Trying To Cope

[roxie]

I feel like a large part of my day is spent trying to figure out what to eat, and what will make me feel better. I don't know what I would do if I didn't have this forum to ask questions to because I really feel like most doctors don't really know. I have just recently started taking digestive enzymes, and they do seem to help. I went to my local health food store and wanted to purchase the Digest Gold, but I just couldn't pay $77. I ended up getting Now Super Enzymes. Has anyone had good luck with these, or should I pay the $77? The only thing is that I get a little cramping each time I take the enzymes. Is this common? Also, can anyone tell me if acidophilus and probiotics are the same thing, and do these also help with Celiac Disease? I have noticed that a lot of the acidophilus tablest contain milk, but it says on the bottle that they can help with lactose intolerance? Can anyone give me suggestions. Thanks so much!

[YoloGx]

I have tried the Now Powerdophilus with some success. However I tried a friend of mine's Now Gr-8 and found it works much better. The caps are enterically coated. His doctor recommended it. They are a little more spendy than some types of acidophilus but not that spendy.

Enterically coated garlic seems to help too. Garlinase is gluten-free and very effective. The point is to get these things to the places they need to be without being digested and used up in the stomach.

Other herbs that really help--pao de arco caps, periodic use of barberry and dandelion root together (no more than 10 days at a time), grapefruit seed extract (just a few drops goes a long way!), oregano oil caps.

I also find that going off all sugar and at least at first all fruit is essential. No fruit juice at all. Use stevia as sweetner instead. Eat lots of veggies. Don't pig out on carbs. especially the bleached flour ones of whatever type. And exercise.

For me going off the fruit is hardest. However definitely worth it. Later you can add less sugary fruit like blueberries (sweetened with stevia). When one has theoretically won the battle, fruit is occasionally fine but one needs to watch it since candida overgrowth recurs so easily once it has become well established.

Unfortunately if you are like me and have had celiac most of your life and lots of antibiotics along the way, candida overgrowth is a bear to get rid of and almost impossible to get rid of permanently. Sometimes I just give up on it but then realize I really shouldn't since it creates these nasty areas "down under" (!!) and for me even in my ears plus some brain fog, digestive upset etc. I call it getting the itchy b%$@#ies. Not nice. Much better when gone... Plus it makes me enjoy life better being free of most of that. So now am on a campaign again. Am going to give my papaya and kiwi to my mother.

Bea