When the world you know is
incorrect, you need to adjust your perspective so you can see it as it actually
is, instead of believing that which isn’t true. – Gretchen Bronson
I’ve been documenting my struggle with PCOS, Migraines, and
high Fasting Blood Glucose levels for several months here on my blog. It’s time for an update. Many people have contacted me privately
asking when I was going to be reporting on my N=1 Cold Thermogenesis experiment
that I started back in November 2012.
I’ve been waiting, because I wanted to discuss the set of lab work I had
run back on the 21st of December 2012.
I got my labs back on Monday 21 January 2013. The data I received at my PCP’s was
interesting to say the least, and it wasn’t at all what either of us
expected. In two months I
went from making forward progress, to a backward slide of EPIC
proportions. My PCP couldn’t
explain it. My initial
response in my head was WHAT THE FUCK HAPPEND? I ate clean. I
was CTing my ass off in the stock tank. I was adhering to circadian cycles
strictly. Intuitively, I knew what
caused this back slide, but was struck by the magnitude of what my environment
was doing to me, even though I was perfect in diet, exercise, CT, Circadian Cycles,
and Sleep.
That morning, I was privileged to have the opportunity to
preview Dr. Jack Kruse’s EMF2 blog.
Reading EMF2 was both empowering, and daunting in all that it lays
forth. But when I read it I didn’t
realize the implications it actually had on me until I was sitting in my PCP’s
office, getting my lab results.
HOLY SHIT! OMFG!
SHIT! The pit of my stomach
dropped out from beneath me.
For every individual out there that clamors that we need more clinical
trials on drugs, and how we should manage disease: LOOK NO FURTHER. I. AM. YOUR. CLINICAL TRIAL. Oh, and by the way SO. ARE. YOU. That’s right every person reading this
blog is a clinical trial. MY N=1
holds more power than I could have ever imagined.
So, for those of you reading for the first time, I’m a soon
to be 40yo woman struggling with migraines, PCOS, high fasting blood glucose,
hypothyroidism, and I can’t lose weight regardless of diet or exercise. I work in a windowless office building
8-10hrs a day, illuminated with florescence light. I get up between 530-6am
every day, get everyone ready and out the door to daycare and work. Commute in
traffic in one of the worst cities for traffic in the world. I’m using
Bio-Identical Hormone Therapy to treat my migraines and PCOS, I’m taking armour
to treat the hypothyroidism, I’m taking metformin to address the PCOS and the
fasting Blood Glucose issues, and cycloset to help reset my circadian cycles
and address the fasting blood glucose.
I eat epi-paleo, and I CT almost daily.
So, what happened? My Labs Tanked.
In October
2012 – my Progesterone:Estradial (Pg:E2) ratio was 104, Ideally it should be
above 400. In December 2012 my
Pg:E2 ratio dropped to 59! At the
end of October we increased the percentage of my Bio-Identical Hormones from 5%
to 10% and we increased the Dosages.
My Pg:E2 should have gone up, but it didn’t.
The following labs also decreased:
Estradiol:
October – 90pg/ml; December 174pg/ml
Testosterone:
October – 47ng/dl; December – 35ng/dl
My IGF-1
increased in October to 240ng/ml from 185ng/dl but in December it dropped to
231ng/dl. The same thing happened
with the following Labs as well:
DHEA:
October -344 ug/dl; December- 267ug/dl
Prolactin:
October- 3.8ng/ml; December
-3.2ng/ml
LDL: May
-243mg/dl; December – 285mg/dl
Trigs: May –
66; December - 90mg/dl
hsCRP: May -
.4mg/L; December - .2 mg/dl. This
is actually a very good thing because it means CT is helping me live in a
reduced metabolic state
HbA1C: May –
5.6%; December – 5.3%. Also a good
thing – it means my over all blood glucose is down, but I still haven’t fixed
the high fasting blood glucose first thing in the am.
On the
bright side the following labs increased:
HDL: May -
66mg/dl in May; December - 71 mg/dl – I need all the Zeta Potential I can get
right about now.
Bun/Creatine
ratio: September – 20; December -
27– so my mitochondria at least have the water they need to create energy.
Progesterone:
October - 10.9ng/dl; December - 12.7ng/dl. While this increase is a good thing it couldn’t compete with
the increase of Estradiol, which caused my Pg:E2 ratio to plummet.
Thyroid –
well, that had some serious swings as we continued to work on my armor dosage.
Unfortunately I’m not at the right level yet, and I’m going to need to re-test
again in four to six weeks after I’ve been on 120mg of Armour to see if we’ve
found the sweet spot.
Over the past eleven months we’ve thrown everything
including the kitchen sink to get my issues under control. We should have seen forward progress…
not the backward progress, where I went from being a soon to be 40 year old
woman trying to treat a few challenging medical issues that could have an
impact on my health, to a woman whose labs resembled a 60 year old woman in
menopause struggling with her health across the board. In two months I aged 20 years according
to my labs.
How? It all
goes back to EMF2, which Jack Kruse gave me a peak of on Monday morning. What caused this rapid aging? Jack
Kruse lays out how this happens in the EMF2 blog, and its pretty powerful, and
based of the work of the greatest mind to grace human kind: Einstein. But in a
nutshell: Electromagnetic Frequency. Yes I said EMF. Break out your tinfoil
hats ladies and gentlemen you’re going to need them.
I work in a building that is a giant EMF Avalanche. I can walk into this building every day
with a fully charged iPhone, turned to airplane mode, and come out after an 8
hr day with less than 20% charge.
All the phone is doing is sitting on my desk or in my backpack. I’m not using it. If this building is doing that to
the phone – what is it doing to my body?
In two months it aged me 20 years at the biochemical level.
What does this tell me? Where you live, & the
environment you spend the most time in has the greatest impact upon your
health. You can eat clean, work
out at the proper time, CT, pay attention to circadian light cycles and seasonal
eating – but if you’re living or working in an area of EMF pollution it’s not
going to matter, unless you can re-charge your SCN with the earths magnetic
field via the Schumann_Resonances.[1]
So. What am
I going to do with this newfound insight?
I’m still struggling with the implications of what this means for me,
& for my family, especially Chaos and Havoc and how I’m going to mitigate
what’s happening to me. Monday I was given a great and wonderful gift. It opened my eyes, and I can no longer
ignore that which is directly in front of me. Open your eyes you’ve been
blinded by incongruent thoughts and actions. When you see the truth in its pure form as nature intended –
it will astound you at its simplicity and beauty. It may also scare the shit out of you as well, but now that
you know the truth you can fix yourself, through change.
Gretchen,
ReplyDeleteI did labs in July and saw major improvements in vitamin d, free and total testosterone, dhea, etc. I tested again in early December and all the above dropped off by large amounts. No change in rf/emf.
I think the change was from the change in sunlight. Just something else you might want to consider. Weren't you working from home and getting lots of sun last summer?
Huck on jackkruse.com
Thanks Huck. We started seeing a change in my hormone labs when the seasonal change happened, however that didn't drive the 180 reversal.
ReplyDeleteAs I understand EMF2 - in the winter SCN is ruled by the earth's magnetism, not light, which is why its so important for the "Rolex in your head". so when you're exposed to an over load of EMF, and you don't re-connect with the earth, your mind can't tell time, so it speeds up your biological processes. my CIMT last febuary showed I had the arteries of a 56yo woman, not a 38 yo, this was working from home for close to 2 years. I wouldn't be surprised if they are worse today. while I may look youthful on the outside, the inside is speeding up from a biologic perspective. paradox.
I'd make a bet - the emf you're experiencing is far greater than you think.
Absolutely mind-boggling Gretchen. You need a new career working from home in the country I'd say- good luck fixing this
ReplyDeleteWow! Thank you for posting this. I haven't had any labs drawn yet due to insurance and financial reasons, but your explanations help me to understand them better, and I can't wait to get some blood drawn so I can start tracking this.
ReplyDeleteGood luck, Gretchen, and go lay on a big cold rock for a while.
Scary that the EMF can have that impact in such a short space of time. The trouble is we all need an income but I guess hard decisions have to be made. Good luck with yours.
ReplyDeleteAussieNana on Jack Kruse
I am sure you will come to a workable solution. In the meantime, I hope you will visit my latest blog post and read carefully.
ReplyDeletehttp://exceptionallybrash.blogspot.com/2013/01/the-answer-to-universe-why-i-am-not.html
Fascinating.
DeleteI've had many patients have similar declines in their health and laboratory parameters during this period. Its quite common. I am aware of the dramatic impact of EMF's and health. I was wondering if you actually have a biotoxin illness. During the winter, heating systems get turned on, and many of the heating systems are in wet damp places, or HVACs have wet damp debris=increased VOC's, biotoxins, -->increases leptin resistance, causing all the parameters you mention to worsen. Also, EMF's according to Dr. Klinghardt, causes 500% increase in biotoxin secretion. To test your theory, have you tried to take an EMF meter device to your work?
Blessings
Yes!! I had such a RAPID decline in health absolutely starting end of November. It was creeping and then BAM in mid December it was really bad. I'm trying to recover still...but it's not really 'working'. I am trying to at least 'hug' trees etc. when I go out for my morning 'sun'. (As in I wake before the sun).
ReplyDeleteA bit scary stuff for sure. :-( I really hated how it had a rapid decline. Like I just lost control over nothing. Like something just snapped inside my body. Sigh.
My optimal time was September for sure! Again what was I able to do several times a week...? Swim in the lake. Hiked often etc. Sigh. I tried making winter 'good'. I no longer feel the cold any more like I used to...then I thought maybe not enough sun. I need to somehow ground more in winter. That's probably the only explanation. I find it a bit hard to go in ice water when it's -20 to -30...
Gretchen you should experiment by dropping ALL supplements and hormones you're taking and experiment with just earthing alone. Would you be willing to take that risk? Maybe just a 30 day trial? In winter of course...b/c summer everything is so much 'easier'...
Tomorrow I will go in bare feet on the ground while touching the trees and looking up at the sky. I have done this a few times by going barefoot in snow (cold), but clearly I need it more often. I don't know. I did climb a tree the other day too which was very nice. Again it's so hard when you're all bundled up. Sigh, but it was -25...
I'm sorry to hear about the back slide though, but yet it's so interesting at the same time that is independent of all the protocols and interventions that you take.
Do you even think a tin foil hat would help/work? Some arguments say it's not really helpful...
My aunt is into EMF etc and my mom laughs at her---STUPID that she laughs at her. Let's see...my aunt who is vegetarian (ya I know not good) has minimal health problems (just a little more tired that should be due to being vegetarian) but my mom has diabetes and whole slew of health problems (and had histerectomy at age 29)...let's see who should be laughing at who?
Zorica.
Gretchen,
ReplyDeleteThis is TheKid from over at Jack's site.
You know, for the past 2 years running I've become exceedingly ill during the November - December time frame. When I say exceedingly ill, I mean heart attack level chest pain, raging GERD, intense reactive hypoglycemia (regardless of macronutrient), arthritic joint flares, serious cognitive decline, and something that feels like a transient ischemic attack.
In both years, I was very compliant leading up to this decline. Two years ago, I was just low carb Paleo. This year I was Epi Paleo with Jack.
Interestingly, this year was worse than last year. I literally thought I was going to die on a number of occasions. You can't imagine how absultely terrifying it is to be jolted from sleep at 3 AM with a mix of GERD and adrenaline rushes and stabbing abdominal and chest pains.
It takes months for me to dig out of this hole.
What I have found is that the more compliant I am, the worse I generally feel. It is my belief that if you are going to eat Paleo/Epi-Paleo, then you need to BE Paleo/Epi-Paleo 100%. By that, I mean that it seems to me that the diet pushes your body into a place where all the other conditionals that go with the lifestyle now become important. I find that troubling and unsettling.
When I am all carbed up, I generally feel better. I even did an N=1 with some extremely unsafe starches at the beginning of each morning. At first, I got reactive hypoglycemia. But then that eased and I felt great. I looked forward to my unsafe starches each morning, and did not really feel addicted the way I used to. I could go low carb for lunch and moderate carb for dinner and be OK. In fact, I would often skip lunch.
Now I know where carbing up eventually leads. It's not a good place, and I can't stay there long, I can only visit. But the takeaway for me is that carbing up confers a state of artificial summer to the metabolism. The SCN is not left out in this party, and you then are able to reckon time in the absence of being earthed and magnetically enervated, etc. In fact, this is what most people are doing. And until the wheels fall off the wagon due to oxidative damage, they do pretty well.
But once you get on the Paleo/Epi Paleo bandwagon, it seems that the whole lifestyle shabang now becomes requisite. I find it to be a very unforgiving diet. So where you would normally be able to mask over problems related to EMF and hormone disregulation by dosing high levels of carbs, you now have those things exposed.
One year of hell was a painful coincidence. This year, it made me really ask a lot of serious questions. And I am starting to believe that if you are going to live Neolithic, then you need to eat Neolithic. It's part of the package. And if you're going to eat Paleo, then you need to live Paleo. Again, it's part of the package.
The Kid
The Kid
ReplyDeleteThose are some pretty interesting observations!! Jack talks about mismatches all the time. So you are almost talking about a 'reverse' mismatch.
So if you can't live in the land of carbed up for too long, what do you do then? Do you just do a cycle then?
I read your posts on the forums and it does seem to me that you suffer a lot of health issues. I wish you could find better health. :-)
Zorica.
p.s. I am with you and Gretchen on how it can be so frustrating to do everything right and not only right, but so extreme which makes life 'difficult' (due to contrary to EVERYTHING that society as in your family and/or friends do) yet STILL have so many health problems. It's very lonely path most of the time. What to do?
ReplyDeleteI always have the 'when you know better you do better'. running through my mind. The other day I had some uncles and aunts talking about how my grandpa used to say the EXACT same thing, and Deda was soooo inspiring and influential to me. So I have that argument running through my head from Jack, but more from the angle of persuasion through my grandpa.
So still...what do do? You know?
Zorica.
@theKid, good for you to ask the tough questions, here and on the blog. I have wondered if some of the cart is before the horse, too, especially after reading Dr. B G with respect to adrenal fatigue. I also think it may be a factor in Jack's disagreements with Rosedale. It seems you can eat all the protein you want if all the pathways are working, but how much protein can you handle at the beginning? A BAB amount?
ReplyDelete