitter deficiency. Low neurotransmitter levels is not only very common, it is epidemic.


And how do we get neurotransmitters? Nutrition.

Quote:
"How do the levels of serotonin and catecholamine neurotransmitters get to such critically low levels?" There are several explanations.

The first is that neurotransmitter depletion is nutritionally based. Neurotransmitters are made from amino acids that must be obtained from protein in the diet. In addition, amino acids, vitamins and minerals eaten in food are required for the creation of the neurotransmitters. If the diet is deficient, neurotransmitter deficiency develops.


I knew I was onto something big.
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  #137   ^
Old Mon, Apr-03-17, 10:42
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sandy867 sandy867 is offline
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Plan: RNY (small portions)
Stats: 306/225/120 Female 63"
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That is true. However, is it possibly that at a certain age, our ability to manufacture or deal with the same chemical pathways is reduced? That's what happens in Diabetes type II...there's plenty of insulin, but the body is more resistant to it. Essentially the tissues are older and less responsive. Fatty, old organs are a big issue, the liver for example.

One reason weight loss cures so many of those things.
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  #138   ^
Old Tue, Apr-04-17, 06:20
WereBear's Avatar
WereBear WereBear is online now
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Plan: EpiPaleo/Primal/LowOx
Stats: 220/125/150 Female 67
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Progress: 136%
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sandy867
However, is it possibly that at a certain age, our ability to manufacture or deal with the same chemical pathways is reduced? That's what happens in Diabetes type II...there's plenty of insulin, but the body is more resistant to it. Essentially the tissues are older and less responsive. Fatty, old organs are a big issue, the liver for example.


Good thinking. Since one of my problems was cortisol resistance. So it's not like only insulin can trigger resistance in high doses. My stressed system was giving my body all the symptoms of low cortisol; so when I discovered my cortisol tested high, it was a puzzle... until I found out about cortisol resistance, which I fixed with circadian rhythms reset techniques from Dr. Kruse.

And norepinephrine and adrenaline (epinephrine) are both hormones which act as neurotransmitters, too.

Still, I am responding so well to niacin, an amino acid that contributes to the creation of neurotransmitters, I think I am dealing with a failure in the supply chain. Without a good diet, we don't eat enough protein to make what we need. With sugar and wheat actually blocking the nutrients to make neurotransmitters, we are undercutting production that way, too. Which is how diet fixes things, certainly; many many people report better mood with low carb. Because they are finally making enough neurotransmitters.

Julia Ross's book, The Mood Cure, has a saga about how Prozac was being undercut by the amino acid tryptophan. Which worked better.
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  #139   ^
Old Tue, Apr-04-17, 06:38
tess9132 tess9132 is offline
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Plan: general lc
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Werebear - have you noticed a reduction in cellulite since you began niacin? It seems the more weight I lose, the worse my cellulite looks. I know cellulite partly comes from bad circulation and I was wondering if niacin flushing would help the fat on my legs and backside look better.
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  #140   ^
Old Tue, Apr-04-17, 17:46
WereBear's Avatar
WereBear WereBear is online now
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Plan: EpiPaleo/Primal/LowOx
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I don't know for sure, but it is great for circulation. My skin has never looked so happy.
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  #141   ^
Old Sat, Apr-08-17, 13:15
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WereBear WereBear is online now
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Plan: EpiPaleo/Primal/LowOx
Stats: 220/125/150 Female 67
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Progress: 136%
Location: USA
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FAT seems to be the key; stuck at work, not hungry for lunch, so I had my lunch niacin dose with hot tea with hemp oil, which I keep in the work fridge as salad dressing. Seemed to work!

Thanks, teaser.
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  #142   ^
Old Mon, Apr-17-17, 12:06
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WereBear WereBear is online now
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Plan: EpiPaleo/Primal/LowOx
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As life challenges have been mounting (long overnight trip, DH got sick, still doing two people's jobs at work,) I have upped my daily niacin dose by 1k, for a total of 4k a day (adding one 500mg dose to each of my two daily meals.) It's been almost a week, there aren't any adverse effects, and it seems to be helping.

Caution: I was very sick for a very long time -- this is a high dose and not for everyone. In addition, I can back off if I continue to improve. But after feeling so darned good after going on Niacin Therapy, and keeping in mind the body's need does fluctuate, (according to the book I referenced in the first post on this thread,) I feel good about adding niacin when my body and brain are running low.

In brain effort alone I have been shifting into a higher gear. We are moving forward to the next level of our little home business: the scary one where you borrow enough money to set up manufacturing.

I don't think I could do this without the niacin Because even faced with this level of stressor, I'm still chillin' like a villain.

There was a long... discussion ... about the situation that led to this decision. Because both DH and I have been trying to manage things without taking such a big step, and I now had the clarity to sit him down and say, "That plan isn't working. We need a new plan."

Now that he and I are in agreement on this, I am managing to do all the things necessary to get this set up and started. And it does not faze me; I just do it. My own calm feeds into DH's calm, and vice versa.

This is extraordinary to me, because I was so used to a constant low hum of anxiety, which would ramp up into semi-panic state very easily. While I can still get stirred up and a little agitated, it's like setting a bottle of iced tea back on the table; it is shaken, but then calms down quickly.

I am amazed by myself... on niacin.
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  #143   ^
Old Fri, Apr-28-17, 05:51
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WereBear WereBear is online now
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Plan: EpiPaleo/Primal/LowOx
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Still on the 4k niacin. Problems arose from too much C at once... backing off from that fixed the problem.

Made a side trip into L-tryptophan, but have already dropped it. The bottle said "three capsules at bedtime" but I only took one in the morning, to see how I reacted to it. Couldn't really tell a difference. The next day I took two, and got dizzy and weird-y. So that's the end of that.

While niacin is considered an amino acid, it seems to work like pregnenolone: it's the building blocks the body uses to make the thing, not the thing itself. By using precursors, I dodge the problems of neurotransmitter dosage and leave it up to the body.

Like the movie Awakenings demonstrated, administering direct neurotransmitters is a very tricky business. The body itself makes this a very tightly regulated process, and we mess with this at our peril. It explains how my previous attempts to help my brain with GABA and melatonin didn't work. There was an "okay it seems to help a bit" period in the beginning, and then, trouble. Such external application runs into the same problem that hormone replacement does; it inhibits the body from making its own, and can be more trouble than the original problem.
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  #144   ^
Old Mon, May-08-17, 10:55
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WereBear WereBear is online now
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Plan: EpiPaleo/Primal/LowOx
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Handled a work crisis with more calm that I have ever had in my life. Not that I didn't get upset: I sure did. But I was able to keep a grip on it, make all the right moves, and feel confident of my decision process.

Don't know what will happen next, that's not up to me. But my own ability to think clearly, even under stress, is certainly enhanced lately.
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  #145   ^
Old Tue, May-23-17, 06:30
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WereBear WereBear is online now
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Plan: EpiPaleo/Primal/LowOx
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Dropped back down to 3k niacin, and added back in my pregnenonlone (100 mg daily) and my chelated magnesium. Got a bug and it deranged me. Messed up something as I became a writhing ball of anxiety; and the preg and mag fixed it up within minutes. So those are not negotiable.

Daily D3 and K2. Holding steady on that.
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  #146   ^
Old Thu, Jun-15-17, 12:43
WereBear's Avatar
WereBear WereBear is online now
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Plan: EpiPaleo/Primal/LowOx
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Kept everything else, and niacin back at 4k without incident.
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  #147   ^
Old Thu, Jun-15-17, 13:48
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GRB5111 GRB5111 is offline
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Plan: Very LC, Higher Protein
Stats: 227/186/185 Male 6' 0"
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Location: Herndon, VA
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This protocol continues to work very well for you!
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  #148   ^
Old Thu, Jun-15-17, 15:37
Whited Whited is offline
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Plan: Very Low Carb
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I used to take B vitamins and was going to try Niacin for blood pressure but there are lots of warnings that both B vitamins and Niacin raise blood sugars so I stopped B vitamins and styed away from Niacin -- any of you diabetic with no meds like me? Just wondering if the Nicacin raised BG like it says?
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  #149   ^
Old Thu, Jun-15-17, 16:39
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WereBear WereBear is online now
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Plan: EpiPaleo/Primal/LowOx
Stats: 220/125/150 Female 67
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Progress: 136%
Location: USA
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Whited
I used to take B vitamins and was going to try Niacin for blood pressure but there are lots of warnings that both B vitamins and Niacin raise blood sugars so I stopped B vitamins and styed away from Niacin -- any of you diabetic with no meds like me? Just wondering if the Nicacin raised BG like it says?


It is very hard to say, because:
  • A lot of these writeups are sloppy and make no mention of whether they are using the flush niacin (which is what I am taking) or the various no flush, time release, and so forth kinds; all of which affect one's results
  • I didn't test my blood sugar on niacin, but it does wonderful things for my appetite and lets me fast with ease; a sign that it is at least not messing with my blood sugar. (I am also a long time low carber and not diabetic.)
  • None of this tells us what niacin would do in YOUR body. It is becoming increasingly evident that one size does not fit all.

The more genetics are studied, the more evident it is that we vary a lot more than was previously understood. Just among the people using low carb to lose weight and improve their health, a sort of self-selection process that will set us apart from people who are healthy vegetarians and/or people who have never had a weight problem; and yet we have a lot of individual variation in what works best for us.

What part of niacin interested you?
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  #150   ^
Old Thu, Jun-15-17, 16:40
WereBear's Avatar
WereBear WereBear is online now
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Plan: EpiPaleo/Primal/LowOx
Stats: 220/125/150 Female 67
BF:
Progress: 136%
Location: USA
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GRB5111
This protocol continues to work very well for you!


It sure does. I have even been making progress about rebuilding my energy reserves. Like fixing that hole in my tank
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