My GI sx started about
6 yrs ago after I moved from NY to CA (which was very stressful). I started to develop a lot of pain, cramping (which was different than the 'pain'), problems with diarrhea and constipation—alternated. My biggest issue was that whenever I ate, my stomach, upper GI hurt. And I noticed my belly expanding—like gas.
Diagnosis
I started seeing a naturopath, who felt it was a cycle of hormone problems, brought on by high stress, which then caused digestion problems, which then affected how the hormones functioned.
HCl
So felt that my stomach was not producing enough acid (which was causing the pain because I would eat and then my body was trying to digest solid food—OUCH) and I started taking Hydrochloric acid (HCl), which helped. The HCl tells the pancreas to produce bile, which signals the stomach to produce more acid.
Leaky gut
She also tested me for food allergies because she felt I had "leaky gut" issues due to a yeast overgrowth, which damaged the mucosal lining of my intestines and so as my intestines passed the digested food along, toxins leaked through the damaged areas and into my bloodstream and throughout the body. My immune system would react to these foreign bodies that weren't supposed to be there, and that's why I was having allergic reactions to any food that I ate. She put me on a very restrictive diet (no grains, gluten, sugar, caffeine, dairy) and I had to restrict even the good foods like fruit, almonds, and the other foods I had been eating… this was miserable—there was almost nothing left to eat but salad and chicken three times/day.
Neurotransmitters and hormones
I also had some crazy test results for hormone levels and worst was neurotransmitters —everything was either off the charts too high or too low. We tried various courses of supplements to respond but nothing worked (I now know why—see below). Eventually, with all the traveling I was doing for work and the stress I was under at the time and the lack of improvement, I went off the diet and the supplements.
Lyme, Bartonella, Babesia
I moved again and had to stop seeing the ND. Stress in my life continued to increase. I developed chronic sinusitis and bronchitis and was put on various courses of various abx and steroids, which made me worse. I was also forced to quit my job I was so sick. But the abx induced some very lyme & co-specific sx, which helped me diagnose myself after learning online what the sx were about
and then I started seeing an LLMD.
Bell's palsy of the gut
As I waited 5 months! to get into to see the LLMD, my GI problems got worse. I would still have minor episodes of cramping, gas and severe bloating every time after I ate. But after all the antibiotics and steroids they gave me, these very severe GI episodes started: every 4-5 weeks I was also now having an all-around-the-torso pain, it felt like cramping—something moving. Not gas, this was a crunching like feeling. it would start in the middle of the night and would go on sometimes for 12 hrs or more. It also cycled every 5 minutes or less. Then it usually culminated in projectile vomiting—and whatever I had eaten earlier that day had not digested (unusual). And then I was fine—exhausted but no more cramping. These nasty episodes occurred about
once every 4-5 weeks—no matter what else was happening and no matter what I was or wasn't taking or eating. NOTHING affected it—so I knew it wasn't anything to do with food.
Virus and Immune system
When I finally started treatment, the LLMD first addressed my high viral load for a couple of months while we were testing for lyme & co. Then we worked on my immune system—I went back to the very restrictive diet but I could tell that I was going to have to seek a specialist about
it because this is not her area. With all the GI damage, I was having trouble jumpstarting my immune system.
The severe GI episodes ceased after I stopped eating legumes—or so I thought. After 6 months of peace and quiet they started up again recently but not as severe. I'm not sure why—i had been taking Byron White A-Bart formula for about
5 months and stopped last month so this might be why. Once I get another week with the IV Rocephin under my belt, I will start up again with all the herbs I was taking, including the A-Bart.
I have to say, the GI issues were my biggest concern. I didn't find many lymees who also had the severity of GI issues I was having and my LLMD hadn't had much experience with what I was dealing with. In fact, I brought the Bell's palsy issue to her after reading that article. But now I'm sure it's all interrelated and has been all this time. It certainly simplifies the treatment approach, given that I need to both address healing the GI tract as well as tackling the infection. BOTH are needed because the lyme/bart treatment needs to be augmented by a functioning immune system, 70% of which resides in the gut!
Hope this helps—let me know if you have more q's.
-p
Post Edited (Pirouette) : 11/10/2014 12:59:49 PM (GMT-7)