Readers Summary:
- What is adrenal fatigue really?
- What is the PVN?
- How do hormones play a role in all this?
- What is the adrenal fatigue Rx?
- Is there a real clinical example of how this all ties together?
Adrenal Fatigue = an inhibited PVN.
What is Adrenal Fatigue at its core? Many websites will tell you it is an adrenal gland function problem that is best assayed by a salivary adrenal stress panel. I wont and I do not. The cause of adrenal fatigue is a brain injury at the hypothalamus all caused by bad signaling. My Adrenal Fatigue Rx is best called Metabolic Neurosurgery: It is all about energy and energy utilization that allows for perfect signaling of environmental signals. When your energy is bad your signaling falls off a cliff. The ASI is just like a gauge on a car. It tells you some info but it does not tell you why it is happening. How we understand adrenal dysfunction in 2012 has radically changed because of a relatively new science called neurohumoral-immunology. What does this mean?
It means adrenal fatigue at its core is a brain illness and not an adrenal gland problem.
What is the PVN? How do we know if our PVN is shut off? What are some of the symptoms? We can’t sleep, our guts do not work, our body composition goes way off, we sweat at the wrong times, we develop cognitive haze, blurred vision, migraines, and reactive hypoglycemia. Many times fatigue is only relieved by eating foods we should not. It also means we have lost allosteric control of leptin!
You might be wonder how does leptin play a role here? Because leptin is secreted by adipose tissue cells and enters the hypothalamus at midnight, it was originally thought to signal information about the size of body fat stores. We now know it is more complicated than that. Rapid and profound declines in leptin were soon observed in response to intermittent and long term fasting and calorie restriction in many papers. Soon thereafter, many extreme increases in leptin were observed in Amgen’s trials in response to overfeeding and re-feeding states after energy was restricted for sometime.
In these cases all these effects occurred in humans, before changes in adiposity could occur. So we knew leptin has other fast acting properties in the brain. These observations led to the revised theory that leptin might actually signal information about dietary energy intake to the brain to alter hormone signaling. Since this reformulated hypothesis, however, we have found in research that the leptin level and diurnal rhythm of leptin actually depend on energy availability and that exercise itself has no suppressive effect on leptin beyond the impact of its energy cost on energy availability.
Leptin is one of the main signals of what is going on in the parasympathetic system of the brain. The vagus nerve connects the gut to the brain at the area postrema in the 4th ventricle of the brain. It is bathed in “Cerebrospinal Fluid” (CSF) fluid. You will learn more about that in this blog too.
When I learned these bits of knowledge about leptin in 2006, I knew exercise was not the key to losing weight many others thought it was. I knew that at its core obesity was an inflammatory brain condition of bad signaling. This is why the Leptin Rx avoids exercise initially.
So what else did this data on leptin imply to me? It meant that energy availability and not body fat stores determine the secretion of leptin by fat cells. In other words if energy balance is off leptin signaling is also off at the fat cells and in the brain. This is how the brain samples energy balance in humans. When the balance is off the tell tale signs will show up in the person’s altered hormone panels. An altered hormone panel tells us the brain can no longer sense its environment well. When it can not sense its environment well it loses the ability to signal properly and illness begins to show up in all systems body wide. In other words, humans have a whole body physiology all tied directly to energy balance. When the system is out of balance, the brain loses the ability to signal in many areas. Adrenal Fatigue is one of those systems.
Let us discuss this further. Where in the brain does all this go on?
1. Hippocampus: this is located in the deepest part of your temporal lobe in the brain and this part of the brain makes most of the new neurons in our brain. It requires optimal diurnal cortisol levels for this to happen with two special chemicals called BDNF and NGF. The hippocampus is also where memory starts and ends. The processing of memory however requires optimal melatonin signaling that the brain is responsible for by sensing light and dark properly. It also is where the circadian rhythmicity of the HPA axis is controlled in the brain. When your hippocampus is off you are off in a big way in more ways than one.
2. Hypothalamus: Most of you know about this part of the brain if you read my blog. One of the most important functions of the hypothalamus is to link the central nervous system to the endocrine system and the immune system via the pituitary gland. There is a small nucleus there where all three of these systems converge on one another. This area is called the paraventricular nucleus (PVN). The PVN is in ultimate control over the secretion or suppression of cortisol from the adrenal gland based upon the marching orders the brain gives it. This implies that the PVN is the source of adrenal fatigue and not the adrenal gland. This is a new truth you might need to hear a few more times to buy. This blog is going to show your the details why that is the case.
3. Mesencephalic Reticular Formation (MRF): This is part of the oldest part of brain stem. It is not part of the cortex of the brain where consciousness and memory live. Most of our uniqueness as humans are located in our cortex and not our brain stem. Simple life forms also have a brain stem. It controls vegetative or automatic functions in us. This part of the brain controls the sympathetic outflow of our brain. It does this by altering excitation signaling of the intermedio-lateral cell column (IML) in the spinal cord, which stimulates the adrenal medulla to release epinephrine and norepinephrine. You will learn about this in the Geek portion coming later in this blog. That is the basic anatomy you need to know before you learn about the Adrenal Fatigue Rx.
What is Adrenal Fatigue really? AF is an alteration in cortisol’s normal diurnal pattern. So let us take a look at the most common clinical findings we see today: Chronically elevated cortisol is the first sign of AF:
Adrenal Fatigue Rx: For Cortisol Elevation
1. Control of cytokine response by controlling the fast acting eicosanoid hormone system: Here is where the Leptin Rx, the Cold Thermogenesis Protocol, and supplements or foods containing curcumin, quercetin resveratrol, pycnogenol, green tea extract might be considered. Trouble for your hormone panel down the road is always signaled first in the fast acting eicosanoid system. Alterations in leptin signaling is the first clue something is a miss. These things are rarely checked by any practitioner because few even know about how it integrates into the hormone panel and is coded for in the brain.
2. Phosphatidyl choline and serine tend to work well here because the brain needs them for cell membrane signaling to properly occur.
3. Neurotransmitter support best monitored by organic cation testing. I covered this topic in a webinar this summer. Chronic elevated cortisol stimulates neurotransmitter depletion as time elapses. The brain can not signal well with poor NT stocks in the brain. We must have good NT to sense our environment well and transmit the signals of the outside world to our cells in our body. When you think about cancer now you will begin to understand why it always seems to occur when stress is a major player. It alters our ability to signal. Cancer is not really a genetic disease of our original template. Our first genomic draft is built by our parents and the environmental experience we obtain builds the revisions of this original draft. This implies that cancer at its core is epigenetic and at its core is a loss of an ability to signal.
4. The adaptogenic supplements/herbs can be considered now here as a last option not a first option as it appears in most websites over the internet.
Adrenal Fatigue Rx: Chronically depressed cortisol: The more common clinical situation we see in AF:
When the body is under chronic stress, pregnenolone, the precursor to all other steroidal hormones, is diverted to produce cortisol (known as pregnenolone steal syndrome). When this occurs, it is to the detriment of all other steroidal hormones, like DHEA and its metabolites, including progesterone, testosterone, and the estrogens. Vitamin D production will also be down regulated. As pregnenolone is diverted to cortisol, DHEA depletion begins quickly. The result is an elevated cortisol to DHEA ratio. A normal ratio is approximately 4:1 to 6:1 in most ASI labs. This upside down ratio is able to inhibit the PVN of the brain quickly. Why? Cortisol is needed to make new nerve cells in the hippocampus. This is the key element to the Adrenal Fatigue Rx.
The Key Problem for Healing: Re-establish the progesterone level in the brain immediately. I also do this for brain surgery cases. General anesthesia also depletes our brain of progesterone and can lead to cognitive dysfunction for a few days post op.
A. We must re establish the Progesterone level quickly to increase BDNF signaling to make new neurons to replace the damaged nerve tracts that allow for altered signaling.
B. Once the new neurons are made, they need to be connected together. This is done with optimal diurnal cortisol AM and PM levels.
C. The new neural circuits created must wire together to become “hardwired” via Hebbian learning. This is done by optimal diurnal melatonin levels at night when we are chemically reduced. This is when the brain trims bad neural circuits and strengthens good ones to regain control of signaling. If melatonin is off you can not re wire a bad brain no matter what anyone tells you. This is why sleep is so critical to human biology.
D. Neurons that fire together wire together. This means that you should consider things that strengthen your newly built circuits when you use this Adrenal Fatigue Rx. Cold Thermogenesis, short explosive sprinting, and meditation are the best safest ways to increase chronic secretion of brain derived nerve growth factor (BDNF) and nerve growth factor (NGF) in the brain to get it to heal quickly.
E. NT building blocks and co factor supports to power the synaptic clefts. DHA and iodine are hugely important to synaptic cleft signaling. It provides the bio-energic power and antioxidant protection to explosively powerful signaling found in all neurons.
F. Strict control of all inflammatory cytokines and acute phase proteins to keep the system humming and immune system working in unison with the PVN.
G. Consider the rest of the things in my initial Adrenal Fatigue Protocol at this point. I only use this in minor cases. Most cases need a rewire as I am laying out here in detail in this blog.
Abnormal Circadian Rhythm: Reversal to regain cellular signaling in the brain
1. Cycloset use to reset the circadian cycle for a low cortisol in the AM. This is usually due to a low dopamine level in the brain. You can follow IGF-1 and salivary diurnal melatonin levels to gauge progress. You will soon learn in the new quantum biology series that Vitamin A, and not vitamin D, is the main controller of our photoperiod that sets the clock in the SCN.
2. Use natural sunlight to reset your SCN and repair your cortisol levels every morning as soon as you rise.
3. The worse your ASI looks the more you might need to incorporate oxytocin as step two in your AM regimen after letting the sun hit your retina. After you rise you might consider using endogenous or exogenous oxytocin to exercise the new neural networks you are learning to rebuild in this blog. Why? It is coming in the GEEK section soon.
4. What next? Then eat your Big Ass Breakfast (BAB) of the Leptin Rx. That is how you start your morning to reset your circadian signaling.
5. Rebuilding neurotransmitter building blocks with the Epi-Paleo Rx: Nothing does it faster
6. At night if your case calls for it based upon the night time circadian signals, leptin, IGF-1, and melatonin levels off: When the sun sets your artificial light needs to be minimized. Blue and green light is especially problematic to PVN signaling in the human brain. Based upon testing one might consider a low dose of progesterone one hour prior to bed. The best route will have to be discussed with the clinician and is based upon your own clinical context.
7. Phopshytidylcholine and serine via diet or supplements can be used here to make sure adequate glycerophospolipids are present to adequately re establish the cell membranes in new neurons that are created in the hippocampus to this Rx. People forget the outside world is sensed in our cell membranes first. This implies that we need great cell membrane architecture and signaling to get well. DHA and iodine are also critical in this process for protection of signaling integrity from oxidation and in energy production to drive the chemical reactions of signal transduction. One of the first signs of cell membrane problems is actually cellular overcrowding of proteins and enzymes in the cytoplasm.
When the cell loses its normal space it effects the ability to carry out enzymatic processes of the nano machinery of human biochemistry. This affects the rapidity and kinetics of how the system can signal. The more chemically oxidized we are the more crowded a cell’s interior becomes and the worse cellular signaling becomes. The more chemically reduced a cell is the better is functions and signal. Circadian signaling can be fine tuned when we pay attention to these little talked about biochemical variables. The Epi-Paleo Rx takes these factors into account where most other dietary templates have not even looked at these variables in an adrenal fatigue case. They are incredibly important when you are trying to re establish brain signaling and rewiring your neural networks to regain control of the pharmacy in your hypothalamus.
As I mentioned briefly in Brain Gut 12, the single most important hypothalamic nucleus of the central autonomic network is the paraventricular nucleus (PVN). This is the source of where adrenal fatigue really resides. It is not an adrenal issue it is a brain signaling issue. Let me explain that so you get it.
Geek Alert: The PVN has two morphological classes of neurons that fall into three functional categories. The first morphological class is comprised of magnacellular (big) neurons. These neurons contain vasopressin and oxytocin and project their axons into the posterior pituitary where these hormones are released directly into the blood stream. Yes, orgasm (oxytocin release) can help heal adrenal fatigue if you know how to use it. It can be used to reset your circadian signal and produce a massive antioxidant surge to repair the damaged circuits between the posterior pituitary, PVN, and the hypothalamus so you once again reach the giant pharmacy in your head.
All of these parts of your brain makes the chemicals and drugs we need to fine tune our signaling. The second morphological class is comprised of parvocellular (small) neurons. The parvocellular PVN neurons also include a neuroendocrine-related functional subset that project to the median eminence and secrete releasing hormones into the hypophyseal portal blood stream for control of anterior pituitary hormone secretion. More on these two functional groups will be covered later in the blog series. Finally, a group of parvocellular neurons comprise the third functional group of PVN neurons with these involved in central autonomic control.
There are three types of pre-autonomic parvocellular neurons (Types A, B and C) separable based on anatomical and physiological criteria, as well as based on subnuclear location within the PVN. Pre-autonomic PVN neurons project directly onto preganglionic autonomic neurons in the dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus nerve, the autonomic relay nuclei of the brainstem (A5, rostral ventral lateral medulla) and even directly to the intermediolateral spinal columns.
I mentioned this system earlier in the blog. This is where the sympathetic nervous system lives. It starts in the Mesencephalic Reticular system mentioned above. These projections descend ipsilaterally through the brainstem and spinal cord with four points of decussation (supramammillary, pontine tegmentum, commisural part of the nucleus of the solitary tract (the major one), lamina X of the spinal cord) so that ultimately innervation is bilateral but with an ipsilateral dominance in most brains.
Key Geek Point: Thus, the PVN, unlike any other brain site, has direct influence over both sympathetic and parasympathetic outflow. Furthermore, the PVN receives direct sympathetic and parasympathetic afferent inputs from trigeminal pars caudalis (sympathetic) and the nucleus of the solitary tract (parasympathetic). This is why we use face dunks in the Cold Thermogenesis Protocol. It is the fastest way to signal an inhibited a broken PVN. (a bad ASI) The PVN therefore is the only brain site in a closed efferent-afferent reflex loop with both the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems. This implies that the PVN is the key portion to study in the brain in all cases of adrenal fatigue. The system breaks when signaling is broken here. The PVN is a collector of environmental inputs. So if we can’t sense our environment well the output of the PVN will not be reflective if what our brain is really experiencing in life.
The summation of the excitation and inhibition is what controls the outflow of the PVN in humans. What determines this? The environment the human is in and how well it can signal those changes into the brain’s neural network. This theory of neural processing is called the central integrative state. This theory states, the combination of environmental stimuli that alters our neuronal pool or ability to make new neurons, neurotransmitter levels, hormone panels, and levels of cytokines all result in an excitatory state, the result will be an elevation of cortisol. If the reverse situation is true then we will have a dramatic fall in cortisol’s diurnal pattern. This explains how someone can move from an adrenal fatigue state to an adrenal exhaustion phase quickly.
So true adrenal fatigue is collection of inputs that is entirely inhibitory to the PVN. The result is a flat lined ASI. So you might be wondering what stimulates the PVN and what turns it off? High insulin levels, low Acetylcholine NT levels in the brain (Alzheimer’s), elevations in epinephrine and norepinepherine. The immune modulation of the Th2 cytokineslike IL-4, IL-5 and IL-10 can also do this.
What turn’s off the PVN and results in a low cortisol? Low dopamine levels in the reward circuits in the frontal lobe, low GABA levels, low epinephrine and norepinepherine output, endothelial nitric oxide, interferon or drugs that act like it, TNF alpha and beta, and Th1 cytokines IL-2 and IL-12 that control formation of NF killer cells that destroy cancer cells.
More Deep Geekiness: Other hypothalamic nuclei in the central autonomic network include the dorsomedial nucleus, the lateral hypothalamic area, the posterior hypothalamic nucleus and the mammillary nucleus. These nuclei send and receive projections from the PVN, the dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus, the central gray matter, the parabrachial nucleus, the nucleus of the solitary tract, the lateral and ventral medulla and the intermediolateral spinal columns. The lateral hypothalamus is especially involved in cardiovascular control as well as in control of feeding, satiety and insulin release. Remember this because later I am going to give you a clinical example later in this blog how all this complex neural wiring works in you. EMF and fake light destroy the permeability of the blood brain barrier and this is how the process begins in most.
The lateral hypothalamus is bathed in spinal fluid and this where the extracellular fluid of the Ca/Mg flux is felt and the result delivered for the brain to signal. The serum levels are never important in this fashion when we work the problem up. The chemical content of the CSF is paramount in understanding this process. It is rarely checked. Is there another way to check it? Yes there is. Many of my members know it and many educational consultants know how to apply it to their own clinical contexts. We do it by looking at the hormones of the circadian night cycle, namely, leptin signaling, IGF-1, and melatonin levels. These are also rarely checked because they are so misunderstood.
NON GEEKS: Inflammation causes the blood brain barrier to become permeable due to cytokines. The CSF becomes dramatically altered in composition because when the blood brain barrier is permeable it allows the ions to get into the brain to disrupt signaling of the PVN. This is the true source of adrenal fatigue. It is brain signaling problem not an adrenal gland issue. If the signaling is off the output of the gland becomes altered, and as such the labs look bad. Often this is done with a adrenal stress index, but that does not go far enough. If you look at IGF-1 and melatonin levels you will see further evidence of altered signaling at the brain level.
This was explained in Brain Gut 11. Those with true adrenal issues present like a patient with Addison’s disease. Most people who are diagnosed by an integrated clinician have a brain signaling problem due to the inability to signal the exterior world’s signals to the interior world in our brain that senses it and mounts a response via the adrenal gland.
If the brain signaling is off, it means it becomes less energy efficient. This is the core issue that leptin was designed to measure in evolution. When the brain is energy inefficient it steals more energy from other organs with deep supplies of energy to offset its losses. It is at heart our biggest energy hog in the body by design. This is why it has some amazing abilities. Where does the energy come from? The heart and kidneys are two of those organs the brain draws from. Let me explain how this looks clinically for you in an adrenal stress case with a bad brain, altered heart function and kidney system.
The Clinical Example of this in practice: Why is heart palpitations or rhythm issues so common today? Why are they often seen in adrenal fatigue cases? Why do many cases of adrenal fatigue also have blood pressure issue present in them? Why do many people with altered adrenal issues have issues with sleep and night time bathroom runs?
Non Geeks: Your brain is Robinhood when leptin resistance is present. It steals from the rich to give to the poor neurons in your PVN! Once your brain is filled with its brain specific nutrients we laid out in the Epi-Paleo Rx it wont have to usurp nutrients from the heart to function well and cause its dysfunction. You must have the brain injury first to get the disease. Many things cause the injury to begin with, but that is not the focus of this blog. But rest assured the injury must exist in the brain before the illness appears in the adrenal gland. This is a foundational concept in my theory laid out in levee one of the Quilt.
For those who don’t understand how brain function can cause heart rhythm issues here is the playbook again for you to review: This contains many bits of information in the recent blog posts in the Brain Gut series.
The brain allows us to sense the epigenetics alterations in our environment well. The environment first encounter life via a cell membrane. I want you to now channel what I said about the heart and brain in Brain Gut 13 with respect to how the Na/K ATPase is affected in metabolic terms in all tissues. Then, I want you to think about the number one killer of all humans today: Heart disease. How does heart disease tie into this theory of whole body physiology? When the neuronal Na/K ATPase is off we can make that extra 60{a7b724a0454d92c70890dedf5ec22a026af4df067c7b55aa6009b4d34d5da3c6} of energy the brain needs. When we can not do this what does the brain do? It changes the physiology of its neighbors who have the energy.
If you begin to alter your blood glucose because of dietary or any other epigenetics signal (light or temp) and cause inflammation at a cellular level by eating badly or not being mindful of circadian cycles, you start secreting large amounts of insulin from beta cells to deal with it. This alters your magnesium levels in your CSF which activate the metabolically efficient Na/K ratio because of DHA found in massive abundance in the brain. We laid this cornerstone out in Brain Gut 13.
When we have an altered Na/K (low) ratio, this in turn, simultaneously cause brain metabolism to ratcheted down because its function is directly coupled to the efficiency of the Na/K ATPase for our species. As the brain’s metabolism falters, it begins to shunt energy to itself at the determent of other organs. It robs Peter to pay Paul. This physiologic bio-energetic “stealing” of energy alters functions everywhere in the body to satisfy the brains needs. As other organs fail slowly under this physiologic directive, this further alters brain function from the excessive 60{a7b724a0454d92c70890dedf5ec22a026af4df067c7b55aa6009b4d34d5da3c6} energy boon created by the DHA/ Na/K ATPase, which results in your feeling less well with less energy and you have a chronic cognitive haze. This system is entire water based and you will be hearing a lot more about this in the EMF series. Is this beginning to sound familiar to anyone yet? This is precisely what a person with adrenal fatigue presents with. Stress begets stress and causes further decline in physiologic function in many systems.
It is the modern human condition that most of us exist in chronically. As this goes on chronically, brain function is eroded (the real source of adrenal fatigue in the PVN) because there is an excess of sodium and calcium ions in neurons, which begin to alter our homeostatic brain controls of the renin angiotensin system in the kidney. When this happens this alters our Blood Pressure clinically. The renin angiotensin system target organ is the kidneys. The kidneys control the electrolyte balance of the serum and ultimately is what changes the composition of the CSF to further alter the function of our brain. CSF at its core is just an ultra-filtrate of our serum. Our brain uses the chemical composition of CSF to see what is happening in its neighbors and then mount a proper response in it efferent neural tracts.
This slow erosion of our kidney function goes on undetected for years by medicine and integrated practitioners and slowly undermines our electrical systems balance body wide. This implies that our declining kidney function, directly effects our electrical system of our heart (conduction system AV node and sinus pacemaker) to become less optimal or “foggy” in its physiologic function as well over time. As the relays in the hearts electrical system becomes “sticky”, this can cause all kinds of unusual heart rhythms in humans. This shows you why declining brain function always correlates with declining heart function. Modern medicine has never made this physiologic link but they do know it exists because heart disease and brain diseases share so much homology. Why does this happen? These organs are chemically and electrically tied together by the action of the Na/K ATPase, DHA, and iodine at a foundational level physiologically in humans in our cell membranes. This all results in the many types of cardiac dys-rhythmias we see clinically. This is an early sign of major bio-energenic shifts in cells all tied to oxidation. This is metabolic neurosurgery at work. The human brain dictates how energy is partititioned because it requires so much of it.
When this goes on further brain function erodes and we can not sense any circadian signals well. It is at this time when we see dramatic changes in AM and PM cortisol, severe alterations in IGF-1 and altered melatonin. We, in essence, lose our primal sense of well being and eventually we develop an inability to sense vascular trouble before it happens clinically. Over time, this inability to sense circadian signals leads to a heart attack/palpitations, cancer or heart failure.
Adrenal fatigue or resistance is a real phenomena in us, but the way it has been described by people is very incomplete and in wrong in many respects. What is not clear to most health websites or integrated practitioners I have reviewed is the source of the problem for people relying on this information. EMF and fake light are the biggest risk factors for inhibiting the PVN. It is altered signaling in the brain that alters the function of neural pathways that control signaling of the autonomic nervous system. Most of the advice out there in “old school” and not going to lead to a reversal of function until you know about how the brain really works.
Here is a simple way to explain it: The natural world of health communicates: things are okay as they are; you are okay just as you are; simply relax and be present. If your signaling sucks, your health will suffer and you will find yourself in an emergency crisis before too long because your PVN can’t translate the profound messages your body gives it. That is the Adrenal Fatigue in a nutshell. Included in this blog are the keys to deciphering it and how to attack the version of it you may have. When you know better you do better.
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Additional Resources
- My Leptin Prescription
- The Cold Thermogenesis Protocol
- Cortisol Response
- What might Casey Anthony and OJ have in common?
- Vitamin D: The Sunshine of Your Life?
- Brain Gut 6: Epi-Paleo Rx
- Brain Gut 11: Is Technology an Achilles Heel?
- Brain Gut 12: Dare to Disagree?
- Brain Gut 13: Where Optimal Meets All World Performance
- The Quilt: Cellular Homeostasis
- What are the optimizing labs?
I’m looking to determine my cortisol to DHEA ratio by looking at my ASI report. What should I be comparing on the chart on the Diagnos-Techs test report? Mine looks like DHEA – 5 ng/ml, Cortisol – 5 nM. Is this a 1 to 1?
Nice post, Doc.
I’m wondering if you could explain how to use orgasm to help healing?
CDR this was covered in detail in the sex webinar. That is a available to members or for purchase separately via the website store.
Hello,
I have extreme adrenal fatigue for 8 years. Can’t sleep at all without medication. For 1 year I didn’t sleep at all (refuse psychiatric medication). I have almost no energy, mostly stay in bed and force myself when I have no help.
How can I re-establish the progesterone level in the brain? Pills(we have natural progesteron pills here in Europe, 100 and 200mg) or cream?
Thank you,
Anca
Read Ubiquitination 22-24 fast. Your answer is there.
I believe this implies that AM UV is the best way to re-establish progesterone? Might a small dose of pregnenolone and dhea in the morning help the process?
Andrea this depends upon your specific context and 100% tied to our light environment. Those variable determine what is best.
So the worse the light environment (lack of am UV and blue @ night) may lead to requiring more help?
Thanks for the help, Jack
Andrea, precisely. The Time 6 blog will be released later this week to explain the details.
Hi Jack, I have just spent hours reading thru as much information as I can… I am 32 year old former althete from Vancouver, Canada… I suffered a rare thoracic disc tear that went undiagnosed and mis-treated for 13 years, almost half my life I have been bedridden with horrific chronic pain… I have worked with any practitioner I could find from here to the US.. Finally I found a group of physical rehab therapists in my own back yard! They are renowned and I am now no longer having consistent 24hr a day pain and I’m am starting to learn how to move again with out pain.. I have centralized sensitaztion of the thoracic nerve routes in my spine as it turns out. Something that the medical system says there is no treatment for, but I found it!
Anyways, as a result of 13 years of crippling pain 24/7 my adrenals/ pituitary tanked. I no long make cortisol, DHEA, progesterone etc etc.
My adrenal insufficiency is so bad. My ears sound like helicopters are buzzing in them, I cannot sleep (note I have been on sleep Meds for 13 years bc I could not sleep with the level of pain I was in), I am not working with the only integrated medicine MD I could find privately in the city to help me with my hormones, as the public system doctors just wanted to put me on prednisone and leave it at that. (Bc of my extensive knowledge of how blind the public medical system can be after years of being Mis-diagnosed and overloaded on many inappropriate medications for my pain to the point that I almost died 7 times) I wanted to work with a practitioner privately. I have been on DHEA 18.5-25mg sublingual & cycling progesterone capsules of 50mg, 100mg, 50mg with a week off each month. My pain has greatly been reduced due to the physical therapy but, the damage to my H-P-A axis is an on going battle… I have felt from day one that I am not getting the full picture from my practitioner regarding my adrenal insufficiency… I don’t want to be on these hormones or any drugs for that matter for longer than necessary. The side effects from the DHEA have caused me such horrible cystic acne (against my best efforts I conceded and started taking accutane recently) & my hair has fallen out; I have lost half of it. I know this isn’t the right way to continue. But at least now I can get out of bed. You seem to have the most comprehensive information I have been able to find…
I read thru as much as I could of your information here. But I don’t know where to start? Is there a practitioner in my area Vancouver Canada??
Could I talk to you??
I’m desperate, after 13 years of losing my life to pain I don’t want to waste another on the adrenal stuff, by going down the wrong route.
I will leave you my contact info.
I hope I hear back from you.
Sincerely,
Katie Zielke
6043392164
[email protected]
FB: Katie Lauren
Katie contact Clayton Bostick in Kamloops.
Hi Jack
Thank you for your incredibly informative posts. I am a naturopath in New Zealand interested in up taking the Leptin-RX diet for myself and many of my clients. If I may take a moment to describe my personal health and ask if you can point me in the right direction: 33 years old, 3 year old son, chronically stressed entire life, obese/overweight as teenager (abnormal fat around belly, thighs and arms, never shifted desire exercise and diet), fit and somewhat lean now, practice yoga and meditation substantially, chronically tired and energy levels seem to be more vulnerable day by day, use coffee to get through day. I do and have eaten a mild ketogenic diet for over a year and feel best doing so. I don’t have much tolerance to exercise so I practice kundalini yoga. Long history of high anxiety & insomnia.
I plan on beefing up my protein at breakfast, eating heaps of oysters and seafood, increasing meat consumption, and possibly taking Phosphatidyl choline and serine.
Are you taking new clients over skype and do you recommend anything else?
Many thanks
Sheila
Sheila the brain gut series explains the linkage between the two systems. The new Time 6 blog explains to you how leptin links to poor light cycles. The basis of the Leptin Rx is the altered light environments we allow. Read Time 6. I only do educational consults when I do live events for my Silver, Gold, or Platinum members. As a health professional you do qualify for the Platinum group.
Light is the newest thing I am teaching my members. Obesity and adrenal fatigue links to a lack of UV and IR light via our surface receptors. Adrenal fatigue links to the PVN.Light information is captured exclusively by the eyes using specialized retinal photoreceptors and transduced directly to the SCN via a dedicated neural pathway, the retinohypothalamic tract (RHT). Each day the light-dark cycle resets the internal clock, which in turn synchronizes the physiology and behavior controlled by the clock.
The major biochemical correlate of the lightdark cycle is provided by the pineal melatonin rhythm. Under normal light-dark conditions, melatonin is produced only during the night, by using sunlight captured in biogenic amine during bright sunlight during the day to power the effect. Moreover it provides an internal representation of the environmental photoperiod, specifically night length.
This pathway also helps yoke the Vitamin A cycle in the photoreceptors to the environment in this way. These two cycles become correlated novelties that allow the brain to predict the future by trend setting photo chemical cycles. The trend is predictable if dopamine is also also being created. This is why dopamine and melatonin are correlated by being biogenic amines. One should never be uncorrelated without the other unless the light stimulus is very altered in some way tied to an unbalanced spectrum. The synthesis and timing of melatonin production requires an afferent full spectrum light signal from the SCN which projects to the pineal gland via the paraventricular nucleus and the superior cervical ganglion. This is why BAT is found over the posterior neck region where this ganglia exists. Light becomes able to burn BAT protons to liberate heat and energy for sleep energy to run the non linear optical programs in the brain of regeneration when the DC electric is designed to be absent when day light is absent. This helps explain why light exposure during the night also inhibits melatonin production acutely and provides an indirect assessment of light input to the SCN via the RHT. Light is a correlated novelty to the DC electric current in wakefulness as Becker found in all of hiw work on salamanders and mammals. This finding has been largely ignored by biology to human peril in our modern world.
taking oral melatonin might be a real bad idea. Why? Oral melatonin is an inhibitor of retinal dopamine production. If you use it for sleep you might be lowering ocular dopamine and frontal lobe dopamine levels leading to circadian disorders may affect cone functioning. What else? Dopamine controls hormone release from the pituitary so you lose control of your hormones. How do we know this is true? Bio hack the impact of oral melatonin usage on your cone response and the regeneration of your retina using electroretinography (ERG). You might be shocked at the results.
It turns out the reason your retina has more DHA than the brain dose per gram is because of how ocular melatonin regenerates rods and cones. It is the hormone that controls the process.
Oxidative stress is involved in activating photoreceptor death in several retinal degeneration experimental set up.
Growth is necessary in the eye for wellness, but it is always stimulated by damage (ROS) and limited by regeneration. So how does the eye accomplish this?
Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), the major polyunsaturated fatty acid in the retina. It protects cultured retina photoreceptors from apoptosis induced by oxidative stress and promotes photoreceptor differentiation. It works with dopamine to accomplish this task. So why does the retina have more DHA? It is the one part of the human that has ability to make DHA from EPA. Investigations have shown that eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) is the booster to making more DHA in a complex photochemical dance using the side chains of tyrosine and UV light. EPA is a metabolic precursor to DHA and it has been shown to have an effect on retinal neurons so that they could activate Δ6 desaturase (FADS2), which introduces the last double bond in DHA biosynthetic pathway to metabolize EPA to DHA. In the retina, because of melatonin and dopamine EPA is able to promote photoreceptor differentiation and rescued photoreceptors from oxidative stress-induced apoptosis from light through its elongation and desaturation to DHA. Experiments have now shown in humans for the first time, that isolated retinal neurons can synthesize DHA in culture.
This increase of DHA is important in running the SCN faster than all other circadian clocks.
Okay thank you Jack I will have a further read through. How exactly do I sign up for a platinum membership? And if I am understanding correctly, this will allow me to have a 1-1 consultation with you?
Warm Regards
Sheila
Is it critical to have Cycloset? Will that impede your progress if you are doing this repair on your own?
Critical no……..
Hi Dr Jack
I discovered your site after researching adrenal issues for myself, as I have Hashimotos (6 years now) and am currently experiencing odd reactions to meds after treating adrenals with ACE and then (small steps) increasing seafood and using hot/cold showers according to my initial interpretation of your articles. For myself I think joining your forum may help me. However this comment is not about me, only so you know that adrenal info (much possibly wrong as I read this!) is in my knowledge base.
My brother-in-law is very sick. He was recently diagnosed with Parkinsons, although his only (main) symptom was tremor. In his history is lifelong psoriasis, and during his working life overweight. On retirement he went low carb, exercised, and his weight normalised. His father died young with heart issues. His doctor has him on two blood pressure medications and until recently lipitor. He also uses meds for acid reflux. He has also had a major high stress life event.
He was recently treated with Sinamet, a very minimal dose to start with. This triggered many side effects. After a month the doctor stopped medication after he went to the hospital. The doc also agreed he could try stopping lipitor, when he asked, after I advised him of its dangers.
Unfortunately the sinamet side effects have not gone away off the medication, and his docs don’t know why. By day he is mostly normal as before, but with occcasional nausea. I think the lipitor has also affected him, as he seems short term forgetful and confused sometimes.
Night is a nightmare. As his sleep is disturbed, he is tired all the time. A normal bedtime was 9.30-10, now he falls asleep at 7-8. He wakes at midnight. He wakes again at 3am. At 3am he is obsessively anxious, has hot flushes and drenching sweats, severe nausea, and cannot return to sleep. Actually on the sinamet he also had hallucinations, believed death was imminent and perhaps other symptoms.
I have researched for a few weeks now and cannot find any threads on why side effects might persist off medication. This article is the only thing I have found that comes close to an explanation. I think its actually a large part of the explanation for it. But I can’t help but wonder if my own adrenal issue is biasing me to think so.
Do you think it’s possible that the sinamet unbalanced his clock and his cortisol may be low?
My brother-in-law was a science teacher and then headmaster. His faith in his doctor has been shaken by this experience but parkinsons is a serious diagnosis and I believe when they put him back on the sinamet next month, he will take it.
I am an old hippy who believes that there are many medical “miracles” available from different old cultures and new research discoveries. My family think I am a “flake”. I think of myself as a snowflake. I believe I am about to become a starfish shaped snowflake!
…but I fear for my bro. I believe he will need a well informed doctors strong advice to change direction from a conventional docs plan. Am I perhaps just reading my own experience into something unrelated. Any advice would be welcome, fully understanding that “its complex” and perhaps too “medical” to comment on.
Read Time 6, 9 as soon as possible and then Ubiquitination 24.
Hi Dr Jack
Wow, thanks for such a quick response. I expected (being in Australia) to wait a few days, but you replied so quickly yesterday, I managed to read the three articles you suggested. Don’t understand a lot of words/systems but the concepts are there and I’ll chew on the words to better understand.
I was reminded of this zen koan. Thank you. Your overall message is so simple – keep pouring to get our attention.
http://www.ashidakim.com/zenkoans/1acupoftea.html
Hmmm – I was on the right track, but was indeed too focused on Yang (the bright blessed day) when it was pretty obvious I should have been looking more at Yin (Melatonin the dark sacred night) for my bro. Dopamine is still a bit of a mystery but re-reading will help me find the pathways I hope.
There are many simple gems – ph, glasses and sunnies, sunscreen – and the evening although more complex, is doable.
I think this is a nice prescription to start with – Go watch a baby day be born. Swim in a cold water ocean. Sit on the beach a while in the morning. Every day and every season, may be harder to keep up with, but everything worth doing takes organisation.
The big picture is now clear as day and although the details are the devil in the shadows, we can start here. If my own experience is anything to go by, light may just chase those shadows away. If so, motivation may well increase with the bliss.
ok, I’ve just confirmed I’m a total flake to most people I expect, but after a few years of misery I am feeling very grateful to be reconnected to my joy. And all it took was seafood and cold water. That gratitude is all yours. Thanks.
Don’t survive, thrive. Do life soaring. Our cells read and react to our environment; it shapes us and we are shaped by it. 1. Look at the sun every morning and get 30-90 minutes outside every day
2. Be grounded………100% of the time
3. Drink good water.
4. Avoid blue light and nnEMF.
5. Eat seasonally for your zip code.
How hard was that?
I have sent the links you gave me in an explanatory email to my bro for his consideration. As you say the steps are not hard. What’s hard will be to suspend disbelief enough, to give the steps a fair trial. Thank you for helping me with my brothers problem Dr Jack…
curious
putting water in the sun increases its quality ?
It can……but it does not help all water.
Hi Jack. I suffer from fatal sleeping disability started after two week course of popular fluoride based antibiotic for UTI last year August. Had lots of adverse reaction after that, but the loss of sleeping is the most devastating to my life right now. Done all the supplements from magnesium, taurine, ALA, cod liver oil, NAC, valerian, passiflora, ashwaganda, B12 and B complex, black cumin, turmeric, zinc, routine glutathione IV and many other. Done infra red sauna, accupuncture, morning sun bathing, dark evening sleep, reflexology and others. Also been always eat good even before this happened. I never have this problem before that antibiotic course. I have been on benzodiazepam Esilgan (Estazolam) since then and I have no reason yet to wein/taper it since my reason to take it at first is my loss of sleep, not depression or snxiety and to avoid myoclonic jerk and short seizure from the antibiotic attack. Now this sleeping pill started to become resistant but in a very good night it could only turn my brain off for not more than two hours. I know that binding my GABA A receptor by this drug for two hour of this eficiacy is not a real sleep because the real sleep is not just turning my brain off. Sleeping is involve complex harmony automatic natural communication of many includes regulation of body temperature, cardiac, breathing, muscle relaxation, gut, inhibition of brain excitation, SCN switch for natural sedation, etc. These has been lost since then. Since my body is tired from not sleep, in the morning and noon my tired body is begging to sleep, closing my eye, lean to the side on bed and when its about to fall, my brain never accept that message and kept awaken (already 7 months 24/7) and giving me a sudden violent surge, a shocking breathing feedback and my whole back (whole spines) felt like being painfully vacuumed in a same time like being falling from high place constantly for at least 3 hours (could keep going if I kept trying to rest). Too because my eyes also need some rest. This is how I deteriorate my immune system and risking my self for more problems (liver, kidney, spleen, heart, headache, foggy brain, infection, sensitivity to sound, etc). No sleeping, no healing, we a know that. I have study about this for half year while riding my bed. Doing intensive internet research, comparing, self-critizising abstract and clinical study, etc besides I have been into an alternative health lifestyle before. I am on the critical edge. I come in to conclusion that the neurotoxin from my incident on August last year has causing the lost of neuron in my CNS especially in the sleeping regulation areas such VLPO, GABA, SCN or could be anywhere else. If this is not a cause, what would it be and what should I do? Lets keep in mind that this is not sleep deprivation or insomnia, this is sleeping disability, like Familiar Fatal Insomnia but I don’t have any of these genetic line. I clearly remember it was happen right before I finish my two weeks 500mgX2 “popular” antibiotic course.
Rick you need to stay tuned because I have a blog coming very soon on this topic. I will tell you that looking into transcranial magnetic stimulation trials should be something you should focus in on to lower your semiconduction leak in your VLPO and hypocretin neurons that control sleep.
Here is an excerpt from the coming blog:Heard from Gail: Hey Jack, I have many things going wrong but never rejuvenating is the worst. Do you have any suggestions or know of any successful treatments for cipro toxicity or the best way to raise my redox potential? The damage is so mutifaceted with no known cure.
Thanks for your time Dr. Kruse.
Well Gail there is a lot here to chew on here with this controversial topic. One of the more important thing is that you must understand how cipro inflicts its damage. The drug, like many drugs now used in medicine, contains halogens which act as dielectric blockers for water. The reason for this is that low molecular weight halogens are very electronegative and they love to capture electrons. A loss of electrons from collagen to halogens is a big problem. Why is that? Well electrons are excited by light released from collagen when it un zips in a cell. When collagen un zips its helical structure due to a loss of electrons it loses its structural ability and its ability to carry energy using piezoelectricity. In technology who use silicon semiconductors electron loss can also happen due to something called “gate leakage”.
No where is where the story of biologic semiconduction gets interesting. Biologic gates are designed not to be leaky. Technology uses blue light and nnEMF which make them leaky by destroying the dielectric constant in cell water.
Brownian motion was discovered in 1827 in plants. what does it mean? = statistical motions of atoms. This implied that the second law of thermodynamics was no absolute but a statistical law. Maxwell proved this mathematically in 1867 and then came up with a term called Maxwell demon to describe its ability. In essence what the math described was a rectifying current in a modern semiconductor. So how did we go from atomic plant motions under a scope to Intel? Einstein realized 38 years later this the demon Maxwell was talking about in 1867 could actually be seen in the world. You just had to know where to look for it. Do you know, of Einstein’s 4 miracle papers of 1905 that the one on Brownian motion is the one most cited? Yet, he won no prizes for it.
Maxwell was the first to show that the second law of thermodynamics had to be statistical. Einstein showed Brownian motion was the observation of the statistical event predicted by Maxwell. In the 1950’s science really upped this game when transistors and semiconductors were found. Why? Any trap door that opens in one direction only and requires a specific amount of energy to open it is essentially a Maxwell Demon. This idea alone is what gave birth to solid state devices we use today in all tech gadgets. What are they and how do they relate or disconnect cells from their life force?
Rectifiers let current pass in one direction and not in reverse, thereby converting AC currents to DC ones. In the 1960’s Dr. Robert O. Becker showed bone had a rectifying current built by light from the sun in periosteum. Most MD’s still don’t know he did this that long ago. Shameful. The implication of these “light and electric gates” is that these semiconducting gates can randomly convert a fluctuating current of electrons in a membrane into a DC current that can be used to physiologic work. When we eat food and go out some times or remain connected to the Earth here and there we develop an alternating current in our cell membranes and mitochondria in similar fashion.
Here you go Rik:https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/have-you-been-floxxed-drugs-what-do-jack-kruse
Hi I have only just found your site after searching for answers from my latest tests and a lifetime of feeling tired. And wondered if you can help make sense of me!. I have been on a no gluten,dairy,egg,soya,alcohol for a long time and also low histamine and tryamine diet. I know I have a mitochondrial malfunction and my latest test results show………low cortisol…low GABA……high adrenaline….low kyrunine….high lipoprotein a …….low transferrin……high ferritin..amongst a lot of other results. When I read about the symptoms of low GABA I certainly can recognised them in me throughout my life. What I do not understand is that I am reacting to supplements that should help me. I have been prescribed taurine and 5-HTP for the GABA but they made my brain completely shut down with terrible brain fog,concentration and memory. Vit B12 and folate do the same. I have spent a fortune on treatments and supplements and just seem to be going round in circles along with my gut just reacting more and more. Thank you for your great site.
P.s Sorry forgot to mention I am also on a low carb diet. To give a bit more history ……I have osteoporosis……half a thyroid with nodules…..gut dysbiosis….CFS…..muscle and bone pain….anxiety.
Andree the environment you allow and not the food you eat is the key to your problem. Read the Time 12 blog.https://jackkruse.com/time-12-adrenal-fatigue/ ‘Now’ is a local theory of what’s happening presently, cobbled together using bits of news from the sensory receptors. It is just a partial story of what our brain perceives. From those senses our brain fills in the missing parts to create a story we call reality and life. Where change begins and ends is indeterminate. The way we sense change is looking at the environment around us and notice things are anew. The goal of bio hackers in their own experiments is to reduce the indeterminate facts they know and observe. Statistics therefore apply only to their hacks in which the cause of the facts observed is still indeterminate.
Thank you very much for your prompt reply Dr Kruse. This is all very new to me and I need to look further into your website to understand your reply. But am I correct in thinking you feel all I need is to change my perception of my environment to heal? May I also ask if the above still applies for inherited mitochondrial issues?
Not the perception……..you need to change it definitively. You can never recover your health if you go right back in the same environment you got ill within.
Mitochondrial diseases are much mor enough: You need to read about Dr. Doug Wallace’s work. From 50:00 is critical. He talks about mitochondrial diseases in this video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KwbIR2yUziw Allelic drift of the mitochondrial genes is very different than nuclear genes. Sewall Wright, a biologist coined this term. It is the change in the frequency of a gene variant (allele) in a population due to random sampling of organisms. Therefore it really is the measure of environmental change that forces this change. Mitochondrial gene’s respond more frequently to change. They have 5 times the amount of mutation as the nuclear lines. Doug Wallace term heteroplasmy is akin to mitochondrial allelic drift in my opinion. This is predominately a maternal genetic drift effect. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2668051/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2668051/
Hi
I’m a 34 year old male. About 9
Months ago I had strange flu like syptoms; diarrhea, head foggy, lack of energy, gas, bloating, no nausea. But the strange part was I was having kidney discomfort and I couldn’t sleep much. I would wake in the middle of the night wide awake with blood pumping and elevated heart rate. My urine no matter how much water I drink is never clear it’s always concentrated.
In the the coming months Ive stabilized the digestive side by changing my diet and taking probiotics.
But the main problem that has sustained is the elavated heart rate after eating and sometimes in the middle of the night. And an abdominal heart pulse as well. I can feel my blood pumping abnormally high in my ear region, stomach and spine when these symptoms occur.
After many doctor visits, tests and scans, all coming back negative their only conclusion is that I have IBS and anxiety issues. The only bad result I’ve been having high blood pressure usually 150 over 100 range. At 34 with no anxiety and depression issues I’m not about to began taking meds for something I have feel like I don’t suffer from with have far more side effects
I’ve recently started seeing a holistic eastern medicine Doctor that deals with food allergies and have not seen positive results yet.
Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
Read the time series.
Hi Dr Kruse
I went through a bout of overtraining and under eating in order to get my body composition low enough to compete on stage in fitness shows, I lost 13kg in 6 weeks
won the show, felt pretty good aside from the major binge eating, about 2 weeks later i crashed
sleep was terrible if i got any, fatigue all day, had next to zero testosterone in my body(i didnt take androgenic substances prior to getting my results), had crying spells, strongest appetite ever, couldnt lose weight, stopped sweating during exercise even in high heats of australia
fast forward a year and a half, my testosterone is back above normal levels, sleep has improved and energy in the day,
although i crash at 10am, 1pm, 4pm and have interrupted sleep.
i still barely sweat upon exercise, my body still refuses to let go of any bodyfat, i try to do everything right but dont know where to go from here
blood tests show normal HSCRP and everything else tested by most GP’s
where do i go from here? do i get an asi test?
are there any other tests i should specifically be getting?
are neurotransmitter a factor?
any response would be great as im becoming really desperate and dont know what to do or who to see to get my life back to the way it was before the major stressor of diet and exercise to extreme levels
thanks jack
Don’t survive, thrive. Do life soaring. Our cells read and react to our environment; it shapes us and we are shaped by it.
The six best healers in the world that I know:
1. Sunlight
2. Un-fluoridated water
3. Magnetism/grounding to Earth/CT protocol
4. seafood
5. Self Confidence
6. Friends
That is all………..Carry On.
http://www.nature.com/articles/srep12029
Here is the key that most of the critics miss……….the order of the recipe is critical to the success. Your perception will be thrown off if you do it other ways. I can think of many recent members who went of the rails this way. The last 4 series pointed this point this out but few understand the implications.
Then realize body fat is a light story not a food story. Same thing with sex steroids.http://www.nature.com/ijo/journal/v40/n5/full/ijo2015255a.html
I try to be a rainbow in people’s lives. I can only tell them how to search for the right climate, I cannot make it for them.
Dr. Kruse
A lot of people recommend skipping BF when doing intermittent fasting. I know you like IFing once one has regained LS, but you’ve said never to skip BF. Why BF?
Also, in your opinion is IFing mandatory for good health and longevity or would just spacing meals about 5 hours apart and nothing after dinner work as well?
Thanks
Food breaks down to electrons and electrons need to processed in mitochondria to get their quantum numbers and a spin reassignment during sunlight hours. Free radical signaling is critical during daytime to make this process orderly. It happens to be the main reason why dirurnal animals with photopic retina’s need to eat during daylight hours and not when it is dark. This is why it is part of the Leptin Rx. The electrons from foods head distally to cytochrome c oxidase where NO and RNS is made and then 5th cytochrome where oxygen is. Singlet versus triplet oxygen combined with bad lit environment and artificial antioxidants give wrong cellular signal in free radical information. Proper free radical signaling is necessary for cell differentiation. No proper radicals = no cell differentiation = poor regeneration = oncogeneic potential. This is also why when in pseudohypoxia the metabolism is shifted away from mitochondrial respiration to cytosolic glycolysis there is a problem. It’s not just about the quantitatively less ATP production (2 vs 36), also qualitatively the cytosolic ATP difference and the quantity and type of oxygen radicals made. If they dont marry to the light environment destruction of the cell happens. If the optical signal does match the redox potential of the cell improves and the cell has more EZ water and acts like a dark mode plasma ready to accept the glow mode plasma sunlight. The lack of proper ROS/RNS decreases cell differentiation leading to mito-nuclear co-aptation problems in the respiratory proteins and this increases epigenetic expression and ubiquitin marking in proteins.
I see that it is important to eat in daylight hours, but I don’t understand why it’s so important to not miss BF. Is it the uniqueness of the AM daylight combined with food that is different then say the light at lunch? Is it that AM light with BF reinforces circadian rhythm?
Also, if one spaces plenty of time between their meals is IFing necessary or desired?
Thanks
The peripheral clock genes respond to feeding behaviors and circadian gut hormones and not inciden light because on the SCN get that info directly. Breakfast should not be missed even in IFing. Read Calories proper blog for all the details and you will also see a ton of my comments on this.
I’m on it! Thank you sir!
Hi Jack,
What do you recommend for someone who already was dealing with anxiety/adrenal fatigue but then got put on a steroid and is now trying to wean off of it? I’m not very well versed in a lot of the physiological talk (I’m learning as I go!), but from what I’m gathering it seems that getting loads of sunlight during the day (I also take 3000 vit D since I have mutations on my VDR genes), eating protein and good fats in the AM, and activating the parasympathetic NS is key according to what I have read from your (awesome) blog and I am putting it very simply (I activate my PNS mostly through meditative breathing as I am not totally sure of other ways to do it).
My course of steroids is relatively short but getting down to these last doses has me feeling very miserable. I am worried, as well, because my symptoms are leading me to believe that I am not making any sex hormones either, meaning I am completely wiped out 🙁 I know my doctor will tell me to stay on it longer but I definitely don’t want that and want to support my body naturally to producing cortisol and balancing my hormones. Is there anything else that you recommend I do? Any supplements? I should also note that I have my genetic profile via 23andme; and from what I can understand, if I understand correctly (I used genetic genie, nutrahacker, and promethease to get this information) I have some limitations to how I detoxify catecholamines to begin with (which would explain my easily stressed and anxious personality). These are most of my polymorphisms:
MAOA low enzyme production (+/+)
GTSP1 rs1695 (+/-)
COMT rs4633 (+/-)
COMT rs4680 (+/-)
CYP1B1 (+/-)
CYP1A2 (+/-)
CYP34A (+/-)
CYP2D6 (+/-)
CYP2C9 (+/+)
NAT2 (+/-)
CBS rs234796 (+/-)
MTHFR rs1801131 (+/-)
MTRR rs162036 (+/-)
MTRR rs1801394 (+/-)
MTRR rs1802059 (+/-)
VDR rs1544410 (+/-)
VDR rs731236 (+/-)
Any advice is very much appreciated. Thank you so much for your time Dr.
I’m not a fan of supplementing D3. Read the Time 11 blog. I’ve covered the SNP’s in a recent webinar in July 2016. You might want to listen to it.
Wow thank you so much. Sunlight literally IS life! I will make sure to do my best to get more sun in the day and stop supplementing so much. Are you a fan of supplementing with DHA however?
What do you recommend for someone living in the north? I see you mention eating fish being beneficial due to the cellular energy from being in the sun so much. Is it best for my body to go through the sunlight starvation in the winter because it is the cycle I have been used to all my life or should I take steps to maintain high endogenous vit d even when natural light is minimal? (Should also mention, that I forgot to in my earlier post, I have Been diagnosed with Crohn’s disease and multinodular goiter. Hence why I was supplementing with vitamin d to begin with.)
I will check out that podcast as soon as I can 🙂
Hi jack, just wondering which form of progesterone you recommend? (As a cream, injection etc) 🙂
I usually don’t unless the environment is repaired first.
number 4 (signaling the brain), if you eat after you wake up, what’s the point? your cortisol is waking you up and then it increases to get a peak later on…eating will stop this cortisol activity because digestion will shut down this mechanism…it is now know you should not eat before any strong activity, a competition or things like that, because digestion will slow you right down. Abit like when you eat to much, you feel sleepy; unless you just eat fruits (or raw fats?) that are taking up quickly by the body ?
Not sure what you are asking? The point of eating is to end the fast. Light in the eye yokes the sun to the brain to tighten the clock mechanisms that control all metabolism
Hi there, just wondering why you recommend progesterone over pregnenolone? Thanks
Depends upon the context. It is never one over the other. The physics of the environment dictate the biochemistry of the organism.
Hi Jack, just wondering the advantage of cycloset over melatonin if melatonin is low as such in my case. Also, is the effect of cyclist on gut flea positive or negative, worried as i have leaky gut and dysbiosis already that i am currently fixing along with environment stuff. Thanks!
Cycloset is safer in my opinion melatonin not so much.Let me share the results of my biohack from 11 years ago if you do.
Biohacking tip #722: taking oral melatonin might be a real bad idea. Why? Oral melatonin is an inhibitor of retinal dopamine production. If you use it for sleep you might be lowering ocular dopamine and frontal lobe dopamine levels leading to circadian disorders may affect cone functioning. What else? Dopamine controls hormone release from the pituitary so you lose control of your hormones. How do we know this is true? Bio hack the impact of oral melatonin usage on your cone response and the regeneration of your retina using electroretinography (ERG). You might be shocked at the results.
It turns out the reason your retina has more DHA than the brain dose per gram is because of how ocular melatonin regenerates rods and cones. It is the hormone that controls the process.
Oxidative stress is involved in activating photoreceptor death in several retinal degeneration experimental set up.
Growth is necessary in the eye for wellness, but it is always stimulated by damage (ROS) and limited by regeneration. So how does the eye accomplish this?
Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), the major polyunsaturated fatty acid in the retina. It protects cultured retina photoreceptors from apoptosis induced by oxidative stress and promotes photoreceptor differentiation. It works with dopamine to accomplish this task. So why does the retina have more DHA? It is the one part of the human that has ability to make DHA from EPA. Investigations have shown that eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) is the booster to making more DHA in a complex photochemical dance using the side chains of tyrosine and UV light. EPA is a metabolic precursor to DHA and it has been shown to have an effect on retinal neurons so that they could activate Δ6 desaturase (FADS2), which introduces the last double bond in DHA biosynthetic pathway to metabolize EPA to DHA. In the retina, because of melatonin and dopamine EPA is able to promote photoreceptor differentiation and rescued photoreceptors from oxidative stress-induced apoptosis from light through its elongation and desaturation to DHA. Experiments have now shown in humans for the first time, that isolated retinal neurons can synthesize DHA in culture.
This increase of DHA is important in running the SCN faster than all other circadian clocks.
Thanks Jack! will taking cycloset have any effect on gut flora though? ?
Also Ive recently started taking progesterone cream after getting my hormone panel assessed and i am having stomach upset. Is this common? 🙂
Taking hormones without fixing the light environment first is not wise.
It does.
Thanks Jack, how did we attain a prescription for cycloset though when GP’s such as the one I’m seeing is unaware of its use in this context or in general.
Print up the PDR indications and hand it to the PCP and ask them to phone the pharmacy
Hi jack, I’ve been to 3 different doctors with print outs of the PDR indications and have had no luck in getting a prescription for cycloset here in australia with all saying there is not enough research backing its use in sleep and circadian rhythm disorder cases. Unsuprisingly, i was offered to try the anti-depressants wellbutrin and aurorix instead. Wondering if there are any other alternatives to cycloset? And what your views/thoughts are on supplementing with l-tyrosine or wellbutrin or another antidepressant like aurorix to increase dopamine levels. Thankyou
Not really. You could use other meds but they have more side effects and problems and I would not go that route.
If I have constant flank pain could the adrenal dysfunction still be caused by the hypothalamus?
True true unrelated. Go see somebody about it.
Should one do CT when having adrenal fatigue? My doc says it will make me worse. Not sure what to do as I definitely don’t want to feel worse than I already do, but also don’t want to miss out on something that could really help.
Thanks!
Yes. CT always has a benefit. But CT on the eyes with face dunks is wise. Why? It simulates the effects of crying without a loss of dopamine. How so? Cold water on cornea allows us to assimilate more light to that surface because cooler water has more electrons in it because of a higher amount of oxygen in the water. Since more electrons mean more light can interact with it because of the principles in the photoelectric efect you can reverse the AF process by illuminating your central retinal pathways with solar stimulate. Sunlight increaeses the mitochondrial redox potential because then the mitochondira in your RPE make more water in the cytosol and more water in the RPE cytosol and more water inside the cytosol means more sunlight can be buried inside the cell to rebuild the redox potential that is destroyed in AF. That is how CT works in AF in the eye.
Thanks Jack! It looks like it would be a great idea to face dunk before I go out to get my AM sun and when I go out to get my midday sun. When doing face dunks how cold should the water be to have benefit and for how long a session? In time should I be able to safely do ice baths?
Thanks!
Mike it is all covered in the cold thermogensis protocol blog.
Hi Jack could you send me a list of medications/suppplements to buy asap. I’m an Australian struggling with severe brain fog, fatigue, depression (secondary), eye sensitivity to light, severe memory loss and slow processing speed, the list goes on. I had a fall playing footie with mates when I was 10 , I fell on the back of my head on concrete but didn’t pass out. From then one began noticing cognitive decline affecting my academics and life. I’m now 19 and it worsens everyday, mri was shown to be normal( a fluid filled cleft was found around my pituitary), it’s becoming worse and I’m current studying at uni (medicine) and I can’t think or process. Family and gps think it’s psychological my dad (a gp) wants me to take Zoloft and the likes but I know depression is secondary. Please help me right now it’s like I can feel my brain more damaged each day. It’s sad that I’m studying to become a neurosurgeon and Im scared that at this stage cell atrophy or whatever might not be reversible. Pls I need your help, my view on life has changed and I’m hardly able to string thoughts together. During one of my practicals my partner examined that my breathing rate was abnormally high. I’m not sure because my haemoglobin levels are not so great as well. But I’m sure the injury had something to do with it. My behaviour has changed and I used to be kind and considerate but now I’m extremely irritable, can form words,, lose plot of movies or anything. Pls Jack am at wits end and can’t imagine what tomorrow holds. If you need my mobile don’t hesitate to ask in your reply. I’ll wait for your reply, thanks.
Abraham I don’t think you’ve read enough of my stuff. I am NO FAN of supplements. I believe you must get your environment right first and foremost
Dr. Jack,
When my adrenals are really shot, I have an unquenchable thirst. I actually went in to get checked for diabetes because of it. Can you tell me what causes that?
Poor mitochondrial function. People always forget the products of mitochondrial action via oxidative phosphylation is water and CO2.
The sleep thing was such a huge component for me. I didnt sleep, period. So, naturally, I didnt feel good at all. It was actually quite a challenge getting that circadian rhythm back to normal, but my goodness, what a world of difference sleep makes! Here’s a closer look at that circadian thing: https://www.drlam.com/blog/biological-clock-and-adrenal-fatigue-part-1/11315/
Hi Dr Kruse,
I have a question concerning phosphatidyl choline. Last year I took a similar supplement, CDP choline and it really helped my fatigue and I felt great for about 6 weeks. But then I developed uncontrollable libido and I didn’t want it. Will phosphatidyl choline do the same? Do you have any recommendations to counteract this phenomenon? Thanks and God bless!
no idea as this seems to be indiosyncratic reaction
I am 66 yrs old, female, and got off of the SSRI Lexapro 8 months ago after being on it for 12 yrs. I am experiencing adrenal fatigue and low Serotonin and GABA. I supplement with GABA but take nothing else. Sun helps but sleep is difficult at time. I take 6 ml Melatonin nightly and have for 10 yrs. My history- high cholesterol, depression and anxiety at times. My diet is leaning toward epi- Paleo, but I consume a moderate amount of sugar daily. How can I level my neurotransmitters?
Quitting the melatonin and seeing every AM sunrise is the key to repair.
I am 40 years and a mother of a 3 year old. My AF started back in 2011. Back in 2017 I got a saliva testing that showed low levels of DHEA and low progesterone. I was still breastfeeding at the time. I got a prescription cream of GABA and Pheniut to apply every morning and night to manage my stress and get the progesterone levels up. I feel better with the cream but I am back to not sleeping at all. I am always on Alert mode. I have no idea how I go about the day the way I do. After reading your blog, I learned to change my diet to epi-paleo, incorporate the healthy fats. What else can I do for support? What if there is no sun where I live? I live in a city also on the first level of a building. What about 5-http?
Listen to my podcast with Sherill Sellman done in January 2019
Dr. Kruse, I’m 60 & have lived with chronic depression called dysthymia & Chronic fatigue all my life. My DHEAS levels always run high but Dr’s don’t seam to care. I also have a very odd symptom that Dr’s dismiss but has kept me from taking anything to help my illness. I can’t take most meds or any nutritional supplements even in the lowest doses without wanting to fall asleep about an hr. later & it lasting for about 2 days. I see you’re not a big advocate of supplements but would like your thoughts on what could be causing my hypersensitivity to nutritional supplements. Any thoughts & what do you think about the high DHEAS? Thank You!!
Hi! I’m just familiarizing myself with the website. I’m a 40 year old female that’s had gut and immune issues (SIBO, leaky gut, hashimotos) for over ten years. Last summer, I saw one of the many functional medicine doctors that I’ve been to. He put me on vitamin D and iron (two supplements I now know better to take again) and after a month taking it- I stopped sleeping and haven’t slept more than 5 hours a night since last July. I wake sometime between 2am and 4am and can’t get back to sleep. I went back to labs I had done 8 years ago and found I have low cortisol. I know from more recent labs that my testosterone is also low. And I believe my estrogen is high from symptoms but I don’t know this for sure. I have an imbalance between potassium and sodium- my potassium is low. And the new thing I’m doing is retaining water and retaining urine- especially if I eat something high in histamine or oxalates. Ive been following the Root Cause Protocol and had an HTMA done recently in which the practitioner said my biggest issue was with my adrenals and the particular imbalance between potassium and sodium. The adrenal cocktails they’ve recommended have done nothing to help. I just reached out to your team. I’m not sure if you do consultations or can recommend anyone but I’d love to work with someone that deeply understands this issue. The doctors or practiotioners I’ve run into have more tricks up their sleeves when it comes to having high cortisol but are clueless what to do with people who aren’t producing enough. I’m afraid that being in this state is damaging my kidneys. A couple questions:
You mentioned progesterone- my doctor said that will lower cortisol even more but that doesn’t seem to be true if I’m understanding this post correctly.
Also, to be sure I’m understanding right- the recommended melatonin- is recommended for those not producing enough cortisol as well?
Finding this website made my day. I’m listening to podcasts where Dr. Kruse is a guest and it’s all making a lot of sense. Thank you so much!