Healing the Gut Tribe-December

[caedmyn]

Here's the new December thread

[Annikate]

I actually like kombucha. I like to sip it throughout the day. It definitely makes a difference in my digestion. I think it works better for me than the enzymes do. It gives me a headache though. Maybe that's more die off?

[Punchy Kaby]

I like to add my kombucha to water and sipping it before meals. My stuff is yummy tasting the first day but it gets so strong.

On the subject of good bacteria...how many 'good guys' are in fermented veggies? ANy rough estimates? I love eating them and don't want to over do it.

Another selenium question-I just upped my selenium dose from 100 to 200 mcg, is it enough? I don't eat any brazil nuts. How do I know when I am taking enough or need more?

[caedmyn]

Originally Posted by Nolansmum

I like to add my kombucha to water and sipping it before meals. My stuff is yummy tasting the first day but it gets so strong.

On the subject of good bacteria...how many 'good guys' are in fermented veggies? ANy rough estimates? I love eating them and don't want to over do it.

Another selenium question-I just upped my selenium dose from 100 to 200 mcg, is it enough? I don't eat any brazil nuts. How do I know when I am taking enough or need more?

I've never seen any estimates of the amount of good bacteria in fermented veggies. I don't think you can overdo it. I've been eating 1 to 1 1/2 cups of them a day for months. Unless you're giving yourself too much die-off you should be able to eat as much as you want.

I would not go over 200 mcg of selenium a day as selenium toxicity is pretty dangerous and I think the toxicity level is 500-600 mcg/day, and you should be getting some from your food already. If you happen to live in the Dakotas and eat locally grown foods I would not take any extra selenium at all as the soil in that area has an excess of selenium.

How much kombucha do you drink a day? I'm only doing a couple of ounces right now. I wish I could get DD to drink it, that or water kefirs. I made her finger jello today using water kefir instead of juice and she ate about three bites and then started smearing it around. She seems quite determined to thwart my best efforts to heal her. Maybe I should try the coconut milk yogurt again, although I can't remember if she liked that or not.

[Punchy Kaby]

Originally Posted by caedmyn

I've never seen any estimates of the amount of good bacteria in fermented veggies. I don't think you can overdo it. I've been eating 1 to 1 1/2 cups of them a day for months. Unless you're giving yourself too much die-off you should be able to eat as much as you want.

I would not go over 200 mcg of selenium a day as selenium toxicity is pretty dangerous and I think the toxicity level is 500-600 mcg/day, and you should be getting some from your food already. If you happen to live in the Dakotas and eat locally grown foods I would not take any extra selenium at all as the soil in that area has an excess of selenium.

How much kombucha do you drink a day? I'm only doing a couple of ounces right now. I wish I could get DD to drink it, that or water kefirs. I made her finger jello today using water kefir instead of juice and she ate about three bites and then started smearing it around. She seems quite determined to thwart my best efforts to heal her. Maybe I should try the coconut milk yogurt again, although I can't remember if she liked that or not.

I never thought of making jello out of kefir, that is brilliant! What about using a syringe and squirting it into the back/side of her mouth? She needs such a small amount. Have you considered pumping some extra breast milk and making kefir out of it? We are taking a break from it because DS's system was overwhelmed. I did let him suck kombucha off my finger today, he seemed to like it. I don't know how he does it, but DS doesn't even grimace when I give him the nasty fishy CLO. I have to turn around when I take it so he doesn't see me make an icky face.

I drink an about an ounce of kombucha in a cup of water if the tea is strong before each meal. Sometimes I make salad dressing out of it, yum.

[caedmyn]

Originally Posted by Nolansmum

I never thought of making jello out of kefir, that is brilliant! What about using a syringe and squirting it into the back/side of her mouth? She needs such a small amount. Have you considered pumping some extra breast milk and making kefir out of it? We are taking a break from it because DS's system was overwhelmed. I did let him suck kombucha off my finger today, he seemed to like it. I don't know how he does it, but DS doesn't even grimace when I give him the nasty fishy CLO. I have to turn around when I take it so he doesn't see me make an icky face.

I drink an about an ounce of kombucha in a cup of water if the tea is strong before each meal. Sometimes I make salad dressing out of it, yum.

I have seriously thought about the syringe thing but I figure she would need at least an ounce a day, which is a couple of tablespoons, so I think I would have to "force feed" her several times a day and I think she would be pretty unhappy about it. I don't have a pump but if all else fails maybe I'll get a cheap one and give BM kefir a try. I don't know that she'll drink that, either, though--I swear she can smell the stuff and refuses to drink it based on smell since she normally drinks anything out of her water bottles. She loves CLO--she begs for it when I get the bottle out and slurps it right up. I don't mind the taste of it, either

I think I am going to start adding just a little bit of water kefir or kombucha to DD's water and then slowly increase the amount each day and see if I can get her used to the taste that way.

[Punchy Kaby]

Originally Posted by caedmyn

I have seriously thought about the syringe thing but I figure she would need at least an ounce a day, which is a couple of tablespoons, so I think I would have to "force feed" her several times a day and I think she would be pretty unhappy about it. I don't have a pump but if all else fails maybe I'll get a cheap one and give BM kefir a try. I don't know that she'll drink that, either, though--I swear she can smell the stuff and refuses to drink it based on smell since she normally drinks anything out of her water bottles. She loves CLO--she begs for it when I get the bottle out and slurps it right up. I don't mind the taste of it, either

I think I am going to start adding just a little bit of water kefir or kombucha to DD's water and then slowly increase the amount each day and see if I can get her used to the taste that way.

Does your DD like chewing on the syringe(with you holding it of course)? Maybe let her chew/suck on it for a couple of days and then do a tiny squirt. Mixing it slowly with water sounds good too. There are cheap hand pumps you can get, since you need so little milk you don't need an electric one.

[JaneS]

Update on us:

DS has confirmed leaky gut. Did an interesting test of IgA, IgM and IgG from Alletess Lab http://www.foodallergy.com/ of reactions to gut flora, both good and bad. He was reacting to both which means his intestines are not sealed. Of course given that he is allergic to so many foods, this was kind of redundant!

Nutritionist recommended Tyler's Permeability Factors. Dr. said zinc. We are also doing a test for the MTHRFR gene, which i know little about in my ASD reading, need to bone up on that. It has to do with folic acid and B12 requirements.

We are trying to do a Rotation Diet and it's been really hard. The interesting thing is though grains are much better tolerated than fruit! (Even cooked fruit.) Not sure why this is.

Will be petitioning ins. to cover VSL#3 as it does cover special foods in the case of allergic colitis. We shall see.

Had a good discussion on metals and environmental issues with nutritionist but cut short. Thank goodness ins. will pay for unlimited visits with her. She recommended iodine in form of Lugol's solution and selenium. DS's thyroid tested fine but his body temps are low so she suggested I read about Wilson's Low Temp Syndrome: http://www.wilsonssyndrome.com/

I haven't done anything yet about taking my temps b/c I sleep every minute I can, but I know I should. Anyone with Irish ancestry or other background of famine is more likely to have this metabolic issue. Interestingly enough, of the 8+ ethnic groups DS is, he has both Irish and Native American which are the most susceptible.

We are having our house evaluated for mold issues. The dr. is a big believer in environmental stresses being one of root causes. We had a problem of pipe leaking under sink, and a lot of cabinets might have to be ripped out and replaced of which we don't have $$ for.

My digestion is great, eating kefir and the grains almost everyday. Ate everything with abandon on Thanksgiving!

[JaneS]

Oh and Wilson's Syndrome effects digestion b/c enzymes only work in a small range of body temp, low temp inactivates them.

Also my next project is to try to dehydrate kefir grains as described on Dom's site to make my own "probiotic powder". DS has decided he doesn't like kefir now.

Still scatterbrained as usual!

[caedmyn]

I know I asked this a while ago, but I forgot the answer--is 6 weeks gluten-free enough time to be able to tell if DD has a gluten intolerance when I add it back in? And when I reintroduce gluten-containing products, should I do a gluten containing grain other than wheat first and then do wheat so I can tell if DD has a gluten intolerance or a wheat one (and hopefully neither!)? And how much time do I need to allow between food challenges?

[Punchy Kaby]

: I am really glum today about our whole eczema/yeast situation. Ds''s rashes are the worst they have ever been. We are having a birthday party for him tomorrow and I feel horrible for saying this, but I don't want to take pictures because his face is so bad, I don't want to remember him this way, even though that is our life right now. DH is starting to argue with me about how I am dealing with the situation. Money is tight so every remedy, treatment, supplement I have to consider very carefully. DS is bothered by the itching, he is ornery and cranky and this is not his usual disposition. I need to take him to the CST, but I did not have a spare moment this past week. I just feel horrible. I know that the bad eczema is probably due to die off but that does not make it any easier to look at.

I have considered restarting SCD for a third time, because the 2nd time around DS improved so much. I have been very good about following the diet, but I have been enjoying more advanced foods and I feel like I am digesting them well. But Psychologically I don't know if I can restart it again and s-l-w-l-y add the foods and supplements in. Would it even be that helpful? I keep trying things hoping that this 'thing' will be the answer. I want to pull my hair out and I want to cry. And I want to yell at the next person who makes a comment about his cheeks, which will inevitably come tomorrow at his birthday party.

[caedmyn]

Originally Posted by Nolansmum

: I am really glum today about our whole eczema/yeast situation. Ds''s rashes are the worst they have ever been. We are having a birthday party for him tomorrow and I feel horrible for saying this, but I don't want to take pictures because his face is so bad, I don't want to remember him this way, even though that is our life right now. DH is starting to argue with me about how I am dealing with the situation. Money is tight so every remedy, treatment, supplement I have to consider very carefully. DS is bothered by the itching, he is ornery and cranky and this is not his usual disposition. I need to take him to the CST, but I did not have a spare moment this past week. I just feel horrible. I know that the bad eczema is probably due to die off but that does not make it any easier to look at.

I have considered restarting SCD for a third time, because the 2nd time around DS improved so much. I have been very good about following the diet, but I have been enjoying more advanced foods and I feel like I am digesting them well. But Psychologically I don't know if I can restart it again and s-l-w-l-y add the foods and supplements in. Would it even be that helpful? I keep trying things hoping that this 'thing' will be the answer. I want to pull my hair out and I want to cry. And I want to yell at the next person who makes a comment about his cheeks, which will inevitably come tomorrow at his birthday party.

I completely understand you not wanting to take pictures--we had pictures taken at JCPenney a few weeks ago and I almost cancelled because I didn't want pictures of DD with her cheeks all red. My DH sometimes gives me a hard time, too I understand always hoping "this one more thing" will be the answer--right now I have decided to not add anything new to DD's regimen for a couple of weeks to just see what happens (and give me a bit of a break from stressing over it all).

Here's a thought: if your DS did well when you restarted the SCD, maybe you should consider doing an actual candida diet. Maybe he's having difficulty with something in the SCD. When I switched from the SCD to the candida diet, it was a bit hard at first while I figured out what to eat, but in some ways it was easier--I started eating salads right away, and I'd never worked up to uncooked veggies on the SCD. I also started eating other veggies that I hadn't worked up to on the SCD.

Also, if you feel overwhelmed there is nothing wrong with taking a break for a bit. You could stop the supplements for a week or two, or eat any SCD legal foods, or eat non SCD foods that you know he can tolerate...that sort of thing. Sometimes we really need a bit of a mental break to get the energy to keep working on all this.

again mama...and I hope the birthday goes wonderfully and you have a great day

[caedmyn]

I think DD's digestion is really shot--I don't think she's digesting coconut oil. Lately I've noticed that there are what look like grease spots floating in her poop when she poops in the potty. And today there was what looked like a film of oil on the top of her poop (her poop is totally liquid now--I think she has gone back to having EBF poop). Does anyone know of any deficiencies or anything that could cause this? I'm thinking the most likely explanation is that she is low in hydrochloric/stomach acid, too--does that sound likely? And how would I treat low stomach acid in a baby? The only thing I can think of is to give her lemon juice in water, but would I need to do that before she nurses as much as possible, or just before she eats CO and then throughout the day? Should I stop giving her CO? Ahhhh!

Also, I read about rubbing cloves of raw garlic on the bottom of babies' feet as an anti-fungal. Would that be too hard on her digestive system, and does it sound like it would be effective? I thought cloves of garlic had to be crushed or chopped for the anti-fungal ingredient to be activated.

[bluets]

Originally Posted by Nolansmum

And I want to yell at the next person who makes a comment about his cheeks, which will inevitably come tomorrow at his birthday party.

put a sign on your door telling your guests that your ds is sensitive to comments about his face - so please do not comment.

[Panserbjorne]

Originally Posted by caedmyn

I think DD's digestion is really shot--I don't think she's digesting coconut oil. Lately I've noticed that there are what look like grease spots floating in her poop when she poops in the potty. And today there was what looked like a film of oil on the top of her poop (her poop is totally liquid now--I think she has gone back to having EBF poop). Does anyone know of any deficiencies or anything that could cause this? I'm thinking the most likely explanation is that she is low in hydrochloric/stomach acid, too--does that sound likely? And how would I treat low stomach acid in a baby? The only thing I can think of is to give her lemon juice in water, but would I need to do that before she nurses as much as possible, or just before she eats CO and then throughout the day? Should I stop giving her CO? Ahhhh!

Also, I read about rubbing cloves of raw garlic on the bottom of babies' feet as an anti-fungal. Would that be too hard on her digestive system, and does it sound like it would be effective? I thought cloves of garlic had to be crushed or chopped for the anti-fungal ingredient to be activated.

There are many things that could cause your dd to not properly digest fat. It is seen alot in CF kids (not saying your dd has CF of course!) If she's not producing lipase, or her bile isn't what it should be (bile aids lipase in the digestion of fat) The bile is produced by the liver and stored by the pancreas. If the liver is being taxed (which it always in in the case of food allergies) then that may be a piece of the problem. In this case you will often see oily stool. IT may not be a problem specifically with CO. Sorry if that was terribly unhelpful!

We use garlic on our kids feet whenever they get sick. I coat the bottoms of their feet with OO and then place crushed garlic wrapped in gauze on the bottoms of their feet. I then put a wet sock over it, followed by a wool sock. It works as an antifingal, and also helps with colds/flu.

[caedmyn]

Originally Posted by firefaery

There are many things that could cause your dd to not properly digest fat. It is seen alot in CF kids (not saying your dd has CF of course!) If she's not producing lipase, or her bile isn't what it should be (bile aids lipase in the digestion of fat) The bile is produced by the liver and stored by the pancreas. If the liver is being taxed (which it always in in the case of food allergies) then that may be a piece of the problem. In this case you will often see oily stool. IT may not be a problem specifically with CO. Sorry if that was terribly unhelpful!

We use garlic on our kids feet whenever they get sick. I coat the bottoms of their feet with OO and then place crushed garlic wrapped in gauze on the bottoms of their feet. I then put a wet sock over it, followed by a wool sock. It works as an antifingal, and also helps with colds/flu.

So...would liver support be a good thing to do for her?

[Panserbjorne]

So, I spent the last couple of days reeling. I went to a conference on tongue tie and I have so many things swimmin in my head! ALot of what we have been through as a family makes sense. First of all, apparently tongue tie is more apparent in and with each subsequent child. So to me, it is clearly nutritional. This has never been researched, or even apparently thought about. Huh.

An undiagnosed tongue tie negatively affects digestions (we knew that) it can cause bloating, discomfort, constipation and so on and so forth. I didn't really realize to what extent though. Two case studies were presented where the patient was on all kinds of meds for IBD and had all of the symptoms disappear when clipped. That is interesting.

The conference was given because docs are no longer assessing for anything but type 1 ties. Ds had a type 1, 2 and 3. Luckily my LC was on it and called this doc in NY, and was then able to have her talk my doc here through the procedure. Unfortunately although we clipped twice (first the anterior, then posterior) we didn't get the whole thing. Again, interesting. My dd was also assessed at the final day and she is also tied in her labial and lingual frenulums. No suprise that she has digestive issues, as well as speech and dental (space between her two front teeth and bottom front teeth angle in) We are going to have her clipped soon.

The best part was my original CST was also there, though not practicing anymore. She was part of a team that used ds as a model for what CST looks like on infants (videotaped for the medical community) She worked on him for about 40 minutes. She was able to release alot, but said she needed to talk to me about what she found. The next day she held ds during the beginning of the lecture and worked on him again. She said that it was as if he had never been worked on. I left the hall with her and she said that structually he was way off and that he had a mass of connective tissue that was compressing his bowel. His bowel has never been able to open fully. IT explains all of his symptoms and we have an answer! Now we just need to find a way to work through it. Soooo, more work for me!

[caedmyn]

firefaery--I'm so glad you have an answer! Hopefully you'll be able to figure out how to fix him quickly.

How do you know if a baby is tongue-tied? DD isn't "obviously" tongue-tied--she can stick her tongue waay out (my first memory of her is her sticking her little tongue out like a cat once she stopped crying after her birth).

[Punchy Kaby]

Originally Posted by caedmyn

I completely understand you not wanting to take pictures--we had pictures taken at JCPenney a few weeks ago and I almost cancelled because I didn't want pictures of DD with her cheeks all red. My DH sometimes gives me a hard time, too I understand always hoping "this one more thing" will be the answer--right now I have decided to not add anything new to DD's regimen for a couple of weeks to just see what happens (and give me a bit of a break from stressing over it all).

Here's a thought: if your DS did well when you restarted the SCD, maybe you should consider doing an actual candida diet. Maybe he's having difficulty with something in the SCD. When I switched from the SCD to the candida diet, it was a bit hard at first while I figured out what to eat, but in some ways it was easier--I started eating salads right away, and I'd never worked up to uncooked veggies on the SCD. I also started eating other veggies that I hadn't worked up to on the SCD.

Also, if you feel overwhelmed there is nothing wrong with taking a break for a bit. You could stop the supplements for a week or two, or eat any SCD legal foods, or eat non SCD foods that you know he can tolerate...that sort of thing. Sometimes we really need a bit of a mental break to get the energy to keep working on all this.

again mama...and I hope the birthday goes wonderfully and you have a great day

Thank you for the support. I go through this every few weeks, esp when DS is having a bad time. It is easy for me to stick to the diet when he is doing well because I'd like to think it is due to my diligence.

So after being on SCD and going to the candida diet did you feel like you were digesting foods properly that you had not introduced yet on SCD? What kinds of changes did you see in yourself? In your DD? Did you notice if her food intolerances changed? I started eating salads a couple weeks ago and I know that with enzymes I do well, once I forgot to take them and could feel the pain of them not getting processed.

The B-day party was wonderful! No one said a work about his cheeks, thank goodness. Ds was so good, we had 14 people here and he is always good with people he is not used to that many at once and in his house. He took a 3.5 hr nap in the am and then 2 hrs in the PM. I don't know what is going on, growth spurt or a tooth maybe, we shall see.

[Punchy Kaby]

FF-that is big news about the CST, hopefully he will make improvements now. Is CST like chiropractic, you can get an adjustment and sometimes it takes a few or many visits for it to 'take' or 'hold'? I am still very new to CST but really like how it is helping ds.

Very interesting about the tongue tie and digestion. Is that because a person cannot properly chew, getting the enzymes to do their work? Or does it have to do with swallowing?