Shifting perspective on IBS - ScienceNordic article

christinafriberg · Post by **christinafriberg** » Mon Oct 24, 2016 6:23 pm

I'm wondering if anyone here has used activated charcoal or bentonite clay for BAM?
My Naturopath has recommended it as being gentler than DE or chlorestyramine.
Christina

Erica P-G · Post by **Erica P-G** » Tue Oct 25, 2016 5:10 pm

HI Christina,
I have not used any charcoal or clay...I did let myself plateau in my healing where I wasn't reacting to any foods, no urgent WD, no cramps or pains....but still not having constant 6's. As soon as I gave the Cholestyramine a month trial, that was the little extra my body needed to find a new normal.

The DE I think is less harsh as a silica goes, but the Cholestyramine hasn't hurt me either.... and I feel is completely safe as far as I have researched it...yes it is a binder and yes I have to be careful to maintain enough external Magnesium to keep cramps away....and I am religious about not taking the binder anywhere near my supplements and I give it enough time away from each other that I feel my supplements are doing what they are supposed to.

If your gut feeling is to try the charcoal or clay...give it a whirl :-)
Erica

mary · Post by **mary** » Wed Oct 26, 2016 10:17 am

Tex,

Thanks for your reply. You always give much food for thought (no pun intended).

You have me thinking about supplements and nutrition issues, and I will have to monitor accordingly. I've had brittle nails since my teenage years which probably means I've been magnesium deficient for most of my adult life. I think I read in a long-ago post that you suffered severe asthma as a child. Am I right in thinking that? If so, I have a similar background and I've often wondered how it corelates with MC.

Based on your comments, I will up my topical magnesium.

Christina,

A friend asked me about charcoal not too long ago. She suffers from diverticulitis and was about to give it a go. I didn't realize that charcoal was known to be a gentler agent. If you try it, please post how it goes.

Mary

Post by **tex** » Wed Oct 26, 2016 12:51 pm

Mary,

Yes, I had severe asthma when I was young. Asthma is one of many, many symptoms of chronic magnesium deficiency. In fact there are published research articles describing effective treatment of asthma in many cases by resolving a magnesium deficiency.

If you're interested in reading more about the symptoms and syndromes that are known to be associated with a chronic magnesium deficiency, many of them are listed in the chapter on magnesium in my Pancreatic Cancer book. You can download a free digital copy at https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/665808 or any other bookseller that offers digital books (except for Amazon — Amazon will not allow a publisher to price any digital book below $0.99

).

Tex

Gabes-Apg · Post by **Gabes-Apg** » Wed Oct 26, 2016 12:54 pm

same same
i had chronic asthma and bronchitis as a child and into my adult hood.

I have not had any symptoms of asthma since removing food inflammation triggers, fixing Vit D3 and magnesium deficiency.

christinafriberg · Post by **christinafriberg** » Wed Oct 26, 2016 1:18 pm

Erica-"gut feeling"? Pun intended? ;-) Thanks for the input, it's very good of you to share your experience with MC, I've followed your success story and it gives me hope. And I'm a good twenty years older than you with probably a lot more damage from too many to mention meds, dental work, several AI diseases so while I'm impatient for a quick recovery I'm still aware it will take time and much trial and error. Some days I feel like a chemistry experiment, add a little more of any thing and there's an explosion(more WD).

Mary-
I will post when I try/if I try the charcoal. DE did not work for me, it may have been too early in the healing process. I'm
only 8 months into the right diet, lots of good mag oil and Vit D. I'm slowly adding in the B's.

Thank you Internet family for being just a couple of clicks away. You all have made a huge positive impact on my life.

Christina

mary · Post by **mary** » Tue Nov 29, 2016 9:21 am

Hello all,

Just thought I'd go on record here to say that cholestyramine did not end up working for me. I gave it 4 1/2 weeks, but something seemed off after about week 2. I was disappointed at first, but the process helped me pare down my diet and now I'm doing better than I have in months. I really needed to go back to the basics with my food (mostly protein, a little rice and banana thrown in, good helpings of broth), and get a handle on my supplements. Right now I've scaled back a little on my vitamin D to 4,000 IU daily as opposed to 7,000, and upped my topical magnesium. Seems to be doing the trick for now... things are always in motion over here, in more ways than one

I still plan to add in either the charcoal and D Earth once my gut heals a little more. This post really opened my eyes to the importance of removing toxins. And I loved seeing the thread on the supplement patches just a few days ago. I plan to order the B vitamins and take that way. Wonderful!

Thanks to all on this post for your thoughts, experience, advice and support. I've come a long way since I posted two months ago with your help.

Mary

Gabes-Apg · Post by **Gabes-Apg** » Tue Nov 29, 2016 2:00 pm

Mary
sorry the cholestyramine did not work out

but great news that the basic eating plan does bring a stability etc... having that is a foundation of life with MC

if you consider doing the charcoal - have a look at the dave asprey bulletproof coconut charcoal - this guy has spent thousands of dollars (actually i think it is millions) investigating what works and sources best ingredients for products (he does extensive testing on every batch to ensure it is up to standard) If i had more cash flow I would buy his products. part of the barrier cost wise for me is the postage from the USA

I am also very very lucky that i have a fantastic chiropractor/kinesiology practitioner who helps me by discounting some of the essential minerals i purchase. I am getting ionised mineral drops in things like magnesium, zinc, potassium etc at 1/2 of the cost.

mary · Post by **mary** » Tue Nov 29, 2016 2:25 pm

Thanks, Gabes. Will do. Thanks for the suggestion.

Mary

Erica P-G · Post by **Erica P-G** » Tue Nov 29, 2016 3:35 pm

Hi Mary,
Depending on what stage of healing you've gotten to I'm seeing a pattern that the cholestyramine is helping when one gets to the stage of knowing how healed they have become - what foods/stress/toxins trigger stresses in life they need to avoid and if the person has plateaued in healing and can't seem to reach Norman no matter how kind they are being to their body....that is when cholestyramine seems to be a helper.

Cholestyramine does not stop WD if the body is still reacting to proteins, it just helps the large intestine from producing extra water due to excess enzyme reaching it that the small intestine could not clear first.

I am very happy you are finding your baseline, that will help you forever and ever

Cheers
Erica

mary · Post by **mary** » Wed Nov 30, 2016 9:29 am

Erica,

Thanks for pointing that out. I wondered if the users of cholestyramine had any opinions on the subject of timing -- whether they'd just happened upon it at the right time in their healing or whether it would have helped from Day 1. I certainly wouldn't completely rule out trying it again.

I'm glad it's working for you. I know how compliant you were in trying to reach remission -- it's nice to hear of cases where the setbacks become more infrequent. So often we hear the negative (as is anything in life, I guess). It's nice that so many here continue to share after things really started to work in their/your favor.

Mary

Erica P-G · Post by **Erica P-G** » Wed Nov 30, 2016 12:21 pm

Being a newbie last year May 2015, I was put on cholestyramine for a short period....it did not touch anything so I felt it wasn't something that would ever help me. I was wrong...I needed to get some really good healing under my belt and get to a point that everything else was making a shift for the better.

No more pain in the gut
No more brain fog
Better energy
Sleeping thru the night with no emergency bathroom trips
No more acid reflux
A better attitude

Once I felt I had gotten myself to a point that I wasn't worrying so much about the nearest bathroom but still didn't want to be to far away from one that is when I decided I was at a stand still in healing even more....this is where Diatemaceous Earth or Cholestyramine may be the next piece of the puzzle for many.

Cheers
Erica

Gabes-Apg · Post by **Gabes-Apg** » Wed Nov 30, 2016 12:30 pm

good point Erica

in line with my experiences, the gut has to be in a reasonable state to be able to clear parasites/biotoxins (which cholestyramine and DE are used for)
the combo of reducing major triggers lowering inflammation levels allows the body to clear existing parasites/biotoxins etc...

Post by **tex** » Wed Nov 30, 2016 1:24 pm

Great observation Erica. I agree that if we compare results posted early on to results posted later in treatment programs, it appears that in most cases, the people who are finding cholestyramine to be most useful are those who have been treating the disease for more than a year, and they were searching for a final key to enhance/achieve/upgrade remission.

The reason for this may be found in the fact that while cholestyeramine is good for treating BAM, it's not so good for treating MC. Therefore, when MC is well-treated, and D still remains, the D may be due to BAM, which can then be treated by cholestyramine. But early on, treating BAM tends to be relatively ineffective in most cases, because BAM is not the primary cause of D in the early stages of MC. BAM may be present early on, but it's relative influence is overshadowed by the secretory D associated with the inflammation pattern that causes MC (lymphocytic infiltration into the mucosa of the intestines). After the lymphocyte levels have been suppressed by diet changes, then if remission is still elusive, it's time to consider BAM as the remaining cause for the D.

At least that's the way I see it.

Thanks Erica, for pointing this out.

Tex

Erica P-G · Post by **Erica P-G** » Wed Nov 30, 2016 5:48 pm

Thanks Gabes & Tex....

I've noticed it does not stop the reactions if you get into something you shouldn't have. You have to go back to your basics and once you do things clear up and I'm at the point that I tried an experiment and for about 5 days only took the cholestyramine at night without the BAM starting to interfere again....that tells me I'm still healing so I am back to doing 3/4 a scoop morning and night and am doing good again. I'll try this experiment again in another 6 months I think.

I also have to reiterate that I do not have any other debilitating autoimmune issues either so I am able to concentrate on this single issue when it arises.

Erica