# InstantCoffee Log, rather than bloat the weight gain thread.



## InstantCoffee

I'm starting a log of my personal journey and experiments. I am my own guinea pig, I will take all the risks, because I'm tired of living with this condition, and western pharm has failed me. 

History:
Dx 2005ish when I was 14, currently 25. Immediately put on remicade, azathioprine, prednizone.

Remicade got me through HS and stopped working in college. Started having recurring abscesses on my butt cheeks reminiscent of hydradentditis suprativa (not cysts or fistulas) in college. First encounter with dietary limitations. 

Switched to Humira after college due to declining health. Didn't help. 

Infections got worse, symptoms got worse, eventually I went on disability, bedridden, diarrhea, vomiting every day. 

Was off Humira for several months due to abscesses. Started a gluten-free diet and saw a huge improvement. Continued with diet, didn't restart Humira. 

Later cut canola, nuts and high fructose corn syrup. Gained 50 lbs.

~2013

Abscesses returned, finally made the link to high sugar intake. 2 months no sugar no dairy, abscesses healed, Crohn's symptoms improved. 

Late 2013:
Reintroduced sugar and dairy, over time symptoms deteriorated again, had to cut rice, orange juice and chocolate.  ~summer 2014.

Summer 2014:
After some dieting got chocolate back, began to take protein shake to gain weight, go to the gym regularly. Began to have diarrhea again. Stopped going to gym, had to cut out protein shake. Began living on steak, eggs, oats and milk, Later 2014 into early 2015.

2015:
Assuming sugar caused disbiosis went on a 'detox' with vinegar, honey as only carb, eating steak with garlic for supper. Condition continued to deteriorate. Had to cut steak and garlic and later honey as well.

Currently rebuilding and introducing a more fiber based diet with no/ low carbs as a result of research on MAP and AIEC. 

Supplements:
-Lauric acid
-Cat's Claw
-Vitamins of various types, most importantly D3, C, methyl b12
-Probiotics
-L-Glutamine


Diet loosely based on pubmed study
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2877178/figure/F2/
I can't have brown rice so

Limited meat, chicken only 1-3 times a week
Fish 1-3 times a week
Eggs as needed for protein
Sticky rice daily
Indian Bottle Gourd 1-3 times a week
Milk and cheese to my heart's content for now, I'd like to cut it but I'm afraid I just can't afford to replace the calories at this point in time. 
Coconut oil daily in food or milk for lauric acid content and calories

Things I'm testing / trying:
-POM juice on rare occasion
-carrot juice
-Miso
-Raw milk
-Home made kefir
-Sauerkraut 
-taurine

Supplements in loose use / testing (take sporadically):
-colostrum
-chromium piccolonate
-zinc piccolonate
-spirulina
-Tribulus for unrelated issues


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## InstantCoffee

My diarrhea is gone and now I'm having the opposite problem. I'm not sure of too many safe, low-carb fibers I can eat and most are high satiety, they make me full very fast. 

Rice seems to be off the table again, I thought it was safe but now not so much. I believe that's what caused the japanese diet I tried to fail, the fermented bean paste seems okay though, just tastes awful. I ordered an aged Korean type off Amazon for really reasonable price. 

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00PHDBR0M/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Trying Taurine as a result of http://www.healingwell.com/community/default.aspx?f=38&m=2540341. 
Maybe placebo, I feel really well after taking it.

Pom juice seems to have no negative effect on me unlike most other things high in simple sugars, I have to explanation for this. I only started trying it after someone said their Ayurvedic doctor said to take 2 pomegranates a day for diarrhea. 

Tried Pau D'arco again, reacted to it, this stuff's going in the trash, I'm not sure why some say it's great for Crohn's. Makes me squirt out the rear in less than an hour.

If anyone can recommend any good multi vitamins that have:
b12 as methylcobalamin
metals in citrate form
niacinamide

And aren't giant horse pills I'd appreciate it. I'd rather take 5 little ones than 3 giant ones, they literally hurt my throat going down. 

I might try getting my meats from a butcher instead of the grocery store.


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## InstantCoffee

Started making my own miso soup with the bean paste, it's actually really good. 

I use chicken, eggs, oat flour, baby carrots and kale in home made broth or water, then mix the miso paste in after it cools so I don't kill the probiotics.

Something is giving me cramps and issues, either the kefir or pom juice. Only one way to be sure.


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## InstantCoffee

I'm cutting milk, it doesn't have a perceptible effect on my digestion but my skin problems seem to be getting worse despite whatever I try. I know there's a dietary link but I'm not sure what. Sugar was usually the cause in the past but I've cut my diet to a bare minimum of carbs and I'm still getting breakouts on my back and the lesion on  my jaw is filling up again when it was finally getting better. 

If my skin clears up I may try small amounts of raw milk, like 1 gallon a week to prevent becoming lactose intolerant. Your body shuts down lactose production when it's not consuming any. 

Also I'm trying some bone broth. I'm a bitch sketchy about cow bones though because of MAP bacteria.

Looking at a diet like this:
Breakfast: 
Oat bread muffin (oats, egg, butter, salt)
Cup of coffee with coconut oil
+ vitamins and supplements

Lunch:
Meat (chicken, tuna, or other fish)
Strawberries for carbs
Kayle for Vit. K

After work snack:
Pom juice with aloe vera
Possibly another oat muffin if hungry

Supper:
Miso soup (chicken boiled with kayle and parsley with miso paste added after cooling ) 
Glass of carrot juice for Vit A

Meats will be fried in coconut oil. 
Looking to incorporate broths, probably as a quick breakfast. 

Tuna at least once a week for selenium

Current supplement plan: 
-Taurine
-Monolaurin
-Vitamins: A, C, D, K, methyl B12
-Minerals: Magnesium, calcium, zinc gluconate & piccolonate
-Chromium piccolonate
-Colostrum
-Cat's Claw (need to buy  more)
-Tribulus
-Milk thistle
-fish oil
-caprylic acid
-black cumin seed oil


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## InstantCoffee

*Dairy*
Modifying my dairy intake was a flop because last weekend I got sick and ended up buying raw milk and chugging protein shake, but it's not all a loss because I figured out an alternative, more likely cause to my skin problems.

*Salicylates:*
Unfortunately I'm look at salicylate sensitivity as the cause of my recent flares and my acne breakouts and abscesses on my face. The clues all add up nicely but I have to test it to be sure and it's really hard, I'm finding many of my supplements contain some kind of soy / olive oil or extract high in salicylates. 

I've got to stop using toothpaste and regular shampoos and find alternatives, I'm using salt and baking soda for toothpaste for now and brushing thoroughly. 

A lot of foods I thought were safe might not be. Coconut and olive oil have been hit and miss with my crohn's and this may explain why. When flaring I've had to cut them and the question to me is cause or effect. 

Either way my skin seems to get better with salicylates reduced.

Salicylates also means no aloe vera, no strawberries which I just fell in love with.

*Experimental fasting diet*
But beyond that I might try an experimental diet. A few weeks ago someone made a brief post about trying intermittent fasting for Crohn's and it was promptly deleted. I'm really disappointed with the amount of censorship here, we're all adults and can make decision on what we think is safe with our own bodies. Intermittent fasting is safe and has been used in weight modulation for years. 

He explained some of the functions in release of catecholamines ,insulin response and serotonin balance in passing, but I never got to ask more detailed questions. 

I passed it off as another anti-inflammatory diet until I found this.
http://www.crohnsforum.com/showthread.php?t=72412

A 2010 study where remission was induced in a patient by balancing their serotonin / dopamine levels. 

Now the poster simply said it was 0 calories except some milk and coffee until 5PM, and before eating you should do weightlifting exercises. I don't understand the milk, but they mentioned something about sodium retention and preventing starvation effects. I wish I had time to discuss it with them further. 

If I have to willpower to not eat until 5pm I can probably pull this off. I rarely have anything but a small lunch anyway until that time, but that's enough to offset the body's fasted state that induced this response. 

If it's not showing positive results I don't intend to do it for more than a week because trying to hammer down a 2000ish calorie diet before bed is rough.

Meanwhile I'm reading about the effects of fasting on serotonin and healing.



> Serotonin is a bioamine derived from tryptophan that is highly conserved throughout evolution (Berger et al., 2009). In vertebrates there are two pools of serotonin, one made in neurons of the brainstem and one made in the periphery, mainly, but not only, in enterochromaffin cells of the gut. In those two compartments serotonin biosynthesis is initiated by a different rate-limiting enzyme, tryptophan hydroxylase 1 (Tph1) in the periphery and tryptophan hydroxylase 2 (Tph2) in the brain. Since serotonin does not cross the blood-brain barrier it is believed that each pool of serotonin has a discrete set of functions (Berger et al., 2009) although some neurons of the hypothalamus may be accessible to peripheral molecules that otherwise do not cross the blood-brain barrier. While brain-derived serotonin is a multifunctional neurotransmitter, gut-derived serotonin (GDS) has emerged recently as a hormone able to regulate bone formation, erythropoiesis and regenerative processes


http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3696514/

It looks like there's a huge spike around the 48 hour mark but idk if I want to go that long.

I found this 
http://www.crohnsforum.com/showthread.php?t=9465
http://mech.fsv.cvut.cz/~smilauer/Crohn_Smilauer_fasting_en.pdf

But it's very unscientific. He's just kind of following a theorized cancer treatment which he cites, I haven't read it, blindly, but it works. I see it more of proof of concept than the outline which I'll follow.

He's not technically fasting because he's consuming calories from a fruit / vegetable smoothie, just in very low amounts.



> Juice Fasting vs. Water Fasting
> Juice fasting is much easier than water fasting. A water fast puts more stress on your vital organs (kidney, liver, heart and intestines) by promoting a faster release of acids (eg. uric acids) and toxins.  This process itself could be overwhelming for a person who is doing fasting for the first time. Raw juices supply much needed vitamins, minerals and enzymes, improves cell oxygenation and promotes recovery from sickness.


https://www.knowyourgut.com/the-miracle-of-juice-fasting-for-colitis-and-ibs/

May explain the limited calorie intake of milk he suggested vs. a complete fast.


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## InstantCoffee

*Day 1 fasting.*

Started off the day with a cup of coffee and a large spoonful of l-glutamine. Had cramps and gas early on, idk if related to glutamine or previous night's protein shake. 

As the day went on hunger increased, obviously, stomach felt better, and mood improved dramatically. This could be due to fast or due to being off salicylates. 

Experienced unusually high thirst. Some weakness toward end of fasted period (4:00). 

Had chicken with cheese and an oat flour cake (oats, butter, salt, baking soda, eggs) but couldn't finish the whole thing. Also had POM juice and protein shake with creatine, l-glutamine and d-aspartic acid. probably should just go with milk, protein shake seems to have adverse effects. 

I'll have the POM as my blast of carbs to help absorb the creatine and l-glutamine right before the meal. I'll have to experiment more with DAA to see if it's causing a reaction.

I'm hoping if my condition improves and I can put on about 5 lb.s I can try a 48 hour fast to see if the increased serotonin spike at the 48 hour mark makes a noticeable difference.

Studing a link between the OCTN markers for Crohn's and poor transport of l-carnitine.  http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2251729413000086 
Propionyl L-Carnitine is being suggested as a treatment. I'm going to see if I can pick some up after work.

*Day 2 Fasting:*

Slept very well, went to bed late and got up 30 minutes before alarm feeling well rested. 

Experiencing some rumbling / gas but BMs have been solid despite the protein shake and DAA I took last night which often leads to looseness. 

Stomach started rumbling during morning coffee, not sure what's going on, it's just nescafe and whole milk. I'd like to get more raw milk but I'm down to $30 in my bank until Friday.

I need to pick up a new salicylate-free vitamin K, and moisturizer. My mother just sympathy bought a bunch of my old vitamins I can't have because of salicylates lol. 

I'm going to reintroduce Taurine tonight, it doesn't seem to be causing my loss of libido since it's still there without the Taurine. I also want to buy Propionyl L-Carnitine after some promising studies. Home treatments are expensive. 

Scale weight: 124.3 I expect it to drop further before it gets better. 

Tonight's dinner plans: 2 cans of tuna + cheese and protein shake, then an oat cake at the end of the night. I plan on soaking some oats overnight in milk and pom juice for tomorrow night's dinner after reading about the benefits to digestibility of oats from 24 hour soaks.

I definitely, by result of the fast or the low salicylate diet, am experiencing a psychological benefit. My focus is much higher, I never could focus on pubmed studies like I have been the past few days. My depression went way down.


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## WingedVictory

Interesting to see you focusing better by going lower salicylate. May want to look into phenols as well. They're closely associated with salicylates for treating spectrum disorders / cognitive symptoms...which tend to go hand in hand with bowel irregularities as well. Food chemicals tie in with blood brain barrier/leaky brain theories with regard to inflammation.

Fasts beyond 16 hours are pretty stressing on the body. Watch out for hypoglycemia symptoms. Don't want to overdo it.

Have you considered the histamine (aged cheese) or the casein/whey proteins...or both contributing to skin issues? Just curious because dairy is a huge obvious catalyst for my breakouts (face, chest, back). As well as eggs and chocolate too, both histamine related.

Sugar/Fruit/Juices/FODMAPs foods for IBS symptoms/diarrhea? How many grams of sugar do you consume per day? I'm guessing not much because you say you're low carb.

Oats / other non-wheat grains contributing to leaky gut? All grains contain prolamins (a category of proteins) which are considered to be indigestible. Even the orzenin protein in white rice which some label as a safe starch. I read that this can contribute to dysbiosis and gut permeability because they can either pass through the intestinal barrier or get consumed by certain bacteria that eat protein. Additionally I have notes that oats have saponins (avenacin) and lectins which add to the leaky gut effect. How do you handle "safe" starches like white potatoes (nightshade, questionable), yams, sweet potatoes? 

I think safe starches, fats, and extra protein are viable options for weight gain while trying to avoid the symptoms from food chemicals and sensitivities.


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## InstantCoffee

WingedVictory said:


> Interesting to see you focusing better by going lower salicylate. May want to look into phenols as well. They're closely associated with salicylates for treating spectrum disorders / cognitive symptoms...which tend to go hand in hand with bowel irregularities as well. Food chemicals tie in with blood brain barrier/leaky brain theories with regard to inflammation.
> 
> Fasts beyond 16 hours are pretty stressing on the body. Watch out for hypoglycemia symptoms. Don't want to overdo it.
> 
> Have you considered the histamine (aged cheese) or the casein/whey proteins...or both contributing to skin issues? Just curious because dairy is a huge obvious catalyst for my breakouts (face, chest, back). As well as eggs and chocolate too, both histamine related.
> 
> Sugar/Fruit/Juices/FODMAPs foods for IBS symptoms/diarrhea? How many grams of sugar do you consume per day? I'm guessing not much because you say you're low carb.
> 
> Oats / other non-wheat grains contributing to leaky gut? All grains contain prolamins (a category of proteins) which are considered to be indigestible. Even the orzenin protein in white rice which some label as a safe starch. I read that this can contribute to dysbiosis and gut permeability because they can either pass through the intestinal barrier or get consumed by certain bacteria that eat protein. Additionally I have notes that oats have saponins (avenacin) and lectins which add to the leaky gut effect. How do you handle "safe" starches like white potatoes (nightshade, questionable), yams, sweet potatoes?
> 
> I think safe starches, fats, and extra protein are viable options for weight gain while trying to avoid the symptoms from food chemicals and sensitivities.


I'm not 100% sure if salicylate consumption has an effect but avoiding topical application has cleared up my skin breakouts, except my facial abscess continues to fill up but that might be my protein shake which I'm going to stop taking again because it's been causing diarrhea and gas. It may be a coincidence and something else in the soaps I was using were causing it, but the thing is I've been using shower gel on the rest of my body and fancy soaps + coconut oil on my face, scalp and shoulders. The shower gel was on a salicylate free list, and the rest of my skin is fine, meanwhile my face, scalp and shoulders are red and inflamed and break out regularly. 

I've looked at amines before and the foods don't seem to have any link to things I'm sensitive to enough to be concerned. I'll look at phenols. 

If I do a 48 hour fast it will probably be calorie-limited with small amounts of juice throughout the day. I also need to research electrolyte balance and how fasting effects it so I can make sure that's not an issue. 

Currently my protein shake is causing symptoms, sugars often do, I reintroduced it temporarily because sometimes it seems to have a calming effect when other things are causing symptoms but if i take it for too long it reverses. I believe it's the maltodextrin in it since studies already show how bad that is for Crohn's. Unfortunate they couldn't have left it out, it's otherwise a great product. 

Oats are the only grain I consume and have thus far shown no adverse reaction. I can't have white potatoes, I haven't tried sweet potatoes in a long time. 

Dairy seems to be a safe bet for me and modifying my dairy intake hasn't had much effect on my skin or digestion. I'd prefer to be on raw milk rather than pasteurized but I can't afford it until next week.

When I come home from work I immediately drink a glass of POM juice with glutamine, creatine and DAA in it to quickly absorb them, plus take a few of my pills.

Then I eat my supper and follow with more POM. Supper is meat + cheese.
Appetite permitting I'm hoping to add an oat flour muffin after, but I think the protein shake has been causing appetite cessation and adverse effects, when I eliminate it my appetite should come back.

As my symptoms improve I'm going to look at adding fruits, vegetables and maybe lentils.

I'm also aiming to understand the effects of sugar on my system.
Sugar causes loose stool and presence of increase bile in it. I want to better understand what causes increased bile in stool, decreased bile absorption, or increased bile production, and how sugar effects it.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1379072/?page=1
I just finished reading this study that suggests a high sugar diet promotes fermentation of colonic bacteria, but not bacteria in the small intestine. 

There is a change in secondary bile acids but not primary, there's an increase in faecel lithocholic acid and deoxycholic acid, but not a marked increase in primary acids. 

Total gut digestion slowed down with increase of sugar intake, it's believed to be related but they can't prove it. 

Admittedly I know nothing about bile and this is something I need to go research.

Further research on bile acids:
Bile is released by the liver where it is conjugated with taurine or glyine to form 8 conjugated bile acids or bile salts which are water soluble due to their pH levels and more effective. 

I know Taurine has been suggested as a treatment for UC and possible Crohn's in something called rapid induction therapy. 



> When these bile acids are secreted into the lumen of the intestine, bacterial partial dehydroxylation and removal of the glycine and taurine groups forms the secondary bile acids, deoxycholic acid and lithocholic acid. Cholic acid is converted into deoxycholic acid and chenodeoxycholic acid into lithocholic acid. All four of these bile acids can be taken back up into the blood stream, return to the liver, and be re-secreted in a process known as enterohepatic circulation.[2][3]


So the question arises, is there an excess production of bile, is the bile not being conjugated and that's why it's not being converted by bacterial dehydroxylation and reabsorbed, or is the bacterial dysbiosis of the gut preventing dehydroxylation?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bile_acid_malabsorption

Most likely it's not overproduction but failure to reabsorb. So my next question is, is this a cause or an effect?



> The ileum is very efficient at absorbing the glyco- and taurine-conjugated forms of the bile salts. The apical sodium-dependent bile salt transporter (ASBT, IBAT, gene symbol SLC10A2) is the first step in absorption at the brush-border membrane. The cytoplasmic ileal bile acid binding protein (IBABP, ILBP, gene symbol FABP6) and the basolateral heterodimer of OSTα and OSTβ transfer bile acids through and out of the cell where they eventually enter the portal vein. These bile acid transporters are all highly expressed in the ileum but not in the liver, jejunum or colon.[4] When expression of these specialized transporters is reduced, the intestine is less efficient at bile acid reabsorption (Type 1 bile acid malabsorption). If intestinal motility is affected by gastro-intestinal surgery, or bile acids are deconjugated by small intestinal bacterial overgrowth, absorption is less efficient (Type 3 bile acid malabsorption). A very small proportion of the patients with no obvious disease (Type 2 bile acid malabsorption) may have mutations in ASBT,[5] but this mutation is not more common in most patients and does not affect function.[6]


I'm going to try psyllium husks as they seem to be an OTC variation of cholestyramine with less side effects.

There is a worry of reduced absorption of vitamins, but if I'm doing intermittent fasting I can take my vitamins at a time far spaced out from my food when I'd have to take the husks for their effect.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/6673068

Patients with Crohn's show a low level of Taurine conjugated bile acids but a normal level of Glycine  conjugated bile acids as compared to controls, making an abnormally high glycine to taurine ratio of bile acids, supporting Taurine supplementation further.


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## InstantCoffee

I picked up psyllium husks, boswellia and DHEA Friday, and I ordered propionyl l-carnitine online because I can't find it in stores around here.

It's sold as GPLC as an exercise supplement and men's sexual wellness enhancer, it could be the people I asked about it simply didn't know they had it and I didn't know about GPLC  as a name until I left my usual store.

Studies were done on 4g and the only one I found was an l-carnitine complex with 300mg per pill, 60 capsules a bottle, $35. Hell to the no. 

I read a study on DHEA confirming my theory I had about 2 years ago on its benefits for Crohn's disease, never have I felt so validated! I went and bought more. 

As of yesterday I weighed in at 125.8 vs. starting weight of 124.3 a few days before. I weigh at a stable time of the day, in the morning post bowel movement, so there should be little room for difference in retention and stuff.

I'm not sure what's working but it's definitely working between kicking salicylates and intermittent fasting. 

My calorie intake is actually lower because I'm eating roughly the same size dinner as usual, maybe SLIGHTLY larger but no lunch. 

Bowel movement quality has improved, less gas, no floaters from poor fat absorption. 

I've started sipping a mix of pom and carrot juice through the day to stabilize electrolytes but in small enough amounts to remain in a fasted state hopefully. It's about a liter of water, 1/2 cup carrot and 1/4 cup pom juice to last 8+ hours. 

I'm going to experiment with psyllium husks and sugar today to see if they allow me to eat sugar without producing bile filled BMs.


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## InstantCoffee

The first week went great, but this weekend I decided to try not fasting. 

Psyllium husks opened the door to certain chocolates and treats that caused me problems in the past, but has a limited effectiveness. 

Friday I got adventurous and tried a natural chocolate from the health food store with caocao nibs in it resulting in some bloating and stomach discomfort. 

I've had increasing gas levels since Saturday night / Sunday and not sure what's causing it. I've been experimenting a bit too much maybe, I had tried Hershey's chocolate, a buttermilk powder, introduced a new supplement called MSM, tried two types of bacon, and 100% maple syrup. 

Monday my usual juice drink seemed to be sending me on bathroom trips, I wonder if I imbalanced my gut flora with the sugar. They Hershey's bar is my #1 culprit, but still experiencing gas / diarrhea 2 days out. 

I'm trying soaking my oats because it's supposed to increase digestibility and also going off my fast, but if I don't see an improvement in the gas / bathroom frequency soon I'll go back on it.

Current supplement regimen:
-DHEA
-D Aspartic Acid
-GPLC (propionyl l-carnitine)
-Taurine 
-Creatine 
-Weekly Vit D
-Fish oil
-Boswellia
-Magnesium
-MSM
-Nightly DMSO application

Possibly related:
Hidradenitis Suppurativa flare on face has not been looking good. I've been applying a salve of DMSO with colloidal silver and tea to it but it's been growing quite large and painful. 

I put a hydracolloid bandage on it sunday and removed it yesterday, it opened and I drained a LOT of fluid from it, then applied more DMSO with tea, silver, magnesium and zinc to it. I've heard HS responds to zinc and magnesium and may be viral. I'm not sure if the oral magnesium and zinc I used are actually capable of penetrating the skin or dissolving in the DMSO though. 

It's really disconcerting to learn that HS is known to be linked to Crohn's yet none of the 7-10 doctors I've seen regarding it have mentioned it as a diagnosis or even being related to my Crohn's.

Bookmarked reading for later further investigating serotonin / dopamine therapy:
http://www.crohnsforum.com/showthread.php?p=872039#post872039
http://www.healingwell.com/community/default.aspx?f=38&m=2621363
http://www.steinorthopedic.com/pdf/aminoacidtherapy.pdf
http://www.livestrong.com/article/185758-how-to-balance-dopamine-and-serotonin-levels/

I'm very interested in this, it directly related to the success of treating with IF and DHEA. Maybe Crohn's flares and depression are more closely linked than just being sad about pooping and hurting?

Interesting facts:

"Tyrosine, not tyramine, is the precursor to catecholamines. Tyramine is a breakdown product of tyrosine. In the gut and during fermentation, tyrosine, an amino acid, is decarboxylated to tyramine. Under ordinary circumstances, tyramine is deaminated in the liver to an inactive metabolite"

I tried https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phenibut phenibut once and had adverse effects in the next 12 hours, wonder if it's related, it acts on the neurotransmitter amino acids similar to benzodiazepines.

Reading suggests avoiding foods high in tyramine as they can displace amines such as dopamine which may be counterproductive:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyramine




> " tyramine can also displace stored monoamines, such as dopamine, norepinephrine and epinephrine, from pre-synaptic vesicles."
> 
> Foods containing considerable amounts of tyramine include meats that are potentially spoiled or pickled, aged, smoked, fermented, or marinated (some fish, poultry, and beef); most pork (except cured ham); chocolate; alcoholic beverages; and fermented foods, such as most cheeses (except ricotta, cottage, cream and Neufchâtel cheeses), sour cream, yogurt, shrimp paste, soy sauce, soybean condiments, teriyaki sauce, tempeh, miso soup, sauerkraut, kimchi, broad (fava) beans, green bean pods, Italian flat (Romano) beans, snow peas, edamame, avocados, bananas, pineapple, eggplants, figs, red plums, raspberries, peanuts, Brazil nuts, coconuts, processed meat, yeast, and an array of cacti.


Lets see, things on that list that don't agree with me: 
pickled / smoked / fermented food, chocolate, alcohol, yogurt, teriyaki, banana, nuts, that I'm aware of. Others I simply don't eat / try. 

Cheeses however seem safe, so maybe no connection / purely coincidental. 

I've made my own miso soup with soybean paste and had no negative effects. Sour cream seems safe, as does high intake of most meats.

http://www.nrlc-group.net/proceduresAndFacilities/Tryptophan.php

Milk is extremely high in L-tryptophan which could explain why so many Crohn's patients react poorly to it. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mucuna_pruriens

http://www.healingwell.com/community/default.aspx?f=38&m=2152224

I just found my multi-vitamin has all the sufficient co-factors for the Serotonin therapy, I just need to buy the tyrosine, 5htp and cysteine. Going to try this after work.


Wild Oregano Oil & Thyme Oil
http://www.healingwell.com/community/default.aspx?f=38&m=2970239


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## InstantCoffee

Yesterday I got progressively worse throughout the day after my morning routine so it had to be either MSM or the maple syrup. I was in extreme pain from the gas around mid afternoon and considered leaving work early. Instead I took a break, sat in the car in the fetal position and farted for 15 minutes straight and that got me through the next 2 hours. 

Last night before bed I took an extra large dose of MSM and was gassing it all night, I think I found my culprit but not 100% sure yet. The gas started this weekend, and  my MSM arrived Friday night. I don't' remember it being bad on Saturday though, I was out all day and didn't have issues to my recollection, but my dosing was super low too.

Monday wasn't terrible, then I had the chocolate bar monday night, then tuesday was not great, but wednesday was the worst and most food based antagonists are gone in 12-24 hours, so shouldn't be residuals from the hershey's bar unless it upset the balance and allowed other things (maple syrup and POM juice) to continue to feed gut bacteria.

Hershey bars do contain emulsifiers which are known to exacerbate AIEC.  

I'm back on intermittent fast until this sorts itself out. 

After yesterday's reading I stopped by the store and bought:
- L-tyrosine
- 5-HTP
- L-cysteine
- oregano oil
- thyme extract

I like this approach because it does a couple things:
1. The neurotransmitter issue approaches form a new angle, instead of trying to add back in lacking nutrients, it tries to repair the processes that cause them. I had good success with IF which is directly linked to neurotransmitter stabilization via increased dopamine and gut serotonin levels. 

2. The oil approach directly targets invasive bacteria on a level other at-home therapies cannot.

If it was the MSM causing it, then I'll have to see what the mechanism of that is and why it was recommended in the first place (it's considered similar to DMSO, a powerful anti-inflammatory). 

If it was the sugars I was eating, then the therapy I was trying was just that. I don't want a therapy, I want a treatment. If it's not opening doors in my diet it's not actually targeting my disease, just my symptoms. Being asymptomatic is cool and all, but I want to fight back.


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## josemadrid

bacteria is not the whole picture. it absence or wrong type just makes the gut line populated with immune cells and creates the pain. This is the manifestation, but not the cause of the inhibition of the cellular apoptosis and the bad cellular signaling.

Also chemicals and food types are not the whole picture because this is not an allergic reaction.

intermittent fasting is not going to work if you are loosing weight, because your endogenous glucose production is going to increase the cells anabolism no matter that you do not eat.

You need to become insulin resistant on low sugar cellular environment using diet. the feeling is like you do not have energy, you cannot concentrate and you can ending gaining a bit of weight. when you feel like that you need to exercise to adapt the mitocondria to this low glucose environment.

dopamine is a precursor of adrenaline, with a similar molecular structure. Dopamine is a catecholamine and if of course heavily implicated in any autoimmune disease. lots of autoinmune patients, specially girls and women, takes antidepresants and some of them have effects on dopamine.

Have you ever checked your sugar levels during the 24 hours of the day?


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## InstantCoffee

josemadrid said:


> bacteria is not the whole picture. it absence or wrong type just makes the gut line populated with immune cells and creates the pain. This is the manifestation, but not the cause of the inhibition of the cellular apoptosis and the bad cellular signaling.
> 
> Also chemicals and food types are not the whole picture because this is not an allergic reaction.
> 
> intermittent fasting is not going to work if you are loosing weight, because your endogenous glucose production is going to increase the cells anabolism no matter that you do not eat.
> 
> You need to become insulin resistant on low sugar cellular environment using diet. the feeling is like you do not have energy, you cannot concentrate and you can ending gaining a bit of weight. when you feel like that you need to exercise to adapt the mitocondria to this low glucose environment.
> 
> dopamine is a precursor of adrenaline, with a similar molecular structure. Dopamine is a catecholamine and if of course heavily implicated in any autoimmune disease. lots of autoinmune patients, specially girls and women, takes antidepresants and some of them have effects on dopamine.
> 
> Have you ever checked your sugar levels during the 24 hours of the day?


I understand food isn't the whole picture, it's symptomatic of the greater problem, but identifying a trigger is important in identifying a safe and balanced diet. 

Treating for bad bacteria is shown to be extremely effective so I don't think it should be discounted, even if the bacteria are also a product of the condition rather than the cause.

What are your feelings on the serotonin - dopamine treatment? Basically loading l-tyrosine and 5-htp onto a patient (mostly tyrosine) and forcing the body to balance neurotransmitter levels by creating a competitive environment? 

The problem is that fasting could possibly conflict with it. Can't modulation of cortisol levels have a negative effect on hormone levels (like testosterone) which could cause a drop in dopamine? I don't really have a firm grasp of their connection but I know they are related, and that your dietary cycle effects dopamine / serotonin levels through the day. The doctors don't describe diet as it relates to their treatment. 

I'm on my second dose today, many people reported diarrhea from the 5-HTP and I've thankfully had none so I'm already optimistic for that, and my depression is gone. I felt so giddy last night I started laughing for no reason. 

I fasted to 5:00 for 2 weeks, I tried coming off the fast this weekend because I wanted to see if it was the fast or the supplements working. I can't say whether it was breaking the fast that hurt me, I believe though that the MSM was the prime culprit and I'm going to stop taking it.


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## josemadrid

InstantCoffee said:


> I understand food isn't the whole picture, it's symptomatic of the greater problem, but identifying a trigger is important in identifying a safe and balanced diet.
> 
> Treating for bad bacteria is shown to be extremely effective so I don't think it should be discounted, even if the bacteria are also a product of the condition rather than the cause..


I agree with you. Healing the gut line can end with Crohn's but is difficult to achieve.



InstantCoffee said:


> What are your feelings on the serotonin - dopamine treatment? Basically loading l-tyrosine and 5-htp onto a patient (mostly tyrosine) and forcing the body to balance neurotransmitter levels by creating a competitive environment? ..


every desregulation in catecholamines is going to have an impact in an autoimmune disease. Dopamine is a catecholamine that can be generates de novo by immune cells, so I am sure there is a connection.



InstantCoffee said:


> The problem is that fasting could possibly conflict with it. Can't modulation of cortisol levels have a negative effect on hormone levels (like testosterone) which could cause a drop in dopamine? I don't really have a firm grasp of their connection but I know they are related, and that your dietary cycle effects dopamine / serotonin levels through the day. The doctors don't describe diet as it relates to their treatment. ..


Probably, but if you take the whole picture you are going to have anti-inflammatory effects with a insulin resistant fasting. This is proved by science. Testosterone and cortisol have similar peaks hours in the morning so I do not think they are truly opposed. Testosterone/Cortisol ratio is heavy used I know, but is a ratio of the circulating blood levels, do not mean that they are antagonists.

Also intermittent fasting sometimes increase testosterone and grow hormone levels.

I do not think testosterone have a heavy impact on autoimmune diseases no matter its relation with dopamine.




InstantCoffee said:


> I fasted to 5:00 for 2 weeks, I tried coming off the fast this weekend because I wanted to see if it was the fast or the supplements working. I can't say whether it was breaking the fast that hurt me, I believe though that the MSM was the prime culprit and I'm going to stop taking it.


in your log I see you take some juice. Juice are high sugar and increase insulin. Insulin and sugar is pro mTOR as is lifting weights. In my opinión is better to maintain your mTOR activities at the end of the day, in a 4 hour windows, and leave the most part of the day to try to express the AMPK pathway, with fasting and coffee.

This is pretty difficult as smoking, for example, increase the mTOR pathway. Or taking a fruit juice. The only think that you can take is coffee as is the only food I know that stimulate the AMPK pathway taking out nutrients from the cells. With no sugar or edulcorants of course.


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## InstantCoffee

The relationship between cortisol and testosterone is that they are created from the same resource pool - but cortisol comes first. If your body is producing too much cortisol it can become starved of the cholesterol it needs to produce testosterone.


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## josemadrid

InstantCoffee said:


> The relationship between cortisol and testosterone is that they are created from the same resource pool - but cortisol comes first. If your body is producing too much cortisol it can become starved of the cholesterol it needs to produce testosterone.


My bet is that cortisol and starving to low sugar levels is much more important to treat any autoimune disease than testosterone levels. low testosterone increase immune system yes, but the action of high cortisol prevails to shut down immune system.

also a high cortisol and low test ratio does not mean a low basal testosterone blood levels.

low testosterone, low cortisol could be terrible btw, you have point this very clear.


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## teeny5

InstantCoffee: what protein shake do you use?


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## InstantCoffee

teeny5 said:


> InstantCoffee: what protein shake do you use?


I use Russian Bear 5000, it's a mass gainer imported from Russia and the only one that doesn't make me extremely sick. 

I believe it's because it uses glucose polymers instead of sucrose or fructose. It also contains your daily vitamins and minerals as well as some supplements that may help with crohn's like colostrum.

That said, since they started adding maltodextrin I hesitate to recommend it for long-term use by crohn's patients.

I just found Jay Robb's all-natural protein yesterday

http://www.hihealth.com/jay-robb-whey-protein-chocolate-12-oz.html

I haven't tried it but it looks very safe, the ingredients list is super clean, but it is a PROTEIN shake not a mass gainer, and I want one for an infusion of liquid calories with low satiation. A protein shake is typically low in calories. 

I would also say that ON Gold Standard is *probably safe* because it's one of the few that doesn't have sucralose (a fake sugar) and a huge list of other added ingredients.

http://www.vitaminshoppe.com/p/opti...ch-chocolate-5-lb-powder/op-1011#.VYPoK_lVhBc

Protein Blend (Whey Protein Isolates, Whey Protein Concentrate, Whey Peptides), Cocoa(Processed with Alkali), Lecithin, Natural and Artificial Flavors, Acesulfame Potassium, Aminogen®, Lactase. 

That said when I tried it it DID upset my stomach, but I've had a hit or miss relationship with chocolate and vanilla flavoring that many do not.



josemadrid said:


> My bet is that cortisol and starving to low sugar levels is much more important to treat any autoimune disease than testosterone levels. low testosterone increase immune system yes, but the action of high cortisol prevails to shut down immune system.
> 
> also a high cortisol and low test ratio does not mean a low basal testosterone blood levels.
> 
> low testosterone, low cortisol could be terrible btw, you have point this very clear.


I'm not sure I entirely understand the role on insulin but I'll try to learn more. I've seen Chromium Picolonate recommended as a Crohn's supplement due to its effects on insulin but never understood why. 

It seems counter productive to your recommendations though. It says it increases insulin receptor sites.

Good or bad? 

http://www.demorton.com/Tech/Crohns-AlanGraham.htm


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## josemadrid

InstantCoffee said:


> I'm not sure I entirely understand the role on insulin but I'll try to learn more. I've seen Chromium Picolonate recommended as a Crohn's supplement due to its effects on insulin but never understood why.
> 
> It seems counter productive to your recommendations though. It says it increases insulin receptor sites.
> 
> Good or bad?
> 
> http://www.demorton.com/Tech/Crohns-AlanGraham.htm


IMHO is bad. Chromium Picolonate  increases insulin sensivity, this means more time with the mTOR activated = less apoptosis and more celular proliferation.

You need to shut down your metabolism and become insulin resistant in a low sugar environment to reduce the proliferation of immune cells and revert the cells signaling that creates the autoinmune cascade reactions.

I would check my blood sugar levels during 24hour and my glucose in urine to know why you are loosing weight so fast.

please mantain us up to date, specially of you try to return to make another fasting weeks. 

Some tips... glutamine activates the mtor pathway so do not take it in your fasting hours. In fact going to the gym will activate mTOR pathway and release glutamine from muscles, so gym is the last thing in the day prior to eat. The whole idea of fasting is to shutdown the mTOR pathway and increase the AMPK pathway.

The life style change is much better than the pills, a molecule would never be able to touch all the pathways involved.  I do not think a food or a molecule can cure an autoimmune disease.

Is you return to fast divide the day: 18 hours for fasting (AMPK) and 6 hours to exercise (on empty stomach) and feed (mTOR) If you like supplements do not take them in the morning or in your fasted hours.

If you take only one big meal in a short time could be better, but as a crohns patient you need to be careful with your digestive system and the problems you can have eating this way.


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## josemadrid

Creatine Loading Induces Reductions in Cortisol Levels at Rest & Post Workout, As Well As Improvements in Glucose Managament in Swimmers During High Intensity Training 

Creatine is probably not a good idea but who knows, sometimes is difficult because there are a lot different studies to read


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## InstantCoffee

Alright, I won't bother with chromium. 

I've restarted fasting thursday and friday. I'm kind of still in recovery from the MSM so hard to gauge progress, I sort of have to restart from where I was, the MSM made a real mess of my stomach. 

I don't really have access to diabetic testing supplies. Idk if you can get that without a prescription? Plus I can't really afford additional stuff on top of neurotransmitter pill cocktail and oils. 

If nothing else, the pills have annihilated my depression. I'm walking on cloud 9 all day and sleeping better. 

I only really have time for one big meal but I eat it slowly after work. Lately it's meat (chicken/steak/tuna with fixings) followed by oatmeal with 100% maple syrup and milk then strawberries. 

I can probably cut the creatine. It has a lot of proported benefits but as far as I can tell it only helps me get a few extra reps out in weightlifting. Its effects on muscle gain and weight gain in tests are small. It's also additional stress on what's probably already a set of stressed kidneys.

When you say not to take supplements fasted, does that include my neurotransmitter pills? Because I have to take those 2, eventually 3 times a day to work.


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## josemadrid

I do not think pills will have an impact on fasting, but juice and protein shakes  and aminoacids for sure.

MSM is know to increase hair grow and repair tissue, so probably it has an anabolic effect in cells, which is not a good think. But I could not said it for sure.

I do not think you are going to have effects that fast. This routine could probably need months to help. And later if this works you also need to recover the intestinal flora.

a bit of electrolyte imbalance is good because low sodium increases insulin resistance and slow metabolism. thats one of the effects of taking coffee. If you feel really bad, tired and have some arritmias at the end of the fast you could try to take some sodium with wáter at the end of the fast. It will slow the healing process but sometimes is necesary to go to the gym. I take myself sometimes  a glass of chicken broth with salt and a egg yolk prior my gym.

The only danger of this diet is to exercise with a bad electrolite imbalance, but you will find that this symptoms are very easy to anticipate.

There are glucose machines that cost no money but sticks are expensive. Send me a private message, if you have a paypal account I could help.

If you drop weight that fast you probably have a very fast metabolic state that could be related with some of your health problems.


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## WingedVictory

Jose, the gut biome is just as overlooked by the medical community as diet is when treating digestive autoimmune diseases and that's why they're clueless in bringing true disease remission. I think the shocking truth is just how much bacteria matter in our mental and physical well being. I'm starting to think probiotics / bacteria can be considered psychotropic and immunomodulating "drug" all on their own based on the gut/brain axis signaling theory.

The concern with food chemicals isn't about allergies, it's the secondary condition of food sensitivities which are a result of leaky gut. And why would the absence of bacteria on the gut lining lead to cell destruction/pain signals? That doesn't even sound like a realistic state to achieve and I'm not sure what exactly that is trying to prove anyways.

Instant, I think you might find this blog useful if you aren't familiar with it already.
http://coolinginflammation.blogspot.com/

It seems you're fasting extensively for the sake of starving bacteria. I question whether that will work given how well bacteria can survive.
Have you ever explored the possibility of candida or e. coli overgrowth? I know you mentioned MAP before.
Are you concerned at all with healing a leaky gut? Still taking glutamine, what dose? What is your position on oatmeal, do you think it contributes to leaky gut?
What brand of probiotic or fermented foods, milk or water kefir? Do you consume prebiotics like resistant starch so they will thrive? Green banana/plantain flour or potato starch are popular choices.
Any estimation of your daily carbohydrate intake?
Are you still avoiding salicylates? Have you considering re-adding coconut oil?


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## InstantCoffee

WingedVictory said:


> It seems you're fasting extensively for the sake of starving bacteria. I question whether that will work given how well bacteria can survive.
> Have you ever explored the possibility of candida or e. coli overgrowth? I know you mentioned MAP before.
> Are you concerned at all with healing a leaky gut? Still taking glutamine, what dose? What is your position on oatmeal, do you think it contributes to leaky gut?
> What brand of probiotic or fermented foods, milk or water kefir? Do you consume prebiotics like resistant starch so they will thrive? Green banana/plantain flour or potato starch are popular choices.
> Any estimation of your daily carbohydrate intake?
> Are you still avoiding salicylates? Have you considering re-adding coconut oil?


The fasting isn't for bacteria so much as a hormonal anti-inflammatory response in the body. 

I've tried anti-candida approaches and never really seen results. 

I was taking glutamine, I just ran out, debating on buying more. I never noticed improvement and it gave me gas. I took about a tablespoon a day.

I tried fermented foods. Sauerkraut seems safe but I have trouble getting it to not get fungus when growing. Kefir upsets my stomach as does store yogurt, never tried home made yogurt. 

I have some probiotic packets I got from GNC that I take. 
As far as resistant starches, I can't have potato starch and idk about plantains or green bananas. 

My carb intake is very high, my caloric breakdown is probably 30% protein then 35% fat 35% carbs if I had to guess. 

I stopped avoiding salicylates, my skin got better because I can salicylates but it was actually the sodium laurel sulfate and the products I switched to were free of those. I'm back on coconut oil. I switch it out with butter sometimes.

I don't believe oats are inflammatory but I do believe they and other grains should be soaked for improved digestion.

Saturdays are gonna be hard to fast. I usually visit friends, I wasn't feeling so well from Friday's dinner, I felt drained, I think something didn't agree with me, so I had to eat some before leaving the house.

I think maybe is the maple syrup or garlic.


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## WingedVictory

Do you think that the benefits of fasting outweigh the lack of nutrition you're missing for a good portion of the day? I would be concerned if fasting is impairing immune system function to fight off potential yeast/bacteria overgrowth issues. Are you doing it mostly for the serotonin aspect? That doesn't sound like it's a sustainable solution. I think your mood symptoms may be related to dysbiosis as the core cause of....well everything.

I think beating back candida to healthy levels mainly requires patience and dedication to GAPS or SCD or Low FODMAP combined with a probiotic/prebiotic regime. Milk kefir seemed to deepen my issues with dysbiosis giving me irregular heartbeat - I mainly it mainly had something to do with the yeast strains causing candida to migrate. I think for autoimmune sufferers with leaky gut and a weakened immune system fermented foods can be dangerous because they're so potent.

When you say you can't do potato does that mean you get IBS symptoms from them or something non-digestive? Just curious, either way I would think that banana or plantain is a healthier option than potato starch because it's a nightshade.

Macros look pretty balanced, I don't consider that high carb, especially if you're active.

When I read you switched up supplements and body care products I kind of didn't think removing salicylates would be effective since they're already in most plant foods. Which made me look at your initial post again and it seems like you have no fruits or veggies in your diet. Is that because you don't think you can handle the fiber? My father supplements most of his macro nutrients and I often worry that his body doesn't absorb them as well as he would from food sources.

I'd like to think that anything foreign in blood stream is inflammatory. If soaking oats helps ferment and break down the proteins that would be better. At this point though I would think that even fruits would be a safer bet than grains if you suspect leaky gut is a factor.

If raw garlic then i'd suspect feeling crumby as a die-off reaction. I think many of us tend to micromanage our diets thinking its a specific food that is causing "autoimmunity". I think in the past few years trying to diagnose myself I didn't focus enough on the bacteria/yeast aspect and too much on being gluten free. I'm now just starting to finally believe I have systemic candida after trying xifaxan and seeing more skin outbreaks in uncommon places... Antibiotics kill off the probiotics and thus a yeast like candida has an opportunity to further take over. And from a quick google around the internet it's a very common issue that is often diagnosed by the medical community as a digestive autoimmune disorder because SIBO, leaky gut, and IBS symptoms are basically the same as "crohn's" symptoms. SIBO and yeast overgrowth often come together. I'm not trying to project my own health issues onto you I just think we have some similar chronic non-digestive symptoms that could provide a link to potentially the same cause. Of course many symptoms do overlap with unique conditions.


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## InstantCoffee

My appetite is greatly increased so my calories end up being about the same at the end of the day. I eat pretty much from when I get home from work until an hour before bed. 

If it's caused solely by inflammation, I'd expect to see improvement through fasting.

If it's caused by candida, I'd expect to get worse by suppressing immune function.

The thing is our immune system doesn't seem to be doing much to fight it either way, and you have to consider the possibility that inflammation is leaving the door open for SIBO rather than the other way around.

I went on an anti-candida diet 2 years ago and it worked, the results were pretty noticeable.

I've tried no sugar no dairy recently and there wasn't a noticeable effect. Also I used to have skin fungal infections and I don't anymore. I'd expect those to still be persistent if it was a fungal source. 

I don't think my problems are the same now as they were then, so I don't believe the same solution will work. 

I don't think garlic is strong enough to trigger a herx reaction or I should have experienced one from the absurdly high amounts of monolaurin, caprylic acid and coconut oil I was ingesting, or the oregano and thyme oil I'm taking now.

Also thought I'd mention since I saw you posting about white rice. When I did my 2-3 month anti-candida diet I was on undecylenic acid from thorne research + 3000mg vitamin C daily and I pretty much ate only white rice, tuna and mayo and still had outstanding results. Idk if things would have been different without the rice, but my skin inflammation was gone within the first 3 weeks. After that I regained a lot of food tolerances.

Then I re-introduced sugar in the form of V8 splash and orange juice figuring they would be 'natural' and over  the next few months I lost rice and orange juice.

When I say potato gives me issues, I mean my digestion slows to a crawl and I slowly digest it with gas and diarrhea and pain that's nearly intolerable. Yeah, IBD symptoms.


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## WingedVictory

I think a lot of this is about perspective and getting facts straight, and I claim to be no expert.

Well yea, my concern with fasting wasn't so much that it would effect your weight gain goals, because I figured you can make up for calorie deficits in a small eating window. Your bodies going the whole day without nutrients to boost the immune system and perform bodily functions which is not good if you're potentially dealing with systemic infection from overgrowth and leaky gut. The other concern with fasting is that it may encourage you to consume a large amount of carbs in one sitting allowing bad yeast/bacteria to eat what you don't absorb in time.

I think our actual immune system cells only fight candida when it gets in the blood stream. I could be wrong and would welcome others input. Whereas candida overgrowth starts in our intestines, so it's the job of good bacteria/yeast to keep its numbers reduced. Many health researchers believe our immune system is partly comprised of our gut biome because it influences (postbiotics, immune-signaling) so many aspects of our body. A strong immune system is both having a balanced gut biome and giving them the prebiotics they need and giving our body the nutrients it needs to constantly heal the gut and detox.

If you had effective results with a candida diet 2 years ago then it sounds very likely that you still struggle with systemic overgrowth. Systemic meaning candida is overgrown, leaking from the gut into the bloodstream going to different parts of the body. My understanding so far is that this is something that we always have to be watchful of keeping at bay since candida doesn't completely go away. It's part of a healthy gut biome actually.

I think your results with the candida diet are more attributed to the undecylenic acid. From a quick google it looks like an antifungal. I think what you can take from that experience and regaining food tolerances is that fungal and bacterial overgrowths cause leaky gut. Certain foods leaking into the bloodstream creates food sensitivity symptoms.

The potatoes being an issue to me is because they take longer to digest and break down to glucose. If you can't tolerate them I would associate that with extreme dysbiosis higher up in your small intestine.

I wouldn't expect going no sugar or no dairy to reduce their population since they're said to have incredible survival skills. Your weight gain issues even make me think they're causing leaky gut (possibly along with other foods) and they're robbing you of a lot of your nutrition - whether they're stealing it or causing diarrhea. I've read when in fungal form they can root themselves into organs and suck the nutrients out of you. From my understanding diarrhea is not a natural response to a food. It's a sign of bacterial/fungal issues or a lack of bulking fiber in your diet. I don't think it's effective to try to starve the yeast back into normal proportions. I believe building our guts with a diverse probitic and prebiotic supplementation may be the only way to kill them off and crowd them out with good bacteria. In addition the postbiotic compounds the probitics produce should make the body/mind feel and function better.

When your gut flora is balanced and dysbiosis is corrected leaky gut should be able to heal and one should be able to safely consume a moderate carb diet again. Food sensitivities would also no longer be an issue. Although most will have to be mindful of not over-carbing frequently because of the chance of recurrence. Long-term supplementation with probiotics or fermented foods will probably be necessary. Even then I would be wary of home-made stuff because of the yeast factor.

Wouldn't it be sad if most digestive autoimmune suffers don't really have autoimmunity? That autoimmunity isn't even real. That all this is because of dsybiosis and bacteria/fungal overgrowths? I'm going to blunt. I don't think most of this community is approaching their disease from the right viewpoint. I myself, wasn't for the longest time. I was too obsessive about specific foods causing the leaky gut. I joined this forum to shake things up and get scientific discussions going, but not many people aren't "sciencey" around here like us.


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## UnXmas

When I had sepsis from candida, it was cured with antifungals, and no diet changes or probiotics were needed. If you really think you have candida, wouldn't you be trying to get a doctor to prescribe you antifungals? Or testing you for candida so you know if you have it?


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## WingedVictory

Antifungals will definitely help, but that alone is leaving yourself open to recurrence of overgrowth. To me, they scream, band-aid solution. Just like immunosuppressants and certain surgical procedures. Meaning it doesn't resolve the root of the problem.

Not everyone has health insurance, UnXmas. Those tests out of pocket are pricey and frankly some of us have been let down to the point where we struggle to trust any sort of health professional. Nowadays, its not the guy dressed in all black hooded clothes you have to worry about it. It's the guy wearing a business suit carrying a briefcase or the one with the clipboard and lab coat lying through their teeth.

Most people have candida albicans in their gut - it's natural. I'd venture to say many autoimmune disease sufferers have varying degrees of some sort of systemic overgrowth and symptoms and if not treated properly could very well develop sepsis like you did. Even myself right now have self diagnosed symptoms of it. Look at it as a spectrum not binary (you either have it or you dont).

And you do realize that many "real" doctors don't even acknowledge systemic candida overgrowth, leaky gut, and food sensitivities. I wonder why...if you think about it there's likely more money to be made in the long run from not curing it. Not educating disease sufferers with the truth to me...is just another form of oppression.


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## UnXmas

Doctors here in the UK are under huge pressure from the government to minimise the amount spent on treating patients. The government needs people as healthy as possible, so any financial motivation here should be the opposite to what you describe. Yet the recognition of the conditions you mention, and the treatments recommended, are the same here as in the US. How do you explain that? I'm genuinely asking; I see this argument about doctors keeping people sicker in order to profit often on this forum, but no one's ever answered this question.  

Candida is recognised both here and in the US, doctors diagnose it and treat it. People are very unlikely to develop a serious candida infection without certain risk factors. The infection I had was life threatening, it wasn't anything to do with untreated autoimmune disease. Serious infections are routinely cured without diet or probiotics, so even if there _was_ a much milder form of candida such as that which you're talking about, why would it need these measures when serious infections don't?


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## InstantCoffee

I think you're looking too hard at evidence to support a theory rather than looking at theories that best fit the evidence. 

I likely had fungal problems and dysbiosis in the past, but what I'm experiencing now it very different. 

Regardless the thyme + oregano oil should kill it off, it's powerful and anti fungal, viral and bacterial. I can worry about rebuilding my gut flora which is probably already in tatters after I get rid of the harmful stuff. 

We can't ignore the possibility that candida overgrowth may be created by an antagonistic problem in the gut. In fact we really need to consider that possibility, or there should be more people with candida infection from bad diets. We have millions of people living off twinkies and cola, every one of them should have candida infections if that's the case. 

This points to the idea of a predisposition to the infection and so we have to question what it is. 

There's evidence that bile salts malfunction in Crohn's. It's possible the poor use of bile is leading to an environment conducive to bacterial and fungal overgrowth. 

There's the connection to antibiotics of course.



Interesting development. As of about a week ago I started having bad gas and cramps.

Yesterday I was doing my morning routine of coffee and pills. I put together a glass of water with my oregano + thyme oil, and decided instead of swallowing 7 L-Cysteine pills, why not pour them in the glass and chug?

I broke down the capsules and poured them into the glass. It was terribly acidic and burned, so I ran over and threw some baking soda in it to dilute it, then chugged it. Gas and pain slowly went away throughout the day. I didn't touch coffee the rest of the day.

So I'm wondering if it's something with acidity / coffee causing my current issues since baking soda seemed to help.


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## WingedVictory

Evidence from case studies is too specific to certain test conditions, type of specimen, statistical significance, genetics. All that super heavy scientific literature you sift through I think is a bit too detailed and cutting edge.

If I could go back in time for myself...I would have focused my treatment around probiotics/prebiotics and rebuilding a healthy gut biome. If there were any supplements to invest in next I would buy a high dose probiotic and prebiotics to overhaul the gut. The highest dose one I've seen yet is a new brand called Elixa. I heard colostrum is recommended to take with them to help the bacteria stick to the walls of your colon. Also plantain or green banana flour. From there start adding prebiotic rich foods like green bananas, cooled rice/potatoes (once you can tolerate them) to your diet. You will likely have to work through the IBS symptoms as your gut rebalances and heals. Just my advice - something to think about and research before investing. If you do go through with it plan it out thoroughly so you get the most effectiveness out of the probiotic regime. Like in a smoothie with all prebiotics, followed by prebiotic foods throughout the day. One thing to caution is that foods and supplements with fructooligosaccharides like inulin can also feed opportunistic bacteria/yeast therefore some recommend to use resistant starch as the initial form of prebiotic. I don't speak from experience as I'm still waiting on plantain flour and higher dose probiotics. If you can't afford supplements perhaps slowly ramp up some home-made sauerkraut.
http://coolinginflammation.blogspot.com/2014/02/paleo-gut-flora-repair.html

High carb intake doesn't necessarily = SIBO/fungal overgrowth, then crohn's/colitis. Considering we have cultures all throughout the world that thrive on varying macro nutrient proportions without chronic autoimmune digestive diseases. There's ones that are high fat, high carb, or high protein. If your gut microbiome is strong with probiotics then I don't think moderate carb is an issue.

As far as anti-fungals/antibiotics go I don't think they're as effective (or at all) if you don't supplement probiotics/prebiotics to correct dysbiosis and stay low FODMAP. At least until the immune system gets boosted and the gut heals up to better absorb the FODMAPs before opportunistic bacteria can. It's like putting a bucket of water on the roof of a burning building when the fire is fueled from deep inside.

After going on xifaxan my skin breakouts flared up. Which reinforces how important probiotic bacteria are to our immune system. I've never had the condition diagnosed. It could very well be a light case of Hidradenitis Suppurativa like you mention yourself having.

I'm curious how many grams of carbs do you consume in one meal sitting?
Also why do you think it is you get IBD symptoms from potatoes? Do you have issues with other nightshades or do you think it's because starches are slower to digest and bad bacteria/yeast get at them? I recently read about how tomatoes can "rev up" the immune system.

Do you have any regular sources of soluble fiber in your diet to feed bacteria? I know you mentioned psyllum husks but it doesn't seem like a consistent thing and you don't seem to eat fruit or vegetables.

Coffee/caffeine is a known irritant to the gut - especially on an empty stomach. I've thought it gave me the runs at one point. Maybe my stomach can tolerate it better now from healing. I only have a cup rarely.

I like how you have a personal blog about your research and journey to become healthier. Here's another health focused blog from a guy that does a lot with probiotic experimentation. He's tells it like it is and doesn't really censor his true beliefs about society, the media, medical industry/big pharma, and health related issues.


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## josemadrid

Coffee and fats increase stomach acid secretion. Low sodium decrease it. You should not have problems if you were low sodium with coffee but if not you can have pain due to coffee.

Some molecules, to avoid oxidation, are mixed with an acid stabilizer. My lab creatine for example comes loaded with some tartaric acid that makes my stomach cry until I discover that.

If you are heavy on supplementation take that in account.


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## InstantCoffee

I've never really noticed any kind of positive results from probiotic supplementation. I've gone from moderate, long-term doses to taking an entire bottle in a few days.

I always have problems with my sauerkraut getting moldy despite my best efforts. 

I don't think nightshades are related to the problem I have with potatoes. Although I can't have peppers I could have tomatoes and nightshade based seasonings long after, I can still have cayenne and cumin. Idk if tomatoes are safe now or not I haven't eaten them in months. 

Yeah coffee has always been safe up until these last two weeks, so I think black coffee on a fast is just a non-option for me. I'm wondering if it may have been a silent antagonist for longer though. The hydradenitis inflammation on my face is seeing some improvement now, I'm not sure if it was already improving or just in the past couple days, I've had a hydracolloid bandage over it since saturday. The inflammed area under the skin has reduced significantly, although it's still filling with fluids.

I cheated on my fast yesterday, without the appetite suppressant from caffeine and the workload of my job, plus I think I under ate the night before, I was completely famished come lunch time and drove to the store for a quick fix with some prosciutto and cheese. 

Today marks 1 week on the seratonin-dopamine therapy which means change in dose scheduling.

Doing some reading on resistant starch and found this interesting article:
https://mrheisenbug.wordpress.com/2013/12/06/resistant-starch-case-closed-not-so-fast/

Basically it suggests that resistant starch feeds mostly bifido bacteria, but bifido bacteria are very low on the list of butyrate producing gut flora, and butyrate is one of the most important healing / protective byproducts of feeding healthy gut bacteria. 

Clostridia / fermicutes are much higher butyrate producers, and most likely to be starved by the kind of low-carb dieting many Crohn's patients do to control symptoms.

https://mrheisenbug.wordpress.com/2...d-allergies-excellent-news-silly-conclusions/


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## WingedVictory

I would much prefer fermented foods to buying probiotics since they offer more variety of probiotic strains and are more economical. I just think that fermented foods are much too potent for many of us trying to heal leaky gut. I think if they get into the bloodstream they can amplify the immune response and create more inflammation. Potentially even perpetuate systemic overgrowths.

I've yet to make sauerkraut. I bought a few fido jars to do it. They supposedly help seal out oxygen and I think the rubber seals allow the jar to burp out carbon dioxide. After how I reacted to the milk kefir I'm a bit more hesitant of fermented foods. I guess mold issues are mostly caused by too much oxygen getting in or not enough brine.

Have you considering making bone broth a mainstay in your diet? In the last 2+ weeks I think it has helped me heal to the point of being able to tolerate high salicylate foods again. I assume the more I heal the more foods I can tolerate without skin issues. After reading the second blog post you linked I think food sensitivities also have to do with feeding the right bacteria (Clostridia / fermicutes) to prevent an immune response. Or how about a solid dedication to L-glutamine and beef gelatin? It seems like you tried it but fell off the wagon because you didn't think it was working.

That blog on prebiotic analysis and butyrate production is interesting, but he doesn't seem think there are any conclusions to draw as they're just two isolated cases. I think the point he's driving home is to not hone in on one specific form of prebiotics to feed probiotics. I was thinking that myself this morning trying to find foods to balance things out. Like ones with pectin and inulin. Even certain components of meats feed certain types of probiotics. I admittedly still know very little on probiotics. So I guess autoimmune sufferers should feed their Clostridia / fermicutes? All this definately warrants further investigation. Thanks for the blog link.

You never answered my question on whether you carb-load in one meal sitting? That could be contributing to bad bacteria/yeast overgrowth.

And the one on soluble fiber intake. Any consistent sources of inulin, pectin, or resistant starch in your diet to feed probiotics? As many of us are constantly changing our diets to reduce inflammation, this also constantly shifts gut flora balance.


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## InstantCoffee

The few times I made sauerkraut I tolerated it well. I made it once and ate it after about a week, kept it in the fridge for about a month.

More recently I had a batch at about 2-3 weeks but after I took some out and ate it I guess it needs to be sealed and refrigerated immediately, I thought maybe if I left the stuff I didn't touch in the brine it would be alright but I think too much surfaced and caused it to spoil.

I am worried about the lead and possibility of MAP in beef products, so I'm not sure if I want to commit to that route. I've considered chicken bone broth but they don't sell chicken bones at the store, I'd have to buy a chicken and cook it, then strip it down to the bones, just not something I often have time for. 

Some of the commenters on the blog posts are interesting, one is on an almost entirely fruit based diet now. I'm not sure what kind of condition he is treating though.

http://freetheanimal.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Resistant-Starch-in-Foods.pdf

Actually the oat-flour based cakes I've been making are probably helpful. Oats have resistant starch, I'm not sure if they considered uncooked vs. cooked as in soaked in water and boiled, or if there's a difference, since I'm not soaking them, just grinding them into a powder and mixing them with eggs, butter and a sweetener. 

I'm considering trying some cooking with plantains now. 

My typical meal on IF I get home and have a glass of pomegranate juice with my l-glutamine and pills, then have my meat + fats followed by something with oats and maple syrup for sweetener. I don't put a particular focus on my carbohydrates. It's usually about 1-1.5 cups of oats, 1 cup pom juice, 2 tbsp maple syrup.

I tried adding my saccharomyces moulardii into my oats to soak overnight and it seems to be messing up my stomach. Guess that was a failed experiment.

I worry about prebiotics because many report gastric distress with intake of resistant starch, FOS and inulin, mostly in the form of gas. It seems like everything else, beneficial in moderation.


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## josemadrid

> I cheated on my fast yesterday, without the appetite suppressant from caffeine and the workload of my job, plus I think I under ate the night before, I was completely famished come lunch time and drove to the store for a quick fix with some prosciutto and cheese.



hunger in a fast not a good sign to control inflammation.  

This means your cells are not shutted down and are still taking sugar or tryglycerides at high rate. I think a lot of your heath problems could be related to an overexpresion of some celular pathways that makes your a fat and sugar burning machine, with a very difficult time trying to gaining weight.

When your metabolism is shutted down you feel more stupid, more slow and with a bit of difficult breathing. You hearth pumps harder due to the increase of catecholamines production but you have a hard time doing normal things.

About the bacteria, is pretty clear in the research that the gut bacteria is implicated in the autoimmune response, but *this not means that the different bacteria is the origin of the autoimmune response BUT the cellular pathways of the immune system of the patient* that interacts different with the normal gut bacteria.

This a very important point because the celullar pathways of patients of arthritis, Crohn's or other autoimmune diseases is not the same as a normal person. The same bacteria can act different in a Crohn's patient that in a normal person.

Also there are a lots of autoinmune diseases that do not involve gut bacteria.


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## InstantCoffee

Coffee wasn't the issue. I bought a new multi-vitamin on Sunday and it had MSM in it. Why? I have no idea why. 

I've been taking it every day at the same time I typically drink coffee and it causes the gas / bloating and feelings similar to wheat intolerance. 

Funny cause others said it helped their Crohn's. 

I've been experimenting a bit with my diet and I seem to be quite flexible. I at Amy's gluten free mac and cheese which is made with rice flour and had no ill effect. I've also been foolishly pigging out on chocolate, maple syrup, and other stuff. 

I bought plantains to try this weekend and some nitrate free hotdogs. Going to have hot dogs and fries hopefully.

In spite of the MSM wreaking havoc on my gut this entire week I've continued to put on weight.


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## WingedVictory

http://drbganimalpharm.blogspot.com/2014/10/dont-take-raw-potato-starch-rps.html
I think you will find this blog and post enlightening and give you better direction.

If you can't afford to have a stool test to diagnose what type of organism is causing dysbiosis/SIBO/SIFO > Leaky gut > systemic infection then the best approach is probably a diet like below.

From what I can gather the best approach for most with autoimmune diseases is going to be SCD, various high potency broad spectrum probiotics/fermented foods, diversity of lots of no/low starch of veggies, low starch fruit (under 20g fructose per day).

From looking at your diet I would drop the oats and juice, in fact juice is just plain bad, better to eat a piece of fruit and drink water. Your diet is severely lacking in vegetables/fruit and thus your probiotics get very little prebiotic fiber to feed on. You can either buy pectin, inulin and other prebiotic supplements or focus mostly on eating a variety of fruits/vegetables to give your good bacteria the fiber they desperately need to restore order in the gut. Inulin and pectin likely will be the main focus. In her other blog posts she goes over other prebiotics to focus on like gums and seeds and such.

If you suspect you have an overgrowth like Klebsiella (which feeds off starch and resistant starches!). Other pathogens in the small intestine may favor RS/starch too. I think my lower back pain is a sign of Ankylosing Spondylitis, which is linked with Crohn's and associated from Klebsiella. I need to research this further.

Your overgrowth could be anything. I think my focus on candida was a bit shortsighted because of my experience with the antibiotics, thinking it was a yeast specifically. Focus less on some rare transmitted pathogen like MAP and more on those that are commonly inherited at birth or from our the environment during our adolescent upbringing. Relate chronic conditions and symptoms of your family members to what type of pathogen you think you might have based on your symptoms.

I'd test out starch and resistant starch to see how you react. Many people with SIBO/SIFO have to hold off on RS until their dysbiosis is corrected. And I just bought a bunch of starchy vegetables and plantain flour, sigh.


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## InstantCoffee

WingedVictory said:


> http://drbganimalpharm.blogspot.com/2014/10/dont-take-raw-potato-starch-rps.html
> I think you will find this blog and post enlightening and give you better direction.
> 
> If you can't afford to have a stool test to diagnose what type of organism is causing dysbiosis/SIBO/SIFO > Leaky gut > systemic infection then the best approach is probably a diet like below.
> 
> From what I can gather the best approach for most with autoimmune diseases is going to be SCD, various high potency broad spectrum probiotics/fermented foods, diversity of lots of no/low starch of veggies, low starch fruit (under 20g fructose per day).
> 
> From looking at your diet I would drop the oats and juice, in fact juice is just plain bad, better to eat a piece of fruit and drink water. Your diet is severely lacking in vegetables/fruit and thus your probiotics get very little prebiotic fiber to feed on. You can either buy pectin, inulin and other prebiotic supplements or focus mostly on eating a variety of fruits/vegetables to give your good bacteria the fiber they desperately need to restore order in the gut. Inulin and pectin likely will be the main focus. In her other blog posts she goes over other prebiotics to focus on like gums and seeds and such.
> 
> If you suspect you have an overgrowth like Klebsiella (which feeds off starch and resistant starches!). Other pathogens in the small intestine may favor RS/starch too. I think my lower back pain is a sign of Ankylosing Spondylitis, which is linked with Crohn's and associated from Klebsiella. I need to research this further.
> 
> Your overgrowth could be anything. I think my focus on candida was a bit shortsighted because of my experience with the antibiotics, thinking it was a yeast specifically. Focus less on some rare transmitted pathogen like MAP and more on those that are commonly inherited at birth or from our the environment during our adolescent upbringing. Relate chronic conditions and symptoms of your family members to what type of pathogen you think you might have based on your symptoms.
> 
> I'd test out starch and resistant starch to see how you react. Many people with SIBO/SIFO have to hold off on RS until their dysbiosis is corrected. And I just bought a bunch of starchy vegetables and plantain flour, sigh.



That's the thing though, my gut does fine with oats, and oats are high in RS. 

My symptoms of late seem to be tied to  the MSM I was taking and probably the chocolate I shouldn't have been eating, but they were VERY minor compared to what chocolate used to do to me (~30 minutes in the bathroom passing bile.) 

Now I just get gassy. I don't plan on making chocolate a dietary staple like I did in the past, that's what got me here.

See the past year I actually went on a sort of detox diet. I was eating meat with coconut oil and seasonings (garlic, cayenne, paprike mostly) and having milk and honey which is debatable SCD legal, some say it can't feed harmful bacteria, and supplementing apple cider vinegar and my symptoms continued to get worse. 

I started reacting and having persistent diarrhea and lethargy and I didn't know why. I cut out the steak, seasonings and coconut oil because the time-related formula suggested that as the cause and things got better. Eventually honey started triggering reactions as well and I had to cut that too. 

I wasn't left with much and I started eating plain meat with only butter so it doesn't stick to the pan, eggs, the I incorporated some probiotics in the form of miso soup. I don't really know if that helped. 

I also tried some ayurvedic treatments, taking lauki gourd and the pom juice because they use pomegranate for diarrhea. It's been the ONLY fruit juice I don't have adverse reaction to. 

I cut the lauki because it just wasn't appetising enough, I kept letting them go bad but I started making chicken miso soup with kayle and carrots and was tolerating that well. 

It's only been since my recent therapy I've seen significant improvement but there's been so many facets that I can't really say which helped.

The fasting seemed to give my bowels a surge of healing, I'm not sure how much the  GPLC contributed. The DHEA seemed to help my mental state.

The amino acid modulation may very well be helping though. I'm debating on picking up the L-Dopa because it seemed instrumental in the effectiveness but I'm reading some sketchy stuff about how you quickly build a tolerance to L-dopa and it can have adverse effects at high doses. 

Overall I'm in a -good- place right now and I'm going to stay the course with some tweaks here and there. I'm hoping to get back to intermittent fast but I think due to my current therapy I'm going to stick with normal meals and try IF here and there on my days with low physical labor. 

My stomach simply wasn't dealing well with the huge meals at 5-8pm. 

My weight went from 124.5 to 128 this week.


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## WingedVictory

Oh, by all means keep doing what you think is working. I don't know what's more important to you - gaining weight or figuring out the cause of your autoimmunity.

A lot of times I see on this forum the terms "trigger foods" and "flare" and I think they're misnomers used incorrectly. It's not about the food itself, but instead the way it manipulates our gut flora.

If you experience a "flare" from a "trigger food" it's not so much the food itself is necessarily directly causing autoimmunity and inflammation, but rather the overgrowth of pathogenic bacteria that feed on a component (starches and fibers) of that food. It's more about the continual release of destructive postbiotic compounds by pathogens that negatively impact the body and derail it towards the development of autoimmune diseases.

http://drbganimalpharm.blogspot.com/2015/03/peering-into-four-ubiome-stool-analyses.html

For instance there are certain bacteria that excrete toxins that are likely associated with autoimmune disease symptoms. If you feed them their preferred prebiotic they will then give you a "flare". Like from the link above they talk about certain strains of clostridium that are associated with this behavior. They like to eat starches and RS's. Alternatively there is a strain of clostridum (butyricum) in probiotics, that as you already know, produces butyrate - which helps fight inflammation. So basically both pathogenic and probiotic organisms are competing for the same food sources. Funny how a food can be both good or bad for you depending on which one "gets the worm first" and proliferates in the gut.

I would heavily focus on researching and refining the prebiotics in your diet and getting more beneficial probiotics from supplements or fermented foods. From reading these 3 blogs this past week I think this forum needs a subforum dedicated to microbiology/gut microbiome talking about probiotics, prebiotics, fibers, and postbiotics as an emphasis for treatment. I think this is the fundamental way for treating autoimmunity and psychological disorders of all kinds. I'm guessing in the next decade or so that the way we treat chronic illness will get completely flipped on its head by studies like the Human Microbiome Project. Because right now physicians are mostly just treating the symptoms.

Seed. Feed. Weed. Sounds like a better life mantra than live, laugh, love. haha.

A lot of those supplements seem to relate to messing with hormones to try to relieve depression and other negative cognitive impairments. I think that is an indirect approach to solving the problem. That's because I think both mental and physical ailments all stem from dysbiosis. Better to manipulate the populations of the gut flora. Decrease the pathogenic ones that cause negative mood/cognitive symptoms/digestive inflammation, etc and instead increase the probiotic ones that keep the pathogenic ones in check to increase serotonin/dopamine production.

There's a commenter on that blog by someone called, Ashwin who talks about the ayurvedic medicine stuff like mixing all sorts of antimicrobial spices like turmeric, ginger, etc to make a special tea. That's an interesting aspect too - could be effective in treating SIBO/SIFO.

Some of those foods sound pretty exotic and I thought I was strange for buying plantains and yuccas the other day, heh.


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## InstantCoffee

Plantains are a no go. 24 hours later I'm still running to the toilet.


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## UnXmas

How do you know it's the plantains? Do you never just get symptoms unrelated to food?


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## InstantCoffee

UnXmas said:


> How do you know it's the plantains? Do you never just get symptoms unrelated to food?


Never, in my experience, it's always tied to some trigger that upsets the equilibrium. Things were going great until the plantain. It's also possible it's the garlic but I've been cooking with garlic on and off recently and not had a response like this, but I did use a lot on the plantain fries I made. 

Given then high amount of resistant starch it's not really surprising plantains might have this effect. Either by overfeeding good bacteria and creating a lot of waste product, or by feeding bad bacteria RS can cause distress.

I'll try fructooligosaccharides next time I get a chance. They seem more beneficial to crohn's.

@WingedVictory if neurotransmitters were merely a mask for the problem, it's still weird to me that some people on the amino-acid therapy were able to eliminate their food sensitivities and go back to having regular bowel movements while on it. 
If it was indeed SIBO causing the problems, then there's no way that this therapy should be able to work around it.


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## UnXmas

So you have zero symptoms unless you eat something wrong? Why not just avoid the things you can't tolerate and have no symptoms all the time?


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## InstantCoffee

UnXmas said:


> So you have zero symptoms unless you eat something wrong? Why not just avoid the things you can't tolerate and have no symptoms all the time?


It's hard to explain but if I over-limit my diet it seems to starve off the healthy bacteria and eventually it catches up to me.

On top of that a strict 'safe' diet for me is not sustainable - it's too satiating so I can't eat enough calories, it's not diverse enough so it's not healthy. My safe diet is mostly meats and fats with very low carbs. 

I've tried it, and I just end up losing weight because I can't eat enough calories to keep up.


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## UnXmas

I understand - well, maybe not the bacteria part, but I do know what it's like trying to find balances. Although I never get to a point of having no symptoms, the best diet for my digestive system doesn't have enough calories to stop me losing weight and would have virtually no fruit or vegetables.


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## WingedVictory

As I've said before. I think the fact that you have trouble with starches is a sign of pathogenic overgrowth - likely a specific species that thrives on them and has dominant colonies in your small intestine. Even myself. I don't usually get diarrhea, but I get belching, flatulence, and stomach rumbles from eating large amounts of carbs, more specifically starches. Cold boiled green bananas and a tablespoon of potato starch made my stomach rumble for hours the other day (Klebsiella?). That is with taking into account I had 5 days of antibiotics which probably got rid of more good bacteria than the bad.

I would definitely stick to simple carbs like fruit (preferably those high in soluble fibers) for now and eat them first on an empty stomach so they get absorbed better. Work on healing leaky gut. I think if you do bone broth or l-glutamine with gelatin you will make progress healing the begging portions of your small intestine to better help you absorb your carbs before bad bacteria do. It has without question helped me get rid of my salicylate intolerance. In turn this will help reduce their population and given probiotics a better efficacy. Keep introducing foods and spices with antimicrobial properties. 

You likely have severe leaky gut if you can't keep a steady weight. In fact it could be the toxic postbiotics from pathogenic overgrowth that is causing you diarrhea...that or die off of your probiotic flora. As a kid I had bad diarrhea from binging on large amounts of sugar/starch. Bacteremia is the term for when foreign microorganisms get in the blood. So taking large doses of fermented foods could make matters worse - especially give my experiences with milk kefir. Go for the kraut or kimchi. You might have to just bite the bullet and at some point give VSl3, Elixa, or other megadose probiotics a chance. At this point I feel my main options are either probiotics/prebiotics/antimicrobials in some form...or a fecal matter transplant. Frankly, I'm not that interested in the former. 

In cases of severe leaky gut I think the best way may be to treat the dysbiosis through rebalancing the flora in the colon first. That's where enteric coated high dose probiotics come into play. I hope to soon give you some feedback on my experiences with high dose probiotics. Today I took 10 capsules of primal defense as way to see if I can handle higher dosages. At this rate I will go through a bottle quickly. I don't intend to pressure you to waste money unnecessarily. With some commitment you may be able to turn things around by slowly ramping up the fermented foods and eating the bionic soluble fiber they need to thrive and re-establish a defensive barrier against pathogens lining the mucosa/intestinal barrier. Longum, Roseburia, akkermansia muciniphilla,and plantarum are some species that I read about on the Animal Farm blog that are supposed to defend the intestinal lining from opportunistic pathogens. I read a few of them like eating oligiofructose and inulin.

I would put my money on it that the vast majority of this community, if not all, has dysbiosis and leaky gut to varying degrees. It's pretty safe to self-diagnose yourself and believe you have it. There's an endless war raging in our stomachs by trillions of microorganisms. Your job is mostly to supply the beneficial ones with the proper ammunition to win the war. I'm starting to talk in circles so I will report back on my experiences with high dose probiotic supplements. Hopefully I can convince my bullish GI to prescribe me VSL3 - I'm a bit tired of arguing with these baboons.

For weight gain focus why not just increase your fat intake?


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## InstantCoffee

UnXmas said:


> I understand - well, maybe not the bacteria part, but I do know what it's like trying to find balances. Although I never get to a point of having no symptoms, the best diet for my digestive system doesn't have enough calories to stop me losing weight and would have virtually no fruit or vegetables.


When I ate a super restrictive diet, eventually it would stop working, but now it seems adding things back into it is also important, I'm finding. 

It's as much about what you take out as what you put back in.





WingedVictory said:


> As I've said before. I think the fact that you have trouble with starches is a sign of pathogenic overgrowth - likely a specific species that thrives on them and has dominant colonies in your small intestine. Even myself. I don't usually get diarrhea, but I get belching, flatulence, and stomach rumbles from eating large amounts of carbs, more specifically starches. Cold boiled green bananas and a tablespoon of potato starch made my stomach rumble for hours the other day (Klebsiella?). That is with taking into account I had 5 days of antibiotics which probably got rid of more good bacteria than the bad.
> 
> I would definitely stick to simple carbs like fruit (preferably those high in soluble fibers) for now and eat them first on an empty stomach so they get absorbed better. Work on healing leaky gut. I think if you do bone broth or l-glutamine with gelatin you will make progress healing the begging portions of your small intestine to better help you absorb your carbs before bad bacteria do. It has without question helped me get rid of my salicylate intolerance. In turn this will help reduce their population and given probiotics a better efficacy. Keep introducing foods and spices with antimicrobial properties.
> 
> You likely have severe leaky gut if you can't keep a steady weight. In fact it could be the toxic postbiotics from pathogenic overgrowth that is causing you diarrhea...that or die off of your probiotic flora. As a kid I had bad diarrhea from binging on large amounts of sugar/starch. Bacteremia is the term for when foreign microorganisms get in the blood. So taking large doses of fermented foods could make matters worse - especially give my experiences with milk kefir. Go for the kraut or kimchi. You might have to just bite the bullet and at some point give VSl3, Elixa, or other megadose probiotics a chance. At this point I feel my main options are either probiotics/prebiotics/antimicrobials in some form...or a fecal matter transplant. Frankly, I'm not that interested in the former.
> 
> In cases of severe leaky gut I think the best way may be to treat the dysbiosis through rebalancing the flora in the colon first. That's where enteric coated high dose probiotics come into play. I hope to soon give you some feedback on my experiences with high dose probiotics. Today I took 10 capsules of primal defense as way to see if I can handle higher dosages. At this rate I will go through a bottle quickly. I don't intend to pressure you to waste money unnecessarily. With some commitment you may be able to turn things around by slowly ramping up the fermented foods and eating the bionic soluble fiber they need to thrive and re-establish a defensive barrier against pathogens lining the mucosa/intestinal barrier. Longum, Roseburia, akkermansia muciniphilla,and plantarum are some species that I read about on the Animal Farm blog that are supposed to defend the intestinal lining from opportunistic pathogens. I read a few of them like eating oligiofructose and inulin.
> 
> I would put my money on it that the vast majority of this community, if not all, has dysbiosis and leaky gut to varying degrees. It's pretty safe to self-diagnose yourself and believe you have it. There's an endless war raging in our stomachs by trillions of microorganisms. Your job is mostly to supply the beneficial ones with the proper ammunition to win the war. I'm starting to talk in circles so I will report back on my experiences with high dose probiotic supplements. Hopefully I can convince my bullish GI to prescribe me VSL3 - I'm a bit tired of arguing with these baboons.
> 
> For weight gain focus why not just increase your fat intake?


There's too much hit or miss with probiotics I feel. If you don't know what strains you need, or which ones are overpopulated, it's very hard to know what supplements to buy, not only that but what kind of coatings you need to deliver them where, what kind of diet you need to support them once you get them there etc. 

I'm not ready to commit the kind of money or time into it until I know more specifics and can take a targeted approach, because I've already tried probiotics in the past and never experienced any benefits from it. It simply takes so long for them to take hold that it's not easy to know if what you're doing actually works or not. 

I'm starting to think my diarrhea this weekend could be the new acetyl l-cystine I bought, because it should have passed by now if it was just the plantain. 

The l-cystine I had before was not acetyl and thus harder to absorb, I likely wasn't getting the effect of it. The doctor who wrote the therapy says himself the cystine pills will cause liver detoxification and gastric upset. They usually taper the dose way down and add it gradually when this happens. As I've tapered it down the diarrhea is lessening.

Unfortunately I had a hiccup with some bad decision making regarding dosing of the 5-HTP.

The dosing this week was 1000mg tyrosine 300mg 5-htp before bed. After some thinking about how it works and doing well on 300 I decided to try 400 and it kept me awake until midnight, but otherwise I felt fine.

I repeated this dose this morning. At first I was experiencing severe depression, but I thought it might just be personal life issues (probably not). 
Suddenly something hit me and I had an anxiety attack. My heart was racing and I felt tingling in my face and hands. I rushed to get my tyrosine to offset it, it calmed down over the next hour and I felt very normal the rest of the day.

After more reading it looks like Tyrosine always needs to be taken in increasing doses to offset the 5-HTP. 

So I'm reviewing some of the dosing other patients had, I'm dialing back my l-cysteine and starting the L-dopa today which was the most important part for the patient that had the best result. He was able to almost fully reverse his food intolerance.

The l-cysteine thing make further sense after reading the description. "Sulfur-containing amino acid." So far all sulfur stuff has messed with me. It's also possible it just reacts differently, the original treatment calls for just l-cysteine, I'm going to cut out the acetylcysteine and see if I improve, then go back to regular l-cysteine instead if it does. I worry about discontinuing it entirely. I'm not sure the exact purpose of it, but l-cystine is protective of the liver and kidneys, if it is in fact to protect against the toxicity of this therapy, I don't want to discontinue it. 

Will have to wait until my next paycheck, maybe longer. I just got him with car taxes and I need to have some in the bank for car payment and student loan. 

I wish this wasn't so expensive, or I had a better job.

I'm going to start reviewing my dosing and reactions to them. After thoroughly reading other patients it seems that dosing goes something like this:

The primary drug contains 1500mg tyrosine, 150mg 5-htp + cofactors, so 5-htp is never dosed independent of the 1500mg tyrosine.

Doses range from 2 pills to 6 pills a day depending o patient, typically at 2 in the morning 2 at night.

The other medication contains cystine and folate, a gradual increase in this over time is the recurring trend.

L-Dopa seems to be added after week 2, too much can cause adverse effects, so erring on the side of too little and building up seems safest. Most take 1-3 a day, no more, but dosing is different because theirs is 40% purity, mine only 15%. I have to check the mg and get a breakdown for what I need to equalize dosing. 

*6/30/15*
So this morning I took:
1500 mg acetyl L-tyrosine
200mg 5-htp
2x L-dopa pills 333mg at 15% 
1x acetyl l-cystine
3x multi vitamin

I had some of the 'rush' effect but no full on anxiety attack. Frequent bathroom trips through the morning.

12:00 dose:
1500mg acetyl l-tyrosine
100mg 5-htp
1x l-dopa 
1x multi vitamin 

I had a single partially formed BM after some urgency increase followed by a relaxing of symptoms. Either tapering dose or not having l-cystine seems to have helped. 

I forgot to take my calcium and magnesium unfortunately. I will take it before bed.

Last night before bed:
900mg acetyl l-tyrosine
100mg 5-htp
2x multi
calcium + magnesium.
vit A + K

Stomach settled through the night although I was gassy. I tried eating some nitrate free hotdogs and it seemed to work out alright. 

*7/1/15 *
AM dose:
900mg A-LT
100mg 5-htp
3x multi
1000mg vit c
1x calcium capsule + 2x magnesium capsule

So far so good, mood and digestion seem stable. Maybe 1500+ mg tyrosine is too high on the A-LT, the acetyl may be more bioavailable and higher doses may just be creating a stronger reaction. Either that or it's the L-dopa that had me running to the bathroom all yesterday which also contains maltodextrin which I wish I'd seen. Oh well I have a shipment of new stuff coming in today with some bulk A-LT and 5-htp powder so I can alter dosing a bit more exact.



12:00 dose

1200mg ALT
100mg 5-htp
1000mg vit C
600mg l-lysine
1x l-dopa capsule

Ugh I just saw the l-dopa has rice flour too, that could be causing problems. Oh well I'll try it one more time and see what happens. My new supply from NOW arrives tonight. If symptoms start after this dose I'll know it's the l-dopa.


----------



## josemadrid

this could interest you

http://suppversity.blogspot.de/2013/01/oleic-acid-modulates-gut-bacteria-and.html

Oleic Acid Modulates Gut Bacteria and Induces Weight Loss on HFD Diet

on your recent regime, vitamin c is probably making you going to the bathroom.


----------



## InstantCoffee

josemadrid said:


> this could interest you
> 
> Oleic Acid Modulates Gut Bacteria and Induces Weight Loss on HFD Diet
> 
> on your recent regime, vitamin c is probably making you going to the bathroom.


I'll check it out. 

Definitely is the something in the L-Dopa supplemenet. I can and have taken super high doses of vitamin C with no repercussions. (over 3000-6000 mg a day.)

Within 45 minutes of taking  my L-dopa pill I was in the bathroom. It has maltodextrin and rice flour, both bad for me, so not really surprised at all. I was feeling good up until taking it. I'll trash it and try again with the cleaner stuff I get today.

This study is interesting. I thought overgrowth of bacteroidetes was linked to obesity while firmicutes was the opposite?

Nevermind just read the opposite. BUT firmicutes is likely more important for Crohn's because it is the top butyric acid producer. It's likely we would want to avoid oleic acid because they seem to be in competition with one another. I could be wrong. 

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1856500/
"The metagenomic approach allowed us to detect a reduced complexity of the bacterial phylum Firmicutes as a signature of the faecal microbiota in patients with CD. It also indicated the presence of new bacterial species."


I've definitely hit something with my current dosing. I feel a profound relaxedness, not really 'calmness' of mind, but like a softness over my body. It's hard to explain. It's like I was chronically 'uncomfortable' up  until this point. Not in any kind of pain, but just impossible to feel comfortable, and now it's gone. 

It feels like my body is covered in soft blankets. Not numb. Just comfortable and warm...

This is really interesting 
http://www.nature.com/nrgastro/journal/v8/n3/fig_tab/nrgastro.2011.3_T2.html

https://mrheisenbug.wordpress.com/2014/03/20/why-resistant-starch-is-probably-not-enough/

This one I think I linked to before has some really hard hitting facts.

While resistant  start feeds firmicutes, it also feeds bacteroidetes, and bacteroidetes is likely already way over expressed in Crohn's patients. 

The problem with bacteroidetes is when you starve it of fermentable starches it turns to human mucosa to feed!



> Might this mucin degradation have something to do with the Bacteroides correlation to inflammatory disease? Maybe:
> 
> Another possible mechanism by which members of the Bacteroidetes probably contribute to the pathogenesis of colitis is by the production of mucin- degrading sulphatases. Elevated levels of bacterial mucin- desulphating sulphatases have been reported for patients suffering from active UC. Furthermore, the existence of enzymes that will partially desulphate mucins has been demonstrated for B. thetaiotaomicron, B. fragilis and for Prevotella spp., suggesting that members of the Bacteroidetes could contribute to chronic inflammation by an impairment of the barrier function of the epithelial cell layer.









I'm actually gonna post this elsewhere, I think it's pretty important


----------



## InstantCoffee

Maybe I jumped the gun on this. maybe bacteroidetes feeding on intestinal mucins isn't a bad thing!

Just found this
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3705355/


> Polydextrose consumption resulted in a dose-dependent decrease in bacteroides, as well as an increase in lactobacilli and bifidobacteria [42,43].





> Intake of a mixture of FOS and inulin has also produced significant reductions in disease severity indices, reduction in pro-inflammatory immune markers, and a reduction in calprotectin, an abundant neutrophil protein found in both plasma and stool that is markedly elevated in patients with inflammatory bowel disease [55].


http://www.nature.com/srep/2015/150319/srep09253/full/srep09253.html


> To date, there are no studies that have assessed their mechanism of action and ability to alter mucosal immune responses in the intestine. We characterized the immunomodulatory function of six phytonutrients: anethol, carvacrol, cinnamaldehyde, eugenol, capsicum oleoresin and garlic extract.


Interesting! Carvacrol is in thyme and oregano oil which a guy named Canada Mark on Healingwell has been using to treat his crohn's-colitis with pretty good results. 

It's also a strong anti bacterial/viral/fungal



> However only eugenol stimulated production of the inner mucus layer, a key mucosal barrier to microbes. The mechanism by which eugenol causes mucus layer thickening likely involves microbial stimulation as analysis of the intestinal microbiota composition showed eugenol treatment led to an increase in abundance of specific families within the Clostridiales order.


Eugenol : It is a colorless to pale yellow oily liquid extracted from certain essential oils especially from clove oil, nutmeg, cinnamon, basil and bay leaf.[1][2][3][4] It is present in concentrations of 80–90% in clove bud oil and at 82–88% in clove leaf oil.[5]

Eugenol is hepatotoxic, meaning it may cause damage to the liver.[19][20] Overdose is possible, causing a wide range of symptoms from blood in the patient's urine, to convulsions, diarrhoea, nausea, unconsciousness, dizziness, or rapid heartbeat.[21] According to a published 1993 report, a 2-year old boy nearly died after taking between 5 and 10 ml.[22] Eugenol is subject to restrictions on its use in perfumery[23] as some people may become sensitised to it, however, the degree to which eugenol can cause an allergic reaction in humans is disputed.[24]



> Microbial utilization of intestinal mucins results in degradation of mucin peptides and utilization of the associated O-linked glycans as an important energy source. Consequent to glycan utilization by certain microbes is the production of waste products, including short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) butyrate, acetate, and propionate23, 24. Butyrate production by microbes has been implicated in a feedback mechanism that is involved in upregulating mucus production by goblet cells in response to mucin utilization, replenishing the utilized mucins and associated glycans25, 26.


Interesting. So maybe the bacteria feeding on the mucins is not a bad thing. Maybe it's actually a good thing and why many Crohn's patients see a benefit from fasting? Fasting forces bacteria to feed on mucins instead of relying on outer sources of food which upregulates SCFA production? Just a theory.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3448089/


> Diets rich in complex carbohydrates show less pathogenic species such as Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis and Enterobacteriaceae [49] than diets higher in fat or protein [48,50,51,52].





> Refined sugars, on the other hand, mediate the overgrowth of opportunistic bacteria like C. difficile [54] and C. perfringens by increasing bile output [55]


And there's what I've been assuming this whole time. Increase of bile output we see in Crohn's disease increases bad bacteria. 
I see a dramatic increase in bile output from certain refined sugars, mainly HFCS.
Bile is the chicken, bacteria is the egg.



> Other studies conducted in mice have found that high-fat diets rich in safflower oil, an omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA), reduces the abundance of Bacteroidetes while enriching the populations of Firmicutes, Actinobacteria and Proteobacteria [59,60].


*Summary of diet-induced dysbiosis*.

*Diet	Bacteria Altered	Effect on Bacteria	References*
*High-fat* 
Bifidobacteria spp.	Decreased (absent)	[45]
*High-fat and high-sugar*
Clostridium innocuum, Catenibacterium mitsuokai and Enterococcus spp.	Increased	[18]
Bacteroides spp.	Decreased	[18]

*Carbohydrate-reduced*
Bacteroidetes	Increased	[49]

*Calorie-restricted*
Clostridium coccoides, Lactobacillus spp. and Bifidobacteria spp.	Decreased (growth prevented)	[48]

*Complex carbohydrates	*
Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis and Enterobacteriaceae	Decreased	[49]
B. longum subspecies longum, B.breve and B. thetaiotaomicron	Increased	[53]
*Refined sugars	*
C. difficile and C. perfringens	Increased	[54,55]
*Vegetarian*
E. coli	Decreased	[56]
*High n-6 PUFA from safflower oil*
Bacteroidetes	Decreased	[59,60]
Firmicutes, Actinobacteria and Proteobacteria	Increased	[59,60]
δ-Proteobacteria	Increased	[61]
*Animal milk fat* 
δ-Proteobacteria	Increased	[62]


----------



## InstantCoffee

I'm doing further research into polydextrose, it's funny because I see positive studies, then this 'skeptical' article 
http://www.slate.com/articles/life/food/2009/03/dietary_fibber.html

which basically amounts to "Well it's not  fiber so don't call it fiber." but has no claims as to why it's not good for you. 

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct...iLqwKFY-nblH6Z-tripx-VA&bvm=bv.96952980,d.cGU



> Short-chain fatty acid production—notably that of butyrate, isobutyrate, and acetate—increased with polydextrose ingestion. There were substantial changes in fecal anaerobes after polydextrose intake. Bacteroides species (B. fragilis, B. vulgatus, and B. intermedius) decreased, whereas Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium species increased.





> Conclusion: Polydextrose ingestion had significant dietary fiber–like effects with no laxative problems.


This is  EXACTLY what we want. It is however artificial and possibly GMO, take that however you will.

I'm looking at Optimum Nutrition creates a fiber supplement with Polydextrose, Inulin, Psyllium Husks and some other fibers, but has "Digestion Resistant Maltodextrin." I'm not sure how I feel about that.

*Update on my therapy:*

I believe that my initial good response to fasting and the loss of that benefit was largely that I was also supplementing psyllium husks daily, and previously saw them as just a way to cheat and have sugar. 

Now that I understand their prebiotic effects it's likely that there's more to them than that, however due to my medication scheduling I couldn't take it because it can prevent absorption of drugs.

Upon seeing that other patients were taking their drugs twice a day instead of the 3-4x outlined in the study I decided I could try doing the same.

I now take my amino acids at about 5:30 in the morning, then I can have my psyllium husks between 10:00 and lunch time then be ready for my 4:00 dose of amino acids and still have time for more psyllium husks before bed. 

I've gradually increased my amino acids from 1000mg tyrosine 100-150mg 5-htp twice a day to 2400mg tyrosine 300mg 5-htp. I'll maintain at 300mg 5-htp and continue to increase tyrosine slowly. 
D-mucuna and 1 pill 2x a day seems safe as well.

I'm noticing positive mood enhancing effects, and a very powerful stimulant effect. I've switched to decaf coffee as I no longer feel the need for caffeine. This has me worried about withdrawals from discontinuing the medication similar to caffeine withdrawals. 

No anxiety attacks or depression this time around.

I'm not sure what happened sunday. I had oatmeal with milk, butter and maple syrup, then later in the day I had gluten free  mac and cheese with tuna and cottage cheese. I went out and was active all day and symptom free until about 4:00 when I got hit with really bad gas. I accidentally let a few slip while hanging out with a girl I'm talking with, I was mortified until she started laughing her ass off. 

It seems that I get symptoms now when I don't eat, whereas just a few weeks ago not eating provided no symptoms, I think this suggests a change in my gut flora, which is my goal afterall. 

I'll have to make sure I bring a snack of some sort if I plan to be out of the house for a while. 

Early experiments with probiotics and prebiotics have been uncomfortable experiences but maybe necessary evils. Very gassy with some irregular bowel habits. 

After last Friday's post I went to the store and bought Clove oil and a symbiotic formula of FOS with bifido and lactobacillus probiotics. They seem to trigger gas and some irregularity, I'll stick with it for a while in hopes I 'adjust' to them. 

I've decided to move away from carrot juice and just learn to enjoy them raw. 

I've been eating large amounts of raw strawberries all week with no observable negative effects. :strawberry:


----------



## josemadrid

This could interest you as mix bacteria with an autoinmune disease , in this case diabetes type I

Scientists propose a model for the role of gut bacteria in the development of autoimmunity for type 1 diabetes - In their latest paper Austin G. Davis-Richardson and Eric W. Triplett write that recent studies in children with a high genetic risk for type 1 diabetes demonstrate significant differences in the gut microbiome between children who develop autoimmunity for the disease and those who remain healthy.
As you would expect, though, the differences in microbiome composition between autoimmune and healthy children are not consistent across all studies because of the strong environmental influences on microbiome composition, particularly diet and geography. Controlling confounding factors of microbiome composition uncovers bacterial associations with disease.
For example, in a human cohort from a single Finnish city where geography is confined, a strong association between one dominant bacterial species, Bacteroides dorei, and type 1 diabetes was discovered (Davis-Richardson et al. Front Microbiol 2014;5:678).
Beyond this, recent DNA methylation analyses suggest that a thorough epigenetic analysis of the gut microbiome may be warranted. These studies suggest a testable model whereby a diet high in fat and gluten and low in resistant starch may be the primary driver of gut dysbiosis. This dysbiosis may cause a lack of butyrate production by gut bacteria, which, in turn, leads to the development of a permeable gut followed by autoimmunity. The bacterial community responsible for these changes in butyrate production may vary around the world, but bacteria of the genus Bacteroides are thought to play a key role.
www.suppversity.com | Davis-Richardson, Austin G., and Eric W. Triplett. "A model for the role of gut bacteria in the development of autoimmunity for type 1 diabetes." Diabetologia (2015): 1-8.


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## WingedVictory

If you're going to spend the money to go the antimicrobial route you might want to 'pony up' and get some biofilm disruptiors to go with them. They break up the defensive barriers that pathogens use to protect themselves from antimicrobials. I had a "wellness educator" recommend me serrapeptase (which I just started taking) and I'm going to pick up lactoferrin soon. I haven't seen any results yet, but I need to pick up some antimicrobials to go with the biofilm busters. All I'm taking with it is this high potency candida 9 tonic...which isn't effective as far as I can tell. She recommended Oreganol capsules, Caprylic acid, and some Chinese herb mixtures.

If you decide to try the biofilm disruptors it of course would be optimal to space them out away from your probiotic/prebiotic routine. I'm thinking biofilms + antimicrobials morning and night and probiotics/prebiotics in the afternoon.

It looks like you're moving away from juices to whole foods which I think will benefit you in the long run. Strawberries are noted for being heavy pesticide/dirty dozen they recommend going organic if you can afford it and are concerned with taking in more toxins. Skin breakouts/conditions are a sign of toxic overload, likely mostly from pathogenic overgrowth and their constant toxic assault. I noticed I get a mood boost from doing cardio...which I think comes from all the detoxing from tons of sweating.

That dysbios summary is interesting and would be helpful if you can get a measure of the microorganism populations of your gut specifically. Would allow you to tweak your diet to deprive the type of pathogen overgrowth you have. Although I think many may be adaptive in being able to consume protein or fat if necessary.

I may pick up some psyillum husk on account of your mood/cognitive improvement. Do you take whole or powdered? What's the difference? I kind of wanted to wait on FODMAPs, resistant starch, and prebiotics. I'm a bit conflicted as to whether I should focus on killing off pathogens or feeding probiotic bacteria in hopes they will assist in restoring balance. I'm worried pathogens will eat the prebiotics too. Most practitioners seem to recommend avoiding FODMAPs at first, not sure what psyllium husk is classified as???

Charming women with flatulence...I'll have to give that one a try sometime. Haha.


----------



## InstantCoffee

I'll consider them after I read more about it but right now my current directive is to create healthy bacteria, I'm not too worried about pathogens. I don't believe I have SIBO right now, just a shortage of good bacteria. 

The psyllium husks were not what modified my mood. Intermittent fasting did, but now I'm on amino-acid therapy that's what's stimulating positive mood changes. It's the high doses of tyrosine and 5-htp with l-dopa.

As far as I can tell psyllium husks and fiber have the same benefits but fiber is more palatable for most people. I use husks cause they're cheaper and I don't care.

Some pathogens can feed on prebiotics, the scariest one is klebsiella, however as you'll see above consuming certain prebiotic fibers is linked to decrease in MAP. 

One of the great things about fibers is they will counter out the bile acids produced by consuming simple sugars that promote the growth of harmful bacteria like c.diff. So far I'm seeing them as primarily protective and I don't know if it's really worth worrying about the harmful bacteria unless you have severe SIBO because as the good bacteria grow they should protect against the bad ones and restore gut mucosa to prevent further immune response so your immune system can return to normal.

If you just focus on killing you'll just be left with bacteroidetes bacteria after a while which can work but will leave you with a super limited diet, it will take even longer to rebuild a diverse gut flora with the bifido and clostridia strains you need to increase your dietary tolerances.

Updates for 7/8/2015

Last night's dose:
2400mg tyrosnie
300mg 5-htp
1x L-Dopa

This morning's dose
2800mg tyrosine
300mg 5-htp
1x l-dopa

Maintained a steady high level of energy, but slept fine. 

Yesterday all day I felt wired, like I was high on caffeine. Today it doesn't seem quite as pronounced despite increasing my dose slightly. It's weird, when I started the therapy the first side effects were extreme drowsiness / sleepiness at work. It's come full circle. 

I picked up a flavorless, all-natural protein shake for some quick easy calories without all the sugars and crap you usually find in them.

I also picked up a bifido specific probiotic this morning. I ordered some of the Fitness Fiber by ON and it should arrive on Friday. $10 for two tubs is a bargain. I'm weary about the 'digestion resistant maltodextrin' in it, but hopefully it's either not a problem or offset by all the other beneficial prebiotic fibers. 

I continue to see stabilization with psyllium husks back in my diet, my night time gas was very much reduced and I slept alright last night. I had a semi-loose BM when I got up, not 100% sure why, but I feel like the first probiotic I bought which is a chewable flavored with sugar might be to blame. 

Or the beef bone broth i made. I seem to tolerate the chicken alright but beef sometimes gives me issues and stomach discomfort. 

It could also be the new protein shake but time will tell on that one. 

I found my favorite strawberry brand also comes in organic at the store so I had a pound of those for breakfast, also bought some green baby bananas and some carrot sticks. Lunch is oatmeal with honey, 100% maple syrup, milk and protein shake with safflower oil and a package of gluten free mac and cheese. 

Might cheat and try a little chocolate again because I lack self control.

http://umm.edu/health/medical/altmed/supplement/tyrosine


> Levodopa (L-dopa) -- Tyrosine should not be taken at the same time as levodopa, a medication used to treat Parkinson's disease. Levodopa may interfere with the absorption of tyrosine.


I may shift my second dose of L-dopa to be at a different time than my tyrosine after reading this. It's really hard to balance this, I need to take 1 dose in the morning 1 at night plus find time either 2 hours before or 4 hours after my medications for psyllium husks.

One interesting thing I thought of this morning, I had a symptom of something for a long time that  went away without me really noticing. 

All winter and through the spring I had chronic crusting up inside my nose, plus my nose was always running. Often times there was scabbing or yellow / white crusty stuff that wasn't like usual mucus on the inside of my nostrils.

I haven't noticed it and haven't had to carry tissues with me everywhere, it's been gone... maybe since shortly after I started the fasting therapy? 

It could just be a seasonal thing and purely coincidental.

Interesting post supporting my belief that MAP is a marker of increased crohn's activity, not causative:
https://www.crohnsforum.com/showthread.php?t=36726


> Hi, Old Mike, sorry for the delay. I am in a vacation with my family with busy schedules and limited access to Internet. It had been a pleasure to have exchanged thoughts, ideas and information over the email, and thanks for your interest in my opinion on the possible link between Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP) and IBD, especially Crohn’s disease (CD).
> 
> Not like saccharin and sucralose, MAP as the possible cause of Crohn’s disease had been suspected for about a century, with extensive studies by some researchers, especially in the last several decades. Despite that, the results remains highly controversial, largely because the conflicting “facts” in almost every aspects. To my knowledge, there is also a big discrepancy between the incidence of IBD and contamination of MAP in some countries. For instance, Sweden had been one of the countries with the highest incidence of IBD, including both CD and ulcerative colitis (UC), but MAP contamination had been extremely low (see Sternberg Lewerin S et al. Control of paratuberculosis in Sweden. Proceedings of the 9th International Colloquium on Paratuberculosis 2007, p. 319-323. http://www.paratuberculosis.info/web...ories/pdfs/274). Back to 1952, MAP had been included in the Swedish Epizootic Act (SFS 1999:657). According to this legislation any suspicion of MAP is notifiable for animal owners, veterinarians or other professionals with animal contact, regardless of the species of the animal. Moreover, it required the Swedish Board of Agriculture must investigate all suspect cases and take all necessary means to eradicate and prevent the spread of the infection, if confirmed. As the result, although there were a few sporadic cases of MAP infection in cattle since 1993, all the cases were directly or indirectly linked to the imported animals, with all cases being beef herds, but none in dairy herds. The negative finding of domestically originated MAP in the more than 1.5 million of cattle and about half a million of sheep all over the country suggested the extremely low, if not zero, MAP contamination in Sweden, despite the very high incidence of CD and UC seen in many cities in Sweden like Stockholm, Uppsala, Orebro, Malmo, and Gothenburg.
> 
> In addition, there were also many conflict results regarding other aspects on the suspected link between MAP and IBD. Although some studies (like the one in Forest Virginia) suspected that contamination of MAP in the pasteurized milk or the water supply may cause CD in human, other studies failed to show any increased risk for dairy farmers with a more direct and certain contact with MAP through the infected animals (Jones PH, et al. Crohn's disease in people exposed to clinical cases of bovine paratuberculosis. Epidemiol Infect 2006;134:49-56). Although study indeed found MAP in the lymph nodes of feral cats on the contaminated farm, they did not had the signs of IBD (Palmer MV et al. Isolation of Mycobacterium avium subsp paratuberculosis (Map) from feral cats on a dairy farm with Map-infected cattle. J Wildl 2005;41:629-35).
> 
> At beginning people were suspected a similar origin for both Johne’s disease in cattle and CD in humans as they both showed the obstructive damage near the end of the ileum. However, as shown in some of the recent studies, there was a shift of CD from the small intestine to large intestine over time and the involvement of only large intestine has become the main form for CD (the Crohn’s colitis). I suspected that IBD now would be more mimic the commonly seen IBD in pet dogs and cats rather than the Johne’s disease in cattle (Qin X. What is human inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) more like: Johne's disease in cattle or IBD in dogs and cats? Inflamm Bowel Dis. 2008 Jan;14(1):138). There were also many other fundamental differences between Johne’s disease and CD. For instance, large amounts of MAP can be found in the mucosa or feces of cattle with Johne’s disease, which can be transmitted to healthy herds; in contrast, the bacteria are hardly seen in the tissues and feces of patients with CD, and IBD in general is regarded as noncontiguous. Although studies showed higher rates of existence of MAP in gut tissue of CD patients by the high sensitive methods such as the PCR detection of the IS900 DNA segments, there are also increase in other bacteria such as Helicobacter spp., Listeria monocytogenes and Escherichia coli, suggesting this could be just reflected the weakening of gut barrier and increased gut permeability (Tiveljung A, et al. Presence of eubacteria in biopsies from Crohn's disease inflammatory lesions as determined by 16S rRNA gene-based PCR. J Med Microbiol 1999;48:263-8). Finding of viable MAP in patients with CD would be important evidence for the possible link. However, the more rigorous test organized by NIH failed to repeat and confirm these findings (Van Kruiningen HJ. Where are the weapons of mass destruction - the Mycobacterium paratuberculosis in Crohn's disease? J Crohns Colitis 2011;5:638-44). Therefore, it would be no surprising that there are many deep believers on both sides. Both sides think they hold enough scientific evidences. However, one thing would be true: one side must be wrong, along with the many “solid scientific facts”.
> Xiaofa Qin is offline  Report Post


7/9/15
Last night's dose
2800mg l-tyrosine
300 mg 5-htp
1x L-Dopa

Today's dose:
3200mg l-tyrosine
300mg 5-htp
1x L-Dopa in morning, one at 11:00.

My mood hasn't felt as positive the past two days, maybe due to the increase of tyrosine, but it could just take time to balance out, as the doctor said it can take 5 days. The tiredness is back too, I'm not feeling the stimulating effect of the tyrosine, it seems like once the dose exceeds a certain threshold is starts going in the opposite direction. Strange. 

Going to 3000mg or above was when I started feeling depressed and anxious last time.

I guess I'm going on faith now, if I just sat at about 1500 to 150 I could probably maintain the 'feel good' properties of the therapy, but even the patient with the best gastrointestinal response to it reported some depression, anxiety and fatigue.


I continue to experience a lot of gas, but not painful gas like I've had in the past. I'm going to try no chewing gum for a while, I know I shouldn't be having it but I'm very self conscious about bad breath after eating. The sorbitol in sugar free gum is a FODMAP and I should be avoiding it. 

The gas as also smelled worse than usual, but my BMs have been formed and more regular, so this might be a sign of positive bacteria rebalancing. 

I'd backed off the L-glutamine because I believed it caused gas previously but I want to look at reintroducing it and the Taurine.


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## InstantCoffee

Gas seems to be linked to my maple syrup consumption. 

Weird because other sugars don't seem to be stimulating it the same. I cut out maple syrup today but I've still have pom juice, honey, ice cream and strawberries and my urgent, excessive gas is gone. 

There's definitely something different about how it's digested like people say, just not sure what. 

I tried doing a home made probiotic enema today and ended up with bloody mucus. The only two times I've ever had blood is after trying probiotic enemas. Maybe it's one of the additional ingredients in the primal defense probiotics, they have a lot of filler ingredients I don't like. 

If I ever decide to try it again it will be with a purer source of probiotics with no filler. I may culture it overnight in water with prebiotic fiber in distilled water to enhance potency. 

I've been munching on green baby bananas without problem, taking the Fitness Fiber.

Sticking with the current doses on my therapy:
Morning:
3200mg tyrosine
300mg 5-htp
3x multi for cofactors (b6, folate, C, calcium)
500mg lysine
1500mg cysteine
plus additional calcium and magnesium supplements on the saide

Aside from that I'm taking fish oil, a weekly vit D and I take a vitamin K at the same time to balance it. 

About 10g of l-glutamine, 
3.2g taurine

I've temporarily stopped taking the oils because I was considering them as a cause of the gas. I'll retry them when I'm certain it's cleared my system.


----------



## UnXmas

Wouldn't it be easier to add/change one thing at a time so you always know the cause of the problem?

Couldn't you use mouthwash or brush your teeth after eating if you don't want to chew gum?


----------



## InstantCoffee

I should, but I'm impatient so I use a shotgun approach. Modify a bunch of things, if I see positive results I find out which one caused it later. Not scientific, not responsible, but time is of the essence. 

I can't really brush my teeth at work or when out with friends. I don't think gum was the cause anyway because it seems to definitely be the maple syrup, and the small amounts of sweetener swallowed probably amount to very little.

Today I had an interesting accidental experiment. I accidentally ingested a lot of high fructose corn syrup, one of my worst trigger foods. 3 hours later I'm not having any reaction to it. 

I used to get diarrhea, dehydration and lethargy in the first 30 minutes from even a mouthful of juice with it.


----------



## UnXmas

I have an incredibly dry mouth, so I always clean my teeth after eating, I take little travel-size tooth-paste everywhere, nobody seems to mind seeing me brush my teeth in the bathrooms of retaurants, and they may think it's weird but probably no weirder than seeing me eat only a starter or only dessert for my meal. Only times I don't brush my teeth were when I used to go out on long walks and eat lunch outside.

How exactly did you accidently ingest corn syrup?!


----------



## InstantCoffee

My cousin and I got coffees, mine was plain, his was some chocolate chip flavored thing. We were fishing and I reached down and grabbed the wrong one to take my tyrosine / 5-htp powder. Because of the salty / bitter flavor of the powder I couldn't tell I was drinking the wrong coffee and had a few mouthfulls before i realized. 

Then next morning wasn't so good, but normally HFCS ingestion would have ruined my day.

Tomorrow is day 5 of consistent dosing on my amino acid therapy, if my mood isn't stabilized I'm going to do a 'pill stop' which will help me determine if my dose is low or high, and most likely go back to the dose where I felt mentally best at and stay there for 5 days and see what happens.

My first appointment with my GI since 2013 is next month. I'm going to get some bloodwork and urine testing done to check my vitamin levels and make sure I'm not hurting my kidneys with supplements.

I'm going to look into a colonoscopy if I can afford it to check how things are.


----------



## InstantCoffee

I've been reading Dr Stein's blog stuff and he says that anxiety is a result of low tyrosine rather than high. 
Though tyrosine produces catecholamines like adrenaline which would normally result in these feelings, when you're deficient compared to serotonin it causes melanin steal which results in feelings of anxiety.

I did a brief pill stop, I felt less depressed but the anxiety was creeping in so I think I have low tyrosine. I'm going to start at 1600 - 150mg 2x a day again and gradually add tyrosine until the anxiety stops. 

I need to do some more research on the involvement of D-mucuna and l-cysteine in his process. It seems they make things much more complex due to the interactions of cross inhibition. 

All I know is that 1600-150 seems SO CLOSE to a good balance. 

He suggests for Crohn's a Dopamine trial which is a certain dosing of each for 5 days and depending on how you react will point you in the right direction of the dosing you need. It's a LOT of l-dopa to take though, I'm debating on if I just take what's close to working and run with it, or start over with a guided approach.

_____________

Interestingly, he suggests the  Dopamine trial for crohn's (to determine whether you need seratonin or dopamine therapy) which is a high intake of D-mucuna and low intake of cofactors.

He then says NOT to do it for a set of other personality disorders because they will most likely have an adverse reaction to the L-Dopa, this includes anxiety, depression and social anxiety, all of which I've dealt with to some extent, especially depression.

I've noticed the recent depression and brain fog started with the d-mucuna. 

Yesterday I took my first dose at lunch time of 1500 tyrosine, 150 5-htp, when I got home I took d-mucuna and things got a little weird, then I felt like I was having an anxiety attack, I took additional tyrosine and cysteine and balanced it out a bit but then I had diarrhea (not sure if it was from what I ate, it should have been 100% safe food, just tilapia, in safflower oil with garlic and parsley flakes) and couldn't sleep until 2am. 

I'm starting to think I'm seratonin dominant and need to follow the seratonin dominant protocol which involves no D-mucuna, just aminos in a specific dose timing.

I'm going to go below the recommended dose since I seem to respond well to lower amounts.

He's giving 6000 mg tyrosine 600 mg 5-htp at 8am and 4pm (+ cofactors in cysreplete pills)

Then he's giving 3000 mg l-cysteine at noon, 4 and 8pm.

I'm looking at 2400mg tyrosine 150mg 5-htp and I'll lower the l-cysteine respectively to about half at the same time scheduling and see what happens. 

I may need to look into an independent source of B6, selenium and folate as the additional pills he gives contain large amounts. B6 is very important for providing fuel for the enzymatic reactions caused by this therapy, and it's only toxic in doses of 1000mg+ taken daily for over a year by a healthy individual. Those using a therapy like this need it for proper response.
________________________________

I did a fast today to clear my system... also because I ran out of food. 

I prepped probiotics in a solution of pom juice and let it sit out through the day and drank it with my oil mix when I got home and I'm chasing it with a calorie shake. 

I may try to get back on IF if I can get to 130 I'd really like to try a 48 hour fast.


----------



## InstantCoffee

I haven't updated this in a while. 

I cut my intake back to 3 scoops tyrosine 3 scoops 5-htp in the morning, 2 scoops tyrosine  4 scoops 5-htp at night which is roughly 1500/150 and 1000 / 400.

My mental state has been more stable and less depressed than it was on high dose. I've cut the L-Dopa out entirely. 

I've decided to experiment with a low glycemic index diet. It makes the most sense in what I've seen with sugar intake effecting symptoms of crohn's and hidradenitis. 

I'm going to have to look at a way to replace oats as my primary source of carbs. I'm switching to Stevia as a sweetener, no more honey. No more chocolates or sugars.

I may have to cast aside my worries about meat and protease for a time - after all I saw my greatest improvements on a high protein, high fat diet.

I'll continue to use fiber supplements to feed my gut bacteria. I've taken as many as 4+ scoops a day with no adverse reaction. 

I don't seem to be tolerating tomatoes well. Unfortunate because they are such a good addition to lots of meals. 

Luckily strawberries are low GI, so a good source for a sweet fix. 

I've been doing intermittent fasting with fiber powder supplement to maintain gut bacteria. I take aloe vera throughout the day to increase apoptosis with colloidal silver.

I've been trying ginkgo biloba extract for my hydradenitis incase it may be related to MRSA as I've heard it fights MRSA. So far both oral and topical application on my jaw lesion has not helped, also using DMSO + colloidal silver topically. Has helped my jaw, but a new infection that formed on my ear lobe went away with it. Either it was a different source, or being new and smaller made it more susceptible to treatment.


----------



## InstantCoffee

Greetings friends and followers.

Updates / changes from last post: 

I have not been able to successfully implement a low GI diet -yet- as I don't know the GI of the mac and cheese I've been relying on for quick meals these past few weeks.

I've relaxed on my intermittent fasting however. I haven't taken my Ginkgo as I should be. 

I'm now experimenting with low amounts of borax in water. While this may sound shocking to most, research suggests it's about HALF the toxicity of table salt per volume. A pinch in a liter of water is not dangerous, however may have flouride detoxifying properties as well as anti-mycobacterial. 

I've stopped using DMSO after learning that it can promote cell apoptosis in the retinas. 

I've been trying to take fulvic acid but it needs to be taken in chlorine-free water in a glass container which means I needs to do it after work and I often forget! 

I've been following some of Ted's remedies on earthclinic which includes borax, baking soda, humic/fulvic acid. 

Overall, my bowel movements have gone from diarrhea to a controllable semi-constipated state. I haven't seen bile in my BMs or an upset except when I experimented with coffee shop coffee the other night. 

Whole bean coffees started giving me problems a few months ago, and now I'm drinking ones in my cabinet that I had set aside because they gave  me issues and experiencing no reaction. 

That's not to say I feel like I'm cured or in remission. I'm still struggling with weight gain, and I've recently felt a loss of appetite. There's no feeling of aversion to any of the food I'm eating, just a feeling of not wanting to eat.

I found out I can have sunflower butter and have been snacking on sunbutter crunch bars by Enjoy Life brand, really blew my mind that they didn't make me sick. 1 out of thousands of processed foods that doesn't.

Update on researches: 


> Several studies note zinc deficiencies are common in Crohn's Disease. A study of 54 Crohn's Disease patients found significant deficiencies in serum zinc, vitamin A, and retinol binding protein levels compared to healthy controls. Zinc levels decreased in accordance with disease activity, patients with active disease having significantly lower levels than those with inactive disease. Zinc deficiency is associated with impaired metabolism of retinol binding protein, resulting in a vitamin A deficiency.185
> 
> Other researchers have corroborated the tendency of zinc deficiency to parallel disease activity in Crohn's Disease. A small study compared five patients with active Crohn's Disease to five patients with inactive disease and found serum zinc levels significantly lower in those with active disease. Fu*rthermore, low zinc levels seemed to be due to increased body clearance, rather than malabsorption. Reasons for the increased zinc clearance were not pursued.186*
> 
> Another study found serum zinc levels deficient (defined as 75 mcg/dL) in 17 of 50 Crohn's Disease patients (34%). *Low zinc levels were associated with an increased tendency toward fistula formation,* with 65 percent (11/17) of Crohn's Disease patients with low zinc levels experiencing fistula formation. 187 Thus, both low zinc and vitamin C levels have been implicated in a tendency toward fistula formation in Crohn's Disease patients.
> 
> Colonic mucosal biopsies of tissue from Crohn's Disease patients found abnormally low levels of zinc from uninflamed but not from inflamed tissue.188 Increased levels in involved tissue may be due to the need for more zinc as a co-factor for superoxide dismutase.
> 
> - See more at: http://www.crohns.net/miva/educatio..._in_Crohns_Disease.shtml#sthash.zfv3RrSZ.dpuf


What I'm especially interested in is that our zinc deficiency tends to be an over-excreation rather than under-absorption. I hope there's answers to this out there!

I was reading about a guy using high doses of zinc to treat his crohn's. It may not have been crohn's as zinc deficiency is similar to crohn's in symptoms. 

Many of us are exposed to large amounts of copper through our environment and diet, which worsens zinc depletion. 

Getting your zinc / copper levels tested may be useful. 

All of our minerals for in antagonist/agonistic relationships, usually in pairs.

Potassium / sodium.
Calcium / magnesium.
Zinc / copper.

It's important to know your levels of both before supplementing one. If you're deficient in zinc and only get tested for zinc and have an undiagnosed copper deficiency, supplementing zinc without copper will make you worse.


----------



## InstantCoffee

Rice products no longer cause a reaction. This is kind of a big deal.

I've been experimenting slowly, first the mac and cheese, then sunbutter crunch bars, then some gluten free fig newton knock-off brand. I tried white rice on sunday with no reaction. 

Some part of my shotgun approach must be working.


----------



## josemadrid

Nice to see you are improving. What is your opinión on intermittent fasting approach? Does it helped you a bit in your diarrhea and mental state?


----------



## InstantCoffee

Narrowing it down: 

I reduced some of the therapies to see what would happen and saw a return of symptoms.

The following are those I left out:
-fulvic acid
-borax
-baking soda
-butyric acid supplement
-fulvic acid in distilled water

Baking soda I've experimented with in the past to no great benefit so I think I can cross that off. One of the above has resulted in a decrease in flatulence, cramping and bowel movement frequency as well as an increase in dietary tolerance and weight. 

I've decided to give homeopathy a shot, I've gotten in touch with a free doctor online who's told me to try Tuberculumin after reviewing my case. Interesting that it's made with dilluted extract from tuberculosis tissues with the prevailing belief that MAP, a tuberculosis species, causes Crohn's. 

I can't see what the doctor has to gain from doing their homework, if homeopathy is placebo as others say, there's no risk, but also no reason to prescribe any specific solution unless they assume I'll research it. If it's placebo they could just throw anything at me in hopes it works. 

Also interesting this particular homeopathic remedy requires a prescription in the US. They cannot both have 'risks' and be sugar pills. The FDA really needs to get off their ass on this one. 

Hopefully it's not intercepted by customs.


----------



## InstantCoffee

I'm still thinking Crohn's is likely, but mine has presented 'weird' enough to cause my doctor to call the diagnosis into question.

I returned to him after 2 years for a checkup, told him I'm doing well, on no medications, and it responds mostly to dietary changes. He seemed a bit shocked, looked over my history, and said there were no clear cut indicators of Crohn's that he could see.

Interesting things about dx and history:

Previous to 2003 I had no symptoms except occasional heartburn at a young age after eating sweets. Late 2003 I was eating a bag of chips and some french onion dip and started feeling weird. It continued to get worse and I presented with nausea, vomiting, and discomfort in the pit of my stomach that persisted for weeks.

Doctors initially treated with antibiotics, which did nothing, and antacids, which helped to an extent.

I was recommended to a specialist in summer of 2004, but during that time lost significant weight and had to be hospitalized. I was vomiting green fluids, but rarely had any lower GI symptoms.

I was put on remicade and probably prednizone but I can't recall specifically, my symptoms improved and I spent the next 3 years symptom free until college, I think around 2008-9.

I began having frequent diarrhea and presented with chronic abscesses. Mostly on my butt cheeks (but not really localized to the preianal region), once on my testes and 3 on my pubic area. Doctors checked for fistulas but didn't believe it was caused by them. I had one fistula in the past but it had since closed. 

Once out of college my symptoms continued to deteriorate, I was switched onto Humira and saw no improvement on Humira + prednizone. Abscesses continued to form. I began having severe diarrhea, cramping stabbing pain, slowed motility, vomiting, and heartburn. 

I cut out a bunch of food from my diet gradually including gluten, potatoes, canola oil and high fructose corn syrup and with each one a symptom went away. 

My gastric ulcers and inflammation of the gastric sphincter went away despite the fact I had been off medications for several months pending treatment of an infected abscess. 

Reviewing my patient log my doctor said diagnosis was made with thickening of the ileum with non-specific inflammation atypical of Crohn's disease. 

Most other crohn's therapies like Imuran didn't have an effect on me. Supplements that often help Crohn's patients like L-glutamine, boswellia, pau d'arco, cat's claw, etc. never helped. Unlike most Crohn's patients I can drink all the milk I want, and coffee seems to make me feel better rather than worse. My reactions to some food were within 10-15 minutes of eating it which seems too fast for Crohn's.

So is my Crohn's just weird, or is there anything that's like Crohn's but not?


----------



## Crohn2357

> My reactions to some food were within 10-15 minutes of eating it which seems too fast for Crohn's.


Could be (most probably) intestinal peristalsis. It can cause abdominal pain and urgency for some crohn's patients (including me if my disease isn't controlled).
Could be upper GI inflammation (?).


----------



## InstantCoffee

Crohn2357 said:


> Could be (most probably) intestinal peristalsis. It can cause abdominal pain and urgency for some crohn's patients (including me if my disease isn't controlled).
> Could be upper GI inflammation (?).


At the time trigger foods caused upper inflammation but it went away (according to scopes) after I went gluten free.

I had gastric ulcers and inflammation of the gastric sphincter and both were gone / diminished on my follow up scope. What really pissed me off was when the doctor's head nurse practitioner / assistant (not sure what her official title was) told me it was 'too severe to be explained by food' yet here we are.

I've gained 7 lb.s this week and I have no idea how. This is crazy. 

I cut coffee and had extreme fatigue, feels like chronic fatigue syndrome or something idk. I've been napping on lunch breaks and tired the whole day.

I tried a new homeopathic medicine Wednesday and cut out all other supplements. 

I don't believe the homeopathic medicine is the cause of the weight gain but idk.

As of Saturday I introduce some new supplements. I bought more saccromyaces to give it another try to see if it would help with gas, so far it hasnt'.

I bought Thymus gland extract. I read about the Thymus and Thymus extract in helping with Tuberculosis. Since Crohn's is linked to MAP, a cousin disease to TB, I decided to look up TB therapies. 

The Thymus glad starts to shrink around puberty, when Crohn's typically presents. It's responsible for immune behavior. Very strong links going on there.


----------



## Crohn2357

S. boulardii produces extra gas for me and many people. But it helps my condition.

I've used thyme oil regularly for 2 weeks. It caused my worst flare. For some people it helps, for others it can make their disease worse. 

As for thymus gland and thyme products and its MAP inhibition... I've created some topics in HealingWell forum. I guess I've created some here as well. In HW forum there are good topics about this. Look for the Old Mike's and Canada Mark's topics and xy123 's topics by using search button. Thymus gland was a recent topic in there created by Old Mike. LOTS of thyme / oregano oil topics in there... 

I'd say, be careful with thyme products. Start slow and be cautious.

----

Take a look at this thread I've created 4 days ago.  What shocked me most is the study saying people taking Saccharomyces Boulardii has more SCFA (butyrate especially) in their feces. It could be that s. boulardii may be helping butyrate producing bacteria to more easily colonize and live in the colon. 

http://www.crohnsforum.com/showthread.php?t=73817


----------



## InstantCoffee

Not sure what's doing it but I'm definitely on a slow road to improvement.

My weight has gone from steady ~124 a month ago to a steady 132-134. My gas and pain in my chest and bowels is reduced. 

I'm eating stuff that I couldn't a few months ago. I made a home made hot chocolate with powdered cocoa and sugar which used to plant me on the can in 20-40 minutes and had no ill effect.

Currently shoveling down Amy's gluten free mac and cheese with some sandwich meat or salmon here and there. I have some protein shakes I'm taking in milk with coconut oil.

I'm having the inverse issue that I'm having constipation, which is easy enough to solve with fiber supplements, however they lead to increased gas.

Current supplement blend:
-Triphala
-Molybdenum
-DIIM
-Phospotidyl Choline
-R-lipoic acid
-L-cysteine

I've taken s. bouliardi sporadically. 

I can't say for sure if it's any of these, or a slow build up of all the stuff I've tried over the past months combined with including more fibers in my diet. Maybe all of them. 

I'm going to continue to be cautiously optimistic and minimize sugar intake. 

I've also cut multivitamins from 4x daily to 0. I've heard B vitamins can be linked to acne outbreaks, and I'm trying to get mine under control. It's been really terrible the past few months. I've combined it with using no soap as they seem to not help or make it worse. My skin is finally clearing up, and the abscess on my face isn't filling anymore.

Unfortunately I'm still not completely free of uncomfortable gas pressure. I'm still experiencing joint pain. In the past I've attributed this to lack of musculature but now I'm not sure. 

My mental fatigue and lack of focus is reduced, but not completely to where it used to be. 

I've also kicked coffee, I have it on occasion but my addiction is gone. I don't attribute coffee to my Crohn's symptoms but I think it was effecting my mental state. I largely attribute the death of my creativity to a stimulant addiction. 

Overall though I think I've created a targeted change of my gut bacteria from those of a diarrheal crohn's to constipated, which to me is preferrable and easier to manage. The slow, steady introduction of prebiotic fiber mixed with foods targeted at supporting specific growth and starvation like safflower oil likely helped.


----------



## InstantCoffee

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Np0jGp6442A 
Really interesting stuff. I wonder if this could help me with my problems getting sick after short amounts of cold exposure, or maybe more. 

His breathing techniques have been scientifically proven to alter the pH levels and the catecholamine / neurotransmitter levels in the body.


----------



## InstantCoffee

I wanted to post an update, I've been away for a while figuring  myself out, but I've been doing really well the past year, I'm up to 140+ lb.s and back in the gym regularly. 

I've tried a lot of new a different things over the past few years but here's what I believe to be the method that best led me to recovery. Much of it has already  been discussed in my log but I haven't really given a concise summary of my application of the most promising and effective techniques and supplements.

*Supplments you'll need:*
-Vitamin D, 2,000 - 5,000 IUs (always, can substitue with buying a sun lamp) 
-Fiber supplement (always) 
-Psyllium Husk or Seed powder (For first month or so) 
-ZMA (For first month especially if you have diarrhea, see doctor for testing before continuation) 
-R or A-Lipoic Acid (optional, especially indicated if you have lethargy and brain fog)
-L-Lysine (Optional, especially indicated if you have arthritis, cold sores, or skin manifestation) 
-Andrographis Paniculata and Syberian Ginseng (Optional, especially recommended if you are not on medication for crohn's) 
- Milk thistle or a similar liver detox supplement (optional but highly recommended) 
-Digestive Enzymes (optional but highly recommended) Suggest NOW Super Enzymes

First was to control inflammation, I started intermittent fasting. That is, eating only within an 8 hour window each day. Basically your window opens at 1pm and closes at 9pm when you go to bed. If you go to bed earlier or later adjust accordingly. 

It's likely you'll have to cut your calorie total but try to achieve 1500-2000 if you can. If you're someone who has trouble losing weight IF is a proven effective way for many people to control their appetite and food intake. If you have trouble gaining weight the benefits to your recovery should help you once you make it through this phase. 

There's evidence that fasting escalates natural cortisol levels in the body, reducing inflammation, balancing your neurotransmitter levels (which provides a mental health benefit, feels of wellness and contentment) and allowing your bowels time to rest and heal. 

Some people may experience gastric upset during a fast. If you do I suggest trying one of the following:
A) Add a pinch of baking soda to a liter of water and sip it through the day. This should help with reflux. If it does not, move on to B.
B) Add a capful of apple cider vinegar to a liter of water (no  baking soda) and sip through the day. Sometimes it's an overproduction of acid due to low acid in the stomach and by adding acid to it you can reduce this effect. Black coffee can work too if you can tolerate it.
C) Get a digestion-resistant fiber supplement (You'll need this later anyway!) that's 10 calories or less per serving, Psyllium works too, and take this in the morning. 

You'll want to continue to use IF until signs of inflammation are reduced, and you can continue as long as you want as it is both safe and healthy to do so. 

During this time you'll want to eat a very minimalistic diet of bare bones healthy foods. Ideally I would advise white meat, fish or soy for protein, a rice grain you can tolerate (try sushi rice, basmati rice, if you can tolerate it brown rice is ideal but may be too high fiber  for most with severe inflammation). If you can tolerate eggs they're also a good choice.

Avoid dairy if necessary, keep seasonings to a minimum, I suggest starting with NO seasonings and adding them back slowly as they may trigger symptoms even ones you think to be safe or healthy like black pepper or garlic. 

I want you to find yourself a soluble fiber supplement. Suggestion brands:
-fiber smart
-ON fitness fiber

Also get a psyllium husk or psyllium seed powder supplement. 

You need to slowly introduce this into your diet, starting with 1 scoop/ serving a day and upping it as tolerated to 3-5. 

Along with this I want you to get L-Glutamine. You can get capsules, but I prefer powder, buy yourself a bottle of pomegranate juice and as soon as you break your fast take 1 to 5 grams of L-Glutamine with pom juice on an empty stomach, and again before you go to bed for the night. L-Glutamine helps speed the healing process in the gut, POM juice is an anti-oxidant which have proposed benefits to Crohn's and potassium which you likely need.

I used to also take Aloe Vera juice when breaking my fast, but it's lacking in verifiable evidence so will leave it as optional. 

Along with this I want you to immediately take your first dose of fiber supplement. This will begin to refeed your natural gut bacteria which has been starving during the day, so they can start to overtake the invasive / pathogenic bacteria likely making you sick.

Now, many of you likely experience diarrhea. As a Crohn's patient it's likely you are zinc deficient, and if you have diarrhea it's almost guaranteed and you're likely extremely deficient. Zinc is important to functions throughout your body, but deficiency in it is cyclical and caused by, and leads to, diarrhea. It's especially important for immune support and hormonal function.

Magnesium is also important to immune function, and vitamin B6 is responsible for many of the hormones in your body that likely don't function well as a result of Crohn's.

ZMA supplements are a quick way to get all 3, but if you'd prefer, simply taking Zinc Picolinate alone can help.

Start off with 30 mg and slowly increase to 100 a day. Pay attention to side effects like gastric upset, fatigue, irritability and increased acne and dial back / stop increasing the dose if they present, this means you're using too much. Pay attention to the type of zinc you buy, and if you get gastric upset try taking it with something acidic, your body needs acid to digest zinc. 

Now there's a lot of unknowns involving viruses and Crohn's, but having a compromised immune system can make you weak to them. If you have symptoms of virus such as cold sores, sore joints, skin lesions I suggest trying L-Lysine. 
Start off with 500 mg and slowly increase to 6 grams a day. Continue on this for a month to see if these symptoms improve.

Lipoic Acid: While little is known about the exact function of Lipoic Acid, it's marketed as an anti-oxidant which isn't strictly correct. It's helpful in converting food to energy, similar to B12. If you experience lethargy and brain fog I find lipoic acid can help to counteract those symptoms. 

Start off with 100mg a day and gradually increase to 300, but do so by taking pills that have 100mg or less, and take one every 1.5-2 hours. If you can get them in 50 mg to start, even better. 

After a month on Zinc it's very important you see a doctor and have your zinc-copper levels evaluated to ensure that zinc is going up, and copper is not depleted as a result. Zinc impedes the absorption of copper, but many are high in copper as is, which is not good for us. If you're low zinc then you're still excreting too  much and not taking in enough. Some clinical trials put Crohn's patients on extreme doses as high as 300mg a day to see results, but I wouldn't exceed 100mg without blood tests. 

For andrographis take 800 mg a day and ~1000mg of siberian ginseng with it. Andrographic paniculata is an ayurveydic bitter that compares to mesalazine for treatment of UC. 

After about 1+ months on the IF diet I want you to start branching out and introducing natural, whole-food fibers into your diet. Start with plantains, green bananas, and sweet potatoes for healthy sources of resistant starches to feed your gut bacteria. At first you may experience gas, but it should pass with time as long as you're not experience extreme side effects. If you do, dial back the amount, then increase slowly. 

Buy a bundle of green baby bananas, start with one, then increase over time. 

*As far as supplement timing:*
-Zinc should be taken with something acidic, not on an empty stomach
-Psyllium should be taken 3-4 hours before or after any other medications / supplements. Calories are negligible so you can take it during a fast. 
-Lysine timing is not important
-Lipoic acid would likely be ideal during your fast.
-Digestive Enzymes before and after your meals
-Andrographis doesn't appear to be important

*Things to avoid that can trigger relapses / symptoms: *
-Zero calorie sweeteners, especially sucralose but including sortbitol, xylitol,  mannitol and other sugar alcohols. Stevia may be okay
-maltodextrin
-I highly suggest going gluten free
-reduce / limit red meat as this can be stressful to digest, especially processed red meats like bacon and prosciutto
-Eliminate simple sugars like high fructose corn syrup, dextrose, sucrose, this includes 'heathly/natural' sugars like honey and molasses
-Keep tuna and fish known for being mercury-heavy to a minimum. The heavy metal load on your body is not good. Eat healthier fish like Salmon. 

Once you can safely tolerate larger amounts of fiber you can slowly re-introduce sugars as long as you keep your fiber intake up and take your fiber alongside your sugar to buffer its absorption / digestion. 

If you do have dairy get whole milks and hard cheeses. Low-fat milks have higher carbs / more lactose. 

Sugar from raw fruits is okay, but no packaged / canned fruits in syrup etc. Limit high sugar fruits like oranges and apples to a minimum, strawberries and bananas are okay.

You may also want to look into an Amino Acid supplement like this 
http://www.iherb.com/Solgar-Essenti...250000024228&gclid=CPrJ7aGNp8oCFcZbfgod1OEAuA


----------



## InstantCoffee

Here's a look at my current daily weight-gain diet.











Combined with weighlifting I'm gaining about 1lb / week.

It's really high in unhealthy sugars, I know. I need to move some of those carbs to fiber-rich carbs like oats and plantains but time is an issue.


----------



## InstantCoffee

Just wanted to update. 

I fell into a flare for about the past 2 weeks and think I successfully ended it this weekend. 

I'm not 100% sure what caused it but risk factors included:
-I had taken ibuprofen regularly 3 times a day for almost a month prior due to a tooth ache
-Increased intake of oats, which never caused me obvious symptoms but there's evidence to suggest they aren't always compatible with gluten intolerance due to their similar proteins
-Taking large doses of DHEA for 1 week prior. Time lines seems too short and I've taken it safely in the past but I can't discount this possibility.
-Large amounts of raw table sugar in my diet
-Experimenting with sweet potato.

I saw a gradual decline in my appetite and ability to maintain my workout regimen for a few weeks, however and loss of energy, general malaise and chronic fatigue that predated trying sweet potatoes or DHEA. 

The first few days I really erupted in 'flare' felt like I ate a trigger food (gluten or similar) but those normally pass in 24-48 hours, the flare continued for over 2 weeks, independent of what I ate. 

I started taking psyllium again which gave some relief but not really preventing diarrhea or bloating. I also started having some natural sauerkraut which seemed to provide some relief but didn't prevent return of symptoms either. 

This weekend I started a shotgun-approach treatment.

1 tbsp psyllium husks twice a day, in the morning and before bed, with 3 drops of oregano oil and 1000 mg tyrosine 100 mg 5-htp in the morning, 1000mg tyrosine 150 mg 5-htp at night.

I took s. boulardii, Align (which contains b. infantis) and a wholefoods probioitic with large amounts of butyric acid and glutamine and some biotin which I've read can help with intestinal permeability. 

Then took high doses of my ZMA (3 pills, 150mg zinc a day, 75mg b6, can't recall how much magnesium).


I felt slightly feverish Sunday night but the diarrhea has stopped and now I just have some gas, minimal bloating and no pain or discomfort.

My diet during this time was tilapia, fair life milk, ice cream, strawberries (for vitamin C) and oats. I avoided whey protein. 

We'll see how things go over the next few days, I'm going to continue to take the psyllium and oregano oil with probiotics.


----------



## Beach

Just wanted to wish you luck Ben!  Thanks for what you are doing.  Hope you continue to do well with the stomach and with gaining weight.  I've been reading your updates here in the thread, and looked over your blog.  I don't come around often any longer but can remember a few years ago you talking about trying a ketogenic diet.  I was amazed!  The Keto diet was obscure at the time, little known, so it was interesting to see someone giving it a go.


----------



## Charlotte.

Hope you get back on track soon!
I'm wondering if you can determine what eventually does the trick when you start several changes at a time?
I tried oregano oil in olive oil quite a while ago, first I thought it would help me, then I felt burning pain in my tummy, it took a few weeks until I felt better again, so maybe you might want to bear that in mind when you have similar symptoms.


----------



## Scared1

This is great! How are you doing now? Do you feel the MAP research that you have read has aided you in this process overall? Have you ever been tested for MAP?


----------



## InstantCoffee

Beach said:


> Just wanted to wish you luck Ben!  Thanks for what you are doing.  Hope you continue to do well with the stomach and with gaining weight.  I've been reading your updates here in the thread, and looked over your blog.  I don't come around often any longer but can remember a few years ago you talking about trying a ketogenic diet.  I was amazed!  The Keto diet was obscure at the time, little known, so it was interesting to see someone giving it a go.


Thanks, I'm not on Keto anymore as I couldn't digest enough of the foods necessary to make it both effective and healthy, however I do believe it could be a good starting point for someone whos Crohn's responds heavily to diet - so long as they can get enough fiber. But with supplements like psyllium and smart fiber that are low calorie fiber options I believe this is possible. 

I just don't think it's necessary or necessarily the best for someone who already has trouble gaining weight because it's more of a weight loss diet. If it helps you  control symptoms though it could promote weight gain, regardless, if you're malnourished enough. 



Charlotte. said:


> Hope you get back on track soon!
> I'm wondering if you can determine what eventually does the trick when you start several changes at a time?
> I tried oregano oil in olive oil quite a while ago, first I thought it would help me, then I felt burning pain in my tummy, it took a few weeks until I felt better again, so maybe you might want to bear that in mind when you have similar symptoms.


I'm more concerned with getting results, then determining the origin of them after, and it's much easier to determine causation from a more remissive state. 

If I'm feeling well and change something and have a reaction then the time period before I return to normal is usually less than 48 hours. If, however, I've allowed something to go on for 3-4 weeks then my system is messy enough that I could take days to fully recover from it, so the nuances in my reaction to things is much less defined and it's much harder to test each one. 

It took me a while to figure out that since my last post I'd developed an aversion to oats, because I'd been eating them so long and the symptoms came on gradually, then once I was ill enough simply avoiding oats for a day didn't cause me to be 100% symptom free, but it did reduce the severity of my symptoms enough that I was able to determine causation, only after I had eliminated all the other possibilities. 

I have taken oregano oil frequently without adverse reaction (except the time I took it in a suspension of olive oil which I do react to). I have a pure oregano oil dropper that I use. I'm not convinced of its efficacy for any of my problems though.



Scared1 said:


> This is great! How are you doing now? Do you feel the MAP research that you have read has aided you in this process overall? Have you ever been tested for MAP?


Well I've been torn between MAP and the connection to neurotransmitters for a while. How can Crohn's respond to both treatments? Is it two different conditions, or are they related? If so, which one is causing which? Does the improper transport of amino acids cause a vulnerability to bacterial infection? Does the bacteria block absorption of amino acids in the gut?

I think just recently I found some evidence that could put 2 and 2 together, since I've also seen evidence that suggests MAP is not the cause - yet we still know antibiotic therapy works.

Well I read some info that suggested the Crohn's symptoms could be caused by excess serotonin in the gut. The genetic link in Crohn's is in the OCT transport proteins that are responsible for transport of amino acids from the intestines, if they don't work, too much stores in the intestines and you have serotonin toxicity. I have to look back into it, but if I recall correctly gut serotonin is produced by the body, but also by the digestion of amino acids by bacteria in the gut. Antibiotics kill both natural and invasive gut bacteria. If you took antibiotics, whether it's AMAT therapy, flagyl (which in the past helped my crohn's,) or oregano oil and it suppressed your serotonin-producing gut bacteria that would reduce the load of serotonin on your gut. 

So that just leaves me what the question of, what can I do about it?

Anyway, if I had to sum up anything in this thread is:
-Know everything you put in your body
-avoid sucralose
-fiber, fiber, fiber. Find a source your can digest and learn to love it
-L-glutamine is the only OTC supplement I can fully endorse for crohn's-specific application. Others like vitamin D may be good but that's really something EVERYONE, not just crohnies need to know about. 
-when in doubt get blood tests. Vitamin deficiencies, hormones, amino acids, whatever. I wish I could afford to do more of them, it would help me get on the right track.


----------



## Beach

Glad you are feeling better, and working through things.  That makes sense with the keto diet.  I agree.  If the diet works for your system then it might help promote healing and weight gain.  And if the diet isn't helping, its pretty quick to tell I suspect, it is probably best to stop trying it.  

That was my experience with diet ideas.  I never went fully into the Ketogenic diet, but did removed grains from my diet and ate larger amounts of fat.  The result for me was weight gain, and a better performing gut.  Now I just need to workout the low energy fatigue problem.  I seem to be making progress in that area of late.


----------



## InstantCoffee

Beach said:


> Glad you are feeling better, and working through things.  That makes sense with the keto diet.  I agree.  If the diet works for your system then it might help promote healing and weight gain.  And if the diet isn't helping, its pretty quick to tell I suspect, it is probably best to stop trying it.
> 
> That was my experience with diet ideas.  I never went fully into the Ketogenic diet, but did removed grains from my diet and ate larger amounts of fat.  The result for me was weight gain, and a better performing gut.  Now I just need to workout the low energy fatigue problem.  I seem to be making progress in that area of late.


You'll find it difficult to get energy levels if you're low carb but not keto. Do you know what % roughly of your diet is carbs, or how many grams you're consuming a day?

What is your total calorie intake on average for a day? 

Until you know both these it's hard to look at outside factors, like lingering dietary triggers that are causing low-grade inflammation.

I've been dialing back on fat because it can be highly inflammatory, especially vegetable oils, and trying to find healthy carbs to eat since they're the healthiest, easiest to use energy sources. The problem seems for many that they also trigger crohn's symptoms.

I can easily absorb the carbs from sugar without incident as long as my fiber intake is good, but they cause other long-term health problems as well as a lot of skin problems short term. I can fall back on the ice cream diet when I have to, but it's not a good long-term solution.


----------



## Beach

I'm envious that ice cream can be a fall back safe diet.  My super safe diet for my type of colitis involves plain rice.  Bland, not much fun but it takes care of an overly inflamed gut, at least for me.  I'm not sure of how many calories I eat.  Never really have sat down and worked on that.  I've found for me improved energy levels and weight gain come when the gut has been well for awhile - typically.  

I'm in a good spot at the moment and my energy levels are creeping up I feel.  I noticed too that after kicking olive oil and olives out of the diet for some reason I've gained around 5lbs.  It probably is a coincidence that happened, but as usual with this disease my weight can mysterious go up and down without much known cause.


----------



## InstantCoffee

Beach said:


> I'm envious that ice cream can be a fall back safe diet.  My super safe diet for my type of colitis involves plain rice.  Bland, not much fun but it takes care of an overly inflamed gut, at least for me.  I'm not sure of how many calories I eat.  Never really have sat down and worked on that.  I've found for me improved energy levels and weight gain come when the gut has been well for awhile - typically.
> 
> I'm in a good spot at the moment and my energy levels are creeping up I feel.  I noticed too that after kicking olive oil and olives out of the diet for some reason I've gained around 5lbs.  It probably is a coincidence that happened, but as usual with this disease my weight can mysterious go up and down without much known cause.


I actually couldn't for the past 2 years, I had to go through a long term adjustment of my diet to fix my gut flora before I could tolerate even small amounts of chocolate and sugar. 

It used to send me straight to the bathroom within ~30 minutes of eating it with green runs. Not fun.

Earlier in the thread I discuss targeting the species of bacteria in the gut with diet. I ate a lot of prebiotic fibers from psyllium, green bananas, plantains, and also safflower oil to shift the balance from bacteroidetes to firmicutes and within a 3-4 months I could literally binge eat sugar. 

Most dramatic difference I've seen and I think a credit to the diet & bacteria theories.


----------



## Beach

That is wonderful that you have found addressing gut bacteria has helped your situation.  I remember reading your write ups in the past but have to admit I don't remember everything.  You have been through a lot.  It must feel good to be making some progress.  

I know for me the first idea I tried after developing my colitis was yogurt with live cultures and gut bacteria idea.  I went that route for a few years.  It didn't improve my situation.  i wish it had but never did see improvements.  I might have done the gut bacteria wrong or maybe didn't go long enough.  There are always opinions on that.  And along those lines my father has a retired doctor friend that recently showed me an article on eating the right kind of worms/ bacteria to solve my condition.  I believe the article was in the Atlantic.  I didn't know what to make of it, other that it appears to be another idea I could try in the future if the current ideas I'm working on don't pan out as hoped.  

Going off topic, but thought this doctors research interesting.  He has largely been forgotten today.  In the 1940s in N. Carolina there was a German refuge doctor, Dr. Walter Kempner, that devised a diet to "cure" or maybe better said put into remission type 2 diabetes.  The diet Dr. Kempner of Duke university created went in phases.  The first phase of the diet goes entirely against common wisdom concerning type 2 diabetes.  The 1st phase was to eat meals of rice, lots of table sugar, and fruit.  That was it.  hard to believe but around 60% of patients saw improvements with type 2 symptoms and experienced big weight loss.  Dr. Kempner became famous in his day.  Many well known wealthy people would come to his clinic for treatment at Duke University.  Many wanted him to open rice houses across the nation.  One of better known fans was the owner of Dunkin Donuts.  I guess the idea was you could have your donuts in one shop, cross the street and detox at the rice diabetes house.  

In light of some recent studies concerning type 2 diabetes finding that medications to control sugar levels do not prevent type 2 complications such as blindness, nerve damage, poor circulation leading to amputation, it isn't all that surprising to me that Dr. Kempner's diet would help some diabetes type 2 patients.  I think most get caught up in the idea of controlling blood sugar levels with type 2 diabetes.  It is easy to forget that the disease has many complications to it.   

Anyway, when I read about Dr. Kempner's work, and my success with eating rice in the past it had me wondering if the rice sugar diet could help those with IBD conditions.  It sounds like maybe not in some cases.  Some of Dr. Kempner's work can be read about here:

https://rawfoodsos.com/2015/10/06/in-defense-of-low-fat-a-call-for-some-evolution-of-thought-part-1/ 

If you had not seen it, there was an article recently in the Guardian about blood sugar, gut bacteria, and eating ice cream that I found interesting also.  Thought you might enjoy some of the research being done with it.      

"How dieting will get personal – and much more effective
Project analysing people’s gut bacteria and determining which foods cause a spike in their blood sugar levels is paving the way for tailor-made diets"

http://www.theguardian.com/society/...changed-my-life-dieting-food-blood-sugar-diet


----------



## InstantCoffee

Beach said:


> That is wonderful that you have found addressing gut bacteria has helped your situation.  I remember reading your write ups in the past but have to admit I don't remember everything.  You have been through a lot.  It must feel good to be making some progress.
> 
> I know for me the first idea I tried after developing my colitis was yogurt with live cultures and gut bacteria idea.  I went that route for a few years.  It didn't improve my situation.  i wish it had but never did see improvements.  I might have done the gut bacteria wrong or maybe didn't go long enough.  There are always opinions on that.  And along those lines my father has a retired doctor friend that recently showed me an article on eating the right kind of worms/ bacteria to solve my condition.  I believe the article was in the Atlantic.  I didn't know what to make of it, other that it appears to be another idea I could try in the future if the current ideas I'm working on don't pan out as hoped.
> 
> Going off topic, but thought this doctors research interesting.  He has largely been forgotten today.  In the 1940s in N. Carolina there was a German refuge doctor, Dr. Walter Kempner, that devised a diet to "cure" or maybe better said put into remission type 2 diabetes.  The diet Dr. Kempner of Duke university created went in phases.  The first phase of the diet goes entirely against common wisdom concerning type 2 diabetes.  The 1st phase was to eat meals of rice, lots of table sugar, and fruit.  That was it.  hard to believe but around 60% of patients saw improvements with type 2 symptoms and experienced big weight loss.  Dr. Kempner became famous in his day.  Many well known wealthy people would come to his clinic for treatment at Duke University.  Many wanted him to open rice houses across the nation.  One of better known fans was the owner of Dunkin Donuts.  I guess the idea was you could have your donuts in one shop, cross the street and detox at the rice diabetes house.
> 
> In light of some recent studies concerning type 2 diabetes finding that medications to control sugar levels do not prevent type 2 complications such as blindness, nerve damage, poor circulation leading to amputation, it isn't all that surprising to me that Dr. Kempner's diet would help some diabetes type 2 patients.  I think most get caught up in the idea of controlling blood sugar levels with type 2 diabetes.  It is easy to forget that the disease has many complications to it.
> 
> Anyway, when I read about Dr. Kempner's work, and my success with eating rice in the past it had me wondering if the rice sugar diet could help those with IBD conditions.  It sounds like maybe not in some cases.  Some of Dr. Kempner's work can be read about here:
> 
> https://rawfoodsos.com/2015/10/06/in-defense-of-low-fat-a-call-for-some-evolution-of-thought-part-1/
> 
> If you had not seen it, there was an article recently in the Guardian about blood sugar, gut bacteria, and eating ice cream that I found interesting also.  Thought you might enjoy some of the research being done with it.
> 
> "How dieting will get personal – and much more effective
> Project analysing people’s gut bacteria and determining which foods cause a spike in their blood sugar levels is paving the way for tailor-made diets"
> 
> http://www.theguardian.com/society/...changed-my-life-dieting-food-blood-sugar-diet


These are really interesting, I haven't finished reading the first one as it's very long but I wanted to respond, I'll follow up when I have time to finish. 

It's really crazy how we still understand so little about how diet effects the intricacies of our health and well being, and also how we see people with such dogmatic views on opposing diets that both can prove effective.

I've been hearing some stuff from Vegans saying that meat is more insulinogenic than sugar and I've been meaning to look into this.

I've also noticed that I seemed to do well on high fat or high carb diets but not as well when they mixed, it's crossed my mind a few times but never made any sense so I discarded it. I used to be very meatatrian and lived on mostly meat and milk. 

After my last stint with fiber and recovering my ability to digest sugar I had a sugar heavy diet, 250g or so a day and I felt great except the terrible acne it gave me. As I started shifting out the sugar into complex carbs and fat I started feeling worse. I actually lost the ability to digest oats which had been a friend for a while which was interesting considering I was in a pretty remissive state otherwise. 

Maybe it is how they say, there's a ketogenic state in the body and an opposing one at low fat under 10% and in between our body just doesn't handle the mix.

As far as probiotic foods go, I really don't believe they're a good choice, and I strongly believe fiber is a better basis for correcting the bacterial loads of the gut, though a combined approach may be best. Foreign bacteria can never take root and populate our gut the same way our natural flora can (except obviously some exceptions like invasive / pathogenic ones). This means you need a continual stream of high loads of probiotics to take effect, and most grocery store brands of fermented foods are just so low in the number of bacteria and diversity. 

Home made ones like sauerkraut have a higher number but very low diversity and are primarily lactobacillus and studies suggest diversity is king.

From what I can tell, eating a diverse array of fibers and raw fruits and vegetables is the most effective way to repopulate our commensal gut flora, but can be hard on those with IBD, they need to start slow and careful. 

When I started, eating a cup of fruit would send me to the bathroom. Now I'm eating roast edamame and chickpeas by the handful. 


I really want to switch onto a mostly vegetarian diet but without spices and seasonings that I'm generally sensitive too I don't know if I could eat enough to sustain myself, I'd just lose taste for it so quickly.


----------



## Beach

Agree, that is a relaly long article.  

It really is interesting when looking into health ideas and trying to interpret them.  Here is something that you might have not have heard of.  There are a few type 2 diabetes studies that have found type 2 diabetes medications do not prevent type 2 diabetes complications.  (This might explain why Dr. Kempner's type 2 diabetes high sugar diet helped improve the health of many of his patients.)  As a result of the studies some doctors have begun to change how they treat their type 2 diabetes patients.  Most physicians and patients have not made changes though.  

One would want to take the medications to avoid diabetes complications.  That would be the most important part but often overlooked.  

One write up on the diabetes studies can be seen below.  The doctor has a theory that the wrong hormone is being manipulated.  Instead of high blood sugar being the health problem it might be low blood sugar and the hormone glucagon that is causing health issues such as blindness, nerve damage, etc.  

Then again something else entirely different might be going on.    

"Turning diabetes upside down"

https://drmalcolmkendrick.org/2015/08/04/turning-diabetes-upside-down/ 

From his article:



> ...If the blood sugar rises, whatever the underlying cause, we call it diabetes and drive it down…sigh. The more it rises the harder you drive it down….Sigh. The lower you get the blood sugar down the better…sigh. How do you do this? Mainly by giving drugs that force beta-cells to produce more insulin, or by adding in drugs that work with insulin to lower blood sugar levels, or by injecting additional insulin.
> 
> How well does this work? Some of you will have heard of the ACCORD study, others will not. In this study researchers, tried to force blood sugar levels down as far as possible using intensive treatment. They found the following:
> 
> ‘Until last week, researchers, doctors and every medical professional has believed for decades that if people with diabetes lowered their blood sugars to normal levels, they could not only prevent the complications from diabetes, but also reduce the risk of dying from heart disease. But the Accord Study, (for Action to Control Cardiovascular Risk in Diabetes), a major NIH study of more than 10,000 older and middle-aged people with type 2 diabetes has found that lowering blood sugar actually increased their risk of death.2’
> 
> There is one other way of lowering blood glucose, by using insulin ‘sensitising’ drugs. In diabetes most doctors look at metformin as the wonder drug. This drug improves ‘insulin sensitivity’ i.e. it helps to reduce insulin resistance. It is the absolute mainstay of type 2 diabetes treatment. Once again, however, it is targeted at purely the insulin/glucose model:
> 
> ‘Metformin has been the mainstay of treatment for type 2 diabetes since 1998 when the UK Prospective Diabetes Study showed reduced mortality with metformin use compared with diet alone. Recently a French meta-analysis of 13 random controlled trials questioned the central role of metformin in the care of patients with diabetes. In this meta-analysis, in which 9560 patients were given metformin and 3550 were given conventional treatment or placebo, metformin did not significantly affect the primary outcomes of all cause mortality or cardiovascular mortality. The secondary outcomes—myocardial infarction, stroke, heart failure, peripheral vascular disease, leg amputation, and microvascular complications—were also unaffected by treatment with metformin.’3
> 
> Today we have a virtually unquestioned model of diabetes that is very simple, and easy to understand. It should be simple to understand as it works like this. If the blood sugar goes up, the body produces insulin to lower it. If the blood sugar goes down, the body produces less insulin and the sugar level goes up.
> 
> This has meant that, if you find someone had high blood sugar levels, you basically hit them with insulin. I call insulin the ‘glucose hammer’ and, as a wise man once said. ‘If the only tool you have is a hammer, pretty soon everything starts to look like a nail’.
> 
> Reducing glucagon…. anybody?


I've noticed that when my gut is healed up well enough, and I can eat fiber, such as blueberries, I began to feel as if I'm recovering.  I've suspected that the fiber might be helping with repopulating gut bacteria.  Hard to say of course.  I've run across a few theories on how different types of fiber improves health.  What ever it is, I seem to do best when I'm able to eat fruit and vegetable fibers.


----------



## theseawillrise

Do you have an update to the post you made in 2013 titled "Thought I'd share this dietary regiment"

You reference a story from someone who mentions that he had positive results by "taking undecenoic acid 5 pills 3x a day for about 3 months" as well as "mega dose vitamin c and echinacea". 

Have you been in touch with the person from the story? How is he doing?

The thread was "showthread.php?t=56227"


----------



## InstantCoffee

theseawillrise said:


> Do you have an update to the post you made in 2013 titled "Thought I'd share this dietary regiment"
> 
> You reference a story from someone who mentions that he had positive results by "taking undecenoic acid 5 pills 3x a day for about 3 months" as well as "mega dose vitamin c and echinacea".
> 
> Have you been in touch with the person from the story? How is he doing?
> 
> The thread was "showthread.php?t=56227"


The theory was based on the idea that Crohn's is caused by candida infection which is pretty much debunked at this point. 

It may make you susceptible to it, and have a candida infection may promote crohn's-like symptoms but the idea that it's the root cause of Crohn's can pretty well be ignored. 

The only thing to take away from that dietary regimen is the benefits of a less insulinogenic diet for Crohn's. I'm not really sure how it works aside from the factors of simple sugars feeding bad bacteria in the gut and being unhealthy in general, but reducing the amount of simple carbohydrates in the diet does seem to be a pretty consistent benefit. 

I didn't keep in touch with them since the forum I was on got shut down.

The diet cured my abscesses that I mentioned though. I haven't had another once since. I've had strange skin lesions on my face that may or may not have been related, they seemed to go away when supplementing large doses of zinc and magnesium.

They did not respond to antibiotics, they were still there 2 weeks out from a heavy dose of antibiotics, the doctors said there's not really a 'delayed response' to antibiotic therapy, if they didn't work then they wouldn't spontaneously work 2 weeks out. 

I cut sugar and boom, they went away.

I haven't seen any significant evidence to support use of vitamin C and echinacea in large doses. 

Undecylenic acid is a more powerful form of monolauric acid found in coconut oil. It's anti-fungal in nature, but also really expensive.


----------



## theseawillrise

I'm giving his regimen a shot. I'll report back.

So far taking probiotics 3x daily has had a tremendously positive impact on my condition.


----------



## theseawillrise

InstantCoffee said:


> The theory was based on the idea that Crohn's is caused by candida infection which is pretty much debunked at this point.


FWIW, I went on the MAP clinic trial, lasted about 8 weeks. Didn't have any effect on me. They also weren't able to tell me if I had MAP.


----------



## Scared1

theseawillrise said:


> FWIW, I went on the MAP clinic trial, lasted about 8 weeks. Didn't have any effect on me. They also weren't able to tell me if I had MAP.


Hi, can you provide some extra info? I would be very interested in hearing about it..what trial was this and when? Did they let you know if you were on placebo or not?


----------



## theseawillrise

Scared1 said:


> Hi, can you provide some extra info? I would be very interested in hearing about it..what trial was this and when? Did they let you know if you were on placebo or not?


Hey,

So the trial was in NYC at Manhattan Medical, called MapUS. I just checked my calendar and I was actually on it for around 7-8 months. 

They tested me early on for MAP but would never tell me the results. They also wouldn't tell me if I was on the placebo or not until after the trial. When I left the study, as it turns out, I found out I was on the trial drug (RHB-104).

I just emailed the trial coordinator to ask if she has results as to whether I tested positive for MAP at the beginning. Though if I remember correctly, I don't think they have the ability to detect MAP yet. 

Every appointment I went to they took blood and stool samples. 

I didn't notice anything initially, and then eventually I started feeling worse. The trial was supposed to be 52 weeks but I jumped out early. 

Oh one additional note, I was allowed to stay on Humira (the drug I had been on at the time) during the duration of the trial.

Let me know if there's anything else you'd like to you know about it.


----------



## theseawillrise

The drug, RHB-104, is made up of these anti-biotics:

95 mg clarithromycin, 45 mg rifabutin, and 10 mg clofazimine

Do your research on them. They're pretty serious drugs. Clofazimine is used for the treatment of leprosy. 

Ps. I got pneumonia for the first time in my life a few months into the trial. I don't know if it was related to the drug –I had been swimming in a lake in northern Ontario on mushrooms and it was cold


----------



## theseawillrise

The more research I do the more I think crohn's (or my version of it) has more to do with dysbiosis / disrupted gut microbiota than anything else. In which case anti-biotics work counter to resolving your gut issues.


----------



## InstantCoffee

theseawillrise said:


> The more research I do the more I think crohn's (or my version of it) has more to do with dysbiosis / disrupted gut microbiota than anything else. In which case anti-biotics work counter to resolving your gut issues.


I hope you have good luck with treating for dysbiosis, but be aware it may not be the final answer, just a symptom of a greater issue.

I believe I had dysbiosis and I'm fairly confident I got it in check, but I still have other Crohn's symptoms, I'm just not as prone to outbreaks of diarrhea every time I eat sugar. 

What helped me most was a gradual increase of fiber in my diet, targeting foods with significant resistant starch content. 

These include green bananas and plantains, oats, potatoes (sweet ideally), brown rice, and I'm sure there's more you can find by looking around. 

I also use safflower oil since it showed benefits to growth of firmicutes bacteria which are often deficient in Crohn's.

I didn't pay too much attention to probiotics because it's really hard to know which ones help but s. boulardii and b. infantis have some promising results for Crohn's. 

Without applying other approaches I tried various probiotic protocols including massive doses over several days, mixing several probiotics, different strains, probiotic foods like kefir, sauerkraut etc. 

Nothing touched my Crohn's but fiber definitely did. 

I also don't know how much it counted by I did intermittent fasting at the same time. There's some evidence of its benefits to Crohn's, I might have posted about it back when I was doing it.

If you want a detailed recount of my thoughts, here's the blog post I made
https://beyondtheoddsfitness.wordpr...-food-intolerances/comment-page-1/#comment-39

I'm not sure I would still recommend long term ingestion of coconut or safflower oil as they're saturated fats which are pro-inflammatory and not really healthy.


----------



## InstantCoffee

Test running a vegetarian / vegan diet for a week. So far it's awful and I can't tolerate most of the things I've tried.

I tried a spaghetti made from edamame and mung beans, ended up in the bathroom. Tried lentils, again in the bathroom. Flax seed oil seems okay, so I'm gonna switch to that from fish oil cause I don't like the heavy metals in fish. 

I just can't seem to eat enough vegetables to make it viable. I'm gonna try broccoli, cauliflower and some other stuff as the week goes on but it's not looking good. 

For all the benefits and anti-inflammatory properties fiber and meat-free diets profess they don't really seem to be working out for crohn's.

I haven't found any long grain or fibrous rices I can tolerate. I can do white rice, sushi rice and arborio but brown rice gives me cramps and basmati and jasmine seems to just give general indigestion.


----------



## Beach

Sorry that the current diet trial is working out as hoped.  Better luck in the future.  I'm sure you will eventually find something that works in the end.  

I have an idea you might want to try along with diet.  It's a little different but you have an open mind and might give it a go.  It is an idea that I believe has helped my stomach.  

I've been grounding, also called earthing.  This is where one walks barefoot outside in a safe area such as the back yard grass.  I live in Florida most of the time so a barefoot visit to the beach and walking the surf works out well for me.  

Earthing has anti inflammatory properties to it.  It also has healing properties.  This is thought to come from the slight electrical negative charge the earth's surface has.  

I mention this because for me I've found when I earth 30 minutes or more a day typically I become well to the stomach.  It isn't a cure, but it helps me a good amount.  

There is decent amount of information on earthing found on the web.  There are also earthing indoor pad that some use.  I've found the indoor pads beneficial but not as helpful as walking outside barefoot.  

To learn more on the idea, I thought this a nice video.

http://www.drsinatra.com/boost-heart-health-through-grounding/ 

I'm reading one of Dr. Becker's books at the moment.  He is credited with inventing electrical machines that stimulate bone healing.  He goes further into discussing how electrical currents can be beneficial at healing other parts of the body, he found with his research at a VA hospital.  The book isn't on barefoot walking and earthing, but the ideas overlap.  The book can be seen here:

http://www.amazon.com/Cross-Current...=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1464100211&sr=1-2


----------



## InstantCoffee

I'm all for going barefoot but this sounds like placebo to me. I struggle to believe that if the earth is pumping out electrical currents they're weak enough that our shoes can insulate against them. 

I dropped my vegetarian diet trial after 5 days because I had too many problems, I'm still having problems, now I can't seem to tolerate any whole foods other than meat. I've been living off mostly gluten free cookies, snack foods and chocolate milk. 

I tried a kayle smoothie last night and ended up with an upset stomach. This is weird, because I've never had problems with some of these things until now. 

I'm going to try andrographis + siberian ginseng again since that has some pretty strong clinical evidence and see if it helps get me back on path. I believe I've created too much inflammation to where I'm no longer just reacting to food and now reacting based on the inflammation in my bowels. 

I'm avoiding any possible triggers / minimizing variables until this stabilizes.


----------



## Beach

Fair enough.  The idea of barefoot walking for health benefit is certainly a different idea.  It's an older idea that went out of fashion years ago apparently.  Sorry to read about the difficulties being experienced.  It can be so so frustrating, working out theories and all the different possibilities from them.  Hope you get back on track soon.


----------



## InstantCoffee

Figured it out, it looks like in just the 5 days or so that I went vegetarian I lost the ability to digest steak. I've had to take betaine hcl and enzyme capsules to get it to digest and I still get some minor issues.

I was thinking back on my diet and what I changed before I got worse, and one thing is I was reducing egg intake. So I'm looking at what nutrients eggs are rich in that might explain it:

In one large egg:
Vitamin A, 5% DV
Vit D 5% DV
Vit E 3% 
Thiamin 3%
Riboflavin 16%
B6 4%
Folate 7%
B12 12%
Pantothenic Acid 8%
High in phosphorous and selenium which a high, complete amino acid profile. 

They're also high in biotin, but I don't think it's a concern because biotin is generally plentiful in most foods. 


So we already know about b12  deficiency and crohn's, but I don't think I'm deficient, since my sores seem to come back every time I take b12 supplements suggesting an excess. 

A is possible - I've heard some stuff about A and crohn's but can't recall off the etop of my head. E maybe. I don't know anything about riboflavin, time to find out. Folate works synergistically with b12. 

I also don't know a bout pantothenic acid, phosphorous, and little about selenium other than it binds to mercury and helps make it inert.


----------



## InstantCoffee

Well I'm still clearly flaring even if I don't eat steak. I'm thinking back over recent changes. I started drinking tap water at work instead of bottled. I haven't had as many pumpkin seeds or zinc containing supplements, and I've discontinued my r-lipoic acid. 

I think it might be time for another intermittent fasting phase to get things back in order so I can move forward. 

I'm gonna pick up some more sauerkraut and start my plan of attack.


----------



## Beach

Sorry things are not working out at the moment.  Keep up the good fight.  I'm sure you will get things back under control and moving forward once again soon enough.  

I recently began drinking tap water once again.  This was after a long absence of doing so.  Things health wise have been progressively positively for me.  I was nervous about the change.  Happily so far the tap water doesn't appear to be a problem for me and my gut.  It has been around 2 weeks since I made this water change, so it is something I still think of, with the long duration it takes to heal or conversely become ill.  At least I suspect that is how it works for me.  

Good luck once again.


----------



## InstantCoffee

Beach said:


> Sorry things are not working out at the moment.  Keep up the good fight.  I'm sure you will get things back under control and moving forward once again soon enough.
> 
> I recently began drinking tap water once again.  This was after a long absence of doing so.  Things health wise have been progressively positively for me.  I was nervous about the change.  Happily so far the tap water doesn't appear to be a problem for me and my gut.  It has been around 2 weeks since I made this water change, so it is something I still think of, with the long duration it takes to heal or conversely become ill.  At least I suspect that is how it works for me.
> 
> Good luck once again.


I worry a lot about the plumbing, toxins, metals etc. in certain buildings and neighborhoods. Too much, or too little, bacterias, etc. everything is a potential cause for concern. 

It's unfortunate it's so cost prohibitive to get good water testing done.


----------



## likeleaves

vegetables must aggravate your system very severely - otherwise why leave them out so remarkably?


----------



## InstantCoffee

likeleaves said:


> vegetables must aggravate your system very severely - otherwise why leave them out so remarkably?


I'm not so sure it's that. Certain ones do and certain ones don't. It seems like something has sent me on a crash course with a flare because it's been downhill since a few months back when I started to increase my intake of oats and I went from tolerating them well to not tolerating them at all.


----------



## Eridon2002

InstantCoffee said:


> Well I'm still clearly flaring even if I don't eat steak. I'm thinking back over recent changes. I started drinking tap water at work instead of bottled. I haven't had as many pumpkin seeds or zinc containing supplements, and I've discontinued my r-lipoic acid.
> 
> I think it might be time for another intermittent fasting phase to get things back in order so I can move forward.
> 
> I'm gonna pick up some more sauerkraut and start my plan of attack.


I'm curious what brand of sauerkraut you buy?  I thought most sauerkraut/fermented vegetables at the grocery store have been pasteurized thus killing off the good bacteria?  I am thinking about making some at home since it is an easy procedure.  I have had good luck with homemade kefir and yogurt and want to add fermented veggies to my list.


----------



## InstantCoffee

Eridon2002 said:


> I'm curious what brand of sauerkraut you buy?  I thought most sauerkraut/fermented vegetables at the grocery store have been pasteurized thus killing off the good bacteria?  I am thinking about making some at home since it is an easy procedure.  I have had good luck with homemade kefir and yogurt and want to add fermented veggies to my list.


Bubbies, I get it at a health food store, it's expensive but I can tell it's good stuff, I always feel better after eating it. I just wish I liked it.

You can make your own too but I've never done it without it getting fungus.


----------



## InstantCoffee

Crohn's is finally coming under control this week, I don't know what worked because I carpet bombed it.

-Sauerkraut with supper every day
-Fulvic acid 
-DMSO cream twice a day
-Taurine
-R-lipoic acid
-Stopped eating steak
-Fasting 16 hours a day
-Stopped chewing gum
-Stopped drinking tap water at work
-100mg zinc / day (diarrhea is both caused by and exacerbates zinc deficiency) 
-75mg vitamin b6 / day
-S. boulardii and acidophilus probiotics
-Collagen chews
-Hibiscus tea
-andrographis + siberian ginseng 

Things I was doing before the flare I continued so I can't really attribute success to them but they might have helped:
-psyllium
-diatomaceous earth
-bentonite clay
-POM juice (slightly increased intake) 

I really think the sauerkraut might be a bit of a silver bullet in this arsenal. I wish I liked it more, I really should be eating it every day, at least 1 cup.

I'm also worried that experimenting with betaine hcl and digestive enzymes might have prompted the flare.


----------



## InstantCoffee

I was pretty bad this weekend but pulled out of it. I bought Boswellia and Cat's Claw on Friday, it gave me issues that night so I skipped it the next day and tried just Cat's Claw the next morning because I've taken cat's claw with no problem in the past by the same brand. I had a family thing and ended up in the bathroom the whole time and left early.

I tried just Boswelia the next day (monday) and it was fine so I continued Boswelia.

Currently on:
-Intermittent fast
-Boswellia + Turmeric extract from NOW foods, not sure dose, 2 pills twice a day
-100mg zinc piccolonate
-1000mg taurine
-15000 iu vitamin D
-sauerkraut with dinner every night
-andrographis blend with siberian ginseng and elderberries twice a day
-DMSO cream every night before bed

I had a large new-york strip steak wrapped in an entire pack of bacon last night. My stomach wasn't happy, but not in a Crohn's way, more in the way you'd expect from eating that food as a healthy person lol.

My dinner is usually a large portion of meat (chicken, salmon, steak) and sometimes eggs, a protein shake, a glass of POM for potassium, sauerkraut, and some kayle. I'm going to slowly start expanding the fruit and vegetable portion of it.


----------



## Beach

Hope you are feeling better and getting some relief with current ideas.  The mention of boswella gave me a chuckle.  The vitamin shop I frequent has a salesman that pushes the herb.  The moment I walk in he greets me, and goes on and on about boswella.  One of these days he is likely to break me down and I'll pick up a bottle to try.  I figure he is getting commission.  

I've been feeling to well to find the need to try it though.  Healing is slow though which is frustrating.  

I read something interesting about sauerkraut.  Some consider sauerkraut the first known cure for the vitamin C deficiency disease scurvy.  Scurvy is known for causing bleeding in the gums and elsewhere, along with leading to a weekend immune system, leading to many infectious diseases.  The famous English captain Cook brought sauerkraut onto his ships of exploration.  As a result no one died from deadly scurvy.  

Hard to believe how many sailors died from vitamin C defiency before it discovered that mostly fresh fruits and vegetables was the cause.  Some estimated up to 2 million sailors perished from the nutritional deficiency.  Before the discovery, European Admiralties would over load their war ships with sailors knowing that up to a quarter or more would die from scurvy.  Just as many could be crippled and unable to work due to the deficiency.  

What we call vitamin C, found in vitamin pills, does not cure scurvy.     

Anyway, bit of a ramble with that.  Hope you are making progress and moving forward.


----------



## InstantCoffee

Boswellia is interesting, it's listed on the University of Maryland Medical Center's site under Crohns.
http://umm.edu/health/medical/altmed/condition/crohns-disease

I am worried about the not using it for more than 1-2 months thing. 

Here's a study on it http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11215357



> The study confirms that therapy with H15 is not inferior to mesalazine.


This study showed no benefit over placebo but also no adverse effects
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20848527

This site http://www.lifeextension.com/protocols/gastrointestinal/inflammatory-bowel-disease/page-06 says


> Resin from the Boswellia genus of tree contains a powerful anti-inflammatory compound called acetyl-11-keto-β-boswellic acid (AKBA).


and mentions these trials, also mentions


> An improved extract called AprèsFlex™, or Aflapin®, which combines AKBA with other non-volatile boswellia oils, demonstrated improved anti-inflammatory activity at a lower concentration when compared to other preparations standardized to the same percentage of AKBA (Sengupta 2011).


It's definitely interesting.

The vitamin C required to prevent scurvy is very small, like lettuce leaves per week small. Preservation was of course the problem. That's why people rarely get it anymore, you'd need to be on an almost entirely meat and sugar diet. 

I'm definitely doing better this week. No more diarrhea, but still some cramping, bloating and pain. 

My cycling has improved by a lot, I can almost make it up a big hill without a break, and my legs  feel tired at the end instead of my heart and lungs feeling like they're going to explode.

I've been on and off intermittent fasting and most days I have steak and sauerkraut with a bit of kayle for supper then wash it down with a chocolate shake of some sort. 

Something been upsetting me a bit the past couple days, I think it's one of my snack foods or the chewing gum, I'll find out soon enough.

I need to order more fulvic acid but I just got hit with a ticket for late registration, which means I had to pay for emissions to pass then registration, my car tax came in and my cell phone bill needs to be renewed and after all that I need to have enough in the bank for car payment + student loan by the 14th and still have food to eat and buy gas.

Ah life.


----------



## Beach

Fantastic, glad to hear you are feeling better!  Hope the improved health continues along with the bike rides.  

I have poor energy issues.  That's my main problem most of the time.  Often I can push through the problem when riding a bike and playing a sport but that is painful and unpleasant.  

Happily my energy the last few days has been pretty darn good.  So to get rid of this problem a tennis hitting friend has suggested this summer if I should ever feel well and energetic to tell him.  We would then hit tennis balls all the time.  With the holiday here we are planning to hit 3 days this holiday weekend.  It's going to be fun,... the first day and a half, and I suspect after that I will be complaining loudly.  

Thanks for the information on Boswellia.  One of these days I'm liable to give in to the sales rep at Vitamin World and give it a try.  He's talented.  I figure once he finishes college he'll make some firm a good salesman.  

Best with the mountain of bills.  That would be frustrating.   And hope you have a chance to pick up some fulvic acid.  I read good things about fulvic acid in the past.  

For me I'll drink a little Willards water from time to time.  I believe it is high in fulvic acid along with other items.  I don't know if it is doing me any good, but the stomach is well enough so I continue to take it.


----------



## InstantCoffee

I don't think I could handle 3 days back to back of physical activity yet. Hopefully soon. 

Tried making cauliflower bread grilled cheese. Looks like cauliflower is a no-go for me, oh well, I tried. 

Also tried onion flakes on my steak which didn't work. I think the reason the onion powder is okay is because it's so old it's no longer onion powder, it's just bacterial culture lol. Idk how long it's been in the pantry.

I'm going to probably go back to a semi-ketogenic diet for a while with some leafy greens tossed in. It seems like all the fruits and vegetables I used to be okay with are no longer okay. I think it's time for a reset to just purely safe foods and taking psyllium twice daily to replenish the fiber-fed gut flora. 

I'm almost out of Boswellia so I'm going to cycle off it for at least a month as recommended. I'm thinking of trying Astragalus next.


----------



## Beach

Ah, sounds like the Japanese aged garlic/ onion products Kyolic.  I took Kyolic not that long ago to see if it would help me.  I suspect the opposite occurred.  Aged or fresh, the onion genus family is currently on my avoid list.  

I'm in a bizarro world at the moment.  I have periods of experiencing far to much energy, to the point that I need to exercise.  Typically lifting weights overly exhausts me.  Now I'm beginning to suspect weight lifting provides an energy pick me up.  Very odd change of events.  This to much energy issue should be taken care of in a few days.  I'm playing tennis Wednesday evening in 100F degree weather with a guy that has 3 daughters that are driving him insane.  I'll have to come up with a plan to distract him, as the more he mumbles about daughters, the harder to runs me around.  

Good luck with the Keto diet.  Hope it gets you feeling better soon.


----------



## InstantCoffee

I think my stomach has  finally rejected coffee.

I don't know if there's anything left to live for now...

I have a bunch of login names to get changed.


----------



## theseawillrise

What happened?


----------



## InstantCoffee

theseawillrise said:


> What happened?


I've been getting stomach upset starting around lunch time and continuing through the day.

I started the process of elimination taking out seasonings, coconut oil, milk etc. 

I was fasting one day and it happened shortly after my second cup of coffee (around mid day) so I narrowed it down to:
-milk (possibly just the special Fairlife I was drinking)
-coffee
-the bottled water
-my mug possibly leaking chemicals?

Anyway, I avoided all of those yesterday, then tried milk before bed, woke up fine, had a cup of coffee, boom stomach upset. 

I've tried 3 different brands of instant coffee and same thing each time.


----------



## Beach

Yikes!  I'm not a coffee drinker myself, but know some who are and would be terrified being around that person for long if that person didn't drink their coffee.  

I just mention this as a friendly idea.  I've noticed for me, some exercises cause stomach problems.  The stomach issue will typically happen within 24 hour or more after the exercise.  

I remember you mentioning that you bike ride for fun.  Bicycle riding causing my stomach problems.  Stomach crunches are another exercise that worry me.  I consider them a 2 day flare in the making.  If not tried already, you might laying off bike rides for a week or so to see if it helps.  Just an idea.  Hope you feel better soon!


----------



## InstantCoffee

I haven't even gotten to do any exercise because I've been too sick but I generally feel fine after working out.

I cut coffee Thursday, still no withdrawal symptoms, I feel much better both physically and mentally. Maybe it's for the better. 

I just went on a literal 'long walk on the beach' date yesterday and feel great other than sore legs. We probably walked a few miles, was out from 11:40ish to 5:40 in the afternoon just walking most of the time. 

I also can have my cookies again which I thought were making me sick - but I always dunked them in coffee, so things are starting to make sense. 

I just don't understand why what I can consume is constantly changing, it worries me because I seem to lose more options than I gain.


----------



## Beach

Yeah, these are terribly frustrating disease.  There are times I can understand why the old doctors would consult with the planets and stars to give a diagnosis and patients apparently believed.  Maybe the moon's orbit is out of place leading to health issues?  I say that jokingly of course.  I was reading in an older book on how in the middle ages doctors when giving a diagnosis would check the stars and planets.  How we think of and define diseases today could be thought of differently back then.  

I'm a bit in a similar situation at the moment.  I had great energy for awhile.  It was wonderful fun having that.  Then had a problem with the gut.  Relatively mild problem but caused me to think about a few things.  It caused me to add grass fed beef to the diet.  And now the energy has gone.  I thought today I will remove the beef from the diet, see if the energy returns on the fish diet by some point in the week.  I'm wondering now if the attack I experienced was due to something else, such as to fiber, to such starch for bacteria/fungus to feed on, if Venus and Jupiter were in alinement that day.  Grrrr.....


----------



## InstantCoffee

Worshiping the sun would get me about the same effective treatment I've had since 2010 from medical doctors with a lower price tag. 

I really wish they would put more emphasis on understanding why food influences Crohn's so heavily and how we can use it to our advantage in a comprehensive way. Until we have a cure it's really the key to managing symptoms for many people, for it to be so poorly researched compared to things like genetic markers and biologics is outrageous, but they can't patent and sell you a diet like they can a pill.

It's a week now since I quit coffee and I think the most bizarre thing is the complete lack of withdrawal symptoms. No headaches or anything I usually associate with quitting coffee. 

Things have been much better controlled lately.


----------



## Beach

Agree, it is frustrating that more hasn't been done researching and advising on dietary ideas for IBD conditions.  From what I read It's one of those fuzzy areas of health care.  There is little incentive to research much into, and without clear cut, step by step guidance on management many patients with our conditions take a pass on diet ideas.  

I've improved my situation with dietary ideas though.  I wish I was better, but I do what I can.  

As last mentioned I was planning to back track, and return to a wild caught fish diet idea in hopes of regaining energy.  So far so good.  My energy levels are going back up.  Grass fed beef is out of the diet and wild caught salmon with grass fed Irish cheese back in.    

The last flare I had was unexpected.  It was one of those scary types too, it was short lived but intense for a few hours.  It has me puzzled a bit but remembered a new food I ate that day, cantaloupe.  I know that pumpkin seeds are a big scary problem.  Maybe all melons are off limits.  I'm going with that theory.  Anyway, bit of a ramble, but I'm glad the energy seems to be returning once again. Lots of questions remain but I'm pleased at the direction I'm heading.  

Glad you are doing better and withdrawals not an issue with removing coffee.   Hope things settle down and stabilize with that change.


----------



## InstantCoffee

Guess I need a name change. My stomach has flip-flopped, I can drink regular coffee but not instant. 

My HS is flaring on my face and I had to shave my beard I'd been growing for months. I hope the girl I met doesn't mind if I look completely different on our second date lol. 

I'm be really weary of fish diets, they're full of heavy metals that can exacerbate Crohn's and psychological conditions, on top of who knows how many other toxins. Wild caught doesn't really help with that as far as I'm aware. 

I think part of the reason fish helps so much is because animal fat is full of arachidonic acid and other pro-inflammatory compounds and fish is very low in fat. It's really hard for Crohn's patients to reduce animal meat consumption because of their diet so fish is one way for them to maintain protein and calorie intake without a large amount of inflammatory saturated fats. 

This is why I really wish I could tolerate enough foods to try a full vegetarian diet.


----------



## Beach

These IBD conditions really can have an effect on our appearance at times.  It certainly can effect me.  I was reading an article in the Dailymail yesterday about a model.  She was a lovely looking girl naturally, developed UC, which she then received medication that resulted in her putting on a good amount of weight.  She still looked great, but was fearful her modeling days were behind her.  These disease really put the wear and tear on our bodies.  

Ah, don't worry about me and the fish diet.  It's working for me.  I'm of course concerned about toxins and have read up on the topic.  It is a big concern for many I realize.  I've read too some believe it to be an over blown topic.  The Japanese writers bring this up, the overblown part with their heavy fish and sea food diets.  

With my consideration I'm hoping to be on the fish diet for as short of period of time.  I don't like fish all that much!  It's one of those outside of the box ideas.  The main theory I have for me concerns the possibility that what ever the animal is eating could show up in the meat and effect me.  

The good news for me is that while on this fish diet I have periods of much better energy.  Being fatigued has been a huge issue for me.   I also have periods of looking healthier.  I lost some weight also which in my case is a positive.  I also have a finger nail that used to be pitted and looked terrible.  Now the finger nail looks great.  No pitting to be seen now.  So some good is going on I suspect.  (At least my doctor would look at my finger nails.  I'm not sure what he was up to with that, he never said, but have read that unhealthy looking finger nails can indicate health issues.  Then again it has crossed my mind that my doctor could own a nail saloon outside of hospital work.  Never did ask him about that.  

I tried adding beef back into the diet a few weeks ago.  It didn't work for me.  It has me thinking two things, either my theory that I'm currently working on and why I'm eating fish, is correct  Then again it simply could be that I have a problem with beef and potentially dairy products.  I've avoided beef and dairy in the past but possibly didn't avoid long enough.  Hmmm...  Anyway something else for me to ponder on.  

Good luck with the vegetarian diet.  Hope you have a chance to give it a go and it helps greatly!   

Arachidonic acid isn't a word I have heard in awhile.  In a former life I used to work with different natural oil.  I'm playing tennis tomorrow night with a lab chemist that used to test for the presence of different fatty lipids.  Now he works in food safety.  I'll probably get to hear about the latest potential food terrorist activity.


----------



## InstantCoffee

Yeah, it's not a big deal to have to shave the beard, it grows back pretty fast but y'know, there's the awkward in-between stages and stuff, at least I'm not one of those people that only looks right with a beard. 

It's a pretty big difference though.
http://i.imgur.com/HLAmHYum.jpg 
to
http://i.imgur.com/pHEaNoJm.jpg

The HS is improving, I've been using hydracolloid bandages which usually cause the skin to dissolve so I can drain it, but instead when I pulled it off it had shrunk and there was no drainage. Somehow it only seems to open up the skin on very unhealthy, near-surface lesions. Now there's still clearly inflammation but no signs of fluid. 

I've been taking zinc, magnesium, vitamin A and Lysine daily, but the lysine and A are most new so I think they're likely the ones most responsible for its shrinking. That and possibly reducing my skin-care routine. It flared after I started using rosehip oil to reduce the scarring in the area. I've noticed certain skin care products that are otherwise okay for my skin will cause the areas on my jaw that are scarred to itch and become inflamed, it's pretty bizarre. 

I wonder if there's something to the fish. When I recovered several times it was on a high tuna and salmon diet. Maybe it's the omega 3s in fish oil, or the vitamin A? 

I've also heard theories that sometimes introducing heavy metals to the body can introduce short-term relief despite causing long-term problems, but I'm not sure, a lot of the chelation therapy people are very pseudo-sciencey and too bent on pushing an agenda without facts.

How was your beef prepared? Was there seasoning added? How well done was it? I've found overcooked / seared beef can be a problem for me if I'm already experiencing minor symptoms. 

What I'm hearing about Arachidonic acid is troubling. It seems to be one of if not the compound in saturated fats that makes them so bad for you. Especially because it means no vegetable oils which makes cooking harder too. Gonna have to stock up on no-stick pans and find a bunch of meals that don't need to be heated if I do go vegetarian.

My plan is to find some kind of lentil-like food I can tolerate and force feed myself rice and chickpeas until I find a way to prepare them I can tolerate. I'm thinking of getting a food processor to make my own hummus. 

Ideally, in a perfect world, if it works I will hopefully regain the ability to tolerate more spices so I can make vegetarian dishes more palatable as spices are the key.

Have fun with your tennis. Don't let the food terrorists bite.


----------



## Beach

That is quite a change in appearance.  Looks good.  For me I've been known to joke that if it is ever necessary i could be quite the robber.  At least my appearance can change significantly even to the point that my eye color goes from bright blue to greenish brown.  They would never pick me out of a line up!  Hopefully it will never come to that point but it could be a potential upside to having colitis I joke.  

I try not to think to much about why the fish diet is helping.  There are several potential reasons I've thought, from the food wild fish eat, to the nutrients found in fish.  I know selenium is one benefit sometimes written about.  What ever it is, my hope is to grow stronger and eventually add further to my diet.  

Coming out of the starting gate with adding foods I bombed.  The grass fed beef wasn't spiced.  I kept it plain with only kosher salt sprinkled onto it.  It does have me thinking about beef and dairy products though to some extent.  I eat wild fish but also eat grass fed Irish cheese.  Basically I'll eat Kerry Gold cheese on a regular bases.  So maybe aged fermented dairy isn't an issue.  I don't know.  I know very well what will happen if I begin eating all bird foods, such as eggs, chicken meat, turkey.  I'll be sick to the stomach.  My energy levels will be decent though.  It's another oddity.  Maybe if I stuck with the bird diet longer the gut will heal.  I've found it to easy for me to over analyze.    

Anyway, I'm making progress with what is important to me, gut better, and more energy most of the time.  Hopefully I'll get something sorted out this year.  Next new food added to the diet should be in another month.  

Thanks, tennis will be great tonight.  The biggest worry is the blowing wind.  The courts are near the university pig farm, and when the wind blows from the south.....


----------



## InstantCoffee

I've heard a bit about selenium too. Apparently it helps bind to the mercury in fish and make it less toxic or something. It's also very important for hormone regulation. 
However I found this


> Selenium intakes in North America, even in low-selenium regions, are well above the RDA [18,19]. However, people in some other countries whose diet consists primarily of vegetables grown in low-selenium areas are at risk of deficiency [6]


However Crohn's has been linked to low selenium and glutathione peroxidase which is an important anti-oxidant enzyme, and crohn's symptoms have been strongly correlated with oxidative stress
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1415013

I have never had a diet that started off making me sick and 'got better'. I guess fiber KIND OF. I needed to keep it really small and build up or I'd end up running to the bathroom and feeling a bit off but never really sick-sick. 

Every time I tried something that started making me sick and stuck it out, it always got worse. Veganism, garlic when I couldn't tolerate it, oats, etc. If poultry doesn't agree with you I would just avoid it, but it's definitely interesting to note. I'd love to understand the mechanism behind it. 

What about pork products? They are the most likely to disagree with people from my understanding and many traditional doctors from eastern medicine recommend it as a first thing to eliminate for conditions like IBD.


----------



## Beach

Pork is a problem food for me.  It's a delayed problem also.  It takes around a week or two of eating pork for this to occur.  What occurs is my gums will swell up painfully and bleed a good amount.  This is a consistent result.  it's happened several times.  I don't recall what my energy levels were like when eating pork.  My gut was in decent shape I recall.  With the recent poor showing with beef, I'll likely try eating pork once again at some point, watching my energy levels.  If they remain good I'll see what I can do to avoid the gum issue - and not schedule any dental appointments during this time.  Dental hygienists panic at the sight of swelled up gums, and no amount of explaining that it was the pork that caused it will be believed.  

I'm feeling like a thread stealer at this point.  My apologies for all of my writing.  Hope you get yourself back on track, feel better with the gut soon.  These diets for IBD conditions can be a real headache, as I've discovered.  Good luck.  

On leaving, for laughs I'll mention a book I recently ordered.  I've heard over the years of people that reportedly can live on sunlight.  They eat no food, drink no water, reportedly.  Doctors have reportedly studied them too and found them mysteries.  And as can be expect such people are typically found in countries were mysticism is more common.  Well, I learned of a German scientist that reportedly lived on light for a time, and wrote a book about his experience.  Yes!  My stomach problems are solved.  I'll give up this problematic eating food, and live on sunlight, pixie dust and rainbows.  

The book can be seen here:

Life from Light: Is it possible to live without food?<BR>A scientist reports on his experiences 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1905570058/ref=od_aui_detailpages00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I'm leaving soon for Florida to put this idea into practice.  And if I find myself hungry and eat, I plan to remain in Florida soaking up the winter sun regardless.


----------



## InstantCoffee

It's cool, the more I can understand other peoples' experience with diet the better I can try to piece things together.


----------



## Beach

:thumleft:

That's good.  I can ramble on about myself to much at times it seems.  Awesome tennis tonight!  That was undoubtably the hardest and most consistent I've hit tennis balls in a decade.  All good.  

With diet and gut health I believe I can white lie to myself about how I'm improving and doing better.  It isn't easy to determine progress.  It's hard to lie about sports.  You're either strong and doing well or you are not.  At least that is my opinion.  Even had a few spectators watching this evening.  :rof:


----------



## InstantCoffee

I've been having on and off issues for the past 2 weeks, I'm starting to think it was my new psyllium husks in a pill. Not sure why it is, whether it's the pill capsule material or the way it digests differently in a pill form. 

I was really careful monday about everything I ate, then took 6 before bed and had an awful night's sleep. Last night I didn't take any and things were much better. 

Guess I'll stick with the loose stuff, even if it tastes likes the bottom of a hamster cage.


----------



## InstantCoffee

And I figured it out. It's red meat =/

All I had in the house was bacon and steak, so I barely ate anything all weekend and by the time I went shopping monday I could barely push the cart. 

I can eat oats again. Why does my stomach just do a 180 every 6 months or so?


----------



## Beach

It's maddening at times with the twists and turns our conditions take.  I attribute my stomach confusion to the wide variety of activities, foods and supplements that can upset my stomach, along with slow healing.  I'm avoiding many things at the moment, and have different theories being juggled but avoiding beef and gelatin is at the top of my list.  I'm doing better as a result.


----------



## Beach

I wasn't going to write as much!  But probably should update last nights post.  it was on my mind at the time.  

I've had some success with a fish diet the gut being well, and energy improved.  Early on the diet was mainly a wild caught salmon diet.  When I added tuna in olive oil to the diet a few weeks ago I noticed that my energy levels have not been all that great.  I can't deny avoiding tuna and olive oil for a few days has me feeling more energized once again.  I've done this a few times with the same improved energy result.  

As usual with this confusing condition, is it a tune or olive allergy or maybe difficulty digesting say olive oil.  Why also was I concerned with beef.  Is is a problem food for me or was I overly critical when I reintroduced it to the diet.  I'll have to retest it again, next month.  These diet trials are so much fun, oy.


----------



## InstantCoffee

I have trouble with olive oil, I don't think the fats in it are as healthy as people say. 

Have you tried supplementing fish oil for EPA / DHA? It's a common deficiency and could be why you're experiencing a benefit from fish. I think it's also anti-inflammatory and prebiotic. 

I'm considering doing an anti-micriobial diet focused on restricting acellular carbohydrates to kill any candida / pathogenic bacteria in the gut. 

Going to reduce meat intake, that seemed to be what set me off. I didn't realize how I was slowly adding more and more meat and less other things. When I last recovered I was reducing meat for other things to the point I was only having a small portion of meat a day and the rest was eggs and grain based snack foods.


----------



## Beach

Yes, I used to take a large amount of fish oil.  I stopped fish oil as I didn't think it was helping.  I stopped believing in the cholesterol theory for heart disease also.  

Good luck on the anti-microbial diet and reducing meat in the diet.  Hope it gets you going forward once again!  

I mentioned on the sight yesterday an anti-microbial oxygen idea I do when I'm at home.  Thought to mention in case it might help you.  I'll vortex water, which adds oxygen bubbles to it.  The first time I did that I couldn't believe it as I was entirely well to the stomach.  I stayed well for awhile to.  Then it stopped working, and began working once again later on.  Sounds all to familiar.  

The vortex water simple idea being that good bacteria do not mind oxygen while bad bacteria prefer to not be exposed to it.  At least that is what I read in an oxygen book for health.  It's easy enough to do with stirring water for a few minutes.    

It's been a good year for me health wise.  It would be nice if olive oil and olives were a problem.  Both are relatively easy for me to avoid.  Time will tell as always.  It's nice to have energy today.  Hoping tomorrow and into the weekend remains the same as that will likely help decide it.  

And humorously I have couple olive trees growing in my yard.  If olives do turn out to be a problem I'll be looking to remove and plant new trees I suppose.


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## InstantCoffee

That sounds counter-productive to my understanding. The gut microbiota we need most are anaerobic and don't survive well in oxygen, that's why FMT is so difficult and needs to be performed with a fresh sample within 5 minutes of harvesting, because the anaerobic bacteria we need to transfer do not like oxygen rich environments. 

Invasive bacteria tend to be very flexible.


> E.coli is a facultative anaerobic (that makes ATP by aerobic respiration if oxygen is present, but is capable of switching to fermentation or anaerobic respiration if oxygen is absent)


Listeria and klebsiella is the same as e. coli. 



> The Mycobacterium tuberculosis bacteria is the bacteria that is responsible for causing tuberculosis, or, in most instances this is the mycobacteria behind the infection. These bacteria require a lot of oxygen their very makeup is *aerobic *which is true of animals, fungi and many other bacteria.




I'm still having issues, but I haven't consumed meat in about a week and I'm trying to increase intake of plant matter to replace it slowly. 

I had to fall back on chocolate shakes a few times to supplement my eating but now those too seem to be giving me issues. 

I've been way  under eating the past few weeks but I'm starting to have more energy and feel better eating mostly just rice, sunflower seeds and roast edamame.


----------



## Beach

All I can say is the oxygen water has worked well for me, in the past.  I'm not doing that idea currently, but will once again once I return home in a week.  I don't have the oxygen book with me so can't reference it, but I see on the internet there is a debate over the yeast candida over growth and oxygen, does it or does it not effect the yeasts growth.  Some say no, others say yes.  Possibly that is what caught my eye in the past and had me vortexing water to increase the oxygen content.  

Its not much fun eating the same foods over the over.  I'm dong the same pretty much though.  Glad you have more energy.  I'm back to the original diet I ate this summer that energized me.  I think I have more energy.  It's always hard to tell strange enough.  I'll know for sure though when I lift weights and feel energized from it.  Most of the time when I lift I feel run over for a day or two.  On this diet, after a period of time following, the opposite happened, at least for a period this summer.  Those were good fun weeks.


----------



## Beach

Yay!  The good energy seems to have returned.  I just mention as I worked out lifting weights, also helped cut down a tree.  I also played tennis the other night.  Typically any of these activities would have me fatigued and hurting greatly for a day or two.  

Now, after returning to the wild salmon diet, I'm feeling energetic.  I have little pain too.  

This is what I experienced before.  I'm hoping it continues, and hoping I can eventually figure out new foods to add to the diet.  I'm sure I will eventually.


----------



## InstantCoffee

Glad it's working out. There does seem to be some magic in fish, idk if it's just the DHA / EPA or what.

My condition has continued to worsen but I think I finally have something to go one. I'm starting to believe it's all the sugar free gum I've been having. It doesn't seem to trigger symptoms itself so I overlooked it, but the ingredients may be negatively impacting my gut biome or trigggering inflammation that makes other food harder to digest. 

I'm going to cut the gum out and take a lot of probiotics and l-glutamine to try to fix what's been done and hope things start stabilizing. I've hardly been eating more than 1 meal a day.


----------



## Beach

That is awful.  My heart goes out to you.  Take care of yourself, and I hope you get something going once again with the diet, or supplements, medications, what have you, to feel better.  

I would guess you are onto something with the sugarless gum.  My father has big health issues with sugarless products.  Even small amounts will give him nasty headaches and upset stomachs.

I wasn't going to bring it up, but will mention, I recall in the past your mentioning taking zinc.  Zinc is a problem supplement for him.  It causes me severe stomach issues.  If still taking, it might be worth a vacation from zinc just to see if that helps.  Just a friendly suggestion.   

I keep chugging along on the fish diet.  I'm thinking olive oil and olives might be a problem.  Hard to say of course but tuna in olive is out.  It's now down to just salmon with meals, which isn't bad, but I'm ready to add some other protein to the diet in a week.


----------



## InstantCoffee

Problems with zinc comes from two things, one is the type of zinc, some are more easily bioavaible and cause less upset. Citrate is the easiest to digest I think. A lot of store brands are gluconate or oxide which can cause gastric distress.

The other is low stomach acid - because zinc takes acid to digest. 

I have a very acidic diet and always buy a good source like citrate or piccolonate (piccolonate is best for hormonal balance). 

I was having salmon over creamed cheese on rice cakes last week. Was an interesting change, but the rice cakes didn't sit well after a few days. I think they might be fine once I get back on track. 

I'm gotta pick up some more glutamine and see if I have arginine around still, and if not pick some up.

I really hope something works, I've in a state where, I believe, most people would go to the doctors, but I don't really think it would help, I've been sicker than this and they didn't do anything. 

I think my only options now are like... LDN?


----------



## InstantCoffee

Day 2 or 3 without gum I'm improving. Now I'm starting to suspect I might have low level Phenylketonuria. 

My diet seems similar to one of someone with pku, I seem to have a negative reaction to pku containing gum, and I did better supplementing with tyrosine, 5-htp and l-dopa which are the primary deficiencies caused by toxic phenylalanine buildup. 

Thinking of inquiring to the doctors about a test.


----------



## Beach

Haven't seen you post in awhile.  Doing better?  Hope so.


----------



## InstantCoffee

Yeah, the gum was definitely the issue, it's been a slow road recovering my apetite and energy is still low but I'm getting full nights sleep again... sort of... but that's my own fault for staying up too late to raid with my WOW guild.

Trying to find out how I want to eat going forward, I've grown accustomed to not spending half my budget on steak and having expendable income lol, I bought a lot of guitar stuff to self medicate the sickness.


----------



## Beach

Glad you are still kicking and doing a little bette.  I hope that is it with the artificial sweeteners.  As mentioned they certainly do a number on my father.  

Ruff day for me.  This is probably the worst day of the year so far, and I'm not all that tired.  Kind of nice, in a backwards kind of way.  I did some moving around that involved my stomach muscles more that I wanted.  I knew I was going to be sick from it, just not this sick.  Well, hopefully the stomach will settle down soon.  I have a 3 day drive beginning Saturday.  Being terribly sick on the road would be awful.


----------



## InstantCoffee

You've just described one of my anxieties. I drove almost an hour to a renaissance fair Saturday and my stomach had started off funky but it calmed down by the time I got there. 

I'm always ready to look up the nearest best buy for a bathroom lol. There's always one near by.


----------



## Beach

Oh I know, it is nerve racking.  I was chuckling at myself, I have Imodium stashed away all over the car and in bags.  I bought another bottle this morning.  I believe that makes 5 bottles.  Imodium doesn't help much but in case of emergency it's good to have around.  

I remember a butt and gut doctor getting worked in one or our talks.  I was super thin at the time, and heroine use was on the rise.  He lectured me, finger even wagging toward my face, that he could tell if I was taking drug or not by how large my colon was.  If constipated he would know I was an illegal drug user.  I remember thinking incredible! if true could I shoot up at the hospital.  Maybe I should see if there are some drug dealers around the area before the trip.  

I hate being on the road but I'm confident I'll be OK this trip.  Have good energy today which is amazing considering how poorly i felt yesterday.  That historically is the two worries for me, all day flare, and zero energy/ overwhelming fatigue.  I might have one of my problems taken care of with this salmon fish diet.


----------



## InstantCoffee

I'm honestly not sure if immodium type stuff does anything for me. 
I'll confess that after I had a few surgeries (tooth, chronic abscesses etc.) I would keep the painkillers and use them when I had a really really bad crohn's flare but had to get to work. IDK if they stopped me up but sure made being underslept and feeling horrible tolerable. I don't really consider it abuse as they were prescribed and I was just using them off label responsibly rather than recreationally. 

My sunflower seed crunch bars are setting me off now. Not thrilled with this, they were one of my few sanity foods.


----------



## Beach

It is terribly frustrating when a food that you didn't think was a problem, becomes a problem.  I'm similar to you in some respects at the moment.  I'm thinking now that potatoes are a problem, and possibly the whole nightshade family.  Allergy to the nightshade family has been a long time concern of mine but I never could get it to work.  And eating some potatoes I record hasn't been a problem.  So anyway, I removed potato from my already limited diet and the result has been improved energy levels and less fatigue.  This is a short term result though.  The big think is long term energy gains.  I'll see.  

Understandable about the painkillers.  These IBD conditions are horribly debilitating and pain management is needed.  

I'm currently reading a book by Dr. Meg Patterson on reasons why people take drugs recreationally, how little is understood about addiction, and her way for over coming different addictions.  it is absolutely fascinating to me at least at how large the illegal and legal prescription recreational drug trade is.  I knew it was big but had no idea how popular and large it was.  Drug distribution networks must be everywhere and enormous.


----------



## Beach

This is awesome, at least for me.  As is usually the case, I've had confusion once I added a couple new foods to the diet.  The new foods were potatos, and cantaloupe.  When I became ill I jumped onto the idea that cantaloupe was the problem.  I'd eaten potatoes for awhile and didn't seem to have a problem with them.  I suspect now I was wrong.  It's just that I notice once avoiding potatoes some sores on my tongue cleared up.  I've known historically when the tongue looks health the stomach tends to do well.  The stomach of late is further improved.  

There are more problems, but hoping I'm back on track.  There for awhile at least I had a good thing going.  Just thought to mention as it is confusing figuring out problem foods.  They seem fine for awhile, then possibly damage occurs over time.  That is at least my guess with the latest food idea.


----------



## wildbill_52280

InstantCoffee said:


> I've been having on and off issues for the past 2 weeks, I'm starting to think it was my new psyllium husks in a pill. Not sure why it is, whether it's the pill capsule material or the way it digests differently in a pill form.
> 
> I was really careful monday about everything I ate, then took 6 before bed and had an awful night's sleep. Last night I didn't take any and things were much better.
> 
> Guess I'll stick with the loose stuff, even if it tastes likes the bottom of a hamster cage.


I had issues putting psyllium in my oatmeal, it caused cramping for me likely because it was absorbing all the moisture in my intestine, letting it dissolve in water then drinking it is the only safe way, the bottle usually has a warning on the side of it, but you said it was in pill form so I guess that's another lesson in the supplement industry and how its highly unregulated.

In my experience highly fermentable foods like fiber should be eaten in the morning and not at night. and all your food should be eaten 5 hours before bedtime because intestinal movement really starts to slow down by then and you don't want something sitting in your small intestine. I recall a study that showed amylase production was correlated with circadian rythm.


----------



## wildbill_52280

InstantCoffee said:


> And I figured it out. It's red meat =/
> 
> All I had in the house was bacon and steak, so I barely ate anything all weekend and by the time I went shopping monday I could barely push the cart.
> 
> I can eat oats again. Why does my stomach just do a 180 every 6 months or so?


there is a study that showed red meat as a risk factor for relapse in ulcerative colitis.  



> This may now change as Jowett and colleagues1 in this issue of Gut present interesting and clinically novel data studying the role of dietary factors on the clinical course of UC (see page 1479). In this prospective cohort study, they investigated the effects of habitual diet on relapses of disease. Impressively, 96% of patients (n = 191) completed the study. Dietary factors such as red and processed meat, protein, and alcohol, as well as sulphur and sulphate intake were positively associated with relapses.


https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1774255/

another example of a diet study on crohn's semi vegetarian diet
http://nutritionfacts.org/video/achieving-remission-of-crohns-disease/

I mostly eat a lacto-vegetarian diet, but every 1-2 weeks I'll eat fish, and sometimes chicken so i rarely if ever eat meat in general, pretty never eat red meat. Red meat is also connected to developing colon cancer there is a type of molecule in it that is bad bacteria can eat or something like that it's a sugar like molecule that can increase inflammation.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25548184

 fish on the other hand seems to lower the risk of colon cancer.


----------



## wildbill_52280

InstantCoffee said:


> I have trouble with olive oil, I don't think the fats in it are as healthy as people say.
> 
> Have you tried supplementing fish oil for EPA / DHA? It's a common deficiency and could be why you're experiencing a benefit from fish. I think it's also anti-inflammatory and prebiotic.
> 
> I'm considering doing an anti-micriobial diet focused on restricting acellular carbohydrates to kill any candida / pathogenic bacteria in the gut.
> 
> Going to reduce meat intake, that seemed to be what set me off. I didn't realize how I was slowly adding more and more meat and less other things. When I last recovered I was reducing meat for other things to the point I was only having a small portion of meat a day and the rest was eggs and grain based snack foods.


there may even be bacteria in olive oil and on olives, from what i read its a big problem in olive production. I soak my whole canned olives in vinegar for 24 hours, if i eat olive oil I will only cook with it to destroy the bacteria /organism's. I eat mostly no-gmo canola oil spectrum brand because its high in omega 3. stay away from cheap canola.


----------



## wildbill_52280

InstantCoffee said:


> Glad it's working out. There does seem to be some magic in fish, idk if it's just the DHA / EPA or what.
> 
> My condition has continued to worsen but I think I finally have something to go one. I'm starting to believe it's all the sugar free gum I've been having. It doesn't seem to trigger symptoms itself so I overlooked it, but the ingredients may be negatively impacting my gut biome or trigggering inflammation that makes other food harder to digest.
> 
> I'm going to cut the gum out and take a lot of probiotics and l-glutamine to try to fix what's been done and hope things start stabilizing. I've hardly been eating more than 1 meal a day.


Yes, sucralose has been linked to development of ibd, so other artificial sweeteners may also have negative affect on microbiome. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3202359/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18800291


----------



## wildbill_52280

InstantCoffee said:


> Problems with zinc comes from two things, one is the type of zinc, some are more easily bioavaible and cause less upset. Citrate is the easiest to digest I think. A lot of store brands are gluconate or oxide which can cause gastric distress.
> 
> The other is low stomach acid - because zinc takes acid to digest.
> 
> I have a very acidic diet and always buy a good source like citrate or piccolonate (piccolonate is best for hormonal balance).
> 
> I was having salmon over creamed cheese on rice cakes last week. Was an interesting change, but the rice cakes didn't sit well after a few days. I think they might be fine once I get back on track.
> 
> I'm gotta pick up some more glutamine and see if I have arginine around still, and if not pick some up.
> 
> I really hope something works, I've in a state where, I believe, most people would go to the doctors, but I don't really think it would help, I've been sicker than this and they didn't do anything.
> 
> I think my only options now are like... LDN?


stay away from arginine, not only will it promote blood flow if you are bleeding, its used in a pathway in inflammation which creates byproducts which then feed bad bacteria in the gut.http://science.sciencemag.org/content/339/6120/708.full

 if anything follow a low arginine diet, which would actually be low in meat because meat seems to be high in arginine, but so is peanut butter which you should also seldomly eat because its one of the most allergenic food products on the market and contains a whole bunch of crazy stuff.


----------



## wildbill_52280

InstantCoffee , have you ever tried fasting?


----------



## InstantCoffee

wildbill_52280 said:


> Yes, sucralose has been linked to development of ibd, so other artificial sweeteners may also have negative affect on microbiome. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3202359/
> https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18800291


I buy sucralose free gum because sucralose is a strong trigger for me. I believe it's the phenylalinine I'm reacting to. 

Right now I'm back on a ketogenic diet as anything with sugar seems to be triggering symptoms. I can't eat enough complex carbs to sustain a healthy diet so I'm just  going to eliminate carbs for now. 

That's an interesting tidbit on arginine because studies on use of glutamine for crohn's suggest it's not very effective unless paired with arginine. 

I'm an advocate of fasting and it's worked for me in the past but it's very difficult and sometimes not easy to do when having other issues.


----------



## Beach

Instantcoffee,

I didn't see it mentioned on your blog.  Another idea you might look into, if not already, is low dose naltrexone (LDN).  I read it is a hit of miss medication for those with IBD conditions.  The other day though i was reading of another person with a colitis issue that found LDN helpful.  Thought to mention in case.


----------



## InstantCoffee

I know that in order to revisit my doctor he's going to want to do follow up scans that I can't afford. It will take all $1500 of my deductible to get a colonoscopy / endoscopy. I don't have that.


----------



## Beach

Understand, and sorry to hear that.  My deductible is high also.  

I'm pretty happy the direction I'm going on, once again, with my diet.  My energy is good.  My biggest problem, if one wants to call it that, is using to much of the new energy up with exercises.  If the latest diet idea doesn't workout I was thinking for myself of ordering online over seas low dose naltrexone.  I've read others on another sight that do this and found the LDN just as good as the prescription.  We'll see though.  Not the best route for me to take obviously, but would be nice if it helped.


----------



## InstantCoffee

No idea what's going on anymore. Only thing I'm certain of is meats seem to be making me worse but not having meat hasn't fixed the other problems. 

I haven't been able to tie it to any particular thing I'm eating. It seems I'm good every morning from about 9am to 12 then start getting gassy and burning sensations getting worse throughout the afternoon and night. 

At first I thought it was coffee so I started only having coffee in the morning and that didn't fix it.

My lunch has changed between a kayle salad with deli meats and cheese and gluten free mac n cheese neither seem to matter. Dairy doesn't seem related as I've tried cutting out dairy already.

I was having pudding for breakfast and it was fine, I had it before bed and had a bad stomach ache all night.

I can't find anything that would consistently suggest an exposure to a food at a time of day that should be triggering symptoms. The only thing I'm left to guess at is some kind of natural hormonal cycle like the rise and fall of cortisol.


----------



## Beach

I'm sorry to hear the diet ideas are no longer working.  I had the opinion from past writings that was the direction you were heading unfortunately. All to often it seems something works for awhile, then for what ever reason it stops.  It does make one wonder about hormone levels, alignment of the planets, super full moon, etc.    

Good luck going forward.  Hope you are able to discover something helpful.  

I have the sense that you enjoy researching ideas.  I ran across an idea the other week that might be helpful.  Hard to say of course.  It might or might not interest you.  

I've mentioned in the past that I've been reading about the work of Dr. Meg Patterson.  She was a surgeon that developed an electrical device to help people over come drug addictions.  

A paragraph she wrote about withdrawals caught my attention.   It had me thinking about stomach conditions.  Dr. Patterson was discussing her work with one of her more famous patients, well known musician Eric Clapton.  What she mentioned was this.  Treatment was going well for the first 2 days for Mr Clapton.  He was not experiencing withdrawals from drugs and in general was feeling well.  

Unexpectedly on the 3rd day he began experiencing withdrawals.  His symptoms were typical of drug withdrawals, as he had an upset stomach, diarrhea, and vomiting.  

After examining her electrical machine, she discovered a wire had come loose.  Mr Clapton was not receiving the tiny electrical charge the machine created.  Once the faulty wiring was corrected, Eric's withdrawal symptoms, upset stomach, went away.   

The drug addiction theory Dr. Patterson developed goes along these lines.  Drug addicts loose their ability to create natural opiates/endorphins.  As a result, once outside drug stimulus is removed, the body is not able to compensate by creating natural opiates.  That in turn leads to withdrawal symptoms.  Withdrawals can include upset stomach, diarrhea and sometimes vomiting.  

Tiny electrical stimulus is able to signal to the body to create natural opiates.  For what ever reason these natural opiates help regulate GI function. 

The addiction and withdrawal idea brought up by Dr. Patterson reminds me of the theory mentioned with the generic drug LDN.  I do not believe it is known why LDN helps some Crohns. MC and UC patients.  LDN does elevate natural opiate/ endorphin levels though.


----------



## InstantCoffee

That actually fits in nicely with the amino-acid responsive therapy I believe but it's still something that's way outside the bounds of what one can effectively use without professional intervention.


----------



## Beach

I've not heard of amino acid responsive therapy.  I'll have to look into that.  

There is an idea that can raise endorphin levels, and can be done at home relatively inexpensively.  Inferred lights will raise endorphin levels along with some hormone levels apparently.  

Typically for pain relief inferred lights are used.  I was reading this evening that inferred heat lights will raise endorphin levels.  

I had not realized that about raising endorphin levels.  What makes that interesting to me is that very early this year I began using inferred lights on a regular bases.  When watching TV I would heat up the bottom of my feet, and sometimes I would warm my hands up with the heat light.  I hadn't given it to much thought really, other than the inferred light was nice to use on cold days.  

Early this year, while I was using the lights, I was well to the stomach nearly all the time.  Later when I left home for a few months this spring and summer, I stopped using the inferred lights.  During that time the stomach was not as healthy.  It has been a mystery to me why that happened.  

I'm now home, and I just happened a couple days ago to begin using the inferred heat lights.  I've noticed that the gut has been improved nicely the last couple of days.  

It's all speculation of course.  Two days means little, but if something positive comes from using these lights for me I'll pass that information on, in case it might help you.  The inferred lights are relatively inexpensive.  I imagine inferred heat bulbs could be used instead too.


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## InstantCoffee

Amino acid responsive therapy uses 5-htp and L-tyrosine to balance the production of dopamine and serotonin in the body. 
Crohn's often comes hand in hand with depression and balancing these two amino acid precursors often puts both in remission, but requires advanced urinalysis over months to get the levels and dosage right. Improper doses can lead to bad side effects like anxiety attacks, worsening depression and crohn's symptoms, insomnia etc. and that's just based on my personal experience.


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## Beach

I appreciate the information.  I didn't look into amino acid therapy today but plan to do so soon.  

Tiring low energy day.  Bit on the worn down side this evening too.  The good news, the gut is hanging in there doing well.  Felt upbeat despite the fatigue.  I'll continue with the infrared heat idea.  As always with these things, time is the deciding factor if an idea helps or not.


----------



## Beach

Thought to give a quick update on my attempts at raising endorphin levels by using infrared lights.  After a week, it appears to be working.  At least the stomach has been completely well during this time.  Hopefully the good results will continue.  Additionally my energy levels are improving.  I was tired yesterday but that was expected since I lifted weights in the morning.  Today I'm feeling energetic.  

What I do is shine an infrared light onto the bottom of my feet, and onto a hand 15 minutes at a time.  i'll do this in the morning and in the evening.  I'll watch TV while doing it.  This is the light I use:  

Infrared Massager and Heating Device with a Replacement Bulb Included, Infrarex

https://www.amazon.com/Infrared-Mas...qid=1479908841&sr=8-5&keywords=infrared+light

Reading further on increasing endorphin levels I ran into an interesting mention personal to me.  There are of course many ways to raise feel good endorphin levels.  One of the more famous ways of raising endorphins is by exercise.  Some call it the runs high.  There is sunbathing, which not only raises endorphins but other hormone levels.  Other pleasure endorphin raising activities include eating chocolate, sex, shopping, etc.  

What was interesting to me was a mention on music.  A few paragraphs in a book I have mentioned listening to enjoyable music raises endorphin levels.  Tests were done on this measuring endorphin levels.  The researchers even gave music listeners the drug naloxone to see if the enjoyment of listening to music would stop.  it did.  Those listening to enjoyable music stopped enjoying the music after receiving the anti opiate/endorphin medication naloxone.  (I think it was naloxone.)  

Why this interested me is that for as long as I can remember when I have an upset stomach and in pain, I've found historically listening to my music headset and walking around doing chores will help settle the painful stomach.  Music listening wasn't a cure but was helpful.  

I'm still watching what I eat.  The foods I'm currently testing by avoiding are the nightshade family.


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## InstantCoffee

That's pretty interesting. Might have to look into these. I've wanted to pick up a sun lamp for my office as well to help with vitamin D. 

I just bought a huge tub of l-glutamine, some raw honey on the comb, and pomegranate juice concentrate. My stomach doesn't seem to like the pomegranate juice, but I usually drink POM juice which makes me question if it's really the same thing why can I have on but not the other? 

I've been eating pretty light and safely, starting and ending each day with psyllium husks. 

I've been taking a multivitamin for the b12 and Trimethylglycine twice daily.

Some improvement over the past week but still pretty sensitive to a lot of foods.


----------



## Beach

That sounds delicious eating honey on a comb.  It's been a long while since I've had that.  As a kid that was something common around our house.  I'll have to see if I can locate some around here in town.    

Well, I had all kinds of good energy today.  No fatigue to speak of.  That was a nice rare treat for me.


----------



## InstantCoffee

I think I might have figured something out from another thread around here, I can't remember which one. There was a discussion about whey protein being similarly effective to l-glutamine. 

Often times during extended periods of sickness I'd start supplementing my diet with whey. I'd get better, start eating healthier foods and eventually stop consuming the whey as i was getting all my protein needs through whole foods. 

Now I'm wondering if the whey was in some part responsible for my remissions. I never really kept track of it because I never thought of it as a possible agent for that - in fact I was suspicious of additives in it for worsening my symptoms.

I have a tub of ovaltine around and one of the main ingredients is whey and I seem to feel much better after having it. I think this might be something, so I'm ordering unflavored whey protein.


----------



## Beach

That would be wonderful news if it is whey protein that has helped in the past, and overlooked today.  I hope it works out for the best.  

My diet ideas and using infrared lights to in theory increase endorphin levels keeps working for me.  The gut is doing quite well.  I've even stressed it a time.  Normally I'd be ill after the  test.  Not this time.  My complaint now has to do with the heated olympic pool I discovered.  It has been great fun to have extra energy of late, to swim for extended periods of time.  I need to learn though that I shouldn't spend more energy than I can afford.


----------



## InstantCoffee

I chugged ovaltine all day yesterday. I had tuna + mayo and it didn't make me sick like it usually does. Also had some store brand egg nog. 

At the end of the day I had my last can of kombucha and it made me really sick overnight, to the point of nearly throwing up. I guess that stuff is still toxic to me. 

I might have to grab some infrared lights and try those out. You just shine them on your feet for a certain amount of time every day?


----------



## Beach

Kombucha didn't work for me either unfortunately.   

I'll shine the infrared lights onto the bottom of my bare feet and a hand while watching TV.  (I have two infrared lights) I'll do that for 15 minutes at a time.  I time it.  

I've been doing it after eating, in the morning and in the evenings.  Sometimes after eating lunch if possible also.


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## InstantCoffee

Got my whey on Monday, as of Wednesday I could eat chicken again. I just made a plate of oat fried chicken last night and feel fine, slept fine. 

	
	
		
		
	


	





I guess this has been what kept me together the past 3-4 years.


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## Beach

Awesome.  Hopefully whey is your answer.  That would be a nice inexpensive solution.  

My parents live on whey drinks.  They exercise a good amount, and after a workout it is time to mix up a protein whey drink.  I think they only eat food once a day.  It works for them, as they are in good shape.  

I'm continuing to do well with the infrared lights and the diet I'm following.  No problems with the gut and energy levels nicely improved.  My sleep isn't always the best.  It seems every other day I sleep wonderfully.  The other night the gut aches for some reason, and when it hurts everything else hurts.


----------



## Beach

I believe I have some good news.  For the last few days, 3 days plus this morning, I've had very good energy levels.  I believe I know why my energy levels are substantially better.  Days ago I began sunbathing outside in the noon day sun for around 5 to 10 minutes.  I would do this after eating lunch.  Ever since I began sunbathing my energy levels have been greatly improved.  My fatigue has all but gone away.  

Yesterday I put this to the test.  I rode my bicycle for 90 minutes.  After the ride I weight lifted for 20 minutes.  The result, I was not fatigued or worn out from the activities.  Typically I would be very tired and fatigued after this and remain so for a day or two.    

Of course it might be a coincidence.  My stomach has been improving on the diet I'm following.  Using infrared lights I believe has helped me.  I can't discount that possibility.  

I suspect though that sun bathing has helped me in the energy department.   

I have a vitamin D light.  Historically I'll use the D light during winter time 1 or 2 times a week.  I notice a difference with it.  The artificial sun light will warm me up for a day or two.  On the negative I believe the vitamin D light has a mild laxative effect.  At least this seems to normally happen after using the light.  

Being in the sun has not caused stomach issues.


----------



## InstantCoffee

The whey worked for like a week and apparently I'm now lactose intolerant...? I give up trying to make logic of this. 

It makes sense I guess, I was having milk with a good portion of my meals which would explain why things seemed to be inconsistently making me sick.

I thought it was whole-bean coffee but I was just adding more milk to offset how strong it was. My coffee was always low-grade upsetting me but it wasn't the coffee, it was the milk.

I think this has been going on for a while, maybe a couple months? Idk.


----------



## Beach

Sorry to read the whey isn't working out at hoped.  It is frustrating and maddening.  

This is my latest confusion with diet and health issues.  It's somewhat similar to yours, on the confusion part.  I'm now avoiding all dairy products and avoiding beef.  I've avoided commercial beef for many years.  It's one of those scary foods I don't want to eat.  I've had a few times where after eating commercial beef I became extremely ill to the stomach, with pain levels off the chart, with the pain lasting all day and into the night.  For what ever reason though grass fed beef is not a similar stomach churning painful problem.  

I'm avoiding grass fed beef and dairy now, even though I had many good experiencing with the stomach doing well while I did eat them.  I even had periods where my energy levels were very good.  The problems I have with grass fed beef and dairy is I wasn't completely recovering.  My teeth are also falling apart.  I'm going through a rash of dental issues of late.  Something is wrong and know I can do better from past experience.  

So, the further confusion is this.  When I avoid beef and dairy, I know from experience around 2 weeks later I will begin to have dry skin, and inflamed bleeding gums.  If I eat pork the inflamed gums can become painful.  If I eat chicken I'll begin to have upset stomach attacks.  The attacks are not overly painful.  They are short in duration.  My energy levels can be good also when eating chicken.  It's just that a bathroom needs to be near by.  

At the current moment I'm a little over 2 weeks with avoiding dairy and beef, and right on time my skin is becoming dry, and the gums are slightly inflamed.  I'm eating turkey and eggs for protein this time.  The stomach though is going decently well.  

I'm hoping to follow this latest diet till April or longer to see what happens long term.  So long as the gums remain less painful, and I can chew it shouldn't be a problem.  

I'm also continuing with light energy ideas.  Before I mentioned about using infrared lights.  I'm still doing that.  I'm also sun bathing for periods of time.  I now have full spectrum lights in the house and will use a UV vitamin D light on colder days.  

I think the full spectrum light ideas help.  It isn't a stomach cure but there is something good going on, for me.  

This is an older Disney type video I found on light therapy.  One of the mentions in the video about full spectrum lights helping workers avoid developing colds/flu reminded me of what has happened with me.  I've used UV vitamin D light ideas off and on for around 10 years.  Once I began that, I noticed that I stopped developing colds/flu.  

"The Effects of Natural and Artificial Light on Living Organisms. Part 2."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEZRnjtHtyw


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## InstantCoffee

That sounds like a B vitamin deficiency or an amino acid deficiency from lack of meat. 

Or possible omega fatty acids? 

I haven't really been posting much since I have nothing solid to go on so far. I was wrong about milk and a lot of things, right now it seems like pretty much all solid foods are triggering my symptoms, I'm living off Ovaltine, high protein milk and coffee.

Strangely there's one semi-safe food I've found so far, uncured bacon. 

Ovaltine has a decent bunch of vitamins and I'm taking a multi until I can find a real, suitable meal replacement shake. They're all just so full of filler and garbage though.


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## Beach

I'm sure I have a number of nutrient deficiencies.  It's the nature of the disease.  That's been an issue for a number of decades I suspect.  Sadly artificial vitamins are a problem, a big problem.  it depends on the artificial vitamin, as not all react the same, but by and large artificial vitamins throw me for a loop for a day or two.  The stomach becomes upset, I'll feel chilled even on a hot summer day, it is hard to concentrate, etc after taking artificial vitamins.  It's not good and a consistent reaction. 

Today marks the one month day since I began avoiding beef and dairy products.  I'm doing pretty well with this idea.  I'm looking better.  I'm communicating better and overall more upbeat.  Others have noticed the improved demeanor.  On the down side the stomach is not as well settled.  I'm not sick but i'm not well.  It's a stomach limbo situation.  I'm fairly certain the cheese I was eating was helping the stomach out.  The cheese has a natural constipating feature to it.  On the down side I suspect it was keeping me from fully recovering.  

One month down for me, another .... I don't know.  Another bunches of months for me on avoiding beef and dairy products along with eating the same foods over and over.  Hmm... I really have a craving for Chinese vegetable spring rolls.  I might give in and indulge after tomorrows long drive. 

Hope you get something worked out with the stomach and diet.  I suspect one can live a long life drinking nothing but coffee.  No proof of that, but I had a grandfather that seemed to live solely on the stuff.  Grizzled guy but he lived a long successful life.


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## Beach

I thought to give a quick update with the diet I'm following, light therapy ideas I've been trying, and with that health changes seen with me.  

The main diet changes I've taken is to avoid beef and dairy products.  Of late I've noticed my eyes have changed.  My eyes have gone from being brownish green in color to consistently greenish blue.  I believe this a positive change.  

In the past I've been able to make myself with what I consider 100% well with diet changes.  The confusing part has been, well several parts confusing, but what foods caused my health issues.  My definition of 100% well is the gut not only well, but also having lots of energy, appearance healthy, and concentration good.  Additionally, when I was 100% well in the past I've noticed my eyes changed colors to bright blue.  

I've begun using a SAD light box.  SAD boxes are best known for helping those with the winter blues/depression.  SAD light boxes have been found to also increase hormone levels, along with improving energy levels in most from what I've read.    

I'm not sure if my improved energy levels of late is due to the diet changes, or light therapy ideas tried such as using a light box, and also using a vitamin D light.  Probably it is a combination of all.

Overall I'm encouraged by the changes seen.  I hope I continue to see improvements.  The gut remains grumpy.  Energy levels need to further improve.  Eye color has changed, and I like to believe what I'm doing has brought this about, but that has happened in the past for unknown reasons.  Hopefully time will be good to me with what I'm currently doing.       

With my mention on hormone levels changing, thought to post this article on SAD light boxes and increased testosterone levels.  

"New Study: Boost Testosterone and Libido with Light Therapy
Researchers say the kind of lamps used to treat Seasonal Affective Disorder can also help guys suffering from low sexual desire."

http://www.mensfitness.com/women/sex-tips/new-study-boost-testosterone-and-libido-light-therapy

excerpt:

...In the study, scientists recruited 38 men diagnosed with hypoactive sexual desire disorder or sexual arousal disorder, both of which are characterized by a lack of interest in sex. Each man underwent an initial evaluation to determine their baseline level of interest in sex; their testosterone levels were also measured.

Next, researchers divided participants in half. Every day for two weeks, both groups sat in front of a light box early in the morning for half-hour treatments. One group served as the control group and was treated with an adapted light box, which produced significantly less light.  

After treatment, researchers found testosterone levels increased in men who had been given active light treatment. Their levels boomed from 2.1 ng/ml to 3.6 ng/ml after two weeks, while the control groups' testosterone levels stayed about the same, hovering around 2.3 ng/ml at the beginning and the end of the experiment. 

"Before treatment, both groups averaged a sexual satisfaction score of around 2 out of 10, but after treatment the group exposed to the bright light was scoring sexual satisfaction scores of around 6.3—a more than 3-fold increase on the scale we used," study author Andrea Fagiolini said in a press release. "In contrast, the control group only showed an average score of around 2.7 after treatment."

Previously, research has shown how sexual interest varies according to the seasons—that ambient light may contribute to sexual desire. It all boils down to testosterone.

"In the Northern hemisphere, the body's testosterone production naturally declines from November through April, and then rises steadily through the spring and summer with a peak in October," Fagiolini says. "You see the effect of this in reproductive rates, with the month of June showing the highest rate of conception."

The light box mimics what nature does by triggering something in the brain called the pineal gland (responsible for producing melatonin), which may allow the production of more testosterone, the researchers believe....


----------



## InstantCoffee

It wouldn't surprise  me, it doesn't seem to matter how much Vitamin D I pound in the winter, just never feels the same as after a day outside in the summer. I think light cycles and visual response is just as important.

I'm finally seeing some solid positive changes.

Other than the ovaltine + whey diet, I started one of my old supplement routines of high doses of vitamin C, vitamin D and echinacea.

A few days in and I've been re-introducing solid food and most importantly meats. I've had all solid BMs for about 5 days now, no urgency, very little gas, bloating or pain. Body temperature is up so I'm not constantly cold. 

I was even able to tolerate a little cumin spice which used to send me right to the bathroom. I'm trying to introduce foods / spices high in salicylates that work like a natural aspirin / anti-inflammatory and are also powerful for cancer prevention.


----------



## Beach

Fantastic!  That's a wonderful to hear.  It's early but a good start.  Hope the stomach continues to improve, and the diet can be further added to.  

Talking about adding foods to the diet, I've added some Chinese foods to my diet of late.  I've done well with vegetable egg rolls and a rice vegetable mix.  Both were delicious.  I'm planning to test my luck with a chicken sweat and sour dish tomorrow.  I suspect I'll pay a price for that meal but I'm curious to try and see what happens.  Chicken has historically never been kind to my stomach.


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## InstantCoffee

I seem to be slipping in and out and I'm not sure what's causing it, but I'm very close to the up-swing if I can figure it out. 

I'm wondering if the vitamin C works because of its antioxidant properties, and the meat is causing a lot of oxidative stress. 

I'm also planning on trying sulfurophane soon.


----------



## Beach

I've not had much experience with vitamin C.  I can remember trying it many years ago, and from what I recall it upset my stomach.  That was a bad night.  Haven't had much of a desire to try synthetic vitamin C again after that.  

I'm doing pretty much the same with my diet idea of avoiding beef and dairy products or as I jokingly call it the bovine avoidance diet.  I have my good and my bad days.  The gut is so so.  Energy levels so so.  Eyes have turned bluish, most of the time.  

The big thing for me is the hope that energy levels improve over the next 6 weeks.  Around a dozen spring breakers, mostly family members, will be visiting over a 2 week period.  Every ounce of energy will be required to keep up with the visiting crowd.  

Come to think of it, it would be odd and nice if the eyes turned bright blue.  It might be noticed by others and I can tell why the eye color change happened.  One of the bigger fears I've had over the years is someone else in the family developing this terrible disease that I have, beachism.  If I can find a dietary answer then others in the family can avoid the same fate I've experienced.  My theory too is that what i have stomach wise, can show up as other symptoms in others in the family.  Just a guess with that.


----------



## InstantCoffee

Vitamin C definitely working, just had steak and raw garlic with minimal to no issue this weekend. No bile acid diarrhea at all. Just some gas.


----------



## Beach

That's wonderful.  Hope the vitamin C continues to help.  Entirely different topic, but I was just reading a small study article on vitamin C that sounded promising.  It was on sepsis and how intravenous vitamin C along with other substances substantially helped prevent premature death.  It can be seen here:

Vitamin C – an update

https://drmalcolmkendrick.org/2017/01/28/vitamin-c-an-update/

For me with diet, the bizarro effect is back.  At least I hope it has returned.  I lifted weights hard yesterday and the result, I'm more energized!  Very odd, and a pleasant surprise compared to the norm.  Typically lift a few weights and I'm down and out with soreness and fatigue for a few days.  Today, I was so energized I needed to walk for an hour.  I can get used to this feeling.


----------



## Beach

How is the vitamin C idea going?  Is it still working?  Hopefully it is still producing good results.  

My latest diet idea of avoiding dairy and beef, along with light therapy ideas is still doing me good.  Energy levels remain higher.  The stomach is doing pretty decent.


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## Beach

Hope you are doing well InstantCoffee.  Haven't heard from you in awhile.  I imagine you remain the same or you would have piped in mentioned different.  

I'm chugging along with the latest diet and light therapy ideas.  I'm pleased with two items and displeased with one.  The good news is I continue to gain strength and energy.  I also stopped developing what I thought of a nutritional deficiency sores.  I haven't seen these in two weeks.  I'm guessing this is due to the gut healing, at least that is the hope.  

The bad news being if I'm healing, I'm healing so slow.  It would be nice to see quicker results and of course this slow pace creates doubts in the mind that I'm on the correct path.


----------



## InstantCoffee

It seems to take a lot longer to get well than to deteriorate. I've stopped vitamin C because of the increased risk of kidney stones, I want to start a multi vitamin soon but I suspect mine was causing cramping. 

I was on the right track when I kicked milk earlier, I re-introduced it and it took a while before it got bad enough that I could be sure, but now I am. I think the benefits of the whey were battling with some kind of intolerance (mind you I was buying exclusively lactose free milk). 

My back was letting me know long before my gut did. I was very broken out all over my  back and neck with painful acne. Finally I started having constant gas, cramps and passing clear mucus regularly. 

My diet was already very strict so it didn't take long to figure out it was the milk. I'm back to putting soy milk in my coffee, which is awful, but I prefer it to black. 

My back is clearing up and I'm not constantly going to the restroom to pass  mucus and gas, and sleeping much better. 

I ordered some new supplements to try I've never used before.
Marshmallow extract, slippery elm and N-acetyl glucosamine. I'm suspecting the NAG will make me sick since it's made from shellfish so I'll be trying it this weekend.


----------



## Beach

It is odd how our gut health effects other parts of our bodies health.  Much like you, I've had experience with that for years.  I was thinking about it yesterday.  Yesterday, and a few days previous, I was becoming easily sore.  My legs could hurt and ache.  Yesterday it felt as if I had torn a muscle slightly on one foot.  The gut wasn't hurting till last night though, and has continued into today.  I know what I did wrong I believe.  I went over board on eating fiber rich foods recently.  Today, having cut back on the fiber all the sore and hurting body parts feel just fine.  

It's always been like that though.  There have been times where my back would ache terribly.  Then the stomach gets upset, I improve the diet, and the back pains disappear within hours.  

As I like to joke, my gut controls everything.  If the gut isn't happy then nothing else is happy.  

Good luck with your latest ideas.  Hope the NAG doesn't effect you negatively.  

I'm continuing on my current path, avoiding beef, dairy, and using light therapy ideas.  I'm nearly 3 months in with the current trial.  I believe it is 3 months.  Don't recall for sure as I don't have my journal here.  The gut is good so long as I don't over eat fiber rich foods.  I've lost a good amount of weight.  I'm down around 15lbs if not a little more.  It's good weight loss.  I was getting a little heavier than desired.  I'm looking healthy.  I'm likely wishful thinking with this but I suspect I might be growing some hair back.  My hair has been thinning out.  I've suspected the diet and gut health played a part with that.  We'll see though.


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## Axelfl3333

Hello instant I have been following your blog for ages and read all of your attempts to control your crohns.what has your doctor suggested I know you are in the USA and it costs a fortune.reading your blog you have tried so much,is it possible that your doing to many variations on supplements?have you thought about going back to ground zero diet wise do zero supplements bland out your diet for a few weeks and add food items not supplements but you sound ill.doctor I think.hope your feeling better soon.


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## InstantCoffee

It looks like i need the whey protein to keep things under  control but I can't do milk. I don't know how this makes sense since whey is a milk products, it must be something in the milk that's either not present or in smaller amounts in the whey, so either the milkfat, or the lactose, but the milk I was drinking was lactose free (supposedly?). I'm not sure.

After I cut  milk I just got worse/ different issues. Instead of gas, cramps and passing mucus I had constant diarrhea with low energy. 

I tried just whey with no milk this weekend and felt immediate improvement in my stomach's feeling and my body temperature. 

No really noticeable benefit from NAG, slippery elm or marshmallow root. 



Axelfl3333 said:


> Hello instant I have been following your blog for ages and read all of your attempts to control your crohns.what has your doctor suggested I know you are in the USA and it costs a fortune.reading your blog you have tried so much,is it possible that your doing to many variations on supplements?have you thought about going back to ground zero diet wise do zero supplements bland out your diet for a few weeks and add food items not supplements but you sound ill.doctor I think.hope your feeling better soon.


I have tried this. 

I don't know what doctors have left to offer me. Humira, remicade and prednizone don't work for me and these are the most aggressive treatments for crohn's. 

I'm open to LDN but I'm not interested in dangerous things like mixing azathioprine with other treatments, and I'm very turned off to some of the other tnf-a inhibitors.

I admittedly don't know much about some of the other drugs like 5asa and the others that slip my memory.

My experience with the doctor left me pretty much without faith. They just kept doing tests and trying the same treatments, makes me think they didn't really have any other good options.


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## Beach

I can understand about whey/ milk product helping.  

I had the same experience but with cheese.  My story is that for years I avoided all milk and dairy products.  Doing that I believe helped me but it was far from a cure.  Then after frustration of not being well I began eating cheese.  Apparently the constipating nature of cheese helped my stomach.  At times too my energy levels were improved.  Overall though I stopped healing I believe.  I never could get over the hump I suppose it could be said while eating cheese.  My dental issues flared up also.  I did this diet idea for a few years.  

Now I'm not only avoiding dairy products but I'm also staying away from beef, and lamp items.  Sometimes if one is allergic to milk products beef and lamb can be a problem too.  

I'm at a frustrating point though.  I might have mentioned this earlier but I have memories of how I felt 3 months ago before this diet change but don't know for sure if or how much better I am today.  Regardless I figure I'll stick with the diet.  I don't care for the taste of dairy products nor care for the taste of beef.  It's an easy diet for me to stick with.  

I've thought sometimes that I might begin taking Imodium daily once again.  I've done that in the past and I suspected it helped me some.  Today my gut is OK, but it would better if it was better.  My energy levels go back and forth.  I'm likely to blame for my energy not being higher all the time as I've been exercising more and I eat foods higher in fiber.  It's OK though as typicaly energy levels even when low are livable.  A nice improvement that I've noticed is that when I become overly tired instead of a good nights sleep being needed to regain energy, now if I sit and rest for a few hours I feel recharged.


----------



## InstantCoffee

What baffles me is how all the things that should work on paper, do not always work as you would think.

In theory and many studies, a diet low in fat, meat and sugar and high in soluble fibers should be ideal for managing crohn's, but I'd be lucky if I could even get a 3rd of the recommended fiber intake without some adverse reaction. 

So I end up eating mostly meats and sugar and it only seems to get worse over time. 

Not sure if I have to pursue a 'proper' diet and bare through some discomfort while things adjust, those are the hardest theories. Things like when they insist that if you take probiotics, or drink vinegar or something, you'll get worse before you get better.

I can't really afford to get worse, and how will I know I'm not just making myself sick for no benefit? 

IDK at this point I'm thinking I'm going to try to cut back to a bare-bones mostly vegetarian diet with white rice, turmeric, sauerkraut, edamame etc. It's really hard for me to stick to it as I crave sweet things and heavier foods.

It's hard to eat enough to A- have enough calories and B- feel satisfied with rice, edamame, or especially sauerkraut which is like 75 calories per jar.



Apparently I was wrong about whey, Sunday it was fine early in the day, but at about 12 at night it hit me with terrible gas. I thought it was something else I ate, so I had more Monday morning and afternoon and my stomach kept being gassy with constant bathroom trips.

Not really sure what to do right now. Meat and sugar seem to be triggering me, and my options for plant-based foods are pretty much limited to white rice, strawberries and edamame as far as I'm aware. I'll have to experiment with quinoa, millet, buckwheat and other grains but usually those haven't sat well with me.

It also really limits my social options - hopefully I can at least drink black coffee so I have an excuse to 'go out' with people.

Suddenly as my gut goes to hell, my online dating profile blows up with messages and I'm trying to figure out if I can even get my stomach under control for an hour or so to plan a date. 

I can always fast, but when I've been this sick for this long, fasting leaves me completely exhausted and with no mental energy.


----------



## Beach

I know, it's crazy how foods can effect us.  Take care and get something decent worked out.  

I don't know if this will helps you but from my experience I've come to view diet things more long term.  it hasn't made the diet ideas more easy but I've come around that healing can take a long, long time.  TO give an example.  I didn't mention this yesterday.  

Historically the diet idea that helped me the most was avoiding bird.  I avoided eggs, chicken, and turkey.  It took a long time to become healthy, but once healthy and avoiding bird as the main focus I was completely well to the gut for 5 months.  Then I became somewhat ill once again.  I'm looking at a food journal diary I was keeping at the time.  My notes are vague.  From what I'm reading and from memory, the avoid bird diet became frustrating for me.  I was more or less well, but not completely well.  I began adding new foods, foods high in fiber and spices, foods that can irritate my gut.  THat was most likely the main problem for me, but hard to say with certainty.  

So back to today, over the weekend I began avoiding bird.  I had been eating eggs regularly along with eating turkey sometimes.  Turkey is likely not a problem food but to be safe and simple I avoid it when avoiding bird. 

Right away on the bird avoidance diet a sinus problem went away.  I've been looking after a couple cats the last few weeks.  A sinus problem came up.  I figured I was allergic to the cats.  Now I'm not so sure about that, since this issue has resolved, or resolved for a few days, it might come back,  since I stopped eating eggs and turkey.  Additionally my eyes could become blood shot red at times.  This is a problem I've expereinced for as long as I can remember.  It goes back to my childhood.  Since avoiding eggs and turkey the eyes have not been red after beign rubbed.     

Here is the crazy thing.  I know very well from experience that if I continue to eat pork everyday that my gums will swell up painfully and bleed.  It happens every time.  

Also I know from experience if I avoid bird and instead eat beef continuously for a week or more I can experience intense debilitating stomach pains.  Historically these have been some of the worst pains experienced.  

It isn't good!  I'll figure something out.  I'll keep avoiding eggs and turkey along with chicken so long as the red eyes and sinus issues stay away.  Something is going on there, it appears.  

When the gum issues or stomach issues come up in the near future though, I'll be in flux with diet ideas.  There is a good chance I'll be back to eating beef, maybe dairy, and possibly fish even though fish tastes terrible.  It's the craziness of the situation, at least that is my opinion and experience.  

It would be nice if a medication had worked for me.  Or even better if I had been born with an instruction operation manual.


----------



## InstantCoffee

That's one thing I have trouble with, I have a lot of non-stomach manifestations that are much more subtle, especially when they come and go.

Among them, my nose is always running, and the inside is dry and scabby and very sensitive, I wonder if it might be a fungus infection? I've had it come and go on rare occasions but never linked it to anything.

My back breaks out to sugar and milk it seems.

My face and scalp also break out but it seems somewhat independent.

I'm still completely unsure of why the debilitating hydradenitis on my butt stopped but I'm not complaining. I think that might have been high fructose corn syrup, because, if I recall correctly, it continued after I cut gluten. But I could be wrong!

But now I get it on my face. I recently had a flare on my face, and it receded into just a sebaceous cyst which I'll probably have removed soon since it leaves an unsightly, dry bump. It's always on my jaw line where my old acne scars are. I'm not sure what caused it to get better, it seemed to change when I started drinking ovaltine + whey which prompted all my other problems. 

My eyes are almost always bloodshot and hypersensitive and dry out easily or feel gummy. 

Since they all come and go so slowly it's hard to identify why, unlike my stomach where I'm good all day, sit down with a meal and a few mouthfuls of oats in I have to put down my bowl and run to the bathroom. That's pretty easy to figure out. 

I'm currently taking a candida cleanse pills filled with anti-bacterial/fungal extracts like black walnut, oil of oregano, caprylic acid, aloe vera and other things. Last time I took it it made me nauseous, my body temp would drop and I'd throw up. It's not doing that now and I feel fine. Can't explain that.  

Taking N-acetyl glucosamine which is supposedly like super-charged L-glutamine to heal the stomach and gut. 

Andrographis which has documented effects on Colitis but not studied for Crohn's. I've used it in the past and have leftovers, never noticed a benefit, but usually improved after taking it, so maybe it did? It's supposed to be taken with Siberian Ginseng though which I don't have. 

I think I'm just gonna bite the bullet and call my doctor, I can at least explore my options and maybe get my card so I can try CBD oil.


----------



## Beach

As a quick update with my slight diet change and health - I have all kinds of energy this evening.  This is after weight lifting this morning and going for a long walk.  Typically I would be down for the count, tired out and looking to camp out in front of the TV by this point.  If the good energy continues I'll happily stay with the avoid bird diet.  

I tried the anti-fungal/ yeast ideas at one time.  I tried the super low sugar diet plus the many supplements.  It didn't work, or better said didn't improve my health, in my case.  I had high hopes for that idea.  To me at least, it's one of those ideas that makes sense on paper.  

Hope you have much better success with it than I did.  Good luck with working with your doctor also.  I know that avenue has not proven fruitful for you in the past before.  Hopefully some new ideas can be suggested that provide relief.  I'm not familiar with CBD oil for IBD conditions.  Many years ago I used to work next door to an oil extracting plant that processed hemp oil.  It was a popular product for them.  They would get the seeds in from Canada, often times roast them, and other times crush the oil out and sell in bulk.


----------



## InstantCoffee

The anti-fungal worked for me once, I'm not sure how / why and I don't think I could do it again. I did no sugar, no dairy for I think 2 months or so. I lived on white rice, tuna and eggs. I took I think 3-4 grams of vitamin C, 2 grams of echinacea and a large dose of undecinoic acid ( a stronger acid similar to caprylic acid) a day throughout.

Afterwards my diet was much more flexible and open to spices and seasonings, sugars and some other stuff.

Not sure how much of it just worked because of the simple white rice and tuna diet. Not sure how I didn't have mercury poisoning. 



Looks like I've been being stupid again. It probably was the coffee making me sick all along. I've been avoiding dairy and drinking it black, I had a cup on the way home the other night and got really sick.

I think when I cut dairy, I also cut coffee way back because I hate black coffee, so my symptoms went down with it, but not away completely.

Last night I was so exhausted from lack of calories I had two shakes figuring it's better to have calories and be sick than to be starving, and my stomach was fine.

No coffee since yesterday morning and things seem pretty stable. 

I guess last time I cut coffee, I healed up and started drinking it again, it was fine for a while then relapsed. 

Sigh... I really don't want to give up coffee.


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## Beach

Best of luck with avoiding coffee.  My entire family are coffee addicts.  It's is their addition.  It would be a fearful day if someone took away their coffee.  

I'm the lone family member that never got into drinking coffee.  Instead I will occasionally drink tea.  Tea typically goes down well for me, so long as I don't drink it everyday.  There is something about drinking tea daily that doesn't upset the stomach in a traditional way, but does lead to heart burn.  

That reminds me, I ran into an English neighbor the other day.  Talking health, naturally being English, he began recommending I drink tea.  In someways I felt rather bad about the conversation as he kept telling me how much green tea had helped him recently, with overall health and weight loss.  I was at a loss for words.  He looked the exact same since I had seen him last.  It might have been one of those situation where he dropped from 250lbs to 240lbs.  I was polite and complementing, thanked him for the advice, and bought some green tea to drink.  I keep staring at the tea box though on whether it would be good and healthy for me to drink or not.  

The latest health update for me is, energy levels are fabulous.  I really have a lot of pick and go the last few days.  It has me thinking something else was going on with the diet of the last 3 months.  I've experienced good energy during these months.  Health was OK too.  My theory for the improved energy had to do with avoiding dairy and beef.  I might have been wrong about that.  Now I'm leaning toward the idea that I began eating nuts and brown rice and that increased nutrition improved my energy situation.  If eggs and chicken are an allergy problem, possibly avoiding them of late has the combo of increased nutrition and bird avoidance has me feel more energized.  

On the down side yesterday I had bad stomach cramping in the evening.  My gums are also slightly sore.  I expected these two problems will become worse in the days ahead, due to the current avoid bird diet.


----------



## InstantCoffee

So I'm not the only one with tea problems. Tea gives me heartburn-like sensations that are not heartburn. It's closer to gastritis. Just a constant burn in my stomach, where heartburn is usually more of a pulsing, heaving, with the acids and stuff. Tea just calmly simmers and burns like salt on a wound.

I've tried a lot and chamomile seems the only safe one. Hibiscus maybe too. I really liked hibiscus tea, it's very fruity and has a nice red color to it and it's one of if not the most potent, antioxidant rich teas you can get, even better than macha.

I just don't love the taste of any of them that much, and when they upset my stomach I get a really uncomfortable sensation of unquenchable thirst. 

It's very likely dairy and beef could be causing issues. Nuts would have a similar nutritional profile to beef I would think, typically with metals like zinc and iron and amino acids, so maybe switching to a healthy, fiber rich source of carbs and protein was helpful?

I know pumpkin seeds are a go-to for me when I avoid meats because they're rich in potassium and zinc, both of which are hard to get with my diet, and the shelless ones are very soft, I have sensitive teeth and one is cracked so hard foods aren't fun for me. It's why grainy rices and oats are really hard for me to eat.


----------



## Beach

I'm not sure where the latest diet is going to take me.  It has me a little nervous.  Up to this point I've only taken eggs out of the diet, along with continuing to avoid beef and dairy.  Since I've had problems in the past after avoiding eggs and chicken, bird I picked up at the store some cheese and Imodium.  It's just in case I was thinking.  I've read with allergies one can experience withdrawals but some of the experiences I've had after avoiding bird have been on the ridiculous side.  They come entirely out of the blue too!  I can be doing well, have good energy, and I'm entirely caught off guard, sick and debilitated to the stomach as can be for 12 hours.  I'm hoping that doesn't happen this time.


----------



## InstantCoffee

Not sure I've ever heard of withdrawals from non-addictive substances. 

Looks like dairy is still an issue, but for my skin, not my stomach. 

After I cut coffee I started drinking shakes again to boost my calorie intake and my back is awful again. 

I'm going to have to find a healthier way to bump my calories I guess.


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## Beach

I've read about allergies and with that food addictions a few times.  Wheat addiction withdrawals is one of the more common mentions.  Some people apparently have a hard go of it avoiding wheat, going through withdrawals. Other foods can be similar effect, from what I've read.  I'm not sure if that is what happened to me in the past, but is one theory that might explain.      

I'm doing much better than expected after avoiding eggs and turkey.  My diet is the same, with the exception that I'm now avoiding bird.  My gums have been OK.  The gut is doing well, knock on wood.  My energy levels are better -  not great, but better.  Eyes are blue.  The biggest shock is that my gut is doing better.  I did not expect that so soon.  So the diet continues, avoid bird, avoid cow, and keep rotating the same foods.


----------



## Tuff

I used to drink a pot of coffee a day, so it's been really hard. I now have a cup of black decaf in the morning. Black Hong Kong style tea a few times a day. Have you tried low acid/dark roast coffees? They're supposed to be easier on the stomach and doesn't trigger the runs so bad.
Can you eat peanut butter/nut butters? Lots of extra calories and make me feel full too. I live on carbs mostly, and currently chicken for protein. Funny how we all can't eat the same things.


----------



## Beach

I feel awful.  Today is day 8 or 9 of avoiding eggs, chicken and turkey.  As expected from past experience the gut isn't so hot.  Thankfully I just ache and feel terrible.  The gut isn't acting up as bad as it can. I suspect though I need to be overly careful to not stress the gut, with over eating, to much fiber, using stomach muscles, etc.  

I've often wondered why this happens when I avoid bird foods.  I used to believe it was some kind of food reaction.  Then I've thought maybe withdrawals are happening.  Other times I wonder if the foods I'm eating are not a problem, and bird items are a problem, maybe my damaged intestine isn't handling being used in a traditional manner all that well.  What ever it is, I hope this feel awful time doesn't last too long.  

Cheese is back in the diet.  I'm not much in love with the taste, but suspect it can be slightly helpful, in particular during times such as this.


----------



## Beach

I'm well to the gut, or maybe better said doing better with the gut.  I'm shocked.  Typically I believe it can take weeks to months for the gut to do better with a diet idea.  I still feel awful.  Everything bubbles and churns around inside.  Energy levels are so so.  I can easily become overly ill too I've found out.  But overall, since avoiding eggs, chicken and bird I'm doing well.  I'm still avoiding beef and few spices too.    

I'm unsure why the quick turnaround.  I've been sunbathing more often compared to the past.  I'm eating cheese which can be constipating.  I'm not a fan of cheese.  It tastes terrible to me, but it apparently isn't hurting me.  

Well, what ever is going on, I've written in my food journal to continue with this diet idea for 4 months, baring I don't take a turn for the worse.  After 4 months if I continue to do well with the gut to continue the same diet for the remainder of the year.  Since I know I'll likely continue to feel terrible, creeping doubts will work their way in.  I'm hoping if I can keep to the same long term path I can finally make forward progress toward recovery.


----------



## InstantCoffee

What leads you to believe there's an association with bird products? I've always thought they would be the easiest on the gut of the meats due to the low fat contents.

I think I'm going to have to look at a low salt diet. 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EklWNg7yhiU


----------



## Beach

From past experience, and notes taken about when eating chicken and to a lesser extent eggs.  

I might have learned something new.  I've complained about sore, bleeding, visibly inflamed gums after avoiding eggs and chicken, bird items and replacing with pork.  It has been a consistent reaction.  

This time though the reaction hasn't happened all that much.  There have been a few times were the gums became sore but nothing all that serious compared to what I've experienced in the past.  This weekend though I experienced my gums becoming swollen and sore.  From past experience I expected this problem to become worse in the days ahead.  I did something though that has helped, at least helped in the past 24 hours.  I stopped eating cheese Sunday afternoon.  After that, this morning, the sore gums have gone away.  I'm surprised.  

I still feel awful overall.  Yesterday was ruff.  This morning is better though.  Happily the gut is pretty good.  The awful part is having very low energy levels, and overall mentally feeling bla.  I know from experience this problem will eventually go away.    

Good luck with the low salt diet.


----------



## Beach

Hope the low salt diet has brought about improvements.  

Avoiding salt reminds me of a problem that has developed for me.  For what ever reason once I stopped eating eggs, turkey, and substituted pork and now beef, I've developed muscle cramping.  This is actually an old problem experienced off and on for years.  I do not know why this happens.  The most typical explanation given for why this occurs is due to a lack of minerals in the diet.  As a result I've begun to consume and take minerals.  No improvements have been seen though.  

From experience I know this problem will improve over time as the gut health improves.  

Other problems include less energy.  Before I enjoyed going for walks and biking, while eating eggs, bird.  Now I do these activities less often.  I suspect I know why this is though.  It seems my heart rate is elevated.  It doesn't always occur but I have the feeling as if I'm on a slow walk that can last for hours at a time.  The feeling also seems similar to when stuck in a car, and being unable to find a place to pull over and use the restroom.  The bladder is full, the heart pace picks up, and remains high till a restroom is found.  

The good news is for most days the gut is doing decently well.  I'm healthier with the gut.  I've had a few times where I was miserably sick but overall these are less often  I believe also mentally I'm more upbeat.  

I've also begun consuming a glass of wine a day.  I've read that alcohol can be good for the heart and I suspect that is true.  This is somewhat a big deal for me as traditionally alcohol can cause a good deal of stomach cramping, rapid heart rate, muscle pains, lasting for hours if not a day.  I've found that if I consume a little alcohol the gut hasn't been irritated.  I suspect also that I appear a little bit healthier since drinking the little bit of wine.  Why that is I don't know, the anti bacteria qualities of alcohol, less blood clotting effect alcohol can have, etc.  Maybe alcohol is an essential nutrient.  I chuckle mentioning that, but I have a few relatives that enjoy their drinks and if a study should ever come out saying that about alcohol, would swear the findings were true.

I'm kicking pork out of the diet now also.  After one day of avoiding it, and searching through food journal notes I found I've noticed that pork is likely the cause of the muscle cramping.  I'm pretty sure pork is also the cause of the swollen gums.  After avoiding pork yesterday I noticed by the afternoon that the muscle cramping was largely gone.  Pain is a good motivator for avoiding something long term.  If the gum problem and muscle issues do not return, avoiding pork should be easy.  

What has me concerned is that I've gone on long pork avoidances before, up to 6 months.  I wasn't better, or at least better to the point that I hoped to be.  Possibly there is importance is eating dairy products even though I don't care for dairy.


----------



## Beach

I believe I can say with good certainty that pork is what has been causing the muscle cramping I experience.  The muscle cramping or charlie horses can be quite painful.  Gelatin, used to encapsulate some oil based nutrients, which is sometimes made from pork sources is a problem too. 

Whether a problem with pork is related to my stomach issue, I don't know.  It might be, it might not be.  Pork causes my gums to swell up and bleed.  Pork causes muscle cramping.  My father worked in a medical plant that processed pork.  He was in sales at the time.  He found he was unable to enter the plant pork processing portion of the building without becoming ill.  I've taken long holidays in avoiding pork in the past without coming to a definite conclusion concerning IBD health.  

Regardless, with 2 strikes against pork, and not enjoying being in pain, I will avoid pork from here on out.  Hopefully that is some kind of answer, and the gut will slowly improve.  

With that said, I don't know.  Maybe this cramping when eating pork is natural for a portion of the population.  I always found this post about low carb eating interesting.  It is about the problems some experience when beginning low carb eating.  it talks about the importance of taking Electrolytes/ minerals in order to avoid cramping.  

Tips & tricks for starting (or restarting) low-carb Pt II

https://proteinpower.com/drmike/2011/06/25/tips-tricks-for-starting-or-restarting-low-carb-pt-ii/


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## InstantCoffee

Electrolyte balance is important. I used to take potassium to offset the high sodium content of  my diet, I would get headaches really bad if I didn't. 

I'm not sure why pork has that effect but I've heard a lot of people report that pig products don't agree with them. 

I was doing well on chicken and rice with green beans, decided to experiment with ONE cherry tomato and it threw me off for most of the week. I'm not sure why but it seemed no matter what I ate I'd be getting up the next morning having loose BMs.

Friday I experimented again with whey which now seems to be an issue and Saturday night with my gluten free cookies which are still an issue.

I fasted 16 hours Sunday and broke my fast with tuna and mayo, a glass of POM juice with aloe vera juice, green tea and an Ovaltine shake, then had bacon and quinoa before bed.

I seem fine now, so I think it might be time to revisit intermittent fasting. I'll supplement vitamins in the  morning and  mid day then take my calories from 4pm to bed time.


----------



## Beach

Everything seems to be back to normal now for me.  Well, as normal as one can be with an IBD condition.  After avoiding pork the muscle cramping is pretty much gone.  

I was trying to think why I wasn't well after avoiding pork for so long.  It occurred to me that I have been eating a good amount of nuts.  I don't believe the nuts, more specifically cashews, are an allergy problem.  I've known for awhile though that cashews can cause mild stomach issues.  I suspect they are just hard to digest for a roughed up intestine.  It's as good of theory as any.  I'll try that going forward and see what happens.  

So I'm back to square one.  Doing OK gut wise, but wishing I hadn't taken the dietary side track that I did about a month ago.  

Sorry about the tomato problem.  I'm not much of a fan of tomatoes myself.


----------



## InstantCoffee

I think cashews are a common one, I remember having an issue with cashews despite other nuts being okay. 

I think the fasting is working, I fasted Sunday and Monday and ate between 4 and 10pm, without changing my diet and eating a lot more than usual in that time period I feel great, no symptoms at all today. No gas, cramps, excessive bathroom trips for 1 or 2.


I think I might just have to adjust to a fasting diet - I keep trying to find the path of least resistance because the things that work are seldom fun (taking psyllium husks daily, fasting, sauerkraut) but I guess that's just life with IBD, it's gonna be unfun one way or another.


----------



## Tuff

When I'm flaring, which I'm starting to do a bit now, I don't eat in the morning if I have to go to work or go out. I just have a couple of cups of peppermint and fennel tea, and eat when I get home. Peppermint and fennel are great for soothing the stomach and helps with bloating.


----------



## Beach

I'm really quite pleased with my latest pork avoidance diet.  Avoiding pork and cashews has my stomach doing much better, and energy levels have been solid.  It's always special when energy levels are good.  I'm hoping this remains the case in the weeks ahead.  I have a long car trip to make the end of May.


----------



## InstantCoffee

Doctor won't do anything without first doing colonoscopy / endo, which I can't afford. Won't write a medical cannabis script and didn't know what LDN is. Time to find a new one I guess.


----------



## Beach

That's awful.  I remember you mentioning you worried that would be the case, about your doctor not working with you.  

My old doctor was that way.  I came to learn it didn't matter what I said, or information offered.  He was in automatic unthinking mode, as I thought of it.     

My parents used to have a gem of a doctor.  He would work with my father in particular.  Dad is proactive, always researching different ideas and drugs he wants to try for different conditions.  The doctor always was willing to listen, offer advice, and most of the time agreed with dad.  Sadly that doctor just left the hospital to start his own practice outside of the medical center, so being on government Medicare a new physician has been assigned to the folks.  I hope she is just as open minded and smart.  

Hope the stomach is hanging in there.  

I'm quite upbeat with my avoiding pork and nuts.  The gut is doing A-ok.


----------



## InstantCoffee

Yeah idk what I'm supposed to do, I know that technically they need to see how the disease state is, but I basically have been given a choice between massive financial debt and going  untreated, it's a pretty shitty choice and as a doctor that shouldn't be the only options you give a patient.

The better I feel the harder this fasting diet is to stick to. I used to be getting really hungry by 2-3pm, now it's hitting me at 10 in the morning and I still have another 4 hours minimum before I can open my 8 hour feeding window. 

I'm not actually sure what the perfect amount of time is for this to work. I don't want to start eating sooner and diminish the benefits or even start falling back into a worse disease state, but feeling hungry, cold and without energy sucks ass.

It's been over a month without coffee and I'm now a full-on tea convert I guess. I'm just chugging green tea all day instead.


----------



## Beach

Agree, it is a shitty choice being offered.  Ideally, your doctor should have recognized the situation and done more to help you.  I think most doctors just go along with the crowd.  There is less chance of getting into trouble that way.  It was a CYA move on his part I imagine.  

Best with the fasting try.  I fast some myself.  Rarely do I eat dinner.  I know what you mean about the cold and hungry bit.  At times I would experience that to extreme while fasting.  There were times were I was always famished, the stomach being a bottemless pit.  

Now, with my stomach doing well that isn't the case.  I know I could go the day without eating and not be in much trouble with being overly hungry and cold.  

my current diet of mainly avoiding pork and pork gelatin I going great.  The stomach continues to behave.  Fingers crossed the good times continue.  

I have an idea you might try.  It's an idea out in left field but is easy and inexpensive to do.  For me it is an old idea retried.  

In the past I've tried copper treatments.  You might have seen the TV commercials about retired sports starts selling copper clothing.  it is supposed to help with sore muscles and joints.  I didn't find the copper shirts all that beneficial though.  

Well, yesterday morning I received as a gift a copper wristband.  I didn't give the health ideas much thought at the time.  I liked the looks of the copper band wore it.  

I noticed that afternoon I had all kinds of energy.  The great energy has continued to today.  Obviously I don't know if it is the copper band that is helping me with improved energy.  It might be coincidence, in particular since my GI system is working well.  It does have me intrigued though.  Some mentions are made about copper wrist bands helping people improve their energy.  

Anyway, I noticed someone brought back from the dead one of your threads in the General section.  There is a mention about the theory that Crohns might be caused by an infectious agent.  One of the few frequently mentioned items about copper is its ability to kill microbial agents.  It isn't known why this happens.  There are several theories on it.  Some hospitals now even add copper plating through out their facilities in hopes of decreasing hospital acquired infections.  Some on that can be read here:

Copper Sinks and Faucets May Stem Hospital Infections

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/04/...aucets-may-stem-hospital-infections.html?_r=0 

It might not be your cup of tea, but if it might help you might see about wearing a copper wristband to see if it improves stomach, cold and hungry feeling.  I saw on Amazon the bands are inexpensive.  I imagine even copper wring, wrapped around thw wrist, with the insulation stripped off could work.  

Just an idea to throw out there.


----------



## InstantCoffee

Copper is actually something I've pursued in the past as something to avoid with crohn's.

There's some theories floating around that Crohn's is linked to copper toxicity paired with low zinc levels. I started taking large doses of zinc and after a few months got blood work done and had normal-high zinc and high levels of copper, which should have been brought down by the zinc supplements, so who even knows how high it was previous to supplementing?

At this point it's not something I feel is worth pursuing one way or the other. I didn't see much improvement by reducing copper or taking more zinc, and since I was already high in copper, I don't think I'd see improvement by adding more to the system.

High blood copper levels is definitely linked to lots of bad side effects.


----------



## Beach

You have done your home work on copper it sounds like.  Very good.  Copper isn't something I would be interested in taking as a supplement either.  I've read more bad about supplementing than good, but have to admit overall I haven't looked into that topic much.  

The copper/energy acupuncture type idea as I'm doing wearing copper jewelry has me intrigued.  Time will tell though if this good energy and good GI tract continues.  That's the most important aspect of all this obviously for me.


----------



## InstantCoffee

I've had a few  upsets the past couple nights, short spurts, not sure if it's the new brand of quinoa. Also I've been increasing my meat intake which could be related. I might have to keep my meat portions smaller.

I've also been cutting my fasts short, so I'm wondering if that's what's causing it. I just get hit with hunger so bad around 10 am, but maybe I have to stick it out until 2 to maintain the benefits.

Also just added L-Glutamine but I really doubt that's it.

My diet has otherwise been pretty stable. I have a small portion of meat with ~ 1/2cup quinoa for supper, only ingredients are butter and salt, two shakers of Ovaltine and whole milk, a box of crunch bars before supper and one after if I still have the appetite.

I've been trying quinoa pancakes though which involves eggs (doubt that's the trigger) and different preparation, maybe not boiling the quinoa causes it to be harder to digest?

So I -should- eliminate eggs, L-glutamine, reduce meat intake, and go back to boiled quinoa and try them one at a time I guess, but knowing me I'll mess it up because I don't have the patience and  more likely just eliminate one at a time until one works.


----------



## Beach

I'm sorry to hear about the set back Ben.  I was pulling for you, that the fasting would set you in a positive direction.  Hopefully it is just a short term set back.  Good luck as always in getting it sorted out.  

I guess for me I made a discovery.  I suspect the medication I've been encouraged to take has been behind cramping and some muscle pains.  I'll sometimes take Imodium on a daily basis.  it sort of helps but not all that much.  It was suggested by my doctor many years ago.  Nothing else given did much to help me.  

Well, I dislike traveling.  There is good reason for that.  Typically before a trip I'll experience cramping and fatigue.  I've written that off to nerves in the past.  Now at the moment I'm leaning toward the medication, Imodium, as being the cause for the cramping. Before a trip I'll begin taking Imodium with the idea of trip preparation precaution.   

It's only been a short time since I stopped the Imodium.  The gut is well as a result.  Little cramping has happened since I stopped.  Energy levels are better.  

I have a big long trip planned in two weeks.  If all works out with this idea it should be a good, better than average drive.  

The diet idea of avoiding pork, melons and nuts is going well for me.  It's one of the easier elimination diets I'll followed.


----------



## InstantCoffee

Do you take imodium as a pill or a liquid? Liquid imodium contains sucralose which has strong links to IBD and sets my stomach off in a terrible way (bad cramps and diarrhea, feelings of dehydration.)

I never tried imodium, I'm not sure it would effect bile-acid diarrhea that I get. The only thing that helped that was psyllium husks. 



It was definitely one of the things I listed triggering my symptoms, I've ruled out the burgers.
Still have to test:
-unboiled quinoa
-l-glutamine
-the cheese I was using

I highly suspect it is the cheese so I'll try the other two first, if I get no reaction I can just skip trying the cheese and getting sick.


----------



## Beach

I might have jumped the gun with Imodium.  It might be a problem, but in combination with alcohol.  I suspect Imodium was doing its job, but that the wine I was drinking didn't sit well with the GI system, which wanted to kick it out.  The Imodium wasn't allowing that to happen.  

I started drinking a glass of wine or two a day.  At first it wasn't a problem.  Now I think it became a problem over time.

That's the theory at the moment, and it seems to be working better, since I stopped the wine.  Energy levels are up, and the gut working decently.  

Good luck narrowing your trigger list down.  It's tough to do but I believe can be done.


----------



## Beach

I began a diet that is showing encouraging signs.  I'm only a few days into the diet so more testing needs to be done.  Thought to quickly write about it.    

I began avoiding all synthetic vitamins, directly and indirectly.  I've known for some time that synthetic vitamins cause me health issues, with stomach problems and fatigue.  The indirect avoidance of synthetic vitamins involves avoiding animal products were the animal was fed synthetic vitamins.  In commercial animal raising most are fed a diet high in synthetic vitamins from what I've read.  

What is encouraging about the results so far are that the gut is decently well, my energy levels are improved, and the mystery muscle fatigue after working out has not occurred.  Most of the time, before this diet, after lifting items, or swimming laps, I'll be overly tired and fatigued the next day or two.  On this avoidance of synthetic vitamins that has not been the case.  Time will tell if that remains true.  

I've done a variation of this diet in the recent past when avoiding soy, directly and indirectly.  Avoiding synthetic vitamins is more difficult with more foods to stay away from.


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## InstantCoffee

Aren't you going to struggle with B12? My understanding is most of our B12 is synthetic now because it doesn't occur naturally as well in our current ecosystem. 

I'm very picky about the source of vitamins in any pills, because when you get things like zinc /magnesium etc. in oxide, vitamin A in forms other than beta carotene etc. you're just saving money to have a less bioavailable form that's not as good for the body or digestion. 

I'm doing fairly well sticking with my fast until 10:00-12:00, break fast with a box of sunbutter crunch bars and an ovaltine shake, then at supper I have a portion of meat (chicken, burgers, etc) with 1/2 cup of quinoa. Weight is going up, energy is improving, pants are fitting better without a belt. 

To my great surprise it seems like the L-glutamine was the trigger food that set me off this past week, not the cheese as I suspected. 

I've also been finding my skin problems are not (100% at least) crohn's related and seem related to my household water. I've been using vitamin C based moisturizer to deactivate any chlorine in the water, showering for less time using cooler water, and conditioning my scalp every time I shower to keep it hydrated.

I may be asked to travel for work for the first time, and I'm feeling pretty confident that I could actually do it.


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## Beach

You sounds a bit like my father!  He's big into vitamin B12.  He has a particular type that he takes and rattles off the long name of what it is from time to time.  I forget why he takes that vitamin B12 exactly but it might have to do with Alzheimer's prevention.  That is something he is active with.    

For what ever reason I'm not able to consume synthetic vitamins.  This is something I've known about for a few decades.  Well, I should add that I don't believe all synthetic vitamins are a problem.  I know some of the fat soluble vitamins do not appear to be an issue.  The water soluble vitamins on the other hand make me miserable, nearly to the point that I'm not able to function for 24 hours after consuming a multi vitamin.  

I heard from a 93 year old great aunt the other day.  She was saying she couldn't take synthetic vitamins or drugs.  If so maybe my issue runs in the family.  As fas as I know though she never had severe stomach issues.  I'm the only one "blessed" with that in the family or who is still with us.  I had a cousin with a good many health issues, stomach included.    

So far so good on this diet I'm on, of avoiding synthetic vitamins directly and indirectly.  I'm doing well.  The stomach is good.  Energy levels are improved.  I can become tired out but to be expected.  I remain encouraged by this diet and plan to stick with it.    

Congrats on future work travel!  Hope that works out.  I have some friends that do all they can to get out of the office.  Good to hear also that the fasting is after all helping out too.


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## Beach

Hooray!  I had a workout the other day.  The next day i felt good.  I had energy.  

So this morning I had a more robust workout.  If I feel half way alive tomorrow morning, it will give me further confidence in the new diet I'm following.


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## Beach

I've had mixed results with yesterdays workout and health.  

The bad news is that I slept very poorly.  My stomach was hurting over night and as a result I likely got 1 to 2 hours of sleep last night.  That happens from time to time with me.  I already knew that on this diet that gut can still become upset.  

The good news is that I do not have muscle and bone fatigue.  I worked and exercised hard yesterday.  Typically after that I can expect the next day to be overly fatigued and in pain.  That is not the case this morning.  The fatigue and muscle ache is not there.  Despite the lack of sleep my energy levels are decent this morning.  

So the diet I'm on of avoiding synthetic vitamins directly and indirectly is doing something positive.  It has been a mystery to me on why i experience fatigue to an extreme at times.  Possibly with this diet an answer has been found.  With a little bit of luck the positives with the diet will continue long term.  And with a little bit of luck, the negatives of upset stomachs and poor sleep will become less frequent.  I can only hope.


----------



## InstantCoffee

Are you getting bloodwork done to test vitamin levels?


----------



## Beach

I am not.  That is something my doctor never did in the past. About the only vitamin test I did on my own was vitamin D levels.  

I was thinking about this the other day.  I appear to be digesting and absorbing nutrients better of late.  As an example, in the past it was common for me to have tongue sores.  This is many years ago but I recall being told by a school doctor that the sores were caused by a lack of B vitamins.  That made little sense though as at that time I took a great amount of synthetic vitamins daily, in breakfast cereals and chewables.  

Now on this diet I'm following, the tongue sores are gone.  Appearance wise too, I see improvements.      

I suspect vitamin testing is more of a test done with Crohn's patients.  At least on another IBD sight I visit that is more about colitis conditions vitamin testing is little mentioned, compared to here.  

On a personal level also, I'm not much of a believer in synthetic vitamins being helpful.  I consider them to be dead nutrients.


----------



## InstantCoffee

I might have been wrong about L-glutamine, matcha tea has been upsetting me and I usually cleanse my palate with it after my shake (that would have l-glutamine) so it could have been that.

I'm doing a 44 hour fast today. I started around 8 or 9 on Monday night and would do 48 but I don't want to eat around 8 or 9 tonight. 

I'm currently nearing the 42 hour mark. I had one bad BM at about 1:00, not sure what caused that. Stomach has been bubbly throughout. Energy levels are really low and I'm getting a lot of body temperature fluctuation, hoping that it pays off otherwise I'm just torturing myself for nothing.

I decided not to take any vitamins or supplements during my fast because 1, it could break the fasting process and 2, some of the vitamins require fats to be absorbed right so consuming them in isolation doesn't help.


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## Beach

I'm really sorry to read that the fasting does not appear to be working, or working as hoped.  With what you are doing that would be a telling test, I would think.  Hope you get things worked out for the best.  

I guess with me, two items are running through my mind.  The first being that I continue to do well.  The new diet, with main focus on avoiding synthetic vitamins directly and indirectly, is to have energy, not experience that horrible muscle fatigue.  So far so good in the department.  I had another tough workout today.  At this point in the day I do not feel all that beat up and sore.  Tomorrow will be a better determiner, but right now I'm giddy and happy with the results, no overly sore muscles and hurting bones. 

The second though is that, with this diet I'm close to a similar diet I did in the past that I had some success with.  That diet was to avoid soy, directly and indirectly.  Most live stock fed today receive a diet of vitamins and soy meal.  If one has an allergy to them, then some speculate that the allergy can show up in the animal product consumed.  

I don't know why I stopped the soy direct and indirect avoidance diet.  I have notes on that idea, and have an idea of what was going on, but most likely I was frustrated at the slow pace of progress with the stomach health.  I'm hoping that with the muscle fatigue being a main focus for me, and not the health of the GI track, that I'll find better ways to remain with the diet, so long as it is working of course. 

I guess also, in the house hold we had a soy trial of a sort.  One of the cat foods given to our finicky felines was not available.  As a result, a new very similar food was available though, was bought and given to the cars.  The only difference between the foods that was listed on the label is that the new food has soy in it.  Well, the male cat became very sick to his stomach with the new food.  Poor guy couldn't keep anything in him.  He got to sleep outside on the back porch, in comfort, but the porch in case the area needed to be hosed down.  (I'm glad no one has come up with that idea for me!)  So far with the soy food out of his diet, he is doing better.  I'm hoping that is that answer, for his sake and mine.  Cleaning up after a sick cat isn't all that much fun.


----------



## InstantCoffee

Soy is one of the most common food intolerances and also has properties that shut down proper protein digestion. 

I guess I have my answer, 40+ hour fast is very bad. I was rereading the study that prompted it, it basically just says that GDS (gut derived serotonin) spikes at ~48 hours but there are diminished returns after that. I didn't know if GDS was good or bad, but I'm thinking it's bad.

I start having bilious diarrhea at 40 hours, broke my fast with snack bars at about 43 hours and had bad stomach upset. The next morning my stomach felt almost peristaltic, with slow digestion and pain and cramping that I didn't have previously. 

I think it will pass as I re-feed and normalize. I guess if nothing else it was a learning experience.


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## Beach

That sucks!  I'm very sorry about the fasting not only not working, but turning sour in the end.  Better luck with future ideas tried.  

Well, not to be cheery in the writing of your bad news, but to add I'm doing wonderfully today.  My energy levels are through the roof.  This is after a difficult workout day.  Typically I could expect to be down and out with energy the next day after a hard workout.  Today I'm feeling energized.  I have so much energy I'm not sure what to do with it all.  

To doubly add to the good news, this comes after adding several new foods to my diet.  I have a good diet now going, one I can stick with long term.  One of the safe and healthy foods is Pringles potato chips.  I was catching grief over that yesterday!  Hey, if it works is works.  Why conform to someones else definition of healthy, I say.  I feel great.  Well, I say that, the gut could do better.  With time I suspect the gut will improve.  I'll be sticking with the avoid synthetic vitamins directly and indirectly for a long time I suspect.  

Up next for me, some more new foods to be added to the diet.  I'll likely begin that early next week.


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## Beach

Every once in awhile I find myself curious if I can eat a high fiber food in decent quantities.  And every once in awhile, after eating the food high in fiber, I find myself greatly regretting it later!  

Not good.  Energy levels still OK, and muscle fatigue not bad at all, but grumpy gut after to much brown rice consumed yesterday afternoon.  I'll be laying off the stuff for the holiday weekend.


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## Beach

Very, very exciting!  At least it is exciting for me.  I worked out, lifted weights twice yesterday.  It was quite the above and beyond test.  

In the past this excessive lifting would result in excessive muscle and bone pain.  Not today though!  No pain this morning.  I have very good energy instead.  

So the diet of avoiding synthetic vitamins directly and indirectly is working longer term.  Fingers crossed when adding additional new foods going forward the good energy continues.  

The stomach I might add is so-so.  The stomach remains upset at times.  It could be better.  Fiber remains a big problem.  To much fiber rich foods eaten results in an upset stomach and poor energy levels.  I have to remain careful on how much fiber is consumed.


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## Beach

Good and bad news to write about with the stomach.  

The bad news is that I missed my long drive.  The stomach was acting up enough to keep me from wanting to be on the road.  There are projects to be done here too, so it worked out.  I wish I had been healthy enough to make the trip north, but after a life time of being sick, these kind of things happen, often.   

The other bad news is this week I had some painful gut days.  I've figured that was due to eating to many nuts.  Now with the nuts out of the diet the gut is better.  My energy levels have rebounded also.  Energy remains decent overall.  The muscle pain/ bone pain, isn't so much there either.  

The gut is so so.  Wish it was better, but expect in the coming month or two the gut will be in better shape.  I hope so at least.


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## Beach

For as long as I can remember I've had periods of unknown causes of quick large weight gain and weight loss swings.  I'm currently having another one of those experiences.  

I've noticed on this latest diet idea of avoiding synthetic vitamins, in my diet and diet of animal foods consumed, I've gained around 10lbs.  My eat habits are same.  I can't explain why I put on the weight, other than possibly the gut is working better.


----------



## InstantCoffee

Thinking chewing gum has been part of my problem. 

It also might explain the success of my fasting. I've been chewing gum regularly both to clean my mouth and pull the food that gets stuck out of my broken tooth (very uncomfortable). 

So almost every meal, or shake, is followed with gum.

My stomach just started acting up again sporadically and I noticed it always started about mid-day/early afternoon when I usually have my snack bars and shake, then again early in the morning as I was often chewing gum after supper. 

When I fast, I don't chew gum. 

I've been chewing sugar free gums for the past 2-3 years with very few breaks due to all the sugar in my diet, wanting to keep my teeth clean during the day.

Looks like I'll need to find another way to clean  my mouth on the fly.


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## Beach

I remain going forward with the current diet.  Energy levels good, most of the time.  After working out I often feel energized in the evening.  It can depend on that as I've learned, I can over workout causing tiredness.  

The gut is not the best.  I have my good and bad days.  Hopefully with time the gut will improve.  I'm not being all that kind to my gut with the amount of fiber being eaten.  It isn't much fiber but likely enough to slightly irritate it.  I'm also drinking a glass or two of wine a day which can be hard on my gut.    

I'm labeling this my avoid synthetic vitamin diet.  There are other possibilities though on what is going right with how I'm eating.  I'm also avoiding soy, directly and indirectly.  I'm also avoiding all bird products, chicken, eggs, turkey.  Possibly something else is helping that I'm not accounting.  If I had my choice avoiding bird would be it!  But what ever it is, beggars can't be choosy.


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## Beach

It's been a little over a month since I began the latest dietary idea.  I'm doing well to the gut now.  What I consider well is different from what a typical person would say it well, but overall I'm pleased so far with progress.  

My energy levels have been nice.  There are times, often in the evening, where I have a great amount of energy.  Often after weight lifting I feel energized, which is a nice change.  If I exercise to much though I can feel tired out later on.    

I've put on another 5 pounds.  I have some body fat on me, but not a terribly large amount.  The weight gain seems more water, and has a more muscular look.  Anyway, no complaints about the weight gain.  I might be a solid build 200lbs in the future if this keeps up.  

Made a mistake.  I tried taking a mineral supplement early in the week.  I knew something was wrong when I woke up the next day.  My stomach ached, and my eyes were blood shot red.  It took a few hours for my eye color to return thankfully.  I was pretty sick that night, but the sickness didn't last long.

I forgot to add, I'm avoiding pork and have been for 2 months as of yesterday.  It wouldn't surprise me if avoiding pork was why I've been feeling better.  This is an old idea.  What makes this latest pork avoidance idea newer has to do with eating a more nutrient rich diet plus avoiding nuts which I believe can slightly irritate my gut.


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## Beach

Thought to give a quick update on the latest diet idea.  The stomach is further improved.  I'm not well, but I'm not as sick as last time I wrote.  My energy levels are hit or miss.  As an example yesterday morning I was on my feet most of the time which is good.  I was exhausted in the afternoon though.  Hopefully as the stomach continues to improve (fingers crossed) my energy levels will grow better.  Appearance wise I look healthier.


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## InstantCoffee

Saw the doctor today, he seemed confused. My blood work shows no inflammation markers, no anemia, no deficiencies in b12 or D. Basically none of the normal blood signs of Crohn's.

He doesn't know what to do aside from colonoscopy/endoscopy which I can't afford right now. 

I floated the idea of SIBO and he said they can do a hydrogen breath test for it which is $300 OOP so I might take them up on that and see.


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## Beach

Good luck with testing, finding a test you want done.  If i might help the Christian Health Sharing plan I belong with, which has me paying in cash to hospitals, sends out web sights for me to check medical pricing on.  Reportedly pricing can vary enormously from hospitals to hospital.  

On the web sights you might find a local group offering a colonoscopy at a better/ affordable price.  

https://healthcarebluebook.com 

https://www.mdsave.com

https://pricinghealthcare.com

To report health wise, I'm doing well here with my diet.  I still have my good and my bad days.  I've noticed though that the bad days do not seem to be as exhausting as in the past.  I figure that to be a positive sign.  About the only negative I can think of is that with more energy I've found myself exercising more.  As a result of more exercise my legs and hips have begun to ache.  I'm going to swim more in the future.  Figure that will place less fatigue on my body, and let joints heal.


----------



## InstantCoffee

Looks like based on these that my price is normal to low side for colonoscopy/endoscopy, don't think I'm going to get away from the fact I'll hit my $2500 out of pocket. 

I always seem to end up with joint pains when I exercise more often. I've considered trying things like cissus to help with it but I'm always  weary of introducing new herbals.

Scheduled my breath test for august.


----------



## Beach

As strange as it sounds, I now think it is the fiber amount I've been eating that causes the joint pain.  I eat a good amount of fiber and the joints hurt.  I cut back on the fiber and everything feel fine!  What a strange disease, quality of life determined by number of rice cakes and vegetables eaten in a day.  

Good luck once again with the testing, all the way around.  

For me, I guess the bigger health change I've noticed of late is how swimming builds up my upper body.  It's a good sign.  Good in that I'm somewhat easily putting on muscle.  I wish the gut was healthier but it isn't bad and is doing better.  I wish that progress went quicker, it would provide better confidence in the diet followed, but it is what it is.


----------



## Beach

Probably not worth mentioning but since it is on my mind thought to write for my notes, more of less.  I added some garlic and onion to my diet.  I had a bad reaction to them.  The reaction being my muscles tensed up, charlie horses developed.  I don't know what to make of it, other than I'm not much of a spice eater.  It is something I've been involuntarily avoiding.  I'll plan to keep away from both spices in the future.


----------



## Beach

Small victories but I'm quite pleased today with the avoiding spices, garlic, onion, pepper, etc.  A problem with achy joints seems to have resolved.  At least the pain has entirely gone away while on walks.  My energy levels are nicely improved.    

On the avoiding spices, I've done this idea before without apparent success.  What I've decided to do was to also avoid processed foods that might be mislabeled.  In particular I'm avoiding a tuna that mentions no spices on the label.  I'm also avoiding a turkey lunch meat that doesn't say any spices in it.  Most other tuna and turkey products sold say added spices or sometimes will say in broth.  Just a guess on my part, don't know but figure if not mislabeled, possibly cross contamination happening within the manufacturing process.         

Also, I've wondered about where my improved energy levels have come from.  I've speculated it might be due to feeling better.  It now dawns on me that the better energy might come from eating brown rice and the nutrients found in that.


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## Beach

Quick update on avoiding spices.  The good news is, I'm well to the stomach!  Ya!!!  The bad news, I have no energy what so ever.  Fatigue has set back in.  I'm back to the bad old days of fighting through the tiredness.  

I'm not all that surprised by the quick uptick in the stomach doing quite well.  I've been avoiding spices for awhile.  I haven't been complete with the avoidance though.  I'll from time to time sneak in some spicy food once a week or so.  

Historically I've had a love hate relationship with garlic.  I love the taste of garlic.  The hate comes from that it is another food item that makes me bleed.  I've known for awhile that eating garlic for a few days will cause my finger nails to begin bleeding.  Rather gross and painful condition when it happens. 

So in summary, I'll stick with the diet so long as the gut remains well.  I'll fight through the fatigue with dreams of it going away eventually in my lifetime.


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## Beach

Another week on the diet, another good week with the gut.  I even tested the gut out and passed with good results.  I'm far from healthy, but I'm gaining good confidence with this idea of avoiding spices, and avoiding foods that could have cross contamination with spices.  

About the only bad news is the same old same old, poor energy.  Sometimes the energy is good.  Other times it is horrible.  Fiber has a lot of do with that.  The other bad news that comes to mind is that the muscle strains have returned.  I decided to eat some pork on this diet, and with that the muscle charley horses have returned.  They are not horrible.  I imagine they will eventually go away, at least I hope so.  

Should be interesting to see how I'm doing one month from now.  I imagine I'll be in better shape.  I believe I'm going in the right direction, but time will tell.


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## Beach

I made one more change to my diet this week.  I kicked eggs out of it this week.  As a result my energy levels have increased nicely.  Eating eggs was always risk I felt.  I'm scared to eat chicken.  I know with good certainty it will cause a great deal of stomach issues, a particular type of stomach issue too.  Turkey, another bird meat, bothers me also.  it is like eggs though.  I have in my records good stomach days after eating turkey and after eating eggs.  I also have many bad days after eating turkey, eggs.  If the two are a problem, it isn't something that is a direct issue, more along the lines of an issue when eaten for a few days.  

Regardless, I'm avoiding bird meats, spices, and melons.  So long as I continue to do well with the gut, and energy levels remain high on this diet, at some point I'll go back and retest spices.  I'm guessing now that not all spices are a problem.


----------



## InstantCoffee

This kind of stuff is terrifying and makes me wonder how much of IBD is the result of shit we put in our food.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cki3FEK4et8


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## Beach

It is amazing the crap that is fed to farm animals.  Arsenic, yikes!  I've often wondered the same, if what is making me ill is due to what chemicals or food fed to livestock.  

What ever it is, I'm doing well with avoiding chicken, eggs, and turkey, along with melons and synthetic vitamins.  The gut is nearly 100%.  My energy levels are much better.  I still have all kinds of questions running in my mind on why I'm well, what about this or what about that.  I'm trying to set that aside though and be grateful that at this time I have a diet that is working.  With a little luck that will continue and I'll heal further and with that recover.  

Kind of pleased I might have a new set of shorts I can fit into!  My gut will swell up at times, when not doing well.  Lately the gut is not as inflamed, I'm guessing.  Shorts that were to tight to wear a few weeks ago are on the looser side this evening.


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## Beach

This is worth quickly noting.  On the diet I'm following my energy levels have increased and increased by the day.  Yesterday I even put the extra energy I'm experiencing to the test.  I swam for an hour, I had time to walk for an hour, and I did some light weight lifting.  Typically such many activities would have me worn out, as I can joke ready for a trip to the ER. 

This morning the opposite has happened.  I'm full of so much energy, almost to the point of it being to much.  I woke up at 3:30 and was ready to start the day.  I eventually got up at 4:30 and haven't stopped doing activities since.  

I guess in summary, I suspect that the diet I'm following has greatly improved the gut.  Additionally the diet has improved my energy levels.  Those are my main two complaints.  Of special note, I believe it is the brown rise I'm eating that has led to my increased energy levels.  I've been well in the past to the stomach, over the last 5 years, being well hasn't been uncommon, but decent amounts of energy and feeling good can all to often be missing.  

What makes me ill I remain unsure.  I can pretty much say chicken, and turkey are problem foods.  Melons are a big issue to and something to avoid.  Some spices possibly are a problem.  That is something I plan to test soon.  Pork has me concerned, as I know to much pork can cause inflammation issues for me.  I'm not so sure though if pork is a stomach issue or a low energy issue.  In a journal I have written good energy days while eating pork.  

Well, currently the meat I'm eating is grass fed steak.  I hope to add variety soon.  Fingers crossed that the good energy remains.  I think that is worse than the stomach issue, having no energy.  it's a wonderful feeling to be energized for a change.


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## Beach

Ugh, the dreaded avoid eggs, chicken, turkey, and then get stomach cramping has stuck.  It's a predictable occurrence when avoiding bird.  It's another item that I don't know why it happens.  The cramping typically go away after a week or two.  

The good news is that I still have very good energy.  I can get used to this improved energy.  I'm not complaining.  I'm planning to use the improved energy as my main food tester.  So long as the improved energy remains, I'll consider foods safe to eat.  Maybe I'll get lucky as the problematic foods to avoid could be bird.  

I still remember the last time I was well for a long period of time.  It was 5 years ago.  I was avoiding bird, had poor energy, but was doing great to the stomach.  I joined a gym, hired a trainer, and the trainer suggested I eat more protein.  As a result as a quick snack I began eating turkey lunch meat.  It must not have happened right away, but remember it wasn't long afterwards that the stomach went sour again.  Who knows.  I shouldn't think to much on this.


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## Beach

Tested a new food this weekend, pork.  My energy levels have remained great.  The stomach is doing well.  WIth the test there were several concerns with pork, with two main concerns being allergy to pork & also potential allergy to what is fed to the pigs.  So far neither seems to be a problem.  I'll continue to monitor this.  

I unintentionally went to an extreme with swimming this weekend.  I swam laps for an hour with only two short breaks yesterday.  Swam the day before too.  That was surprising to me that I was able to do that.  My energy levels were very high and I kept swimming.  I regretted that last night as I was quite sore and as a result slept poorly.  With that said, this morning I have the rare treat of being sore but having good energy.  Lucky me.  :ytongue: I'm planning to avoid the pool for a day or two and let the muscle recover.  

Today I'm adding garlic to the diet.  Fingers crossed my energy levels remain high.


----------



## Beach

Good news to update, pork and garlic appear to be working out.  My energy levels remain high.  The GI tract is doing decently.  

A few other items to note, communicating and typing thoughts have become easier.  I don't know why that happens but it has happened in the past when the stomach become better.  Fingers crossed this improvement will stick around.  

I appear to be loosing subcutanious fat.  I've lost around 4lbs so far and it's in that area where the loss looks to be coming from.  

I think at this point I have a good flavorful diet going.  The main foods being avoided as bird and melons.  I'll stick with it for a good long while, and hope I further recover, if recovery is what I'm experiencing.  I believe it is but time will tell best.


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## Beach

Another quick update:

Diet is going well I believe.  My energy levels are good to wonderful most of the time.  I've lost weight.  The gut on the negative is more sensitive.  While in the past it could take more abuse with say exercise.  Now that is not that case.  Why that is I can speculate but don't know and am not worried over.  Looking healthier which I view as a positive.  No new foods added the last couple of days.  I'll remaining in a holding pattern for a bit, and see what kind of recovery I see.  Oh, I seem to be more sensitive to heat.  Before the heat did not bother me.  Now, sudden it's hot outside!  I've had this happen before when becoming healthier.  Fingers crossed that is the case here too.


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## Beach

With all the different items I look for to see how I'm healing, one item in my mind stands out most.  Many of us report a slight rash on the chest.  Happily I've noticed that rash has been slowly going away of late.  I noticed yesterday that it is gone or nearly gone.  It is an upbeat sign for me and provides further confidence I'm going forward in the right direction.  The few times I've been well, the rash was not there.  It is nice too that I've been keeping notes on all this too, with a list of what I'm eating, and progress or changes seen.  

The gut remains well.  Energy levels are on the poor side this morning.  The last couple of days have been more active for me and can believe that is the primary cause of that.


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## Beach

I seem to be doing quite well this morning.  This is the same as last night.  This is in contrast to yesterday morning where the day began where I was weak and tired.  I suspect the weakness and tiredness comes from stomach cramping.  I'm not sure why I'm experiencing cramping off and on but when it happens it steals most of my energy.  

So overall, as an update, feeling well to the gut.  The rash is gone.  Finger nails look good and healthy.  My weight loss appears to have leveled off at 175lbs.  My energy levels can be great at times and at other times terrible.  My sleep has been very poor.  I'm getting a couple hours of sleep a night.  I'm not sure why that is, but it is common I recall when I've avoided chicken and eggs in the past.  Being able to communicate has improved, in particular on days where I have energy.  

I don't really have many questions running in my mind about the diet I'm following.  Maybe one that makes me wonder concerns pork.  I've noticed when eating grass fed beef I have less cramping.  When eating pork more cramping.  I'm guessing that difference is due to pork being fattier and more difficult to digest.  Possibly something else is going on.  I'll make note and plan to pay more attention to that.


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## Beach

Yes!  yesterday I experienced no cramping.  I had good energy all day.  It was the 3rd day that I had eaten grass fed beef.  I slept wonderfully last night.  

Pork is a problem.  I was trying to make excuses for why pork could cause me health issues yesterday.  It is simply a problem food.  

Actually I suspect that pork is not a problem, it is what the pig is fed that is the issue.  I have been trying this idea earlier but didn't take it far.  I was trying earlier the idea that what is fed an animal can show up in the animal product.  If one has a soy allergy, and soy meal was in the feed given to the animal, then the soy allergens will show up in the meat, egg, dairy, etc.  

I forgot why I originally was so excited about the diet I'm on.  The main reason is I began eating brown rice and after that was experiencing much improved energy.  It was likely a nutritional deficiency that brown rice was helping me with.  

So anyway, I'll make an adjustment to my diet.  I'll avoid pork.  For now only grass fed beef and grass fed cheese will be eaten.  

In theory with this idea, only wild caught sea food should be safe to eat.  I'll try adding sea food to the diet in the near future and see how my energy levels go.  

Very exciting though!  At least I hope so.  I might have my answer once and for all.  If I can have a good stomach and good energy consistently I have finally found my answer.  I'm glad I'm keeping notes on everything.


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## Beach

Let see, since removing pork from the diet, I'm doing quite well.  The cramping has stopped.  I'm sleeping great.  The stomach is very good.  My energy levels are decent.  yesterday I did a test to see how my fatigue is doing.  I lifted weights, swam, and walked a few times.  I'm doing great since!  Typically with that much exercise I'd be in considerable pain and fatigue.  That is not the case this morning.  I'm a bit tired but nothing that I can't handled.  

I suspect for the first time I have a reliable fall back to diet.  or maybe better said a base diet that will keep me well, with the stomach and energy, and can be built upon.  I few more days I imagine should tell.


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## Beach

Ya!!!, the last couple days have been generally good.  I have stomach swelling from the condition.  With that sitting for long periods can be painful.  Long car rides are no fun.  

I've noticed the last couple of days the swelling has gone down considerably.  Sitting has not been painful.  I noticed this in particular last night as it felt so peaceful without that constant ache.  Fingers crossed this trend continues.  I imagine it will on the diet I'm following.


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## InstantCoffee

It's been a while since I've been on here. 
I was doing great until I decided to try to increase my vitamin A to see if it helps my scalp acne which had gotten severe this past summer, gone away while on antibiotics for  my root canal, then come back with vengeance.

My mistake was to start with a sweet potato which made me violently sick, I'm then not sure if the cod liver oil pills I took the next 2 days made it worse but I continued to rollercoaster, then was in pain and gastrointestinal distress for the following 2 weeks. I've just now stabilized in time for my SIBO test prep for the 13th. 

Interestingly while reading around I found this:
http://www.winchestergastro.com/sibo-test



> Peppermint oil has also been used, in combination with caraway oil, to treat the symptoms of functional dyspepsia (FD). The symptoms of FD are similar to SIBO and include abdominal pain ,nausea, bloating, gas, and indigestion. Clinical trials using enteric-coated peppermint and caraway oil vs. placebo have documented remarkable results in the treatment of FD, with reductions in pain, heaviness, pressure, and fullness. In all studies, the dose administered was 90 mg peppermint oil and 50 mg caraway oil twice daily; the combination was reported as safe and well tolerated.


Had I known this a year or two ago I'd have tried it, but since I'm locked in to doing it the professional way I'll just carry on with the normal testing and medications should they be prescribed, but if not I may try this for a week or two in order to see if it helps.


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## InstantCoffee

Well I had a brief stint of re-introducing nut butters to my diet before realizing they're causing terrible pain and cramping, but no bowel irregularity, which put me off isolating the cause for a bit. I'm not sure if it was the soy-butter or both, I bought real peanut butter and a soy imitation in case the peanut butter disagreed with me, I ended up liking the soy butter more so that one DEFINITELY caused it. Not feeling like going back and testing the PB just yet, I need time to recover and be pain-free for a bit.

SIBO test went well, still waiting for results, glucose didn't make me ill, follow up on Oct 3. 

I may have a contact to get me affordable MMJ license, I'm going to take advantage of this for sure. 

I had suspected my acne breakouts were bacterial as they subsided with antibiotics but now I'm learning oral antibiotics are not effective against p. acnes bacteria, but instead are anti-inflammatory in nature and it's the inflammation that they are treating.

I'm really beginning to suspect the high levels of sugar in my diet but I'm pretty limited at this point as my flavor options are ever-shrinking, I don't know how I'd enjoy oatmeal without something sweet added. I really don't want to add any more salt than is already in my diet to it. 

Black tea is also off-limits after a terrible night's sleep pre-SIBO test. I hope that didn't foul the testing. 

I just want to get the SIBO test and my root canal paid off so I can figure out what my next step is.


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## InstantCoffee

SIBO negative. That's one dead end I can cross off the list - unless it was a false negative because the black tea I had the night before caused slow motility.


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## InstantCoffee

Well it's been a long time since I've posted anything because not much have changed.

I'll have MMJ approval in the month.

Chest/back pains were caused by caffeine - not coffee. Anything with caffeine in it in large amounts, chocolate, tea etc. No indigestion, just straight up pain in my ribs, upper and lower back. Can't explain it, it's very bad and hard to explain.

Ovaltine seems to be causing constipation so I've cut that out. 

Living on mostly meat, cheese and water and these Enjoy Life Pro-Burst protein balls that are basically chocolate, rice, chia seeds and stuff all packed into a little ball that tastes like a brownie bite. 

I'm trying to include more natural sweets to curb my cravings, like pomegranate and strawberries. 

Also trying to reduce salt.


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## Tuff

InstantCoffee said:


> This kind of stuff is terrifying and makes me wonder how much of IBD is the result of shit we put in our food.
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cki3FEK4et8


I know this is an old post, but they don't use the antibiotics anymore.
On April 1, 2015, Zoetis announced that it would discontinue marketing Histostat (nitarsone), the only remaining arsenic-based animal drug on the market, by Fall 2015, and would request withdrawal of the approval for the drug by the end of 2015.


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## InstantCoffee

Tuff said:


> I know this is an old post, but they don't use the antibiotics anymore.
> On April 1, 2015, Zoetis announced that it would discontinue marketing Histostat (nitarsone), the only remaining arsenic-based animal drug on the market, by Fall 2015, and would request withdrawal of the approval for the drug by the end of 2015.


That's good to know. Sad that this stuff stays hidden for so long though.

Just got my first MMJ. 

I have a mix of CBD/THC containing oils and two vape pens. I'm only 2 days into using it so can't really comment on effectiveness yet. Very little psychoactive effects in these blends, the CBD definitely blunts it.


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## InstantCoffee

Well medical marijuana isn't helping. 
My diet is getting more restricted and my symptoms worse. I found my pain was being caused by meats and fats so I cut out meat and dairy but I'm still waking up before my alarm every morning having to run to the bathroom. I can't eat much and when I do I lose my appetite very quickly and feel off.

I've been eating white rice, edamame, safflower oil, rice and maize based cereals, oat and coconut milks. 

I don't know that I can really cut much out at this point. 

Psyllium husks aren't doing much for me, I'm back on fasting but it's rough when having an empty stomach is making things pretty bad.

My next doctor's appointment is in April, luckily my tax return will be in the next month so I can afford to get all the screening and any treatments I might need this year.


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## InstantCoffee

Figured it out. I've been reacting to white rice. 

Makes the elimination diet interesting when the thing that's considered the base line is what is making you sick.


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## Beach

If it might help you thought to mention my experience with eating rice.  I'm also following an elimination diet.  I'm having some success with it.  (I have a type of colitis.)  When I first began eating rice I could only eat a small amount.  Eating large amounts caused my stomach to become upset.  In the beginning I could eat one rice cake and two pieces of white rice gluten free bread in a day.  Now after a month of being on the diet my digestive system can handle 2 rice cakes and 4 slices of gluten free bread over a day without to much problem.  I suspect I'm able to handle more rice due to my GI system healing some.  That is my theory.    

Overall for me I'm theorizing that it is spices that is the cause of my stomach colitis issues.  Avoiding spices is allowing healing to happen, is my guess.  

Hope the same healing is happing for you and over time new foods will become tolerable to eat, such as white rice.


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## InstantCoffee

I don't use any seasonings and my aversion to white rice has become worse over the past month rather than better, I think I just need to completely remove it. I've had problems with rice in the past but never to this extent and it was usually specific to types, like brown rice. 

Now it's even the simplest jasmine and instant rices.


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## InstantCoffee

I'm having pain during the night after eating solid food, I'm worried it might be stricturing. There's no other GI upset with it, just pain.

 I need to do my tax return so I'll be able to afford my deductable and get my colonoscopy /endoscopy.

If I stick with ovaltine I'm doing okay. 

I might try a liquid diet for a few days then slowly move back into solids, the time it took me to discover rice allowed it to put me in a really really bad condition and I'm expecting a drawn out recovery process regardless. It's very likely I have extensive inflammation to heal. 

L-glutamine seems to cause me more pain and mucus so I can't use that to help. 

I'm taking a probiotic and a vitamin D and K complex, I might look into another anti-inflammatory supplement I've tried in the past like eggshell membrane to help things  along.


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## Lynda Lynda

Thanks for sharing. I will have to take time to read through all of the posts here so that I can figure out what others are doing and maybe I could implement the same foods / supplements into my own diet. After 20 years, though, I already have an extensive variety of foods that I will never, ever be able to eat.


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## cmack

Some foods that used to bother me are now well tolerated by my system. I think it may be due to VSL#3 probiotics that I took at the suggestion of my GP. Don't give up, if things heal well inside of you, more food variety eventually may be possible. It was in my case.


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## InstantCoffee

I'm experiencing pain on an empty stomach or when I'm lying down - I'm not sure.

I've been woken by pain in my stomach around 3-4am every night recently. It seems independent of what I've eaten  and it goes away once I have food or something. The other night I got up and took some fiber pills and it went away.

I took some fiber pills before bed last night in hopes it would prevent it but it still happened, just with less intensity.

Not really sure what's causing this. Due to it being situated higher and relieved  quickly I have to believe it's in the stomach itself or upper GI - possibly a gastric or peptic  ulcer?


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## InstantCoffee

This is most likely still gall bladder, will be seeking a doctor's appointment soon. 

Think I finally found a medical marijuana oil and vape pen that help though.


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## InstantCoffee

Having less pain each day, this THC oil is working a lot better than CBD oil did. I haven't had any pain in about 48 hours, amazing.


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## ronroush7

InstantCoffee said:


> Having less pain each day, this THC oil is working a lot better than CBD oil did. I haven't had any pain in about 48 hours, amazing.


That is great.


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## Tuff

InstantCoffee said:


> I'm experiencing pain on an empty stomach or when I'm lying down - I'm not sure.
> 
> I've been woken by pain in my stomach around 3-4am every night recently. It seems independent of what I've eaten  and it goes away once I have food or something. The other night I got up and took some fiber pills and it went away.
> 
> I took some fiber pills before bed last night in hopes it would prevent it but it still happened, just with less intensity.
> 
> Not really sure what's causing this. Due to it being situated higher and relieved  quickly I have to believe it's in the stomach itself or upper GI - possibly a gastric or peptic  ulcer?


Could it be acid reflux?  I used to wake up in the middle of the night with sharp pain in the middle upper chest. I cured it by raising the head of my bed by 6". Better than taking meds and worth a try.


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## InstantCoffee

Tuff said:


> Could it be acid reflux?  I used to wake up in the middle of the night with sharp pain in the middle upper chest. I cured it by raising the head of my bed by 6". Better than taking meds and worth a try.


I don't think so unless my acid reflux has changed significantly. I haven't experienced it since I cut gluten out of my diet. 

It was very distinct, burning, discomfort, but never an agonizing, permeating pain like this, it throbs and it feels like cramping. 

Ah $16 a bottle and each lasts about 2 weeks the THC oil is a pretty good solution for now until I can get checked.


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## cmack

16 bucks is cheap! How big is the bottle, and what is the THC %total? I find that interesting, here high CBD oil is way more than that, and it doesn't seem to do much for me. Hmmm. I hope it keeps helping until you can be examined, best of luck!


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## InstantCoffee

From what I read THC has shown more effectiveness in studies than high CBD. My first batch of meds I got 3 bottles of CBD oil of different types and two THC vape pens. The oils didn't do anything for the pain / problems. The vape pens just made me sleepy for an hour then it faded. 

This time after reading a couple studies I switched and asked for a high THC oil and they gave me this and the pain was diminished in 24 hour and gone after 48. I need to take it every 6-8 hours or so, so once in the morning and once in the afternoon seems to work for me. 

Bag says:
Cannabidiol A 1:1 oral solution 1x 100mg
THC - 54.6mg
CBD 45.5mg
Rest of the cannabinoids are <.1mg
10.49mg per ml I assume is the concentration
9.53m ml/ container
flower equivalence of 0.4g


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## cmack

That is very interesting info, thanks. As you may have heard, Canada is legalizing marijuana this summer. If it works, why not?


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## Lynda Lynda

I believe Arizona voted "no" last year to legalizing marijuana. But we have medical marijuana here.


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## InstantCoffee

You'll most likely see more and more over the next 2 years as each state realizes it's losing tax dollars to people driving next door to get it.


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## InstantCoffee

So this weekend I stayed at a friend's and lost my wallet, ran out of my oil and my debit card, cash, and MMJ card were all in that wallet, I've been without my 'medicine' since saturday.

I was fine sunday and monday, but tuesday the pain came back around 3 in the afternoo, the time I'm usually feeling groggy and lethargic at work, and again at 3am, the time I should be entering my deepest sleep cycle, like clockwork.

The only thing I did differently: Sunday and monday I had coffee for the first time in almost a year. Tuesday I did not. 

I'm beginning to conclude due to both the times of pain and the coffee subsiding it that my pain may be blood-pressure related.

I've heard of a condition that presents similar to crohn's caused by restricted bloodflow to the gut, I don't know what it's called but I think it's worth exploring.


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## InstantCoffee

Found out the pain was from ovaltine, I'm thinking maybe vitamin overload?

It's always great for me when I first start having it, and eventually bad for me. 

I found my wallet so I'm good on that front.

I had my first colonoscopy in 6 years, everything looks good, except internal hemorrhoids. Pretty good for not using drugs since 2011/12ish. 

My doctor wants to put me back on protonix or a similar PPI for upper GI issues  but I don't think it will help my issues at all.


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## ronroush7

Ovaltine has dairy in it.  Do you have an intolerance to dairy?  My doctor has me on protonix but that was because it has kept me from choking on food.  That has only happened once.


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## InstantCoffee

No dairy intolerance.


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## InstantCoffee

Nutritionist wants me on strict low FODMAP. The only thing that really means to me is no dairy, because I'm otherwise already strict low FODMAP.

I'm switching over to lactaid.

She also wants me to introduce one new food per day which seems ludicrous, I won't be doing that at all. I don't really expect to introduce anything new for at least a week.


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## InstantCoffee

Lactaid gives me the runs, switched over to Fairlife milk, same ingredients with some added vitamins, different result. 

If you can explain it to  me, you win a pumpkin.


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## cmack

No pumpkin for me, I'm puzzled. Cross contamination perhaps?


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## InstantCoffee

Yeah maybe, or not all lactaze enzymes are created equally? I'm not sure, I'm going with my gut on this one lol.


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## InstantCoffee

I've been using the mySymptoms app to track my diet, BMs and symptoms, and it correctly identified my enjoylife protein bursts as the cause of increased frequency / loose stools before I did. 

I cut them yesterday, re-introduced them today and loose BMs within a couple hours. 

They are supposed to be low fodmap but there's a lot of other stuff in there I don't trust, especially vanilla extract.


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## InstantCoffee

Time for an update. 

I followed the low fodmap diet for about a month before discarding it. I made sure everything adhered to my nutritionist's standard and submitted a full food diary. 

Meanwhile my symptoms got worse from many of the foods I introduced and she continued to push for me to introduce more.

I stopped, dropped all the problem food and have basically rolled back to a pure carnivore / keto diet for now. 

I'm using a multivitamin to supplement my micronutrients until I can re-introduce plants to my diet. 

I believe that I was over consuming sugar which may have lead to dysbiosis. Oddly sugars were the only carbs not causing me diarrhea or other gastric problems - but I believe that may have been from the altered gut bacteria.

And while my digestion was okay I had a lot of other problems, with my skin, emotional level, energy levels, etc. 

My back has been badly broken out with fungal acne, I developed an infection on my face from shaving and a large hydradenitis-like lesion on my back. 

The back lesion has been receding with daily application of zinc oxide cream.

The facial one I took antibiotics for, it went away and came back and now I'm using black tea compresses with fairly good results.

This weekend I started supplementing magnesium and I think it's definitely been beneficial, if nothing else, to my mental state and emotions. I feel much calmer, I sleep better and my emotions are a full range again instead of just shades of grey. 

Plan is one month of zero-carbs followed by a slow re-introduction of generally safe plants like plantains, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, strawberry, blueberry, cantaloupe. 

I plan to avoid oats except in forms I can consume without sugar added, such as breading for chicken, or as a bread. 

Added sugars are going to be eliminated and kept at a bare minimum as a "treat."

Oddly I even had a very bad reaction to some of my probiotic supplements, the Saccharomyces I was taking before (jarrow's I believe). The pills didn't even break down and I threw them up a few hours later.


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## InstantCoffee

Well I'm just confused at this point.

Recently I haven't been able to digest fatty meats, or basically any animal fats. Pork, beef, butter, ghee, all are giving me issues. 

Probiotic supplements cause me pretty much complete gastric peristalsis. I have to induce vomiting to clear my gut if I take any, this has happened with two separate supplements now.

I'm pretty much living on fish & shellfish, oats and protein shake at this point. I can have about 1 egg a day. 

I would like to introduce more fruits and vegetables but I've had so many bad reactions to them in the past I'm scared to do so.


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