Enterolab Results Questions

[Smiller]

I just received my EnteroLab results and am a bit confused. Does this mean I have celiac disease or just a gluten sensitivity? Regardless, I know I should avoid gluten.

I'm bummed that the chicken, egg, and almond are high as they have been a staple in my diet for years. This explains why the chicken broth wasn't helping me much.

Does this mean I can never eat these foods again or that I can slowly add them back after the inflammation has gone down?

Also, my Fat Malabsorption number is 2600+!! Is this related to Bile Acid Malabsorption?
Thanks!
Stephanie

2+ Reactivity:
Rice
Oat
Tuna
Pork
Beef
Cashew
Walnut

3+ Reactivity:
Corn
Chicken
Almond
White Potato

Fecal Anti-gliadin IgA 58 Units (Normal Range is less than 10 Units)
Fecal Anti-casein (cow’s milk) IgA 227 Units (Normal Range is less than 10 Units)
Fecal Anti-ovalbumin (chicken egg) IgA 72 Units (Normal Range is less than 10 Units)
Fecal Anti-soy IgA 51 Units (Normal Range is less than 10 Units)
Mean Value 11 Antigenic Foods 65 Units (Normal Range is less than 10 Units)

Grains:
Grain toward which you displayed the most immunologic reactivity: Corn
Grain toward which you displayed intermediate immunologic reactivity: Rice
Grain toward which you displayed the least immunologic reactivity: Oat

Meats:
Meat toward which you displayed the most immunologic reactivity: Chicken
Meat toward which you were next most immunologically reactive: Tuna
Meat toward which you displayed intermediate immunologic reactivity: Pork
Meat toward which you displayed the least immunologic reactivity: Beef

Nuts:
Nut toward which you displayed the most immunologic reactivity: Almond
Nut toward which you displayed intermediate immunologic reactivity: Cashew
Nut toward which you displayed the least immunologic reactivity: Walnut

Nightshades:
You displayed immunologic reactivity to white potato, the member of the nightshade family usually consumed most often and in greatest quantities. While this does not necessarily mean you would react to all other nightshade foods (tomatoes, peppers, eggplant), it is possible. In the realm of elimination diets for immunologic disorders, nightshades are usually eliminated as the entire food class (i.e., all four previously mentioned foods in this class). This is especially important to the clinical setting of arthritis.

Fat Malabsorption Stool Test (Fecal Fat)
Quantitative Microscopic Fecal Fat Score 2365 Units (Normal Range is less than 300 Units)

[tex]

Hi Stephanie,

Your results are all quite high, suggesting that you been reacting to many of these foods, for some time. And as you've noted, your fat malabsorption score was extremely high. That score probably implies that you have celiac disease, or at the very least, you apparently have one or more of the main celiac genes. The longer we react, the higher our antibody levels climb, the more sensitive our immune system becomes, and the more foods begin to cause us to react.

Whether or not you may be able to add some of these foods back into your diet after you reach remission, is the $64 question. It's possible that someday you might be able to add some of them back into your diet, but it will only be after several years of healing, because with your antibody levels, it will probably take an extended time period for your antibody levels to decay back to normal levels, so that your immune system settles down from its currently hyperactive levels.

if you haven't already read it, a back issue of the newsletter published by the Microscopic Colitis Foundation, that can be downloaded at the following link, contains a lot of information that you might find useful:

https://www.microscopiccolitisfoundatio ... 479987.pdf

I hope this helps,

Tex

[Smiller]

Thank you for your response, Tex.

My doc put me on 9mg Budesonide for the 6wks. This week I found out I have BAM so my doc put on 1 pill Colestopin daily and had me drop down to 6mg Budesonide. So far so good but I've lost lotsa weight and need to gain some back. I often wake up lethargic and am not sure if it's lack of calories or my new normal. My B12 levels are super high so that wouldn't be it. Of course, I'm nervous that whatever I add may cause me to regress.

I avoid the "high" items on the EnteroLab test results.

I've been eating beef, turkey, pork, squash, pumpkin, avocado, and sometimes peppermint tea with a bit of honey. I also added Amy Myer's Paleo Protein powder which is hydrolyzed non-GMO beef protein for added calories as a smoothie. I've been adding a squeeze of honey to the smoothie. Yesterday I added a teaspoon of coconut oil to the smoothie but based on how my tummy is feeling this morning..that probably wasn't a good idea.

I'd love to start eating bananas and use to eat them all the time but it doesn't seem to be working for me. I take ripe bananas and freeze them. I either thaw them out or put them in the microwave a few seconds before eating. Maybe I shouldn't freeze them??

Any pointers on food to add to gain weight/calories?
Thanks tons!!

[tex]

Hi Stephanie,

If you have BAM, I'd be very surprised If one capsule of cholestyramine per day will provide any significant benefit, but together with budesonide, it might, because budesonide also helps to recycle bile acid, since cortisol regulates the absorption of bile acids in the terminal ilium.

The reason your vitamin B-12 level is so high is almost surely because you are not able to utilize the normal inactive forms of vitamin B-12 in food and supplements, because you have MTHFR gene mutations, which are causing methylation issues. Our bodies can only utilize vitamins in the active forms, and we're unable to transform the inactive forms into the active forms if we have certain methylation issues. When that happens, the inactive forms continue to build up (because we're not able to use them), and if those vitamin levels are tested, the results will usually be high, or even above the normal range, despite the fact that our bodies are starving for vitamin B-12. You need a vitamin B-12 supplement that contains the active form of B-12, methylcobalamin, rather than the inactive form used in the cheaper vitamins, cyanocobalamin. The microscopic colitis foundation is currently publishing a series of 4 newsletters this month, one each week, that cover vitamin information specific for MC patients. The last issue of the series will cover methylation issues in detail, so please watch for that issue, and read it carefully when it becomes available.

Fatigue is a very common symptom among MC patients, so it's not surprising at all that you are lethargic. In most cases, it can take up to 2 years after reaching remission, for the brain fog and fatigue to completely resolve, but they will slowly begin to fade away after your intestines begin to heal.but please be aware that fatigue is also a symptom of magnesium deficiency, and not only does MC deplete magnesium, but budesonide depletes it even faster. Therefore, if you're not taking a magnesium supplement, you're probably magnesium deficient, which is adding to your fatigue. 2 of the newsletters in the series that I mentioned above discuss magnesium, so it would probably be helpful to review those newsletters, also.

You will begin to gain weight again after you resolve the malabsorption issues and your intestines begin to heal. With an overall score of 65 on the 11 other antigenic foods results, you almost surely need to be avoiding the foods in the +2 category. If you find yourself reacting after your doctor reduces your budesonide dose, these foods in your diet might be the problem. At any rate, if you begin to react at that point, I would definitely try eliminating those foods from my diet.

Paleo protein supplements early on in our treatment are almost always counterproductive. The product you're using is based on beef protein, which your EnteroLab results showed should be avoided, and almost all of those products contain other added ingredients that cause many of us to react, especially before we heal. Ingredients such as tapioca derivatives, natural flavoring, etc. because most of us to react. I noticed that some of her versions contain coconut oil. Coconut oil is usually beneficial for most of us, however. The fact that you had problems when using that, suggests that you may be having problems with ingredients in the product itself, rather than the coconut oil that you added.

It's possible that frozen bananas may be a problem before your intestines heal, simply because of the temperature involved, but ripe bananas are more likely to cause histamine problems, because ripe bananas are a high histamine food, and the riper they get, the higher the histamine level. I love frozen bananas as a snack, but they don't love me if they're completely ripe, because of the histamine levels.

I hope this helps. These are just a few thoughts that come to mind, after I read your post, but remember that this is just my opinion, so it may only be worth what it cost you.

Tex

[Smiller]

Thank you so much for your insight! I greatly appreciate it!

I've been using topical Magnesium equivalent to 200mg along with 5000 IUI Vitamin D. I have the Doctor's Best High Absorption Magnesium but haven't started taking it yet given my gut sensitivity. Should I go ahead and start taking it? One a day?

I'm ordering Pure Encapsulations Methylcobalamin 1,000 mcg | Vitamin B12 Supplement. I assume I take it once a day?

I guess I was thinking since my sensitivity is high for everything...eating items that have the least reactivity would be ok? But it sounds like that's not the case. If I'm sensitive to everything...what do I eat?

Do you have suggestions on other high calorie proteins I could add into my diet that I could find at a, grocery store (ex. HEB)? I'll definitely stop the Paleo Protein! I tried salmon and that didn't go over well.

So far, my BM with the 6mg Budesonide and 1 Colestipol has been the most normal since this all started.

SMiller

[Smiller]

A couple other questions:

Are sweet potatoes part of the "white potato" class?

I guess I could continue eating turkey. How about venison? I don't like thinking about eating deer as they roam my neighborhood..but if that's gonna get me feeling better... :)

Thanks!
SMiller

[Gabes-Apg]

I am glad you stopped the protein powder - that was going to be my first suggestion

given your soy result double check the following items

- the peppermint tea - are you brewing leaves or using tea bag type. If bags, check ingredients for soy
- check all bathroom products for wheat and soy. natural shampoos have wheat germ etc. any moisturiser with Vit E has soy.
( I react worse to soy than gluten so had to remove every trace of soy products from my day to day life)
this applies to make up, lipsticks, lip balms etc

- swapping to grass fed meats is in your best interest. anything else and the animals will be fed a wheat / soy grain based feed and this would be contributing to your issues (yes you can react to secondary ingesting of these ingredients)


weight gain will happen once you get on the right eating plan, reduce inflammation in the body.
First step, find what works, minimise as many triggers as possible. Get into a routine

are you sharing the kitchen with others? if so, I strongly encourage you to have your own cookware that never have anything gluten or soy in them.
including chopping boards, cooking utensils etc.

hope this helps

[Smiller]

Gabes,
Thanks for responding!

Peppermint tea leaves are loose, not in a bag.
My whole family eats wheat products so I'll need to see how I can get my own stuff.
I hadn't checked for soy/Vitamin E in products..will be doing that!

A couple questions:
1. The Enterolab results show I'm reactive to white potato. I assume sweet potato would be OK to eat though?

2. I have been using 200mg topical magnesium along with Vit D for almost a month as my gut has been a mess! Do you think it's Ok for me to move to the Doctor's Best Magnesium now that my gut/bms are getting better?

3. I ordered Pure Encapsulations Methylcobalamin 1,000 mcg | Vitamin B12 Supplement. Should I take once a day?

I've been eating organic grass fed beef but I'll try and replace it with lamb or venison, if I can find them.

Sounds like my protein staple needs to be turkey as that's more reasonably priced. :)

Thanks again!
Stephanie

[Gabes-Apg]

1. sweet potato should be ok. start with small amounts. (ie no more than 1/4 cup 1/3 cup).

2. 200mg topical mag is low dose. Start the doctors best oral magnesium again start low and slow half a tablet once a day, if after 3 days not major reactions, increase to half a tablet twice a day. again after 3 days if no issues increase to half tablet in the morning, and full tablet at night
keep doing the topical magnesium

what dose Vit D3 are you doing??

3. check the dosage on the product when it arrives (I am not sure of the dosage for that product). start lowest dose for 3 days if not reaction increase.
(if one capsule is the daily dose try it)

dont make too many changes at once or on the same day.
get the magnesium intake sorted before starting the B12 product
two reasons
if you do react you know what you are reacting to and the body is a bit fragile at the moment, one change at a time is good option.

[Smiller]

Thanks for the recommendation to go slow.

I'm taking 5000 IUI Vitamin D.

Smiller

[Gabes-Apg]

during periods of increased inflammation, I will increase my Vit D3 from 5000iu up to 7000iu and if need be 10,000iu per day
with the current omicron covid outbreak here in Aus I am now taking 10,000 iu per day

[tex]

Hi Stephanie,

Gabes appears to have all the bases covered here, but I thought I'd mention that if you're looking for safe sources of protein, any wild or wild type animals, even if they're farm raised (such as farm raised deer or elk), should be safe, except for bison. most bison contain domestic cattle DNA these days, due to crossbreeding. Also, ducks, geese, pheasant quail, emu, etc., and farm raised catfish are safe. Most shellfish should be safe. This should give you plenty variety to choose from. A reasonable substitute for white potatoes is cauliflower. They can even be mashed, to resemble mashed potatoes. Avocados are safe for most people, and they have a relatively high fat content, if you're looking for additional calories.

Tex

[Smiller]

Thanks for the suggestions of wild animals. I'm not use to eating "wild" meat so this is new for me.

Bought some venison at the store and read it was mixed with beef when I got home. ugh! I'm Ok to try duck and quail even if I tested high on chicken? I assumed they were in the same family. I mixed ground turkey with ground lamb today so I'm hoping that's Ok.

Also, I tested high reactivity with tuna. Is catfish OK because it's not a salt water fish? Any other fish besides catfish that would work out?

Thanks again!

[tex]

Yes, ducks, quail, pheasants, etc., should be safe, despite the fact that you react to chicken. Although many freshwater fish tend to be safe, despite the fact that we react to tuna or salmon, there's no guarantee, because there are a few exceptions in some cases, so test catfish out By eating small amounts, for a time or 2, to make sure that you don't react, before you accepted into your diet. If catfish works okay, you may be able to eat just about any other freshwater fish but be sure to test small amounts of them, before assuming that they're safe. Goats (or cabrito) should also be safe.

Tex