<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>
(continued)
**
Has anyone tested your gall bladder? I am thinking of a possible link
between your symptoms and the olive oil. You, of course, could ingest
some plain olive oil and see if the symptoms occur.
A doctor should work you up for other causes of your distress. I feel
Crohn's would be much more obvious than your current condition....it is
not usual to present with mild symptoms such as gas and bloating (though
I know painful gas does not seem mild to you). Crohn's patients often
see mucous and frank blood in their stool and have problems maintaining
a healthy weight in addition to other more debilitating symptoms.
Yes, I think it is likely that celiac is not your problem if your diet
is indeed "clean". How is your weight and your general health? I have
been told by GI doctors that any change in diet is often followed by a
short period of improvement and then a return to symptoms, so
unfortunately that may not be your best indication of success.
**
What about the pots, pans, cutting boards, do they have separate ones
just for gluten free food? Just a thought, I would eliminate the olive
oil for a week and see if that helps.
**
Sounds to me like you have hypochlorhydria and candida yeast overgrowth.
Your history is very similar to mine. For a couple of years, it
seemed I was developing a new food sensitivity every couple of months.
I was losing so much weight, it was alarming. My GI specialist didn't
know what to do to help, so he referred me to a naturopathic physician
(ND) who specialized in food related digestive problems.
(1) The first thing the ND did was to put me on a 100% starch free,
sugar free diet (The Specific Carbohydrate diet). Since sugar & starch
feed candida, this helped almost immediatedly.
(2) Then he tested for food allergies & ordered me OFF all allergenic
foods. It was hard. At the time I had VERY limited choices. I lived
on chicken soup for what seemed an eternity.
(3) He also put me on a high quality probiotic capsule. I can't
remember the name of it right now, but if you look in the refrigerator
section of your health food store, you should be able to find a good
one. You should also buy real fermented kimchee, saurkraut or pickles
at your local health food store. These are excellent sources of
beneficial bacteria.
(4) After my stomach began to settle down, he started tackling the root
cause of all the mess I was in -- hypochlorhydria -- low stomach acid
production. (Paradoxically it's actually low stomach acid rather than
high stomach acid, that causes acid relux & heartburn.) He started me
on stomach acid replacement capsules. These are available on line, in
health food stores and at some naturopathic dispensaries. THese are
VERY strong medicine & caution, patience & care must be used when one
begins taking these. It's best to start with one a day at your largest
meal. If this is tolerated for a week, then a second one can be taken
with next largest meal. Then after another week, a third can be added
to the third meal. This should be taken in the middle of the meal, not
before or after. Continue in this fashion until 4 or 5 per meal are
tolerated. This may take a while. There may be set backs when you have
to stop it for a few days to allow everything to "settle down." But
stomach acid replacement is key to breaking the vicious cycle. I
noticed an improvement in my overall bowel function & digestion after
the very first day i took them. I was so enthusiastic about it, I went
over board & nearly burned my guts out! I had to stop for a week &
start all over. I eventually built up my dose to 4 per meal. This is
the most important supplement I take everyday. Without it I can digest
or absorb the nutrients from my food. Many celiacs have low stomach
acid production. Stomach acid production is one of the things that
gluten destroys in sensitive people.
The reason low stomach acid causes food allergies is because stomach
acid is necessary for complete digestion of proteins & starches. When
proteins & starches are not broken down properly, they pass thru to the
intestines then the blood stream undigested & trigger allergic
reactions. The better you can get your meals digested, the less
allergic reactions you will get. Another reason stomach helps fight
food allergies is low stomach acid is necessary to supressed the
overgrowth of candida albicans yeast & unfriendly bacteria in the
stomach & intestines. When stomach acid is low & foods are improperly
digested, bad yeasts & bacteria grow out of control in the stomach &
intestines. In other words, the whole GI track becomes "infected." The
by-products of this overgrowth causes inflammation & irritation of the
lining of the GI track, which causes even more food reactions, gas,
pain, etc.
I know this program works because it worked for me. I have regained all
the wieght I lost & now I can eat just about anything I want except
gluten. I used to get very ill if I ate milk, soy, almonds, peaches,
bananas, avacados, beans, etc. But now I eat these foods. I'm very
careful to eat the most nutritious foods I can find & prepare. I only
eat brown rice, fresh veggies & meats. I totally avoid all processed
foods. It's processed foods that cause all the problems in the American
diet.
There's one more thing I do now that really helps. I drink a cup of
goat milk kefir every day. I still can't tolerate much cow's milk, so I
avoid it. But, goat's milk proteins are milder & better tolerated.
Since I've started drinking goat milk kefir, I've been able to tolerate
a wider variety of foods than I ever dreamed of 3 years ago.
Anyway, you can reverse this cycle. It takes work, diligence &
sacrifice, but it's totally worth it. It took me about 2 1/2 years to
get to this point. And, I'm hopeful that I'll continue to improve.
I'd recommend you read a couple books on your next break from school.
One is WHY STOMACH ACID IS GOOD FOR YOU by Dr. Jonathan Wright -- easy
reading with less than 200 pages. Explains the issues very clearly.
The other is BREAKING THE VICIOUS CYCLE by Elaine Gottshall. It
describes the specific carbohydrate diet. It explains why sugars &
starches are so damaging to the gut. The specific carbohydrate diet was
key to helping me pull out of the death spiral I seem trapped in. It's
a very strict & hard diet. Thankfully, I didn't need it for too long.
**
Medical specialists can only go on established and verified research for
their dx criteria in the field of Gluten intolerance. Apparently only
one subtype of it, celiac disease, has gotten any attention at all for
research or otherwise. The publicity about celiac is bringing a much
bigger group of people out of the woodwork who have the same genetics,
symptoms, history, and response to the diet. Most of the people in this
group don't test positively for the celiac subtype. Because previous to
this time, drs thought celiac was the whole picture, they have no way of
appropriately testing or dx the larger group. That group is in no man's
land right now due to lack of research or dx criteria, other than
positive response to the diet and suspicious genetics, symptoms, and
history. Right now we negative testers are on our own. Good for you
for doing the diet and I hope you find out what is bothering you.
My daughter is very sensitive to milk too, and she is GF and soy free
too. She got very sick after a very unwise gluten challenge and is
still in the healing process. So we have decided to work on getting the
sugar out next and the yeast and eggs to a bare minimum to aid the
healing process.
(articles were attached--i can email them to you if you ask)
**
It is likely that you have Microscopic Colitis which Dr. Fine (at the
following URL) even has a very effective treatment for (unlike any other
doctor to my knowledge). I believe this is connected to yeast
sensitivities and he also has the necessary tests for it.
I suggest that you read carefully the site you can reach by the
following URL and trust his lab and tests to help you. He is really a
miracle man and has helped so many people.
http://www.finerhealth.com/Educational_Info/Microscopic_Colitis/
***
That's all of them.
Thanks, everyone!
John Woods
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