Roadmap/03 - Self diagnosis & markers

Diagnosing symptoms

Thyroid - Temperature and heart rate

“Oral or armpit temperature in the morning, before getting out of bed, should be around 98° F [36.6º C], and it should rise to 98.6° F [37.1º C] by mid-morning. […] Healthy populations have an average resting pulse rate of about 85 per minute.” - Ray Peat

Markers of health	Ideal	Before	After breakfast
Temperature	98.6 - 99F 37.0° - 37.2°C
Heart rate	85 - 90 BPM

• Underarm/oral temperature and pulse upon waking and midday.
• Track daily averages
  • aim for steady rises with changes.
• Post-meal temperature
  • should rise if metabolism is healthy (fuel burning); if it drops, stress hormones may dominate.

List of blood tests

Marek online blood test

Idealabs steroid analysis

Marker	Male	Female
Prolactin	in men 4-7 ng/ml (85–150 mU/L)	female 1-12 ng/ml
Total Cholesterol	160 - 200 mg/dl
RT3	Standard
CRP	Standard
TSH	Below 1, as close to 0 as possible
PTH	15 pg/ml
CO2	30 mmol/l
Serum calcium	9 mg/dl
Serum phosphate	3 mg/dl

Self tracking

Extended self tracking table

Link to tracking

Digestion

Bristol stool chart

Quick bowel movements two to tour times a day is generally what is good to aim for.

Urine quality chart

Foamy urine is a sign of increased circulation of fatty acids, which is most common after stress. In rare cases, foamy urine may be a sign of kidney issues.

Body markers

If your hands are warm and you feel kind and energetic, you’re doing it right. If you’re cold and cranky, something is wrong

Tongue

Ideal

• Should be pink, smooth

Symptoms

• White = SIBO or candida
• Cracks = you're screwed, maybe some defficiency

Nails & Fingers

Ideal

• Fast-growing
• Nailbeds should be pink
  • means tissue is retaining CO2

Symptoms

• White horizontal lines = zinc defiiciency
• Clubbed fingers = heart disease
• Brittle nails = lack of gelatin, vitamin D and calcium in the diet
• White moons at the bottom = probably low thyroid

Eyebrows

Ideal

• Full

Symptoms

• Queen Anne's sign = Thinning or loss of the outer third of the eyebrows is one of the physical manifestations of hypothyroidism

Eyes

Ideal

• Focused, calm and alert

Symptoms

• Eye bags = Low thyroid, gut irritation, tired
• Bulging = Grave's disease, (easily misdiagnosed as hyperthyroidism)
• Enlarged eye vessels, esp. yellow around = vitamin B defficiencym mainly B2, have liver once a
• Dark circles under the eyes = vitamin C status + impaired collagen production, oxidative stress
• Dry = Hashimotos

Hair

Ideal

• Full head of hair

Symptoms

• Thinning/norwood = high prolactin and everything

Earlobe

Ideal

• Smooth

Symptoms

• Crease = heart disease or circulatory disorder

Face skin

Ideal

• Baby

Symptoms

• General puffiness around the face (edema) = high estrogen
• Crow's feet = impaired collagen / elastin production of the skin
  • Oxidative stress
  • Low vitamin C status
  • Poor collagen intake
  • Low glycine intake

Lips

Ideal

• Kissable

Symptoms

• Chapped lips = dehydration caused by lack of sealing
  • Chronic inflammation, especially from the gut
  • Hypothyroidism
  • Poor saliva production (low cholinergic / parasympathetic tone)
  • Defficiencies

Body skin

Ideal

• Smooth, elastic, without spots

Symptoms

• Cellulite = high estrogen, high PUFA
• Thinning skin (ungrabable) = low thyroid
• Lipufuscin spots (liver spots) = high PUFA, high iron
• Yellow skin = liver problems, high keratine,
• Cracks, ashy knees & elbows = low vitamin A
• Hives, itchiness = high histamine
• Melasma = excess estrogen upregulating melanin
• Stretch marks = low copper, zinc, and selenium, high cortisol breaks down collagen and elastin,

Veins

Ideal

• Smooth, elastic, without spots

Symptoms

• Bulging veins = high estrogen, especially on the back of the hand

Women's breasts

Ideal

• Firm, perky

Symptoms

• Tender = high estrogen
• Sagging

Men's chest

Ideal

• Developped like a man's

Symptoms

• Gynecomastia = high estrogen and prolactin

Extremities

Ideal

• Warm, circulated

Symptoms

• Cold feet, hands, nose = high adrenaline
• If it takes long to pink after a squeze

Sweat glands

Ideal

• Moderate amount, non-stinky

Symptoms

• Inability to sweat = low thyroid

Nose

Ideal

• Reasonably dry

Symptoms

• Runny = high histamine

Posture

Ideal

• Straight, non tense

Symptoms

• Postural issues = Low androgen (DHT)

Tummy

Ideal

• Flat(ish)

Symptoms

• Bulging gut = high HGH, general SIBO
  • Could also be visceral fat accumulation or weak abdomenal muscles/PSOAs

Movement

Ideal

• Normal, balanced, free-flowing

Symptoms

• Movement disorders, twitches = high serotonin

Energy levels

Ideal

• Warm, calm, sociable, libido, good sleep, no brain fog

Symptoms

• Fatigue = low T3

Bowel movements

Ideal

• 2-3 times a day

Symptoms

• Constipation or too runny

Urination

Ideal

• sparse, only during waking, clear color

Apetite

Ideal

• Healthy

Symptoms

• Low apetite
• Overeating/stress eating

Voice

Symptoms

Hoarse - mucopolysaccharides, swelling the vocal cords from hypothyroidism

https://x.com/i/status/2026311246367068546

Cravings

Acidic/sour

• your body needs more sodium
• Aldosterone imbalance
  • When sodium drops, your adrenals compensate by releasing aldosterone to retain sodium - but this comes with costs like magnesium loss and inflammation. Simply eating more salt can turn off this stress response.
• Premenstrual shift
  • Commonly trigger pickle cravings in women. Hypothyroid women especially suffer from both sugar and salt cravings premenstrually.
• Thyroid function
  • Aging lowers your thyroid function, and your thyroid deficiency causes you to lose sodium. So the craving in most people is a very biological thing. But you could correct it by correcting your thyroid function, which makes you retain salt efficiently so you don't need to eat so much
• The manganese connection
  • Blood test of pregnant women with pickle cravings showed manganese defficiency.

Sweet

Salty

Sparkling water/soda

CO2

Achilles reflex speed

Ideal

• Fast relaxation phase (film yourself dropping foot)

Symptoms

• Slow/hanging reflex

Bronda Barnes chart of common hypothyroidism symptoms

Symptom	% prevalence in hypothyroidism
Weakness	98.5
Sensation of cold	92
Dry skin	88
Lethargy	88
Edema of eyelids	88
Edema of face	87
Coarse skin	83.5
Cold skin	81.5
Decreased sweating	78.5
Coarseness of hair	75.5
Slow speech	73.5
Slow movements	73
Thick tongue	71
Heart enlargement	68
Gain in weight	67.5
Impaired memory	65.5
Labored or difficult breathing	63.5
Hoarseness	63
Muscle weakness	61
Depression	60
Pallor of skin	58.5
Constipation	57.5
Swelling of feet	56
Burning or tingling sensations	56
Pallor of lips	53.5
Loss of hair	49
Slowing of mental activity	49
Nervousness	43
Loss of appetite	42.5
Brittle nails	41
Muscle pain	36
Deafness	35
Excessive menstruation	32.5
Poor heart sounds	30
Joint pain	29
Palpitations	27
Poor vision	24
Pain over the heart	20.5
Changes in back of eye	20
Painful menstruation	18
Loss of weight	11
Emotional instability	11
Choking sensation	9
Fineness of hair	9
Cyanosis (bluish skin)	9
Difficulty in swallowing	3
Heat intolerance	2

Iodine defficiency

"The skin test of iodine deficiency is completely unscientific. Iodine is converted to colorless iodide by reductants, including vitamin C, glutathione, and thiosulphate... The test is completely irrational. It implies that the body should be saturated with iodine.” - Ray Peat

Excessive amounts of iodide have been linked to the development of autoimmune thyroiditis in humans and animals

Food intolerance

DIY Food Allergy Test

1. Before suspected allergenic meal, relax consciously and check resting pulse rate
2. Eat slowly, calmly
3. Wait 10 mins and check pulse again If BPM increases by
   • <10, unlikely
   • ~10-14, possibly
   • >15, likely
4. Eliminate suspected food and repeat until +ID

Why do a food allergy test?

If you have symptoms of chronic inflammation:

• Runny/stuffy nose
• Excess mucous/saliva
• Red/crusty eyes
• Itchy ears
• Brain fog/Headaches
• Myalgia/Neuralgia
• etc.

Rule out food allergies before moving onto expensive mycotoxin/heavy metal etc. testing

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