After Piroutte posted about
her 30 day fast, I was interested as I've long had problems with my gut. I read up on fasting for a couple days, talked to a friend who is an avid faster, and since I had an
open block of time to do it, I just went for it.
Going into the fast my nerve and muscle pain was a 6 out of 10
Day 1 - I started to get an intense headache and nausea around the 19th hour. The nausea only lasted a couple hours. Hunger is rough but manageable. I didnt sleep very well.
Day 2 - Headache continues, hunger is manageable. My nerve pain drops from a 6 to a 1. I sleep very poorly again.
Day 3 - Headache is gone. Hunger no longer too bad. Nerve pain still a 1. Some weakness from not eating.
Day 4 - Nerve pain still a 1. Still a bit weak but feels great to have no nerve pain for the first time in 9 months. Near the end of the day I develop a back spasm.
Day 5 - Back spasm is unbearable. Am forced to go to a clinic and get muscle relaxers. Nerve pain still a 1.
Day 6 - Still suffering from spasms. Break the fast. Nerve pain jumps to a 4/5 within a couple hours of eating, and then comes back down.
Discussion:
First and foremost, I was much too cavalier with my hydration and electrolyte intake. Fasting is serious business, and when I do it next I will make sure to keep my electrolyte levels elevated with a supplement. Spasms can become chronic, and I hope I did not permanently injure my lower back, but so far it doesnt appear so.
What I find extremely interesting, however, is that my nerve pain dropped from a 6 to a 1 and then rebounded as soon as I ate food again. I have autoimmune small fiber neuropathy in addition to a bunch of other lyme/chronic illness symptoms. I have long suspected this had something to do with my gut. For the past 5y my gut has been upset with off and on diarrhea and bouts of SIBO. Right before the autoimmune neuropathy started, I had a bout of SIBO and bloating that was so bad I barely wanted to eat for 10 days. Then the pain started. This was in april of 2019.
To me, it seems like this could be due to two possibilities. 1.) By eating nothing, I was no longer eating foods that my body is allergic to and considers inflammatory. 2.) I have a leakly gut, and anything I eat will permeate my gut and cause inflammation. I tested number 1 the next day by eating a clean meal of chicken and rice, and the same thing happened. I havent been able to correlate this to any specific food. I believe the reason is because of number 2.
I've since gone down the rabbit hole a bit on the gut and billary system. What I've found is that two diseases, celiacs and SIBO (which I had), are known to cause leaky gut through the release of a peptide called Zonulin. When Zonulin is released, the tight junctions of the gut
open up, thereby allowing larger particles to enter the blood stream. This makes sense to me as its possibly the reason why no matter what I eat, I get inflammation because its permeating my gut. They are testing the first Zonulin inhibitor called larazotide acetate this year, so there's clearly some basis for this science.
I believe that this is also what caused my autoimmunity. Right before my autoimmune neuropathy started, like I mentioned, I developed a case of SIBO so bad I couldnt eat. If you scan the literature, you can see tons of papers correlating leaky gut to autoimmunity. Below is a paper showing a correlation between antibodies to common gut bacteria and autoimmune conditions like MS and RA. If your body is making antibodies to these bacteria, they have escaped the gut. And if they escaped the gut into the blood, they can very quickly trigger the immune system.
https://www.managedhealthcareexecutive.com/autoimmune-diseases/common-gut-bacteria-linked-autoimmune-diseases
I believe that chronic lyme is often resistant because the feedback loops that maintain homeostasis have broken. This is why there is so much overlap between Lyme and CFS, autoimmunity, fibromyalgia, etc. They are all examples of homeostasis gone awry. Everyone seems to have low T, underactive thyroids, autoimmunity, gut problems, etc. Once one feedback loops goes, more go. As an example: Imagine that I get an acute case of Lyme. I started to have some stress and autonomic dysfunction because I'm sick. The autonomic dysfunction causes lowered motility and stomach distress. This causes stomach inflammation, which causes some gut permeability. The gut permeability causes systemic inflammation. This affects my liver. A weaker liver affects my bile/stomach acid/motility, which causes more inflammation, and around and around she goes. This could be a slow process that takes years. As this feedback loop breaks down, so do others like immune, endocrine, nervous system. This is why all of these overlapping symptoms so many chronically ill people have seem to happen in concert. And everyone asks well what was the cause? The answer is that there is no single cause, it is a feedback loop.
With this new line of thinking, I've decided to change my gameplan. My goal will be to try to heal my gut/liver feedback loop first, only then can I rebuild my immune system, and only then can I start killing the bad bacteria. With that the other feedback loops should fall into like.
Heal my leaky gut protocol:
1.) Cut out all of the junk. I can't handle AIP or paleo, but I need to cut out the fries and high sugar and
cookies
2.) Increase stomach acid and bile and stimulate the liver (bile is 10x more antiinflammatory than JKW my herbalist told me) using Ox Bile and/or Standard Process Zypan and Immuplex
3.) Apple Cider Vinegar before every meal to increase stomach acid
4.) Push myself to start working out again and increase metabolism
5.) A 24-36hr fast every couple weeks
6.) Homemade kefir to keep healthy gut bacteria levels elevated
Also researching the use of glutamine, bovine colostrum and enteragram to help heal my leaky gut. I'm going to see a GI specialist about
testing for leaking gut and zonulin.
Bottom line, if this is my problem, and my fasting test seems to confirm it, then I NEED to close these tight junctions. This will help reverse my autoimmunity inflammation and MCAS and get me on the road to better health. Is it possible this is why Piroutte's fast worked so well? Did she close her tight junctions through 33 days of no inflammation, while ridding herself of all the bad bacteria?
Thoughts? Am i reading too much into this fast? Do people believe in leaky gut? Am I just way off? This is my thought process past couple weeks, it was kind of an epiphany for me, but I'm curious to see if others poke holes in my thinking.
For those who find this train of thought interesting, I'd check out:
https://kresserinstitute.com/little-known-connection-leaky-gut-gluten-intolerance-gallbladder-problems/
https://deliciouslyorganic.net/why-stomach-acid-is-good-for-you-increase-naturally/
https://deliciouslyorganic.net/reverse-hashimotos-thyroid-disease/
Post Edited (dcd2103) : 1/12/2020 11:25:54 AM (GMT-7)