Getting The Intestines Back Into Good Shape

[IChaseFrisbees]

Hey everybody, since getting my IBS diagnosis this summer I've been around forums specifically for that (since I've been eating wheat after collapsing on the GAPS diet.) It's all a long story, but basically I got worse on GAPS and my doctor doesn't really want anything else to do with me because he has no more ideas.

The people on the IBS forums however do not embrace alternative therapies, treatments or ideas quite like the folks here do I've found; at the mention of "leaky gut" they rush to inform me that the medical professionals don't believe it exists and assure me that IBS is a condition in itself, not just the results of bacterial dysbiosis or food allergies.

I would expect everyone to be so desperate for relief that they would at least consider everything! Anyway, I'm back to square one, with nothing but IBS and a bunch of clean test results. Here's the dilemma: On the GAPS diet I lapsed into unformed fatty stools, sometimes passing pure liquid fat. However, a stool test I then did came back showing no malabsorption of fats! I don't know, I really don't. But at this point it's clear that no amount of low-carb dieting can cure me; I've read GAPS and I've read Breaking The Vicious Cycle and I believe whole-heartedly that they're effective and well-grounded strategies, however I'm sorry to say that apparently the inability to digest carbs isn't a universal problem for people with digestive problems.

Sorry to rant, I promise I'll get to the point now that I've vented my frustrations...whew...okay: I want to get my intestines back into good shape. It's the only thing that is evidently wrong, and whether or not it makes me feel better I want to get them right.

I mean killing the bad bacteria and yeasts, getting rid of the heavy metals and reestablishing the good bacteria, while eliminating any foods I've become sensitive to. So thus far, here is my plan:

1 Take a parasite stool test

2 Take a stool test measuring bacterial levels (to see where I'm at and check for candida/pathogens)

3 Take the food sensitivity test (can't post company name I guess) and begin the proper elimination and rotation diet

4 Take a heavy metals test and, if positive begin...chelating, I think it's called? Removing the metals anyway

5 Eliminate any parasites, pathogens or candida

6 Start a good hypnotherapy program for my anxiety and intestinal issues

7 Now if you haven't heard of this I warn you, steel your stomach: Fecal Transplant, which is exactly what it sounds like; taking good, healthy poo from a donor and inserting it via enema into yourself. I've been discussing this with people who have tried it for their UC and reported amazing results. I'm convinced it's the best (if not the only, because I haven't seen any benefits from regular probiotics) way to replenish all the hundreds of various types of beneficial bacteria in the human intestines.

So my questions are, have I missed anything? What other steps should I consider taking/avenues should I pursue? And also, what do you all think about colon cleansing, useful or bogus?

Thanks for any opinions, criticisms or additions to the plan, I'm really trying to hit the issue from all sides. I feel as if I haven't gotten better because I've tried all these plans by themselves; diets without checking for food sensitivities, probiotics without first removing pathogens etc.

Thanks again,

-Jesse

[mushroom]

Well, I think it is a good idea to formulate a plan of action. But I think the first thing to do is to stop and figure out what you *do* know, before you start testing what you don't know. Make out a list of symptoms, make another column of what tests you have done, trials you have done, meds you have taken, results you have experienced, and what you have ruled out by those actions. I think that would be an interesting starting point. Include in that information sheet what you have been told by doctors, what diagnoses have been postulated, and sit back and take a long look at it, even post it on here if you wish so we can look with you. Then consider if your plan of action is the right one. Just a thought. I know you have put a lot of time, effort, research, into where you find yourself, but maybe collating it all in one place would be a productive exercise. Not to say that your plan of action is wrong...just to perhaps have you make a reappraisal, and stop you from chasing frisbees,,,??? :D

[jststric]

Probiotics helped me alot to get my gut healed before I could get better doing the gluten-free/cf diet. I also discovered I have alot of other foods I needed to eliminate. Being lactose intolerant, finding probiotics I could take was a trick but found allergen-free products at Kirkman Labs. www.kirkmanlabs.com I took a double dose for 2 weeks and began to feel a great deal better and had an easier time of digesting the foods I could have. Best wishes.

[Swimmr]

7 Now if you haven't heard of this I warn you, steel your stomach: Fecal Transplant, which is exactly what it sounds like; taking good, healthy poo from a donor and inserting it via enema into yourself. I've been discussing this with people who have tried it for their UC and reported amazing results. I'm convinced it's the best (if not the only, because I haven't seen any benefits from regular probiotics) way to replenish all the hundreds of various types of beneficial bacteria in the human intestines.

Never in my life have I ever heard or even would have thought of this. First reaction was but I suppose that makes alot of sense. I don't know if I could cope with having someone else's poo in me...

[IChaseFrisbees]

Thanks for the excellent replies, I know number 7 sounds gross but I feel like the way I've been living is even grosser.

That is a good idea about adding what I have done and how it's affected me, I'll compile that and throw it on here. Think I stand a chance of getting better?

Thanks,

-Jesse