Hi Troy -
This sounds a lot like me! I'm not sure what you mean by horrendously sick, but I get brain fog - horrible fog that prior to getting whatever it is in my stomach under control was present 24 hours a day. Only after some time on Fred's protocol, along with antimicrobials AND an Allergen free diet was I even able to discern that the fog came after eating.
It seems to occur almost instantly, probably a couple of minutes. I have taken bucketloads of various antimicrobial herbs and all have helped the situation a lot. I have reached a point where if I don't take them daily I don't immediately fall back into atrocious fog - - BUT, it does still come back.
I continue to wonder what the cause might be, I've suspected h.pylori, but have not had a breath test and my blood test was negative (this was after months and months of no symptoms due to continual antimicrobial usage, so I was not convinced it was truly n egative). I also suspect SIBO in the stomach could be the cause - any and every form of "pro-" biotic I've taken has also made the fog worse - - the probiotics in and of themselves do not cause this symptom (that is, it's not die off), but I find that my ability to eat without getting fog gets much much worse depending on how much probiotic I've ingested. I can't even eat yogurt. It may be that I am recolonizing my stomach each time I do this due to the low stomach acid. The worsened fog will then get better over time with continued use of antimicrobial herbs.
Also, the fog, experienced after eating, is worse the harder hte food is for my body to digest, or maybe the more stomach acid required? (though betaine HCL did not seem to help and I have taken A LOTTTTTTT). Raw vegetables and greens are the worst, meat is second, and sugar and carbs cause little or no fog.
I'd love to find a permanent solution to this, though I suspect it may be time - time with continued use of antimicrobials while at the same time avoiding all allergens until my gut has time to heal...as I said, it has improved somewhat over time it's just not the same as it was years ago...
Take care,
Velha