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!

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.

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.

Results finally - Breath Test #8

Results from May 2015. Breath test number 7.

Results from this month after gacking down guar gum with my herbal kill supplements.  

Not really what I was expecting given that my C and bloating have pretty much resolved. I'm still trying to wrap my head around it.  And it's not negative (like it says) because any methane at or above 3 is positive and really you shouldn't have any methane at all. And if there were no methanogens to eat the hydrogen gas, the hydrogen numbers would be higher. That said, I'm not having any real SIBO symptoms, maybe a little mild bloating throughout the day but not enough to change what I wear (I'm really self conscious when I have a gut and great at hiding it).  I am having D which is a super nice change.  Those with C understand :)

AND notice the date tested is 10/17, a full 10 days ago.  I sent an email questioning why I didn't get the results sooner, especially since I called on the 21st and was told they weren't ready.  Their response:

Hi Shari,

Our turn around time for sending results to the ordering provider for tests taken with kits at home is no later than 2 weeks from the date the completed kit is received in the lab. After samples are tested, they also must be interpreted and the results finalized before we release the results. This depends on how many other kits we received ahead of your kit.

We also do not release results directly to patients unless/until we receive a signed release of information form.

For SIBO tests taken here at the clinic, the turn around time for results is faster, either same day or next day.

Let us know if you have any other questions.

Best,

Audra
--
Audra Lee, M.S.
NCNM SIBO Lab
P 503-552-1931
F 503-444-6709

My response was along the lines of "the numbers are the numbers", it's not like they add any sort of interpretation or add a narrative or really anything.  I also may have said I recommend to others in the SIBO community that they find another lab with a reasonable turnaround time :)

Okay, enough ranting!!  

I'm good where I am so I'm just going to sit on it for awhile, continue with the MegaSpore and hope that the hype is right and it does contain the number one strain used in Europe to treat SIBO.  Although I've never seen anyone from Europe actually talk about MegaSpore or using probiotics in the forums (I guess if their SIBO is gone they wouldn't need to be there too!).  I'll stick with low FODMAPs for at least 6 weeks and decide what to do then.  Until then I'll focus on getting my adrenals and thyroid noodled out.  My worry is until this infecton is gone nothing else will heal.  Guess time will tell!

Almost there

Back to my diet, back to my walks, back to yoga, back to probiotics.  I'm almost back to normal. I keep forgetting to drink my probiotic tonic shots with breakfast and lunch but I put my pill form probiotics in with my meal supplements so I know I am getting those in.  I am taking Ortho Biotic with breakfast and PrescriptAssist with lunch.  I'll definitely be packing them on our trip next week (more camping, more mountain biking, a water park and a dude ranch).  When I get back I'll rotate them out and add Primal Defense back in.  I think it's good to switch things up.  I need to place another order for MegaSpore Biotic since that one seems to take the longest to get.  I'm also slowing tapering off my current kill protocol as I run out of supplements.  I'll keep just keep on with the biofilm and cell wall disrupters.

Oh, and I'm tapering off my thyroid medication and then I'll test my thyroid to see how it's holding up.  Hopefully my conversion from T4 to T3 has improved with the addition of Thyrosol (a Metagenics product specifically designed for supporting conversion).

I think I'm almost there....

Was it the Red Rice Yeast or the addition of a crapton of probiotics??? I'm not sure but my guess is it's a combination of both.  I have been taking Red Rice Yeast with the herbal biotics (Biocidin, Oliverix, garlic in some form and for 10 days oreganol) before every meal. I drink the juice from sauerkraut with breakfast, just a shot.  Between breakfast and lunch I am taking 1/3 tsp of Garden of Life Primal Defense in water (blech!).  I am taking a soil based probiotic (PrescriptAssist) or MegaSpore Biotic with lunch.  Then I lay off because in my experience if I do any probiotics after dinner I generally wake up in the middle of the night bloated.

I'm also being really good about not eating anything that I could be sensitive too which is really hard since we traveled over the weekend.  Does this mean my inflammation is down too?? Hopefully yes and it definitely seems so.

My gut has been happy.  My kid and I stopped at the Alberta cart Cultured Caveman in Portland, OR last weekend and there were 3 other food carts there that were either vegan or paleo, which means no dairy.  I'm pretty sure all the trucks were gluten free as well.  We ate like piggies - chicken strips, ice cream, donuts (2 orders), and a fudge bar. Not the healthiest but oh well.  The ice cream was strawberry-banana and the fruit chunks were a little big for his liking so I ate it. Bananas!  I ate banana with no reaction.  Everything did hit my stomach like a brick but I ate a ton of heavy, fatty food so that's reasonable :)  I have been eating cashew cheese too.  I was missing my cheezy kale chips.  No more.  And french fries!  Too many french fries over the weekend :)

My hormones have not been so good.  I had a lot of stress last week, PMS through the roof and my body temperatures have plummeted.  I know it will resolve as my gut heals but it's hard to ride the wave sometimes while waiting. I went online to schedule a follow up with Dr. Keller but she has increased her prices to $250 for 30 minutes of skype so that's just not going to happen.  AND, the new policy is you can't get breath test results without a consult with her.  In the past I was able to order tests and get results whenever I want.  Ah well, I have a local ND and I can get the tests through him, it's just more annoying because he travels and teaches a lot.  Anyway, I searched online and found both thyroid and adrenal support that is similar to what I was taking.

This webinar does really good at explaining how your gut can mess up your thyroid, adrenals, etc. etc.  I know nothing about the program and am not recommending you buy it but I did think the information was worth watching.  The link will expire on Monday, July 20th.

Next up.... adding in Lion's Mane (which seems to be on sale everywhere right now, which I took as a sign :) to help support rebuilding the nerves in the gut.

Then maybe in a few months I can start adding in resistant starch.  YIKES!

Triphala

In John Herron's book The Gut Health Protocol he sings the praises of Triphala.  I had used it way back when but it was no match for the methane.  I decided to give it another try.  I'd heard rumors that it hindered T4 to T3 conversion but I couldn't find any research of any kind to back it up.  Well, my temperatures TANKED.  Even with my medication I could barely keep it above 98.0.  And worse than that it made me constipated.  WTF!  It's supposed to have the OPPOSITE effect.  No such luck with me.  So, if anyone wants to try some Triphala, let me know.  It's in my supplement graveyard.