Healing the Gut Tribe - November!

[chasmyn]

I just thought I'd get a new thread started...

[caedmyn]

subbing...

[sarasprings]

Hi. I thought I'd post a little info. I've been learning so much from all of you! DS1, DS2, and I all have gut issues, I believe. I think that I had get yearly yeast infections in the spring. All 3 of us are on probiotics -- megaflora for me, rhino chewables for DS1 (4 1/2 yo), and solaray babylife for ds2 (8mo). The boys went to a kinesiologist for food allergies and we have a list, although I think there is still something that is bothering DS1, so I'm going to try an elimination diet to check that out. His diet is healthy, but not so varied that it should be relatively easy, I hope. I'm also going to start reading Enzymes for Autism this weekend. I have a feeling I should have started enzymes before probiotics, but this is where we are. I'm also about to start CLO. Can anyone recommend a brand for my sons?

[Annikate]

Originally Posted by sarasprings

Hi. I thought I'd post a little info. I've been learning so much from all of you! DS1, DS2, and I all have gut issues, I believe. I think that I had get yearly yeast infections in the spring. All 3 of us are on probiotics -- megaflora for me, rhino chewables for DS1 (4 1/2 yo), and solaray babylife for ds2 (8mo). The boys went to a kinesiologist for food allergies and we have a list, although I think there is still something that is bothering DS1, so I'm going to try an elimination diet to check that out. His diet is healthy, but not so varied that it should be relatively easy, I hope. I'm also going to start reading Enzymes for Autism this weekend. I have a feeling I should have started enzymes before probiotics, but this is where we are. I'm also about to start CLO. Can anyone recommend a brand for my sons?

We started w/kinesiology too. The chiro/homeopath did this for us and started us on our first enzymes right before I started posting on this tribe. Matter of fact, I posted in H&H about the type of enzyme he gave us and that's what led us here. :

At first, I thought the kinesiology was working. When it didn't detect dd's wheat allergy, I moved on to different things.

I wouldn't worry too much about starting probiotics *before* enzymes. They're both beneficial.

Re: the CLO. My dds take Nordic Naturals orange flavored without any problems.

[sarasprings]

I'm not sure how accurate our kinesiologist is, but I feel good that we have somewhere to start. I really do, though, want to reintroduce the foods (I'll probably wait until late spring/early summer) besides wheat and dairy and see what happens.

I saw Nordic Naturals at our health food store. I'll grab some next time I'm there. Thanks so much for the rec.

[sntm]

I'm subbing, and a new member of this tribe.

I'm an inconsistent eater -- half the time, very healthy, the other half of the time, I eat the Walmart sheet cakes brought in by the OR nurses. Regardless, I've developed a terrible gas problem lately, and had to search (embarrassed!) for threads on gas and farting.

So, lay it all on me. What should I be doing? Other than monitoring my diet more carefully (need to lose 6 pounds anyway, so plan to start that.)

ETA: Has anyone read "The Road to Wellville"? If so, does this not seem even more embarrassing?

[Punchy Kaby]

subbing

[Pookietooth]

Shannon, I would look into why you're craving those sheet cakes, as in you probably are deficient in minerals such as chromium and vanadium. As far as gas, you aren't digesting your food properly, and it's fermenting in your gut. All kinds of things will do this, including beans, grains, certain veggies, and sugars. You could start with an enzyme. See the healing the gut cheat sheet for more info about them.

[MommyofPunkiePie]

subbing

[Punchy Kaby]

I am having a horrible day today. I am frustrated and angry. I feel like I am going in circles with this diet and getting no where. I am sick of the 10 foods I can eat. How can I introduce anything new when the eczema is bad? Will the eczema ever be under control? I feel that I am just creating new allergies by eating the same foods over and over. I have thought it might be 'under control' several times. Ds's eczema on his cheeks is the bad, the worst it has ever been. It is itchy, red and inflammed. Every time he scratches I think to myself what it could have been, a food, lotion, did I let it get too dry? I feel a huge amount of guilt, like it is all my fault that he is suffering. It is right there all over his face, blaming me, and everyone who sees him HAS to make a comment. I feel like I enjoy him less because all I can think about is the stupid eczema. I cannot even tell if I am healing. I know I cannot stay in the beginning stages of this diet too much longer. I am getting to the feel like the diet is pointless if I have not gotten anywhere yet. My thought tonight was, well his cheeks are so bad anyway, why don't I just have a piece of cake? On my diet restrictions I cannot even bake a simple almond flour muffin. A crisp salad with fresh, crunchy vegetables sounds sooo good.

I look back at photos of when the eczema first started and it was not bad at all. In fact, it has gotten steadily worse the more foods I have cut out. I wish I had started with the enzymes and probiotics. I feel like the woman in Enzymes for autism book, down to 5 acceptable foods. Really at this point, since the eczema is so bad anyway, what if I just ate regular SCD or even NT? So far my meticulous food diary is showing me that I can be obsessive.

[Chinese Pistache]

Originally Posted by Nolansmum

I am having a horrible day today. I am frustrated and angry. I feel like I am going in circles with this diet and getting no where. I am sick of the 10 foods I can eat. How can I introduce anything new when the eczema is bad? Will the eczema ever be under control? I feel that I am just creating new allergies by eating the same foods over and over. I have thought it might be 'under control' several times. Ds's eczema on his cheeks is the bad, the worst it has ever been. It is itchy, red and inflammed. Every time he scratches I think to myself what it could have been, a food, lotion, did I let it get too dry? I feel a huge amount of guilt, like it is all my fault that he is suffering. It is right there all over his face, blaming me, and everyone who sees him HAS to make a comment. I feel like I enjoy him less because all I can think about is the stupid eczema. I cannot even tell if I am healing. I know I cannot stay in the beginning stages of this diet too much longer. I am getting to the feel like the diet is pointless if I have not gotten anywhere yet. My thought tonight was, well his cheeks are so bad anyway, why don't I just have a piece of cake? On my diet restrictions I cannot even bake a simple almond flour muffin. A crisp salad with fresh, crunchy vegetables sounds sooo good.

I have no advice, I just wanted to send you a great big hug .
I SOOOO know what you mean about enjoying your child less. I found myself so consumed with my dd's eczema, yeast rashes, the food we were or weren't eating, searching things on the internet, etc. It was miserable. I'm still tryign to get out of that funk. But just know you aren't alone.

BTW, Have you had any bloodwork done to see exactly what things your ds is reacting to in your diet? (The IgG antibody test, ELISA) If you knew, you could possibly expand your diet somewhat. We're looking into this.

[Chinese Pistache]

I must be out of the loop, but what happened to JaneS? Is she ever coming back?

[Annikate]

Nolansmum

I have pages upon pages of dd's food diary as well. I think they helped a little in the beginning, but now, looking back (and after months of not keeping meticulous records), I don't think they helped much. It only helped me to stress out some more about yet another thing.

This is sooooo hard to do on your own! I would also suggest perhaps going the route of allergy testing. I know people say there are downsides to that as well, but hey, my thoughts were that at least we'd have *some* guidance or a starting point.

The reading, researching, learning, experimenting, record keeping, worrying, etc. are enought to drive a person insane. (Especially when you've had little to no sleep to boot!) I've tried to back off a bit and let the Universe do its thing and try not to be so controlling over every little detail.

It will burn you out faster than anything.

[nicholas_mom]

:

[Annikate]

Originally Posted by Chinese Pistache

I must be out of the loop, but what happened to JaneS? Is she ever coming back?

Jane was not only working on herself, & her ds, but also trying to help ALL of us too . . . no wonder she needed a break!

[Punchy Kaby]

Thanks for your support. DS has an allergist appt next month. This is through the military, so I don't know what kinds of tests they will have for a year old baby. I may ask to get testing done for myself too. I don't have the cash to do the independant lab testing, I am choosing to spend anything extra on CST.

I had a mixed greens salad from my neighbors garden this morning and it was deliciuos, I also had a chicken brat (SCD legal)with homemade kraut. Best meal in a long time. I don't know where my diet is headed, but I know I can't sustain myself on so few foods.

[Chinese Pistache]

Originally Posted by Annikate

Jane was not only working on herself, & her ds, but also trying to help ALL of us too . . . no wonder she needed a break!

I'm sure! I hope she and her ds are thriving. If you're out there Jane,

[caedmyn]

Nolansmom-- I share your frustration. The diet I'm doing is helping me but DD seems to be getting worse and worse. She now has little patches of eczema all over her arms and legs

Have you seen improvements in any areas while on the SCD? I did the SCD for about 3 months and only saw the tiniest of improvements in me and DD, so in the end I decided it was not the right diet for me. IMO, if you haven't seen significant improvements by this time, it's not going to work for you.

[Punchy Kaby]

Originally Posted by caedmyn

Nolansmom-- I share your frustration. The diet I'm doing is helping me but DD seems to be getting worse and worse. She now has little patches of eczema all over her arms and legs

Have you seen improvements in any areas while on the SCD? I did the SCD for about 3 months and only saw the tiniest of improvements in me and DD, so in the end I decided it was not the right diet for me. IMO, if you haven't seen significant improvements by this time, it's not going to work for you.

I have seen significant improvements for myself, that's why I'm so frustrated about DS's eczema not getting better. Is my body just dumping tons of toxins as it is healing? Could it be more enviornmentally caused and less diet? I have been making the assumption that it was more diet caused. Are you putting anything on the patches for your DD? I broke down this morning and put some steroid cream on after I disinfected with TTO. It seems like the lotions, ointments and creams I put on just make the areas red and inflammed:

[JaneS]

Hi all, update on us...

Still will be hibernating for a while, gettin' stuff done. Had a ton of blood tests done on DS including amino acids and IgA for celiac. About to start him on Prolent, a 5HTP and amino acid supplement for his sleeping that our (raw milk drinking) dietician recommended. I've been trying it and it's *amazing*. For the most part his sleeping has been better lately b/c I cut out the fruit, starches and grains again. Not sure if he can have any nuts still. So food is pretty much a nightmare and I'm totally not following the Rotation Diet we are supposed to be doing b/c he just can't handle most of it. Not sure what we are going to do there.

Also eliminated his nap, so he goes down in 10 minutes at night! That took a lot of stress away from our lives: the 60 minutes, or more, it took to put him down for nap and bedtime both. Things start to get dicey around 4pm but he actually asks to go upstairs at bedtime now!

My digestive issues came back with all the stress so I've been hitting the kefir really hard (drinking and eating grains too) and digestive enzymes plus taking some amino acids (thanks to Amanda ) and some 5HTP and the results have been fantastic. I'm better than ever now and even ate some Halloween candy with NO effect!! DS went trick or treating and it was so fun... he and his best friend traded in their candy for presents, it worked very very well. I just had to say several times, "We don't EAT candy, we trade it in for surprises!" So far he hasn't asked where the candy went...

Please see recent post in Cheat Sheet of new book I finally got around to reading Bacteria for Breakfast. It's very good.
http://www.mothering.com/discussions...8&postcount=22

What I took from it is that high counts of probiotics are needed, in the trillions, rendering most over the counter probiotics not helpful in serious cases (already knew that). But that for most people, many strains of bacteria will also be needed, and likely some specialized ones: like L. plantarum or beneficial yeasts like Saccharomyces boulardii. Or certain strains that are proven hardier in intestines like the super strains of L. bulgaricus, L.
acidophilus and Bifidus that Natren uses.

So from a WAPF "food as your medicine" perspective, this would indeed support why kefir is superior to yogurt because it has beneficial yeasts in addition to lactobacillus. And I'm also wondering if making some yogurt with some different super strains like the 8 that are in VSL#3 would also be beneficial. DS is currently anti-kefir lately. Even mixed with his yogurt, he can sniff it out and refuses to drink it! I even made a raw vanilla cheesecake in which I pureed kefir grains (that tastes really good to me) and it's a no go with him. ARGH.

Hope you are all on a path to wellness. It feels weird I have no idea what went on in October ... but you are all in my thoughts and I'll stop by when I can.