Sunmountain's Log

[sunmountain]

Surprising news. GI's nurse called me today. The lactulose breath test from last week results are ZERO methane and high hydrogen. I wrote down the numbers but left them at work. The hydrogen was slightly lower than in the June lactulose test. I think she said it was 50 then and 40 now (or 60 and 50). The June lactulose test was before I knew I had H. Pylori. The methane was very high in June.

So this might mean the overgrowth is not of methanogens any longer, which are harder to kill. Either the Prevpak or the 30mg MB or both presumably killed the methanogens. But not the hydrogen-producing bacteria which are easier to kill??

Also hydrogen sibo is supposed to correlate with diarrhea. But I have constipation.

VERY confusing.

Now the GI wants to study gastric emptying to determine the cause of the sibo and gastroparesis. Killing the sibo is not enough, said the nurse, if we don't know the cause it comes back. The choices are barium or smartpill.

I'm wondering if the dysmotility is caused by intestinal inflammation or damage to the muscle. If so, what are Peaty ways to heal intestinal muscle?

I do remember that right after Prevpak, the gastroparesis resolved completely, and for a few days life was good. Then everything came back. Perhaps the Prevpak did not kill some bacteria and they came out of hiding a few days later after the onslaught was over.

 

[NathanK]

post 109949

post 109916 Thanks, Blossom. I'll try not to worry about the spo2, which is now 95 pretty consistently upon waking, down from 96.

If your baseline normal spo2 was 99-100% and it decreased to 95% without any change in altitude or barometric pressure then that would be concerning although still not technically considered hypoxia in medical circles. A decrease by 4 points is considered a desaturation event even in the absence of hypoxia...

I can sometimes be anywhere from 93-98, but typically around 95 on average. My hemoglobin is in the high range of labs (~15.9%), which is what I'm guessing is the reason. I used to trip about possibly being hypoxic (especially after aspirin) so I can understand the confusion SM is having

 

[sunmountain]

Haidut suggested I try oregano oil for the sibo. I had some lying around from the summer when I had ordered it from Greece but not used it. I used it now for 2 days, 4 drops each morning and night in capsules.

I think it was starting to do something, but I started to feel some pain in the abdomen area and stopped because I was concerned that my esophagus and stomach lining from the H Pylori might still not be repaired fully.

I would have liked to continue it as I think it was doing something.

 

[sunmountain]

I'm trying to decide whether to go through the smartpill test on Monday. The GI's office is pushing it, since I won't do the barium xray. The nurse says we have to determine the cause of the sibo so it doesn't come back.

Hypo is a cause. I don't think I have an obstruction. I never had GI issues prior to peating 1.5 years ago when I added back carbs and more food to my diet. So I'm wondering what data he will get from the smartpill that is worth the risk and trouble for me.

 

[tara]

post 112399 So I'm wondering what data he will get from the smartpill that is worth the risk and trouble for me.

Good question. Can you find out?

 

[sunmountain]

"SmartPill is a diagnostic procedure in which the patient will swallow a pill that is the size of a multivitamin. This pill will travel through the entire gastrointestinal tract taking measurements of pH, temperature, and pressure. The patient will wear a device at their waist. The pill will wirelessly transmit data to the device over a period of several days. The patient may go about their normal daily activities. The gastroenterologist will interpret the data once the study is complete. The SmartPill will pass through a normal bowel movement.

This test is indicated for patients who have a suspected gastrointestinal motility disorder and suffer from symptoms such as bloating, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain and constipation. This test should NOT be done for patients who have had recent gastrointestinal surgery, have a known stricture, or have a known gastrointestinal obstruction."

Smartpill is NOT the size of a multivitamin. The nurse showed it to me when I went for the breath test. It's the size of a small bullet. She said one or two patients had choked on it, and she had to do Heimlich.

What I do not understand is what the pH, temperature, and pressure readings will reveal about motility, and why this approach is useful.

The reason I'm considering smartpill is that these hydrogen bacteria have survived both Prevpak and MB. Although the gastroparesis resolved for a few days after prevpak before coming back, the bloating never went away. ARe the hydrogen bacteria causing the gastroparesis, or something else?

If it's just hydrogen bacteria we are dealing with, I have a 14 day course of Rifaximin lying with me. Should I try that first before smartpill? But what are the odds that Rifaximin will do anything if Prevpak and MB couldn't kill them? Or am I asking the wrong questions.

To complicate things, I'm leaving for the tropics mid-December for 3 weeks.

 

[tara]

Looks to me like the two most obvious risks of swallowing the transmitter are:
1. If there is a mechanical obstruction, it could get stuck, and then it has to be got out somehow. Have they done anything to check if this is likely OK?
2. There is a little EMF radiation for a couple of days at extremely close range, but probably pretty low level. My hunch is this is significantly less destructive than the x-ray option.
3. What is it made of, and what might it leach?
Others may have more info.

I think if it was me I'd consider it, as long as I had some confidence it wasn't going to get stuck in a road block on the way through.

post 112418 I'm leaving for the tropics mid-December for 3 weeks.

Enjoy. :)

But maybe either leave a bit of a margin between smart pill and travel, in case of any complications, or leave it till you get back?

If you are lucky, that three weeks away will give you a boost.

 

[Blossom]

post 112419 or leave it till you get back?

That sounds like it might be a good plan. It would buy you some time to reflect on the situation without rushing into things. Maybe three weeks in the tropics will improve your GI function? If not you can always have the procedure when you return. Can I go in your suitcase?

 

[sunmountain]

Thanks guys. Haidut just suggested something that makes a lot of sense to me. He said low stomach acid directly causes sibo, and I could try Betaine Hcl plus pepsin.

Yesterday Jennifer suggested betaine to help digest protein.

Holy moly!

I just googled, and people report that constipation also went away after this betaine/pepsin. This could explain why I have hydrogen sibo but also constipation. My mother also takes or took this supplement. Could low acid also explain why I can't digest protein? It might also explain why the bloat never went away after prevpak.

It is definitely worth a try before going in for smartpill. Haidut suggested MRI, but I can't do MRI because of extreme claustrophobia and straight out panic.

BUT I also just read on the internet about a test for low stomach acid called Heidelberg test in which you down a capsule with transmitter -- which sounds a lot like the smartpill. Smartpill checks pH, pressure, temp. So maybe it's not a bad idea to do the smartpill, if it shows I have low acid, then the GI might prescribe betaine/pepsin.

In any case, I'm running to the store tomorrow morning to pick up the Betaine HCL plus pepsin and start trying it. I hope my stomach lining can tolerate it. Otherwise I have to go back on slippery elm, or maybe even take DGL for a little while.

I saw this on how to use it: http://scdlifestyle.com/2013/10/4-commo ... -mistakes/

The GI hasn't checked me for obstruction apart from the EGD. I don't THINK I have an obstruction but no proof except I had no digestive issues 1.5 years ago before increasing carbs and food. If it does get stuck then they xray and have to go in.

 

[sunmountain]

Just spoke with my mother. She said she started off taking betaine plus pepsin, but then switched to pancreatic enzymes because she could not get the betaine overseas when she travels. She now takes a formula called Creon. She said she had done the Heidelberg test twice, and it showed that she was making almost no acid.

We talked about diet, and I told her about milk and ripe fruit being good for you. She said that is what yogis eat and live long lives. Then I told her about altitude and CO2, and she said yogis prefer high altitude.

 

[tara]

Digestive enzymes seem like a low risk thing that could be worth trying. Or the betaine HCL.

 

[Parsifal]

What is the cause of low stomach acid? Isn't it high cortisol?

 

[Matty D]

Here are some reasons that I know of:

• long term Vegetarian diet
  Excessive intake of Alkaline foods
  Stress
  Low CO2 levels in the blood

(sorry don't have PubMed to back this up - based on my clinical and life experience)

 

[Giraffe]

post 112428

post 112419 or leave it till you get back?

That sounds like it might be a good plan. It would buy you some time to reflect on the situation without rushing into things. Maybe three weeks in the tropics will improve your GI function? If not you can always have the procedure when you return. Can I go in your suitcase?

:1 I also would take the decision after vacation. Can I go in your suitcase too?

post 112430 I just googled, and people report that constipation also went away after this betaine/pepsin. This could explain why I have hydrogen sibo but also constipation. My mother also takes or took this supplement. Could low acid also explain why I can't digest protein? It might also explain why the bloat never went away after prevpak.

Stomach acid is needed for protein digestion. The food sits longer in your stomach if it is not acidic enough. Chris Sandel did a podcast about bloating (see here post 101349), there he explains is quite good. Didn't you take a med that lowered stomach acid? (Famotodine?)

 

[sunmountain]

Thanks for the Chris Sandel podcast, Giraffe, that was truly enlightening about the digestive system. Too much I don't know!

I took one betaine/pepsin with lunch and one with dinner. It felt good. Instead of the usual feeling full, heavy, bloated, I think I felt the food moving! I didn't feel bloated (although my stomach is still sticking out). I plan to keep taking it!!

Do people take BOTH betaine and enzymes?

I've asked my doc to do blood test for enzymes, per Haidut, hope she calls it in.

Because I'm still not sure about the state of my stomach lining (the OO gave me a little pain so I stopped it), I was going to add DGL, but Haidut told me of a study for healing ulcers where you take 18g knox gelatin x 3 daily for 3 days. Then boom the ulcers are gone.

So tomorrow I'll return the DGL and get the knox. I hope I tolerate it better than I did the green can which I did when I started peating. But maybe the bloating I thought was being caused by green can was in fact low stomach acid.

So next 3 days, it's 3 x knox in between meals to keep it away from the betaine during meals. I don't think I can do without the betaine now, it's such a difference.

How do you all eat the knox? Making jello will be too much jello, maybe add to coffee and chamomile tea?

I'll call the nurse now and leave a message about rescheduling after my return. This is the second time I'm rescheduling. But I'm thankful not to go through it a week before departure.

Parsifal, that's an interesting question. I take pregnenolone daily for over a year but have not measured cortisol. Preg calmed me a lot (though I still panicky at this and that, I wonder if that will ever change). I did measure prolactin and PTH in July, and they were 10.8 and 45.

Matty, items one and three -- check. I don't know what my CO2 levels are in blood.

Ladies, I would LOVE to take you with me! We'd have a grand time! Maybe one day we could organize a Peat get together there...

 

[tara]

post 112577 How do you all eat the knox? Making jello will be too much jello, maybe add to coffee and chamomile tea?

I haven't been doing it lately, but for a while I was making really stiff jelly. Like 100ml gelatine powder to half a litre of OJ (plus extra sugar). If you set it in a flattish dish, you can cut it with knife or scissors, and pick up pieces with your fingers. My kids really liked them too. Dissolved in sweet milk coffee with a bit of cinnamon was tasty, too, but I've backed of that.

Why keep the gelatin away from the pepsin? Wouldn't the pepsn help use the gelatin?

I think maybe low salt diets can mess with stomach acid too? Don't think you are doing that, though.

bButeyko Control Pause is a measure you can take yourself that can give an indication of CO2 levels. Reduced breathing exercises can apparently really get things moving, but can be rough on the guts when they are full of food.

 

[Matty D]

post 112577
Because I'm still not sure about the state of my stomach lining (the OO gave me a little pain so I stopped it), I was going to add DGL, but Haidut told me of a study for healing ulcers where you take 18g knox gelatin x 3 daily for 3 days. Then boom the ulcers are gone.

Sunmountain could you send me this one? Would love to see it. A friend of mine suffers heavily from Ulcers. Cheers!

 

[sunmountain]

From Haidut:

"If you have very small ulcers, taking 18g gelatin 3 times daily (54g total daily) for 3 days in row has been shown to completely heal them in humans. In the first day, the above protocol has been found to stop the bleeding and it healed the ulcers in the remaining two days. It was regular practice back in the 1920s to treat ulcer with gelatin. Even something as small as one tablespoon daily may be highly beneficial and has no negative effects that I know of. Know gelatin brand runs about $2 for 32g of gelatin, so for under $10 you may be able to find some fast relief.
Ulcers are from stress, not excessive stomach acid.
http://raypeat.com/articles/articles/gelatin.shtml
"...Although Hans Selye observed as early as the 1930s that stress causes internal bleeding (in lungs, adrenals, thymus, intestine, salivary and tear glands, etc.), the medical establishment, which has the opportunity to see it after surgery, burns or other trauma, and following strokes and head injuries, prefers to explain it by "stomach hyperacidity," as if it were limited to the stomach and duodenum. And the spontaneous bruising, and easy bruising, that is experienced by millions of women, especially with the premenstrual syndrome, and nose bleeds, and scleral bleeding, purpura senilis, urinary bleeding, bleeding gums, and many other kinds of "spontaneous" or stress related bleeding, are treated by main-line medicine as if they had no particular physiological significance."

"...The 1936 Cyclopedia of Medicine (G.M. Piersol, editor, volume 6) mentions the use of gelatin solution to quickly control nosebleeds, excessive menstrual bleeding, bleeding ulcers (using three doses of 18 grams as a 10% solution during one day), and bleeding from hemorrhoids and the lower bowel, and hemorrhage from the bladder. But since Selye's work relating the thrombohemorrhagic syndromes to stress wasn't known at that time, gelatin was thought of as a useful drug, rather than as having potentially far-reaching physiological effects, antagonizing some of the agents of stress-induced tissue damage."

 

[sunmountain]

My doc is calling in the enzyme labs. I'm going to ask her to call in cortisol and serotonin. What is the name of the serotonin test that I read on the forum? Hpaa...something? I can't find it through searching.
thanks

 

[sunmountain]

My insurance won't pay for the whole blood or plasma serotonin as it's considered experimental. Labcorp is $299 for whole blood. Anyone know a less expensive lab? I seem to remember some posts on pay your own labs...