Leaderboard

Do talk to your doctor about making changes to your medication.    I'm not a medical doctor.   I'm a microbiologist.  I studied nutrition before switching to microbiology because I was curious what vitamins were doing inside the body. I would hate to give advice that jeopardizes your health, so do discuss things with your doctor.   

@Jmartes71, Sorry you've been feeling so poorly.   Are you taking any medication to treat the SIBO?   Are you taking any Benfotiamine?  Benfotiamine will help get control of the SIBO.  Thiamine deficiency has symptoms in common with MS. Have you had your gas appliances checked for gas leaks and exhaust fume leaks?  Carbon Monoxide poisoning can cause the same symptoms as the flu and glutening.  Doctors have to check venous blood (not arterial) for carbon monoxide.  Are other inhabitants sick, or just you?  Do they leave the house and get fresh air which relieves their symptoms?  

European wheat is often a "soft wheat" variety which contains less gluten than "hard wheat" varieties found in the States.   In European countries, different cooking methods and longer  fermentation (rising or proofing) times allow for further breakdown of gluten peptides. Wheat in the States is a blend of hard and soft wheat.  Gluten content can vary according to where the wheat was grown, growing conditions, when harvested, and local preference, so a blend of both hard and soft wheat is used to make a uniform product.   I moved around quite a bit as a child in a military family.  I had different reactions to gluten in different areas of the country every time we moved.  I believe some wheat breeds and blends are able to provoke a worse immune response than others.   Since European soft wheat doesn't contain as much gluten as American wheat, you may try increasing your intake of your soft wheat products.  A minimum of ten grams of gluten is required to get a sufficient immunological response so that the anti-gluten antibodies leave the intestines and enter the bloodstream where they can be measured by the tTg IgA test.  Your whole wheat bread may only have a gram of gluten per slice, so be prepared...  

From my own experience and that of others who have tried to discontinue PPI use, I think your taper down plan is much too aggressive. It took me months of very incremental tapering to get to the point where I felt I was succeeding and even then I had to rely some days on TUMS to squelch flareups. After about a year I felt I had finally won the battle. Rebound is real. If I were you I would aim at cutting back in weekly increments for two weeks at a time rather than daily increments. So, for instance, if you have been taking 2x20mg per day, the first week cut that down to 2x20mg for six days and 1x20 mg for the other day. Do that for two weeks and then cut down to 2x20mg for five days and 1x20 for two days. On the third week, go 20x2 for four days and 20x1 for 3 days. Give yourself a week to adjust for the reduced dosage rather than reducing it more each week. I hope this makes sense. 

Talk to your doctor about switching to an antihistamine, and supplementing essential vitamins and minerals.  Dietary changes (low carb/paleo) may be beneficial for you.  Have you talked to a dietician or nutritionist about a nutrient dense gluten free diet?   It's harder to get all the vitamins needed from a gluten free diet.  Gluten containing products are required to be enriched or fortified with vitamins and minerals lost in processing.  Gluten free facsimile processed foods are not required to be enriched nor fortified.  So we have to buy our own vitamin supplements.   Glad to be of help.  Keep us posted on your progress!