Keto / Carnivore update

Hi Guys,

 

I said I would update how the carnivore / keto diet was going in a month....something like 3 months ago, so I am now fulfilling that promise, belatedly.

 

I will give you a backstory of how I got onto this. The first few months after my jump were brutal. I was sleeping around 3 hours per night and I honestly thought I was going to die. Could barely walk around the house. Lost 30lbs and could only consume 1000 calories a day most days, my stomach was extremely f'ed from the drugs. Around month 4 I started improving a bit, the weight loss stopped, there was a very subtle improvement in sleep. Month 5 (August) was better, as I started sleeping 4 hours per night and even had a couple of 5 hour sleeps (5 hours is the maximum amount of sleep I've had in the last 9 months, average around 3/night).

 

Anyway, I was doing pretty well, gaining weight etc and then sleep started backsliding and I wasn't able to eat as much or gain weight anymore. I couldn't figure out why. I tried a few different things and nothing worked. At one point my friend sent me this video talking about the carnivore diet (it was a Joe Rogan podcast, weirdly). I thought that sounded insane, but it seems to have actually worked for people. So I gave it a try and basically did not make it past day 5. I just could not eat enough calories, since the meat was too hard on my stomach and was losing weight again. So I went back to my regular diet. Nothing happened right away, but soon I started having reactions to seemingly every food I ate. My default strategy when I have problems with food is to drink fruit smoothies, since this is fairly easy to digest / nutritious. Except in this case this was the worst possible thing to eat and I reacted badly. I didn't connect it to the attempt at the carnivore diet at all, it didn't even cross my mind, but I kept having reactions and eventually I clued in and went back to eating meat (after a couple days of suffering).

 

I continued having the reaction, but as I ate only meat it slowly died down and by around 24 hours after it started it was mostly over. I felt much, much better. I ran into a few problems initially. I was not eating enough fat to begin, so had some bad insomnia due to excessive protein intake. It seemed to work best when I ate a keto carnivore diet (ie 70% of calories from fat. This is not the healthiest diet, to say the least, but it was better than constantly having disturbing nervous system reactions every time I ate. Another problem I had early on was not getting enough sodium, which was easily corrected. Also remember to drink lots of water.

 

I can't really gain much weight on this diet (nor am I sure I'd want to), but it at least seems to prevent food reactions. My stomach has adjusted pretty well. If you had asked me when I was still on the Klonopin whether I could eat this diet, I would have laughed. I ate nearly 90% carbs for years because my stomach couldn't seem to handle anything heavy while on the drug. Stomach is now substantially better 9 months out.

 

I'm going to post a further update later today or tomorrow, but I've got to get a few things done now.

 

 

Jordan Peterson, popularized the carnivore diet. His daughter has a life threatening autoimmune condition and she started eating only meat and it reversed her symptoms. Jordan Peterson has an autoimmune issue as well and corrected it with the carnivore diet. Joe Rogan asked Peterson on a recent podcast if that there was anything negative about this diet he said something like hell yes there bloody is and that is when he tried to reintroduce foods again he would get severe reactions.

 

If I were to reintroduce foods I would want them to be the most simple for the body to process and that would be fruits. Any nuts or veggies have evolved more sophisticated enzymatic processes to defend themselves and is more likely to cause an autoimmune reaction. This is my opinion though I don’t know much about this diet yet

Jordan Peterson, popularized the carnivore diet. His daughter has a life threatening autoimmune condition and she started eating only meat and it reversed her symptoms. Jordan Peterson has an autoimmune issue as well and corrected it with the carnivore diet. Joe Rogan asked Peterson on a recent podcast if that there was anything negative about this diet he said something like hell yes there bloody is and that is when he tried to reintroduce foods again he would get severe reactions.

 

If I were to reintroduce foods I would want them to be the most simple for the body to process and that would be fruits. Any nuts or veggies have evolved more sophisticated enzymatic processes to defend themselves and is more likely to cause an autoimmune reaction. This is my opinion though I don’t know much about this diet yet

 

Hi Mamoot,

 

Thanks for the info. I was aware of JP's similar problems, but I believe his are much more severe. I heard him say that one reaction he had to food lasted almost a month, during which he barely slept and was barely functional.

 

One thing I do wonder is whether he is at least partially misattributing his reactions to food to his auto-immune condition. New food intolerances that were never present before seem to be a feature of psychoactive drug withdrawal after long term use, and I believe he discontinued his antidepressant sometime before he started having the reactions. But this is complicated by the fact that he began the carnivore diet before he discontinued the drug, so he may have missed the drug's contributions to the problem. I know his daughter believes that antidepressants etc. play a role in food sensitivities, she mentioned on her blog that many people who had been on the drugs long term had benefited.

 

I had recently transferred to the Keto diet, because I wanted to eat a bit healthier and I was able to, but I recently began having trouble with the non-meat portions of my diet, which, unfortunately, consists almost entirely of avocados, nuts and seeds, and olive oil (by necessity, not choice). I actually just had a pretty bad reaction last night from eating one too many avocados and slept only one hour as a result. The symptoms of the reaction to non-meat products varies, but generally I get pretty tired, joints hurt, stomach becomes very bloated and some sort of paresis occurs in the digestive system, suppressing appetite and making things pretty uncomfortable. My eyes also get very dry and sensitive to light, so that I can barely keep them open, while I also get muscle tension and head pressure. Despite being very tired, I find it almost impossible to sleep while having this reaction and also develop a sort of brain fog. It's by far the worst part of my withdrawal syndrome that is still present. It appears I will now have to go back to the carnivore diet for awhile.

 

Can you imagine if JP began attributing his food sensitivities to the antidepressant and it was proven? There would be billions of dollars in lawsuits....maybe hundreds of billions. It would be incredibly expensive and disruptive for millions of people to eat pure meat diets simply to get relief from their symptoms. I really hope it happens...

I’m dying to hear your update data_guy

Hi Lenain,

 

Sorry, the start of the diet didn't go all that well, so I was just waiting to see if I could adjust to it. I seem to have developed some sort of "multiple chemical sensitivities" thing, where I have crazy nervous system reactions to all sorts of foods I used to be fine with. I've never had any food allergies before. Interestingly, it seems that this has become much more prevalent in recent years, as I read something like 800K people in Canada have been diagnosed with it, or close to 2.5% of the population. Seems messing around with nervous system drugs is really starting to catch up with us. Antibiotics wiping out people's microbiomes probably aren't helping either. (The microbiome is very important for the nervous system. If you haven't seen studies with rats raised in germ-free environments, I'd suggest taking a look.)

 

The first day of the diet I resolved to eat a regular carnivore diet (not keto), or something like 55% fat and 45% protein from fatty cuts of meat. My body was not a fan of all this protein and is not used to glucose at all, which is what the body will convert protein into if you do not eat 70+% fat. As a result I was very tense and could feel my muscles contracting, feeling a bit like my head was being pulled forward towards my body, almost like I had a mild full body dystonia or something, which was annoying and exhausting. I don't know how people with actual severe dystonia deal with it, I would go nuts. I remember waking up the first night an hour after going to sleep and feeling the muscles in the palm area of my hands contracting and thinking "there is no way this is going to work", but I surprisingly was able to get back to sleep for another 3 hours. This syndrome is f'ing ridiculous.

 

Thankfully, the feeling of overactivation and difficulty relaxing the muscles subsided after a couple days as my body adjusted. Since then, I have mostly felt better. It's not a perfect solution, but I've minimized a few symptoms. The major one is the bloating, which is almost completely gone. I'm not sure about you guys, but I found this exhausting. During withdrawal I seem to have developed a sort of Irritable Bowel-type thing, where any bloating or stomach discomfort was extremely bothersome and prevented me from sleeping, even when I was extremely sleep-deprived. This has improved quite a bit in the last few months, but it was pretty awful and I avoided eating because of it, just so I could sleep. Carnivore has helped with this, too.

 

Other symptom improvements have been that: hypersalivation has been reduced, sleep has been more consistent, a little over 4 hours per night, and much less brain fog (been able to concentrate better, return some emails and read more). I've also gained a bit of weight (2lbs thus far) because my appetite is better, though much of it is likely water weight. But the big benefit is not having the CNS reaction to food, which causes my digestive system to freeze up, after which I end up losing weight. I don't want to stay on this diet for too long because I have a history of cardiovascular disease in my family (uncle, aunt, grandparents), but at this point I don't have much of a choice. I will try and exercise as much as possible.

 

I seem to handle chicken, beef and salmon best. I tried some ham and eggs as well, but had a reaction to those, although it was mild and only lasted ~5 hours. I also tried some olive oil and it made me feel pretty bad, for some reason giving me an anxiety reaction. I don't know what the rhyme or reason is behind the reactions, but I do intend to look into the biochemical processes that occur in the body with different foods, and maybe that will provide a clue. Glucose definitely seems to be a problem, but I suspect there are quite a few non-macronutrient components that aren't sitting well either, such as the natural pesticides in most plant foods that Mamoot mentioned.

 

Things have gone better than expected, all things considered, but it's only been a few days. I will update again later, in a week or two. In the meantime, if anyone else wants to update on their keto / carnivore experience here, or discuss diet / recovery strategies, you're most welcome to. Hope everyone is enjoying the holiday, despite the circumstances.

Been meaning to update for a while. I'm still doing the keto diet and trying to make it work but still struggle with macros and overeating occasionally. I use edible cannabis that I infused in coconut oil and it makes me extremely hungry. I notice it is not that much of an issue as long as I don't make baked goods with it. I made some pumpkin bread with Paleo/keto friendly ingredients for the holidays and it set me back. My lipomas grew a little after shrinking these past few weeks doing keto so I know I overate. Seems like water fasting may be a way to get rid of these lipomas that I developed while taking meds. I started getting lipomas while taking Suboxone and working out alot back in 2008 before benzos though. I'm going to start using an app to track my macros starting today to stay on top of things.

Over the holidays, I ate way too many macadamia nuts, meat, and drank almond milk combined with cocoa powder and mct oil, that and eating that pumpkin bread. Been blending up broccoli sprouts too here and there and drinking them down. Seems to help alot.

 

Avocados you really need to limit to one a day on keto and when you have IBS issues because of the polyol sorbitol. A good test to see how your gut microbiome is to eat lots of asparagus. If your gut flora is out of balance your stomach will cramp up. I reintroduced black berries recently but only eat about 4-5 a day. Also, a few tbsp of plain goat milk yogurt. I also eat sauerkraut and kimchi. I notice I tolerate shrimp, salmon, and grass fed lamb and beef the best but it costs alot of money. At the same time I have to limit red meat because it affects my blood pressure, probably because I'm eating too much of it. I do eat poultry and pork as well. Turkey is my favorite but it is hard to find special organic turkeys and prepare them correctly. I'm going to start eating cauliflower rice that I'm going to make from scratch. I want to start making fun keto friendly burrito bowls with it. I've been exercising more and took a break from tapering. I am quitting memantine though right now. Still dealing with aches in my knee but it is getting better. Been using BPC-157 for the past 30 days and have 10 more days to go with it. I'm going to go indoor rock climbing with a friend in a few weeks and want to try to enjoy it and try to get into something with that. My goal is to be able to go rock climbing one day and get healthy, even though that seems like a pipe dream right now...I know I will be able to do that.

 

I think I'm doing much better though. A month ago I thought I had MS or Lyme. I pushed back my appointment to see a neurologist at the end of January. I basically am trying to get as healthy as possible before I see this doctor so I don't get misdiagnosed with something I don't have. I literally am just about to get off the final 1mg of memantine. I need to give it a few weeks before I start tapering again because of the upregulated NMDA receptors. Not sure if I will ever use memantine again even though it probably saved my ass. Will see, I just don't want to take it daily anymore. Hopefully, with a mostly plant based keto diet I won't need it to taper anymore.

 

Happy new year everyone.

 

Hi Mamoot,

 

Thanks for the update. I'm curious what your experience on memantine has been like. I have definitely never taken a NMDA receptor antagonist. I see it is used to treat Alzheimer's, which seems strange since it is blocking the receptors which are generally regarded in performing a central role in long term memory formation. Also, I was wondering what your reasoning was behind tapering the Memantine before the Phenibut and Gabapentin? Hope you had a good holiday.

 

 

I have a not so great update: a couple weeks into my second go at the carnivore diet, I began getting headaches and shortness of breath while going out on walks, but not every time. I doubt it is heart related, as I am in pretty good shape and my blood tests have been excellent. I initially surmised it was related to the diet, but now I'm not so sure. My primary hypothesis was that was due to a lack of carbs, but I added a few carbs to my diet and the headaches still occurred. My second guess was that it was due to too much protein. Backing off on the meat consumption and consuming much more fat using a modified keto diet seems to have helped quite a bit, but I do still get more head tension that I did before a few weeks ago. A third possible reason may be that I am doing too much intense exercise for the amount of sleep I am getting. I have been sleeping around 4 hours per night the last few weeks (I've had brutal insomnia since jumping 11 months ago), but my exercise schedule has generally been 1 hour of walking per day minimum, with a 40 minute weight lifting session or 30 minute run tacked on every second day. The most exercise I have done in one day is 2 hours of walking and a 1 hour weightlifting session. My last workout, I did notice that my head hurt when I was doing heavy seated rows. I will back off the workouts for a few days to see if that helps.

 

I also performed an interesting experiment, attempting to introduce more carbohydrates into my diet by eating a bit more every day. It initially went well, but after a couple days I was way too tense and overstimulated. Eating carbs these days basically makes me feel as if I've done a whole bunch cocaine or methamphetamine. I suppose one of the few benefits of withdrawal is that you get weird, drug-like effects from ordinary grocery store items. But, as with most withdrawal phenomena, it's much more of a hindrance and bother than a benefit, especially once the novelty wears off. In any case, after eating carbs for about 6 straight days, I am raising the white flag and going back to a very low-carb keto diet. While eating carbs, I did quite a bit of exercise and definitely noticed my last run was faster and longer, but I also was only able to sleep just under 4 hours per night. Carbs make it more difficult to get to sleep and stay asleep, and the sleep I do get feels much less restful. There was one night that I was particularly hungry before bed, so I ate 2 pieces of buttered toast a couple hours prior to bedtime. Boy, did I regret that. I ended up wayyy overstimulated. It took me around an hour to get to sleep. I have no memory of falling asleep and no memory of waking up. When I did notice that I was awake, I looked at the clock and saw that 3 hours had passed fairly quickly, which was the only way I knew that I had fallen asleep. I felt as if I had never had the usual relaxation and rest that sleep brings. It was a horrible feeling, but went away with fasting and avoiding carbs. I will wait a little while before trying that experiment again, as I'm not eager to have an encore of feeling my world is ending. Next time I will be much more careful. After 6 nights of carb-induced broken, light sleep, I feel like a strung out junkie.

 

I hope you guys have had more success with your diets.

 

DG

 

Yo Data_G, I'm doing pretty damn good on a modified ketogenic diet still and starting to become "keto adapted" I think. Regarding the memantine question, I started using it while tapering benzos at low dosages, 1-2mg daily basically out of fear, hoping it would protect my brain. I took it for way too long without properly cycling it while trying to wrap up the benzo taper out of fear again. So, maybe I was on it for a year or two at around those dosages described before cycling off it. I seem to remember maintaining at ultra low dosages at around 0.5mg too alot of the time on it. There may be some risks with taking, such as negative effects on cognitive flexibility when coming off it. Possibly neurotoxicity when combined with cholinesterase inhibitors like Donepezil. Like anything, I don't think the possible damage from memantine lasts forever but it may be long-lasting. But it is a trade the way I see it because it does protect the brain from the damaging effects of WD...overall though I think it has made my cognition worse. In order to get the cognitive benefits in memory you need to take larger dosages. I can't say how much it helped me because I've been on it this entire time pretty much. I continue to keep it around because it really seems to attenuate WD pretty well and helps me taper more comfortably. It seems to be better for long-term memory than short-term I think. I stopped taking memantine completely 10 days ago. I need to take a 3-4 week break completely off it before reinstating it again when I resume tapering the gabapentinoids. If I do continue to take memantine, I will just take it for short periods of time after making dose reductions. I don't want to take it for months at a time anymore. I'm hoping the ketogenic diet will enable me not to depend on it anymore like I have been. I see a neurologist at the end of this month and I'm going to bring up some of my concerns. I know I should get an MRI but I'm mostly asymptomatic right now, thriving on the keto diet, so it will be kind of difficult to convince the neurologist that I need one. Anyone who has followed my posts these past few years knows that I've taken too many things and combinations of things. I may of made things worse but mostly I don't think that is the case. I particularly worry about combining memantine with ketamine which I have done dozens of times. I don't really know if that was safe. Addiction and depression made me desperate, along with the damage from everything. I have developed a psychological dependency toward ketamine as well. I'm going to take a couple months off before considering using more. I love ketamine though because there are no apparent negative side effects other than some bladder irritation if I don't drink enough water. So, the reason why I'm tapering memantine is to really cycle off it, reconsider it's place in my taper, and to construct a plan to use it more effectively and safely. It is setting me back now. I'm not tapering gabapentin or phenibut because I'm cycling off it. It is very frustrating but what can I do. Bottom line, memantine seems like a trade but the benefits seem to out way the potential risks for attenuating extremely bad WD. I'm hoping to start to feel better soon off memantine. Probably by day 14 things will turn around for me psychologically.

 

My diet is pretty on point though. The quality of my fats is impeccable, omega 3 to 6 ratio is right. Grass fed and finished beef, grass fed lamb, and salmon is what I've been getting. I like to use a blend of 2 to 1 (avocado oil and EV olive oil) when I sauté vegetables on medium heat. I make cauliflower rice, red cabbage, a little green onion, shiitake mushrooms, celery and just blend all the ingredients with some fresh garlic. Also asparagus and radishes are good. Been eating lots of micogreens and blending up broccoli sprouts. Also, I add mustard powder spice to cruciferous vegetables when I saute them because it increases an enzyme called glucoraphanin that gets cooked off. It increases sulforphane formation in cooked cruciferous vegetables. Avocados, soft boiled eggs, a few blackberries or raspberries a day, like 25-30g. Macadamia nuts and pecans are a staple. Also two roasted brazil nuts a day for the thyroid. Other than that I drink a little almond milk, this stuff Almond Malk, it's pretty good. I also eat cacao nibs and use cacao powder. I have hemp seed protein too. Greek olives as well. Been drinking matcha green tea in the morning too. I make a nice chocolate shake with almond milk, cacao powder, hemp seed, and coconut oil, with a dash of super pure stevia. Also, I've been eating kimchi. I hope this can give some people some ideas of how to eat on a modified keto diet. Some awesome snacks I discovered are these beef or turkey sticks by Chomps and also Keto Cups by Eating Evolved. I want to start making my own because they are expensive.

 

I'm spending alot of money eating like this though. I kind of gave up on buying supplements for nutrition as well. I even have some salmon roe in my fridge that I haven't tried yet. I still want to take CBD and an array of other things though. I have some NSI-189 stashed for when I finish tapering everything. I keep hearing great things about it, that it is very helpful for the healing process.

 

 

Mamoot, your diet sounds great (I hope to be able to eat like that soon) and you sound pretty knowledgeable. I'm glad you're doing fairly well, but, you have succeeded in eliciting my concern.

 

This drug NSI-189 seems like it did not pass phase II trials. Allegedly for reasons of efficacy, but we cannot really know. What have you heard about it that makes you think it would help with healing? Seems there are only a couple articles on it in pubmed, so I'm not even sure what its pharmacological action is supposed to be. Can you enlighten me?

From what I understand, the exact pharmacological action is still unknown but it has been shown to regenerate neurons in the hippocampus.  I have a friend who used it while in college a few years ago and he claimed it helped out alot, in terms of recovery over MDMA abuse. Also, a few members on BB have used it with encouraging results. I talked a little about it with benzoquit123 and eggplantblue. Benzoquit123 mentioned something about it helping with all or most of the cognitive impairment issues and helping substantially with headaches related to quitting alot of different drugs CT. He quit gabapentin, phenibut and benzos in very large dosages if I'm remembering things right. I think he is still looking to resolve his anhedonia though. Eggplantblue mentioned something about it helping substantially with sleep and anxiety but she is looking for another source since it is difficult to find a trusted vendor. Maybe they can chime in. This article goes over some bullet points.

 

https://selfhacked.com/blog/nsi-189-uses/

 

The key with experimenting with neurogenic compounds is to be as healthy as possible and to be eating correctly, and adapted to some type of schedule and routine for good results, otherwise you get bad results.

 

I also stocked up on an experimental substance/antioxidant called Ebselen, but I don't have much because it was extremely expensive. Enough to microdose and stack with the NSI-189 though. I just liked the way it looked for this.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ebselen

 

Ever since I started watching my macros and eating this way I have been healing at a level that seems too quick for my brain to keep up with. It's almost left me in a weird state of calm confusion. Since quitting memantine I've had a few bad panic attacks though after exposing myself to cold temperatures outside. Not sure if this is dangerous but before going in the sauna at the gym I go outside with shorts and a t-shirt in 20-30F degree weather. But the cold stress seems to freak me out if I have any THC in my system. I also have an ECG gizmo called a Kardia that I've been taking quite often and it has been contributing to my anxiety. I welcome the panic attacks and see them as a sign that my body is healing though. I stopped getting panic attacks do to adrenal fatigue I think, and now that my body is healing I am able to get stronger fight or flight reactions. I walked my dog and stayed outside for about 15 minutes with shorts and a t shirt and drove to the gym with no heat and the windows open. Then I sat in the parking lot with the windows opens and kept taking my ECG. Then I started trembling and the BPM showed like 120 on the app and I freaked out I think. I'm going to take it easy with the cold exposure stuff. I'm acting like I want to be the next Wim Hof Iceman or something. But there really is something to cold exposure. I feel like it is healing my HPA axis. I don't really recommend it to most people because it is a little extreme, and I'm also willing to die for this cause. I have a weird attitude toward healing now and I'm a tough SOB. I embrace pain and suffering and enjoy going through hell now.

Maybe it's easier to say that now because I am doing better and suffering is starting to feel good in a strange way. I don't know. I know things can easily turn around and start to suck again. I'm going to work hard to stay healthier so that doesn't happen again.

Been meaning to update for a while. I'm still doing the keto diet and trying to make it work but still struggle with macros and overeating occasionally. I use edible cannabis that I infused in coconut oil and it makes me extremely hungry. I notice it is not that much of an issue as long as I don't make baked goods with it. I made some pumpkin bread with Paleo/keto friendly ingredients for the holidays and it set me back. My lipomas grew a little after shrinking these past few weeks doing keto so I know I overate. Seems like water fasting may be a way to get rid of these lipomas that I developed while taking meds. I started getting lipomas while taking Suboxone and working out alot back in 2008 before benzos though. I'm going to start using an app to track my macros starting today to stay on top of things.

Over the holidays, I ate way too many macadamia nuts, meat, and drank almond milk combined with cocoa powder and mct oil, that and eating that pumpkin bread. Been blending up broccoli sprouts too here and there and drinking them down. Seems to help alot.

 

Avocados you really need to limit to one a day on keto and when you have IBS issues because of the polyol sorbitol. A good test to see how your gut microbiome is to eat lots of asparagus. If your gut flora is out of balance your stomach will cramp up. I reintroduced black berries recently but only eat about 4-5 a day. Also, a few tbsp of plain goat milk yogurt. I also eat sauerkraut and kimchi. I notice I tolerate shrimp, salmon, and grass fed lamb and beef the best but it costs alot of money. At the same time I have to limit red meat because it affects my blood pressure, probably because I'm eating too much of it. I do eat poultry and pork as well. Turkey is my favorite but it is hard to find special organic turkeys and prepare them correctly. I'm going to start eating cauliflower rice that I'm going to make from scratch. I want to start making fun keto friendly burrito bowls with it. I've been exercising more and took a break from tapering. I am quitting memantine though right now. Still dealing with aches in my knee but it is getting better. Been using BPC-157 for the past 30 days and have 10 more days to go with it. I'm going to go indoor rock climbing with a friend in a few weeks and want to try to enjoy it and try to get into something with that. My goal is to be able to go rock climbing one day and get healthy, even though that seems like a pipe dream right now...I know I will be able to do that.

 

I think I'm doing much better though. A month ago I thought I had MS or Lyme. I pushed back my appointment to see a neurologist at the end of January. I basically am trying to get as healthy as possible before I see this doctor so I don't get misdiagnosed with something I don't have. I literally am just about to get off the final 1mg of memantine. I need to give it a few weeks before I start tapering again because of the upregulated NMDA receptors. Not sure if I will ever use memantine again even though it probably saved my ass. Will see, I just don't want to take it daily anymore. Hopefully, with a mostly plant based keto diet I won't need it to taper anymore.

 

Happy new year everyone.

 

re/ Lipomas - I developed 2 of these... one on the back of my neck and one in the middle of my back. They are hardly visible but my wife can feel them. I had them checked by a doctor but he said they were non-issues. What are these things? Did they come from taking pscyhe drugs? Do you know how to get rid of them or do you have to see a plastic surgeon for that?

 

Also doing Keto but never seem to get into Ketosis. So probably just a low-carb diet at this point. I can't really manage under 30g of Carbs... I can manage somewhere around 100g or just over. Otherwise I'm losing weight which I don't want.

 

take care,

Hey colley. The only way to get rid of lipomas is with surgery but people have gotten rid of them through diet or shrunk them substantially. I have a hunch a mostly plant based ketogenic diet with a 1 to 1 ratio of omega 6 and 3 helps because my lipomas are shrinking. Also a vegan diet will do it as well as long as you are getting in the right fats. The most effective way to get rid of them is water fasting I think. Eating like crap and taking pills sure brings them on but I started getting them as a teenager but very few and small. Once I started the Suboxone they started growing like a wildfire after joining a gym. I started taking all these stupid workout supplements as well. Like Celltech protein and creatine loaded with all sorts of sugars and crap. I really messed up I guess

 

You will not lose weight with keto if you eat enough calories. Don't write it off so quickly colley. It's an easy fix.

Keto is working for me and I've been on it since July last year. AND Intermittent Fasting as well.  I just don't eat after 5 pm and then I have breakfast at 9 am.  16 hour fast.

From what I understand, the exact pharmacological action is still unknown but it has been shown to regenerate neurons in the hippocampus.  I have a friend who used it while in college a few years ago and he claimed it helped out alot, in terms of recovery over MDMA abuse. Also, a few members on BB have used it with encouraging results. I talked a little about it with benzoquit123 and eggplantblue. Benzoquit123 mentioned something about it helping with all or most of the cognitive impairment issues and helping substantially with headaches related to quitting alot of different drugs CT. He quit gabapentin, phenibut and benzos in very large dosages if I'm remembering things right. I think he is still looking to resolve his anhedonia though. Eggplantblue mentioned something about it helping substantially with sleep and anxiety but she is looking for another source since it is difficult to find a trusted vendor. Maybe they can chime in. This article goes over some bullet points.

 

https://selfhacked.com/blog/nsi-189-uses/

 

The key with experimenting with neurogenic compounds is to be as healthy as possible and to be eating correctly, and adapted to some type of schedule and routine for good results, otherwise you get bad results.

 

I also stocked up on an experimental substance/antioxidant called Ebselen, but I don't have much because it was extremely expensive. Enough to microdose and stack with the NSI-189 though. I just liked the way it looked for this.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ebselen

 

Ever since I started watching my macros and eating this way I have been healing at a level that seems too quick for my brain to keep up with. It's almost left me in a weird state of calm confusion. Since quitting memantine I've had a few bad panic attacks though after exposing myself to cold temperatures outside. Not sure if this is dangerous but before going in the sauna at the gym I go outside with shorts and a t-shirt in 20-30F degree weather. But the cold stress seems to freak me out if I have any THC in my system. I also have an ECG gizmo called a Kardia that I've been taking quite often and it has been contributing to my anxiety. I welcome the panic attacks and see them as a sign that my body is healing though. I stopped getting panic attacks do to adrenal fatigue I think, and now that my body is healing I am able to get stronger fight or flight reactions. I walked my dog and stayed outside for about 15 minutes with shorts and a t shirt and drove to the gym with no heat and the windows open. Then I sat in the parking lot with the windows opens and kept taking my ECG. Then I started trembling and the BPM showed like 120 on the app and I freaked out I think. I'm going to take it easy with the cold exposure stuff. I'm acting like I want to be the next Wim Hof Iceman or something. But there really is something to cold exposure. I feel like it is healing my HPA axis. I don't really recommend it to most people because it is a little extreme, and I'm also willing to die for this cause. I have a weird attitude toward healing now and I'm a tough SOB. I embrace pain and suffering and enjoy going through hell now.

 

Hey Mamoot,

 

Sorry I took so long to respond. Been a tough couple weeks for me. That week of ingesting carbs everyday really screwed things up and I haven't been able to reestablish my regular sleep pattern, so I've been pretty exhausted and it's been tough to concentrate or get anything done.

 

Love the Wim Hof Iceman comment, that cracked me up.

 

I'm sure other people have said you might want to cut back on the supplements / experimental compounds, so I'm not going to try and lecture you or anything, I'm just going to say I'm pretty skeptical that those things are helping with healing. Most of these are just molecules created in some lab by Pharma, then they release some propaganda onto these feeder sites and sell off the supply that they didn't get to use in clinical trials if the compound failed to demonstrate efficacy early. The problem with the NSI-189 is that it did not even demonstrate efficacy for depression, which is not that difficult with a little statistical and methodological manipulation of clinical trials, which every pharma company does. Because they could not even demonstrate that, I think it is likely a bad idea to take it. In fact, I think that probably the majority of compounds you are taking may just be messing up brain chemistry, rather than helping it return to normal. I would just let your body work its magic and return to homeostasis. Despite all the fancy biological lingo in those clinical trials, we actually know very little about biology, which is why something like more than 99.99% of compounds tested for human use in clinical trials fail fairly early on. And they are not just testing random compounds, they are testing bio-plausible stuff. The body is unbelievably intelligent. We descended from organisms that have evolved on this planet for billions of years to survive in extremely hostile environments. We can withstand an astounding amount of punishment, but rarely does a supplement or drug, even a bio-identical one like insulin, increase lifespan or health unless you have a very specific, identifiable condition. Think of the SSRIs, benzos etc. These are compounds that were approved based on some perceived benefit. But taken them for any extended length of time and they can mess you up pretty good. I think your body knows what to do to heal. We did not co-evolve with some weird pharma compound, and these things will probably just delay getting back to homeostasis, or worse. I hope you are extremely careful if you choose to use this stuff.

 

Have you noticed anything different now that you are in ketosis?

Hey Colley,

 

What does you diet look like? I'm just wondering if there is anything you can add or subtract that would make it easier. I couldn't believe the benefit I got off keto, especially since I'd tried something like 15 other things before that, but I may be a bit unique like that. I do have a pretty big problem when I eat carbs, which I never had previously. Hope you are doing a bit better.

 

DG

Hey DG... doing Keto now; it's been about 2 weeks. Don't feel awesome but it may help in the long run. Also microdosing LSD every 3rd day. Don't love that but maybe it's doing something in the background.

Hey DataG. I agree with everything you said about experimental compounds but I have found a few things that seem to help as far as a few peptides and some other things. Nothing has helped like keto though. One thing I want everyone to know is our bodies desperately need carbs on keto in the form of indigestible fiber which nourishes the gut microbiome. The gut microbiome is the bedrock for neurogenesis and BDNF derived mechanisms. Not eating too much animal protein is important as well. I would say these are the most important things people need to know along with getting macronutrients and balancing fatty acid ratios while on this diet.

 

There is just something attractive about taking something that can potentially regenerate cells in the hippocampus with NSI-189. I've had some success with peptides like BPC-157, P21, Semax, Selank and GHK-Cu but I can't say how much anymore. All I can say is these peptides have improved my life without any obvious pitfalls besides money spent. Peptides like BPC-157 can have a dramatic ability to heal the gut btw. I'm holding on to the NSI-189 for a while until I completely come off of gabapentin and phenibut so I'll have more time to fully research its efficacy. I just go by anecdotal info and blind faith I guess with some of these nootropics. I've always been a risk taker as well and a pretty big idiot while on benzos so there is no doubt I have made plenty of mistakes. It's just tempting to think that there are natural or synthetic substances that can favorably change our epigenetic's and cut a few corners or just enhance neurogenesis which is something that we want. I've always stressed before because I know from personal experience that you need to be doing everything else correctly before considering taking something experimental, just for safety reasons. NSI-189 still may be useful for cognitive dysfunction and neurogenesis to a certain degree based on the results unless it is all BS. I'm more than likely going to try it and find out next Fall. I'm the resident rhesus monkey here and I've hyped it up enough by talking about so I feel like I have a moral responsibility to try it out now. I'm sure NSI-189 is much safer than benzos and gabapentinoids or memantine. Coming off memantine has been no picnic.... I'm starting to feel differently about it worried that it has caused some problems. I sincerely hope after a few months of not being on it and doing well on keto I won't need it anymore or will be able to use much less for short periods of time at least. I just want to get on the other side of this taper. Maybe my brain just is not good at making decisions. I guess the desperation of being majorly depressed makes you just take more stuff. Maybe I just like taking drugs still. I need to figure it out.

Hey DataG. I agree with everything you said about experimental compounds but I have found a few things that seem to help as far as a few peptides and some other things. Nothing has helped like keto though. One thing I want everyone to know is our bodies desperately need carbs on keto in the form of indigestible fiber which nourishes the gut microbiome. The gut microbiome is the bedrock for neurogenesis and BDNF derived mechanisms. Not eating too much animal protein is important as well. I would say these are the most important things people need to know along with getting macronutrients and balancing fatty acid ratios while on this diet.

 

There is just something attractive about taking something that can potentially regenerate cells in the hippocampus with NSI-189. I've had some success with peptides like BPC-157, P21, Semax, Selank and GHK-Cu but I can't say how much anymore. All I can say is these peptides have improved my life without any obvious pitfalls besides money spent. Peptides like BPC-157 can have a dramatic ability to heal the gut btw. I'm holding on to the NSI-189 for a while until I completely come off of gabapentin and phenibut so I'll have more time to fully research its efficacy. I just go by anecdotal info and blind faith I guess with some of these nootropics. I've always been a risk taker as well and a pretty big idiot while on benzos so there is no doubt I have made plenty of mistakes. It's just tempting to think that there are natural or synthetic substances that can favorably change our epigenetic's and cut a few corners or just enhance neurogenesis which is something that we want. I've always stressed before because I know from personal experience that you need to be doing everything else correctly before considering taking something experimental, just for safety reasons. NSI-189 still may be useful for cognitive dysfunction and neurogenesis to a certain degree based on the results unless it is all BS. I'm more than likely going to try it and find out next Fall. I'm the resident rhesus monkey here and I've hyped it up enough by talking about so I feel like I have a moral responsibility to try it out now. I'm sure NSI-189 is much safer than benzos and gabapentinoids or memantine. Coming off memantine has been no picnic.... I'm starting to feel differently about it worried that it has caused some problems. I sincerely hope after a few months of not being on it and doing well on keto I won't need it anymore or will be able to use much less for short periods of time at least. I just want to get on the other side of this taper. Maybe my brain just is not good at making decisions. I guess the desperation of being majorly depressed makes you just take more stuff. Maybe I just like taking drugs still. I need to figure it out.

 

HI Mamoot,

Thanks for the post , glad you are doing well on Keto .  i think I need to try it again .  Just wondered if you still take the aniracetam ? And does one develop tolerance to it over time?  Just looking for some things to cycle . I still am taking a bunch of supplements that seem to be helping. but no nootropics at this point, well except the natural ones like ashwaghandha

 

Thanks for all your experimenting and reporting!

 

MiYu

I still dabble with aniracetam but not that often anymore. Still trying to finish a 250g jar I got a few years ago. I actually just took 500mg with some bulletproof coffee to give you an updated opinion of it. It is still kicking in though, so from what I remember it seems to be hit or miss sometimes. If you are leaning towards homeostasis it is quite helpful but it may not be beneficial when in WD or just out of it. It modulates glutamate receptors, AMPA. It's metabolites target GABA receptors to a certain extent as well which is why it reduces anxiety. It probably affects serotonin and dopamine too.

 

It helps your brain make use of glutamate better after becoming desensitized to it. Aniracetam is actually quite nice if you are still on gabaergics and if you time it with your morning coffee and all that. Seems it would work better on a ketogenic diet since you are going to lean toward GABA more. I can feel it kicking in now, about 500mg and it feels pretty smooth. I did make a medication adjustment too, I started taking my meds every 12 hours again B.I.D. so there is a certain level of WD. On keto everything is so much smoother though. I haven't taken any memantine since Jan. 4th so this is a pretty good sign considering my glutamateric system is still a little destabilized from memantine. Aniracetam does feel stimulating though so it may not be what everyone is looking for.

 

Also, in the past it has felt too stimulating for me, so if you do take it start low, like 500mg and take it from there. I'm not going to take anymore. Fasoracetam is another racetam that I used to use because of it's ability to up regulate GABA B receptors which is something that I would like to do. I'm going to reinstate it when I start tapering again. It did feel stimulating though which I didn't want. So I need to test it out again. I just need a few months off memantine to rid myself of this psychological dependency I have toward it. I may still use memantine for bigger drops. I should probably ask this neurologist what he thinks. I'm pretty nervous about going to see him. The other day I saw some stars or those little sparkly lights you see when you sneeze or rub your eyes. I get them sometimes from sudden head movements. I think there is high blood pressure in my eye and things get squeezed sometimes from these medication adjustments. Usually every time I taper I will see these stars sometimes. I just hope I don't have an MS lesion in my optic nerve or something serious. I would probably have more symptoms though. MS scares me right now. I've been worrying about MS and Lyme for these past few months pretty bad. It helps to feel better though.

 

This aniracetam is pretty much picking up now. I would rather do it when I feel stable and need a cognitive boost. I do have an appointment today with my therapist so it may be helpful. I took some CBD to even out a little. It is kind of stimulating but in a good way usually. I did just drink coffee too. I haven't had coffee in a while and have been drinking matcha, so there is that too. I recently started using ashwagandha too. Do you think it helps?

Hey DG... doing Keto now; it's been about 2 weeks. Don't feel awesome but it may help in the long run. Also microdosing LSD every 3rd day. Don't love that but maybe it's doing something in the background.

 

Hey Colley,

 

I hope it works for you. How are you doing now? What are you symptoms? Do you have any support groups where you are? I think I saw a benzo support group that meets once a month somewhere in BC...forget where you're at though. There are also Psychiatric Survivors Groups. Neither is perfect, but you might find they help. Good to have some social contact, and they often have experience with withdrawals.

 

Mamoon, I'll get to your post a bit later. Right now I haven't slept for 36 hours

36 hours is a long time bro try to get some sleep. Colley it took me about 3-4 weeks to start to feel good on keto. It isn't an easy thing to do. You really need to track macros with an app or at least I do because I tend to overeat. I bought some tahini and these low carb sesame seed crackers yesterday and was pretty impressed. They are called Jilz Crackerz. 5g of net carbs in 10 crackers and they are on point.

 

I haven't been sleeping as well as I'd like too these past few days. My brain just keeps me up more these days and I switched to BID dosing. I can't wait to start daily micro tapering in February. I went to the Shed aquarium last week at at some magic mushrooms. Like .3g and had a decent time. But I was disappointed that I didn't feel good. You need to just compartmentalize better colley and stick with keto. Do it right though.

I am on Keto and it's only 20 percent meat.  So I don't get the carnivore diet?  That makes no sense.  Ketogenic is mostly good fats and low in Protein and really low in carbs.  I also do intermittent fasting to give my body a rest so I can heal.  I'm as skinny as a TWIG.........so I up the Veggies and nuts to keep from losing weight.  But NO, you don't eat a lot of meat on KETO.........  ADKINS you eat a lot of meat but KETOGENIC Diet is LOW PROTEIN.

Hey DG... doing Keto now; it's been about 2 weeks. Don't feel awesome but it may help in the long run. Also microdosing LSD every 3rd day. Don't love that but maybe it's doing something in the background.

 

Hey Colley,

 

I hope it works for you. How are you doing now? What are you symptoms? Do you have any support groups where you are? I think I saw a benzo support group that meets once a month somewhere in BC...forget where you're at though. There are also Psychiatric Survivors Groups. Neither is perfect, but you might find they help. Good to have some social contact, and they often have experience with withdrawals.

 

Mamoon, I'll get to your post a bit later. Right now I haven't slept for 36 hours

 

I'm not doing great.... 27 months still not working. Symptoms are depression, health anxiety, morning fear / depression, fatigue, some tingling in arms, tinnitus, and I've currently been getting sick with a cold almost every 3 weeks now. I think my immune system is to blame for most of this. I've had thyroid and blood work of course but something is up.

 

36hrs is a long time to go... however, there is some evidence out there that staying up for a full night and day can help ease depression. I'm sure that's not what you're aiming for in this regard but just thought I would mention.

I still dabble with aniracetam but not that often anymore. Still trying to finish a 250g jar I got a few years ago. I actually just took 500mg with some bulletproof coffee to give you an updated opinion of it. It is still kicking in though, so from what I remember it seems to be hit or miss sometimes. If you are leaning towards homeostasis it is quite helpful but it may not be beneficial when in WD or just out of it. It modulates glutamate receptors, AMPA. It's metabolites target GABA receptors to a certain extent as well which is why it reduces anxiety. It probably affects serotonin and dopamine too.

 

It helps your brain make use of glutamate better after becoming desensitized to it. Aniracetam is actually quite nice if you are still on gabaergics and if you time it with your morning coffee and all that. Seems it would work better on a ketogenic diet since you are going to lean toward GABA more. I can feel it kicking in now, about 500mg and it feels pretty smooth. I did make a medication adjustment too, I started taking my meds every 12 hours again B.I.D. so there is a certain level of WD. On keto everything is so much smoother though. I haven't taken any memantine since Jan. 4th so this is a pretty good sign considering my glutamateric system is still a little destabilized from memantine. Aniracetam does feel stimulating though so it may not be what everyone is looking for.

 

Also, in the past it has felt too stimulating for me, so if you do take it start low, like 500mg and take it from there. I'm not going to take anymore. Fasoracetam is another racetam that I used to use because of it's ability to up regulate GABA B receptors which is something that I would like to do. I'm going to reinstate it when I start tapering again. It did feel stimulating though which I didn't want. So I need to test it out again. I just need a few months off memantine to rid myself of this psychological dependency I have toward it. I may still use memantine for bigger drops. I should probably ask this neurologist what he thinks. I'm pretty nervous about going to see him. The other day I saw some stars or those little sparkly lights you see when you sneeze or rub your eyes. I get them sometimes from sudden head movements. I think there is high blood pressure in my eye and things get squeezed sometimes from these medication adjustments. Usually every time I taper I will see these stars sometimes. I just hope I don't have an MS lesion in my optic nerve or something serious. I would probably have more symptoms though. MS scares me right now. I've been worrying about MS and Lyme for these past few months pretty bad. It helps to feel better though.

 

This aniracetam is pretty much picking up now. I would rather do it when I feel stable and need a cognitive boost. I do have an appointment today with my therapist so it may be helpful. I took some CBD to even out a little. It is kind of stimulating but in a good way usually. I did just drink coffee too. I haven't had coffee in a while and have been drinking matcha, so there is that too. I recently started using ashwagandha too. Do you think it helps?

 

Wow , you are brave ! You're a survivor thought for sure . Thanks for the report and for giving. Me an updated opinion  . I don't do well with anything stimulating , so I think ill skip the aniracetam ,

 

I did try memantine a few times , but I didn't always have a good response to it , so I stopped . Now reading your experience I'm glad I did .

I can't handle any caffeine , so  , stimulants definitely not for me .

 

I hear you on the Lyme and MS worries, but I do think it's likely just WD brain getting hooked on an idea .... You know how that is .

You know that WDs can manifest the weirdest things ....

Pretty much any weird thing you can imagine , or not

 

I like  ashwagandha, I feel like, it's a real adaptogen and very strengthening , especially adrenals and kidneys . It's mild compared to anything synthetic , so the effects aren't that noticeable, but over time .....I like the Natures Way brand extract . It got good reviews on testing by consumer labs .

 

Lithium orotate too I find great .

 

I'll see how I do coming off the rest of the gabapentin , and maybe  Try fasoracetam, thanks for that .

 

I take 1/2 tsp of a red kratom when WDs are harder . Like most things timing is important . I notice that sometimes it's not helpful, and others it really balances me out

I never take more than a tsp , and rarely daily so I don't get dependent , but I find it's a helpful thing to have on hand ,

 

Well, have diverged from keto on this thread!

Happy it's helping you ,

Miyu