IBS despite primal, and I'm about to lose my mind! page 5

[MamaGrok]

Enilegna, I wonder if my gall bladder might only look bad after I've eaten fat, triggered a bile release, but maybe it's not releasing for some reason? That's why I wonder if the $700 might have been a waste, if I hadn't had any fat. Kind of like having a celiac test run when you haven't had any wheat in 6 months.

My other idea for you. If you think it is purely a gut flora issue, you can simply your guts for a short time and add back in to see where problems lay. Eat nothing but white rice or white potatoes for 7-10 days.

Hey, AK dude! Long time no see (my fault). I have tons of labs; liver & pancreas show fine. No obvious kidney markers. I have an "education consultation" today and I hope to make some sense out of it all.

Your prescription for gut healing is interesting. Where did that idea come from? It's exactly the opposite of SCD/GAPS, of course, which is to eat what Grandma would have given you for a stomach bug: broth, boiled meat, boiled veggies, and NO starches.

My first thought is horror, because I can't imagine any result other than me getting to the end of the first day, driving to the Fresh Market, ordering a red velvet cake, and eating the whole thing.

[AuroraB]

So, uh, any concerns about the "radioactive tracer" injected into the veins & the "gamma camera" used to photograph your abdomen repeatedly over the next hour?

When I did the ultrasound, they told me not to eat any fat in the 18 hours before the procedure. But when I got there, they said that wasn't necessary, that I should have just been NPO for 12hrs. Any possibility that kept any gall swelling/etc. from showing up on the ultrasound?

NPO before those kinds of ultrasounds are for better visulization.
I hear ya on the radioisotope.... but it might be one of those 'pro/con' things. I've had a PET scan before and it is a little freaky if you think about it too much, but if I hadn't had it, I could have ended up a lot sicker than I already was. IMO, there are so many things in our daily lives that we are unknownly exposed to and that is why I am trying to eat and live as clean as I possibly can.

[mle777]

Not trying to scare you, but maybe you should consider getting a colonoscopy. Several of your symptoms seem to coincide with symptoms of colon cancer. I'm sure it's not that, but it would be nice to be able to check that one off of the list.

[otzi]

Hey, AK dude! Long time no see (my fault). I have tons of labs; liver & pancreas show fine. No obvious kidney markers. I have an "education consultation" today and I hope to make some sense out of it all.

Your prescription for gut healing is interesting. Where did that idea come from? It's exactly the opposite of SCD/GAPS, of course, which is to eat what Grandma would have given you for a stomach bug: broth, boiled meat, boiled veggies, and NO starches.

My first thought is horror, because I can't imagine any result other than me getting to the end of the first day, driving to the Fresh Market, ordering a red velvet cake, and eating the whole thing.

I think you are going to have to quit thinking in terms of protein-fat-carbs until you get your guts straightened out. You are going to have to get way outside your comfort zone, but I know you are dedicated enough to do it. I came up with the potato trick because potatoes have all the amino acids and a good nutritional profile to sustain you while figuring out what is the problem. If you are eating foods that are being digested in the small intestine only, you will have problems. We need foods that travel and are digested the whole way--that's the theory behind FODMAPs. If you can eat potatoes for 7 days and nothing else, you should see your problems disappear. If not, you got bigger problems than gut flora. If your problems go away while on a simple food diet, it will be easy to add back in and see when the problems start. It could be a multitude of foods screwing with you.

I'd hate to think you are going through all this because you caught a case of giardia or h.pylori. Let us know how the konsult goes...

[bamems]

I feel so badly for you and wish I had some good advice to share.

I, too, have suffered from bloating for YEARS. My regular, Western practicing docs don't even address it. I had a colonoscopy and an endoscopy. Nothing showed on those. I, too, bloat just drinking water. I have been grain free for 20 days now and still no difference in my bloating. I can put a pair of pants or jeans on and after I eat, I can't fit in them.

Now, my diet is not perfect, but it's 95% better than it was 10 years ago and 100% better (make that 110%) than the standard American diet. I eat organic (meats and veggies) when I can. I do not consume caffeine, except what's in a little bit of dark chocolate (I don't drink coffee and only decaf teas on the rare occasion I have them). I have cut my sugar consumption way down (although still battle with some sugar cravings). I don't eat junk food. I drink a good deal of water.
I did have a parasite a few years back. I wonder if it has returned. I don't have yeast overgrowth, although a few docs (alternative med docs) thought I did.

Hang in there and keep up the good fight. I truly hope you get some answers and relief soon. I DO understand how uncomfortable and frustrating it can be. As I sit here writing this now, I am uncomfortably bloated.

Hang in there. Sending you positive thoughts your way.
Beth
Rochester, NY

[Enilegna/hearts]

[QUOTE=MamaGrok;959086]Enilegna, I wonder if my gall bladder might only look bad after I've eaten fat, triggered a bile release, but maybe it's not releasing for some reason? That's why I wonder if the $700 might have been a waste, if I hadn't had any fat. Kind of like having a celiac test run when you haven't had any wheat in 6 months.

Ohh, ok. Sorry, I don't know anything about that. I can only guess that the pain might leave some bruising (Bruising of the gallbladder?) but I see what you mean, getting sick is defenitely not cheap!

[Enilegna/hearts]

There were no restrictions. the doctor said eat whatever i wanted but if I ate something that made me sick or hurt, etc. that i should wait for a few weeks and try it again. I didn't have huge problems before. only 1 gall bladder attack but my big problem was back pain. that was daily and very annoying.

Most of the time everytime I eat I get pain on my left side, although it varies in place. High on the back or inside, lower on the stomach, but always on the left :/. What about exercising? Did it take you too long to go back to any LHT routines or any exercise? My friends have been warning me to not even clean aroung the house for fear I might rip the wound and cause myself an internal inflammation .. yippe

[BestBetter]

I just had another idea.

Do you know if you have a histamine intolerance? This is something that is newly on my radar, because my husband just came up with a theory that this might be his issue. He is prone to gastrointestinal upset, which is one of the symptoms, and he tends to get a racing heart, which is another symptom. I never in a million years would have thought this was a problem for him, but now that we're tracking what he's eating with his symptoms, there seems to be a connection.

Histamine is in certain foods, and other foods trigger the body to release it, even if the food itself doesn't contain histamine. Usually people with this issue don't produce enough of the enzyme that breaks down the histamine, so there it's possible that some people can't handle any histamine-containing/producing food while others can have varying thresholds.

Histamines tend to be in foods that are fermented (like beer, wine and KOMBUCHA!!!), and foods that are cured (like bacon, cold cuts, sausages, etc...) as well as a few other oddball items (like chicken and tomatoes, and a few others. It's such a weird collection of foods that it SEEMS as if there is no pattern in what causes problems, but if you cut out these foods to do an elimination test, it should be obvious pretty quickly if this is your issue or not.

Here are some links, but it's a pretty easy thing to google for more info:

Histamine Intolerance - Allergy UK

What Is Histamine Intolerance? | Take The Histamine Intolerance Test

Histamine Intolerance