Merry... err... Happy Holidays

Sorry I haven't been posting much.  Lots of experimentation, questioning and thinking.

I'm feeling pretty darn good.  The only SIBOesque symptom I have on a regular basis is bloating, although that could be related to the permeability that's still lingering or the H. Pylori (if that's still there) or my inability to digest protein well coupled with my lack of digestive support due to H. Pylori protocol.  I've had constipation a few times in the last month but not horrible.

Feeling much better after working on the adrenals.  I have been using the adrenal glandulars, DHEA and licorice root.  I've worked up to one drop (1.2mg) of DHEA with breakfast and one drop with lunch.  That was ROUGH.  For the first 3-4 days I was sooooo irritable, angry and just climbing out of my skin.  I don't know how bodybuilders ever survive actual hardcore steriods.  Phew!  If you recall my ND recommended I work up to 3 drops, 3 times a day and honestly I don't know that that kind of dose is warranted.  Less is more!  I've been using a couple of drops of licorice with lunch to help extend my cortisol since afternoons are my biggest drop in energy.  I have not added in the Pregnenolone yet.

I ordered some mushrooms from Four Sigma Foods after listening to this podcast from Ben Greenfield.  He can be a little out there but I believe he is smart and does his research on things that he himself uses.  Like me he is also interested in a lot of self experimentation.  So while mushrooms themselves are a big NO NO for SIBO I decided I'd give them a whirl since they can be so supportive of the other issues I am dealing with (thyroid, adrenal).  And my husband LOVES mushrooms so if I don't like them I'm sure he will.  I ordered the Lion's Mane, Reishi, Cordyceps and Chaga bundle since they were on sale plus there was a coupon for an additional 15%.  It's still listed on their site but I'm not sure it's still active.  I wanted to try the hot chocolate blends but they have nightshades and I'm avoiding those for now.

After finishing the digestion portion of my nutrition certification class and learning a lot about the structure of the intestinal lining I decided to try coconut elimination for a while.  I cannot put coconut on my skin or lips without them getting super chapped.  It takes about 3 days and then the skin feels like it's going to be peel from my body.  It's weird.  The intestinal lining is made of epithelial cells, obviously different from the skin, but seemingly a lot more delicate.  As I've restricted my diet more and more I've added in more coconut oil and more coconut milk.  Given the response of my skin I thought it would be good to take a break and see what happens.  Oh and I was negative on the Array 10 which is part of why I kept ignoring my external reaction.

After listening to Dr. Keller on the Phoenix Helix podcast and her extreme caution about probiotics I cut back on them for a while.  I don't know why.  I was a patient of hers and didn't find her methods super effective.  It only took a few days for me to realize I feel so much better when I take a ton of various probiotics.  I resisted listening to the podcast for a long time and now I know why.  Of course Dr. Ruscio came out with his own video and said if you tolerate things there is no reason to get rid of them.  That speaks to me a lot more than possible unnecessary restriction.

I got my UBiome results back.  I haven't had a time to really dive into them but I can tell you the reporting is so much faster and more detailed and easier to understand than The American Gut Project that I did before.  And UBiome often runs smoking deals where you can get 3 kits and run time lapse self experiments on your gut biome to see how much of an impact your treatment or diet or exercise or whatever impacts your bacteria.  Fascinating!

I hope everyone enjoys their holiday season whatever they celebrate!  Remember to take time to take care of yourself.  You deserve it!

Current Protocol

Adrenals:

• Adrenal Glandular - 100mg breakfast and lunch
• Licorice Root - a few drops with lunch (helps extend life of cortisol)
• Cordycepts - one tablet with breakfast
• DHEA sublingual - up to 4 drops with meals (haven't added this yet)
•  Pregnenolone sublingual - up to 4 drops with meals (haven't added this yet)

Thyroid

• Zinc - breakfast and dinner
• Wobenzyme-N - 5-10 caps, 3 times a day on an empty stomach.  WOW!  Just looked through my notes and found that.  Wonder if she meant 5-10 separated into 3 doses or up to 30 a day!  That's a ton of pills!

SIBO/Gut Support

• Digestive enzymes with meals
• Lion's Mane at bedtime*
• Acetyl L-Carnitine at bedtime*
• L-Glutamine between meals and at bedtime
• Zinc L-Carnosine between meals and at bedtime
• Iberogast before meals
• Megaspore - 2 caps with lunch
• Orthobiotic/PrescriptAssist/Primal Defense (rotating) - between meals

H. Pylori

• Mastic Gum - 2 caps with meals
• NAC - 1 cap with meals
• Biocidin - before meals (both kills and provides biofilm disruption, contemplating switching to Interfase Plus and Allimax)

*Lion's mane and Acetyl L-Carnitine are thought to help with nerve regeneration in the small intestine.  Even though I've had lifelong motility issues I don't recall having the bloating or other issues until after the two food poisoning incidents 6 years ago.  I'm running off the assumption that they were the tipping point.  Although to be honest I don't remember a heck off a lot about my health from the first couple of years of my son's life.  My adrenals just tanked after my pregnancy and it's all a blur.

Has it really been that long...

I would blame it on the holidays but I really don't get all up in arms about it.  We don't make many obligations and we don't buy gifts.  What did happen is I got a whopper of a cold from my son just after Thanksgiving.  I even ended up taking Mucinex D several days.  For him it landed in his chest for me it socked into my sinuses.  I really didn't feel that bad but ended up draining out a lot of bloody mucus and my massage therapist said my sinuses felt really puffy.  The draining was almost worse than when it was stuck.

Oh and I had another screw put in my jaw just as I was getting sick. That helped a lot!  And another screw came out yesterday (meaning I took it out).  They wanted to cut my gums and screw into my cheekbone but I said no. (Um, no way in hell!).  It makes sense to pull on the jaw if you are trying to intrude the teeth but to pull on the cheekbone to push up into the jaw just seems like you are asking for trouble.  

I finally finished up my Matula tea treatment for the H. Pylori.  I have another month of the biofilm buster (biocidin), Mastic gum and licorice root and then I retest.  I can't wait to be able to take Betaine and/or Ox Bile again.  I just feel like I am not breaking things down and my digestion feels more sluggish.  I do not like it.

I've been taking adrenal glandular support and licorice root when I remember to help prolong the life of the cortisol circulating.  I need to add in DHEA and Pregnenolone although I am toying with adding Cordycepts first.  My mentor is against this, she feels that formulas provide a better synergistic effect.  

I went over my thyroid tests with the ND on Monday and my thyroid hormones were borderline so no need to supplement, Yay!  But my TPO antibodies were in the high 200's. She thinks it's due to the H. Pylori treatment.  I'm hoping so!  She recommended Wobenzyme-N to help bring the antibodies down by reducing inflammation.  I've heard great things about proteolytic enzymes.  Livestrong calls bullshit on them but they help the body break down protein so if I don't feel like they are having a benefit outside of meals I can take them with meals since I can't break down protein completely by myself.

Oh and no more itching!  Ha!  Stupid ass lactase!  In light of the Hashimoto's confirmation it's back to LDN.