THE BEST Of TIMES, THE WORST Of TIMES

[j.]

50% of hypothyroid people have SIBO. I think that study can be easily found.

 

[thebigpeatowski]

I am just pissed off because I was in her effin office THREE YEARS AGO (and many many times since then) saying the EXACT same thing....going over my symptoms. I told her I thought I had some sort of bacterial dysbiosis. I was completely and utterly deficient in B-12, so much so that she insisted in B-12 shots. At the time, she had never heard of SIBO, therefore I must be wrong. I thought perhaps it was caused by all of the antibiotics from my ruptured appendix, who knows?.... But now that it has escalated to the point of chronic diarrhea instead of alternating constipation and diarrhea, now suddenly I am diagnosed with IBS and SIBO.....wtf?

 

[Blossom]

Sorry about your doctor experience BP.

 

[thebigpeatowski]

Thank you Blossom... I just wish I had a direct answer for the cause of my diarrhea. Is it bacteria? Is it histamine? Is it who knows what? If it is bacterial, they say to eat a low carb diet. If it is histamine, then it's a low histamine diet. It appears that I will be eating next to nothing in order to figure it out.

 

[Blossom]

Do you think there is a serotonin connection? I'm excited to hear about the DO experiment. It was always my unexpert impression that serotonin was a major culprit in diarrhea. Your serotonin could have been way worse though and I'm sure you've done lots of research on the topic. I don't want to see you feel like you have to go low carb again! That would just bring so many other problems. I will definitely keep you posted if I read anything from Peat that might be helpful.

 

[thebigpeatowski]

Oh yes, I do definitely think serotonin is an issue here. Histamine and estrogen and serotonin seem to be neighborhood bullies and they gang up on me all at once. I am just not sure which one trips the the whole cascade of events. Sometimes it is obvious to me that it is estrogen, other times I think histamine triggers it. But I don't really think my diarrhea is caused by a serotonin secreting tumor, I don't think my level is high enough to suggest that, neither is my prolactin....I just don't know. No one else answered my question on levels of serotonin tho, so I am going by what Dr. Peat has stated in that one interview that Mittir posted. Thanks Blossom!

 

[Blossom]

You're welcome. I'm glad you don't have a serotonin secreting tumor. I think high serotonin can contribute to diarrhea even when there is no tumor. Sounds like your on the right track. Sometimes I can feel my prolactin getting elevated and I can't pinpoint exactly why so I get where you're coming from. I just keep focusing on keeping things closer to where they ideally should be and hope in time the prior damage will be totally resolved. I'm sure my pituitary was running the show for a good decade so I'm going to have to be patient. The more time that passes I feel I'm able to figure myself out and at least hone the process a bit. Some of it I may never fully understand but that's okay I'm sure I understand myself better than any doctor. Keep hanging in there BP!

 

[Mittir]

You clearly had better digestion before starting all these new foods.
People with digestion issues usually have certain safe foods.
You can try those foods even if those does not fit your current diet.
Boiled plantains are known to help with diarrhea. Ripe banana
can help too.Cheese and casein are also known to cause constipation,
which is better than diarrhea. Since you do not know for sure if estrogen is the main cause for
this current problem, it is more likely that some new foods are
causing this problem.Things were better few weeks ago.
It takes a lot of patience and observation to figure out these things.
I think avoiding raw milk for few days is a good way to figure out
if your daily intake of raw milk is safe. You can also boil the milk
to see if it improves anything. Another option is to completely avoid milk.

 

[thebigpeatowski]

Thank you Mittir. Yes, things have gotten progressively worse. I believe it all started when I added a bunch of low fat commercial dairy in order to reduce my fat consumption to lose weight. I was going to quit all dairy, that lasted all of two days and I was back to drinking my raw milk. I definitely need to quit ALL dairy for a good long time and let my guts settle down. I went for six days with NO diarrhea and had only used Cyproheptadine twice in that week when I felt rumblings. Antihistamines definitely stop the diarrhea, that is until I overwhelm my system again when I am required to take more.

Unfortunately cheese does not constipate me like it used to six months ago.

Grape juice is no good.

Nancy's Organic Low Fat 1% Cottage Cheese is no good.

Fage 0% Greek Yogurt is no good.

Organic 1% milk and Organic Coffee Beans from Costco...these are all new foods for me, foods that I had never eaten before. I am tossing all of them out.

 

[thebigpeatowski]

I do drink Pellegrino and enjoy that very much.

Costco Organic Honey is no good. Might try to go back to my local raw honey when things settle down.

I recently bought some non GMO 100% pure fructose, but have yet to try it alone, without other foods known to cause problems.

I still drink the occasional Mexican coke which does not seem to bother me, but there is zero nutrition it it.

Sun Maid Organic raisins are no good and I am thinking the medjool dates are no good as well....very bummed out by all of this.

Organic strawberries seem fine, but I have only tried them once.

 

[Mittir]

You can go back to foods you used to eat. Just make sure to add extra
calcium with meat and fish to balance out the excess phosphorus.
You can easily skim off the fat from the raw milk you were drinking.
It is very hard to find good quality food. I try to prepare most of my foods.
In future you may want to experiment with making your own
strained yogurt or farmer's cheese from raw milk. I am assuming
that raw milk is pure and additive free. I think butter and high fat milk
is fattening. Calcium in milk is the main reason for weight loss.
Do you have problem with coconut oil?

 

[thebigpeatowski]

Yes, the raw milk is local from my neighbor. I have known him for over twenty years. Organic, all grass fed, no additives, guaranteed A-2. He has like 18 Guernsey cows and had all of them tested. I have been drinking his milk for at least four years, can't remember exactly when I started. It is the best tasting milk I have ever had, but it is very expensive and I cannot bear to skim it and throw out the cream. I made kefir with his milk when I was low-carbing. I guess I need to find a good calcium supplement. I will go back to his milk when I know my intestines are good and ready.


I have been using coconut oil for at least six years and never had a problem with it before.

 

[SQu]

I'm reading and I'm thinking, but I haven't been commenting as I can't seem to think of anything helpful. But I agree with Mittir on finding foods that work for you, or going back to them, seeing as all this is stressful, and the number one goal is to reduce stress hormones, however individual your approach needs to be. I think the recommended foods are what work for many, but not all, and not at every stage. And there would be at least some truth in that for every permutation, every substance and every food. Starch for example works for some, but it raises cortisol, and that makes you feel good for a bit, and that can be a trap. But for some it really does work, all that aside. Not that I'm suggesting starch by the way! Not in the slightest. Just an example, and I recently re-experienced that cortisol trap myself.

I think it's true that we compensate and find a way with our food, in ways that keep us going, especially when medicine has nothing to offer. Sometimes there's a high long term price for doing that. A friend is in ICU with a triple bypass because in 20 years of rheumatoid arthritis, medicated with cigarettes, coffee and cortisone, he's done damage to his arteries. But that combination did get him through the previous 20 years of terrible pain. 20 years of compensating is too long, probably, but another way would have been to self medicate as he did, but use the relief time it bought him to find a more sustainable solution.

I'm trying not to be waffly, vague, and timewasting, but walking a thin line here best of luck!!

 

[Mittir]

It is the best tasting milk I have ever had, but it is very expensive and I cannot bear to skim it and throw out the cream.

I was thinking if you decided to skim off the fat instead of trying new brands
of milk products, you could avoid a month long suffering. I feel little bad when
i throw away fat . My justification is that it is not good for me.
For a while, i saved that fat to use in cooking. Then i found out that
coconut oil is more warming than milk fat. You can make clarified butter
from removed fat. Clarified butter has a very long shelf life, several years.
You can use more coconut oil as energy source if carbohydrate is problematic for
you. Some coconut oil in each meal helps to increase metabolism and weight loss.

 

[thebigpeatowski]

Thank you so much Mittir....I am going to use coconut oil exclusively and cut out all dairy (including butter) to see if my intestines will settle on their own without the reliance on Cyproheptadine. The Cypro works very well, but I need to find the offending foods as I cannot live on antihistamines for the rest of my life. I am also going to buy fresh whole oranges and squeeze them myself. I like the organic OJ that I have been drinking for nearly six months, but at this point everything is suspect.

@sue....thank you for your kind words of wisdom. I am just going to go back to basics, very simple plain foods and build from there. I am hoping this is just a season and won't last forever.

 

[BingDing]

Not sure if potatoes have been mentioned but Jenn lived on almost nothing else for a long time, until she healed enough to eat more. They might be a safe haven for a while.

 

[j.]

If you have trouble with potato, you can try cooked potato juice.

 

[thebigpeatowski]

I have tried to eat new potatoes on two separate occasions, well boiled and re-fried in coconut oil. They are super delicious and make me nice and warm, but then I always experience horrific painful, smelly gas and then my skin breaks out terribly, so potatoes are out for now. I am too lazy to juice and strain the potatoes at this point...perhaps in a few weeks...or when I am truly desperate. I think I would need to buy a new juicer, I have a masticating juicer that I bought from Dr. Mercola many many years ago, but it probably isn't the right kind of juicer.


I know I must sound like I have been complaining endlessly. Initially I was disappointed that things weren't humming right along for me and for a brief moment I became angry with my body for not "responding properly".

This not the attitude I wish to view myself with. I am now choosing to view this setback as an opportunity. I have had many many setbacks in life, a few have been far worse than this and, when viewed from that perspective, this one is relatively minor.

It will be a tremendously valuable learning experience. I am actively choosing to enjoy the few foods that I can eat and will not feel sorry for myself for not being able to eat the endless array of foods that other people eat.

For whatever reason, this happens to be the way that I learn. Each time I have an adverse event in my life I must actively make a choice on how I will respond: Will I be a victim, powerless and defeated? Or will I use the opportunity to take a new path...a path I had not planned on... a path I had not prepared for. That appears to be my life story.

I have never drank my coffee black, ever, in my entire life. Today I discovered that black coffee is not so bad if you put enough sugar in it. :)

 

[thebigpeatowski]

NOTE TO SELF, SO I DON'T FORGET: The simple availability of oxygen, and the ability to use it, are regulated by carbon dioxide and serotonin, which act in opposite directions. Carbon dioxide inhibits the release of serotonin. Carbon dioxide and serotonin are regulated most importantly by thyroid function. Hypothyroidism is characterized by increased levels of both noradrenalin and serotonin, and of other stress-related hormones, including cortisol and estrogen. Estrogen shifts the balance of the “neurotransmitters” in the same direction, toward increased serotonin and adrenalin, for example by inhibiting enzymes that degrade the monoamine “neurotransmitters.”---RP

My CO2 is LOW at 18+my estrogen is high+I am hypothyroid=too much serotonin=diarrhea

 

[charlie]

Yeh thats a pretty low CO2. Have you been bag breathing? Eating fruit raises CO2 but I know you are having food problems right now.