What Actually Fixes the Gut?

[slayadragon]

My gut got really messed up last winter. I was detoxing very fast, and I feel certain that is the cause. My speculation here is that the toxins kill off the good microorganisms, allowing the bad ones to flourish.

Over the past few months, I have put a whole lot of attention into trying to fix my gut. (The fact that I am still detoxing rapidly may be making that impossible, but I'm at least trying.)

I've been making and consuming quarts of kefir (water and milk) each day. My sugar cravings are gone, and it feels to me like good bacteria is not too far off from where it should be.

I have suspected parasites and took a course of Yodoxin. This helped somewhat (giving me normal bowel movements for the first time in a long time for a while), but this didn't last very long.

I've taken a bunch of other things as well -- aloe, DGL licorice, arteminisin, Rizols, other herbs.

I've been taking doxy, which could be shooting myself in the foot. But it's been so helpful with regard to my general condition that I'm loathe to give it up.

Perhaps a problem is that I don't have many examples of people who had really severe gut problems and gotten them to normalize. If I had some example, maybe I'd be able to borrow from their experiences.

Anyone out there that's done that?

Thanks much for your help.

Best, Lisa

 

[kat0465]

Boy, those gut problems really suck!! I got h pylori about 9 months ago, and while the infection is gone. I'm still dealing with problems I never had before ;/

I can tell you mastic gum and lauracidin made a huge difference. I took both with the triple abx protocol. I only took about half of them cause they made me feel sicker. Without the mastic gum, and lauricidin I don't think the infection would have went away.

Much better, but still have my days. And really have to be aware now of what I eat.

Hope this helps some,

Kat

 

[Francelle]

There is a basic assumption by some that 'leaky gut' can be a big underlying problem in M.E. With this is associated all sorts of other aberrations like bacterial overgrowth and undergrowth etc. (I need to do a whole lot more reading on these aspects to understand them for myself).....however my M.E. doctor has taken three lines of management with me which is not to say that he is right, except to say that he's been at this M.E. stuff for 25 years, so he has seen a lot of water under the bridge!

For the past three months I have been on:
1). Three capsules before bed of EC (Enteric coated) Glutamine-L 500mg from a compounding pharmacy - meant to heal the leaky gut.
2). An antibiotic which I had never heard of called Paromomycin (Gabbroral) taken four days per month to kill off some of the unwanted overgrowth.
3). On the remaining 26/27 days per month I take two high potency multi strain probiotics (45 billion) capsules and two capsules Saccharomyces cerevisiae (boulardii) 250mg.

In the multi strain probiotic there is Lactobacillus rhamnosus, casei, acidophilus, plantarum & fermentum. Bifidbacterium lactis, breve & bifidum and Streptococcus thermophilus.

Now I don't know whether this management is based on my particular gut/faecal results or is a standard treatment protocol that he uses.......however

I have had quite severe Gastroparesis - paralysed stomach & also oesophagus and associated slow gut motility for almost three years which was about 12+ months after onset of M.E. Since starting on these medications/probiotics (and it's only been three months) I can see some marginal improvements particularly with my stomach in terms of early satiety and fullness. Although I have been on Motilium and a mostly liquid diet since diagnosis of Gastroparesis I have been sneaking in a few extra solid nibbles (yum) lately without the extreme negative effects that I was previously experiencing. Whether this management will prove to be useful over the longterm I don't know but all I can do is wait and see.

 

[Sparrow]

I'm glad you asked this. I'm very interested to hear people's answers to this too.

I wish I had a good answer for you, but I haven't really had that much luck yet. I've had gut issues, and have tried some interventions, but nothing that could fix the overall problem. It's seemed like many of these gut treatments either just mask the problem slightly, or get rid of it temporarily only to have the same problems return. Like you, I'd love to know how to actually fix things up.

I know this isn't exactly what you're looking for, but in case it helps at all, here's what I've tried so far and any effect I've noticed. I'm still in the process of trying things too, so it may be that some of this will be more helpful in combination with other measures I haven't tried yet, or that it just needs more time. Some things helped to reduce symptoms, but I feel like as the overall severity of the problems keeps increasing, they're becoming more and more outmatched. And I'm running out of foods to eliminate!

apple cider vinegar - didn't seem to do anything noticeable
glutamine, aloe, and healing herbs for the gut - can't tell if they've done anything
various probiotics - didn't notice a difference with half a year on the last kind, so I'm trying a different variety now. I think maybe I need some specific testing.
digestive enzymes - these did seem to help some, though not nearly enough to eliminate the problems
betaine HCL - again, seemed to help some, though not enough. My naturopath capped me at 4 pills per meal, but that isn't enough to normalize my acid

I thought I might try enteric-coated peppermint, as I've heard that can sometimes help with motility. Worth a try, I guess.

I've also made some diet changes, which had a bigger impact. Didn't know I had any diet problems, but man do I notice it now if I accidentally eat something.

Cut out dairy, gluten, and some other foods that showed up as likely sensitivities for me completely - some types of upper abdomen pain went away completely
Cut out any large quantity of fructose (in fruits, honey, some veggies, etc.) - burning sensation in lower abdomen went away almost completely
Cut out sugars as much as possible (including from fruit, etc.) - stomach stopped inflating so badly, and a few general symptoms became much less severe
Cut out having fluids with meals, which helped a lot with inflation, but I still need to drink a bunch to take my pills. Trying to go to less water with them inadvertently hurt my throat (oops).

I still find meats and fats uncomfortable, but I feel like at this point they are the least uncomfortable of many uncomfortable options.

Haven't tried antibiotics yet, but they seemed to me to maybe be only a temporary fix, and I don't yet have a CFS-knowledgeable doctor who could guide me through taking the right measures to make the gains last. I'm eager to see what other say here.

 

[silicon]

Im clueless, as the gut is my Achilles Heel! I think if I could make any headway in this area, it would be huge.

My worst CFIDS symptoms corresponded to the onset of big gut troubles over 20 years ago (no thanks to the courses of antibiotics I was given for various respiratory infections back in the day). Im sure its a leaky gut, and yeast may be present and/or parasitesbut anti-yeast and anti-parasite treatments didnt seem to have an impact.

Digestive enzymes proved to be a lifeline, probiotics help slightly (its hard to discern the difference between the various brands).

Tried glutamine (but never the compounded, enteric-coated kindwhich is intriguing! too bad this isnt an ordinary supplement that can be ordered online).

Had stool tests done years ago to identify pathogens, and took a course of oregano oil and caprylic acidwith no obvious results.

I found that I needed to narrow my diet tremendously, to avoid various food-related reactions.

Im very nervous about attempting an antibiotic-based treatment, due to the mess that antibiotics have caused for me in the past (Im also concerned that the antibiotic-based treatments seem to require repeated courses, based on what people have posted online).

Chinese herbs seem to help a little bit...

 

[rwac]

I've had good success with these probiotics:
Jarrow Ideal Bowel Support.
Align

I also got a lot of benefits from eating gelatin. I usually eat 4 tbsp(dissolved) a day.

 

[mellster]

My gut is my achilles heel as well - I take Pentasa (mesalamine), Oxymatrine, and Andrographis plus the obvious probiotics (you might have to take way more than the standard dose of PBs to get some results) - so far noticeable improvement. I also started taking flax hull lignans and brewers yeast (not sure of those help the gut though). cheers

 

[maddietod]

rwac - Do you know what the gelatin does? That's a new one for me!

Madie

 

[mellster]

madie - I suppose Gelatine coats the lining of the intestines, hence soothing.

 

[rwac]

@madie For some reason, I can't tolerate high quality protein like eggs or meat, unless I take gelatin with it. On the other hand, my need for gelatin decreases if I'm eating vegetarian, as I am at the moment. Perhaps I have a problematic gut infection.