• Welcome to Phoenix Rising!

    Created in 2008, Phoenix Rising is the largest and oldest forum dedicated to furthering the understanding of and finding treatments for complex chronic illnesses such as chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), fibromyalgia (FM), long COVID, postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS), and allied diseases.

    To become a member, simply click the Register button at the top right.

Do Gut Infections Create Toxins?

Christopher

Senior Member
Messages
576
Location
Pennsylvania
What are some good ways to clear gut infections when it's difficult to know what you've got?

Whatever I have, it seems that when I feed them carbs and sugar, they are very happy and grow, and create lots of bloating and anxiety and feelings of toxicity.

My bad neuro symptoms didn't start until my gut started acting up and my food intolerances increased. What could it be? What can I do?

I found this article which may be interesting, although I'm too brain fogged at the moment to understand it.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7381915
 
Last edited:

Sushi

Moderation Resource Albuquerque
Messages
19,935
Location
Albuquerque
What are some good ways to clear gut infections when it's difficult to know what you've got?

Whatever I have, it seems that when I feed them carbs and sugar, they are very happy and grow, and create lots of bloating and anxiety and feelings of toxicity.

My bad neuro symptoms didn't start until my gut started acting up and my food intolerances increased. What could it be? What can I do?

I found this article which may be interesting, although I'm too brain fogged at the moment to understand it.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7381915

You could get a good DNA gut test to see what infections you have and then target them. This has helped me.

Best,
Sushi
 

Plum

Senior Member
Messages
512
Location
UK
The 4R program is good.

I have found it hard to find the right balance of carbs. A lot of people recommend low carb Paleo as best, but this doesn't work for me. Too much carb (potatoes) causes reflux etc. I've now found a good balance.

The point I'm trying to make, is find something that works/ resonates with you and then you need to tweak it. Finding all food allergies can be hard too - I do think getting tested or doing an elimination diet if you have the energy is very helpful.

Good luck
 

globalpilot

Senior Member
Messages
626
Location
Ontario
Hi,
Yes, I feel quite strongly an overgrowth in my gut is the cause of my symptoms, due to the timing of eating/symptoms and the type of symptoms I have.
I have found general 4R programs and the like to be useless.
What has worked in the past is quite a strong antiparasite herbal regime (although I don't think I have parasites, I think the herbs must be antimicrobial in general). Low carb worked tremendously in the beginning but is useless now.

After going round and round for years, I finallywent and had an aspirate of both my duodenum and jejunum and in the former, a severe overgrowth of strep, klebsiella and rothia was found. I sincerely believe the metabolites of these are the cause of my symptoms (carbon dioxide, d-lactate, hydrogen peroxide, hydrogen sulfide are some of the ones I know).

I am now about to embark on amoxicillin/tinadizole for those bacteria. My gut feeling is this will not work. I will then move on to another herbal regime that did work for another with my symptoms. I'm going to take glutamine as well.

You asked how to clear infections if you don't know what you have. That is difficult and I struggled iwth that and that's why I eventually went for the aspirate. I also have had a capsule endoscopy to rule out the visible parasites. One thing you could do is get a breathanalzyer and check for ethanol which would indicate yeast. That would leave bacteria and possibly protozoa as culprits.

Good luck to you. I know how tough this is.

GP
 

Christopher

Senior Member
Messages
576
Location
Pennsylvania
The 4R program is good.

I have found it hard to find the right balance of carbs. A lot of people recommend low carb Paleo as best, but this doesn't work for me. Too much carb (potatoes) causes reflux etc. I've now found a good balance.

The point I'm trying to make, is find something that works/ resonates with you and then you need to tweak it. Finding all food allergies can be hard too - I do think getting tested or doing an elimination diet if you have the energy is very helpful.

Good luck

What carbs are you able to eat without running into problems? When I eat most any carbs for a while, I'll start to feel bloated and anxious, like the pathogens in my gut are feeding off them and growing and releasing their byproducts.
 

Christopher

Senior Member
Messages
576
Location
Pennsylvania
Hi,
Yes, I feel quite strongly an overgrowth in my gut is the cause of my symptoms, due to the timing of eating/symptoms and the type of symptoms I have.
I have found general 4R programs and the like to be useless.
What has worked in the past is quite a strong antiparasite herbal regime (although I don't think I have parasites, I think the herbs must be antimicrobial in general). Low carb worked tremendously in the beginning but is useless now.

After going round and round for years, I finallywent and had an aspirate of both my duodenum and jejunum and in the former, a severe overgrowth of strep, klebsiella and rothia was found. I sincerely believe the metabolites of these are the cause of my symptoms (carbon dioxide, d-lactate, hydrogen peroxide, hydrogen sulfide are some of the ones I know).

I am now about to embark on amoxicillin/tinadizole for those bacteria. My gut feeling is this will not work. I will then move on to another herbal regime that did work for another with my symptoms. I'm going to take glutamine as well.

You asked how to clear infections if you don't know what you have. That is difficult and I struggled iwth that and that's why I eventually went for the aspirate. I also have had a capsule endoscopy to rule out the visible parasites. One thing you could do is get a breathanalzyer and check for ethanol which would indicate yeast. That would leave bacteria and possibly protozoa as culprits.

Good luck to you. I know how tough this is.

GP
Good luck with the treatment. I have had pretty much no success with methylation treatment (initial success but then back to baseline) - my gut feeling is that this is due to the overwhelming number of toxins coming from my gut. Is there a thread you have that you discuss your treatment? I think that might be helpful, as I'd be interested in knowing what kind of doctor is testing and treating you, and which herbs you're using.

Thanks,
Chris
 

Plum

Senior Member
Messages
512
Location
UK
Do you have candida overgrowth? Not something I think I have but perhaps? I think the 4R program deals with it too. It is a very good program with scientific backing.

I eat white potatoes and sweet potatoes. I can tolerate the occassional (once per month) small portion of brown rice over cooked. I eat only a half portion. So, maybe 2 tablespoons of chopped boiled potatoes. Sweet potatoes I have a small one roasted.

I have eliminated all sugar, grains, gluten, non-organic, GMO, eggs etc. These are known allergens for me and or things that are known to irritate the gut.
 

Plum

Senior Member
Messages
512
Location
UK
I have found activated charcoal to be helping with gut toxins. Also liver detox herbs are really important to support your system.
 

MeSci

ME/CFS since 1995; activity level 6?
Messages
8,231
Location
Cornwall, UK
What are some good ways to clear gut infections when it's difficult to know what you've got?

Whatever I have, it seems that when I feed them carbs and sugar, they are very happy and grow, and create lots of bloating and anxiety and feelings of toxicity.

My bad neuro symptoms didn't start until my gut started acting up and my food intolerances increased. What could it be? What can I do?

I found this article which may be interesting, although I'm too brain fogged at the moment to understand it.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7381915

You've pretty-well answered your own question, as you have identified what foods give you problems!

As you have probably gathered, people have adopted a range of remedial diets, often including gut-healing supplements, some including probiotics and/or antibiotics. Many of us have seen benefits, and not only in gut function.

I see you've posted in the leaky gut forum. A bit of searching in that forum should find details of the diets people have found helpful.
 

globalpilot

Senior Member
Messages
626
Location
Ontario
Good luck with the treatment. I have had pretty much no success with methylation treatment (initial success but then back to baseline) - my gut feeling is that this is due to the overwhelming number of toxins coming from my gut. Is there a thread you have that you discuss your treatment? I think that might be helpful, as I'd be interested in knowing what kind of doctor is testing and treating you, and which herbs you're using.

Thanks,
Chris

I don't Chris. I'll start a thread next week when I start antibiotics. Unless you want to start one now for those with our symptoms.
 

Violeta

Senior Member
Messages
2,873
Reishi supports the immune system which is located in the gut and the branch centered in the adrenals. It helps your body deal with parasites and helps conquer candida. The stuff for killing candida, diets included, did not work for me. I had to strengthen my immune system

Anything you can do to help your liver, as someone else said, is important, too. Just don't accidentally get something estrogenic.
 

ahmo

Senior Member
Messages
4,805
Location
Northcoast NSW, Australia
@Christopher, I've had good results with the GAPS diet. I'm on a very minimalist version, as it uncovered my histamine and sulfur intolerances. But the limited diet, with no starches or sugar, tho honey is allowed, put me in a good position from which to initiate some other bacteria detox strategies. Natasha Campbell-McBride, developer of the Gut and Psychology Syndrome diet, recommends juicing as the first step in detoxxing. You can see a very extensive FAQ page at the link I'm posting. (I've found this page weird at first: when you click on a question, the browser often jumps down, so the answer doesn't seem to appear, but it's there.) I'm a month short of 2 years on the diet, have just added a tablespoon of soaked buckwheat, my first starch, as pumpkin didn't work due to my intolerances. This diet has been, literally, a life-saver for me. I was initially horrified, as I'd been vegetarian for 30 years. no longer. Many blogs plus yahoo forums available. Best to you, ahmo

http://www.gaps.me/preview/?page_id=32
 

caledonia

Senior Member
You're supposed to be able to do a SIBO breath test to detect SIBO as globalpilot was describing above. I was wondering if @globalpilot had tried a SIBO breath test before trying the aspiration.

My naturopath had me do a blood test for food allergies called Allatess. I had intolerances to 29 out of 100 foods tested. They give you a rotation diet based on your food allergies, and then you can also do drops so you'll eventually be able to tolerate those foods, but it was all too much for me. I just ended up avoiding those 29 foods until I got my leaky gut fixed. Now I'm back to eating most of them with no problems.

In general, it was a good experience because I was forced to try some new foods I had never tried before, which have now become some of my favorites.

The cost of the test wasn't too bad - I think $120?

If you can't do the test, you can avoid the most common food allergies and then anything else you know bothers you, and I think that would be sufficient.
 

globalpilot

Senior Member
Messages
626
Location
Ontario
Yes, three times, methane and hydrogen, glucose and lactulose as substrates. All negative which is why I pursued the aspirate becuase I knew something was wrong. My gastroenterologist told me the breath test picks up 50% of the cases positive by aspirate.

Remember, not all microbes produce hydrogen. I did a lot of studying on bacterial metobolites recently and I was surprised to learn this. Most produce carbon dioxide and I would suspect that's what I'm producing.

You're supposed to be able to do a SIBO breath test to detect SIBO as globalpilot was describing above. I was wondering if @globalpilot had tried a SIBO breath test before trying the aspiration.

My naturopath had me do a blood test for food allergies called Allatess. I had intolerances to 29 out of 100 foods tested. They give you a rotation diet based on your food allergies, and then you can also do drops so you'll eventually be able to tolerate those foods, but it was all too much for me. I just ended up avoiding those 29 foods until I got my leaky gut fixed. Now I'm back to eating most of them with no problems.

In general, it was a good experience because I was forced to try some new foods I had never tried before, which have now become some of my favorites.

The cost of the test wasn't too bad - I think $120?

If you can't do the test, you can avoid the most common food allergies and then anything else you know bothers you, and I think that would be sufficient.