Is this celiacs?

[Kaiser613]

Hi everybody, I've been lurking around learning from everyone's stories they've shared, trying to understand what's been going on with me,

( EDIT: I just looked at how much I've written already, I apologize for the brain barf.)

I've been dealing with a rather rapid deterioration of my health, and experiencing a lot of really unpleasant (and scary) reactions, it seems to be triggered by consuming (or inhaling) gluten containing substances, but I'm an uninsured America of modest means, so my access to medical care is basically nil, I've been to the ER once for these reactions which was very unhelpful, and I've paid out of pocket to see a general practitioner but couldn't afford the generic blood tests they ordered. I was wondering if the folks on here could provide their opinion based on what I've been experiencing, if yall think I'm working in the right direction or not.

 

Some background, I'm a 25 year old male, I'm obese, have been since adolescence, am 5 foot 11 and 340 pounds before I started my gluten free diet, I've lost about 30 pounds since then, which is a safe rate to lose weight but it's very unusual for me as I've always had an incredibly hard time losing weight and I don't feel like I'm eating less calories. I've always been a very strong energetic person, especially For my size, I've worked labor and construction type jobs since I left school, and have always outworked much fitter men, until last October,

id started feeling tired and sore all the time, I blamed it on overwork and stress, started trying harder to stay hydrated and takes vitamins, but it didn't go away, then I started having a persistent pain in my groin, a constant generalized ache associated with painful urination, I considered kidney stones or prostatitis, started taking saw palmetto and other anti inflammatories reccomended for prostatitis,  and started using, well more like abusing NSAIDS, aspirin, Tylenol, Naproxyn, whatever I had, to the max recommended dose, I was in constant, unfortunately located pain, and still working 60 hrs a wk, the supplements reduced the pain, but only temporarily, this went on for about 6 months of agony, I even got ahold of a z pack in case it was an infection of some kind. Also, around this time i started having diarhea, ive always taken fiber supplements and had the type of bowel movements someone who eats a lot of fiber does, but now all that came out was water, like volumetrically a lot of water with my fiber powder floating in it, and undigested food, corn is normal to see, but i started seeing a lot of recognizable things, particularly lettuce and greens didnt seem to be digesting at all. Pain persisted, as well as a big reduction in energy, I was just dragging myself from bed to work and back, finally I have to make a lifestyle change I can't keep working at the same level so quite my 60hr a week job, take a few weeks off for rest, and get a new better job, it was around this time I started fainting, I was feeling so weak and tired, I started getting head rushes, when I tried to excercise I would black out, also I started experiencing difficulty breathing, at this point it wasn't like chest tightness or throat tightness, it was more like sleep apnea, but waking, I would be sitting on the couch or working and I'd start getting a headache, then start feeling short of breath, then I'd notice that I couldn't seem to fall into a sinus rhythm of breath,i catch myself unconsciously holding my breath and I had to consciously think about breathing, i also starting getting tremors, and i guess ataxia, i would get clumsy and miscoordinated i had so little energy that it was hard to talk without slurring, my hands felt weak and i started dropping water glasses, id start doing something then just run out of juice in the middle. And relaxing made it worse, just sitting on the couch made me feel like i was going to slip into a coma. I have a family history of hypertension and was mildly prehypertensive before this, but now I was experiencing postural hypotension, leading to fainting spells at first but then I started convulsing, idk if it would count as a seizure or not but I'd lose motor fuctions fall down and start jerking uncontrollably but i was conscious watching this happen to myself, I live alone, and these episodes almost exclusively happened after work at night so I was pretty scared I was going to die alone, then like the third or fourth time this happened, I got up and could barely breath, my chest and throat were tight I felt like I was choking, or choking up like when your about to sob, but i couldn't unclench my throat, and I had a terrible pain in my chest, I had somebody drive me to the er, tried to communicate with them the best I could that I was having difficulty breathing, chest pains, and had lost consciousness. They gave me an EKG, determined I wasn't having a heart attack, gave me a chest xray, then sent me home, where I had another seizure thing. This was the same day I went to the physician btw, she told me if I siezed again to go to the hospital which I did to no avail.this was when I got really depressed, I was in a state of like pre syncope, I was constantly trembling, seeing flashing lights behind closed eyes, I even started experiencing mental issues around this time, uncontrollable thoughts, my thoughts were twitching around just like my body, plus extreme depression, anxiety, and episodes where I'd get lost or confused doing simple things in places I was familiar with, I layed in bed and didn't eat anything for about 3 days when I finally started feeling better, I stopped trembling, my energy came back, I went back to work feeling good. That lasted until the first time I ate, am I diabetic? I thought, but there was nothing wrong with my sugar so no it's not that, that's when I started watching what I ate, chicken and rice didn't make me sick, but anything else seemed too, then it hit me, oh crud it's gluten isn't it. And through trial and error that's what it seems to have been, so I've put myself on a gluten free diet, that trip to the emergency room was back in April so like 5 months I've been working towards gluten free, the first month or two it was more low gluten obviously as I worked on changing my diet and lifestyle, I learned the hard way, that I can't tolerate contaminated food, so I'm completely off fried food now, even when there's fresh oil in the fryer, no oats either even certified gluten free oats still make me sick, after a couple months working on this I started spending more days feeling ok and experiencing less neurological symptoms (shakes, clumsiness, fainting/seizure things, psychosis type things) still occasionally messing up and paying for it dearly, but less and less as I learn my lesson, but around this time a few new things start happening, my guts start bloating a lot more, I barely noticed before but now my guts would bloat up to the point they felt like my belly would pop, couldn't lie down like that, hurt too bad. Also I started getting throat tightening reactions from inhaling flour, which is the worst part, I'm a line cook! I work with bread and flour everyday, so now I have to spend all shift with a face mask on, so now I've been doing real good, I don't eat anything even close to contaminated, I wear a mask when handling flour or in a room where it is handled and don't even touch bread without gloves anymore, but in the last week, an even newer set of unpleasantness, I've probably been completely gluten free for at least 4-6 weeks since last contamination, but I started getting gut symptoms  again, bloating, diarhea,but also, mucousy and smelling literally like rotting meat, at the same time this happened I had attacks of I assume gallbladder inflammation after eating, within like 15 minutes of eating a meal id get a painful swollen lump on my right side just below my ribs, which would be either my liver or gallbladder, it goes away after a few hrs, seems to be much worse if I eat fatty foods, sounds like gallbladder, I will admit that I've started eating a lot more fat calories since ive gone Gluten-Free, I'm eating a lot more meat and a lot less starch just because of the choice limitations I have to work with and my preferences,  but I've also read in pubmed articles (not reffed cuz I'm lazeee) that the damage to the duodenum caused by celiacs can negatively influence liver and gallbladder function by damaging the part of the intestines which communicate and interface with these extra-intestinal digestive organs. Now this most recent bout of reactions only started up about a wk ago, but since I've been experiencing one long prolonged attack as if I was eating gluten at every meal again, the breathing and shaking problems came back, but I haven't made any bad choices, I even have given up dairy out of an abundance of precaution but still, at least I've found a treatment for the symptoms, benadryl, 25mg gives me a few hrs of relief, but the last week I've been dependent on then, as soon as it wears off symptoms come back, I've read that It can take a while for your body to recover once your on gluten free diet, but I didn't realize that'd mean I'd be getting reactions weeks after last exposure to gluten? Does that sound right?

I realize this is a massive block of regurgitated thoughts, and a lot of what I described seems sorta random and unconnected, but that seems to be a relatable sentiment amongst gluten sensitive conditions. Like the pain I'd been experiencing in my groin,which has mostly subsided, though it does come back when I get glutened, I believe that was some kinda autoimmune inflammation of either my prostate or um, yknow them (there was a swelling incident id rather not think about, very painful)

I've also over this year long process, experienced issues related to malnutrition even tho I've been eating a balanced diet, I've been bruising easily and getting dark circles under my eyes, I think I might be anemic now, also some of the twitching issues I've been dealing with could be explained by b vitamin or mineral deficiency, also probably not the worst thing for me but I've lost 30lbs in a couple months time even tho I don't think I'm eating fewer calories

 

I appreciate you taking the time to read even part of this, and enthusiastically look forward to any further knowledge the community can share with me especially related to how the recovery process proceed for other timeliness wise, thank you

[Emmy208]

4 hours ago, Kaiser613 said:

Hi everybody, I've been lurking around learning from everyone's stories they've shared, trying to understand what's been going on with me,

( EDIT: I just looked at how much I've written already, I apologize for the brain barf.)

I've been dealing with a rather rapid deterioration of my health, and experiencing a lot of really unpleasant (and scary) reactions, it seems to be triggered by consuming (or inhaling) gluten containing substances, but I'm an uninsured America of modest means, so my access to medical care is basically nil, I've been to the ER once for these reactions which was very unhelpful, and I've paid out of pocket to see a general practitioner but couldn't afford the generic blood tests they ordered. I was wondering if the folks on here could provide their opinion based on what I've been experiencing, if yall think I'm working in the right direction or not.

 

Some background, I'm a 25 year old male, I'm obese, have been since adolescence, am 5 foot 11 and 340 pounds before I started my gluten free diet, I've lost about 30 pounds since then, which is a safe rate to lose weight but it's very unusual for me as I've always had an incredibly hard time losing weight and I don't feel like I'm eating less calories. I've always been a very strong energetic person, especially For my size, I've worked labor and construction type jobs since I left school, and have always outworked much fitter men, until last October,

id started feeling tired and sore all the time, I blamed it on overwork and stress, started trying harder to stay hydrated and takes vitamins, but it didn't go away, then I started having a persistent pain in my groin, a constant generalized ache associated with painful urination, I considered kidney stones or prostatitis, started taking saw palmetto and other anti inflammatories reccomended for prostatitis,  and started using, well more like abusing NSAIDS, aspirin, Tylenol, Naproxyn, whatever I had, to the max recommended dose, I was in constant, unfortunately located pain, and still working 60 hrs a wk, the supplements reduced the pain, but only temporarily, this went on for about 6 months of agony, I even got ahold of a z pack in case it was an infection of some kind. Also, around this time i started having diarhea, ive always taken fiber supplements and had the type of bowel movements someone who eats a lot of fiber does, but now all that came out was water, like volumetrically a lot of water with my fiber powder floating in it, and undigested food, corn is normal to see, but i started seeing a lot of recognizable things, particularly lettuce and greens didnt seem to be digesting at all. Pain persisted, as well as a big reduction in energy, I was just dragging myself from bed to work and back, finally I have to make a lifestyle change I can't keep working at the same level so quite my 60hr a week job, take a few weeks off for rest, and get a new better job, it was around this time I started fainting, I was feeling so weak and tired, I started getting head rushes, when I tried to excercise I would black out, also I started experiencing difficulty breathing, at this point it wasn't like chest tightness or throat tightness, it was more like sleep apnea, but waking, I would be sitting on the couch or working and I'd start getting a headache, then start feeling short of breath, then I'd notice that I couldn't seem to fall into a sinus rhythm of breath,i catch myself unconsciously holding my breath and I had to consciously think about breathing, i also starting getting tremors, and i guess ataxia, i would get clumsy and miscoordinated i had so little energy that it was hard to talk without slurring, my hands felt weak and i started dropping water glasses, id start doing something then just run out of juice in the middle. And relaxing made it worse, just sitting on the couch made me feel like i was going to slip into a coma. I have a family history of hypertension and was mildly prehypertensive before this, but now I was experiencing postural hypotension, leading to fainting spells at first but then I started convulsing, idk if it would count as a seizure or not but I'd lose motor fuctions fall down and start jerking uncontrollably but i was conscious watching this happen to myself, I live alone, and these episodes almost exclusively happened after work at night so I was pretty scared I was going to die alone, then like the third or fourth time this happened, I got up and could barely breath, my chest and throat were tight I felt like I was choking, or choking up like when your about to sob, but i couldn't unclench my throat, and I had a terrible pain in my chest, I had somebody drive me to the er, tried to communicate with them the best I could that I was having difficulty breathing, chest pains, and had lost consciousness. They gave me an EKG, determined I wasn't having a heart attack, gave me a chest xray, then sent me home, where I had another seizure thing. This was the same day I went to the physician btw, she told me if I siezed again to go to the hospital which I did to no avail.this was when I got really depressed, I was in a state of like pre syncope, I was constantly trembling, seeing flashing lights behind closed eyes, I even started experiencing mental issues around this time, uncontrollable thoughts, my thoughts were twitching around just like my body, plus extreme depression, anxiety, and episodes where I'd get lost or confused doing simple things in places I was familiar with, I layed in bed and didn't eat anything for about 3 days when I finally started feeling better, I stopped trembling, my energy came back, I went back to work feeling good. That lasted until the first time I ate, am I diabetic? I thought, but there was nothing wrong with my sugar so no it's not that, that's when I started watching what I ate, chicken and rice didn't make me sick, but anything else seemed too, then it hit me, oh crud it's gluten isn't it. And through trial and error that's what it seems to have been, so I've put myself on a gluten free diet, that trip to the emergency room was back in April so like 5 months I've been working towards gluten free, the first month or two it was more low gluten obviously as I worked on changing my diet and lifestyle, I learned the hard way, that I can't tolerate contaminated food, so I'm completely off fried food now, even when there's fresh oil in the fryer, no oats either even certified gluten free oats still make me sick, after a couple months working on this I started spending more days feeling ok and experiencing less neurological symptoms (shakes, clumsiness, fainting/seizure things, psychosis type things) still occasionally messing up and paying for it dearly, but less and less as I learn my lesson, but around this time a few new things start happening, my guts start bloating a lot more, I barely noticed before but now my guts would bloat up to the point they felt like my belly would pop, couldn't lie down like that, hurt too bad. Also I started getting throat tightening reactions from inhaling flour, which is the worst part, I'm a line cook! I work with bread and flour everyday, so now I have to spend all shift with a face mask on, so now I've been doing real good, I don't eat anything even close to contaminated, I wear a mask when handling flour or in a room where it is handled and don't even touch bread without gloves anymore, but in the last week, an even newer set of unpleasantness, I've probably been completely gluten free for at least 4-6 weeks since last contamination, but I started getting gut symptoms  again, bloating, diarhea,but also, mucousy and smelling literally like rotting meat, at the same time this happened I had attacks of I assume gallbladder inflammation after eating, within like 15 minutes of eating a meal id get a painful swollen lump on my right side just below my ribs, which would be either my liver or gallbladder, it goes away after a few hrs, seems to be much worse if I eat fatty foods, sounds like gallbladder, I will admit that I've started eating a lot more fat calories since ive gone Gluten-Free, I'm eating a lot more meat and a lot less starch just because of the choice limitations I have to work with and my preferences,  but I've also read in pubmed articles (not reffed cuz I'm lazeee) that the damage to the duodenum caused by celiacs can negatively influence liver and gallbladder function by damaging the part of the intestines which communicate and interface with these extra-intestinal digestive organs. Now this most recent bout of reactions only started up about a wk ago, but since I've been experiencing one long prolonged attack as if I was eating gluten at every meal again, the breathing and shaking problems came back, but I haven't made any bad choices, I even have given up dairy out of an abundance of precaution but still, at least I've found a treatment for the symptoms, benadryl, 25mg gives me a few hrs of relief, but the last week I've been dependent on then, as soon as it wears off symptoms come back, I've read that It can take a while for your body to recover once your on gluten free diet, but I didn't realize that'd mean I'd be getting reactions weeks after last exposure to gluten? Does that sound right?

I realize this is a massive block of regurgitated thoughts, and a lot of what I described seems sorta random and unconnected, but that seems to be a relatable sentiment amongst gluten sensitive conditions. Like the pain I'd been experiencing in my groin,which has mostly subsided, though it does come back when I get glutened, I believe that was some kinda autoimmune inflammation of either my prostate or um, yknow them (there was a swelling incident id rather not think about, very painful)

I've also over this year long process, experienced issues related to malnutrition even tho I've been eating a balanced diet, I've been bruising easily and getting dark circles under my eyes, I think I might be anemic now, also some of the twitching issues I've been dealing with could be explained by b vitamin or mineral deficiency, also probably not the worst thing for me but I've lost 30lbs in a couple months time even tho I don't think I'm eating fewer calories

 

I appreciate you taking the time to read even part of this, and enthusiastically look forward to any further knowledge the community can share with me especially related to how the recovery process proceed for other timeliness wise, thank you

Hi there, I do not have a celiac diagnosis either but suspect I could have celiac due to my extreme sensitivity to gluten. I can’t answer all of your questions but I can definitely answer some. In terms of shortness of breath, you are correct in thinking that you might have anemia. Iron deficiency anemia often causes shortness of breath and extreme fatigue & it’s pretty common among celiacs. Easy bruising could also be due to iron deficiency or vitamin k deficiency. While weight loss is more well-known as a celiac symptom, in some cases it can also be linked to unexplained weight gain. Nutrient deficiencies can also cause hypothyroidism, which can make a person gain weight or struggle to lose weight. You also described dealing with bloating, which could mean you have fluid retention which could cause your body weight to be 5-10 pounds higher (this also happens with hypothyroidism). Sometimes the body can go into what’s called “starvation mode,” which is where after a prolonged period of not getting enough calories, the body slows down its metabolism, which can make it difficult to lose weight despite not eating large amounts. There are some articles I’ve read on the internet describing the connection between celiac and obesity—I can’t remember the titles/website addresses but I’m sure if you look up “celiac and obesity” you could find them. Also, relating to the inhaling of flour symptoms, it’s also possible that you could have a wheat allergy in addition to celiac disease. Have you ever been tested for allergies? 
 

Sadly, yes, blood and other diagnostic tests for celiac can be quite expensive. I’m also American and the cost of medical care in the US currently  is ridiculous. Do you have Medicare/Medicaid? If not, have you tried applying for it? I know celiac diagnostic tests are very expensive; however, my concern is that gluten free food is also very expensive and being on a self-prescribed GFD may end up being more expensive in the end than celiac blood tests. A lab corp blood test for celiac antibodies costs $139–a month’s worth of gluten free food can cost more than that. If you are diagnosed by a doctor with celiac disease, wheat allergy, or non-celiac gluten sensitivity, you can get tax cuts on gluten free food if the cost of it exceeds more than 10% of your adjusted gross income. Also, if you are diagnosed with celiac disease, you can get disability benefits under the ADA. 
 

best of luck to you, hope you continue feeling better! 

[trents]

Welcome to the forum, Kaiser 613!

You mention that you have started the gluten free diet. How long have you been on it and do you see any improvement in your symptoms?

I would make you aware that being on a gluten free diet will invalidate any testing for celiac disease should your financial circumstances allow you to pursue that in the future. 

I would also make mention that studies show that most who believe they are eating gluten free are in reality eating lower amounts of gluten than before but are still not gluten free. There's more to it than cutting out bread and pasta. Many, many mainline processed and ready-made foods contain gluten. Also, vitamins, supplements and medications can contain gluten.

You have many symptoms that point to celiac disease, either that or NCGS (Non Celiac Gluten Sensitivity). Both require a whole-hearted effort to eliminate gluten from one's life for a lifetime. It also sounds like you may have other health issues in addition to a gluten disorder.

Edited September 13, 2023 by trents

[Kaiser613]

Thanks for the responses emmy208 and trents,, it's good to hear that at least part of my problems sound relatable, 

Emmy208 no I don't currently have a subsidized insurance option, which is my own fault, everyone tells me that I should sign up for Obama care Medicare whatever, and that they'll work with me on my income, but I just have a hard time making myself do it, just avoidant or something, I'm going to have to get over that though, if I'm going to get any help. 

And yes gluten free specific processed foods are super duper expensive ( $8 for a 1lb loaf of sandwich bread, really?) But luckily I'm not a picky eater and have done a good job of just eating simpler foods, lots of fruits and veggies and meat prepared simply so no gluten containing bits make it in.

 

Trents, I came to the conclusion that gluten was causing my issues abt 5 months ago, the first couple months I really only achieved a "low gluten diet" like you said, but I've tightened my restrictions, learned the hard way that even mildly contaminated foods will make me sick, so now I'm very strict, nothing fried, nothing off the char grill where we toast bread, nothing breaded obv. If it has a label I'm reading it, I've been glutened by things as innocuous as a bottle of seasoned salt.  I pretty much avoid anything processed because I don't trust the labels, even foods certified gluten free (particularly gluten free oats) have made me sick, just about the only thing from a wrapper I eat anymore is rice krispie treats or mounds bars. I've also been experimenting with different gluten free flours trying to replace certain foods for myself. 

I'd say it's in the area of a month of more since I last glutened myself

I have heard about successfully going gluten free will give false negatives on a celiac blood test, I'm okay with that for now though, if I get my act together, get insured and go to an immunologist in the near future, it won't be difficult, just unpleasant to gluten myself prior to a test.

 

And I wouldn't be surprised if my problems have more than a singular cause, but abstaining from gluten has largely improved my quality of life, even if I'm not out of the woods yet.

[Scott Adams]

Welcome to the forum, and we have many summaries of scientific publications on celiac disease and obesity in this category:

https://www.celiac.com/celiac-disease/celiac-disease-amp-related-diseases-and-disorders/obesity-overweight-celiac-disease/

There are also mail order celiac disease blood test kits for ~$100 which can be found by a Google search.

[trents]

Make sure those Rice Krispy treats are made from a rice cereal that does not have "malt extract" or "malt flavoring" in the ingredients.

[Emmy208]

7 minutes ago, Kaiser613 said:

Thanks for the responses emmy208 and trents,, it's good to hear that at least part of my problems sound relatable, 

Emmy208 no I don't currently have a subsidized insurance option, which is my own fault, everyone tells me that I should sign up for Obama care Medicare whatever, and that they'll work with me on my income, but I just have a hard time making myself do it, just avoidant or something, I'm going to have to get over that though, if I'm going to get any help. 

And yes gluten free specific processed foods are super duper expensive ( $8 for a 1lb loaf of sandwich bread, really?) But luckily I'm not a picky eater and have done a good job of just eating simpler foods, lots of fruits and veggies and meat prepared simply so no gluten containing bits make it in.

 

Trents, I came to the conclusion that gluten was causing my issues abt 5 months ago, the first couple months I really only achieved a "low gluten diet" like you said, but I've tightened my restrictions, learned the hard way that even mildly contaminated foods will make me sick, so now I'm very strict, nothing fried, nothing off the char grill where we toast bread, nothing breaded obv. If it has a label I'm reading it, I've been glutened by things as innocuous as a bottle of seasoned salt.  I pretty much avoid anything processed because I don't trust the labels, even foods certified gluten free (particularly gluten free oats) have made me sick, just about the only thing from a wrapper I eat anymore is rice krispie treats or mounds bars. I've also been experimenting with different gluten free flours trying to replace certain foods for myself. 

I'd say it's in the area of a month of more since I last glutened myself

I have heard about successfully going gluten free will give false negatives on a celiac blood test, I'm okay with that for now though, if I get my act together, get insured and go to an immunologist in the near future, it won't be difficult, just unpleasant to gluten myself prior to a test.

 

And I wouldn't be surprised if my problems have more than a singular cause, but abstaining from gluten has largely improved my quality of life, even if I'm not out of the woods yet.

Some celiacs experience what is called cross-reactivity, which is where their immune system mistakes a gluten-free food for a gluten containing food. This often happens with oats since the oat protein, avenin, is similar in structure to gluten. It’s possible this is what you’re experiencing. 

[Wheatwacked]

Not having an official diagnosis may save you pre-existing conditions that may increase the premiums.  Lemonade from lemons.

On 9/13/2023 at 4:59 AM, Kaiser613 said:

5 foot 11 and 340 pounds

Most of your symptoms will resolve with GFD and the right vitamins.

Modern wheat has been hybridized to keep growing as long as water and fertilizer are given.  It also turns on fat storage mode. It is very addictive, but you should be beyond that by now.

Don't eat processed foods.  Figure on a year then maybe you can treat yourself.

Virtually any food the does not come in a box or bag will be gluten free.  As they say, "Shop the outer aisles of the supermarket."  Even better, go to farmers markets.

On 9/13/2023 at 4:59 AM, Kaiser613 said:

around this time i started having diarhea

Try supplementing with Phosphatidyl Choline.  Phosphatidyl choline does not need to be processed through your already taxed liver.  Adequate intake is 550 mg a day.   Adequate Intake (AI): "Intake at this level is assumed to ensure nutritional adequacy; established when evidence is insufficient to develop an RDA."  So they're guessing.  Safe upper limit is 3500 mg a day. Side effects don't start until 7000 mg a day. 90% do not eat enough eggs, steak and liver to reach the AI. Or eat at least 10 cups of cooked brocolli a day instead.   Choline NIH Factsheet

Choline is essential to fat digestion, nerve transmission, makes up most of the mitochondria membranes (cellular factories), cell structure.  Low choline will cause non alchoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). And increasing choline helped me lose 30 lbs of bellyfat just by adding it.

On 9/13/2023 at 4:59 AM, Kaiser613 said:

started taking saw palmetto

I was diagnosed at 21 with Benign Prostate Hyperplasia.  By 63 I was using Swanson's Formula.  Started GFD and never bought another bottle.  It was either the gluten or possibly the folic acid that left my diet with processed foods and multivitamins.

On 9/13/2023 at 4:59 AM, Kaiser613 said:

I tried to excercise I would black out

Don't waste your energy.  Excersize cannot help if you don't have the vitamins to turn food into energy.  Save your strength for work and chores.

Red Bull is glucose and B vitamins and magnesium and Taurine. Taurine is an essential amino acid antioxident.  Contrary to some magazine articles, unlike other Energy drinks it does not have any exotic ingredients. Just vitamins and sugar.  I start my day with about 24 ounces.  Better than two double espresso.

Your other symptoms are most likely to improve with these.   Most you will feel improvement in a week or two.  Together, game changer.

Meantime.  these are the ones that have had the biggest ongoing positive effect for me. here's my list:

• 10,000 IU vitamin D to control autoimmune.
• 500 mg Thiamine - neurologic symptoms
• 500 mg Nicotinic Acid - increase capillary blood flow
• 500 mg Pantothenic Acid - creates energy from glucose Krebs Cycle
• 1000 mcg B12 - creates hemoglobin for oxygen transport
• 500 mg Taurine - essential amino acid, a powerful antioxident that we make indogenously so it is officially labeled "Conditional Essential" as Choline used to be, but not enough when sickness increases inflammation. reduces Reactivite Oxygen Species (ROS are are free radicals.).
• 840 mg Phosphatidly Choline three times a day - essential for fat digestion.
• Iodine - I get mine from 45 grams rehydrated dried kelp sheets that I cut like linguini.  of muscle tone, testosterone, hyper and hypo thyroid, slow healing.

It may be hard to find vitamin D3 10,000 IU (250 mcg). I get mine from Piping Rock. com, gluten and gmo free and cheap. 250 capsules of 10,000 IU vitamin D3 for less than $10.

I've seen Hydroxy 25 vitamin D tests advertised for $25.  The test is one of the few vitamin tests that shows accurate status.  Worth it if you can to give you a baseline.