bad 5-day water fasting experience

[Bernie]

Congrats on a successful fast, George. Thanks for sharing your data. Your KB levels are impressive, but Theresa's blew me away. I wonder, however, if those high levels ultimately contributed to her worsened pulse wave velocity. Perhaps that was her body's signal that it was "stressed." Still sending loads of love your way. Hope you guys get results soon. XO

Thanks for those details, Bernie. Our of curiosity, have you tried soaking your nuts overnight before eating? That addresses the lectin sensitivity issue that many of us experience. Apologies, one more question about your experiment; how did you measure blood viscosity?

No, I've not tried soaking them Julie but I've seen many references to doing that. Is it the lectins that are causing the joint pain do you think? My blood became visibly thicker when I took my BG and BK measurements.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[TheresaB]

The lab results are in, much faster than expected. Here’s what happened to my biomarkers after my 7 day fast:
Test--------------------Begin of fast-----------End of Fast----------Acceptable Range
Glucose, Serum-------91 mg/dL-------------54 mg/dL – low---------65-99
Insulin-------------------3.1 uIU/mL-----------1.7 uIU/mL – low-------2.6 – 24.9
IGF-1---------------------59 ng/mL-------------57 ng/mL-----------------46-172
Estradiol----------------12 pg/mL-------------< 5.0 pg/mL – low-------<6.0 – 54.7

Juliegee wrote

I'm so sorry to hear about your cancer scare.

and Bernie wrote

My best wishes for your health Theresa, I hope everything works out positive for you.

Thank you both, you’re so sweet. I have generally good news. My gyn called about my MRI results late yesterday. The mass does not appear to be cancer, but rather a rather large and unusually positioned fibroid stalk. (I’ve had fibroid issues in the past). Given the size and position, she said she can’t imagine that I’m not having pressue issues as a result of it, just that I probably don’t recognize the symptoms since the mass developed so slowly. She recommends a hysterectomy (hmmm) including, while they're in there, taking out the ovaries (hmmm) since they’re not producing much in terms of hormones any more anyway. But she did say I could do nothing. If my decision was to do nothing right now, however, she’d want to keep an eye on it every 3 months. Right now I’m just going to take 3 months to collect information to make an informed decision.

[KatieS]

Theresa,
Relieved it's not cancer, still it sounds like the fibroid is too large for the easier laparoscopic hysterectomy already. One doctor wanted to do a laparoscopic hysterectomy on me, but I opted with the second opinion of just removing the polyp and have not had any bleeding for over eight years. I don't know if you should consider a second opinion or not. It would seem like the low estradiol level would have shrunk the fibroid. Do you feel any difference cognitively with the lower estradiol level?

[TheresaB]

Katie S thank you for your take! You wrote,

Do you feel any difference cognitively with the lower estradiol level?

Great question! I was on a fast that upped my ketones, which is supposed to enhance cognitive ability, but I went to an extremely low level of estradiol and estradiol is supposed to be neuroprotective. There was a period of time on my fast where I felt I was on a mental stimulant, not so much clarity, but almost like a gentle amphetamine in terms of acceleration of thought. But it wasn’t sustained. Now that I’m off the fast, I’d say I feel the same cognitively.

[Stavia]

The fibroid should shrink with time as your oestradiol wanes. Its prolly still there post menopause as you had a delayed drop in oestradiol. It is oestradiol dependent.
I had enormous ones pre menopause - uterus size of a 12 week pregnancy, now gone with some years of a Mirena.
Honestly - if you're having no symptoms from it why would you want surgery?

[Stavia]

And it's a benign thingy. Why does she need to image it every 3 months?

[TheresaB]

Stavia wrote

Honestly - if you're having no symptoms from it why would you want surgery?

I DON'T want surgery, 3 surgeries on my right foot in the last four years is ENOUGH for me! But if it’s best...well maybe, but not jumping into anything without exploring options! There’s one thing that I might be experiencing an issue with.

And it's a benign thingy. Why does she need to image it every 3 months?

Dunno. I think she wants to make sure obstruction in the rectal area doesn't become an issue.

[Julie G]

So happy for you, (((Theresa.))) Ruling out scary stuff is huge .

If you're not having any other issues surrounding this (chronic bleeding, prolapse, etc.,) why not consider a fibroid embolization? I had a 10 cm. fibroid embolized with great results. Within one year, it was half it's size. It was fairly non-invasive procedure compared to a hysterectomy. Something to consider...

[TheresaB]

Juliegee wrote

why not consider a fibroid embolization

I had one 14 years ago. I didn't realize I felt so bad until after the procedure when I felt so much better, which is one of the reasons I am not completely eliminating the thought of surgery now.

I wish I had been more prepared for my doctor to call me and could have recorded what she was telling me, if I remember correctly, she told me the mass in question is a fibroid stalk, so not sure another embolization would do any good.

[Stavia]

Theresa surely if you had rectal obstruction you'd know?
Sorry to interfere. I'll stop now. I'm just not a fan of unnecessary investigation.