<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>

I recently posted a 'survey' asking how many people on this list had taken 
antibiotics.

I received about a dozen responses (one response from someone who had done a 
similar survey a few years ago). Most people who replied had suffered from 
various ailments over their lifetimes, some had been very sick, and most had 
received MANY doses of antibiotics. Of course, the people who had NOT taken 
antibiotics probably did not reply.

So did I find out anything?  - Probably not.

Here is my logic and my story:

I have suffered most of my life from various celiac-type symptoms. I have 
had many tests for gastrointestinal complaints, fatigue, weight loss, etc. 
but have never been officially diagnosed with anything.

About ten years ago, about ten different doctors told me that there was 
nothing wrong with me and that I would have to learn to live with it. But I 
was never satisfied with that answer and kept looking for a solution.

Five years ago, I found out about celiac disease and started a gluten-free 
diet. I immediately felt ten or twenty years younger.  For the first six 
months or so, I did not have access to any GF bread, cakes, or cookies and I 
continued to feel great.

But then I discovered GF goodies, and ate lots of them in an attempt to gain 
weight. My health slowly started to deteriorate.

I have spent the last three or four years being paranoid about traces of 
gluten. I have developed other food intolerances in addition to gluten, 
specifically milk and soy, and I have continued to blame my ongoing 
intermittent diarrhea, constant fatigue, and depression on 
cross-contamination issues.

This past year my husband developed an excellent recipe for a great-tasting 
homemade GF bread --- he baked and baked and I ate and ate !! And got sicker 
than ever. About three months ago I began to wonder if living was even worth 
the effort - and it was a lot of effort - and so I decided I had to do 
something about it.

I have been keeping up on the development of Fasano's new zonulin-inhibitor 
drug, AT-1000 and read from a recent report as follows: "A few years ago, 
Fasano's team discovered the key-the protein zonulin, which regulates the 
opening and closing of the gates and controls gut permeability. Around the 
same time, we also determined that most of the autoimmune diseases are 
characterized by an extremely permeable intestinal wall and that individuals 
[with impaired immune function], particularly those with diabetes and CD,
have abnormally high zonulin levels," Fasano explains. "Our next task, of 
course, was to find a way to inhibit the zonulin."

So I started thinking that if I could heal my leaky gut then I would feel 
better. But I couldn't wait another ten years for a drug to be developed - I 
needed help right away.  So I decided to revisit a theory I had read about 
over ten years ago, candida yeast overgrowth, and since I had taken so many 
courses of antibiotics over the years, I thought it was a worth a shot, and 
removed sugar/carbs from my diet, added some probiotics and an anti-fungal. 
I am simply amazed at the results.

Further research has confirmed that candida overgrowth does indeed exist in 
the medical literature, albeit over fifty years ago (but that's a topic for 
another discussion) and I am pleased to report that it's not "all in my 
head".


Janice in Alberta.
I have no medical training, but I can read.

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