SLOW Digestion

iLoveSugar

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I know I am quickly becoming annoying, but I am desperately looking for help. I am having a terrible time digesting food, and have a very slow digestion rate. I have tried EVERYTHING! Carrot salad, huge nightly doses of multiple cascaras, elimination of starch, thyroid, etc. I'm at a complete loss. It's got me so bad, that I am now dizzy all the time, I can rarely ever get gas out, bowel movements are never normal, my stomach always hurts, bad heartburn, bad breath, etc. What can I do? I'm a younger male, late 20's. Something is MAJORLY hindering me.
 

Wilfrid

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I'm sorry for you.
Are you taking any supp? If so, stop it now.( except the thyroid if you're still on as, depending on the dosage you are currently on, weaning off it should be done carefully).
Have you ever tried to take a meal like this: a serving size of (white) parboiled rice (cooked, not in twice the amount of water as the package usually recommends, but with 2+1/2 amount of water and cooked until all the water are absorbed) plus a good amount of low fat protein ( as low-fat goat/sheep cheese, low-fat white fish ( such as cod...), shellfish....) with a reasonable amount of fat and white rock (if you can put your hand on it, if not, ordinary sea salt would be ok) salt (to taste) with your rice (added fat like ghee...and especially ghee, not butter or coconut oil.).Very well cooked greens could also be added to it. As a side, during your meal, try to sip on coke or even on plain water.Stop eating when you have a satieting sensation. That's it, fat+carb+proteins (no more than 3/4 (of different foods) combinations for each main meals.No fruits, fruit juices of any kind during those meals. Try to adapt the food quantity to your hunger, ie more carbs or more proteins and/or a little more fat, ect....).
Between meals when thirsty and/or during any feeling of stress or exhaution, you can try to sip on (sweet and clear) apple juice ( I would think that if you can find organic one it's best) or sprite.
Try doing it for 5 consecutive days, and see how you feel. You can also try very tiny amount of cypro (500 mcg, ie 1/8 of it,), best taken in the morning and at the end of your breakfast.
Hope that will help.
 

tara

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You seem to be starving. Maybe because your digestion is poor, or maybe your digestion is poor because you have been starving. Or both. If that is the case, that could be pretty directly contributing to all your other symptoms.

You keep saying you've tried everything, but I don't think you've yet posted exactly what and how much you eat and drink, or a calorie estimate, or what key changes to this you have tried. Since diet seems to be a central part of Peat's ideas about how to support and recover good health, you may get more useful insight from others if you share more information about this.

There is not one standard 'Peat' diet, because we all have different weaknesses. If you are having trouble with particular foods, others may have found a way around it for themselves, and it may or may not be of use to you.

You don't have to give more info if you don't want to, but if you keep starting a new thread for every symptom, without describing key aspects of what you have been trying, it may be limiting the help you can get.

Good luck.
 

tara

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Can't remember if you've mentioned before, have you given activated charcoal a good go at any stage? If so, did it help?
4peatssake just posted some good stuff about it here:
viewtopic.php?f=10&t=4328&start=220#p53731
 
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This is probably something you have already tried, but extra salt might help. I've tried pretty much everything in the peatosphere. It seems like all of my problems stem from slow digestion/constipation and subsequently endotoxin overload. The only thing that helps me is to salt everything to taste and then supplement just a bit more here and there on top of that. For what ever reason i don't have much of a craving for salt at all, even when i clearly need it the most, and when such a low energy state i simply don't think of such a simple solution much of the time. But let me tell you, gorging on salt takes me from feeling dead to bursting at the seams with energy. I can feel my frozen digestion taking off within a matter of minutes when i get the bright idea to start supplementing it. Salt is more effective than ANYTHING i've tried. Unfortunately, it took me a long time to realize it.
 

honeybee

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Interesting. What kinda salt are you using InterrogaOmnai? When you supplement away from food-do you just chase it plain with water or use pills?
 
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honeybee said:
Interesting. What kinda salt are you using InterrogaOmnai? When you supplement away from food-do you just chase it plain with water or use pills?

I use canning salt most of the time and I just chase it with enough water to prevent a burning sensation.
 

Mittir

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Salt and digestion

Hypothyroid people are known to have low digestive acid.
I remember reading a study that showed Low Salt ( sodium chloride)
reduces hydrochloric acid production in healthy subjects ( Do no remember
if it was a human or rat study). Sodium in salt also lowers edema and
increases temperature. I personally cant eat too much salt, it upsets my
stomach. I eat as much salt as i can and get extra calcium and potassium
to compensate for lack of salt.
 
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iLoveSugar

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I have tried charcoal, and like the carrot, bamboo shoots, etc, it was wonderful when I first used it, then never had the same effect. Everything works good the first try; then never again.

I am definitely not eating a ton, mostly because I am always so dizzy, and eating/drinking intesifies it. I get bloated, stiff neck, fatigued, and the feeling is horrendous. I tried a week of 2500+ calories, and it was unbarable. I eat no starch.

I have tried upping salt also, and taking pinches of it.
 
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iLoveSugar

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No matter what I eat or drink, it just bloats me and feels like it puts a complete stop to anything in my stomach. Even gas can't pass! FML!
 

Blossom

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It seems you are caught in a vicious cycle and desperately need to eat. You must eat enough to heal yet you cannot heal enough to eat! I think finding a way to eat-whatever it takes must be your first priority. I do not know you but from your posts it seems you have been ill for quite some time. I believe that our bodies can't heal without adequate nutrition including calories. One week of higher calories is not a long enough trial. The longer you eat the higher calories the easier it gets in my experience. Please consider researching refeeding. It doesn't matter really when you get right down to the nitty gritty how one becomes malnourished the solution is always food. You can use all the supplements etc. but if you are in a calorie deficit there's only so much those things can do.... I'm not sure how desperate your situation actually is but it sound prety desperate and somehow you must find a way to start getting nutrition in your system. Forum member tara once wrote " use it or lose it" and I know from experience this is very true. Our digestive system can't work if we do not give it the opportunity to work consistently. Sorry if I'm overreacting but I'm quite concerned about your health!
 

Jennifer

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iLoveSugar, I wonder if your pH is too high? I get the same symptoms as you when my urine pH measures too alkaline.

You could try a trick I learned while doing RBTI to lower your pH and possibly get things moving.

Take 6 tablespoons of honey and 6 tablespoons of an apple cider vinegar that's standardized to 5% acidity (like Heinz) and add them to about 9oz of water. I used distilled water which has a pH of around 5.8, but you could probably get away with regular water which has a pH around neutral (7). With honey's pH averaging out usually around 4 and the ACV's pH of 5, it should still make a drink more on the acidic side of the pH scale. Divide it up into 3 servings to take 3X a day, right before your meals. I did this everyday for a week and went from an overly alkaline urine pH of 8.2 to a slightly acidic pH of 6.8. And with that, my digestion sped up and the indigestion subsided.

The only other thing I can think of...you get plenty of magnesium in your diet, right? Since magnesium gets things moving and people who are hypothyroid tend to not retain magnesium efficiently and also suffer from constipation, could you possibly benefit from some extra magnesium?

I hope you find relief soon!
 
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iLoveSugar

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@blossom: I definitely am stuck in a vicious cycle! It's just so hard when I am soooo dizzy, and can't move my bowels. Nothing warms me up either! I love milk, and have tried numerous milks, and different ways of preparing it (warming, with sugar, etc), but it always seems to elevate my dizziness. It also gives me heartburn. Starch also does me in for good!

@jennifer: I wouldn't say I get plenty of magnesium, because I probably lack a bunch of things right now. I drink 1-2 cups of coffee per day, no chocolate cause of headaches, little milk of late due to symptoms, and probably 4-6 cups of OJ. I have started recenetly supplementing with Mag Bicarbonate, to try and help me move my bowels.
 

Jennifer

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You've obviously tried lots of things like I had, iLoveSugar. I too was always dizzy, bloated, had a burning stomach, heartburn and many other symptoms and in my case, it just came down to an inflamed leaky gut, which caused me to have reactions to pretty much every food. At that point, I was just shooting at a moving target trying to figure out what food was causing what. The brain fog and dizziness were the most disturbing to me. Maybe your best bet is to start from scratch and try Ray's allergen-free diet?

Here's a quote by visionofstrength from the Getting Ripped thread:

"For Peat, the "starter" allergen-free diet is pretty basic:
potato protein soup (starch removed) with salt to taste (from 8 pounds of potatoes per day) See this thread for how to make it.
refined sugar (8-16 tablespoons)
refined coconut oil (1-2 tablespoons)
activated charcoal (1/4 to 1/2 tablespoon)
CO2 (as much as you can)
redlight (as much as you can)
thyroid extract (1 grain twice a day, increasing to 1 grain four times a day)
pregnenolone and progesterone powder and vitamin E stirred with warmed coconut oil

It may take several days, but once your digestive stress is resolved, then to this you may want to start to add small amounts of:
nonfat milk, preferably raw or from the farm, mixed in with the potato juice, and then over time replacing the potato protein soup
liver in the morning
no pulp orange juice in the evening, preferably from fresh-squeezed ripe oranges
MCT oil mixed with the coconut oil (up to a 50/50 combo)
cascara
aspirin/caffeine/gelatin combo

The key is to add these things slowly and gradually giving your gut the time it needs to learn to digest."
 
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iLoveSugar

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Did it really help you? I have tried going down to just milk for a few days, and just milk + OJ as Ray recommended and have felt nothing. My stiff neck, dizziness, fatigue, and brain fog are my worse also. At times, I get such severe stomach cramps as well.
 

Jennifer

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I cut out everything except milk, cottage cheese, cane sugar and coconut oil. Had this not worked, I would of gone the potato protein soup route. I'm still having some issues with juice so to get magnesium and other minerals, I'm making some cold-brewed coffee concentrate tonight from an organic "water processed" decaf to add to my milk. Hopefully I handle it well.

Yeah, there's a good chance that your gut is damaged/leaky to the point that your not able to digest the milk or other foods and this is possibly contributing to a bacterial overgrowth. That would be my guess seeing as when I took the antibiotic Neomycin, the brain fog and dizziness I had lifted almost immediately. Unfortunately, I hadn't healed my gut so after finishing 3 rounds of it, all the old symptoms came back.

I say, give the protein potato soup diet a try for a few days and see if you notice any lessening of your symptoms. If you do, you'll know you're on the right track. Once you're feeling really good, no stomach pain, no dizziness ect. you can start adding in milk and other foods slowly.

I sympathize with what you're going through, iLoveSugar. I've been trying for years now to heal my gut and I'm finally making progress so I know you can too! Good luck! :)
 

Blossom

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I don't think it is unreasonable to expect it to take several months or possibly longer to start to heal from all you have been through. The important think is to keep eating. My digestion and other symptoms are virtually gone but extreme stress does cause them to flare up briefly. Since I was basically starving to one degree or another for 30 years I'm pleased with where I am today. Often there will be symptoms of bloating, GI discomfort etc. as we adjust to eating more but it is a good sign that things are starting to work again instead of shutting down. We often like to think of healing as easy and quick but sometimes it is uncomfortable and slower than we would like. Hang in there ilovesugar and keep trying!
 
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iLoveSugar

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Could red meat be causing issues (harder to digest for a weak system)?
 

charlie

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Yes.

Try 3 ounces or less at a time.
 
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iLoveSugar

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Charlie said:
Yes.

Try 3 ounces or less at a time.

I usually only eat 3 ounces or less. I am just wondering if this could be a chronic issue, and due to low HCL, that digestion keeps getting worse and worse.
 

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