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Calling all gut/digestive experts...need help! Lots of test results inside. Thanks!

Messages
11
Hi all, looking to get feedback on the state of my gut [and what the exact problem(s) are] and how to fix it. Ive been suffering with a messed up gut for over one year and eager to restore it to how it used to be. Please excuse the long post but I do want to be comprehensive and I’ve also attached many files [stool tests, organic acids tests, SIBO test and pics] for those who want to browse through the data. Feel free to post a reply or PM me! thanks so much. here it goes:


impetus for my GI problems: took 2 rounds of antibiotics in 2014 for unrelated infection


things i’ve tried to no effect [literally nothing negative or positive]:



1 liter of potent milk kefir a day for 2 weeks

florastor/s. boulardii high dose

custom probiotics lacto/bifido blend high dose

prescript assist high dose

diflucan

nystatin

grapefruit seed extract

resistant starch products

SCRAM anti-parasite product

psyillium husk, arabinogalactan and other soluble fibers

raw sauerkraut [all it did was constipate me and cause bubbling sensations in my lower abdomen]


no probiotics colonized or changed anything.


key symptoms:


***luckily, no bad reactions to any foods. no pain or bloating after eating. [which is why I don’t think I have SIBO]

-feelable swishing sensation in mid abdomen every so often (undesirable fermentation?)

-bad constipation and bubbling sensations in lower gut when eating lots of veggies

-no odor when passing gas, my whole life I’ve always had some odor when passing gas

NOTE: foul odor when passing gas [which was normal for me] returned when taking huge dose [2 trillion CFU] of custom probiotics lacto/bifido blend. However when I stopped the huge dose after 5 days, the odors went back to being odorless! Why?

-not one single formed stool since mid-2014; always broken up into chunks, often have to go several times a day and then sometimes not for 2-3 days

-weird geographic tongue [[see pics]

-gurgling/bubbling sounds and feeling when laying in bed on one side[putting pressure against the large intestine?]


What might be holding me back: confirmed lyme and babesia infection. thinking nothing will change until that is treated..perhaps my immune system is strained and cannot rebuild gut lining/flora as per test results [ultra low sIGA] and attempted treatments? I was infected with lyme and babesia in July 2013; antibiotics taken in Feb 2013 devastated my gut but my gut returned to normal in May 2013 without intervention, I was infected by a tick 2 months after. Perhaps this is more evidence of my gut not being able to restore itself to a healthy state due to untreated lyme and babesia infection?


Any other tests or treatment trials to run that might help with diagnosis/treatment are also welcome to be suggested! Thanks!
 

Attachments

  • genova stool july 2015.pdf
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  • great plain stool july 2015.pdf
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  • great plains organic acids april 2015.pdf
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  • SIBO test Jan 2015.jpg
    SIBO test Jan 2015.jpg
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  • tongue 1.JPG
    tongue 1.JPG
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  • tongue 2.JPG
    tongue 2.JPG
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  • tongue 3.JPG
    tongue 3.JPG
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  • April 2015 Genova Stool Report.pdf
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JaimeS

Senior Member
Messages
3,408
Location
Silicon Valley, CA
A lot going on here, @ram2390 . Good luck!

Your tongue may (MAY) indicate Candida. I've seen other people in clinic with 'that' tongue who tested very high for Candida.

The redness in the first picture, though.... how are your B-vitamins? Have they been tested? If you are having serious gut issues, there is a good chance that your ability to absorb B12 is compromised. The really red, almost burnt-looking tongue can (CAN) be indicative of B-12 deficiency... but it would have to be pretty profound to produce such a result. Any tingling, numbness, brain fog? These would be other symptoms you'd see with a B12 deficiency serious enough to produce 'that' tongue.

...your Vitamin C. You have NO vitamin C? I hope that's in error or that I'm not reading it correctly. Huh, actually that could be an alternate explanation as to why your tongue is so red; do your gums bleed when you brush your teeth? That redness can also be a sign of severe C deficiency.

Could your healthy gut bacteria be competing with pathogens, and that's why you can't grow Lactobacillus no matter what? Maybe. High levels of arabinose can indicate Candida infection. I've actually looked into this before, and I'm afraid I can't find anybody but GPL who says so. This makes it highly suspect, but since I thought 'Candida' the moment I saw your tongue? Maybe there's something to that theory. Though I'm sure the E. coli and strep aren't helping.

My hypothesis is serious pathogenic intestinal overgrowth is causing/contributing to some major malabsorption and digestive issues, helped along by your low IgA, which makes you generally less resistant to infection (especially respiratory infection - hello, pneumonia!)

It looks like GSE will kill your sort of pneumonia, which is good news. You might have to take more of it or be more consistent about it to get rid of that for good: like, 10 drops in water, shaken, twice a day. Or go straight to ampicillin.

Not medical advice, not a doctor, blah-blah. If I were your doctor I'd be spending hours on this, not a few minutes. ;)

-J
 
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Oci

Senior Member
Messages
261
Hi @ram2390
I read your post with much interest. I am also working on gut ecology. As for the coated tongue....do you have that all the time or does it come and go? I've also had a coating on my tongue which I assumed was from Candida (I have tested 2+ to 4+ for on various poop tests) but I lately think it is a sign of detox. I get it in varying degrees (now gone for the moment) and especially when I have other symptoms of die-off. Can you brush most of it off? Perhaps using binders such as charcoal would help absorb toxins in your gut.

You have taken a lot of anti-bacteria/antifungals. Do you combine a bunch of them for an all out attack or take a more moderate approach? I'm more the all-out attack sort but then you do feel bad.

I wonder about the accuracy of these poop tests. I have had several done over the years and the results can be quite different from one to the next. There have been few constants for me except for candida. According to Ubiome reports, you can change the balance of bacteria pretty quickly with diet. but of course, it will revert when you slack off on the diet. I am focusing on feeding the good bacteria well.

I too have low SIgA reported although on one Metametrix test it said I had Fecal SIgA mid range and Anti-Gliadin SIgA top of range. I wonder if Fecal SIgA is the same as SIgA reported low on this last test...also a stool test.

I recently took GSE for 2+ Candida but also for 4+ enterobacter cloacae (dysbiotic). I found it very caustic on my urinary tract and had to stop it. I also was and am still taking ACS Silver.

I have been reading the work of Dr Myhill in England.
http://www.drmyhill.co.uk/wiki/Fermentation_in_the_gut_and_CFS

Dr Myhill suggests ways to increase SIgA.

I had low e coli on the last poop test and am considering taking Mutaflor which she is keen on. I am in Canada and so can get it but since my e coli on various tests has varied greatly, I do believe that e coli will come back when other pathogens are under control.

I also tested NG on enterococcus this last test. There is a probiotic that one can get from Germany called Symbiocor.
I don't know if either/both Mutaflor and Symbiocor would help colonize the gut with those bacteria or whether they are very transient as are most.

Good luck on getting well. You are too young to be having these problems!
 

South

Senior Member
Messages
466
Location
Southeastern United States
Of the things you've tried, these are the ones I've tried that actually made my candida-like symptoms worse:
(I get worse white tongue, worse constipation with the occassional sudden day of too many bowel movements, and worse bloating):
  • probiotics, many brands
  • soluble fiber at more than very small doses
  • sourkraut
  • some types of resistant starch
One of the authors of the various candida books out there strongly opposes taking any kind of probiotic or cultured food like sourkraut until after going through a LONG program to drastically reduce candida population - I'm talking several months of diet and antifungals, without using even a tiny bit of probiotic or cultured food. He even opposes eating anything with vinegar in it until those months of anti-candida steps are completed.

Maybe that author is onto something. He says when candida levels are high, taking probiotics makes matters worse, for some reason.

Is it possible that the diflucan and nystatin you took didn't kill enough candida because you still had intake of probiotics and sourkraut?

Of course, other candida books say completely different things! But that author I mentioned describes my own experience very well. I can't remember his name or the name of the book at the moment though.
 

JaimeS

Senior Member
Messages
3,408
Location
Silicon Valley, CA
One of the authors of the various candida books out there strongly opposes taking any kind of probiotic or cultured food like sourkraut until after going through a LONG program....

I agree. I've had issues with probiotics, even the lactate-free ones. I think we may need help killing the pathogen first.

-J
 

Tammy

Senior Member
Messages
2,181
Location
New Mexico
I am no expert by any means...........I am only going to address the overgrowth of alpha and gamma strep......only because a neighbor of mine had this problem(strep overgrowth) with lots of gut issues. These are the things that helped her get rid of this bacteria. Lemon balm, nettle leaf...........and Licorice. Note: She had tried antibiotics but nothing seemed to help and sometimes made things worse. I am not saying don't do antibiotics........only sharing her experience. Also wanted to say that she had signs of candida that also went away when the strep was taken care of. She had initially just tried things for the candida with no improvement.........it went away after she took the things I mentioned for the strep.
 
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JaimeS

Senior Member
Messages
3,408
Location
Silicon Valley, CA
Lemon balm is anti-viral, but I haven't heard of it being antibacterial. [Edit: it's supposed to be carminative, like a lot of mint family plants - not necessarily antibacterial, but helps with motility; never mind.] Licorice really is good for the gut, but be aware that it screws around with your renin-angiotensin system and affects your cortisol levels. :) LOL, I don't mean 'don't take it', just be aware that if your hormone levels are very sensitive to small shifts, you'll want to keep an eye on that.

Maybe Nettle could help if a UTI is part of the problem? @Tammy , do you know why your neighbor used these in particular?

-J
 
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Stretched

Senior Member
Messages
705
Location
U.S. Atlanta
Hi all, looking to get feedback on the state of my gut [and what the exact problem(s) are] and how to fix it. Ive been suffering with a messed up gut for over one year and eager to restore it to how it used to be. Please excuse the long post but I do want to be comprehensive and I’ve also attached many files [stool tests, organic acids tests, SIBO test and pics] for those who want to browse through the data. Feel free to post a reply or PM me! thanks so much. ...
Any other tests or treatment trials to run that might help with diagnosis/treatment are also welcome to be suggested! Thanks!

You might try 'The Inside Tract', Gerald E. Mullins, Gastroenterologist, a Kindle Book at Amazon (only $3, 2011 edn.) He's prolific and has a number of other books at varying levels of rigor. One might shed more inside light on your search.

From the above work, the chapter on his protocol for supplements for the gut is quick and easy and you might find some timely relief.
 

Tammy

Senior Member
Messages
2,181
Location
New Mexico
Lemon balm is anti-viral, but I haven't heard of it being antibacterial. [Edit: it's supposed to be carminative, like a lot of mint family plants - not necessarily antibacterial, but helps with motility; never mind.] Licorice really is good for the gut, but be aware that it screws around with your renin-angiotensin system and affects your cortisol levels. :) LOL, I don't mean 'don't take it', just be aware that if your hormone levels are very sensitive to small shifts, you'll want to keep an eye on that.

Maybe Nettle could help if a UTI is part of the problem? @Tammy , do you know why your neighbor used these in particular?

-J
....Hi Jaime....edited my above post to be specific that my neighbors gut issues were caused from overgrowth of strep bacteria. This caused her horrible gut symptoms for almost two years. All 3 of the supplements I mentioned.......lemon balm, nettle leaf, and licorice can be considered anti-bacterial........they contain anti-bacterial compounds...............I just googled to make sure though. Herbs of course can be both anti-viral and antibacterial so calling one antiviral doesn't necessarily mean it isn't also antibacterial. (I know that you know this but just putting it out there in case others don't ) I also googled specifically lemon balm and nettle leaf against strep bacteria and found results. I couldn't find one that specifically said licorice against strep.............but still licorice has anti-bacterial compounds. Side note: I just found out a couple of months ago that licorice is also good against EBV. I understand about being cautious with the licorice.........small amounts may help if you have low cortisol.......... All I know is that these three things got rid of her strep overgrowth! She was basically housebound with the gut issues and lucked out finding a naturopath that actually helped her.
 
Last edited:

Oci

Senior Member
Messages
261
Of the things you've tried, these are the ones I've tried that actually made my candida-like symptoms worse:
(I get worse white tongue, worse constipation with the occassional sudden day of too many bowel movements, and worse bloating):
  • probiotics, many brands
  • soluble fiber at more than very small doses
  • sourkraut
  • some types of resistant starch
One of the authors of the various candida books out there strongly opposes taking any kind of probiotic or cultured food like sourkraut until after going through a LONG program to drastically reduce candida population - I'm talking several months of diet and antifungals, without using even a tiny bit of probiotic or cultured food. He even opposes eating anything with vinegar in it until those months of anti-candida steps are completed.

Maybe that author is onto something. He says when candida levels are high, taking probiotics makes matters worse, for some reason.

Is it possible that the diflucan and nystatin you took didn't kill enough candida because you still had intake of probiotics and sourkraut?

Of course, other candida books say completely different things! But that author I mentioned describes my own experience very well. I can't remember his name or the name of the book at the moment though.

@South and @JaimeS How are you both doing now with your Candida? Have you, by chance, remembered the name of the book? Any other books or theories you like?

I agree with you about the probiotics. I get a lot of brain fog when I take much of them. However, I have been using colloidal silver and read today that it kills off all bacteria and yeasts. Guess I will stop that.
I have a 30 day script for Diflucan but haven't decided whether to take it or not.
 

JaimeS

Senior Member
Messages
3,408
Location
Silicon Valley, CA
@Oci - not candida, in my case, but I had to go off of it. I'm waiting until I'm also doing the rest of my regimen. Kind of in limbo until a specific supplement comes in...

-J