I think I may have finally fixed my digestion

[dogtrainer]

Still doing well. This will be four straight months of symptom improvement. I’m getting quality of life back. Stools are amazing. Once a day like clockwork. Can eat most fruits and veg and meats. Now I’m just taking

MSM/slippery elm daily
Magnesium daily
Taurine daily
Glutamine (20-30g) almost daily
Fat soluble vitamins almost daily
Yogurt/PHGG when I think about it

 

[Vins7]

Still doing well. This will be four straight months of symptom improvement. I’m getting quality of life back. Stools are amazing. Once a day like clockwork. Can eat most fruits and veg and meats. Now I’m just taking

MSM/slippery elm daily
Magnesium daily
Taurine daily
Glutamine (20-30g) almost daily
Fat soluble vitamins almost daily
Yogurt/PHGG when I think about it

Do you take a supplement for fat soluble vitamins?

 

[GreekDemiGod]

Revisiting this thread.
Will try the slippery elm + MSM + Glutamine. Does it have to be all powder form?

@dogtrainer My symptoms are very similar to yours.
Could you expand on what stool tests did you do? I found "Zonulin in fecal mater" test at the lab where I go for testing.

The antimicrobial approach with herbs worked for me

Could you expand on what the antimicrobial approach is?
I once tried a course of oregano oil, garlic oil, Berberine. Felt nothing from it.

I'm glad to read/hear that the PHGG worked for you! I've never tried it but I may buy some today and give it a whirl. As for cascara sagrada on a regular basis, I'm aware of the risks but don't really care anymore. The relief I get from using it far outweighs any possible risk to my body, to me. My IBS-C has gotten so bad at times I've considered suicide, so I will keep taking cascara regardless.

Turns out it wasn't the PHGG, it was Cascara.
PHGG does nothing from me, I've taken up to 3 scoops / day, each scoop being 5g.
Cascara helps be have regular bowel movements, but doesn't relieve my bloating. It's so odd to be having 4 bowel movements / day, and still extremely bloated.

What dosages are you guys using for PHGG?

 

[dogtrainer]

Do you take a supplement for fat soluble vitamins?

1 TBSP Cod liver oil for Vitamin A & D Unique E, and Carlson Vitamin K

 

[FocusedOnHealth]

Took phgg today for the first time. Made me very hypoglycemic. People with blood sugar issues beware.

PHGG can bloat some people. The SF22 is Undecylenic acid which comes from castor beans. That stuff (castor oil) is great for getting rid of parasites. Slippery Elm is da bomb for soothing an irritated stomach.

 

[Mauritio]

PHGG can bloat some people. The SF22 is Undecylenic acid which comes from castor beans. That stuff (castor oil) is great for getting rid of parasites. Slippery Elm is da bomb for soothing an irritated stomach.

PHGG just didnt work for meas most recommended fibers.
I have yet to try slippery elm.
I'm taking undecylenic acid ,but not the SF22 , I its calcium undecylenate which i take.

 

[dogtrainer]

Revisiting this thread.
Will try the slippery elm + MSM + Glutamine. Does it have to be all powder form?

@dogtrainer My symptoms are very similar to yours.
Could you expand on what stool tests did you do? I found "Zonulin in fecal mater" test at the lab where I go for testing.

Could you expand on what the antimicrobial approach is?
I once tried a course of oregano oil, garlic oil, Berberine. Felt nothing from it.


Turns out it wasn't the PHGG, it was Cascara.
PHGG does nothing from me, I've taken up to 3 scoops / day, each scoop being 5g.
Cascara helps be have regular bowel movements, but doesn't relieve my bloating. It's so odd to be having 4 bowel movements / day, and still extremely bloated.

What dosages are you guys using for PHGG?

I did a GI MAP in 2018 at the start of my symptoms. Zonulin level: 100

Then I repeated Dec 2021: zonulin level 1000

Normal is <106

 

[Theta]

PHGG can bloat some people. The SF22 is Undecylenic acid which comes from castor beans. That stuff (castor oil) is great for getting rid of parasites. Slippery Elm is da bomb for soothing an irritated stomach.

What brand of powdered slippery elm works the best?

Checking in because I said I would. I’m still doing a lot better. Quality of life has jumped from a 2-3 to a 7-8 most days. I have appetite 3x a day and I can eat several more things that I wouldn’t have dreamed of before like:

Nuts
Squash
Garlic
Onion
Avocado
Leafy greens
Snow peas
Papaya
Pineapple
Mango
Orange juice
All spices except hot peppers

I have had some bad days with bloating but, there were just a few. And then they passed.

Some observations:

-Just washing dry MSM down your throat doesn’t work. I have to dissolve it in warm water, then add the slippery elm bark to that. This is what I was doing differently during the bad days I’ve had over the past month. I was knocking back a tablespoon of MSM flakes and chasing with OJ.

-I’m insanely flexible now and I have fewer aches and pains. I can almost do the splits, haha. Side effect of the MSM most likely.

-I still need to get enough minerals, especially potassium & magnesium. If I don’t get enough I feel spacey and my digestion doesn’t run as well. The difference between now and my “dark days” is that a strong dose of whole food potassium will reliably get things moving when before, it rarely did.

-mint, ginger, licorice...all these things work great now. No more taking 20 ginger capsules. I take maybe 1-2 and it does it’s job. Amazing!

What brands of MSM and slippery elm do you use?
When I search for "MSM" on Amazon, I get this:

Amazon product ASIN B000BD4DIQView: https://www.amazon.com/Doctors-Best-Powder-OptiMSM-Non-GMO/dp/B000BD4DIQ/ref=sr_1_5?crid=OZ34F0HPWX3F&keywords=msm+powder&qid=1649186178&sprefix=msm+powder%2Caps%2C413&sr=8-5


as the first listing. Is this the one you use?

How about the slippery elm powder?

 

[FocusedOnHealth]

What brand of powdered slippery elm works the best?

What brands of MSM and slippery elm do you use?
When I search for "MSM" on Amazon, I get this:

Amazon product ASIN B000BD4DIQView: https://www.amazon.com/Doctors-Best-Powder-OptiMSM-Non-GMO/dp/B000BD4DIQ/ref=sr_1_5?crid=OZ34F0HPWX3F&keywords=msm+powder&qid=1649186178&sprefix=msm+powder%2Caps%2C413&sr=8-5


as the first listing. Is this the one you use?

How about the slippery elm powder?

Any brand of Slippery Elm is fine. You can buy it in your local health food store in loose powder form or order online from say, Amazon. It comes loose or in capsules. I’ve used different brands. Nature’s Way comes in capsules. You can open them up and put them in smoothies.

 

[Theta]

Any brand of Slippery Elm is fine. You can buy it in your local health food store in loose powder form or order online from say, Amazon. It comes loose or in capsules. I’ve used different brands. Nature’s Way comes in capsules. You can open them up and put them in smoothies.

Thank you. I'd like to find a brand of slippery elm w/o Mg stearate.

 

[dogtrainer]

Just shy of five months straight symptom improvements. Still doing well. Diet is expanding, I can eat:

Bananas
Sweet corn
Red peppers
Onions, garlic
Tomato
Spinach, kale
Avocado
All meats and cheeses
Peanut and almond butter
All kinds of milk - A2 and conventional
Casein protein powder
Chocolate
Sugar
Maple syrup and honey
OJ
Coconut
Blueberries, raspberries

Basically everything I have tried to eat has been fine. I can drink smoothies now even though they break all the orthorexic rules I had before “too cold, Too blended, bad for digestion.” I’m going to try starches next.

Quality of life is nearly back to normal now - I have all this extra energy to workout and do extra tasks most days.

I still take MSM powder every other day or so but thinking about removing it and only taking it again if I get bloated.

Still consistent with my probiotics.

Still consistent with fat solubles and thyroid medication.

A blood test from last week has my thyroid numbers in the bottom of the range still, which is troubling but at least they’re above the reference range and not underneath.

My vitamin D has raised from 18 to 28 (still considered low) but this is with very inconsistent supplementation and increased sun explosive. I’ll see what I feel like dosing 10,000 iu every day.

 

[dogtrainer]

Just updating for long term results. 7 months in.

I am still doing very well, have added back in almost all foods including starches. I rarely get bloated any more at all, normal digestion, normal hunger. I have normal energy and can eat most things.

I am consistent with fat solubles And thyroid but inconsistent with yogurt and probiotics. I don’t really think I need them now.

I think the MSM, SF722, and glutamine were the major players in my healing. Now that I have significantly got rid of the overgrowth my gut is functioning normally.

Only downside is I am getting fat as a result of all the foods I am now able to eat.

 

[LadyRae]

Just updating for long term results. 7 months in.

I am still doing very well, have added back in almost all foods including starches. I rarely get bloated any more at all, normal digestion, normal hunger. I have normal energy and can eat most things.

I am consistent with fat solubles And thyroid but inconsistent with yogurt and probiotics. I don’t really think I need them now.

I think the MSM, SF722, and glutamine were the major players in my healing. Now that I have significantly got rid of the overgrowth my gut is functioning normally.

Only downside is I am getting fat as a result of all the foods I am now able to eat.

Hey, that's great! What an accomplishment!

 

[GreekDemiGod]

Yeah, you probably had minor issues.

 

[dogtrainer]

Yeah, you probably had minor issues.

Lol sure, not being able to eat anything without symptoms for four years...losing will to live...zero energy...minor

 

[Mauritio]

Hey, that's great! What an accomplishment!

Dont you get any excitatory symptoms from all the glutamine ?

 

[dogtrainer]

Ppl

Dont you get any excitatory symptoms from all the glutamine ?

no, I don’t.

 

[cs3000]

Just updating for long term results. 7 months in.

I am still doing very well, have added back in almost all foods including starches. I rarely get bloated any more at all, normal digestion, normal hunger. I have normal energy and can eat most things.

I am consistent with fat solubles And thyroid but inconsistent with yogurt and probiotics. I don’t really think I need them now.

I think the MSM, SF722, and glutamine were the major players in my healing. Now that I have significantly got rid of the overgrowth my gut is functioning normally.

Only downside is I am getting fat as a result of all the foods I am now able to eat.

lol good stuff, nice to see a fix that continued to work well. got some similar stuff i haven't had proper days/weeks of appetite in about 2 years now, some big gut issues happening this year, burning gut most days around the navel, bowels shut down to the point of zero movement at all unless i took laxatives, inflammation etc.

tried glutamine for a bit but stopped i think possible connection to bowel cancer fuel was a concern. Started famotidine yesterday for anti-serotonin anti-h.pylori gut healing effect & eating sugar, seems some improvement in appetite today but too early to tell. Gonna try that MSM and i'll look into this sf722 ty. the only somewhat useful thing i tried so far that i've kept is threonine which makes up gut mucin, helped with bowel movement frequency a bit after a couple weeks but not fixed.

sounds promising it must be a relief to feel your body functioning as it should finally. forcing food most days of most months when fatigued without appetite chewing like a goat just for the sake of hitting baseline calories every day gets ridiculous after a while. How much MSM / SF722 did you use starting out & how did u take it?

 

[dogtrainer]

lol good stuff, nice to see a fix that continued to work well. got some similar stuff i haven't had proper days/weeks of appetite in about 2 years now, some big gut issues happening this year, burning gut most days around the navel, bowels shut down to the point of zero movement at all unless i took laxatives, inflammation etc.

tried glutamine for a bit but stopped i think possible connection to bowel cancer fuel was a concern. Started famotidine yesterday for anti-serotonin anti-h.pylori gut healing effect & eating sugar, seems some improvement in appetite today but too early to tell. Gonna try that MSM and i'll look into this sf722 ty. the only somewhat useful thing i tried so far that i've kept is threonine which makes up gut mucin, helped with bowel movement frequency a bit after a couple weeks but not fixed.

sounds promising it must be a relief to feel your body functioning as it should finally. forcing food most days of most months when fatigued without appetite chewing like a goat just for the sake of hitting baseline calories every day gets ridiculous after a while. How much MSM / SF722 did you use starting out & how did u take it?

MSM I started with tiny pinches and worked up to about a Tablespoon. All in slippery elm gel/slurry.

SF722 - 10 pills 3

 

[dogtrainer]

8 months in, still pretty much symptom free. I say “pretty much,” because I still do have some bloating and fullness occasionally but it is of the “normal” variety - bloating around menstrual period, bloating after big meal etc. I can get rid of it fairly quickly with a mug of ginger or peppermint tea. This happens maybe 5-6 HOURS per month, as opposed to every single day, 24 hours a day.

I can eat all foods that I have ventured to try, including most grains. Have not tried gluten containing grains yet. I have recently started to make kefir and the experiment seems to be going well.

Everything is pretty much as it was before I got sick. Good appetite, good energy. Stools normal, once or twice a day. I am starting to have extra energy to exercise, organize the house, cook complicated meals, etc. life is amazing!

I take supplements sporadically now. I do take taurine, collagen, magnesium, thyroid, and vitamin D/K daily. Whatever was going on with me appears to be fixed. I will never know for sure but I do believe my issues were mostly caused by Candida/dysbiosis. I think for some people it can be a really big problem especially if you are low thyroid/high stress.