Testing GLP-1 and messing with receptors
Using natural compounds to dial in a better state
GLP-1 peptides not only promote weight loss and reign in insulin levels, they might also have side-benefits like reducing brain inflammation and improving gut health, both of which could be quite a boon. It might even improve mood and blood pressure.
It took a couple of tries.
On my first attempt, I found that it caused a symptom spiral. It has unpredictable effects on the brain and nervous system.
But since I need to tackle those insulin levels, which is a surprisingly common problem for those with brain injuries, I tried a second time. It’s possible that I have to stick out some hypersensitivity for 6-8 weeks and go very slow before the body adapts.
Neurotransmitter balance with nootropics
In the meantime, because I needed some relief from the spiral, I also tried a few other things. The intent was to find ways to modulate the neurotransmitter balance and achieve more rest.
Rather than relying on medications, it’s possible to adjust adjusting neurotransmitters by using natural precursors like tryptophan or 5HTP (for serotonin) and tyrosine (for dopamine).
In the case of folks with TBI, receptors might be oversensitive, damaged, or destroyed, making it a little uncomfortable to play with these substances, but a careful test can be revealing and helpful.
With the encouragement of a naturopath, I tried taking 5HTP and tyrosine to see what would happen, both separately and together. It confirmed some previous theorizing and led me to fine-tune some of my supplements. It confirmed the following:
5HT2A receptor impairment: In folks who have had medication-induced serotonergic damage or oversensitivity, often it’s the 5HT2A receptors that get messed up, so medications and natural precursors like tryptophan or 5HTP won’t help and will instead make you feel pretty uncomfortable. In my case, it makes me feel more comfortable in my body but less comfortable in my mind and senses. If I could take 5HTP and keep it out of my brain, it might help!
GABA and 5HT1B with magnolia bark: I stopped taking magnolia bark routinely about a year ago. But this effort reminded me that magnolia bark acts on the 5HT1B and GABA receptors rather than the 5HT2A receptors. This might have the side-benefit of lowering dopamine levels as well.
Correcting dopamine with low-dose nicotine: A serotonin problem creates a dopamine problem on the other side of the cognitive balance sheet; low serotonin often correlates with high dopamine, so natural dopamine precursors like tyrosine, which should help a lot of folks, also don’t work. It makes my vision go nutty, indicating an overabundance of dopamine. So to try and modulate the dopamine overabundance, I am using low-dose nicotine patches to downregulate the dopamine network. These patches can also help modulate the immune system and improve parasympathetic activity as well.
Fine-tuning
If substances can’t quite get the neurotransmitter balance right, it seems to suggest, once again, that there is some network or receptor issue to continue working on.
The best case scenario would be to either re-program the network, which we’ve tried to do with rTMS, or rehabilitate the brain, which we’ve tried to do a bit with hyperbaric and red light therapy. Perhaps one day neuralink will be able to do that for us. 😬
But one thing I have not tried yet is cerebrolysin, a peptide which helps the brain to heal, perhaps in combination with BPC-157, or epitalon, which are peptides that have also been shown to heal tissues and improve brain/gut health.
In the meantime, three weeks later, I’m somewhat less sensitive to the GLP-1 peptide, but I’ll stick to a microdose to focus on insulin improvement.