HTG - Healing the Gut September/October 07 - Page 13

[Vaquitita]

anyone know how effective doing a colon cleanse is in combatting candida? the company that makes the whole foods liquid multi vitamin and mineral supplement i take also makes a colon cleanse that includes:
herbal tabs
charcoal
psyllium husks and seeds

i wonder if its safe to do while nursing? here's the nutritional info on the herbal tabs http://www.liquid-vitamins-body-bala...HerbalTabs.pdf

they claim that a colon cleansing will return the candida to a benign state (from the fungal form with long roots that can create holes in the digestive tract) and that once this happens the immune system will clear the candida from the rest of the body. http://www.liquid-vitamins-body-balance.com/candida.htm

[HerbanGirl]

This may be TMI, but I have gotten lots of colonics in my time. Most recently, I just went through 6 weeks of weekly colonics, and now I'm backing off. My candida symptoms are fairly mild compared to some I've read about, but I haven't noticed the candida getting any better bc of the colonics - in fact, I'd say that if anything, it has made me more sensitive to my symptoms (which I count as a good thing - now I can be very aware when something causes problems).

I tried the psyllium for a while, but I didn't like it. Then I got turned on to Super Seed. It's a whole foods fiber supplement - made from different bean sprouts and probiotics. It's gluten-free, as far as I can tell. It seems to work well, and I was told that Super Seed stays moist in the gut so it doesn't absorb a lot of water from your system like psyllium. Apparently psyllium will work well for a few days, but in the meantime it's soaking up water and drying your gut out so that pretty soon you end up constipated.

I'm also taking a product called Multi-Cleanse, and it's working very well. So in the morning, this is my routine:

Mix Super Seed with some water, kombucha, and unfiltered apple cider
Take Multi-Cleanse tablets and wash down with Super Seed juice
Take cod liver oil and wash down with Super Seed juice
...then finish the juice.

I'm also trying my best to stay away from sugar, grains, and dairy. Sugar's pretty easy for me, although I went to a baby shower yesterday and had cake...felt terrible afterwards. Grains and dairy are really tough for me to kick completely, but I'm working on it.

[Vaquitita]

i'm not talking about any sort of physical procedure. i'll look into the super seed

ingredients of the herbal tabs: Senna (Leaf), Buckthorn (Bark), Peppermint (Leaf), Sea Vegetation Powder (Fucus Gardneri, Ulva Lactuca, Alaria Valida, Nereocystis Luetkeana, Laminaria, Ulva Linza, Gigartina, Costaria Costata, and Rhodymenia Pertusa), Licorice (Root), Cascara Sagrada (Bark), Pepsin, Psyllium (Seed), Acacia, Fennel Seed, Rhubarb (Root), Anise Seed, Chamomile (Flower), Blue Malva (Flower), Citrus Rind and, Ginger (Root).

[LionTigerBear]

Vaquitita, I've heard that a colon cleanse is not good to do while nursing, but I can't remember why, sorry. I remember I had looked into that and someone here on MDC convinced me to wait.

[K-Girl]

Candia Die Off?

I posted this in general health and healing, but thought some here may be able to help:

Has anyone dealt with the effects of candida die off with their DCs? My three year old has an overgrowth and we have been limiting dairy, sugar, and wheat and giving him (per our naturopath) Oregon grape extract. He told me today that his belly feels "a lot better" (yay!), but he seems to have had some behavioral issues resurface. Specifically, he has been *very* nonresponsive. I know that he can hear me, but is just not processing/choosing not to respond. He has sensory issues, so I am wondering if the die off is aggravating those. He also had a huge hand flapping session this morning--and I haven't seen that since we eliminated dairy/soy about two months ago. I know that there is such a thing as die off, but I am wondering how it may manifest in the little ones.

Any experiences? Ideas? TIA.

[LionTigerBear]

Yes, I read that die-off can mean symptoms get worse for a little while.


So, I've been drinking two kombucha's a day the last two days and I feel SO MUCH BETTER. Ahhh, sweet relief.

[bugsma]

positive effects of breastfeeding on colitis

Not sure if here is the right place to post this or over on allergy so I'll post both places. DS is 14mo, was diagnosed with allergic colitis at age 3 mo or so. I eliminated dairy and soy and it SLOWLY improved, though he would still have occasional "flares". I usually figure I had just missed some hidden dairy or soy or something. Anyway, over the past month or so, he's had a lot of stools that test positive for trace blood. So I called his GI doc and she suggested considering stopping nursing to see if that clears it (she has always suspected he's actually sensitive to a protein in my breastmilk, since it took him SO long to clear and he still has occ. flares). I don't think either of us are ready to wean, and I've heard that breastfeeding can help heal colitis (the GI doc even said this before), but I"m wondering if any of you know of any information out there about why/how/if breastfeeding past 1yr is beneficial for kids with colitis.

fwiw, we have not done probiotics, enzymes etc., but are starting down that path now.

thanks

[Theloose]

hey, that's my story too!
have you tried eliminating other foods and/or a rotation diet for what's left? for us, the biggest trigger is wheat so i've been avoiding all gluten. plus soy and dairy. then she started reacting again and i had been eating a lot of corn - so that's gone too, now. same thing with lamb, almonds and maybe eggs. it's not a happy path

fwiw, the holistic doc we saw recommended cod liver oil and probiotics. dd was diagnosed by the GI at 7 months and is 10 months now

[Pookietooth]

I think if you stopped bfing, it would only narrow it down to what your ds eats, right? Why not just do an elimination diet for yourself? Or is your doctor saying that no matter what you ate, your ds would be allergic to your bm? I think you should listen to your intuition and do what you feel is right for you and your ds. If doing an elimination diet would be to hard on you, or whatever. It's a lot easier to stop breastfeeding later than it is to start it back up again if it turns out not to make any difference. Weaning is rough. I would say try eliminating wheat, corn, sugar, and whatever else seems like it might be a problem (tomatoes? Shelfish? -- depends on what runs in the family) first. Or do more testing? Or maybe try SCD or another gut healing diet to heal your gut so the proteins you eat don't get through to your ds.

[bugsma]

I'm really not planning to wean if I can avoid it. The reactions are just really random and I really think it might be chronic inflammation/irritation from the early colitis that just never healed. We have also done vax, which probably didn't help. So, I think I"ll do probiotics and maybe enzymes (meeting with an nd next week) and go from there. Any advice for good dairy free soy free probiotics would be welcome I was just hoping there was something out there about the benefits of continued bfing.

[dannic]

[QUOTE=Vaquitita;95646

i wonder if its safe to do while nursing? here's the nutritional info on the herbal tabs [URL="http://www.liquid-vitamins-body-balance.com/PDF/HerbalTabs.pdf"]http://www.liquid-vitamins-body-balance.com/PDF/HerbalTabs.pdf[/URL]

I've always been told to hold off cleansing during pregnancy and nursing. The toxins tend to accumulate in breastmilk. I've never done a cleanse to get rid of candida. I would think that a cleanse would probably be hard on all flora and that it would be important to promote healthy flora with probiotics, ect during and after the cleanse. Just my thoughts...

[PapayaVagina]

I've got lots of questions tonight. My dd just turned 1 and we took her into the allergist because we're trying to investigate some frequent night waking (like 15+ times a night) and are going down the list. Luckily, so far she has not had any positive tests for allergies - yay! She had suspected leaky gut syndrome since birth (tons of antibiotics) and was very obviously sensitive to wheat, dairy and something else that I could never figure out. She gets probiotics and CLO almost every day.

I know that some of my questions have been answered in these threads before but I haven't been very successful in getting the answers to come up in searches.

1. What is considered "normal" poo in a baby who is eating solids? Before solids dd's poos were green and smelled very sour - now, they are more pale yellow, she has lots of undigested food and tends on the constipated side but can still have the green sour smell. Our allergist wants us to see a pediatrician ASAP because he is worried that she has bile salts passing through. SHe has also always had very yucky smelling breath, but never spits up and didn't respond to anti-reflux therapy.

2. What digestive enzymes are okay for a 1-year old?

ty for any suggestions!

[Theloose]

This thread got kinda long... I'm running out the door, but does someone want to start a new thread for november?

[Theloose]

Originally Posted by whoMe

This thread got kinda long... I'm running out the door, but does someone want to start a new thread for november?

Or I can