My background: I don't really remember having a sensitive stomach as a kid, but I definitely took my fair share of antibiotics. I first remember having issues when I went to Jamaica with my mom when I was about 12...I wonder if I could have picked something up there that stayed with me... interestingly I also started having seasonal allergies about the same time.
I have had an IBS diagnosis since around 2004 when I was having problems with persistent D. So, I guess my first question is, is it possible that I've had MC for this long? At that time I figured out that I was reacting to soy, and cutting that out pretty much resolved the issue. Since then I have pretty much been OK in the D department, although I always get D when I get my period and often when I don't get enough sleep or at other random times. I have also never had a good reaction to alcohol- I have always gotten D if I drank more than 2 drinks. In the past 9 or so years my life has also been rather stressful- my boyfriend has developed multiple chronic health problems and hasn't been able to work, the house we bought was in much worse shape than we knew, my job is very sedentary (I teach online) and we have seen multiple rounds of layoffs and more work for less pay over the years. I've progressively seen my health worsen with trouble sleeping and lack of energy. I have also had a general low-grade depression for many years.
This is turning into a long sob story
, but I guess I may as well keep going... since my sleep problems seemed to cycle with my hormones, I started seeing a doctor in 2012 who specializes in hormone therapies (bioidentical) and she put me on a paleo type diet, which I managed to stick with for about a year and I started feeling better. I also tried taking progesterone, but that seemed to be causing digestive issues (mostly reflux), and didn't really seem to help with the sleep, so I stopped. One thing that helped somewhat with the sleep was iron supplements, since it turned out I had very low ferritin levels. I also started having heart palpitations last year (PVC's).Right now, I honestly can't really say when the last time was that I had a truly well-formed stool. I'm sure it's been 6 months, but it may have been longer. I've been thinking for quite some time that I really needed to figure out what was going on with my digestion. About 2.5 months ago (coinciding with another big round of layoffs a month earlier and then the election, which I reacted very badly to) I started having a lot of gurgling and rumbling after I ate, and then after a couple weeks of that I started having persistent WD and rapid weight loss. I am a small person, so don't have a lot to lose. I started at around 121 and am now down to 108. I had the usual stool tests with no results and scheduled a colonoscopy. When this started I basically went straight to an elimination diet, since everything seemed to be irritating me. I was already mostly gluten free since my boyfriend has celiac, but I had actually been eating more gluten than usual the weeks before this happened. And drinking more too... I had done elimination diets before, but never cut out eggs completely, so I was curious to see if that would help. Just cutting out the wheat, dairy, eggs, nuts didn't seem to make much difference though.
I discovered the "SCD lifestyle" website, and found that they had a diarrhea protocol in their "Leaky Gut" program, so decided to try that, since I felt like I just needed someone to tell me what to eat. My current diet is very similar to what is suggested on this website: chicken, turkey, pork, beef (I try to get organic and grass fed), salmon, shrimp, bone broths, cooked veggies (cucumbers, zucchini, carrots, cauliflower, peas, some broccoli), and apple and pear sauce. Also using ghee and olive oil. I am also taking fairly large doses of digestive enzymes and have started a supplement regime of D3 (10,000iu/day), K, C, B, L-glutamine, and Iodine (I have a thyroid nodule now too, which was biopsied and found to be benign, and I don't appear to have thyroid disfunction). I just ordered some Magnesium after reading about it here as well.
So, with all of that I have reduced my trips to the bathroom from 3-7 to 1-3 on most days and have also seen a reduction in other symptoms, such as gas, cramping and a feeling of having to go to the bathroom even when I don't have to. Interestingly enough, I saw additional improvement after my colonoscopy, so not sure what that means! My stools are still not formed, and I still sometimes get watery ones, but I'm considering this improvement for sure and have been slowly trying to add more different veggies back in. I still need to give bananas a try...last time I tried a banana, it didn't go well, but that was also when I was still eating salads and fiber supplements...
Now the question is, what to do next? My doctor has prescribed me Budesonide. I am rather medication-averse, so haven't started it yet. The thing I'm asking myself is: is this going to help or hinder the healing process? I still feel quite vulnerable, like I could tip back the other way at any point, and I'm still trending towards losing weight, so I feel like I should at least try it, but the stories about weaning off are also a bit discouraging. I was just seeing the posts about LDN, maybe I should try that first...
Before the diagnosis I was also planning to do a more comprehensive stool panel (Genova Diagnostics CDSA), but am waiting to hear back from my functional medicine doc about whether or not I still should. I'm wondering if the sensitivity testing would be of more value at this point (they are both around $500!) since I may still be eating something I'm reacting to somewhat without knowing it.
Questions: Would being on budesonide interfere at all with the Enterolab testing? Do I need to be eating a food I am sensitive to in order to have it show up in the results?
Thanks for "listening"! I am thankful that I did manage to find the diet before things got even worse! Although I have been through many diet changes before, this overhaul has definitely been the most extreme and I am spending most of my free time cooking and eating. I am having to eat a lot more than normal to keep from dropping weight, so with that and the supplements my pocketbook is also seeing the strain and so is my relationship. My boyfriend and I are now talking about splitting up or at least living apart for a while. Living with someone who has chronic pain has been very difficult for me (and him of course) and now I just feel like I need to focus on caring for myself and not have the pressure of attending to his needs as well. That sounds kind of cold when I say it out loud! We are just both pretty worn out by everything we've been through, and I guess I just don't have much left to give....we were supposed to be going on our first real vacation together in March and we had to cancel it since I didn't know if I would be up to it...violins please!
