posted
A big part of my Lyme/babs is GI symptoms. They seemingly haven't changed at all since I've been in treatment. I'm currently on Mepron, Zith and Rocephin. Just finished a while on Flagyl.
I am going to talk to my LLMD about this, but what can I do herb wise to help heal my gut? I can't stand the food intolerances...they are getting more and more and worse and worse.
Posts: 215 | From Student | Registered: Oct 2007
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Tincup
Honored Contributor (10K+ posts)
Member # 5829
posted
Sure sorry to hear your belly is a bummer. Hope it feels better soon... and the rest of you too!
Look up leaky gut.
The tests for food allergies first... avoid those foods... use L-Glutamine- powder- no additives- pharmacutical grade only.
Keebler
Honored Contributor (25K+ posts)
Member # 12673
posted
-
Slippery Elm powder. mix a spoonful in cool water. add hot water and drink. you can put in a dash of vanilla, etc. but generally this is to coat the stomach lining.
You can also get Thayers' Slippery Elm lozenges.
---
a little L-glutamine can really help heal the stomach lining. Not too high a dose, though, as it can be too stimulating for brain if converted to glutamic acid.
posted
Gut problems with LD can often be the result of an underlying cause - grain sensitivities and/or Candida overgrowth. Too many docs,including LD docs, are not familiar enough with these two problems, and patients have to research this on their own. "Sensitivities" are different from "allergies" and can be hidden. There's a good test your doctor can order from BioTek Lab that will test you for 98 food sensitivities by measuring the antibodies you produce. Not sure of the "conventional" method for finding Candida, but if you're willing to try an alternative medicine test, an electromagnetic testing person can find Candida and food sensitivities.
Candida is an extremely dangerous problem when it goes systemic, and it often happens to people who have taken antibiotics a lot. Lots of good grade probiotics as well as Saccharomyces are suuuuper important during Lyme treatment. Hope this helps! Been there...done that....not fun.
Posts: 1 | From Delaware | Registered: Jul 2008
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METALLlC BLUE
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 6628
posted
I think my drug of choice is Nexium, combined with Pentasa (Which is not a steroid). It is given to Crohn's Disease patients. Another tool as well is protein shakes (Until the bowel heals).
The shakes are great because they can be added upon as improvement progresses with heavier ingredients to help weight gain, and nutritional support.
Herbal treatments are important, including alternative methods. Probiotics as an example: VSL #3 Capsules should be used. Nature's Way, ALIVE multivitamin should be used from the start.
The majority of problems with the bowel in severe cases is inflammation, no matter what is causing it. Treating the symptoms initially is wise, rather than antagonizing the infection or underlying yeast problem. Treating an infection will only worsen an already severe problem, so wait a little before treating the infection.
Here is how I start them.
First Stage (First 1-3 weeks): Severe bowel inflammation & allergies
Take Nexium 40mg x 1, and Pentasa 1 gram (1,000mg) x 4, and 2 VSL #3 capsules per day.
Include protein shakes, low sugar, high protein. Usually can be found in the bodybuilding section of Health Food stores. Ask the clerk. I used Optimum Whey or "ON Whey" early on. It should not cause an allergie in most patients, even those who are lactose intolerant. If it does, find a different protein source, like Caesin, or even Soy (assuming allergies aren't present here too)
At this point, you want to challenge any potential yeast problems, but in a gentle way. The probiotic is a good way to begin.
Second Stage (3rd to 8th week):
Continue taking medication, gut should begin healing.
Include slippery elm powder, ginger powder, any other natural antiinflammatory substances such as serrapeptasa.
Buy a shaker bottle from health food store, and begin mixing the protein with some of these powders. Add Stevia or other appropriate sweetner to get the desired taste you wish.
Third Stage (8th to 10th week): Gut should be healing well, and problems decreasing. Continue with medication. Probiotic should be ongoing at 1 capsule per day of VSL #3 now.
Add low fiber fruit to the protein, such as some frozen melon, or berries(Blue, Straw, Black) and some Plain Yogurt (Or low sugar/Splenda) and 4% Cottage Cheese (Unless allergies)1 tbsp Olive Oil
Now you begin treating the Yeast, or infection: Oil of Oregno, Grapefruit Seed Extract, Garlic Extract, -- use high quality manufactureres. A cleanse will help. Treat parasites, yeast. Beware, alot of these things "do" kill probiotics, not all, but a lot. So keep that probiotic separated from your other treatments by about 3 hours.
Fourth Stage (12-16th week): After a few months, up to about 5, healing should be complete, or nearly. Depending on whether the bowel problems are severe and chronic, or moderate and mild now -- you may begin changing the medications or alernating. Nexium can be taken every other day, or every two days, and Pentasa can be decreased to 1 gram x 2 -- so instead of 4 times per day, just morning and night in two doses will be fine. If the problem is ongoing after 3-4 months, keep the doses up at the highest, and continue forward.
Add protein, high fiber and low fiber fruit: Frozen Fruit in general, Straw, Apples, Banana, Melon, Berries of all kinds, -- whatever you like, then add 2oz regular uncooked Oatmeal, Milk (Your pick of Soy, Rice, Regular or Almond, or whatever), then add Olive Oil 1 tbsp, 4oz Cottage Cheese, 4oz Yogurt,
Fifth Stage (16th week onward), Healed
You can now eat a regular diet of your choosing and limit or discontinue the shakes.
Herbs can be used from second stage onward. Do your homework and choose the gentlest herbs available and try to get powdered forms that can be mixed and drank in a solution.
Important Note: If someone has debilitating chronic and acute bowel symptoms, which do not respond to any of these treatments, it may be necessary to do a short course of prednisone therapy. This is absolutely a last resort, and is potentially dangerous, but it's not uncommon, and even Lyme Specialists know it's sometimes necessary. This "will" heal the bowel, but antibiotic therapy typically used for Lyme should be maximum and aggressive during steroid therapy.
Steroid therapy should last only as long as is necessary to end the symptoms, then tapering should be gradually done by the patient. At higher doses, of 40mg as an example, 10mg tapering for 1 week is fine. The next week 5mg, the next week, 5mg, then again 5mg. Finally you reach 15 mg, and begin tapering at 2 1/2 mg per week. This is for saftey caution, as flare-ups of significant potential can occur unless the tapering is done slow, and the antibiotics have continued to remain aggressive to suppress the infection -- which of course will help the immune system from "rebounding" and causing an enormous amount of inflammation. The smaller the dose of steroids, the sooners the tapering should be done in 2 1/2 increments. Tapering is different for Lyme patients than for other diseases or situations.
Natural anti-inflammatories can be used during this time period if your Lyme Specialist feels it's appropriate.
I am not a doctor, this is a method I personally experienced. Try at all costs to avoid steroid therapy, as it will set you back and can damage your body if done for more than just a brief period of time, such as a few weeks. I would recommend no longer than 2 months maximum. That includes tapering.
-------------------- I am not a physician, so do your own research to confirm any ideas given and then speak with a health care provider you trust.
quote:Originally posted by dustyjoewilliams: Gut problems with LD can often be the result of an underlying cause - grain sensitivities and/or Candida overgrowth. Too many docs,including LD docs, are not familiar enough with these two problems, and patients have to research this on their own. "Sensitivities" are different from "allergies" and can be hidden. There's a good test your doctor can order from BioTek Lab that will test you for 98 food sensitivities by measuring the antibodies you produce. Not sure of the "conventional" method for finding Candida, but if you're willing to try an alternative medicine test, an electromagnetic testing person can find Candida and food sensitivities.
Candida is an extremely dangerous problem when it goes systemic, and it often happens to people who have taken antibiotics a lot. Lots of good grade probiotics as well as Saccharomyces are suuuuper important during Lyme treatment. Hope this helps! Been there...done that....not fun.
Bingo, this post hits the nail on the head. no amout of herba or meds can help the gut as much and diet
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Cobweb
Unregistered
posted
I'm with TC on this one-testing via bloodwork through Biotech labs resulted in sensitivites to specific foods.
Going on a gluten free diet plus eliminating the specific foods irritating the gut have made a big difference. Specific foods vary fromperson to person. In my daughter's case the additional foods, beside wheat, barley , oats and spelt were bananas, chicken,milk, pineapple, tomatoes-things I thought were healthy for her-not so.
We pretty much eat brown rice products.
We take the L-Glutamine- powder.
For me taking Rifampin for Bartonella has gone a long way to more normal stools-besides the dayglo orange color.
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disturbedme
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 12346
posted
Have you found out if you have Bartonella or not? Bartonella is one of the co-infections that causes much GI symptoms. Maybe if/when you start treating that you'll see some letup.
-------------------- One can never consent to creep when one feels an impulse to soar. ~ Helen Keller
My Lyme Story Posts: 2965 | From Land of Confusion (bitten in KS, moved to PA, now living in MD) | Registered: Jun 2007
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Dave6002
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 9064
posted
In addition to food sensitivities, lyme co infection and Candida overgrowth as already mentioned, high concentration of medicine released from capsules or tablets may hurt the GI system.
I prefer to liquefy solid medicine with plenty of water to avoid the agitation to the GI and probably increase the absorption.
Also we may need multiple sources of probiotics to increase the diversity of microbial species in the gut, not just from pills but from fermented food that contain active probiotics, such as Natto, Kimchi,Kombucha. See a full list here:
lymebytes
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 11830
posted
I had horrible stomach problems, which I swore was Candida...nope. My LLMd treated me (without testing for it, because tests aren't reliable) for H.pylori with Biaxin/Amoxi/Nexium. It worked great.
I did have food sensitivities, that went away with treatment.
I was tested for several things (can't remember all tests) like celiac disease, etc. all neg.
If you want something natural - Mastic Gum is suppose to be healing. (Not a gum - a capsule) I found some at Iherb.com by Jarrow for my husband.
METALLlC BLUE
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 6628
posted
I also want to chime in and recommend Co-infection consideration. Bartonella is the primary suspect and cause in a vast array of cases where severe digestive problems are present. Lyme itself can cause debilitating inflammatory illness of the bowel, and of course multiple chemical and food sensitivites -- often caused by the infection, are triggered.
So, get to a LLMD, and consider the article by Virginia T Sherr, Practical Gastroenterology. You can find it on the web. It's all about Lyme Disease and the bowel abnormalities and ailments it can cause.
-------------------- I am not a physician, so do your own research to confirm any ideas given and then speak with a health care provider you trust.
posted
I had what I had severe IBS for about ten years until recently.
I loaded up on probiotics for 6 months and I am now doing much better.
-------------------- I was diagnosed with and treated for late stage Lyme in 1991 with 6 weeks of doxycycline. Initially felt better, but then developed health problems that last until today. Posts: 83 | From New Jersey | Registered: May 2008
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ByronSBell 2007
Unregistered
posted
Several Probiotics at high doses
Anti-yeast diet
Aloe Vera
L-Glutamine
Healthy Oils (omega's)
Sometimes Nystatin is needed if yeast is bad...
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I don't have a candida problem...I'm taking Nystatin (the compounded kind with no sugar), TONS of probiotics, and I don't eat sugar.
I used to have yeast issues, but I don't anymore, I know for a fact.
I am already gluten, dairy, soy, sulfur (eggs, onions, garlic, cruciferious veggies and more), sugar, almond, peanut and pineapple free.
I did do the BioTek food allergy tests, and am following it. The problem is, every time I take a food out of my diet, I have a reaction if I put it back in.
It's so restrictive to live like this.
I will talk to my LLMD about Bart treatment. We're focusing on Babs right now because it has caused severe anemia issues.
Metallic, Thanks for the suggestions, but I can't do most of what you suggested. I used to live on protein shakes, but I can't anymore because I can't have any of them. They all either have soy, gluten, egg or dairy in them.
I feel like I'm living with a straight jacket on... my gut keeps not getting better.
I would love to hear more suggestions if people have them. Posts: 215 | From Student | Registered: Oct 2007
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posted
The only thing that has helped in getting me back somewhat back to "normal" is this: 1 "heaping teaspoon of my local store's (Shop-Rite) Fiber supplement--Equivalent to Metamucil--100% Natural Psyllium husk fiber,sugar-free,smooth texture,Orange flavor, along with Cholestyramine for Oral Suspension, USP, Light,(I get it in 168 gram tins)...I mix 1 "heaping" tsp.of the fiber along with 4 scoops of the cholestyramine (the scoop is packed into the tin) in a "Rubbermaid" container that you could probably find in your local stores "Baby Items" aisle. The Rubbermaid container says 0229-4 on the bottom, and is a 1 pint/500 ml.container,with graduated markings in either ml.or U.S. ounces... I mix this with at least 16 oz. water,drink it,and a half glass water,(8 oz.)about 5 min.later besides..I do this because the cholestyramine is notorious for getting to dissolve, will possibly etch your teeth,as it has done to some of my (drinking) glasses..By the way,the NDC code for the Cholestyramine is 0185-0939-97 It has helped,believe it or not, more than all the probiotics I've taken including Florastor,Flora-Q, StonyField Farms plain yogurt,and high potency refrigerated acidophilus from the local "Health-Food" stores.Drink extra water if you try this,as the fiber will not affect much, but the cholestyramine is known to bind/excrete certain fat soluble vitamins/meds (Take it about 2 Hrs. after meds/ABX)..Hope this helped......Joe
Posts: 249 | From Northern NJ | Registered: Jul 2005
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posted
If it's leaky gut then I recommend ketotifen-used off label-an antihistamine that heals the stomach lining. Incredibly effective. My GI problems started to disappear within a month. Send me a private message if you want more information.
Diana
Posts: 202 | From vancouver, canada | Registered: Jun 2005
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Clarissa
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 4715
sixgoofykids
Honored Contributor (10K+ posts)
Member # 11141
posted
Bart treatment is what cleared up my GI symptoms .... parasite treatment as well.
You CAN treat babs and bart at the same time. I took Malarone, Lariam, and Art along with Levaquin, Mino, and Tindamax.
-------------------- sixgoofykids.blogspot.com Posts: 13449 | From Ohio | Registered: Feb 2007
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Cobweb
Unregistered
posted
I second the Bart treatment. I thought my bowels had become more manageable and were on the mend-then I started Bart treatment with Rifampin-and things are absolutely back to normal.
I didn't think I would ever see normal again.
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posted
Nexium + daily Theralac + Pepcid = fewer GI problems for me.
This helped me recover from my 6 week vomiting episode (after the Zofran finally killed the vomiting down to only nausea).
I have regained the 20 pounds I lost during those 6 weeks, and my stomach is much more cooperative. Though, my intestines are still protesting, so I probably need to up the Theralac.
I cannot follow the anti-candida or other diets very well because I am not well enough to cook for myself and have to rely on delivered foods. So, I have Mycelex for when yeast seems to be gaining a foothold.
Posts: 168 | From Delaware | Registered: Aug 2005
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