Phenol/Salicylate intolerance, Oxalate toxicity. small villous atrophy, inborn error of metabolism, mold colonization

[SiSiSunshine]

Hi everyone,

I have had a battery of tests and syndromes over the past decade. I am middle-aged now and it all started in my early thirties after working 7 yr in a water-damaged building.  I got SIBO (small intestine bacteria overgrowth), Candida overgrowth, chronic sinus infection, FODMAP intolerance. I changed jobs and the symptoms continued and I sought medical help from lots of doctors (western, naturopath and holistic nutritionists, which were the ones who finally helped me). But as soon as I treated one syndrome, another developed. After a few years of treating the above, I was diagnosed with Lyme disease and adrenal fatigue/chronic fatigue and treated that with biofeedback and brain retraining, respectively. I also tested positive for low levels of mold colonization and mycotoxins (not provoked with Glutathione though, so may have a much higher burden) but none of my doctors were mold literate so it was never treated. So I will be working on that soon.

I am still reacting to many foods and fragrances and had a physician-nutritionist look at my organic acid test (OAT) and she pointed out that I may have inborn error of metabolism (fatty acid oxidation or Glutaric Acidemia 1), plus Salicylate/Phenol and Oxalate toxicity. The salicylate intolerance explains most of my food intolerances to fruits and veggies but I also react to wheat and dairy, which is apparently common with salicylate intolerance (for reasons as yet unknown).  My OAT also identified nutrient deficiencies and indicated I may have small villous atrophy. I was still eating gluten up to 2 wk before the test but have been off it now for 4 months. I am scheduled to undergo a capsule endoscopy soon but, depending on the results, may go back on gluten to do a biopsy.   After reading the Salicylate Handbook, I am wondering if all my health conditions can be traced to a faulty sulfation detox pathway that caused leaky gut, which caused everything else. Apparently salicylate build-up can cause metabolic derangement. Thinking of retesting OAT in a few months of salicylate-free diet.   

Other issues I'm having are low Immunoglobulins. I think I've had this issue since childhood, as I had to be on prophylactic antibiotics as a kid for constant ear infections, as well as recurrent tonsillitis.  My IgA levels have dropped 50% over the last 10 yr and my IgE levels have always been undetectable. So not sure what that is caused by yet. Maybe inborn error of immunity. 

Thanks for the add. :)

[trents]

Welcome to the forum, @SiSiSunshine!

For any kind of celiac disease testing to be reliable, either blood antibody testing or endoscopy/biopsy, you need to be consuming significant amounts of gluten (about 10g daily) for at least 3 weeks leading up to he day of the test. This is an amount of gluten found in approximately 4-6 slices of wheat bread.

That's quite a narrative you have there. Do you have a question for us?

[SiSiSunshine]

Hi Trents, thanks for your reply. I am hoping someone with similar issues can chime in and steer me somewhere I haven't looked yet. I see another thread from about a decade ago about sulfation and salicylation issues. Not sure how that's related to Celiac yet but must be since it's been posted about before. ???

So that's 4-6 slices of wheat bread per day for 3 weeks for the biopsy to be reliable when testing for Celiac?   Is there any other cause of small villous atrophy besides celiac? Will small villous atrophy be apparent on capsule endoscopy (if it's occurring at the time)?

[trents]

That's small bowel villous atrophy. If the damage is severe enough it can be visible during a conventional endoscopy itself so I assume that would be true for a camera endoscopy. But it may depend on the resolution of the camera and sometimes the damage can be patchy.

Yes, there are other things that can mimic celiac disease sb villous atrophy. The dairy protein casein can in some people. Chronic use of NSAIDs can and there is a certain blood pressure med that can.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29622097/