Sunmountain's Log

Glad it resolved your symptoms, Blossom. I thought bronchitis is viral; didn't realize antibiotic could help.

So yesterday I crono'd and the results are interesting. First, my lunch everyday involves a slice of quiche made with Nancy's non-fat cottage cheese, and a slice of homemade cheesecake also made with said cottage cheese. This way I might get in 0.75 to a cup of cottage cheese daily.

Because of homemade, it's been difficult to estimate how much cottage cheese I'm actually getting, so I've tried to be conservative. One of these days, I will create the foods in crono.

If I'm getting in a cup, then my protein from all sources is now up in the nineties range, which is great. However, I need to raise it a bit more to hit 100. I'm already eating shellfish and chicken soup frequently during the week. I can't take Great Lakes due to definite symptoms. Also eating daily Nancy's non-fat greek yogurt honey flavor which has a whopping 22g protein in a 6-oz cup. Not sure how else to increase.

Carbs over 300, which is good.

Fat below or in 20's, which is not bad.

BUT I'm still barely making 2000 calories a day!!!! This is sooooo frustrating. Since I went off the cypro, my appetite is a bit less. I was taking 4mg per day, which was causing constipation. I can try 1mg per day and supplement magnesium and see how it goes.

Crono also showed some interesting things. I need to supplement B's, E, K (already doing). But also minerals: magnesium, zinc, even things like manganese, potassium, phosphorus, copper. I'm trying to reduce my supps, but it seems I have to add more. I have at least started magnesium supplementation (calcium was ok).

In the vit E dept, I am taking Swanson's high gamma which Haidut posted somewhere. But should I not also take alpha? Anyone taking both alpha and gamma separately? One poster somewhere was alternating them daily.

Sunmountain, I notice that it's hard to get the calories in when going that low in fat and not making up the difference in dense sugar sources like white sugar, honey or dried fruits like dates. I think Nancy's makes a cottage cheese and yogurt with more fat? You could try that or up the dense sugar sources this way you won't stuff yourself with too much bulk that will make it harder to get the calories in. Just a thought!

Liver would cover off many of the vitamins. Just plug 2-3 ounces of beef liver into the cronometer and you'll be amazed!

The cottage cheese is actually low-fat; only the greek yogurt is non-fat. So I'm getting fat from cottage cheese and goat milk (low fat also) plus cooking with CO. I'm also eating white sugar and fructose powder 1:1 in 2-3 cups cafe con leche and in the greek yogurt and in the cheesecake, making it about 4-5 tablespoons of each sugar and fructose each day, maybe more.

I slacked off on the dates, so picked up those today. But how to get more protein? I don't think I can handle the taste of liver, it makes me squirm to think of it, though if I could it would solve the problem.

Still, I must not forget that overall I'm eating more than before I went to Mexico, and that my appetite was good on 4mg cypro which I picked up after Mexico and stopped a couple weeks ago due to constipation.

Today I forced myself to eat a slice of commercial pizza swimming with pufa oil at my daughter's badminton dinner. After the first bite, it was no problem to finish the rest of it! I did it because I felt such an OCD aversion and dread about eating it.

Somehow I'm missing the fresh OJ in Mexico! So life giving.

I had horrible memories of liver from childhood but once I ate it as an adult I felt so good that it reinforced me to continue eating it regularly. I actually started craving it!

I don't think I can handle it just yet...but how do you make it?

On another note, which E are you all taking?

On yet another note, ladies, how many of you are working, how many are in timeout due to health, like BigP? I'm starting to wonder for myself, as the fatigue seems to be here to stay.

sunmountain said:

I don't think I can handle it just yet...but how do you make it?

On another note, which E are you all taking?

On yet another note, ladies, how many of you are working, how many are in timeout due to health, like BigP? I'm starting to wonder for myself, as the fatigue seems to be here to stay.

Click to expand...

I just cook the liver in some butter in a frying pan.
On vitamin E it's just whatever is in Progest-e or estro-ban for me right now although I've used unique E before with good results. Forum member(s) j./johns74 recommend Carlson E Gems and another one I would need to search for.
I've had to work but often wished I didn't! Lately I've been feeling more motivated to work but I'm closing in on 2 years of this journey. I've am very, very envious of BP and happy she has had the opportunity to take time off!

4Spectrum was another vitamin E recommended by Wilfrid and j./johns74.

sunmountain said:

I slacked off on the dates, so picked up those today. But how to get more protein? I don't think I can handle the taste of liver, it makes me squirm to think of it, though if I could it would solve the problem.

Click to expand...

Are you craving more protein or...? What about eggs? If you find you just can't stomach liver, Ray has mentioned eggs as an alternative.

sunmountain said:

Still, I must not forget that overall I'm eating more than before I went to Mexico, and that my appetite was good on 4mg cypro which I picked up after Mexico and stopped a couple weeks ago due to constipation.

Click to expand...

Now see, this is good! I think if you're feeling satisfied, that's great! I know you were trying to refeed, but it's also not good to forcefeed yourself, in my opinion. I continued to forcefeed myself after my extreme hunger had dropped out of a fear that I needed to get the calories in. That resulted in a whole host of other problems.

sunmountain said:

Today I forced myself to eat a slice of commercial pizza swimming with pufa oil at my daughter's badminton dinner. After the first bite, it was no problem to finish the rest of it! I did it because I felt such an OCD aversion and dread about eating it.

Click to expand...

Good for you! I know some might not see the health in us forcing ourselves to eat "unhealthy" foods every now and then, but I actually see it as being very healthy. A slice of pizza won't make or break us, but that OCD dreadful fear over food can be downright paralyzingly.

Back when I refed, once a week, I would go to a local mom and pop bakery and get myself a piece of cake. I had developed such food phobias during my 80/10/10 stint. It was so bad that if someone offered me food that wasn't fruits or veggies, I would start to panic and my mind would race to come up with an excuse to tell them as to why I was refusing it. My mind was perceiving a threat that didn't exist. By getting the cake, I was forcing myself to eat something where I didn't know every ingredient in it. And I'm still alive to talk about it. LOL

yeah, i think i read on the Matt Stone site that if you eat something with the dread or fear of it, it could set up a response in your body that causes your body to "attack" the perceived invader (the food) and so at the least you might not digest it well and feel bad. So when I'm going to eat something "bad" I make up my mind ahead of time to enjoy it. I also try to eat it mindfully in that if the "bad" food really doesn't taste good, I'll stop eating it. I did that with a cookie last night. I'd had one the day before and it was soooo delicious. It was worth any pufa. But I tried another one (exact same box of cookies) the next night and right away it seemed so ordinary to my taste buds, I just didn't even like it, but found I was still eating it out of habit. Instead I put it down and had something else.

As far as work, I'm glad I was able to not have to work and be able to work on my health like I have, but now I'm at the place where I want to go back to work, at least on a part time basis. It feels like the drive and energy is there and that work would help complete my life and enrich me at this point.

Thanks Blossom and Jennifer!

My abdominal spasms have mostly subsided, so that's a relief. However, the fatigue is now noticeable. It was the reason I increased the acupuncture sessions, as they were providing relief from fatigue.

I'm back to being bloated, having gas, feeling fatigue. I don't know if this is just refeeding, or whether refeeding involves SIBO, but it feels like SIBO to me. I just emailed my doc to see if she will agree to a hydrogen or whatever breath test and a stool test, but I am not hopeful.

What are my options? The GI insists on first doing a colonscopy. I don't want a colonoscopy when the problem is more likely SIBO. Are there problems in the colon that can produce the symptoms I'm having. I don't have blood in stool and don't think there is cancer.

I still have the minocycline. I saw a study that said 100mg x 2 per day for 10 days, and if that doesn't work then cycle it, etc. Then I read about possible complications from overuse such as c. diff. I also read about Rifaximin which is not absorbed, so is considered better. And I read about prokinetics, one of which the Mexican doctor gave me and I still have (can't remember name).

It seems to me that Rifaximin and prokinetic might be relatively harmless way to self-treat SIBO.

I could try going back to the MD/Homeopath who had prescribed me progesterone and preg pre-Peat.

The other confusing thing is that sugar is blamed for SIBO. The bacteria love sugar, they say. Starve the bacteria, they say. I've read enough of BigP to know that starvation of bacteria doesn't work. Plus LC is a non-option. So somehow I got to kill or move along what's in there, and then whatever is left has to live with sugar.

I need to do something. I'm so tired all day, and I have to go to work. I can't even function at a freakin' part-time job! My muscles are stiff or achy, and I am tired. And the gas makes me feel less than human. I'm eating a ton of protein, so why are my muscles stiff? Am I just feeding the bastard bacteria???

Has anyone tried using a prokinetic by itself to solve SIBO? Which one? As adjunct to antibiotic? My mother was experimenting with LDN...I'll have to ask her how it went.

Thanks for the support on the refeeding/forcefeeding, Jennifer! It sure seems a fine balance. It helps to take a break from watching calories.

Blossom, I looked up Carlson E and 4spectrum. Carlson has a lot of pufa, it seems, and 4spectrum has tocotrienols. I looked up toxinless, and Dan has LEF E, which has 400 alpha from sunflower oil, in glycerin. I am currently taking Haidut's recommendation Swanson High gamma in glycerin.

I'm wondering if it makes sense to alternate the LEF e with the Swanson every other day. I also want to increase dosage (just taking one softgel at night right now), and can experiment with increased dosage. Any downsides to that?

Thanks

That is a very good insight and reminder, Peata! With me, it was the first bite that was the problem. After that I enjoyed it. But I will remember your/Matt Stone's warning...it could happen the other way too.

It's great that you want to get back to work now, Peata, and that you were able to take the time off that you needed. Part of my reluctance to give up work right now (and make major life changes) has to also do with the fact that I have a really good part-time job that I enjoy and pays decent money and health benefits. I don't know how much longer I can keep it part-time, though. And if I give it up now, I don't know if I could go back to it later.

At the same time, it seems like it's getting harder to function. I could have stayed in bed all day today, that's how tired I feel.

I don't see a problem with taking the two different E's on alternating days or even taking one of each on the same day since one is high alpha and the other is high gamma. I might look into those two as well. The last bottle I had of A.C Grace Unique E was very dark in color but I hate to take my chances since I can't open the bottle and inspect the contents before purchasing.
I often spend my days off napping and taking it easy sunmountain. I used to be hard on myself about this but lately I've been practicing more self compassion and figure this is just what I need right now. When I look back on everything I've been through it makes perfect sense. I've had to work through many years of illness when I really needed time to rest and recover. Now I'm finally pacing myself and resting when I need to and I think that piece is very important. I just thought I'd mention that so you don't think you're the only one.

The reason I'm confused about the E is because I read some post that the ratio of alpha to gamma is important. But I don't remember beyond that. So if we took one each of these two E's, wouldn't that throw the ratio off?

I'm glad you reminded me of your struggle, Blossom. I kinda just don't know what to do about my stomach and mad that the docs want me to go through all kind of tests before giving me the antibiotics I need.

I wanted to ask you, did you also experience gut problems when you started peating, and what did you do about them? How long did they last for?

Another problem with this whole recovery thing is how it slowly cuts you off from friends. I miss my hiking friends. I miss inviting friends to dinner. I miss going dancing. I can't date with SIBO going on. These days I just lay on my bed, too tired to do much beyond cooking. Today I went for a walk with a friend, and came back exhausted. It was almost not worth it.

I just read lookingforanswers post and felt sad. I too am spending a lot of time doing health research. Maybe I should read a book instead, even an e-book is fine. The internet is amazing and addictive, and it's so easy to lose balance. But I do like coming to the forum because there is no one else who can understand my illness and recovery the way we do here. In fact, friends and family keep urging me to give up this "nutritional plan" because clearly it has gotten me in worse health. That is an added stressor, as I am sure everyone here well knows.

So I'm throwing this question out there to anyone who wants to answer -- how has your social and family life been affected by illness and this unique peaty recovery?

Getting better for me also seems to make me sleepy. I'm trying to go with it. I imagine this is not surprising when you've been running on adrenalin and cortisol for so long. I think my body knows what it needs. It even helps me sleep better at night and I've slept badly for years. It's a bit odd and isolating I agree. But temporary I'm sure.

sunmountain, I am going through the same thing right now, bloating, excessive burping, etc etc. It got to a point in the last week or so that I cannot take it anymore and am starting to treat it. I cannot figure out why it wont go away when before it would come for a day or two, I could raise my thyroid, and then it would go away. It just stays now. Was trying to track back whats has changed since then, and the only things I can think of right now are apple juice and yogurt. I ran across a guy online that he went through 4 different courses of antibiotics, and then would take probiotics after the SIBO was gone, then it would come right back. So he took a fifth round and then did not take the probiotics and it never returned. So a light went off in my head, possibly its the yogurt. So I will be dropping the yogurt for a while. I also have some doxycycline on hand so going to give it a shot. I am at my wits end, my esophagus is burnt, relief is needed.

Thank you, Sueq and Charlie! Yea, it's temporary but isolating, which is hard for me.

Charlie, I'm excited about your light bulb. I'm having a 6-oz cup of Nancy's greek probiotic yogurt everday with 2T each sugar and fructose. I have it because it has a whopping 22g protein in a small 6-oz cup. None of the other brands come close for this much protein.

But you may be right about this. I have noticed some bloating after the yogurt though hard to say cuz bloated all the time. So I will lay off the yogurt for some time. Of course that means I struggle harder for protein (can't do gelatin), so may eat some starch like bread which also has protein to compensate. Or beans. Just until I figure out the yogurt.

How much doxy will you take and how long? I guess not mino for you based on your past experience...

I too was thinking about the mino I have on hand...getting desperate...but in the meantime my doc got back and said she will do the breath test for SIBO!! So I might actually hold off any changes until completing the breath test (I typed "death" test, LOL!). You have to be off antibiotics a month to take the breath test, etc.

Please Charlie, keep us posted so that we can see how things are going for you!

thanks!

Wait...I just checked and realize that Nancy's cottage cheese also has live cultures in it! I eat almost a cup of it daily in quiche and cheesecake!!!!!!!

I'm flooded with "good" bacteria!!!!!

The cottage cheese and greek yogurt are my protein mainstays, helping me reach almost 100g on crono daily.

Wait...I think I started on Nancy's after Mexico when I came back with perfect transit and slightly flatter stomach!!! (Of course the 3-day antibiotic for ear infection in Mx might also have helped...)

SO.

I think I should get off the cottage and greek ASAP. I'm going to check out Quark which I don't think has cultures. Whole Foods has quark by vermont creamery. My German former in-laws gave me cheesecake recipe with Quark -- that's what they use over there. Hopefully vermont creamery quark is not too full of bad stuff...I'm gonna get it today and make cheesecake and quiche with it.

Wish me luck!

The product detail page on VC's quark says:

INGREDIENTS: Pasteurized milk, culture, enzymes, salt
RENNET: Microbial (non-animal)

I guess that means it has good bacteria if it has culture??