Results

My thyroid antibodies went from 36 to 44 after my little cheating binge.  Having results like this will definitely keep me on the straight and narrow diet wise - no more beer, no more rice or rice protein powder (can cross react with wheat) and no more eating out and thinking a little bit of gluten isn't going to hurt me.

Essential Oils

Did a search on essential oils and SIBO tonight and found this and this.  The bacteria tested isn't exactly what we are fighting but I've had great success in the past treating infections with essential oils so I might consider giving it a go.  What can I say, it's something that I haven't tried (aka - bright and shiny).

I watched this and I'm intrigued at using Melaleuca as a biofilm buster.  None of the other biofilm busters I have used (Interface plus, Lipophos EDTA) made a difference.  How much money have we wasted on supplements that don't do what they are supposed to??

Before I change course however I feel like I should do a breath test.  I've been following the protocol my ND set up for a little over 3 months.  I should have seen some change in the numbers, right?  Or am I just focusing on the numbers too much like he says?  He wants me to wait until March.  Maybe I should stay the course until I get the thyroid stuff settled out??  Arg!

And sadly I haven't had any avocado (usually a daily treat) and my digestion has been better.  Sprouted rice protein powder is definitely a no go too.  I added it to my smoothie last night and I didn't think it was ever going to leave my stomach.  I started having the same reaction to pea protein a while back.  Guess I'm just going to have to stick to a bit of collagen protein or have a hamburger patty or tin of sardines on the side.

Just checking

After I had my thyroid tested I went on that binge and ate a bunch of stuff I usually don't (including Thai food which let's face it has a wheat in the sauce).  So I decided to test my thyroid antibodies again before I went whole hog into the medication and full on AIP diet route.  My ARNP, as much as I love her, is a pain to see because you always end up waiting so I really didn't want to go see her just to get a lab slip.  Imagine my surprise when I stumbled across this AND they are having January specials on all their thyroid panels.  Meant to be I tell ya!  I paid my $49 for a thyroid antibodies test, printed it this morning and drove to a lab that about 5 minutes from my house.  It was so easy.  Can't wait to see what's on special next month ;)

I found these articles too about Hashimoto's and SIBO.  The health of the gut is connected to so much.  It can be mind boggling and quite scary.  I've had such trouble getting rid of my SIBO and I have been really worried that it would trigger something else.  But really in the end I could have had Hashi's first and that opened the door for SIBO.  There is no use trying to figure out what came first, as much as I'd love to know!

Hello Hashimoto's

You know how you go to one doctor and they give you an opinion and then you relay that opinion to another doctor and they don't openly disagree or contradict they just kind of politely nod.  That did NOT happen today.  When skype clicked on today Dr. Keller was ready to go.  When I said that my other ND blew off the thyroid stuff and said it was nothing to worry about she threw her arms up and made a WTF face :)  I love her.  I loved the honesty.  She has tiptoed around his recommendations in the past but this she could not leave alone.  So she is setting me up with a thyroid medication that I need to taper up and then back down over the course of 60 days and then we'll test again to see how my thyroid responded.  I also need to take my temperature several times a day.  You'd think there would be a device I could wear that would do this for me, but apparently not.

I have not been sticking to the AIP protocol but in light of recent information I think I need to give it another try.  She mentioned cross reactivity with millet, sorghum and rice so I guess those are out for the foreseeable future in addition to wheat.  Nuts and eggs are just so hard for me to give up.  And the spices :(   I never thought I could miss cumin or chili powder so much.

She is also setting me up with a ASI kit so I can test my adrenals.  I would love to do the carb challenge to see what happens with my insulin but I can't see any realistic way of eating 75 grams of carbs with lunch!  

She also agrees that I should switch from LDE to LDN in light of my thyroid stuff.  She doesn't think I'll have a problem with it since I sleep like a rock but she stills want me to taper up from 1.5mg to 3mg then to 4.5mg over the course of a week and a half.

On the bright side my Wellness Meats order showed up.  Who knew a bison liver was so tiny.  The beef livers I get are HUGE.  The bison liver fits in the palm of my hand.  It's got to be just a piece of the beef liver.  Can't wait for the weekend when we'll crack open the beef bacon, slice it up and fry it.  I don't eat pigs.  I had a pet pig who slept with me.  I just can't eat them.  I am most excited about the liverwurst.  It's full of offal which is supposed to be uber healthy and a really big part of healing your gut and nourishing your body.  Someday I might get up enough courage to make these but for now, I'll stick with my liverwurst.

How are you feeling?

Is anyone as sick of this fucking question as I am???  Often you don't know you feel crappy until you feel better.  In the beginning my complaints were constipation and bloating.  I didn't realize I felt like crap and had incredible brain fog until I actually started feeling better and my brain fog cleared.  So I really hate the question because seriously I don't know how I feel until I feel differently!

I love numbers, I did "x" and "y" happened, measurable, shows progress or a lack thereof.  I loved testing before abx and after, testing before elemental diet and after.  It informed me whether I should spend the time, money and effort to do these things again and in my case it was no.  Unfortunately testing is also expensive and my doctor prefers to focus on how I feel.  

SIBO specific diet + Sugar Impact Diet + Fast Tract Digestion

SIBO specific diet + Sugar Impact Diet + Dr. Robillard's Fast Tract Digestion
I keep all the foods that I eat with appropriate amounts in grams on a spreadsheet that's attached to the inside of the spice cupboard, closest to where I prepare meals.  I don't necessarily buy into the Fast Tract Book (or for that matter the Sugar Impact Diet), but the information about potatoes and rice was interesting and relevant to me.  I don't seem to tolerate starchy carbs well at all. I have done okay when I eat white rice but not basmati. I was doing good when I took out yams and bananas, pretty much the only starchy carbs I eat and started to tank when I added them back in.  More belly puffiness and suckier energy.  I know that's not a word but it soooo describes how I was feeling.  Keep in mind that I did not actually read these books cover to cover, I'm more of a skimmer so I'm not going to give you in depth details :)  

Back to the Fast Tract IBS book.  It has a total of 15 charts in the back so you can weigh your food out and then add up the points (which relate to Fermentation Potential-FP).  You want to keep your FP under a specific number.  A bit too complicated for most.  I'm not a calorie or point counter.  Not to mention that out of the 15 charts, 11 of them are for processed food!  I thought we were supposed to be getting healthy and healing.  Can you really do that while eating so much processed junk?  Wonder Bread comes up as low (meaning good), only 4 points. Yikes!  I can understand how someone on the Standard American Diet would get sucked in by this and maybe control their IBS symptoms but will they really be healing and getting well?  I just don't see it.  

The Sugar Impact Diet is JJ Virgins book.  She looks at food in terms of Sugar Impact (SI).  In a nutshell rating food by the amount of sugar in them and the effect it has on your body in terms of blood sugar.  This book is what got me cut out bananas and yams in the first place (they both have a medium SI).  In the good old days I was a carboholic, and I'm sure my blood sugar was up and down all day and man did I feel it.  If I eat any of the foods that spark a blood sugar spike I know I'm going to crash.  By leveling out your blood sugar and introducing more fats you can switch over from relying on sugar for energy to relying on fat. Sounds good to me!

Cinnamon is really good at leveling blood sugar so if I'm going to have a touch of honey with anything then I always add a good shake of cinnamon.

Now this is exciting.  I love getting updates to the Monash App!  Can't wait until it comes out. The booklet has already been updated but I'm betting that if I order it, the app will update before the booklet actually arrives (2-3 weeks), so I'm waiting.

And, in case you haven't noticed, I am a chaser of bright and shiny things ;0

There's always more to learn!

Went and saw my ND on Wednesday.  He dove right into treatment (visceral manipulation).  All my abdominal pulses were really sluggish.  My body is trying to starve out the infection/inflammation in my small intestine by reducing blood flow.  Not the most effective method.  My blood pressure has been really low in general.  I'm probably remembering wrong but when I was at the Chiropractor on Friday they measured it as 90 something over 50 something.  No wonder I've been feeling so bloody tired, rundown and stiff and sore.  My bloods not pumping!

Anyway, he made no mention of my recent labs.  Free T3 measured in at a whopping 1.5.  When I had it tested 18 months ago it was at 2.8.  My microsomal AB (antithyroid antibodies) came in high at 36.5.  Not way above the acceptable 35, but still of concern to me.  When I said, Hey wait, what about my thyroid tests, he said there was nothing to worry about.  He was more concerned that my Vit D was at 52, I usually keep it in the 80's.  He said not to worry about the thyroid, things would get better when my SIBO was gone.  He gave me NADH to help with my muscle stiffness and soreness.  Not sure I like that.  I want to know why I am crashing.  So I did some research when I got home and found this on Chris Kresser's site.  Gut issues lead to thyroid issues and the gut cannot heal when there are thyroid issues.  Great!  And then there's this all about low T3 and how it's caused by inflammation (check!), not eating enough carbs (check! that actually may have been from a separate article), and physiological distress (check!). "In emotional, psychological or physiological stress, the body will convert excess T4 to reverse T3 (rT3) as a means of conserving energy for healing and repair." - from the Low T3 article.  And of course, I have lots of reverse T3.  Ugh!  Supplementing with T3 doesn't seem to be a solution but he did mention LDN (low dose Naltrexone) would be beneficial.  2 birds, one stone - a prokinetic and thyroid support all in one.  So I emailed my ND and he called me in a script.  I had been taking LDE (low dose Erythromycin) but never really liked the idea of a low dose antibiotic.  Can't remember why I was taking LDE and not LDN but it really seems like I screwed myself there!

Oh, AND when I was rooting through my labs I came across my Urine Organix test that recommend I take more selenium, which I overlooked somehow, probably because I have had umpteen millions tests.  Selenium is necessary for the body to convert T4 into T3. See here.

I also scheduled an appointment with Dr. Keller on Tuesday to skype from NCNM SIBO Center.  I have lots of questions that my ND doesn't seem able to answer.

Then today I went in to get the results of my chiropractic reexam.  My heart rate variability score was pathetic and my chiropractor is worried about my adrenals.  A low HRV indicates dominance of the sympathetic response, the fight or flight side of the nervous system associated with stress, overtraining, and inflammation. - From Mark's Daily Apple.  She said it's an indication that cortisol is just coursing through my system.  Again, good explanation for not recovering from my workouts and feeling generally rundown.  She wants me to talk to my ND about getting this test.  It's all so overwhelming and I feel like I need to study in order to put it all together.

In the end I really have no complaints.  When my family talked about what we were grateful for at dinner the first thing I always say is "my health".  Because even though I have all this nasty crap in my gut, I am still a productive functioning human who can pretty much do anything I want.  It seems like so many people who have SIBO don't have access to good doctors who understand the proper treatment protocols, struggle with how they are going to pay for the doctors who don't take insurance, the herbals which aren't covered by insurance,  they have many symptoms most of which are far worse than mine and they also have other autoimmune or yeast or whatever issues that make the treatment of their SIBO even more difficult.  I'm a lucky girl, that's for sure.

Oh and I had Brazilian Fish Stew from The Zenbelly Cookbook for dinner.  Yep, life is good :)

It's the seeds!

It's the seeds that keep messing me up.  I made curried vegetables two days ago, left out the cumin and coriander but then grabbed the curry, not realizing it's a combination of cumin, coriander and turmeric.  Dang it!  And of course I'm not really sure if I have a problem with anything because it's January and my back loves to spasm in January.  So is the cramping just the same old back injuries aggravated or is it actually something I'm ingesting???  I'm assuming it's the former since there seems to be no rhyme or reason.  Although it did start up with that one meal where I added in a bunch of different things.  But they were things I ate before I started this without issue.

I am eating nuts because fat keeps me sane and I made a coconut oil and nut butter mix to put into one of these.  Tomorrow will be a busy day and I will pack soup but will need some additional fat to keep me full.  And since I can't do any dairy, this is the easiest.  Plus I like it.  My husband buys the YumButter Organic Superfood Peanut Butter but since it's sweetened with coconut sugar, it's a no go for me :(  It also has lucuma in it and it's unclear whether or not lucuma is a FODMAP or not.  Needless to say at $6.99 a pop, I'm going to buy him his own Squeasy so I can just make it for him.  That way I can add some healthier nuts as well instead of just peanut butter and sunflower seeds.

Tomorrow is ND appointment day.  Fingers crossed I will get more answers and guidance instead of the same ole, "keep up the good work".  I know he's probably going to be a bit annoyed that I took his elimination diet suggestion (and worksheets) and turned it into this whole AIP thing :)  I drive him a little bonkers!

Paleo AIP + low FODMAPs is hard....

Thursday night I wanted to make dinner, baked turkey thighs with curried vegetables on the side.  I decided NOT to take out the cumin and coriander (both seeds and illegal on AIP).  I decided to add in a couple of tablespoons of cooked and cooled white rice (a good resistant starch and beneficial in increasing bifidobacteria lungom in the large intestine).  Of course I knew it would feed the SIBO.  After dinner I had a tiny piece of dark chocolate.  My midback started to spasm between my shoulder blades (something that is common this time of year but I haven't experienced in a while).  Now I had done it, here was a possible reaction to something but I added in 3 new things with dinner.  LOL!  So back to square one.  My neck is messed up too so my back could just be reaction to that or it could be because I ate the curried vegetables with illegal seeds yesterday and today.  Tomorrow will be a new day!  I'm still doing okay with the nuts and won't take those back out.  But I'm going to back off adding in anything new until my muscles settle down.

And, I WANT pizza.  I've been longing for pizza for at least the last several weeks.  I haven't had real pizza in years since I do not tolerate dairy at all.  We have a fun waterfront restaurant know for their pizza and beer.  It sure would be fun to waste an afternoon with a big old pizza and pitcher of beer.

Oh, and the mindful eating.  That's been the hardest part of my year of the gut.  Gotta figure out a quick meditation to do at mealtimes instead of standing at the counter eating, so NOT mindful :)

Huperzine A

From WebMD:

Huperzine A is POSSIBLY SAFE when taken by mouth for a short period of time (less than 3 months). It can cause some side effects including nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, sweating, blurred vision, slurred speech, restlessness, loss of appetite, contraction and twitching of muscle fibers, cramping, increased saliva and urine, inability to control urination, high blood pressure, and slowed heart rate.

Ha ha!  Maybe I should have done a bit more research before taking Huperzine A (as talked about in the Digestive Sessions by Dr. Datis Karrahzian and in his book).  I got the nausea, twitching, cramping, blurred vision and slurred speech.  Of course it was hard for me to connect the dots because 1) I suck at that, 2) I was cannabised during my weekly massage for 5 weeks, 3) I have 4 screws hanging down from the roof of my mouth, 4) my neck is screwed and when it is I sometimes feel nausea, and 5) because I was messing with my carb intake and that can cause a lot of the symptoms above.  The worst part was figuring it out AFTER I just had just swallowed a bunch of them :(  But that's over now, onward and upward.

I'm still trying to figure out what I want to do in terms of my elimination diet.  I was feeling so crappy with the Huperzine and January is such a hard month for me anyway (usually I flare into muscle spasms in my neck which greatly impact how I feel) that it's hard to tell if the diet was helping and if I am having a reaction when I introduce foods.  I added nuts back in on Monday without anything happening.  I ate eggs this morning but then was pretty tired and sluggish.  My neck is bothering me (had a yoga instructor assist me in plough last week) so that's likely the reason but who can know for sure, certainly not a girl who can't connect dots.  I'll probably take them back out.  Like I said, I don't think I have autoimmune issues but hopefully will get some answers when I go over test results with my ND on Wednesday.  I'll definitely keep out the foods he wants me to keep out.

Some good news.  I've had a couple of smoothies without getting nauseous, both times I left out the protein powder and MCT.  I had a burger patty on the side with a tiny slice of avocado to get my protein and a bit more fat.  That's a good thing!  Now I can add in one protein to see if it then makes me nauseous and then try the other one, then try the MCT.  I've never had issues with MCT before but usually don't combine with fruit.  I've still been making them with 1/2 cup coconut milk, a small amt of pineapple (under 50g), blueberries (around 25g), carrot, spinach, cucumber and a few leaves of kale.

Paleo AIP Day 6 - pancakes

Okay, so these are not going to be sold in IHOP anytime soon but they were pancake-like enough to satisfy my hankering for something sorta baked that wasn't anything like a smoothie.  For protein I added in a hamburger patty.  My husband suggested eggs.  I think he wants a divorce :)  Seriously though, try at he might, it's impossible to keep up with what I am and am not eating now.

My intention for the morning was to get up and have a non-AIP nut butter energy bar (that I make) and head off to yoga.  But I am going to a yoga workshop at 2pm and I'm not really sleeping all that well.  Not sure if it's the adjustment back to the school schedule or if it's related to diet change.  Sometimes diet can impact hormone levels and disrupt sleep.

I'm still mildly nauseous after I eat.  I've been this way since that first cannabis massage.  Wonder when my body will bounce back and my digestion will return to normal.

This AIP thing is tough to stick to when you are not having any real problems that are being fixed.  I feel pretty much the same except a bit more stressed around meals at times as I try to figure what I can eat.  I ended up eating the first 1 1/2 of 3 pancakes standing in the kitchen while cooking the last pancake and the beef patty.  Not ideal. 

Paleo AIP - Day 3

Nothing like eating dinner while standing up at work while all hell is breaking loose.  Not a mindful meal at all.  Today is another day.

Breakfast smoothie - blueberries, pineapple, carrot, spinach, cucumber, MCT, rice & pea protein

Lunch - Leftover turkey meatballs, curried vegetables, mashed squash and sweet potato

Snack - 1/2 can olives :)

Dinner - Turkey vegetable soup with hidden pureed chicken livers.

Paleo AIP - Days 1 & 2

I didn't want to resort to breakfast smoothies but I have.  School's back in and we have to be out the door at 7:30.  I am not a morning person.  I can't cook breakfast for myself and my son, get his lunch ready and have time to sit down and eat mindfully.  I just haven't been able to.  I could heat soup but it's been a bit rushed.  I've drank my smoothie slowly in the car and chewed before swallowing to let my stomach know it's time to eat.  It's better than nothing.

Breakfast smoothie:

Large handful spinach, one carrot, blueberries (25g), pineapple (50g), 1/2 cup coconut milk, 1 T MCT oil, 1 T pea protein, 1 T sprouted rice protein (technically illegal).

Yesterday was a huge rush so for lunch and dinner I had baked salmon, mashed squash and sweet potato, and a small cup of pureed turkey vegetable soup which I managed to hide a few chicken livers in.

Today was not much better but I had enough time to make curried vegetables at lunch to go with a tin of sardines (leaving out the garlic, cumin, coriander, pepper and nutmeg).  At dinner I made turkey meatballs and had mashed squash and sweet potatoes on the side (again leaving out garlic because of FODMAPs).  I allowed the maple syrup and just used a smaller amount.  I also drank hot coconut milk with turmeric and ginger.  I really miss drinking something other than water, but I've been reacting to all teas and everything else is pretty much out.  Anyway, probably a bit too much coconut FODMAPwise at dinner.  I didn't take the coconut in the meatballs into consideration when I made the drink.  Oh well.  Can't be perfect all the time :)

So far not feeling deprived but it's been a busy couple of days.  Will be interesting to see what happened on a day when I have no where to be.

The good part is my itching is gone from my binge.  The bad news is my yoga teacher "supported" me in plough pose yesterday and my neck is pissed today.  Hard to suss out how I feel when the neck is acting up.  Got it massaged today and will get it cracked tomorrow and be back to me old self by the afternoon.  

Oh, and one of the screws in my jaw is loose so they will take that out tomorrow too.  Once the bone heals, back in it goes.  Pretty sure that was an oversight on my part.  I got a mustard seed caught up in the rubber chain connected to the screw and didn't realize it because I can't really see it and didn't figure it out until it started hurting pretty bad, by that time I think the damage was done.

Out with a bang!

I'm not big on New Years resolutions or starting anything new right on Jan 1.  It seems so drastic and temporary.  I've decided I like themes.  

2 years ago it was the year of the neck.  I had a lot of car accidents in my teens and 20's.  I was rear-ended 5 or 6 times and a few of those were before headrests so I had whiplash.  I spent the year working with a bodyworker who used electric current to massage.  She was able to stretch muscles out in my neck that had been locked in contraction for years and softened up a lot of the scar tissue.  It was a lot of work and more expensive than I care to admit.  In the beginning I would go to the therapy pool at the Y and backfloat to build strength in my neck and I could barely manage 15 seconds in the beginning.  You get the picture.  I am still working on my neck but it's not nearly the ordeal it was back then and I no longer spend 4-6 weeks every winter locked in painful spasms.  I did a wheel in yoga for the first time over the weekend without hurting myself.  Such a nice surprise.

Last year was the year of the butt.  Lots of squats and lunges. I turned 45, what can I say, things were gettin' saggy.  Ah, vanity.  

This year will be the of the gut.  I've done the low FODMAP/SCD thing for a year with many, many rounds of herbal abx, conventional abx, elemental diet, etc.  This year I am going to go AIP Paleo (remaining low FODMAP) for at least a week (longer if I can) then slowly add things back in.  I am going to keep a food diary.  I am going to work on mindful eating. I downloaded this book.  Hopefully it's not too centered on weight loss like most of the mindful eating books are.  I usually check books out at the library but it was only $2.99 for Kindle so figured why not.  I'm going to do my best to do my exercises for my diastasis recti daily.  I'm contemplating an overall mindfulness practice as well.  We'll see.  

So, the out with a bang.  I ate at a restaurant, gasp!  I know.  I ended up nauseous and with a headache, but still ate the leftovers the next day.  It was Thai (peanut sauce) so too much sugar.  I have a thing for tofu which I have of course given up so I ate that too.  GMO I'm sure, ugh, but man was it tasty.  I've indulged in rice, sweet potatoes, organic popcorn and I can't remember what else.  Nothing too illegal but and for most people still incredibly healthy food but I'm ready to let go.  Tomorrow I will give up eggs, chocolate, alcohol, jasmine tea (which has been making me sick anyway), nightshades, nuts, seeds, soy (tamari), citrus and strawberries.  I'll let you know how it goes.