I Feel Like A Walking Skeleton. :'( Please Help!

[SillyLily]

NOTE: This is pretty lengthy, but I desperately need help.

I'm 20 years old, 5'6, and went from a healthy 130 lbs at the beginning of this year to 110 lbs now - losing 5 of those lbs just in the past (one) WEEK. I cut out dairy (including eggs) and sweets at the beginning of this year just to control my severe acne - didn't think I had any digestive problems - I wanted to be serious about controlling my acne because they suddenly started leaving behind indented scarring. I drank a green smoothie (consisting of romaine lettuce, spinach, apple, pear, banana, lemon) every morning. I noticed I started having one bowel movement per day compared to every other day or every 3 days. I actually thought having one bowel movement per day was more abnormal than the latter so I did some research, turns out it was actually healthy and/or I should have been having even more bowel movements. In came probiotics. I felt AMAZING (coming from a girl who has had depression/anxiety since the age of 12), maintained a weight at 120 lbs, and only got a few zits on my period. After dermatologist after dermatologist telling me that diet had nothing to do with acne!

Not wanting to go on birth control to control the zits I got on my period, I decided to be vain and take antibiotics (Minocycline) for it. Lord, I would do ANYTHING to get to where I was before taking those antibiotics. I took probiotics alongside it, but the antibiotics still destroyed my body.

First I developed a fungus infection on my chest, it crept up to my neck, shoulders, back, and a little on my face. Little red dots everywhere! I couldn't even keep count of them. Never had I ever broken out anywhere on my body. That's what I get for being vain over a few zits on my period. I immediately stopped the antibiotics, but things only got worse.

Then came a racing heartbeat (up to 165 beats per min) every morning when waking up, followed by diarrhea or vomiting. I started feeling anxiety after eating a meal, sometimes having diarrhea shortly after. I lost 3 lbs when this all started. I got really depressed, not knowing the worse had yet to come. I started to hardly eat anything because it made me feel horrible.

My mom was convinced I was anorexic/bulimic and talked to my doctor about it. He ran some blood tests to try and see what else could be wrong but all came back "normal". I blamed the antibiotics but he prescribed me even more to get rid of the rash on my chest. I refused to take them and was miserable.

Lo and behold, I ended up in a psychiatric hospital and they put me in an eating disorder program there. I just went along with it. I wanted to gain my weight back.

Things only got worse after that. I started getting random hives on my skin, and random inflamed scratches that sometimes left behind discoloration scars. I couldn't shave my legs because hives would develop when hair started growing back in. I couldn't use my regular lotion (Palmers Cocoa Butter). I didn't know what was happening! I was already taking Benadryl every night and Claritin every morning for my allergies that had developed out of no where January of this year. It didn't keep the random rashes under control.

I discovered "Candida" and started following the diet. The only thing I did against the Candida diet was eat Ezekiel bread (thought it was a healthy choice and substitute for not having any carbs, since the bread is organically sprouted). I lost more weight despite getting in 2,000 calories per day, on top of that I started actually seeing my food in my stools, and I was losing (and am still losing) a lot of hair.

I stopped eating the Ezekiel bread because I assumed it was what I was seeing in my stools. Soon I saw a different doctor and explained what was happening. He immediately wanted to test me for Celiac disease. The blood test came back normal. Just like all of my other blood tests came back normal (vitamins (except I was low on Vitamin D - it's within normal range now but only by .5), minerals, liver, thyroid etc etc etc). Upon research, I had all of the symptoms of Celiac and noticed it was worse with me eating Ezekiel bread. I also read that blood tests can read normal if you hadn't been eating anything with gluten (and being on my anti-acne diet since the beginning of this year, and then a Candida diet for a couple of months, I wasn't eating anything with gluten - except Ezekiel bread). But I did eat gluten in the hospital in the eating disorder program. They also make you drink cow's milk at every meal but I told them I was lactose-intolerant so they gave me soy milk instead.

Then I discovered the Specific Carbohydrate Diet on my own (Breaking The Vicious Cycle book). I was hesitant to eat eggs because I hadn't eaten them since the beginning of this year, but I thought it wouldn't hurt. I added them in, and lots of them, so I could up the calories I needed to gain weight. Needless to say, I FELT HORRIBLE. I developed insomnia, increase anxiety, and I also lost 5 lbs in one week - again despite of making sure I reached my calorie mark.

My tongue is covered in a thick white coating, which according to Chinese medicine, shows problems in the digestive system. I would agree. According to Naturopathy, it shows a yeast overgrowth (Candida).

Lots of food seem to bother me (I start feeling jittery or have major brain fog or fatigue etc after eating - especially after eating any carbs, including the "safe" ones like brown rice). I have no idea what to do. I don't know what to eat. I don't know how my body got to this point. I'm quickly losing weight, I don't want to get out of bed in the morning, I feel defeated by my own body. I can't help but wish over and over that I had never taken those antibiotics, and I'm convinced I wouldn't be in the position I am now. But wishing doesn't do a thing.

I'm so tired all of the time, feeling tense and sore, in a brain fog, constantly thinking about what I can and can not eat, counting calories, getting random rashes, major hair loss, barely holding on to my relationship, barely holding on to life. Lost job and insurance is gone so I can't see anymore doctors nor do I trust most of them anyway. Have very little money.

What's wrong with me? How can I gain my weight back? Can anyone out there relate or am I alone? I need help, advice, suggestions, guidance...

Please and thank you in advance,

Lily

[eatmeat4good]

Oh you must be miserable and trying to deal with all of this yourself. I think you must go strictly gluten free and watch for traces too. Try to eat as much meat, veggies and nuts as you can tolerate. The protein will go a long way toward giving you your health back. Stay away from starches and carbs since they are making you feel miserable. Once you have some healing underway you can test them again. It seems like you have Celiac or gluten intolerance and it doesn't matter what you call it. If you feel better off of it then stay gluten free. The tongue coating will subside as you heal. I had it for years until I figured out I had Celiac. You are in the right place to get support and to ask your questions. Try to eat some protein every couple of hours if you can. Check out Mark's Daily Apple.com. The Paleo way of eating is perfect for you. Sorry your road has been so long.

[Bubba's Mom]

It's very possible for you to have Celiac or a gluten sensitivity, but have a negative blood test.

Go gluten free(completely) ..and add in probiotics. The antibiotics may have killed off all bacteria in your system, including the good ones needed for digestion?

It's also possible that you've gotten SIBO (small intestine bacterial overgrowth)? It would fit with carbs causing you trouble. It's something that's hard to test for, and is commonly just called IBS.

There's a search feature at the top of the this forum page. Type in SIBO to read more.