Knock, knock?

Is anyone still out there??  

So, yes, it's been forever.  I felt pretty good for about a year, working on motility, gut healing and rebuilding my gut microbiome.  Then the election happened and I won't get political but I just tanked from all the stress.  First, my thyroid took a nose dive and I started pushing into Reverse T3.  Worked to get that sorted out, eventually just throwing in the towel and switching from NDT (natural dessicated thyroid) back to Cytomel.  The muscle cramping didn't go away and the itching came back, which are my body's major SIBO signs.  I'm on so many prokinetics that I have the digestion stuff down so it's the only way my body can cry wolf. On New Year's Day I broke down and did a breath test.  Hello Methane!  

Baseline was so much higher than it's ever been.  Super discouraging and I knew I had to know for sure.  Was my IBS due to the two bouts of food poisoning I had in 2010??  I printed out the lab requisition for the IBSChek and presented it to my ND.  Results came back positive on both measures meaning yes, I have had food poisoning and yes, this SIBO is autoimmune in nature.  Even though the events were nearly 7 years ago I still have antibodies well over the cutoff.  Drat!

We know that when SIBO is autoimmune there's not a heck of a lot you can do until the antibodies clear but I added Lion's Mane and Acetyl L-Carnitine back in to support nerve regeneration.

I opted to do Chris Kresser's SIBO protocol because I've tried many of the others.  90 days of GI-Synergy, biofilm disruptors (lauricidin and Interfase plus), probiotics (Megaspore, PrescriptAssist and Ideal Bowel Support) and hydrolyzed guar gum.

Retest last week...

A big ole...  let down.  Are things better?  Yes!  Have my symptoms reduced?  Yes!  Did I expect more from 90 days of protocol?  Hell YES!

So for now I'm trying Atrantil as I hear for some it can really help with methane.  I'm also playing around with fasting.  Not elemental diet, plain old broth only fasting a couple of days here and there.  I feel pretty darn good.  I have a bag of the ITI ED (Integrative Therapeutics Elemental Diet) sitting in my cupboard but I've heard so many stories of "now I have SIFO" or "now I have a horrible yeast problem and it's worse than SIBO", that I'm seriously scared of the stuff.  I do not tolerate carbs or sugars very well at all so there's that too.  Not sure I could stomach going the homemade elemental diet again and that seems to be the only way you can control the amount of carbs.

Oh and can I just say Biohealth rocks for breath testing - Quintron machine, 3 hr lactulose, I did my test on Monday and had the results by Thursday morning.  I NEVER have to go through NCNM/NUNM again.  Woot! Woot!

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!

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.

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!

Resolor

I've been itchy.  Not the typical middle of the belly itch that indicates I've eaten something reactive but along my sides.  Resolor has lactose in it so my guess was that was the culprit so I bought some lactase enzymes to see if it helped.  I'm still taking 0.25mg (or 1/4 of a tablet).  Turns out the culprit may be H. Pylori.  That is why my stomach has felt so weird and that is likely why I have been itchy again.  Which leads me to - what in my last protocol got the H.Pylori into such a tizzy when it really didn't give me much of an inclination that it there before???  

Doing research over the weekend in prep for the meeting with the ND medical director of my nutrition program.  But also seriously contemplating filling out the form to see if Dr. Ruscio will accept me.  The SIBO, thyroid, adrenal and now H.Pylori mess is getting to be too overwhelming and I'm a questioner so I have a hard time trusting that providers have knowledge of it all.  I know Dr. Ruscio does because he talks about all these things in his podcasts and he was at the SIBO Symposium.

I may be overdoing it!

I have been drinking guar gum with my morning and afternoon kill supplements.  I just can't do it after dinner so I've been making sure to include some starchy carbs with dinner.  All good but then the starchy carbs evolved into rice, refried beans, sweet potatoes, avocado, plantain chips, oh my... and up goes the bloat and up goes the weight.  I definitely need to get myself under control. LOL!  Especially since I'm nearing the end of my supplements.  It's one thing to feed the little bastards to keep them active, it's another thing to provide them with an endless smorgasboard!

I'm like, almost dead or something

As part of the nutrition certification program I am doing we had to run a Biohealth 205 (adrenal hormone test) on ourselves.  I'm feeling pretty okay most of the time these days but when I spit in my tubes for the 205 I was in a pretty good low, feeling really incredibly beat.  My assumption was it would impact the results.  I  received them via email this morning and it basically said I have barely enough cortisol to keep me upright.  I exaggerate of course but it was shockingly low (morning, noon and afternoon) and that's after months and months of supplementing and taking it easy.  WTF!  I have a 2 hour meeting with my mentor on Friday to go over a plan but she already emailed me a draft and it's everything I'm already doing and to be honest she knows nothing about SIBO so not sure how beneficial it will be.  One recommendation was BioMatrix Support Mucosa, no way in hell I'm taking anything that is going to increase mucus production until my bugs are long gone.  We ran the Biohealth 101 as well which looks at Urinary Indican and a couple of liver measures.  My Indican was positive, don't need a test to tell you that would be the case, since positive = gut dysfunction.  My Urinary Bile Acid sulfates were elevated.  Again, duh, gut dysfunction + 18 months of on and off (mostly on) various kill protocols.  Poor liver just can't keep up.  Recommend testing for intestinal permeability.  Ya, no thanks, I can tell you my gut is permeable without testing based on multiple food reactions and occasional itchiness still if I get into something I shouldn't.  She is also recommending another stool test and breath test.  Um, had 2 stool tests, last one clean so I'm not sure that's necessary and as for the breath test I'm trying to get my hands on one.  I think it may be pricier to do it through my nutrition program because I have to go through the medical director and I don't think they use Quintron which is what all my other tests have been through.

Oh, and my husband's vehicle was stolen from the front of our house Sunday night.  Interesting to wake up to a missing car on Monday morning.  What a way to start the week!  We had to laugh because really what else can you do, and it was just a falling apart 20 year old vehicle.  Everyone in the neighborhood have been really apologetic.  I'm thinking, jeez it's not like we were carjacked.  That would be terrible and scary.  But to sleep peacefully through a crime.  That's a blessing really.  Truly bad things happen to truly good people all the time, just tune into the world news.  This was nothing in comparison to what others are going through.

All this typing to avoid taking my guar and bedtime supps.  I increased again, so I'm now at 3/4 tsp in 8 oz of water.  It's really going to be hard to get down.  A straw makes it easier but damn it's thick.  I thought for the morning I would mix it in my hot chocolate but I think it would be pretty undrinkable at the thickness it would make it.  Still might give it a try.  Haven't noticed any bloating or other SIBO weirdness yet.

Bloat

Poor planning led to me to eating too much nuts and chocolate for lunch which of course led to bloating and now itching.  I think I'm going to take the remainder of my Rifaximin (5 days) with guar gum and then switch over to Candibactin AR/BR and take those until they are gone.  Clearly I'm not done yet.

This should be fun.  A friend of mine tried it and ended up puking her guts out.  If you are going to try this, start slow, don't down a full tsp of guar gum the first go around.

Breakfast, 3pm, Bedtime (from Mona Morstein in the SIBO Symposium Clinical Pearls)

1 tsp guar gum in 8 oz of water

Rifaximin

Allicin (I don't have Neomycin and don't want to acquire any)

I'll start this Monday since we are going camping this weekend, likely in rain.  Stay tuned!

Idaho camping recap

Let me just start out by saying HOLY SMOKES!  Forest fires everywhere.  I really didn't understand until I drove to the eastern part of our state and there is just a trough of smoke coming out of the Chelan/Methow area.  Wow!  I don't have cable tv and don't watch the news.  I browse the newspaper every day but there really hasn't been much printed.  We only had one day where you could smell the smoke strongly and woke up the next day with ash on the car.  The rest of the time it was sufficiently windy that we could see it but not really smell it.

So this is what I ate for breakfast just about every morning while camping.  Hamburger patty, grilled green beans, 1/2 avocado and hot chocolate. Oh, and a shot of probiotic tonic (sauerkraut juice).

This was my usual lunch (more like a snack) - Pemmican, kale chips and macadamia nuts. We were really bummed that our US Wellness meats order arrived the day we left so we couldn't pack beef sticks (same as pepperoni but without the spice).

I ended up needing to get rid of veggies in the refrigerator before we left so I ended up with a few days of the usual sauteed curry vegetables I eat at home, usually with grilled chicken. 

I ate salmon the first night we were there and broke out in a belly rash.  It was the first time I have tried it since it came up positive on my Array 10.  I pretty much remained rashed and just a bit itchy because I ate eggs too.  

Wine, oh wine.  I really don't miss it but we drank it 3 nights.  One night my husband and I split a whole bottle while sitting around the fire pit at the ranch we stayed at in Cle Elum.  It was so nice to have a fire and we celebrated.  My digestion transitioned to great and stayed there.  I tapered off of all my antimicrobials while camping as I ran out.  I switched from Kal Garlicare with Red Yeast Rice to Jarrow Formulas Red Yeast Rice + Nattokinase.  I should have kept track of the switch but didn't.  It happened sometime during the trip and could be responsible for some of the increase in motility.

And the potatoes....  gained yet another 2 lbs eating potatoes.  I know I shouldn't but I love the skin of baked potatoes and my son and husband do not.  I can't stand to see they get tossed so ended up eating them a couple of different nights.  And the potato chips, I consumed more than my fair share of those!

The last night I tossed thinly sliced carrots in ghee, sprinkled them with salt and roasted them.  I called them carrot fries so the kids would try them and they liked them. Yay!  My husband said they were better than sweet potato fries.  I beg to differ but then again I actually love sweet potatoes and he doesn't even like them :)

The plan for now is to try to add the OrthoBiotic back in and add some Motilpro.  Probiotics and Prokinetics.  I think the bloating I was experiencing before I left was due to the sauteed kale and not the OrthoBiotic.  I'm still not very good at chewing sauteed kale, I do better with dehydrated because it just breaks apart when you chew it.  I continued to bloat off and on during the trip but I also ate kale (and potatoes and wine and waaaaay too much chocolate) throughout the trip.  So we'll see how things settle out over the next week.

Off to buy school supplies.  Where did the summer go???

Vegan Dining

I ate lunch at a local vegan restaurant with my son today.  I'm on a new protocol and sometimes when I am taking herbal antibiotics I throw caution to the wind and hope the bugs come out to feed and more get killed.  The restaurant is awesome for vegan fare.  No gluten, beans or grains that I could find on the menu.  Obviously no dairy since it's vegan.  My son was recently diagnosed with an intolerance to dairy and wheat and our solar panels were being hooked up today so we were without power all day, hence the lunch out.  He was excited to go to a restaurant where he could eat anything on the menu.  I opted for the enchiladas because they are sooo amazing.  I had them before this whole SIBO thing came along.  The tortillas and sour cream is made out of cashews.  Hello FODMAPs.  They are filled with walnut meat.  It came with pico which I'm sure had onion and garlic in it.  It was topped with lettuce which in hindsight I should have asked them to leave it off since I can't really chew it and it gets stuck in my teeth.  I didn't seem to have any reaction, a bit of belching, no bloating, then 5 hours after the meal I started to itch and discovered this.  It's always my dang belly that gives away my cheating.  I'm definitely taking Endozin (zinc carnosine and glutamine) tonight.