Antidepressants, Vasectomy, Prednisone and Insulin Resistance | THRR063

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Prednisone and Insulin Resistance/Ketosis, Baby Led Weaning, Electrolyte Intake, Vasectomy- Yay or Nay?, Depression and Antidepressants

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Show Notes:

News topic du jour:

Colchicine for Early COVID-19? Trial May Support Oral Therapy at Home — But some find science-by-press-release troubling

1. Prednisone and Insulin Resistance/Ketosis [31:27]

Sunny says:

Hi. I've been on prednisone all year for ulcerative colitis. It's been difficult to stick to the right diet because of the cravings, yet that is critical for me to get right in order to get off of prednisone (I think I'm prednisone dependent, whatever that means, but I can't seem to get off it) so I feel stuck. It seems like no matter how well I eat for how long (paleo diet) I still get "sugar crashes". I'd really like to try full carnivore, but worry I will just feel sick the whole time because of the prednisone. What is prednisone doing to my insulin? Is there a way to overcome it? In the morning I have tried to do some intermittent fasting but I end up feeling ill if I don't eat. Thank you.

2. Baby Led Weaning [36:35]

Amanda says:

Hi Robb and Nikki

I'm very confused about how to best feed my baby. She's 10 months old now and we started solids at 6 months with letting her self feed bacon and raw or lightly cooked garden vegetables. She loved it. Our general approach was to give her whatever we're eating and it worked well initially since we try to eat relatively well.

She's since been introduced to less desirable foods with her grandparents including french fries, bread, pasta, crackers, and pretty sugary fruits. It seems like all she wants to eat now is bread and frozen blueberries, not the delicious steak and fish offered. I try to stay chill about what she eats but she will now scream for blueberries at each meal and pick around her meat to eat only frozen blueberries. We've tried frozen mini shrimp to no avail. Is it bad to subsist on blueberries and breast milk?

I've generally minimized non paleo foods but wonder if she needs to eat small amounts regularly to avoid allergies? I've read that exposure early and often is important in preventing allergies.

As an aside, she won't eat purees and mostly wants to feed herself, not have food fed to her.

Finally, is there any data suggesting an optimal breastfeeding duration? My baby seems to get most of her calories and liquids from breast milk still and I'm not sure when or if she will transition more towards solids.

Thanks!

Amanda

3. Electrolyte Intake [43:18]

Josh says:

Good morning,

I have been on the Ketogenic diet for the last 2 weeks. I am definitely beginning to see the results that I am looking for. I'm curious about electrolytes though. About a week into this, i began to feel an irregular heartbeat, mostly in the evenings. I am a paramedic, so I was able to hook myself up to an EKG, and confirm a sinus arrhymthia. No detrimental side effects, other than just not feeling right. I began to start tracking my electrolyte intake( I have also been supplementing with LMNT), and quickly noticed my potassium intake was low(600-800mg/day). Since noticing this, I have been making a concerted effort to make sure my potassium intake has been increased. My question is this: since LMNT only has 200mg of K each, is it recommended to supplement with actual Potassium tablets? I have been drinking 2-3 LMNT drinks/day, as well as looking for foods that have higher levels of potassium in them, but it definitely seems like an essential electrolyte that is somewhat hard to come by naturally. Any help on this would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you,

Josh

4. Vasectomy- Yay or Nay? [49:04]

Clint says:

What’s up Robb and Nikki!?

I’ll skip the normal “stats” other than I’m 36 years old, happy and healthy- well versed in the paleo ways of Cordain, Sisson, and most importantly- Wolf. My wife and I have two wonderful kids; a 4 year old and an 18 month old and we have a baby on the way in April (2 under 2- wtf is wrong with us?). I went for a routine physical and my doctor suggested getting a vasectomy since we aren’t wanting to have more kids. I’ve always been of the mindset of wanting to be here “for a long time- not necessarily a good time” meaning I take cold showers, fast from time to time, forego shitty foods, exercise regularly. I’m not a Ben Greenfield longevity bio hacker shining red lights on my balls- but I’d like to do what I can to live a long life. Are you aware of any health and longevity benefits/downsides to getting the old snip-snip? (Other than the benefit of not getting my wife pregnant again).

Thanks for all you guys do for us mere mortals- keep fighting the good fight.

5. Depression and Antidepressants [53:45]

Andy says:

Hello Robb and Nikki,

I've had problems with depression off and on for several years now. I recently saw a new therapist that my wife has known for 15 years and she is guessing that I've always lived with depression due to family history. It has just happened that being a hard driving type A I've been able to cope and push through major depressive seasons.

She has suggested going on an antidepressant to help me get over the edge and allow me to begin healing from long term depression. I've always been reluctant to take them and haven't before but I'm feeling that this is probably a wise decision considering I have also had 2 great friends (nurse and social worker) suggest it. The reason I'm thinking this makes sense is given the year I've had... COVID, 2 miscarriage's, 4 months of unemployment, business losses, and I'm sure I could name more.

So, my 2 questions are

1. What do you think about antidepressants in my case

2. Do you have other suggestions that are easy to implement because major changes right now are very hard for me

Now, a background on health. First off, everything seems hard for me right now. My symptoms include: insomnia, low energy, brain fog, lack of motivation to take action, low desire for sex (although once I'm going I'm fine). I've also been drinking 2-3 beers a day for several months now as a coping mechanism which is really bad. My diet is iffy, sometimes I'm good with a good amount of protein (probably not enough but sometimes 150g a day) some healthy fats in meats, olive oil, MCT oil, and some fruits and vegetables. However, I often have several days a week that I will just not care and go to things like nachos and other carb food. I don't tend to eat a lot of sugar or sweets but those do sneak in occasionally. I've been working with a functional doc and the we tried addressing low T with Clomid and boron. That got my T levels from 250ish to 960 and also caused MAJOR anger issues so we removed the Clomid and dropped the boron down. The last testing we did was a dutch test in May and it showed low T again, but it also showed that I was clearing a massive amount of cortisol, like above 15k on that test.

My exercise habits are pretty poor right now as well. I was reffing 2 high school soccer games a week during the fall which equated to about 10 miles of running a week. Now the only activity I am doing is a 6-7 mile hike (moderate difficulty) on Sundays.

I'm currently taking the following supps: Morning - 10 mg boron, lithium 5 mg, ashwagandha 300 mg, ADK (5k iu D), Active B Complex from Klaire (double dose since I've shown a B deficiency and single dose didn't impact the deficiency). Evening - 400 magnesium taurate, physphatldylserine 600 mg, zinc chelate 100 mg, trazedone 100 mg, melatonin 2 mg. My doc also has me using an Alpha-Stim for 1 hour a day.

Hopefully this gives you some good info on my background and may give you something to work with from a suggestion perspective.

Thanks,

Andy

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