Omg...i Might Be On To Something

[AndreaB]

Carla,

That's great about you feeling better! The sauna's helping your skin, sounds real nice. Still can't wait to see what the LLMD has to say. You've been doing so much to treat yourself, I'll be curious to see if he adds anything.

Peace,

I was the one who mentioned menopause as a way outside chance. I've read of some people starting when they were in their late 20's. I know for my height of 5'5" the weight range is something like 125-140 so I'm guessing you would need to be within 10-20 pounds of your lower weight range for your height. If your hormones are out of whack I would think that would contribute. Have you had your hormone levels checked? I forgot what you said you weigh. Was it 105? I also don't remember if you eat soy but that can wreck havoc on your cycle as well.

Donna,

It's 11:45, I'm thinking you're done with your appointment now. Can't wait until you post later today.

Laura,

Still waiting.....

Rachel,

Are we gonna talk this weekend?

[AndreaB]

Heck I dont even know if I believe him about the results of my biopsy. He said they were "textbook pefrect". Everything about my scope showed everything was normal. All I remember was thinking "Shouldnt my intestines be nice and pink....why is there white stuff all over?" But of course...I was all drugged and couldnt communicate and I cant know for sure that I know what I saw.

Mitch's pictures from his colonoscopy showed everything to be "nice and pink", except the fissure. We didn't get to keep the picture, but I did look at them.

[Eliza13]

Thanks to EVERYONE who responded to my question Haha I know someone mentioned menopause...but I'm only 17. If that is indeed what is really happening, then I've REALLY got some problems! But I think Carla, and everyone else who talked about weight loss is right. I looked up some height and weight charts (which left me confused because they all had conflicting information) and I am still underweight for my height (105 pounds, 5'7) so hopefully as a little more weight comes my period will too. Anyone wanna guess what weight I have to get to, to get it back?

You guys are like my gluten-free, health moms

And Rachel- I say go for it on the oats! My only advice is to have her keep checking them though everytime you go. My bioSET lady says that you can become sensitive to the foods that you eat too often, especially if they exist in a category that contains other foods that you are sensitive to. So when we have a little extra time on some days or if I have a little extra room considering what my body can handle, my BioSET lady checks the common foods that I eat everyday.

Not sure what is causing your amennorhea, but I can tell you what happened to me. Others may already know this about me....sorry to be repetitive. I had amennorhea ever since having my first period, and am now 31. I was averaging maybe one per year and was given a wishy washy diagnosis of PCOS (tests came back neg.). Anyhow....I went gluten-free at age 30 and a few weeks after being gluten free I got my period....and it keeps coming back. I can't tell you how amazed I still am about this. After years of being poked and prodded to discover the cause of the amennorhea, and pretty much had given up (doctors included), I was shocked when my periods started coming (not perfect, but fairly close). I've had more periods over the last year and a half than I probably had my entire life.

I guess the point here is that celiac can lead to some very dangerous/serious conditions, and is not "just" a gut problem as is sometimes blown off by people. It led me to cease menstruating, so imagine what else it can do. My brother has schizophrenia and my mother had fibroids: I am pretty sure they have celiac, but they don't take me seriously when I tell them to get tested. Not much I can do, but it is sometimes frustrating to see their health deteriorate (they have other health problems).

Hope this helps!

[AndreaB]

Thanks for sharing Eliza.

We hope to see you again.

[CarlaB]

Eliza, I'm happy for you. Celiac can cause so many different problems.

Peace, when my oldest daughter was in High School, anytime she was doing sports her periods would end, then when the season was over, they'd come back. Some of your amenorrhea is probably also due to your age ... she had started when she was about 14, but this happened till she graduated. So, at 18 her cycle was still very sensitive to what she weighed and how much body fat she had. And she was heavier than you ... probably by about 20 pounds. So, as you get older, and as you put weight on, they will normalize again. Just concentrate on being healthy.

[dlp252]

Yay, that Evie got out!! Woohoo!!!

I

[AndreaB]

Wow Donna! Glad you don't have lyme.

Can the doctors you're seeing now work on your toxicity? What about candida? Doesn't sound like that is a problem.

I hear you about buying all the wrong foods. I don't know how much I've thrown out over the last year. The mercury is interesting (both of them). The amalgam removal should take care of more mercury leeching into your body from those. Can't really control environmental. I assume that would also mean no fish for you....at least until you're not mercury toxic.

This bioset stuff is so interesting. Makes me want to get it done. Totally out of money right now. Still gotta figure out going to a toxic free dentist for my next set of crowns. That would leave me with 2 amalgams left after that. Wonder if there is a good bioset practitioner up here. My doctor believes merucy is causing my intolerances.....could that be part of the case with you as well.....aside from gluten and dairy?

[dlp252]

Wow Donna! Glad you don't have lyme.

Can the doctors you're seeing now work on your toxicity? What about candida? Doesn't sound like that is a problem.

I hear you about buying all the wrong foods. I don't know how much I've thrown out over the last year. The mercury is interesting (both of them). The amalgam removal should take care of more mercury leeching into your body from those. Can't really control environmental. I assume that would also mean no fish for you....at least until you're not mercury toxic.

This bioset stuff is so interesting. Makes me want to get it done. Totally out of money right now. Still gotta figure out going to a toxic free dentist for my next set of crowns. That would leave me with 2 amalgams left after that. Wonder if there is a good bioset practitioner up here. My doctor believes merucy is causing my intolerances.....could that be part of the case with you as well.....aside from gluten and dairy?

I think Anna will work on clearing the pathways for the detox. Dr. Adams may be able to help with the mercury detox, but if not I'll see the doctors that Rachel is seeing now, they seem knowledgable about mercury, and I already know they accept Anna's testing methods, lol. Candida is an issue...not sure what I'll do about that. Anna probably has some stuff she can have me try. She wants me to take double the probiotics that the HN doctors told me to use. Yep, no fish for me, lol. It was a costly appointment that's for sure...the initial appointment is quite a bit, but they also did a regular treatment and I brought home two supplements. My dentist sure thinks that mercury can cause intolerances, so I"m sure it is a huge part.

[dlp252]

I have to say that I'm glad I don't have Lyme, but I am very sad I am not LymeClan, lol. Can I be an honorary member since I DO have LOTS of bacteria, lol...it's just not the lyme bacteria.

[AndreaB]

I have to say that I'm glad I don't have Lyme, but I am very sad I am not LymeClan, lol. Can I be an honorary member since I DO have LOTS of bacteria, lol...it's just not the lyme bacteria.

Um, I'm not part of the lyme clan either. We can be honorary members or supporters.

Isn't Dr Barrett the one who does quackwatch. I did a search of bioset in Washington and something came up about that that wasn't good. If it's the same person, that would make sense.

My doctor had talked about some machine (?) that could "see" cancer hot spots before they became apparent otherwise. It also shows where it originated from. Seems like a lot of women who showed breast cancer had a link up to their teeth (amalgams). I wouldn't mind having something like that done either. I need to find a lot of extra money don't I? I will have to ask him about it.

[CarlaB]

Donna, glad you don't have Lyme!! Apple Cider Vinegar has a long shelf life, so just store it away.

[LL04]

I've been reading these posts with MUCH interest for some time now as I have serious issues that no doctor can seem to find an answer for (although my family doctor IS committed to resolving my health issues). So I'm going to stop lurking now and ask some of you some questions regarding what these conditions all are and what all the testing you have done is. I'm a Canadian so all the testing we have done is covered by our health insurance. The problem is, is that the latest testing methods and labs are not available to us unless a doctor decides that our particular situation warrants it. For example, we don't have an "Enterolab" where we can take it upon ourselves to get tested for something we're sure we have if the doctor's won't send us for the tests.

Anyways, brief history: I started getting ill after I stopped breastfeeding my last child in April of 2004 (I have 4 kids). I generally felt unwell and was getting panic attacks and severe back pain. I walked around like I was watching a movie...nothing seemed real or tangible. I went to my dr.'s several times over the next 6 months with the complaints above as well as alternating constipation, diarrhea, headaches, head pain, severe nausea, joint pain and feeling of being full all the time and told him many times "I just don't feel right". He took many blood tests, sent me for a barium swallow put me on Celexa (anti-depression drug), anti-acid drugs and set up an appointment for me to see a GI specialist. Gradually things became worse until then end of February in 2005. I had not yet been to see the GI and I was having episodes where I was having difficulty breathing, passing out, getting terrible diarrhea and uncontrollable body shaking. I went into the hospital by ambulance the morning of my birthday on March 4 where they suggested I see a GI. My appointment wasn't until May. After that trip things spiralled downhill and I lost 40 lbs in one month. By the end of March I was back in the hospital feeling like I was on my way to the grave. I finally saw the GI when he gave me an emergency CT scan, Gastroscopy and colonoscopy and by the end of the week that I was there he had his diagnosis, celiac disease. He did say something interesting though...he had never seen such bad reactions to gluten with as little damage as my guts showed. He said it was actually very difficult to say that I had celiac disease because the damage had been so hard to detect.

I started the gluten-free diet immediately and after only a few accidents here and there over the next year, I stopped having the passing out episodes but none of the other symptoms have EVER gone away and I still have not been able to regain ANY weight. Again my health began to get worse and my doctor sent me to the best GI specialists in Vancouver and they did more tests and another ultrasound, gastroscopy and CT scan but again, everything came back "better than normal" as they put it and gave me more anti-acid pills. That was December 14th of 2006. By Christmas Eve I hadn't eaten for a week and I was so dehydrated my body just started to shut down. I spent the next 5 days in the hospital getting fluids and trying to regain my strength. I lost another 8 pounds. Some Christmas for the kids huh? I went back to my doctor and I have ANOTHER appt. at the GI's this month but I am getting to the end of my rope here!!! I NEED SOME ANSWERS NOW!!!

Do any of you have ANY suggestions as to where I should start? I am really curious about the candida thing as I suffered with continual yeast infections between my 2nd and 3rd then 3rd and 4th children. I got so sick of going to the doctors that I just stopped going and lived with it. As long as I was pregnant, I didn't have one and as soon as I had the child, they came back. They stopped coming back after the last child but I have what I would consider an overly large amount of discharge between perioids, enough to make me wear a liner. I didn't really worry about it as I've heard that that amount can increase with each consecutive child, but now I wonder if its normal or not. I also have exessive amounts of mucous (it's always dripping down the back of my throat) I am ALWAYS freezing which I have attributed to my 0% body fat!!! I have what I think are panic attacks but now I think it could be another reaction to some other food I shouldn't be eating because they ALWAYS happen after I eat and never any other time.

What do I need to do? What questions should I be asking the GI specialist? What tests should I be asking for? I don't think I have EVER been tested for Lyme disease, candida, other food allergies or ANY of the other things you all have mentioned here in this thread.

PLEASE, I NEED TO RESUME A NORMAL LIFE FOR THE SAKE OF MY FAMILY!!! I NEED YOUR HELP!!!

Sorry to have been so long and graphic but all of you seem much more researched and knowledgeable than most of the doctors I've seen so I thought if you had most of my history it may help you out in helping me out.

ANYTHING ANYONE CAN OFFER would be GREATLY appreciated

[Rachel--24]

A quick drive-by.

I was dying to hear about Donna's appt. and was away from the computer all day.

I have some catching up to do now.

Lauralee,

Welcome....glad you decided to post.

I'll be back later...gotta surrender the computer again.

I read your post and will respond later. Lots of things come to mind but first...after going gluten free did you ever eliminate dairy??? Could the mucus problem be caused by dairy??

I know that for some people dairy causes excess mucus and if you've never tried eliminating it from your diet I would definately try that for a couple weeks at least. It might make a big diference....then you can add it back in and see if the symptoms return. If nothing changes after eliminating dairy then at least you've ruled it out.

Ok...be back later.

[AndreaB]

Welcome Lauralee!

I'm glad you posted. I don't have a lot of info and am not familiar with what is available in Canada.

The mucous down the throat could be from other intolerances. I don't know if you'd have to see an allergist but you could ask for an ELISA IgE/IgG test. That's a blood draw.

Sounds like if you have candida that that could also be causing some intolerance issues. Same thing with lyme. Would you have a reason to suspect lyme?

As far as discharge between cycles, I have always had a lot of discharge, even in high school. I think that varies from person to person.

I'm sorry I can't be of more help but I do hope you'll continue to post and ask questions as we start to try and narrow things down.

[diamondheart]

Donna, interesting first BioSET appointment. Sound like you have a lot to work on, but it's workable!

Lauralee, Welcome!

Today was a busy day, so this may be a little short. Tomorrow is probably going to be busy as well.

Yesterday started out another snowy day in Colorado! I had the 1st appointment with Dr. F. We spent the entire time going over my female hormone panel that I posted about on the previous page. I was disappointed we didn't get to the BioSET stuff. BUT, because I blazed over to his house in my Toyota RAV4, and made it through the foot of unplowed snow in his cul-de-sac, I was able to take another appointment an hour later from the many people who cancelled because of the snow. It was ok, because I sat studying my female hormone panel information, and was able to write down questions I had, then ask them immediately!

I don't really remember all the things that were found my first BioSET appointment. I remember metals being there, and asking Dr. F if he thought it was a problem with my mercury fillings. He said maybe, and that we would find out later. It never showed up after that first appointment, so I guess I got cleared of that pretty fast.

At my appointment yesterday, all foods that I had been previously cleared of were holding, except for wheat. Dr. F was not surprised by that. Right now, I can eat anything but wheat and dairy. I was clear for oats (the regular ones, not just gluten-free), rye, barley, and kamut! He re-checked a lot of foods, and they are all fine . I can hardly believe it. Dr. F said I am a success story :D . I'm still a little skeptical, but gosh, it's nice to hear a doctor say that! I will probably still steer clear of gluten and dairy once this is all over, but it's also nice to know I don't have to worry about getting sick.

He also went over all the other little BioSET vials. The only one that showed up was "Emotions" . I said, "Emotions, what's that?" He said, "I don't know, something that you need to be cleared on that level." And then he added, "What I want to know is how they get those emotions in that little glass vial !" Then, he tested all the Bach Flower Remedies on me, and pulled out two that I needed, Star of Bethlehem and Chicory. I love Bach Flower Remedies, especially Rescue Remedy!

I found out that my gut is still healing, but I knew that already. My digestion had some downs this past week. I asked him if I should be avoiding any of the foods I've been cleared for to help heal my gut, and he said no.

Also, my BioSET treatments sound different than Rachel's, Peace's and Donna's. I get acupuncture, not acupressure. Also, the little glass vials go into a small metal plate that has slots for the different vials that need to be cleared. He also has a "base" set of vials for every treatment that always stay in the tray. This metal plate/tray is then connected by a metal wire to a metal cylinder that is about 4" long that I hold on to during the acupuncture. When he clears me for foods, he puts a vial of the actual food on the metal plate as well. He uses Japanese style acupuncture, then lets me "cook" for about 10 minutes.

Tomorrow is another day of attempting to cross country ski. I'm the world's worst skier, but as another friend of mine, who is equally wimpy, says, all that matters is that you're having fun.

My next appointment is Wednesday, so until then...

Claire

[diamondheart]

For example, we don't have an "Enterolab" where we can take it upon ourselves to get tested for something we're sure we have if the doctor's won't send us for the tests.

You can send your samples to Enterolab even though you are in Canada. I have a Canadian friend who ordered the tests from Enterolab there.

Since your gut was damaged from the gluten, chances are that you are intolerant to other foods besides gluten. This is what happens when you have leaky gut syndrome. Because of the damage from the celiac disease to your intestines, you leak small particles of undigested food into your blood stream. Your body recognizes them as invaders, and starts producing antibodies to them (IgG antibodies are what you want to look for with delayed food allergies), hence you develop food intolerances. If your doctor is open, you can request delayed food allergy testing. Usually, the labs that do these kind of tests will be out of your area, but don't let that stop you from getting them.

Because you are producing excess mucus, I would suspect dairy as a problem. Soy is another common problem in people with celiac disease. Just because they can't see the damage on an endoscopy doesn't mean that other foods aren't causing you problems. A lot of this happens on a microscopic level, and biopsies can miss that.

You can also get tested for candida, and you should probably get tested for bacterial dysbiosis. If you have stomach aches, you might consider getting tested for H. pylori, the bacteria that causes ulcers while you are at it. I've read that if you ever have had a vaginal yeast infection, then you probably have candida in your gut as well. It's a good idea to get all these tests done before you change anything so the tests are accurrate, but it sounds like probiotics would help you, if you aren't already taking them.

The other question would be are you getting gluten from any sources that you have overlooked, or are you getting cross contamination? You might still be inadvertently getting gluten in something that doesn't seem obvious. For example, I discovered that wheat protein was in the hair mousee I was using . I thought, will it never end! Prescription drugs are another hidden source.

I think you will learn a lot from reading the past posts here. It sounds like you may have multiple things going on, so it might take awhile to get it all sorted out. Patience and perserverance helps! Also consider seeing an alternative doctor as it's hard to find mainstream western doctors who can help you with everything. I think it's good to use a combination of both. I think of it as having a "team" of healers. Unfortunately, in this day and age, it takes a village to get treated .

Claire

[Rachel--24]

Also consider seeing an alternative doctor as it's hard to find mainstream western doctors who can help you with everything. I think it's good to use a combination of both. I think of it as having a "team" of healers. Unfortunately, in this day and age, it takes a village to get treated .

Ditto on this statement!

Lauralee,

I wasted 2 1/2 years going to my regular Dr.'s who werent helping at all. All the tests were coming back normal and at some point they decided it was all in my head. It was the most frusterating time of my life and the stress of it all was only worsening my symptoms.

In the first year I started looking up my symptoms on-line and found out about Candida, mercury, leaky gut and Lyme. These are the things I tried to discuss with my Dr.'s but none of it was taken seriously. They dont know *anything* about this stuff. It doesnt exist in their world.

Finally this past year I got better Dr.'s....outside of mainstream and guess what....I have all these problems that I had originally suspected 4 years ago but could get no help with.

I dont know if your Dr.'s ever told you to avoid dairy after you were first diagnosed?? Most Celiacs are lactose intolerant at the time of diagnosis (due to villi damage) and should avoid dairy until the villi have healed.

My GI told me to stay off dairy. I wasnt diagnosed Celiac because my tests were done after I'd already been on the diet. I dont believe I have it because I dont carry a gene. The two GI's I saw both felt that whether or not I had Celiac...I need to be on a strict gluten-free diet.

Leaky gut can be caused by many things...

Antibiotics because they lead to the overgrowth of abnormal flora in the gastrointestinal tract (bacteria, parasites, candida, fungi)

Alcohol and caffeine (strong gut irritants)

Chronic stress

Foods and beverages contaminated by parasites like Giardia lamblia, cryptosporidium, blastocystis hominis and others

Foods and beverages contaminated by bacteria like helicobacter pylori, klebsiella, citrobacter, pseudomonas and others

Chemicals in fermented and processed food (dyes, preservatives, peroxidized fats)

Enzyme deficiencies (e.g. celiac disease, lactase deficiency causing lactose intolerance)

NSAIDS (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) like ASA, ibuprofen, indomethacin, etc.

Prescription corticosteroids (e.g. prednisone, hydrocortisone, DepoMedrol, etc.)

High refined carbohydrate diet (e.g. candy bars, cookies, cake, soft drinks, white bread)

Prescription hormones like the birth control pill

Mold and fungal mycotoxins in stored grains, fruit and refined carbohydrates

I think leaky gut can be either directly caused by Celiac or if leaky gut is caused by one of these other factors listed above and gluten then is passed through the gut the immune response will be triggered. The immune system will create antibodies to food proteins which are entering the bloodstream and everytime you eat those particular foods an immune response will occur.

In my case....even though I'm not genetically predisposed for developing Celiac I ended up with a serious gluten intolerance due to leaky gut. I'm sure the problem with leaky gut developed long before I got sick. I always became somewhat symptomatic while under stress but things seemed to correct themselves very quickly.

I think taking antibiotics seriously exacerbated my problem and candida flourished after that. As long as there is a candida overgrowth or dysbiosis the leaky gut is not likely to heal.

I dont know all of your symptoms but if you have leaky gut alot of them would be due to the foods you're reacting to. Other symptoms would be caused by toxicity. Leaky gut can cause the body to become overly toxic and symptoms can develop from that as well.

In addition to the creation of food allergies by the Leaky Gut Syndrome, the bloodstream is invaded by bacteria, fungi and parasites that, in the healthy state, would not penetrate the protective barrier of the gut. These microbes and their toxins, if present in large enough amounts, can overwhelm the liver's ability to detoxify. This results in symptoms such as confusion, memory loss, brain fog or facial swelling when the individual is exposed to a perfume or to cigarette smoke that he or she had no adverse reactions to prior to the development of the Leaky Gut Syndrome.

Since you've had reoccurring yeast infections in the past its likely that you might have a candida problem. I actually dont get "womanly" yeast infections but I do have a big candida problem. Its opportunistic and it can grow in any area of the body where the conditions are right.

What Triggers The Invasion?

Candida truly is a disease of modern life. All of the factors that aggravate yeast overgrowth are consequences of modern living. Healthy people do not get yeast infections.

Yeast overgrows for two reasons: Something feeds it or something suppresses the immune system, rendering the body incapable of controlling it.

Antibiotics are thought to be the single greatest contributor to candida. True, antibiotics kill unwanted bacteria, such as those that cause teenage acne, but they also nonselectively kill the good bacteria in the digestive tract and vagina, allowing the antibiotic resistant candida albicans to flourish. Women often develop vaginal yeast infections after using antibiotics and frequently trace their first onset of candidiasis to a potent course of antibiotics, often years before. Once candidiasis develops and the gut is overgrown with yeast, the body's colony of beneficial bacteria cannot be reestablished without treatment.

Yeast also loves sugar. Remember, yeast is used to ferment sugar in bread and beer. White sugar, especially, is the perfect yeast food. It also suppresses immune response, which increases the likelihood that a yeast infection will spread. Sugar is not the only dietary culprit: All carbohydrates feed yeast to a certain extent and can contribute to episodes of symptoms.

Women are more at risk for the yeast syndrome, at least during their fertile years. Progesterone, produced in abundance prior to menstruation, favors yeast, and many premenstrual women see an increase in their yeast symptoms. Progesterone is a principal ingredient in oral contraceptives, which, not surprisingly, provoke yeast. When the body is in balance, taking oral contraceptives shouldn't cause significant yeast problems, but when candida is out of control, birth control pills can be a serious complicating factor.

During pregnancy, women develop higher blood sugar and higher progesterone. What could be better for yeast? In fact, many women trace the onset of their symptoms to their first pregnancy.

Finally, of course, women have a vagina---one more dark, moist, warm cavity for yeast to call home. A recent study showed that women with vaginal candidiasis had one-sixth the normal level of beta carotene in the cells of the vagina. Reduced levels of beta carotene, a recognized immune-enhancing antioxidant, suggest suppressed immunity in those tissues, leaving them more susceptible to vaginal yeast.

Celiac Disease would be enough to suppress the immune system enough to develop a yeast overgrowth...add other factors such as stress, a diet high in sugar or antibiotics and the situation can get worse.

Numerous other circumstances favor yeast development. Incomplete digestion of carbohydrates, especially when combined with diarrhea, brings food to the yeast that inhabit the large intestine. A number of drugs, especially cortisone, encourage the growth of yeast, as does exposure to damaging amounts of environmental chemicals, such as pesticides. Allergies, glandular disorders from any source (including diabetes) and trauma (such as surgery) also contribute to candidiasis

.

With Celiac or leaky gut by itself you are going to have incomplete digestion of not only gluten but many other foods....these foods that go undigested feed the yeast and they THRIVE while we suffer from malabsorption.

I dont know if you've had exposure to ticks or have any reason to believe you could have Lyme??? If its something you would want to rule out you can have a Dr. order the test from Igenix.....or you can have Igenix send you the test kit and bring it to a Dr. to be tested...which is what Carla did.

My Dr. only uses Igenix for Lyme testing so he just drew my blood and sent it in. Other labs are pretty useless because they arent very sensitive. Igenix is the most sensitive but Lyme is basically a clinical diagnosis since there is no test which is completely reliable for diagnosis.

I would definately start doing food eliminations....starting with dairy. If you are having problems with dairy it would be getting in the way of healing...even though you are gluten-free.

You should get tested for bacteria such as H. Pylori and others which are listed above....also parasites and of course candida.

Any of these things could be contributing to your continuing problems and anything that weakens your immune system whether its Celiac, Lyme, parasites, bacteria infection, antibiotics...it can all contribute to giving candida a strong foothold.

You would have to find Dr.'s who are knowledgeable in these areas which usually means going outside of mainstream medicine. What I've learned is that mainstream traditional medicine only focuses on disease and this is what they test for....disease. If they find disease they treat it....if they dont find disease....they dont do anything.

Candida or leaky gut are not recognized by mainstream....they are not in the textbooks. I dont know if they can be classified as "disease" but they most certainly can and DO lead to disease if left untreated.

One of my Dr.'s had told me that I could have more autoimmune stuff going on (I already had Graves Disease) and they tested for others such as Lupus, MS, Myasthenis gravis and Rheumatoid arthritis. Nothing came back positive and he told me sometimes these things take awhile to develop to the point that they show up in the testing...but I *could* have stuff going on....in beginning stages. He said there was nothing to do except wait and see if anything definate shows up later.

Ummmm....no thanks.

I definately have symptoms NOW and this means something isnt right. Our bodies give us symptoms when something is wrong. A healthy body is a symptom-free body.

I know from my research long ago that leaky gut leads to disease.....particularly autoimmune disease. As the immune system is reacting to "invaders" it can also start attacking its own tissue....same-way that it does to the intestines in Celiac Disease....in that case gluten is the "invader". With leaky gut there are *many* invaders causing a heightened response from the immune system.

Same thing with Lyme Disease as the bacteria hide within our tissue and within our own cells....our immune system is heightened and at some point autoimmune problems may begin to occur.

I think the difference between mainstream Dr.'s and integrative or alternative medicine is that "traditional" medicine waits for disease to develop before offering treatment whereas the integrative Dr.'s recognize the factors that are producing symptoms which will eventually lead to disease. They treat leaky gut, candida and other conditions which can ruin health and lead to serious disease.

I would also get traditional allergy testing to rule out possible IgE allergies....which are unlikely but should still be ruled out. For IgG food intolerance testing you may need to go outside mainstream to this test done.....unless your doctor is open to ordering the test for you as Claire mentioned.

Dont know what else I can add right now. Hope some of this helps. I'm sorry you're going through so much while trying to be a good mommy at the same time. I know how hard it is for me....cant imagine if I had little ones to look after right now. Hopefully soon I will be well enough to start thinking about that.

[dlp252]

Hi Lauralee! Welcome! My heart really went out to you as I read your post...I'm so sorry you've had to go down this path! Rachel and Claire gave some really good info, so I don't have a lot to add, but just wanted to give you a case example of the dairy connection with mucus. Back in 2001 or so, I started getting really awful sinus infections...my head was almost continually congested. I saw an allergist who tested me for environmental allergies and found I was allergic to almost everything, lol. I started on allergy shots twice a week. My symptoms never improved even though my allergies had. I had those darned sinus infections every six weeks for 3.5 years! I'd taken about 18 rounds of antibiotics and probably 10 rounds of prednisone to clear them up...after each time I'd feel better for may a week or so and then wham, I'd get another one. Well, last year I finally started putting two and two together and discovered a connection between what I thought was only gluten and my cycles of sickness. There were two times in those 3.5 years that I didn't get sick for a period of months. Both times were when I ate nothing but meat and veggies, plus a little fruit. I ate nothing processed, and if I ate grains it was only a small amount of rice, but no dairy (well a little yogurt, but only one time per week).

I have a co-worker (actually several, lol) who are Celiac, so I asked a few questions and got some great websites (this was one of them) and decided to go gluten free as a trial. About a month later (didn't get sick during that time either, lol, but I did have some congestion still), I decided to get tested through Enterolabs which showed a gluten and casein intolerance. So, I cut out the dairy in December of last year and until two weeks ago, hadn't been sick once in a whole year! My congestion cleared up a lot too.

Now, I've got other things going on, so I'm hoping that now that I have an idea of what they are, that will help clear it all up the rest of the way.

[dlp252]

I have a sore throat! It started Friday night, was better yesterday morning, but got bad again starting around the time I left my appointment. At one point yesterday there was white junk all over my tonsil area. I drank a whole bunch of water and gargled with salt water and I haven't seen the white stuf again, but throat is still sore. Is a sore throat ever NOT sickness...I mean could it be that I'm just getting rid of junk through the tonsils? A doctor once told me that white stuff on the tonsils was tonsilitis, but another one told me that the white stuff just means the tonsils are doing what they are supposed to in filtering out stuff.

I can't imagine I still have any bacteria alive after 14 days of two antibiotics, but yet Anna said yesterday it looked like I still have an active infection. Grrr. I mean, I can see that amoxycilin maybe wouldn't work as well cuz I've taken that so much in the augmentin that I took all those years I mentioned above, but I've never taken clarithromycin before, although if they are both in the same family I guess it's possible that it might not be as effective.

She also said it looked like at one time I reacted to a vaccine or flu shot, so I'm glad I didn't get one this year, lol. She also said my immune system works well against viral infections, so that could be why I don't catch colds and flu, but I definitely have a problem with bacteria and that's why I get the bacterial infections so easily.

[CarlaB]

I must admit, my brain didn't care to play on the computer today, but I wanted to ... so I'm here and my brain is not . I only skimmed over the posts.

Lauralee, I totally understand your frustration. Since you did have damage to your intestine that indicates celiac, you really don't need Enterolab. The first thing I'd do is to check EVERYTHING to be sure you're getting no gluten from anywhere, including your beauty products. Also be sure you're getting no contamination from old wooden spoons, toasters, teflon pans, etc.

Next, I'd simplify your diet completely -- fruit, veggies, meat, eggs, rice, potatoes (though some people are sensitive to nightshade veggies). After you're feeling better, then add in other foods you like one at a time to test for reactions. Eat it, then wait a few days before adding something new.

If you don't get better, then start looking for what else it may be.

There's lots of info on celiac.com about candida, I'd search some old threads. Coconut oil, garlic (capsules or the real thing), probiotics, are all good for candida. No sugar, minimal fruit, low carbs (veggies are okay).

You can check out Open Original Shared Link and there is a list of symptoms there for Lyme. If you think it's Lyme, Igenex (Open Original Shared Link) is the lab to use (even if you have to pay for it yourself).

I don't know if all of us caused you to have more questions, or answered them! Please stick around and ask more ... we've done a lot of brainstorming here.

[AndreaB]

She also said it looked like at one time I reacted to a vaccine or flu shot, so I'm glad I didn't get one this year, lol. She also said my immune system works well against viral infections, so that could be why I don't catch colds and flu, but I definitely have a problem with bacteria and that's why I get the bacterial infections so easily.

That's interesting about the vaccine reaction.

I wonder how many people would actuaaly be healthier without all the adjuvants from vaccines (let alone the killed virus).

[Rachel--24]

Donna...thats great that you dont have Lyme!!

Did nothing show up on that panel for you?? Sheeeesh...I guess I was kinda hoping that the test was overly sensitive and just picks it up in alot of people...so maybe I dont actually have it. The last week or so I dont have Lyme....in my mind I came to that conclusion.

Now that you tested negative and I tested very positive...

Did you feel like the testing was accurrate in your case?? I know you said the food testing was bad for you....trust me....you'd feel alot better about that if you were looking at my results.

Yeah....I still wonder sometimes how laying there with the glass jar is really gonna help...but apparantly it does work for people so I'm sticking to it. Also if I question everything I get a lecture from my mom about how people with bad attitudes dont get better.

I didnt have a treatment on my first appt. I think my testing took up too much time cuz alot of stuff was showing up and we talked about Lyme alot. Yeah...the first appt. was expensive but not nearly as expensive as my first appt. with my Dr.

Thankfully it was only the initial appt. with the Doc that was very expensive.

BioSET is not cheap...especially since I go twice a week and buy 10 appts all at once (its a little cheaper that way but not much). Its the most expensive thing I've done so far.....even more than getting my amalgams removed...cuz there was only two for him to remove and replace.

So what did Anna feel was your biggest issue.....or did she say?? Did leaky gut or candida come up at all?? They both came up in my initial testing...although its really obvious with all the food and chemical/environmental sensitivities. I've never questioned having leaky gut and never bothered with testing cuz its just too obvious.

We did foods towards the end of my testing so by that time I was already pretty overwhelmed with all the stuff that was coming up....and what she was telling me about Lyme. She was kind of amazed with all the foods that were showing up....but I wasnt....it was no surprise for me.

I was crying at the end of my appt.

Thats cool that she knows Dr. Adams.....seems like they all know each other...my Dr. knows him too and he also commented that Dr. A. is good.

I see my Dr. tomorrow so I'll be bringing my test results with the yeast antibodies and I'll also talk to him about my leaky gut. See what he thinks.

When I saw Dr. Adams he told me to not eat *any* fruit. The only exception was fresh sqeezed lemon juice first thing in the morning and before I went to bed. I think it was to create a more alkaline environment.

Of course I never followed his advice until I was practically dying. One night I was tingling and numb and really really sick. I was still on normal foods and had eaten premium crackers, mac and cheese and other stuff. I was getting scared and knew I better start doing something.

I decided to do what Dr. A had suggested and I drank fresh lemon juice. OMG...it was like pouring salt on an open wound! I swear that I felt the lemon juice run all through my body and right then and there I got hot flashes all the way down to my toes. I got worse with the numbness and tingling and my body swelled up with fluid...I could see it swelling up. That was the night that I knew for sure that I had leaky gut REALLY bad.

Now that I know yeast is probably causing it I'm pretty sure he can help me treat it. I'll have more to report tomorrow.

[AndreaB]

Yeah....I still wonder sometimes how laying there with the glass jar is really gonna help...but apparantly it does work for people so I'm sticking to it. Also if I question everything I get a lecture from my mom about how people with bad attitudes dont get better.

I'm super curious about how this works as well, a smidgen skeptical but it seems to work.

Bad attitudes......

They say a good/positive attitude makes a world of difference.

[dlp252]

Donna...thats great that you dont have Lyme!!

Did nothing show up on that panel for you?? Sheeeesh...I guess I was kinda hoping that the test was overly sensitive and just picks it up in alot of people...so maybe I dont actually have it. The last week or so I dont have Lyme....in my mind I came to that conclusion.

Nope, not one vial came up, lol. Course I had my legs crossed. BUT, then I uncrossed them and we started over. Still not one vial came up. I somehow knew that would be the case. In some odd way, I wanted there to be a reaction so I would know more definitively, but after reading a bunch of people's stories over at lymenet, I got really scared, lol.

Did you feel like the testing was accurrate in your case?? I know you said the food testing was bad for you....trust me....you'd feel alot better about that if you were looking at my results.

Yep, I think it was pretty accurate. Chicken came up as bad, and I think it was during the discussion on histamines in this thread, that I thought chicken was causing some kind of reaction...now I know why. I've also known for years that I don't metabolize sugar, which is one of the reasons why I started a low carb diet about 5 years ago. I was totally shocked about the oils and nuts, but I'll be that's why I'm still having so many issues. Anna was shocked at how many things came up on the food panel for me.

Yeah....I still wonder sometimes how laying there with the glass jar is really gonna help...but apparantly it does work for people so I'm sticking to it. Also if I question everything I get a lecture from my mom about how people with bad attitudes dont get better.

I'm trying to keep an open mind, lol. Hey, we don't have bad attitudes, we just want to know how stuff works and why. Although really, if I can eat stuff again, I don't really care how it works, lol.

I didnt have a treatment on my first appt. I think my testing took up too much time cuz alot of stuff was showing up and we talked about Lyme alot. Yeah...the first appt. was expensive but not nearly as expensive as my first appt. with my Dr.

Thankfully it was only the initial appt. with the Doc that was very expensive.

Yep, my appointment took a while too. Fortunately I was early by 30 minutes, and her 9:30 hadn't arrived so she started me early, but then had to take the other person when the finally did get there...so I had part of the initial testing, then had my treatment, then finished the initial exam, lol.

BioSET is not cheap...especially since I go twice a week and buy 10 appts all at once (its a little cheaper that way but not much). Its the most expensive thing I've done so far.....even more than getting my amalgams removed...cuz there was only two for him to remove and replace.

Yep, I'm going to have to maximum of one treatment a week I think. Maybe once my PT/chiropractic stuff gets cut down to less than 3 days a week, but I just can't fit any more appointments into my week days, lol.

So what did Anna feel was your biggest issue.....or did she say?? Did leaky gut or candida come up at all?? They both came up in my initial testing...although its really obvious with all the food and chemical/environmental sensitivities. I've never questioned having leaky gut and never bothered with testing cuz its just too obvious.

Oh yah, leaky gut was big. Candida was big too. I reacted to ALL foods/additives/environmentals that are connected to mold. She is having me take double the probiotics the HN doctors advised, plus she gave me some enzymes to help break down my food and that has probiotics as well. I think she wants to get me metabolizing some things quickly so I can begin detoxing. My liver is having an issue with mercury, so it's definitely not letting go of it.

When I saw Dr. Adams he told me to not eat *any* fruit. The only exception was fresh sqeezed lemon juice first thing in the morning and before I went to bed. I think it was to create a more alkaline environment.

I can't remember if he said anything to me about it, all I can remember is him saying I should take selenium and to eat garlic and onions. Onions came up bad on my test yesterday, but garlic was okay, so I may take some of that.

Of course I never followed his advice until I was practically dying. One night I was tingling and numb and really really sick. I was still on normal foods and had eaten premium crackers, mac and cheese and other stuff. I was getting scared and knew I better start doing something.

I decided to do what Dr. A had suggested and I drank fresh lemon juice. OMG...it was like pouring salt on an open wound! I swear that I felt the lemon juice run all through my body and right then and there I got hot flashes all the way down to my toes. I got worse with the numbness and tingling and my body swelled up with fluid...I could see it swelling up. That was the night that I knew for sure that I had leaky gut REALLY bad.

Now that I know yeast is probably causing it I'm pretty sure he can help me treat it. I'll have more to report tomorrow.

You know, I think we all do that. I have found myself doubting the HN doctors advice. I don't know why. I guess I'm impatient and think I should be improving by now. I just know the elimination diet was too hard for me to decipher on my own, so at least Anna helped me figure out WHY. No wonder I was continually reacting because my diet was nearly 100% of the bad stuff...stuff I can't metabolize and therefor just making the leaky gut/candida thing worse.

[Anonymousgurl]

Donna- I was excited to hear about your appointment! Dont worry about the foods that came up, like avacados and random foods like that. My bioSET lady told me that when you have parasites, bacterias, infections and things like that you start to become sensitive to the foods that you eat all the time. Once those are cleared, the treatment usually sticks for those foods. So you'll probably end up being able to eat your everyday foods again in no time. You just have to be really careful about those sensitivites who's treatments aren't going to stick...like dairy. I was fat intollerant as well, and my treatments don't seem to stick for fats...so i dont eat ANYTHING with fat...which makes me nervous because I know that's not healthy...but my bioSET lady told me that isn't common and treamtents usually stick for fats with most people, so you'll probably be able to eat your fats again soon too I'm so glad that it sounds like your appointment went well!

So I think I'm "herxing" for the first time ever today...it's been about a month or so since I've been on the supplements and I upped the dosage for the first time 4 days ago. I've felt like I'm going to gag and vomit for about a day and a half now...and it's so difficult to eat. I thought at first that maybe I had just eaten something wrong, but it feels different. I think it's die off symptoms?