Creative Nature
Member
- Joined
- Sep 5, 2016
- Messages
- 340
Meet My Nemesis: My Intestine
For over a year, on and off, I've had stress reactions to the passage of food through my large intestine. Pulse and blood pressure jump, I get sensations of pressure in my head and chest, and sometimes I get short of breath. Often I'll have a bowel movement within 1-3 hours after the stress reaction starts. Lately, these episodes have become much more intense and debilitating. I need to stop them before I get entangled in the medical system again.
Possible Clues
I've observed the following patterns...
On days when not much food passes through my intestine (e.g. because I wasn't able to eat much the previous day or because I had multiple, substantial bowel movements in the morning) I'm generally unstressed and in good spirits. Days when lots of material passes through the intestine are brutal.
Leaning forward in my chair for ~10 minutes often stops the passage of food through the intestine, and with it, the GI distress.
In the past, taking too much of a supplement (e.g. glycine or B1) has sometimes triggered these stress reactions to intestinal transit. Lowering the dose of the offending supplement typically fixed the problem within a few days. Lately, I have been trying to cut back on meds/supplements where possible, but instead of fading away, the GI distress is getting even worse.
Trying to lower the bacterial population in my intestine with daily carrots, mushrooms, charcoal (2-3 tbsps, with coconut oil, every 4-5 days), penicillin (up to 125 mg 2X/day), B2 (25 mg/day), etc. has not seemed to help so far.
Trying to block the effects of endotoxin via the TLR4 receptor using cyproheptadine (up to 11 mg/day), naltrexone (10 mg/day for three days consecutively), and vitamins B2 (25 mg/day) and D (up to 10k IU/day for a few weeks) has not helped so far. (My vitamin D level was 41 late last year and has likely increased significantly.)
Inspired by @charlie's posts on B3's benefits for people with IBS, I've experimented extensively with niacinamide, taking up to almost 3 g/day in divided doses. Niacinamide has been good for mood and energy, but so far it hasn't done much to reduce GI distress.
Low doses of oral lidocaine (25-50 mg 1-2X/day) don't seem to be reducing intestinal inflammation.
I caught some sort of respiratory infection at the end of March. I've mostly been able to control the symptoms with vitamins B1 and D and methylene blue, but at times, it seems like the infection is raising my blood pressure. I wonder if the infection could also be inflaming my GI and exacerbating the stress reactions to intestinal transit.
My Background
As discussed in an earlier thread (B Complex Deficiency, Sympathetic Nervous Dysregulation, & Starvation), I've been dealing for over two years with a B complex deficiency, an out-of-control sympathetic NS, and difficulty eating. Thanks in part to helpful advice from this forum, I've made a lot of progress in the last several months. I'm able to tolerate more red light and movement. I still eat fewer calories and less protein than are probably optimal for me, but I can eat way more of both than I could when I wrote the post above, and as a result, my energy, mobility, and mood have all improved.
My diet is mostly fruit, fruit juice, cheese, beef and beef liver, shellfish (including oysters), gelatin, eggs, coconut oil, carrots, and mushrooms. High carb, moderate fat. Liquids are no problem for me. I love starch but my GI doesn't, so I avoid it. I take vitamins D, E, B1, and B3, IdeaLabs' Energin B complex, cyproheptadine, clonidine, methylene blue, and small amounts of aspirin.
Questions
Any ideas about what might be causing these intense reactions to intestinal transit? Could whatever caused the respiratory infection also be making the GI distress worse?
Anyone have similar experiences?
What else should I try to lower intestinal inflammation and permeability and reduce the severity of these reactions?
Thanks in advance for your help.
For over a year, on and off, I've had stress reactions to the passage of food through my large intestine. Pulse and blood pressure jump, I get sensations of pressure in my head and chest, and sometimes I get short of breath. Often I'll have a bowel movement within 1-3 hours after the stress reaction starts. Lately, these episodes have become much more intense and debilitating. I need to stop them before I get entangled in the medical system again.
Possible Clues
I've observed the following patterns...
On days when not much food passes through my intestine (e.g. because I wasn't able to eat much the previous day or because I had multiple, substantial bowel movements in the morning) I'm generally unstressed and in good spirits. Days when lots of material passes through the intestine are brutal.
Leaning forward in my chair for ~10 minutes often stops the passage of food through the intestine, and with it, the GI distress.
In the past, taking too much of a supplement (e.g. glycine or B1) has sometimes triggered these stress reactions to intestinal transit. Lowering the dose of the offending supplement typically fixed the problem within a few days. Lately, I have been trying to cut back on meds/supplements where possible, but instead of fading away, the GI distress is getting even worse.
Trying to lower the bacterial population in my intestine with daily carrots, mushrooms, charcoal (2-3 tbsps, with coconut oil, every 4-5 days), penicillin (up to 125 mg 2X/day), B2 (25 mg/day), etc. has not seemed to help so far.
Trying to block the effects of endotoxin via the TLR4 receptor using cyproheptadine (up to 11 mg/day), naltrexone (10 mg/day for three days consecutively), and vitamins B2 (25 mg/day) and D (up to 10k IU/day for a few weeks) has not helped so far. (My vitamin D level was 41 late last year and has likely increased significantly.)
Inspired by @charlie's posts on B3's benefits for people with IBS, I've experimented extensively with niacinamide, taking up to almost 3 g/day in divided doses. Niacinamide has been good for mood and energy, but so far it hasn't done much to reduce GI distress.
Low doses of oral lidocaine (25-50 mg 1-2X/day) don't seem to be reducing intestinal inflammation.
I caught some sort of respiratory infection at the end of March. I've mostly been able to control the symptoms with vitamins B1 and D and methylene blue, but at times, it seems like the infection is raising my blood pressure. I wonder if the infection could also be inflaming my GI and exacerbating the stress reactions to intestinal transit.
My Background
As discussed in an earlier thread (B Complex Deficiency, Sympathetic Nervous Dysregulation, & Starvation), I've been dealing for over two years with a B complex deficiency, an out-of-control sympathetic NS, and difficulty eating. Thanks in part to helpful advice from this forum, I've made a lot of progress in the last several months. I'm able to tolerate more red light and movement. I still eat fewer calories and less protein than are probably optimal for me, but I can eat way more of both than I could when I wrote the post above, and as a result, my energy, mobility, and mood have all improved.
My diet is mostly fruit, fruit juice, cheese, beef and beef liver, shellfish (including oysters), gelatin, eggs, coconut oil, carrots, and mushrooms. High carb, moderate fat. Liquids are no problem for me. I love starch but my GI doesn't, so I avoid it. I take vitamins D, E, B1, and B3, IdeaLabs' Energin B complex, cyproheptadine, clonidine, methylene blue, and small amounts of aspirin.
Questions
Any ideas about what might be causing these intense reactions to intestinal transit? Could whatever caused the respiratory infection also be making the GI distress worse?
Anyone have similar experiences?
What else should I try to lower intestinal inflammation and permeability and reduce the severity of these reactions?
Thanks in advance for your help.