Pantothenic Acid (Vitamin B5) and weight loss

Spectracell Labs posted a very informative blog post regarding vitamins and weight management here that flipped on the light bulb for me today.

I was so thrilled I almost cried.

So let me start from the beginning with a bit of background.

I have expressed in prior posts how I had been overweight, went thru the hcg diet a few times, got down to my ideal weight, and then I gained weight like no other in the next year, unable to control my weight gain with my strict immense willpower when it comes to food. I gained some 90lbs and would have kept going if I hadn't found my Celiac at the end of 2011. Went gluten free and weight gain stopped... but no weight loss ever happened on its own.

Found out last September that I had a severe vitamin B5 deficiency after being tested by Spectracell Labs. Come to find out, this is normal for celiacs, as I think I mentioned in my post back then.

So... I started supplementing B5 after finishing yet another round of hcg dieting that was absolutely fruitless. (No weight loss at all)

Got pregnant in November... and I actually lost a size while pregnant. No crazy food issues either. No major morning sickness that prevented me from eating or anything.

Lost the baby in January... and ran out of my huge bottles of pantothenic acid then. Thinking I didn't need it anymore, I didn't bother to replace them.

I gained 10lbs in the following two months... realized I felt like crap again so I started up the b5 again at half the dose, and realized I'll probably have to supplement for the rest of my life... I just don't absorb it properly.

Ok so now that you have the short and sweet story... the reason for this whole post.

Spectracell mentioned in their blog that B5 is the precursor to the enzyme lipase, which is the FAT BURNING ENZYME.

Holy mother of god... I found the reason why I gained so much weight uncontrollably and now I know how to reverse it.

I've been all about the enzymes lately... I knew I was lacking in lipase but I couldn't figure out why nor how to fix it, other than to supplement with digestive enzymes.

If I look back at my history it all makes sense.

Fasted with the hcg diet a number of times in 2009, likely depleting cellularly stored pantothenic acid. Since I don't absorb it properly, I wasn't able to replenish it. With each hcg round, my ability to lose weight decreased and the weight loss would slow. I notoriously lost less weight than others doing the same diet and even with them cheating on it and me being very strict.

So I gained after I was done with those. A lot. No lipase available to burn fat as energy.

Fast forward to October last year... didn't lose at all... my stores were empty, as referenced by my nutrition report.

November thru January supplementing 1g a day and lost a pant size (didn't lose scale weight, but didn't gain either).

Bottle ends and I gain weight back.

I get a new bottle and flip from taking 500mg to 1g a day... mostly 500mg a day. I fluctuate in size... I don't know my smaller days are related to the 1g or not.

SO... I took 2g today of pantothenic acid. My normal 500 this morning and 1500mg this evening.

I so can't wait to see if this is going to work for me.

I will check in with this later.

As of this morning, I am 225.2 lbs.

In the meantime, check out this wonderfully written article about pantothenic acid:

http://www.coryholly.com/articles/article.cfm?id=172

Vitamin B5 (pantothenic acid) and Celiac Disease

I recently went to the doctor, explaining to them that I'm still not pregnant, after almost 2 years now of actively trying, and that I wanted a vitamin panel done.  I was also concerned about my adrenals, stating that it must be the cortisol (the stress hormone) issue that's preventing me from losing weight and fully calming down.

So they ran a million tests... and ran a micro-nutrient test with SpectraCell Laboratory.

I fully expected to have some deficiencies, but I knew I would generally be okay, considering I do supplement.

Since I am Celiac, I'm not surprised to find deficiencies, although your average person could always have vitamin deficiencies, like vitamin D3.

I was really blown away to find out I am very deficient in vitamin B5, also known as pantothenic acid.

Pantothenic acid is found in EVERYTHING that mammals (including humans) eat. It is a very very important  vitamin that helps the co-enzyme A function properly, the adrenals keep up to their best, and help your brain function a bit better.  If your adrenals don't function properly, you don't function properly and your body goes into distress mode.  My TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone) was sky high, after decreasing after going gluten free, shocking the hell out of me.  My DHEA-S and testosterone levels were well above where they should be, indicating there's a heavy duty adrenal issue happening.  Not to mention my infertility... which is directly related to B5 deficiency as well.

But here's the problem and why I never even CONSIDERED that I could have a deficiency:

Pantothenic acid is literally found in EVERYTHING, like I mentioned earlier.  To find someone with a B5 deficiency means they have either been literally starving, or they are an alcoholic. (which I am neither)

But.

Back in the day, they used to treat Celiac Disease with pantothenic acid, to help the patient feel better.  Because of the drastic gastrointestinal issues and malabsorption that is so common among Celiacs, those B vitamins are up for rejection in the Celiac system, which does include B5.  It is also noted, in that article I linked to, that a vitamin B5 deficiency does cause atrophy of the villi in the intestines. If a subject does not feel completely better, nor return to complete normalcy, or only half way responds to a gluten free diet, try B5.

After 5 days of having taken at least 1000mg a day of pantothenic acid, I can truly say that I have experienced an upswing in my mood and most importantly, my ability to focus.  My intelligence is huge to me, and to lose that in the last couple years because I was unable to focus properly was very hard on my self esteem.

Yet... I continue on... hopefully in a few months I can get pregnant as my body regulates.

Fasting Versus HCG Diet

(Note: I found this in my computer today... I wrote it on 1/5/2010, before Celiac diagnosis in 2011 and notice of Candida issue)

In the past ten years, I continually gained weight, lost it, and then regained it over and over again. I tried everything… I tried pills, I tried exercise programs, I tried joining the gym and going every day, I tried Atkins, Zone diet, South Beach… everything. It was all getting quite ridiculous, so I found some information on Dr. Joel Fuhrman, who promotes fasting.

fast²    [fast, fahst]

verb (used without object) 

1. to abstain from all food. 

2. to eat only sparingly or of certain kinds of food, especially as a religious observance.

verb (used with object)

3. to cause to abstain entirely from or limit food; put on a fast: to fast a patient for a day before surgery.

noun

4. an abstinence from food, or a limiting of one's food, especially when voluntary and as a religious observance; fasting.

5. a day or period of fasting.

Fasting is something the human body is made to do to survive famine and hard times. Someone with a decent muscle mass can do this without harm for about 40 days, according to Dr. Fuhrman’s book "Fasting and Eating for Health".

Just watch those people on the show Survivor; they are eating maybe 500 calories a day. MAYBE. And they are surviving… but they are miserable and hungry.

So, I tried it.

I was miserable… I was weak and a little mentally loopy and stopped after three days. It was so stressful on my body, it took a two weeks to recover fully to be able to go back to exercise.

In the meantime, yes, I had lost 7 pounds in those three days… but guess what. I gained them back in that time of recovery, and that’s even sticking with the diets in Dr. Fuhrman’s “Eat for Life” book.

Look at those people on Survivor. They lose all that weight during the show, then at the finale, you see how they all gained that weight right back.

I was resigned to just being 50lbs overweight for the rest of my life, and possibly more in the future.

Then a friend of mine at work tried the Dr. Simeon HCG Diet protocol. Truly… I thought she was insane, remembering my experience with fasting, but I was curious… it was something I hadn’t tried yet.

I researched the HCG diet up and down… I wasn’t about to inject just anything in me.

Yes… there are risks involved… but they are the same risks as the same people who use the HCG for a different issue (like fertility) with higher dosages that IS approved by the FDA. The FDA approved those same risks, so what’s the problem with this?

"Oh, but of COURSE you'll lose weight at 500 calories, without the HCG" is the argument I get all the time. Oh yeah? Of COURSE you would. Would you be happy? NO.  Would you be losing muscle mass? Likely yes.  Would you still have those dimply thighs because your body didn't pull from your abnormal fat storage? Yes.

Dr. Simeon mentions in his "Pounds and Inches" text about how pregnant women in third world countries barely have anything to eat and they are skinny to the bone, yet they produce a healthy fat baby. Yes… anecdotal, but something to keep in the back of your mind.

Hcg is found where cancer is found, both in men and women.

Why do people say that HCG is the creator of cancer? Then why haven’t all the pregnant women in the world been diagnosed with cancer, since the pregnancy pee-on-a-stick test checks for HCG in the urine?   This is just too logical for me.

My own uneducated hypothesis about HCG is that HCG is one of the body’s own mechanisms for fighting cancer. My reason is this: the body’s primary goal is the make that baby survive, so it produces a hormone that not only makes all fats readily available for consumption in case of famine, but also kills tumors and cancers. Yes, sometimes the HCG will not succeed in defending the person from cancer… but I could say it would be an interesting study to see the effect of injected HCG into a cancer patient to see what happens.

So I did it… I figured, what have I got to lose? A few pounds? If I felt crappy, I would stop. I am healthy as a horse. The only thing I had a was a moderate case of fibrocystic breast disease (made your breasts very sore prior to menstral flow, and in severe cases, will create non-cancerous lumps in your breasts) which wasn’t treated… I just dealt with it.

It was great. My first 35 day round, I lost 23 pounds. I wasn’t miserable, I wasn’t hungry... Yes, I could not exercise, otherwise it was like my body would shut down. I gained a “glow” about me… my face filled out from being gaunt from other yo-yo dieting… it was incredible.

And… while my breasts were super sore for the first couple weeks on the diet, the soreness went away… and I haven’t had any trouble since. Maybe the HCG took it away?

So I did it again a couple months later. Lost another 15 pounds.

In total, I lost 27.25 inches. Went from a size 14 to a size 8.

As far as muscle loss… I have a muscular build… I’m a heavy girl with a slim frame. 5′8″ 150 pounds… size 8. I did not lose my muscle mass, or at least, not even an 1/8 of what I lost in those two weeks that I fasted.

Because of my own experience with fasting, (which 500 calories is considered fasting) one cannot convince me that the HCG diet does not help with going down to that very low calorie diet.

I’ve been there… and it sucks when you don’t have the HCG when fasting.

Anecdotal… but that is my experience, and people should know.

HCG Diet and Cycle Time

I now have proof that the HCG diet can regulate your menstrual cycle.

A little (okay, a lot) of my cycle recent history...

After 2 years of menstrual issues, likely due to my pending Celiac diagnosis and the related malabsorption, my cycles were anywhere between 45 and 70 days.  Even after going gluten free in December 2011, my cycle continued to be wonky.

Since my husband and I are trying to conceive and have been since December 2010, I have been really paying attention to my cycles and what is creating my infertility.

I have a Fertile Focus Microscope which only uses your saliva to check the hormone levels that are in your saliva to see if you could consider yourself fertile.  If your saliva shows a fern pattern (which is the crystalization of whatever hormone it looks for) then you are likely fertile.

Image from getting-pregnant-tips.com

 
Ferning = Fertile = should get preggers easily... easy enough, right?

Wrong, in my case.

So in my ridiculously long cycles, I started checking the 'scope daily to see when it actually said I was fertile.

Funny enough... I was ALWAYS fertile on right around cycle day 14... which is when I'm SUPPOSED to be.  Of course, my flow doesn't show up 14 days later like it should, so I continued checking the 'scope daily to see what it did.

I have the blessing to be able to tell when I actually ovulate; it causes me pain.  It's a brief pain, but definitely different than any other pain I have ever had, so I can tell.  I've learned over the years that it means I'm ovulating.  Exactly 14 days after that pain occurs, my flow shows up.

On those days that I know I'm ovulating, I checked the 'scope... and nothing.  Doesn't say I'm fertile at all. Yet I'm ovulating??? That doesn't make any sense.

So of course, my theory came forth that my hormones and body goes through the motions of my cycle on the proper days, but my ovaries are late to the party... by like a month.  By the time I actually do ovulate, my hormones are not in the right spot, likely my uterine lining is no longer hospitable for a bouncing baby to start, therefore anything that actually does connect with the ovum, falls right through.

So... the key was to get my ovaries to show up at the right time to the party.

My HCG diet did that for me.  My last cycle date was May 13.  I got my cycle yesterday.  A 30 day cycle!!! I almost flipped.  I had started the HCG Rx Injections on May 27, which is the day I was supposed to ovulate, but I just ovulated 2 days later! I am just so thrilled with it... when I did my past rounds of the HCG injections for weight loss, my cycle always stayed at 35 days.  This is, of course, before I was diagnosed with Celiac. Ever since I have been old enough to bleed, my cycles were at 35 days if I wasn't on the pill.

So this is the first time that my body did it by itself! (kinda)

I'm just so thrilled with it, I can't wait to see what happens for next month.

HCG Diet Journey... with a discovery of Celiac Disease

Let me tell you about the HCG Diet.

Me before the HCG Diet at around 190 taken December 2008:

I have completed 6 rounds of this diet... all in all, I lost a total of some 70lbs.  I went from 190 down to 140lbs in 3 rounds.

Me after the initial rounds at 140lbs taken December 2009:

Huge change right??? I felt so great after it too... I started exercising, P90X, playing volleyball, and Ultimate Frisbee... because I felt awesome.

I then gained 20lbs within 4 months, did another round and lost 10, gained another 20in 4 months, did another round and lost another 15.  I waited 5 months this time and had gained some 30 lbs, which I lost 25, then I gained it all back in 2 months. 

I was like... WHAT THE HELL.

I'm not a ridiculous eater.  I am very very strict with my diet as I have always struggled with my weight. This diet was perfect for me because I hated eating... it just made me fat.  Didn't matter what I ate it seemed.  I was exercising at the time when I gained the 20lbs, but the last round where I gained 30, I had gotten so heavy that exercise was difficult and I was exhausted.

This is what I looked like at the end of the last round, which was April 2011. I was at 186lbs here. I still look better than my original photo where I was about the same weight... you can see where the HCG had readjusted where my fat deposits were.

Not bad right?  You can see my abdomen isn't swollen... from my lack of taking in anything that caused it to inflame.

So... here I am today... at 225 lbs... a year later.

The above photo was taken in February 2012, Super Bowl. HUGE change from just the year before.  After the round in April 2011, I was thinking there was something wrong... so I went to the doctor.  They had found issues with my Thyroid Stimulating Hormone and that my testosterone levels were on the edge of being high, but other than that, I was perfectly healthy.  I couldn't figure out what was going on... I didn't feel good.  I suffered from depression and had a miscarriage in December 2010. 

Finally... December 2011... I figured it out. I got tested... and BAM. I have Celiac Disease.  This is a genetically inherited disease where basically your body reacts to gluten as if it were poison.  In the process, it kills your intestinal lining... yeah, the part that helps you actually gain nutrients.  So basically, I was malnourished, yet the rest of me was healthy, so it was taking in as much as it could get and storing it because it was starving for nutrients.

So... I went gluten free in December 2011 and haven't gone back.  I haven't struggled with it either... I have tended to avoid gluten anyway, knowing that it creates a weight gain for me, but there were other items that I loved (like beer) that brought the Celiac symptoms right to the forefront.  My weight has decreased to about 220 (in the last month) after a brief increase in weight (likely due to actually getting nutrients) but it has started to slowly drop off.

My goal now is to do another 3 rounds of HCG to bring myself back to where I was at... 140lbs.  I should be able to stay there since gluten is no longer welcome in my life.

So... I got my HCG in today... I am doing injections... and doing it purely Dr. Simeon's style.

I'll be tracking my weight and measurements on here... I will start with my measurements tomorrow... when I do my first injection.

I have 3 things of HCG to go.  I am hoping, since my diet is so limited anyway and I don't really care about eating, that I can go with the full 40 day cycles on each one.  My goal for this round is to lose 40lbs.  Not sure if I'll make it that far, but at least 30 and I'll be happy.