So this is happening to me (Leaky Gut)

I don't know that anyone can give you a definite answer to that because everyone has different degrees of candida/leaky gut.

I am so sorry you are having to go through this and that no one mentioned that antibiotics could interfere with the flora of your gut. How sad that they take it for granted that we should know some things.

Also, can antibiotic treatment and not having a leaky gut co-exist? These are questions I will reach out and ask my LLND but wanted to ask here first.

I was already leaning towards an herbal only protocol and now experiencing these issues due to a leaky gut has kind of made my decision for me.

Leaky gut was my first "symptom" before being diagnosed with Lyme. I believe the Lyme attacked my gut first. For me, it was a slow process to getting my gut healed and I'm not 100% yet, but pretty close.

Have you had any food allergy testing done? This was invaluable for me as I was allergic to SO many things, so I cut them out of my diet completely and many of the high allergens I don't eat to this day, over 2 years later. I also cut out caffeine, sugar, wheat (although I have found I can eat non-gmo wheat products without issue, but I still keep it to a bare minimum), all dairy and egg products and many fruits and some veggies. I eventually went paleo for about 6 months and this helped me tremendously and believe it speeded my healing. I was VERY slow to add things back to my diet and there are still things that I can't eat combined or within a few days of eating them before or else I react to them.

In addition to cleaning up my food intake, I also took aloe twice daily, high doses of pre and probiotics, coconut oil, digestive enzymes with every meal, collagen, vitamin B shots every other day (the bad bacteria in your gut consumes your vitamin B), a ton of supplements - I think the biggie being l-glutamine (?) if my memory serves. Tumeric and ALA were helpful and at one point I did a month of colostrum and do believe it helped, too....just make sure you find grass fed, antibiotic free colostrum from the first milking. It is actually lactose free, just make sure you get it from the cleanest source you can.

I changed up my supplements every few months and also regularly changed my probiotics....no real medical necessity in that, it just felt right for me. I wanted to get lots of different types of good flora in my gut.

I'm sure there are a million other things I did, but can't remember them all, sorry. I think you may want to discuss food allergy testing with your doc first, IMHO. I was surprised at the things I was reacting to. It was money well spent for me, anyway. Like who's allergic to cucumbers? I was!

I was very, very ill at the point that I got to my ND with this issue. I won't bore you with the details, but let's just say that I was one sick puppy. It took me a good 6 months before I could not be scared to eat anything, if that makes any sense at all. I had developed such an fear of eating due to the pain and repercussions of eating, it was just awful.

My ND also prescribed me a type of benedryl that only acts in the gut. I think it's called hista-x and I took that for about a month with every meal and now just use it if I'm eating out or at someone's house that I don't know exactly what's in what I'm eating. I have mostly prepared all of my food at home for the last two + years so that I know what's in it before I put it in my mouth. I still go out to eat occasionally, but honestly after making my own food for so long, nobody's cooking is as good as my own! LOL

There are tons of great recipes on Pintrest and many can be altered to fit your needs. I've made some really good stuff, that's for sure! It's nice to be able to eat and enjoy food again.

I wish you the best and I hope this is of some assistance to you.

Jenny

Jenny,

Thank you for your response. It sounds like many moving parts can be involved and an appointment with the llnd to discuss in depth is needed.

Right,

so directly or indirectly the abx is responsible. It caused it or made it worse. There's a strong correlation even it may not be necessarily the direct or only cause.

I'm thinking about stopping and just taking my herbs, supps/vitamins. I have a clean gut friendly diet.

But my body is not absorbing the complete benefits of the healthy foods and vitamins with a leaky gut.

I'm not healing with just popping abx if my immune system isn't getting stronger because of a lack of full nutrition.

Is this good or flawed logic I'm using?

Another thing with leaky gut..............you need to keep things "moving" if you know what I mean LOL.

Magnessium glycinate, other mags that end in "ate" also work (not mag oxide!!!!!!) taken before bed is great for the gut. And will help morning regularity in a healthy way..

Actually, magnesium oxide is one of the best for pulling water into the intestines - I've used it specifically for that for years and years now.

For the magnesium my body needs though, I use Magnesium arginate, as my body absorbs it and utilizes it the best for my muscles and that.

I like this article for understanding the different forms of magnesium and what they do:
www.globalhealingcenter.com/natural-health/types-of-magnesium/

Yes, fermented foods and things like bone broth are all very helpful in healing a leaky gut.