How a simple thing before training can stop you getting a whole lot of problems ...

[hailtotheking]

Been gradually upping the doseage of the licorice / adaptogenic herb product i have been using based on Eric's instructions without any noticeable negative side effects, other than the fact that i need far less tea / coffee during the day, but at about 8pm i feel REALLY tired (probably because the licorice and adaptogenics are going out of my system and allowing cortisol to subside), which i suppose is a good thing cos it gets me to bed earlier.

Started on the sublingual DHEA on Monday - 1 drop (1mg) a day away from the other product to make sure there are no negative interactions. Its really good stuff – it makes me feel like I was when I was 22 – cheeky, chirpy, horny, and assertive. It’s a massive mood booster. And that’s only at 1mg! I must be really sensetive to the stuff or something. I’m going up to 2mg tomorrow on Eric’s instruction.

Still on the reduced Sheiko program Dave has been doing for me and all is going well. And also keeping the GPP to brisk walks and the Chek exercises. Also started doing some foam roller work once a week, and Sunday night have a hot 'salt n soda' bath which is great for getting rid of aches and pains, and relaxing :

- Run some hot water in the bath about 5 inches deep

- Put about a kilo of natural salt (i use clean, untreated rock salt from my local hardware store), and a kilo of sodium bicarbonate (dirt cheap in bulk on the web) in, and stir it until most of the sediment disolves.

- Run the rest of the water into the bath as much as you need

- Bathe in it for at least 20 minutes, making sure to soak you head in it for a minute or soas well at some point.

Not managed to squeeze in any meditation work at the mo.

[Ripped Barbarian]

Get some nigari for your baths and watch the liquorice, it does some dodgy things with test levels.

[hailtotheking]

Yeah i'm aware of the effect of licorice on test, but its a necessary evil at the mo, and the effects arent huge as the dose isnt huge.

Licorice is excellent at protracting the half life of endogenous cortisol, which means your adrenals need to make alot less of it during the day. Its one of the most effective supplements in giving your adrenals a rest. Poliquin uses it in his adrenal recovery programs.

[hailtotheking]

I found this in an old interview on t-nation with Charles Poliquin concerning licorice, testosterone, cortisol, and DHEA, among other things (like how important B5 is). Very interesting:

TMUSCLE.com | Interview With Charles Poliquin - Part 2

" TC: I know you’ve been using licorice cream to elevate Testosterone levels. Most of the sports science guys say that licorice is bad news, a strong estrogen agonist, so how did you come up with the idea of using it to elevate T levels?

CP: Most of the studies on licorice being an estrogen agonist were done on women. What was shown was that the licorice cream aggravated PMS symptoms in women already showing estrogen dominance.

TC: Well that’s a hell of a good model for athletes!

CP: Yes! It’s like saying boron increases Testosterone, yes, in women going through menopause who are also magnesium deficient. So, here’s the rationale: the reason some people are Testosterone deficient has to do with acetyl coenzyme A, which changes into pregnenolone, and pregnenolone is the mother of hormones. Pregnenolone has two choices in life: it can become cortisol or DHEA.

When a guy has a ****ty diet, a poor lifestyle, useless training programs, he forms a preferential pathway so his pregnenolone turns into cortisol and what happens is that there’s less raw material to turn into DHEA. If you don’t have enough DHEA, you’re basically castrating yourself.

The function of licorice root is to do two things; one is to prolong the half-life or cortisol. Now there are actually 7 mathematical permutations of what can happen to the Testosterone/cortisol ratio, depending on time of day, so what you have to do is give licorice cream when the guy’s cortisol is low.

By the way, only one patient out every 250 comes up well in circadian Testosterone/cortisol tests.

Now, if an athlete’s been under stress for too long a time, you actually get to the point where he does not make cortisol or DHEA, and that’s when you start running on adrenaline. The worst scores most always come from people living in the Northeast part of the USA. A symptom of that is you start waking up in the middle of the night because cortisol, if you remember, is low-grade adrenaline.

So, if a guy tests with low Testosterone and low cortisol in the morning and also low DHEA, we give him licorice extract. It prolongs the half-life of the cortisol and it fools the body into thinking, "Okay, now when I next have the opportunity to make cortisol or DHEA, I’m going to go the way of DHEA because my cortisol is elevated. Then, of course, DHEA is preferentially converted to Testosterone.

Licorice root also has the advantage of lowering LDL and triglycerides; including helping convert T4 to T3. You can also put it on the abs and your fat levels will go down.

But you can’t give it to everybody every time; you can only use it to increase T in guys who have low cortisol and low DHEA.

By the way, another way to fool the body is to give it a stable form of Vitamin B5 in very large quantities, and since the B5 is the precursor to acetyl Coenzyme A, it leads to more pregnenolone, which ultimately leads to higher Testosterone. "

Also came across this supplementation protocol by CP on restoring testosterone / cortisol balance. Although it refers to CP' own line of supplements, there is really nothing special about his stuff and if you look at the ingredients you could easily sub it with MP's stuff and standardised herbs from any helath shop herbalist:

Testosterone boosters -- how I help my clients the legal way - CharlesPoliquin

[craig1014]

I just read the first post on this topic, and I have to say it sounds what you went through was horrific!

However, I did laugh when you mentioned that the side effects of one of the drugs was spontaneous achilles tendon rupture. I can just imagine people sitting around, relaxing, when PING! they have no achilles left.

Sorry

[hailtotheking]

Thanks for your empathy

Well, this is a good reason to research any pharmeceutical drugs you may be given by your GP.Luckily, this was never preascribed to me. Unluckily, they failed to give me ANY antibiotic in sufficient time to limit the damage of the infection. Hence the reason i am now suing the GP's involved

[NU_nutrition_TS]

Quote

Hence the reason i am now suing the GP's involved

How's that going, BTW, unless you'd rather keep 'mum' on that subject for now!

[crazygooner1]

just read the story HTK, sounds really bad, wish you the best mate. i have definately taken note of it.

[hailtotheking]

The legal firm i have working on it, who specialise in medical negligence, have decided there are grounds for legal action and have agreed to take the case on a no-win, no-fee basis. They were initially unsure if they wanted to take the case because going up against the NHS can incur legal expenses running into several hundred thousand pounds.

They have put out a letter of claim to the GP's at my local surgery, and the hopsital where i went to A&E and they told me there was nothing wrong with me. The claims for negligence are:

Quote

Allegations of negligence

(a) The First Defendant was negligent in that there were failures between 15 September 2008 and 23 September 2009 to:-

(i) Carry out a satisfactory examination of Mr XXX on and following 15 September 2008 when he attended the surgery complaining of pain and swelling in his right testis;

(ii) Take sufficient heed of his symptoms of significant ongoing pan and the swollen testicle, in particular after Mr XXX had been admitted to A&E at XXX Hospital with significant pain on 19 September 2008;

(iii) Carry out a urethral swab test and for a urine test when Mr XXX attended on 23 September 2008;

(iv) Make a diagnosis of epididymo-orchitis when Mr XXX attended on 23 September 2008;

(v) Prescribe antibiotics for Mr XXX which would have treated the infection;

(vi) Advise Mr XXX to return immediately if he had continuing problems. Instead Mr XXX was told to return in a few weeks if he did not improve.

(vii) Consider that Mr XXX may have epididymo-orchitis when he suggested this at his appointment on 23 September 2009.

(b) The Second Defendant through their medical staff and/or other employees or agents was negligent in that there were failures on or around 19 September 2008 to:-

(i) Carry out a satisfactory examination of Mr XXX when he attended at the hospital;

(ii) Take sufficient heed of his symptoms of significant ongoing pan and swollen right testicle;

(iii) Carry out a urine test;

(iv) Carry out an ultra sound scan or any other sort of further tests;

(v) Refer Mr XXX to a urologist;

(vi) Start Mr XXX on a course of antibiotics which would have treated the infection.

Causation

Had Mr XXX been examined properly on 19 September 2008 when he was admitted, it would have been appreciated that further tests were required, in particular testing the urine and performing an ultrasound scan of the right testicle. Had further tests been carried out Mr XXX's condition would have been diagnosed and treatment would have been started immediately consisting of a course of antibiotics. On a balance of probability this would have avoided the reduction in fertility. Mr XXX has been informed by his GP that it is unlikely that his fertility levels will ever recover.

Quantum

Mr XXX has extremely low fertility levels. He will therefore find it very difficult to have children now. Had treatment been carried out at an earlier stage this problem could have been prevented.

Mr XXX works as a XXXX.

We outline the heads of damage as follows:-

(a) General damages for pain, suffering and loss of amenity and for reduced fertility

(b) Past additional care

(c) Expenses

(d) Personal injury interest

(e) Future treatment

[NU_nutrition_TS]

Sounds like they are on the ball. The fact they were initially reluctant to take the case on but have never-the-less done so on a 'no win, no fee' basis seems to indicate a fair amount of optimism on their part. Fingers crossed - I hope it all goes well.