Healing the Gut Tribe-February - Page 8

[caedmyn]

Originally Posted by formerluddite

since starting to supplement my drinking water (5-6wks) i've had more energy, and less hunger, next to no cravings, and have dropped the 5# that didn't come off after dd2. i only gained ~20#, since i was food averse throughout pregnancy, but my weight was stable for a year at that 5# heavier. i've been using concentrace trace mineral drops.

http://www.traceminerals.com/products/drops.html

it comes in 2, 4, 8oz. you put ~20 drops in a half gallon of water, or add to soups, cooked cereal, etc. it's pretty cheap, considering how little you use at a time. my 8oz bottle is still half full.

How do these taste? I've thought about getting them in the past but I'm afraid they'd taste horrible and I'd never use them.

[Panserbjorne]

http://www.i-sis.org.uk/BanGMprobiotics.php

Yikes! This is the one place that I thought this might be appreciated...

[Panserbjorne]

Originally Posted by Nolansmum

Chocolate is very high in amines. We are often addicted to the foods that are the worst for us. I know it is difficult to alter diet but it may be worth it for your DS, only you can decide.

The Failsafe diet has been pretty easy for me to stick to, in 7 weeks I have not cheated. This coming from someone who could barely make 3-4 days on SCD without cheating. Check out the Failsafe intro diet
http://www.plantpoisonsandrottenstuf...tion-diet.aspx

It's also high in magnesium which most are deficient in. Try taking supplemental mag and see what happens.

[Panserbjorne]

Originally Posted by Acugirl

Hi All,
Everywhere I post people keep sending me here, so finally, here I am!
I have an 8 month old ds. Since about 4 months he has had mucous in the stool, and bright red eczema on his cheeks.
Before 4 months, he was extremely gassy, bloated stomach, white tounge, which 2 peds said was not yeast.
At about 4 months I had mastatis and than a UTI back to back and took antibiotics for each.
At 2 months he had a Hib shot and at 4 months DTap. He also had DTap at 6 months (please no lecture here).
I have been on an elimination diet since the beg of Dec-no soy, dairy, gluten, nuts, eggs (we have an egg allergy in the family-dh and dd).
He had IgE testing and showed severe peanut allergy and mild potato allergy. I stopped eating potatoes and not much changed.
His sleep is awful-nurses all night and likes to be propped up or held.
His eczema is much better but now comes and goes-sometimes within hours.

I eat a lot of rice products, most veggies, I am limiting fruits incase it is yeast related, I eat turkey and lamb as my main meats. It seems that beans bother him, but I am not sure as it seems everything bothers him, or rather that nothing seems to help!

I am new to all of this. I used to eat anything I wanted and never thought I had a problem, but since giving up gluten, my own gas issues have gotten much better, but I am now a bit constipated.

I ordered Neonate by pharmax to give him for probiotics but haven't gotten it yet.

sorry this is so long!
I really want to heal him/us. I am at a loss for what to eat now. I know I need more oils and less rice products.
I have no clue if he actually reacts to anything I am avioding or not.

If anyone can help I would really appreciate it!
Thanks.

nak-welcome! I'll write more when I have two hands....neonate has a lactose base. If you're avoiding dairy you may want another probiotic...

[Panserbjorne]

Originally Posted by Richie'sMama

My eight month old has been miserable for eight months. He cries all the time and needs to be held constantly. He's a light sleeper and still wakes 3-4 times a night. he has pale skin, bags under his eyes, and screams like a rooster. He also doesn't roll very often (but has rolled over a few times).

I think he's allergic to everything that I'm eating. I did the very strict Sears TED for ten days and that helped -- ds even slept through the night, but I botched it with chocolate and can't seem to get back to eating well. My weakness is chocolate and I'm eating the Enjoy Life just about every allergen free chocolate, but, alas, it still bothers him, I think.

Baby gets pro-biotics. Eats just pears and squash (cause they're non-allergic).

I take probiotics and I have an enzyme for myself, but I don't bother with it. Will it help him, too?

I've been dairy free for months.

My oldest son has sensory issues and is GFCF (and corn and soy, as much as possible).

I don't think I can keep to a non-allergic diet. Do I throw in the BF towel and give him some allergen free formula? ( I BFed my other two sons till they were three + and my oldest child still has leaky gut!)

Any words of encouragement are welcome and necessary.

thanks.

- p

Sorry if this has been covered...again, nak. There are no foods that are non-allergenic, just foods that are least likely to be allergens. Your little one *could* be reacting to both pears and squash. NOt saying it's happening, just don't discount it.

Breastfeeding for many reasons is the best way to go. You need to heal yourself along with your baby. Sounds like all your kiddos need some probiotics!

I am on a gluten, casein, egg, soy, peanut, chocolate, grain, sesame free diet. It is hard, no doubt about it. But it's not forever and its my baby's best chance of developing normally. The most important thing to recognize is that there is no such thing as allergen-free. Anything is a gamble, but at least with bf you are passing immunoglobulins, enzymes, probiotics and all kinds of other good stuff!

[formerluddite]

Originally Posted by caedmyn

How do these taste? I've thought about getting them in the past but I'm afraid they'd taste horrible and I'd never use them.

considering the taste deprivation most of us deal with by being on restricted diets, they taste fine. not so refreshing as california sierra nevada snowmelt, but better than san jose water during the drought. just a little "mineraly." my french/ivorian SIL says it tasted like french mineral water. and you just add however many drops you want, so it's easy to dilute to the point of being drinkable. these days i don't even count out 20 drops, i just squirt a bit, then dilute further if i need to.

[bluets]

chocolate craving is definitely a sign of magnesium deficiency (though chocolate does have other benefits as well). have you tried raw cacao nibs instead? it's a little more pure without additives so you'd be able to determine if it is the chocolate (cacao) or the other things in your usual chocolate bar to which you/dc is reacting.

i'd also like to point out that one's magnesium levels PLUNGE at the onset of intestinal infection. i found a reference some time ago (August? September?) but can't find it now. but it happened again for me...

Sunday night I had serious signs of mag deficiency - so bad I thought AF was coming on (2 weeks too early) -- restless legs and mild abdominal cramping. Took 2 tsps of mag citrate in tea after dinner. No sign of hitting mag limit.

Monday, I felt RAGE like I've never ever felt before (I am pretty mellow and don't get disturbed too easily, so when i was thinking that i would like to shatter something with glass... well, that kinda freaked me out... thought it was a chemical reaction) -- again thought AF was approaching too early. Ate chocolate (which I haven't actually eaten in quite some time). Had more mag citrate in tea with dinner.

Tuesday, a few bouts of diarrhea and megacramping, signs that AF was NOT approaching but that I was battling a bug. DOH - should have been supplementing with sodium ascorbate!

[caedmyn]

Apparently sugar ingestion (even natural sweeteners) also messes with magnesium levels, at least in some people. About a month ago I made some chocolate cookie dough with 6 T. of Rapadura and at it before bed...then I woke up at 1:30 am with leg cramps and a racing heart. (This was after a month of being completely sweetener-free except for stevia.) I got up and took a tsp. of magnesium citrate and the racing heart subsided almost immediately. The day before yesterday after another sweetener-free month I ate a bunch of Oreos (well, organic wheat and dairy free Newman-o's)...this time I was smarter (I guess that's debatable since I did eat the Oreos in the first place!) and took a tsp of mag citrate instead of my usual 1/2 tsp before bed. I woke up at 2:30 am and couldn't go back to sleep, but no leg cramps or racing heart this time. I normally get diarrhea from 1 tsp. of mag citrate so I know my body was using the extra due to the sugar intake...now if I could just figure out how to avoid the insomnia caused by the sugar! (Or maybe I should take it as a sign that sugar is evil and avoid it altogether)

I must not be terribly magnesium deficient since I can only handle about 200 supplemental mg a day. I've never craved chocolate, either, and that might be why.

[mum2be]

I found those trace minerals at vitacost.com for a little over $14 for all of you who were looking for the best deal

[mum2be]

Found this chocolate. It's good for you!! I don't know how it tastes though, but it looks yummy!

[mum2be]

How many of you take EFAs?? What brand do you take?

[mum2be]

(Sorry about all the posts in a row...I keep remembering things I wanted to post AFTER I post )

Speaking of all this magnesium talk...

I had a leg cramp in my calf for 4 days straight and it hurt! I've also been getting chest pains. I've had them before and had all sorts of tests done, but they never found anything. Are these symptoms pointing towards something?

How do you know how much of a supplement to take? I don't understand how you can know your body needs so much of something.

Sorry for all the questions...

[caedmyn]

Originally Posted by mum2be

How many of you take EFAs?? What brand do you take?

I take Blue Ice CLO and Source Naturals evening primrose oil (I only take this to try to help with DD's eczema).

[formerluddite]

Originally Posted by mum2be

I found those trace minerals at vitacost.com for a little over $14 for all of you who were looking for the best deal

great price (bookmarked the site ), but it's $5 shipping. some other dealers will waive shipping if you buy several items, totaling >$75 or so.

i just got an envelope of natural calm magnesium citrate with my last supplement order (from somebody...). anyone try it? are other sources cheaper? it tasted pretty good, 350mg in the envelope. how many mg in a tsp?

i take nordic naturals ultimate omega, 2-4/day. it's a bit expensive, but it's the only way i can take tham without tasting the fish.

[caedmyn]

Originally Posted by formerluddite

great price (bookmarked the site ), but it's $5 shipping. some other dealers will waive shipping if you buy several items, totaling >$75 or so.

i just got an envelope of natural calm magnesium citrate with my last supplement order (from somebody...). anyone try it? are other sources cheaper? it tasted pretty good, 350mg in the envelope. how many mg in a tsp?

i take nordic naturals ultimate omega, 2-4/day. it's a bit expensive, but it's the only way i can take tham without tasting the fish.

I use NOW magnesium citrate--there's 450 mg per tsp. I think it's around $9 for 8 oz at www.iherb.com.

[krankedyann]

Originally Posted by mum2be

I found those trace minerals at vitacost.com for a little over $14 for all of you who were looking for the best deal

Vitamin Shoppe sells a no-name-brand version called 'trace mineral liquid' for $14.99, and they occasionally run it B1G1F.

http://www.vitaminshoppe.com/store/e...jsp?id=VS-2291

Worth keeping an eye on as they do good sales on their brands. I got mine for about $8 last time I bought some.

[bluets]

Originally Posted by mum2be

Found this chocolate. It's good for you!! I don't know how it tastes though, but it looks yummy!

i bought a pound a month or so ago. very yummy ground (in the coffee grinder - don't clean afterwards), mixed in kefir with honey/syrup/rapadura. or you can do raw brownies (if you can eat this stuff)... and i'm sure this is a firefaery recipe:

brownie base: 1 c. soaked dates; 1 c. soaked walnuts; 1/4 c. cacao nibs. process and spread in dish (it fits in my 5x7" dish)

brownie topping: 1/4 c. cacao nibs; 1/4 c. coconut oil; splash of vanilla. process and spread on top of base. refrigerate then enjoy a few hours later.

this is my dh's favorite treat right now.

i think ff also drops cacao nibs in smoothies. my silly ds doesn't like smoothies - we're in a separate food phase at the moment (what a purist!).

[bluets]

Originally Posted by mum2be

How many of you take EFAs?? What brand do you take?

i'm experimenting with Source Naturals Flax Seed/EPO capsules. we're low on CLO so i've been reserving that for dh (recovering from hernia surgery) but will continue once i replenish our supply. dh takes hemp seed oil.

i think i may go back to Kal's Ultra Omega 3,6,9 (and EPO?) for the summer - it just felt better.

we actually buy these locally at our HFS (a co-op) - the prices aren't superb but when you account for shipping, it washes out in the end. the other plus is that i know how they handle oils (from freezer truck/ice cooler straight to fridge).

[bluets]

Originally Posted by mum2be

(Sorry about all the posts in a row...I keep remembering things I wanted to post AFTER I post )

Speaking of all this magnesium talk...

I had a leg cramp in my calf for 4 days straight and it hurt! I've also been getting chest pains. I've had them before and had all sorts of tests done, but they never found anything. Are these symptoms pointing towards something?

How do you know how much of a supplement to take? I don't understand how you can know your body needs so much of something.

Sorry for all the questions...

my sign of mag deficiency is restless legs and muscle twitching.

when my levels get low, it usually takes a few days to rebound and then i don't need to supplement for a while (except for the first few days just prior to AF or right before a GI bug)

when i have restless legs, i can easily handle 2 tsp of Natural Calm (plain, unflavored) in the evening, then 1 tsp 2-3x the next day before i start noticing a difference. by the time i hit the 3rd dose on day 2, my bowels start grumbling and that's how i know to stop. though that doesn't work so well when it is a GI bug affecting my bowels.

[caedmyn]

Originally Posted by mum2be

(Sorry about all the posts in a row...I keep remembering things I wanted to post AFTER I post )

Speaking of all this magnesium talk...

I had a leg cramp in my calf for 4 days straight and it hurt! I've also been getting chest pains. I've had them before and had all sorts of tests done, but they never found anything. Are these symptoms pointing towards something?

How do you know how much of a supplement to take? I don't understand how you can know your body needs so much of something.

Sorry for all the questions...

I don't know how to tell with most supplements how much you really need, but vitamin C and magnesium will both cause diarrhea if you take more than you need, so that's how I can tell with those two.

Leg cramps tend to signal either a calcium deficiency or a magnesium deficiency. Since most people are more deficient in magnesium than calcium, I'd try a magnesium supplement first. Maybe figure out what your bowel tolerance dose is and then make your daily dose a bit less than that.