Damn Dairy

I cut out the Resolor (lactose) a couple of nights ago and the itching has all but gone away. The little bit of residual itchiness is just due to dry winter skin something I've always dealt with.  As much as I really want to incorporate dairy in my life it's just not going to work.  I think I can probably handle ghee on occasion without consequence but clearly daily consumption is just out.  My Cyrex testing all came back completely negative for dairy but I hadn't eaten it for 4 years prior to testing.  However, there were some foods that came back positive on the Cyrex testing that I have never, ever eaten.  Quite interesting.

Energywise I am hanging in there.  I ran out of thyroid hormone a few days ago.  I will get the results of my thyroid testing back in the week and meet with Dr. Pomeroy to go over results.  My new adrenal supplements will be here tomorrow so I will add glandular support this week. 

I'll post my updated supplements in the coming week for anyone who is interested.

Let the negotiations begin..

The last couple of days I have been reading through Aglaee Jacob's book.  I had dismissed it for one reason or the other the last several times I checked it out from the library.  I guess desperation has finally set it.  I was interested enough in the copy I checked out that I purchased it on Amazon, it was only $5.99 on Kindle (they always sucker me in!).  Her elimination phase diet consists of protein, fat and vegetables, specifically zucchini (peeled and seeded), carrots, green beans and spinach.  Wednesday night I was all in.  Today having not even started the diet, I'm already negotiating.  "I didn't react positive to kale (or broccoli or bell peppers) on my Array 10, surely I can eat those", my brain argues.  It's been a good day with minimal itching so that doesn't help strengthen my resolve :)  I didn't really start itching until I took my Resolor.  Could be just a mind thing since I know it has lactose. I'm going to see if I have any refills on my LDN script, switch to that, see if I calm down a bit.

Dr. Ruscio released another SIBO podcast this week.  


Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

I eat dead food...

according to Ayurveda, the sister science to yoga.  Ayruveda says food should be prepared fresh and eaten right away. Leftovers, items that have been frozen or canned are apparently dead and do not feed the body.  I can only seem to chew veggies if I cook the bejeezus out of them so I'm sure there is not much nutrition left to them at all.  Is it worth eating them at all??  A friend posted this on her fb group a while back but I promptly ignored it.  There's   I'm eating too much, not taking my time and chewing enough (hard with all the orthodontia) and just feeling overly full most of the day.  I am off all ox bile and HCL while I treat the H. Pylori and that's not helping at all.  I read today that the itch can come from H. Pylori (my friend always suggests histamines, which I DO NOT want to hear!).  I'm banking on the pylori (and lactase) for now since it's primarily after meals and all freaking night after my Resolor. Need to do something about that.

And I was reminded of this today which has a lot of similarities but with actual science behind it.

As I mentioned before if I eat the same thing every day my digestion stays spot on but I am really feeling the need to shake up my diet.  I feel swollen and kind of gross.  I'm eating waaaaaay too much chocolate.  I keep threatening elemental (which would not be good for my adrenals or thyroid) or just scrapping the whole lot which wouldn't been good for my SIBO.  I need to come up with a reasonable middle ground.  I just can't imagine not reaching for my frozen jars of (dead) soup.  I did drag out the dehydrator today and dehydrated some kale.  I pulled out a raw bread recipe book in hopes of making some raw wraps out of greens and herbs.  We'll see how well I tolerate them.  I really don't want to pull out my juicer, it's just a beast and I hate cleaning it.

I do know I need to make the time to do my daily yoga practice, meditate 12 minutes a day (that's the minimum necessary for positive brain benefits) and take time to read.

Alright, enough bitching and moaning for now :)  Everyone have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Ghee fail

I've become progressively more congested in the sinuses and itchy as I've continued experimenting with ghee so I've had to let it go.  I really want to incorporate dairy in some fashion as it can be so healing for the gut but I need to come to terms with the fact that if I am reacting it's not a healthy for me.  Bummer!

Which brings me to Resolor which is produced with lactose, the stupidest thing ever.  The first enzyme you generally lose in a compromised gut is lactase.  Duh!  I itched all night last night even though I took it with lactase.  I may need to go back to LDN or switch to LDE then back to LDN.  My motility is spot on as long as I don't vary my diet AT ALL.  Not the best way to live and be healthy.  

Update on things...

I had labs run as far back as 2011 that showed my alkaline phosphatase low.  I asked my ARNP why and she just shrugged it off as did the ND (who was sure I had candida) back in 2013.  I did a few searches on doctor Google but didn't come up with anything.  I spoke with the ND from my nutrition program last week and she took one look at my labs and said, "wow you have a big zinc deficiency! Your alkaline phosphatase should be around 70.  That could be a big reason why you are not converting T4 to T3".  Mine has been hovering in the 20's and 30's. 

This is information from HealthGuideInfo.com (not sure how reliable they are):

"Reduced alkaline phosphatase levels are associated with a number of conditions including zinc deficiency; folic acid deficiency; low levels of phosphorus; vitamin B6 deficiency; vitamin C deficiency; excessively high vitamin D intake; malnutrition involving inadequate protein assimilation (this can also be caused by hypochlorhydria – low production of stomach acid); Celiac disease; hypothyroidism; anaemia or inadequate parathyroid gland function."

Um, okay then!  I know I have inadequate protein assimilation and I'm def having thyroid issues.  

On to the DUTCH results.  Turns out I have true adrenal insufficiency.  Try as it might, my body is not producing much cortisol at all.  My body is just doing a really good job utilizing what does come out.  The low cortisol metabolites indicate that my body is hanging onto the cortisol in circulation as long as it can.  My strong, resilient genetics at play once again.  What I need to do?  Be kind to my body and give it the time it needs to rest and heal.  Add in Zinc glycinate supplementation, add in some adrenal glandulars and a bit of DHEA and pregnenolone to support my adrenal function.  She also wants to see some current thyroid labs and feels like I probably need to be on a natural thyroid medication like WP Thyroid or Nature-throid.  I don't like that but I also don't like feeling run down and cold all the time.  

She said that maybe since organs and tissues are not keeping up with demand they are shutting down hormone production to make me rest.  That seems really dramatic but true of humans today.  We push on and on ignoring all the subtle, and not so subtle, clues to slow the heck down and let the body rest and replenish.  

I just really don't want to give up hot yoga now that I'm back in the studio.  It feels so good to be HOT.  I'm just going to have to limit myself to one or two days a week of hardcore hot stuff and make sure I plan for ample rest afterward.

My digestion stays good if and only if I am super strict with my diet.  If I eat the same thing I have been eating for months then everything stays spot on and my weight starts to reduce. If I try to add something new I bloat, gain and am generally pretty freaking irritated.   I made a chicken "noodle" soup with the canned broth I made from chicken heads and feet and that did not go over well at all.   None of the vegetables were new so I assume it was the broth. Frustrating to say the least.  It seems like it is taking me forever to get through this H. Pylori program.  Definitely need to practice my patience.  Just in time for the holidays!

Another must listen from Dr. Ruscio

I love a provider who is always exploring and shifting their beliefs based on actual research. I just have not found that in conventional medicine nor the ND's I have seen locally.  I love that he touches on living your life, stress, supplementing with probiotics and the need for occasional gut checks (which made me think I should have checked for everything instead of just H. Pylori!).

Stress and the Microbiota - Episode 37

DUTCH

First of all, the timing is hilarious.  Mike Mutzel interviewed the Medical Director of Precision Analytical the company that makes the DUTCH test.  They talked in a secret geek code for snippets of time which made to hard to follow, enough to make me listen 3 times trying to get it all. I loved her statement that we need to stop saying adrenal fatigue (or burnout) because the adrenals don't stop making their hormones, the whole hormone system is off from repeated stressors.  In our case a big part of the problem is SIBO and the amount of nutrients the bacteria steal from us.  I think it has a big impact on our ability to make neurotransmitters and to properly synthesize all these hormones correctly and man we feel it! In a weird coincidence I got my DUTCH results the same day I listened to the podcast.  I watched a lot of Precision Analytical videos but they seem to be on an older report so it didn't match up well.  

I have an appointment tomorrow evening to go over the results with Dr. Pomeroy (the medical director of my nutrition certification program).  It will be good to make heads or tails out of all this.  

So what do I think so far???  My thyroid may be playing a big part.  I've wanted to think I can get off my thyroid medications (S-R T-3) but all these hormones have such an interplay that I may have to just suck it up and realize I just may never convert T-4 to T-3 effectively. Dr. Keller believed I wouldn't kick SIBO until I straightened out my thyroid, maybe she had a point.  So on to the results.  I stopped using any adrenal support 2-3 weeks prior to testing and immediately started feeling better.  If you remember from my previous post supplementing caused my cortisol to plummet.  Off supplements my cortisol bounced back and boy could I feel it.  Not like I was ready to conquer the world but I enjoyed physical activity again, it didn't feel so hard.  So it appears my body makes a decent amount of cortisol but shunts much of it to cortisone, the unusable form.  It can synthesize it back and forth in various parts of the body.  My sex hormones are all low and it looks like I have issues with hormone methylation.  My cortisol metabolites were all low which means while I am making plenty of cortisol my body just isn't processing it, my actual metabolized cortisol was really low.

The program I am in likes to supplement hormones (DHEA and Pregenolone) to get the body back on tract but I'm not sure it's necessary, especially when you do a more indepth test like this and find out it's not about the actual production of the hormone itself but more the body's ability to process those hormones into usable forms.  How do I support that other than the obvious, heal the gut?  Not sure.  Stay tuned.

Bulletproof

I really would love to know who my ancestors were and what they overcame.  I have some resilient kick ass genes.  I know it kind of sounds braggish, but seriously I have nothing to do with it.  So my tummy got a little iffy with the first cup of Matula tea but I've been pretty darn good ever since. My body just seems to adjust, adapt and move on with it.  I seriously must have been a saint in a past life to be so blessed.  

My paternal grandfather passed away at 97 after having a heart attack and multiple bypass surgery in his 70's.  My maternal grandmother will turn 98 in a couple of weeks.  Until recent years she was still kicking butt, living on her own.  Shingles are what finally took her down. She broke a hip, bounced back.  Felt something was off, went to the doctor and they eventually discovered a tiny bit of colon cancer (removed it, no treatment required) and off she went.  She started to have some digestive issues that I think were likely SIBO related. Then a couple of years ago she got shingles that left her bedridden for weeks.  Being immobilized like that in your 90's take a hard toll and she never really regained her strength, try as she might.  She is stubborn and Christian science so the thought of supplements just pisses her off.  I really think they would have helped (I wasn't quite as knowledgeable at the time either).  A couple more falls and another broken hip and the family made her transition to assisted living. She still a fighter but she's winding down pretty quickly since she's been there and even more resistant to supplements (the house physician isn't all that supportive here either and he has to write an order for everything she takes.  If he had his way everyone would take Centrum and Tums - yikes).  Don't even get me started on her birdlike diet.  I think she survives off soup and breads (just like in the Depression days).

Anyways, I digress.  I'm doing great as long as I don't eat veggies.  Ugh!  Seriously???  I ate that cup of vegetable soup yesterday and it made me feel tired and yuck.  I just finished up my usual stir fry for lunch and I just want to plop on the couch and put in a dvd.  I ate 1/2 a baked potato (no skin), hot dog and a homemade nut butter cup for dinner and felt fine which is wrong on so many levels!  Can't believe it the veggies that are causing me malaise. Ah well, I'm going to make myself go outside and walk.  Fresh air always helps.

Which brings me to my love of Jasmine tea, not really, but go with it.  I drank tea on Sunday no problem (except the buzz which I didn't need in the midst of my yin yoga!).  I read over the weekend that H. Pylori does not like green tea, which is what jasmine tea is.  I've been having problems off and on with green tea for at least 5 years.  It was 3 years ago that I puked from drinking jasmine green tea (that only happened once so wasn't enough of a deterrent ;).   Which makes me wonder if the H. Pylori has been at a problematic level since way back then. Hmmmm...

The itching is finally gone 99% of the time, thank goodness!  My midsection is covered in tiny little scabs that you can't see but you can feel.  TMI but you know why else are you hear but to learn about the woes of a fellow SIBO sufferer.

It's the veggies

I love my veggies.  I usually eat a big stir fry one meal and vegetable soup with another.  For breakfast I have been sticking with an offal muffin and bulletproof hot chocolate.  I don't itch until I eat veggies at lunch.  Today I had a bit of veggie soup with lunch and got super nauseous.  It was also day one of Matula tea which is no joke.  I drank it this morning and my stomach immediately started churning.  For 1/2 hour I wasn't sure if it was going to stay down.  It did but I felt a little iffy all day.  I was looking forward to late afternoon yoga but my tummy was not having it so I waited until it settled and went for an evening walk instead.  Gotta pay attention to what your body is telling you.  About to lose WiFi, it shuts off at 9:30pm so I get to bed on time :)  Goodnight all!

Starting Matula tomorrow

My stomach has been feeling pretty normal since getting rid of the Betaine HCL and the bitters.  I think I was just burning the crap out of my vulnerable stomach lining.  I haven't changed my diet at all yet.  I just finished up my 50 hr Yin Yoga teacher training today and didn't want to upset the apple cart too much until that was done.

I started the Mastic Gum and NAC last week and tomorrow I will add in the Matula tea (upon rising and at bedtime) and add in the DGL prior to meals.  Not sure about this.  My itching has been coming and going.  Seems more related to FODMAPs than anything else.  I still worry about my inability to chew/digest protein without the support.  It would be so much easier without worrying about the SIBO so much.  

My BM still often feel incomplete (since stopping ox bile).  TMI, I know but at least things are still moving.  I worked up to 1/2 of a 1mg tablet of Resolor by accident really.  One night I was distracted and took a half pill instead of a quarter and did okay so I have stayed there.  

I tried to go down to 7.5mcg of my SR T-3 but started to feel cold, tired and my digestion a little more sluggish so I bumped back up to 15mcg.  Maybe that's my sweet spot for now.  r really should test my overall thyroid function again but in order for it to be submitted for coverage by my insurance it has to be ordered by a doctor and I don't want to schedule an appointment just to get a lab req.

My DUTCH test results should come back this week and I'll be able to meet with the medical director via phone to go over them.  Hopefully will provide some insight into what is going on with my hormone conversion.

Love and Be Kind to Yourself

Most all of us take our body for granted.  It struggles and we just keep eating what we want even though it sends us signals, quiet and loud, not to.  I say this as I drink a cup of Jasmine tea which is making me nauseous.  It only does this sometimes so I keep drinking it.  It has even made me puke once, at a child's birthday party.  Embarrassing!  Why do I keep drinking it?  I love it.  I wasn't reactive on the Array 10 (some excuse).  The only other thing I really drink is water.  How boring!  But clearly, CLEARLY I shouldn't be drinking jasmine tea. My body has been kindly asking me not to and I'm a bitch and ignore it.  

I've been thinking a lot about this today as I have been so itchy and yucky feeling in general, knowing I have flagellated bacteria burrowing into the lining of my digestive tract does not help (have you SEEN the pictures???).  I need to listen to my body.  I'm not digesting protein well (haven't for eons and duh keep eating it) and I can't really chew it properly in the first place so I need to work on decreasing my consumption while increasing amino acid support insert *gag* here.  I need to be eating more soups, green juices and I need to try smoothies again with perhaps ginger or cinnamon to make them "hotter".  In Ayurveda they said cold foods dampen digestive fire and I really don't need my ability to digest dampened at all. I've been afraid to try hemp but I've got to do better about giving my body an opportunity to heal.

No plan yet but you can be sure it will include drinking cabbage juice.  Which Katie swears is delicious.  Okay, not so much.  I've got several digestive health books on request at the library.  I've perused them all before but need to take another look.  Hoping to formulate a plan and start slowing incorporating some things over the next week.  I probably should do it before my weird outrageously expensive African tea gets here.  That supposedly can cause some mucho bad reactions for a short period of time.  I am just so done.  I was contemplating going elemental and just climbing into bed.  Instead I will get my butt outside and walk the dogs.  Just keep moving forward!

Priorities

I watched Dr. Kalish on The Digestion Sessions today. I own them but completely didn't stop and think that maybe someone had covered H. Pylori. He loves H. pylori because it causes such a wide variety of issues but is fairly easy to get rid of so patients get better quickly. Like all gut issues it can have a far reaching impact. He treats both conventionally and herbally, depending on the individual patient.  When using herbs he likes mastic gum combined with Oregano or Olive Leaf and DGL. He feels that DGL is very important to reducing inflammation, soothing and healing the gut. I'm going to go for it.  I filled out paperwork to become a patient of Dr. Ruscio over the weekend and he asks you to prioritize your health issues. You would think SIBO would be number one but it's not. Intestinal permeability trumps it all. I know, I know, you can't heal IP without getting rid of the bugs but I feel we need to do everything we can to help protect the integrity of the stomach and intestinal lining while treating. I learned that lesson the hard way!

Dr. Kalish also feels that H. Pylori can have an impact on your adrenals and often he works on adrenals for a couple of months before treating the HP.  Been there, done there. Wonder what kind of impact it has on the results of adrenal testing.  I just submitted my DUTCH test after what turned out to be a stressful week.

Here is a link to an article Dr. Keller did on SIBO and gums. However, on the Cyrex Array 10 they combine mastic gum with gum arabic so it's unclear which I am reacting to or if it's both. Oh well, if I react to mastic gum I can give it to my husband or son. My guess is one or both of them will test positive and yes I will have them both tested.  Husband could be asymptomatic and give it back to me in my comprimised digestive state.

A weekend of investigation

I've been taking Betaine HCL and so many antibacterials since starting this journey almost 2 years ago.  It seems really odd that now Helicobacter Pylori (HP) has overgrown. How and why are the questions that took over my weekend.

The stomach keeps the ph around 1.7, very acidic.  HP likes the ph above 4.  In order to accomplish getting the ph this high HP releases urease.  Part of the conventional triple antibiotic protocol is Omeprazole (aka Prilosec).  Sounds counterproductive to include a PPI but omeprazole permanently disrupts HP's ability to make urease enabling the ph in the stomach to come down to a normal ph between 1-2, an acidity which the HP cannot survive.  The chyme (food sludge) is a ph of 2 when it is transitioned to the duodenum of the small intestine.  The acidity stimulates hormone production which raises the ph, the rise in ph stimulates the release of bile acids.  HP can occupy the stomach or the duodenum or both.  Seems like eradicating it from the stomach would be easy, just lower the ph and the HP can't survive.  Getting HP out of the duodenum with it's higher ph seems a little more tricky.

This evening I had an appointment with the medical director of my nutrition certification program and asked her why Betaine HCL is contraindicated and she said that the HP strip away the protective mucosa from the walls of the stomach in order to imbed themselves more easily in the stomach wall.  This lack of mucosa leaves the stomach wall vulnerable and the acid will burn it and could cause ulcers.  I think I'll stop messing around with trying to lower the ph!

So this 30 day protocol was her recommendation:

• Matula tea - 1 cup upon rising and 1 cup at bedtime prepared exactly as instructed.  Expensive but has a money back guarantee.
• Mastic gum - 2 capsules, 3 times a day with meals (soothes the gut, I'm on the fence here as mastic gum can feed SIBO but maybe with the Biocidin would be okay)
• NAC - 1 capsule, 2-3 times a day (helps with healing)
• Douglas Laboratories Licorice Root - 1-2 capsules, 2-3 times a day 15-20 minutes before meals (soothes the gut, I'm on the fence here as DGL can feed SIBO but maybe with the Biocidin would be okay)
• Biocidin or Interfase Plus to help with any possible biofilm formation

So I was under the impression that I did something wrong to create an imbalance in my ph that allowed HP to overgrow but she said that it common to have HP along with Blastocystis Hominis and it's only when the Blasto is eradicated that the HP shows up. And it often takes 6-12 months after Blasto is gone for it to show up.  I was kind of thinking I screwed myself with the Ox Bile.  It was the only real thing I did different other than the guar.  Maybe not, maybe it is all just a coincidence.  

She also indicated that feeding is only appropriate when trying to get rid of hydrogen SIBO not methane but I know that Pimental is having his patients with methane use guar along with his Rifaximin protocols.  She also feels (and I really want to believe her) that this has been the missing piece in my healing and that once the HP is gone my SIBO will leave too. That would be nice!  We'll see.