Gut Health! Sort of a Log

I haven’t read this whole thread but I have a question: How much of gut health issues have to do with unwanted germs?

If anyone recalls I started a thread regarding a food intolerance test I took. Even after adjusting my diet and experiencing some relief I still had issues. So I started seeing this doctor who practises integrative medicine (has a medical degree but combines standard western medicine with eastern medicine) and he recommended this GI panel to me:

I don’t have any affiliation with this company.

For the record my issues has been mostly severe bloating and semi-regular diarrhea.

He also recommended I try this cheap Japanese Herb called SEIROGAN which apparently is considered a cure-all in Japan. It was mega cheap ($8 CDN) so I intend to give it a go before any testing.

My question is: has anyone dealt with parasites to resolve their GI issues?

Just wanted to discuss the ways parasites tested for on that GI panel are transmitted to us.

  1. Under-cooked meats and contaminated food consumption. Exposure to cat faces.
  2. Under-cooked pork, fecal-oral (including swine-to-human).
  3. Fecal-oral contamination from sexual contact or other exposure.
  4. Wildlife contact, eating improperly processed meat or eating food contaminated with such meat.
  5. Fecal-oral; contaminated water, fruits or vegetables.

It seems as though these parasites should be somewhat common in many of us but some show little to no symptoms? I mean I eat at Chipotle quite regularly and they recently shutdown temporarily for the spread of listeria in some of their stores!

Guys this is going to sound strange but smoking has really helped my IBS symptoms. Whenever I experience severe bloating, stomach pain and general unwelness post meal having a cigarette largely relieves the situation.

I’ve never been a regular smoker and probably average 10-15 cigarettes per YEAR.

Anyone have any idea how I can mimic the effects tobacco seems to have on my digestion without smoking?

vaping?

stupid 20 character thing

Was hoping for a solution that would allow me to avoid nicotine. Also I think vaping is less unhealthy not necessarily healthy

I dunno man, you could try a different stimulant I suppose. Caffeine? Have a coffee instead of a cigarette and see how that goes.

Either that or just buy a pipe and a sweet smoking jacket and look cool as fuck.

Technically speaking I don’t have IBS, but I do have many of the symptoms and have for years and have the syndrome ‘nervous stomach syndrome’. It’s about as close to a diagnosis without being a diagnosis.

Anyway, what did it for me was low dose tricyclic antidepressants. My issues were pain/discomfort and diarrhea related. Mostly pain and discomfort that greatly worsened just from stress and sleep levels just being a little off. I found nortriptyline much more tolerable than amitriptyline. But both fixed it.

Aren’t anti depressants accompanied by their own set of side effects?

They can, but not necessarily. 30mg of nortriptyline fixed all problems and I didn’t have any side effects from it. 25mg of amitriptyline caused sedation, lowered libido, and brain fog. Ami wasn’t the right one for me, but nortrip was great.

These are very low doses of antidepressants so the sides aren’t going to be as bad if present at all. You just gotta weight the pros vs the cons and work to find the right solution.

Pharma isn’t always the devil. It can be really helpful depending on the person and situation.

So it appears that fermented foods really are every bit as awesome as they’re supposed to be.

I had an absolutely killer stomach bug last week; I’ll spare you the details but I didn’t eat for like 4 days.

Usually after something like that it takes a good fortnight or so for me to get back to normal, but I’ve been eating a little sauerkraut every day and honestly my digestion has been better than it has in years. I can even eat foods that I thought were off limits like spicy stuff and deli meat.

So yeah, highly recommend getting some fermented stuff if you’re having issues.

Has anyone ever attempted a parasite cleanse to improve their GI? I’ve travelled abroad extensively in the last year including the third world so I’ve decided to give it a go.

My stack:

Pau D’arco
Echinacea
Black Walnut
Goldseal
Wormwood
Fennel powder
Ginger Root

I bought the ingredients in bulk, mixed them together in equal parts and will be taking 3 tsp /day.

1 tablespoon of diatomaceous earth

I drink apple cider vinegar and eat Kimchi daily

Scientists at UCLA noticed that “time and time again” people suffered their first experience with anxiety or depression right after stomach illnesses. They did brain scans after patients ate probiotics, and found that stomach bacteria actually directly affected connectivity of the brain.

1 Like

that’s a really cool find

fermented foods are a god damn game changer

Since adding in a little sauerkraut a few times a week I can eat anything with no issues at all.

Pretty much all the foods I thought were off limits are back on the menu. I may even try going back to drinking whey protein!

Anyone make and drink Kombucha tea? If so what results and how long before you got them. Thanks

Hurt my stomach…

I have found a lot of relief from using Simethicone (brand Gas-X) to relieve my bloating symptoms.

Only Con: I can’t stop farting out the air.

Would recommend for anyone suffering from bad bloating symptoms.

have you tried an elimination diet, raj?

Since cutting out certain foods I never get bloated anymore, and I rarely ever even fart (I actually kinda miss it…)

Sadly I have…