Help: Extreme Bloating & Sudden Psychological Symptoms

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Last week I purchased two large ripe plantains, expecting to cook them but ate them raw instead. This triggered the return of a horrible problem I thought I had long since solved. I couldn't sleep all night- I had extreme amounts of bloating, gas, and an agitated and angry mood.

After this I became unable to tolerate nearly any food. Eating nothing I felt fine, but as soon as I ate anything (even pure sugar) I would become extremely bloated, and had severe psychological problems. I am normally a very calm and understanding person, but this made me unable to sleep and angry and agitated. I also had a bad headache, and severe 'brain fog' that made colors look dull and everything seemed 'distant' and 'fuzzy.'

This was a difficult catch 22: My psychological symptoms were so severe, I could not even begin to understand what was happening or how to fix it.

Gradually I did realize I was able to handle three foods without bloating: gelatin, beef, and potatoes so I have been eating only these for several days, and the symptoms are nearly gone… however I am afraid to re-introduce anything else and have the problem come back. I did find I can tolerate a spoon of sugar in my coffee, and I've been having some activated charcoal capsules before bed. I don't seem to be able to tolerate the carrot salad- that alone seems to cause severe bloating.

Any ideas about what might be happening or what I can do? This definitely has de-railed my attempt to raise my metabolism, as I can't eat much carbs or peat-inspired foods.
 

jyb

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My reflex would be cascara and RPPS. Cascara would be to fix the gut, and RPPS to give fuel even if digestion is barely working.
 
J

j.

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I would take 100 mg of pregnenolone, of a product I took in the past, I am familiar with, and know it's clean.
 

arinryan

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My hub has this exact kind of thing! Everything down to the headaches, which he says are different than migraines--he also sometimes gets those but they don't seem related to digestion as much. I had not linked the stomach problems with the mood swings, but what you describe was a kind of "aha!"
He seems to tolerate milk, potatoes, rice, butter and I think most cheeses. He says he has trouble with beef. He has troubles with fruits generally.

I second the pregnenolone recommend, it definitely helps him, in less than 50mg a day. 100mg capsules make him feel strange in a way he doesn't like.
Or, you could try spoonfuls of minced garlic, his favorite health food :shock: I wish he would just try cascara instead!
 

charlie

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arinryan said:
Or, you could try spoonfuls of minced garlic, his favorite health food :shock: I wish he would just try cascara instead!
I heard someone say to cut open a piece of garlic, and tape it to the inside of your wrist for a few minutes. Then, take it off and the results are also happening in your intestines/stomach. From what I hear it will leave a burn mark.
 

arinryan

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Charlie said:
arinryan said:
Or, you could try spoonfuls of minced garlic, his favorite health food :shock: I wish he would just try cascara instead!
I heard someone say to cut open a piece of garlic, and tape it to the inside of your wrist for a few minutes. Then, take it off and the results are also happening in your intestines/stomach. From what I hear it will leave a burn mark.

Ah ha, I bet he would be willing to try this, it might get him to change his mind. Thanks Charlie!
 
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CellularIconoclast
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This was quite a battle but I feel I'm starting to win, as I haven't been bloated in a few days. Benadryl seemed to help relieve the psychological symptoms, and if I was up at night severely bloated, the activated charcoal would make it possible to sleep after an hour or so.

I'm still eating only starches (rice and potatoes) and meat, but plan to gradually re-introduce orange juice and milk in a few days. I don't want to push it, as I am suddenly able to actually do work again and am enjoying that.

I tried having a small glass of white wine and felt extremely sick, with a return of the psychological symptoms but not the bloating. Benadryl helped here as well. Perhaps this has to do with high blood histamine levels?
 

Blossom

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I kind of think of serotonin and histamine as kissing cousins so to speak- not very scientific jargon I know! When one or the other gets out of balance for me I can get the psychological symptoms too so although I'm sorry to hear about your problem I can definitely relate. The wine issue is probably histamine and the plantain more serotonin like bigpeatowski mentioned. When you start to feel better it's easier to identify what makes you feel worse in my experience.
 
OP
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I decided to go to a doctor, and the experience was incredibly frustrating.

I've been continuing to have severe bloating and brain fog on and off. I took doxycycline for a week and that helped a bit but I ran out, so I went to a doctor in attempt to get a more SIBO appropriate antibiotic.

The doctor rejected all of my ideas without seriously discussing them. He basically said I had no idea what I was talking about when I tried to explain the connection between bloating, bacteria overgrowth, gut leakiness, and brain fog. He claimed that in the absence of serious liver failure, any toxins from the gut are immediately and completely neutralized. Therefore my fatigue and brain fog must be unrelated to the severe bloating, even though they both come and go together. He knows I am a PhD candidate actively performing biomedical research, but still acts like I'm not qualified to even have informed opinions about my own health. He also lectured me about how my ideas are not looking at the "bigger picture" about how many complex systems integrate together in the body. All of this while he tells me that each of my symptoms are a separate unrelated thing.

He did perform extensive blood tests, and found an immunoglobulin A (IgA) deficiency. IgA is a key component of the intestinal mucosal barrier, and regulates both bacterial populations and gut permeability. I think this finding is likely the key to my problems, but the doctor said it's 'probably unrelated.' He also told me that it's 'genetic' and untreatable.

He diagnosed me with hyperthyroidism and referred me to an endocrinologist because my "TSH was too low" despite explaining that I take thyroid, and that I still suffer mild hypothyroid symptoms.
 

Blossom

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Sorry to hear that but it sounds typical of an experience with the medical system. :cry:
 

aguilaroja

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CellularIconoclast said:
He did perform extensive blood tests, and found an immunoglobulin A (IgA) deficiency. IgA is a key component of the intestinal mucosal barrier, and regulates both bacterial populations and gut permeability. I think this finding is likely the key to my problems, but the doctor said it's 'probably unrelated.' He also told me that it's 'genetic' and untreatable.

Did this person diagnose you with "selective IgA deficiency"? And if so, was this on the basis of a single test? What are the numbers?

Has this health care authority consulted any basic IgA deficiency wiki, which indicates associations with gastro-intestinal issues? I am not saying that IgA is the issue here. Nor am I saying that IgA and immune responses are unrelated to metabolism. The question is meant only to raise the issue of using the "conventional" knowledge, so you, as scientist and careful advocate, can get a more full picture. If this line of inquiry is of help (I don't know the story, and it's outside my Peat-ing domain), there still could be many helpful Peat-y maneuvers.

I am only saying that if a pompous (self-?)anointed expert is going to spout dogma, they might at least check the dogma.

--
http://allergies.about.com/od/childhood ... ciency.htm
"IgA deficiency is also associated with other gastrointestinal diseases, including lactose intolerance, celiac disease and ulcerative colitis. Celiac disease is most commonly diagnosed by the presence of IgA antibodies against certain proteins in the gastrointestinal tract, which, of course, would not found in a person with both celiac disease and IgA deficiency. Instead, IgG antibodies against these same proteins would be expected to be present in a person with celiac disease. Therefore, a person suspected of having celiac disease should be checked for IgA deficiency at the time of blood testing for celiac disease to ensure that a normal test for celiac disease would not be a false negative result as a consequence of IgA deficiency."

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22476042
J Clin Gastroenterol. 2012 Nov-Dec;46(10):850-4. doi: 10.1097/MCG.0b013e31824b2277.
Immunoglobulin A deficiency in celiac disease. Chow MA1, Lebwohl B, Reilly NR, Green PH.

"Selective IgA deficiency/partial deficiency is present in 2% of CD patients at this referral center and is equally prevalent among adults and children. IgA-deficient/partially deficient adults had a higher prevalence of concomitant autoimmune disease than those without IgA deficiency."
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19286327

Pathol Res Pract. 2009;205(12):876-80. doi: 10.1016/j.prp.2009.02.005. Epub 2009 Mar 14.
Nodular lymphoid hyperplasia and histologic changes mimicking celiac disease, collagenous sprue, and lymphocytic colitis in a patient with selective IgA deficiency. Joo M1, Shim SH, Chang SH, Kim H, Chi JG, Kim NH.

"These findings suggest that the GI tract in patients with selective IgA deficiency can show peculiar histologic changes that mimic celiac disease, collagenous sprue, or lymphocytic colitis, which may be a pattern of injury related to infection or immunoglobulin immunodeficiency-associated autoimmune phenomena."
 

aguilaroja

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CellularIconoclast said:
He knows I am a PhD candidate actively performing biomedical research, but still acts like I'm not qualified to even have informed opinions about my own health. He also lectured me about how my ideas are not looking at the "bigger picture" about how many complex systems integrate together in the body.

Maybe Peat-ing has made me over-charitable. I generally take the view that people are trying to do their best. In health care and many other businesses, people are hard pressed to give thorough help in constrained situations. The "inherited" thing here may be fixity and dis-information in the provider, more than the IgA finding.

I'd prefer to shift the emphasis to what would be helpful in this case. But counterpoints can be readily found with the briefest of literature searches. This practitioner has overlooked important research of several years duration or more:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24590859
Neurochem Res. 2014 Apr;39(4):624-44. doi: 10.1007/s11064-014-1266-6. Epub 2014 Mar 4.
Chronic functional bowel syndrome enhances gut-brain axis dysfunction, neuroinflammation, cognitive impairment, and vulnerability to dementia. Daulatzai MA.
"...Pathogenic gut microbiota-related systemic inflammation (due to increased lipopolysaccharide and pro-inflammatory cytokines, and barrier dysfunction), may trigger neuroinflammation enhancing dysfunctional brain regions including hippocampus and cerebellum."

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24583088
Gastroenterology. 2014 May;146(6):1500-12. doi: 10.1053/j.gastro.2014.02.037. Brain-gut microbiome interactions and functional bowel disorders. Mayer EA1, Savidge T2, Shulman RJ3.
"Alterations in the bidirectional interactions between the intestine and the nervous system have important roles in the pathogenesis of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). A body of largely preclinical evidence suggests that the gut microbiota can modulate these interactions."

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22638926
Cell Mol Life Sci. 2013 Jan;70(1):55-69. doi: 10.1007/s00018-012-1028-z. Voices from within: gut microbes and the CNS. Forsythe P1, Kunze WA.
"There is now robust evidence that gut bacteria influence the enteric nervous system, an effect that may contribute to afferent signaling to the brain."

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24690956
Gut Microbes. 2014 Apr 1;5(3). The role of microbiota in hepatic encephalopathy. Bajaj JS.
"Hepatic encephalopathy(HE), which consists of minimal(MHE) and overt(OHE) stages, is a model for impaired gut-liver-brain axis in cirrhosis. Microbiota changes in both stages have been associated with impaired cognition, endotoxemia, and inflammation."
 
OP
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aguilaroja said:
Did this person diagnose you with "selective IgA deficiency"? And if so, was this on the basis of a single test? What are the numbers?

My serum IgA was 60mg/dL which is higher than the normal diagnostic criteria for selective IgA deficiency but much lower than normal. I wasn't diagnosed yet because this was the only antibody test, more tests need to be done to distinguish general immunodeficiency from specific IgA deficiency. Thank you for posting all of those excellent references, I will read all of them.

I do think you are correct that they are genuinely trying to help me. What's frustrating is that it seems like the only way to get effective treatment is to study all of the relevant literature, make a correct self-diagnosis, and then find some way to teach this information to my physician whose knowledge is 40+ years out of date without insulting their ego. If this is what it takes then so be it, but I don't seem to have the social skills to do this without offending my doctor such that he stops listening... and feeling sick and irritable isn't helping any.
 

Blossom

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Good luck CellularIconoclast. I'm glad you were able to get some information that might help you teach your doctor how to help you. Many people find themselves in the same boat unfortunately. I hope you feel better.
 

Blossom

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Never forget that you are paying this doctor and he/she is working for you. It sounds like you have attempted to set the stage for mutually respectful interactions. If the doctor isn't meeting your standards or is treating you in any way that makes you feel offended, stressed or belittled please consider changing providers.
 
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CellularIconoclast said:
I do think you are correct that they are genuinely trying to help me. What's frustrating is that it seems like the only way to get effective treatment is to study all of the relevant literature, make a correct self-diagnosis, and then find some way to teach this information to my physician whose knowledge is 40+ years out of date without insulting their ego. If this is what it takes then so be it, but I don't seem to have the social skills to do this without offending my doctor such that he stops listening... and feeling sick and irritable isn't helping any.

I had a very similar experience just yesterday with my doctor. I can definitely relate to your pain and frustration....You are smart. You have the ability and so you will figure it out, then you'll kindly share your wisdom and the world will be a better place.

All I know is when my guts are bloated and inflamed it always affects my brain, unfortunately since the two are so closely linked it makes the research more difficult for me.
 

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