Daily Life and Compromising

Hey, Ennis!  

I'm sorry to hear you're still having problems with so many things.  I wanted to encourage you. Talking with the Mighty is a good way to go.  He listens. 

Have you thought about a mail order business?  Those hot dog buns sound delicious, as do so many of your chocolatey hemp desserts and other creations!  I, for one, would love to sample your wares!  I don't know what would be involved with a mail order gluten free bakery, but I know your creations would be better than the sawdust-tasting mass produced gluten free junk I've tried and well worth the shipping cost.

I've been worried about your vomiting and bezoars.  I've been doing research and didn't seem to get anywhere until recently.  Remember I'm not a doctor.  So here's some articles I found....

Open Original Shared Link

This article says that in people with gastroparesis, high levels of Vitamin D (above 50, better at 100 ng/mls) help stomach emptying.  

Gastroparesis is where foods just sit in the stomach and don't empty out properly.  Instead the food just sits there and forms bezoars and causes vomiting.  

You know I'm a big fan of Vitamin D and having one's level above the usual 30 ng/ml doctors accept.  But not content with Vitamin D as a cure all, I kept researching and I kept coming across articles that connected Thiamine (B1) to pancreas health and that diabetics had a greater need for thiamine for digestive enzymes,  insulin and glycagon production.  

"But Ennis takes his vitamins," I told myself.

And then I found this article

Open Original Shared Link

I was very pleased with this article because it covers so much information I had unearthed in those NIH studies in one place. 

It says that thiamine can be affected by other vitamins when they're taken together. (See the section "Step Three - Supplementation").  B2 riboflavin can affect thiamin hydrochloride so it doesn't work.  Plant Lectins which are in nuts and seeds can affect thiamine absorption.  And Tannins which are in coffee, chocolate (oh, those cocoa nibs) and nuts, can deplete thiamine.  (See the section "Step One - Food - Avoid Antinutrients").  Even medications such as proton pump inhibitors, antidepressants and antibiotics (oh, that tooth) can affect thiamine.  (See the section "Step Two - Lifestyle - Mind Your Medications").  

Knowing you take a multivitamin, that seeds, nuts and chocolate are a big part of your diet, and have taken PPI's,  I'm wondering if you're having a problem with thiamine absorption.  

I recently found these articles on niacin and folate deficiency affecting the pancreas, too.  

Open Original Shared Link

Open Original Shared Link

Maybe you might consider changing your multivitamin and taking thiamine separately.  

I'm type II diabetic and I can tell the difference by my blood sugar readings when I don't take enough thiamine. I thought I might be overdoing thiamine last week and my blood sugar went through the roof, so I'm back to supplementing. Oh, and Bilberry will help lower your glucose levels if you take a big dose before carby meals.  I take two capsules before eating rice or starches like peas or sweet potatoes.  

I do worry about you and wish the best for you.  Keep talking to the Mighty.  

Do message me if you can send me some of those hot dog buns and something chocolatey!   And, as always, I hope this helps.

Knitty Kitty

1 hour ago, knitty kitty said:

Hey, Ennis!  

I'm sorry to hear you're still having problems with so many things.  I wanted to encourage you. Talking with the Mighty is a good way to go.  He listens. 

Have you thought about a mail order business?  Those hot dog buns sound delicious, as do so many of your chocolatey hemp desserts and other creations!  I, for one, would love to sample your wares!  I don't know what would be involved with a mail order gluten free bakery, but I know your creations would be better than the sawdust-tasting mass produced gluten free junk I've tried and well worth the shipping cost.

I've been worried about your vomiting and bezoars.  I've been doing research and didn't seem to get anywhere until recently.  Remember I'm not a doctor.  So here's some articles I found....

Open Original Shared Link

This article says that in people with gastroparesis, high levels of Vitamin D (above 50, better at 100 ng/mls) help stomach emptying.  

Gastroparesis is where foods just sit in the stomach and don't empty out properly.  Instead the food just sits there and forms bezoars and causes vomiting.  

You know I'm a big fan of Vitamin D and having one's level above the usual 30 ng/ml doctors accept.  But not content with Vitamin D as a cure all, I kept researching and I kept coming across articles that connected Thiamine (B1) to pancreas health and that diabetics had a greater need for thiamine for digestive enzymes,  insulin and glycagon production.  

"But Ennis takes his vitamins," I told myself.

And then I found this article

Open Original Shared Link

I was very pleased with this article because it covers so much information I had unearthed in those NIH studies in one place. 

It says that thiamine can be affected by other vitamins when they're taken together. (See the section "Step Three - Supplementation").  B2 riboflavin can affect thiamin hydrochloride so it doesn't work.  Plant Lectins which are in nuts and seeds can affect thiamine absorption.  And Tannins which are in coffee, chocolate (oh, those cocoa nibs) and nuts, can deplete thiamine.  (See the section "Step One - Food - Avoid Antinutrients").  Even medications such as proton pump inhibitors, antidepressants and antibiotics (oh, that tooth) can affect thiamine.  (See the section "Step Two - Lifestyle - Mind Your Medications").  

Knowing you take a multivitamin, that seeds, nuts and chocolate are a big part of your diet, and have taken PPI's,  I'm wondering if you're having a problem with thiamine absorption.  

I recently found these articles on niacin and folate deficiency affecting the pancreas, too.  

Open Original Shared Link

Open Original Shared Link

Maybe you might consider changing your multivitamin and taking thiamine separately.  

I'm type II diabetic and I can tell the difference by my blood sugar readings when I don't take enough thiamine. I thought I might be overdoing thiamine last week and my blood sugar went through the roof, so I'm back to supplementing. Oh, and Bilberry will help lower your glucose levels if you take a big dose before carby meals.  I take two capsules before eating rice or starches like peas or sweet potatoes.  

I do worry about you and wish the best for you.  Keep talking to the Mighty.  

Do message me if you can send me some of those hot dog buns and something chocolatey!   And, as always, I hope this helps.

Knitty Kitty

Might consider extra thiamine taken at night when I am normally fasting to reset my gut.

Nuts/seeds are my #1 calorie intake, my primary source of fats, and fiber. I get extra protein from egg whites and 2-4 scoops of pea protein (high in iron and easier to digest than meat)

I am on 3000-4000iu of  Vitamin D once daily right now, should I consider upping it or spreading it out?

The shipping, I can legally ship nut butter, but until I get a commercial kitchen or commissary I cannot ship baked goods under the Texas Cottage Home Law (last I checked) My kitchen while mostly commercial, is missing 2 features 1. It is not blocked off from my living environment (I live in the same building and the kitchen is open) 2. they require a special sink drain set up >.> but nothing stops me from shipping baked goods to friends and family, I just can't openly sell them and ship. Do note the buns are more like big round hamburger buns that are big enough to wrap a hotdog like a taco.

I find it amusing you mention glycagon, most doctors try not to touch on that one. It is an antagonist hormone to insulin and tells the body to burn fatty acids for fuel. It is produced when glucose is low. Now it tells the liver to convert glycogen into glucose. This would be a great thing to combo inject with insulin for T2s to lose weight and enable a keto diet to help reverse the insulin resistance. Insulin is still needed as it helps the glucose produced by the liver from fat get from the blood into the bodies cells. Messed up part about our health care system is they never consider the actual treatment and curing of it but progressing it and permanent reliability on expensive injected insulin and a carb based diet. Of course, this should be done with constant monitoring under a doctors supervision but most would not even consider it. 

PPIs, I am down to ranitidine twice daily and Nexium every other day   Getting off of that brings back something from over a decade ago. Might be one of my issues but it never healed, I almost OD'ed on Caffeine as a kid, (16-year-old overnight party I drank 8 monsters in 6 hours and some red bulls 1200-1500mg caffeine) Ever since then...I got this weird stomach issue where it NEVER stops filling up with acid, I would sleep with a trashcan and have to cough up acid throughout the day. Doc back then put me on 2x Nexium and 2x ranitidine day to stop it as it had caused bunches of scarring in my throat. I tried getting off the Nexium several times in the past and that old issue of randomly burping up burning puke returns. 
Now to a note on this could be NOT an acid production issue but that OD could have damaged the valve to dump? SO what is actually happening is the pipes back up? I will try again when we fix the dumping issue one day.

As to my pancreas, the going assumption is ataxia damage. No doctord could figure out why it was not working right, til a chiropractor was doing nerve testing with this odd device measuring nerve signals in my spine. My T7 showed to be 15% of normal values. So it is either nerve or brain damage as the signals are just not getting to the pancreas....this would also effect stomach dumping.
 

Ennis, 

I would recommend taking a low dose of thiamine (or benfotiamine - see below).  I take 100 mg of thiamine with my meals.  Taking thiamine at night can lead to insomnia.  And I would recommend taking the vitamin D in divided doses with meals as well.  

Big round hamburger buns sound great.  I don't do hot dogs because of the microbial transglutaminase (food manufacturers call it meat glue)  added to it which has the same inflammatory effect as tissue transglutaminase (measured in Celiac tests).  

Hmmm, kitchen renovations....dry wall  and a door to block off kitchen and a special sink drain set up.... I'm curious if that's doable.  

Yes, I'm disillusioned with the medical profession.  My yucky doctors just kept writing prescriptions and did not bother to figure out WHY my health problems were snowballing.  

Scarring in your esophagus? Sounds yucky.  Wonder if the scarring could have affected your sphincter muscles going into and out of the stomach.  I hope not! 

Nerve damage or ataxia? Yikes! A form of thiamine called benfotiamene helps with nerve conductivity.   

Quickly found a study on it.  I'll see what else I can find.

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And found this article, although it's selling something, it has some helpful information.

Open Original Shared Link

I think I'll try benfotiamine myself.  My life as a guinea pig. Heavy sigh.  Oh, well.  Let's keep pushing forward.  "Sempre avanti" (always forward) is my motto.  

I'd still like to try those buns.  I've been craving Sloppy Joe's sandwiches and they're just not the same without a bun. Lol. 

Keep your chin up!

Knitty Kitty

Ennis_Tx,

You didn't say the size of your Nexium . ..you need to take another step down the PPI staircase.

From 40mg to 20mg etc. with a good two to threes weeks between steps or even a month betwen. . .the journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step.

The fact that you have been able to take one step down....tells you you can make another . ...just don't step down too quickly.

If you want to study about how vitamins can effect brain health this research is a good overview.

Open Original Shared Link

Your blood sugar is probably spiking due to your long term use of PPI's.

See this livestrong article about it.

Open Original Shared Link

Yes I know you are taking Nexium but I am assuming a class effect to PPIs and didnt' have time to find one specifically about Nexium specifically just PPI's in general.

If you can't step off of PP's (Nexium) to once every 2 days now you can now step down in dose as the next step....or a quick swap to 2x Rantine 2x daily instead etc.

The quora article covers it well.  Of how PPIs and H2 blockers are prescribed together. ...stepping off PPIs to H2 blockers in about 6 months will let your stomach acid ease back to normal levels.

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stopping cold turkey is like the frog in boiling water . ..he jumps back out but if you slowly back off . . .you can get off them eventually. ..slowing and deliberately walking down the stairs to freedom from PPIs'.

see the HHMI research that explains what is really happening when block stomach acid long(er) term.

Open Original Shared Link

I hope this is helpful but it is not medical advice and keep us updated on how the steps are going.

Posterboy,

2 hours ago, Posterboy said:

Ennis_Tx,

You didn't say the size of your Nexium . ..you need to take another step down the PPI staircase.

From 40mg to 20mg etc. with a good two to threes weeks between steps or even a month betwen. . .the journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step.

The fact that you have been able to take one step down....tells you you can make another . ...just don't step down too quickly.

If you want to study about how vitamins can effect brain health this research is a good overview.

Open Original Shared Link

Your blood sugar is probably spiking due to your long term use of PPI's.

See this livestrong article about it.

Open Original Shared Link

Yes I know you are taking Nexium but I am assuming a class effect to PPIs and didnt' have time to find one specifically about Nexium specifically just PPI's in general.

If you can't step off of PP's (Nexium) to once every 2 days now you can now step down in dose as the next step....or a quick swap to 2x Rantine 2x daily instead etc.

The quora article covers it well.  Of how PPIs and H2 blockers are prescribed together. ...stepping off PPIs to H2 blockers in about 6 months will let your stomach acid ease back to normal levels.

Open Original Shared Link

stopping cold turkey is like the frog in boiling water . ..he jumps back out but if you slowly back off . . .you can get off them eventually. ..slowing and deliberately walking down the stairs to freedom from PPIs'.

see the HHMI research that explains what is really happening when block stomach acid long(er) term.

Open Original Shared Link

I hope this is helpful but it is not medical advice and keep us updated on how the steps are going.

Posterboy,

Down to 1x 20mg a day or once every other day and 1x 150 ranitidine twice a day. Big step down over hte last year with the Nexium I was on 2x 40mg a day.