My Journey With Stomach Issues: Part One

I’ve probably had stomach issues dating back since college. I remember having so much stomach pain, I could barely walk that I ended up in the ER. Multiple times.

Fast forward, after my trip to Mexico circa fall 2010, thinking I had travelers diarrhea sickness, which was never the case. A few months later, I lost 12 lbs in 4 weeks. I was unable to hold anything down, losing time at work and ended up in the ER again and again.

I finally had both colonoscopy and endoscopy done at the same time only to find out I simply had “inflammation” in my intestine. I was also ruled out Chron’s Disease, Celiac Disease, or cancer. Good news right?

But why in the world was I still feeling like crap?

I gave up sugar and cream in my coffee, began a Paleo diet, started cooking more at home, and drank a ton of water.

Fast forward to today. I decided to start seeing a chiropractor to take better care of myself since I was having upper back and neck issues from the daily demands as a Dental Hygienist. At first, he was having trouble adjusting my back since it was so tight. By the 4th or 5th visit, he noticed my joints were also soft and inflamed. He started palpating other areas and noticed my rib area under my diaphragm was so tight and it hurt by pressure. It’s where my gall bladder and liver is.

Hold on. I would work out and feel like I have a stick in my rib constantly. It’s always in the same place. Which blew my mind because I’ve had this “stick” feeling in my ribs for such a LONG time! I had so many questions. I wanted more answers.

Here’s what we did:

• Written frequency test
• • This was to find out how often my symptoms happened
• GI Comprehensive Stool Test
• • I’ve given a stool sample in a doctor’s office in the past. This one was a very in-depth test of your bacteria levels in your system
• Celiac Antibody Test
• • This was to test out the food sensitivity. In-depth as well.

Not only I was free from any signs of stomach diseases but I found out I had bacteria in my intestine that was resistant to 3 different types of antibiotics. Which made every sense in the world as I looked back wondering why this or that time it wasn’t exactly working for me. I don’t have a single allergy to any antibiotics.

Also, I had several low sensitivity reaction to foods such as:

Banana, Bean sprout, Cayenne, Cod, Cow’s milk, Egg white, Gluten, Lactalbumin, Lobster, Millet, Parmesan cheese, Pecan, Pineapple, Pinto bean, Sage, Sesame, String bean, Thyme, Yogurt

He explained that when I eat the food listed above, it can cause a “delayed reaction” to it due to it being low. Not quite an allergy but “mildly sensitive”.

I’ve stopped eating these almost “moderate reaction”:

Kidney bean, Mushroom, Parsley

I was quite shocked. Most of them are part of my daily diet. Especially, eggs and yogurt. Even bananas and pineapples at this time of the year. Lacalbumin is actually whey. Good bye whey protein, hello plant-based protein.

When I found out I had a poor intestinal permeability or borderline “leaky gut” which

“is a condition in which the lining of the small intestine becomes damaged, causing undigested food particles, toxic waste products and bacteria to “leak” through the intestines and flood the blood stream.”

….I had all the symptoms of headache, itching, adult acne, bloating, fatigue, diarrhea or constipation, and indigestion.

Poor intestinal permeability in my case, not exactly a full blown Leaky Gut, comes from the diet. When I was eating greek yogurt and a bagel, my body went to overdrive, producing antibodies, triggering an immune response that caused bloating, diarrhea and headaches.  He immediately put me on Silver Colloidal protocol to help with ridding the body of bad bacteria in your gut. (PLEASE DO NOT DO THIS WITHOUT A DOCTOR.)

It’s been over a week and not only I feel so much better, the gall bladder inflammation I had under my ribs went away where I worked out for the first time without a cramp, my workout recovery improved, my Chondromalicia knee pain subsided, my mood changed drastically that I came back for a follow up and he told me I look like a completely different person.

Mind you, the week before, I was sobbing in his office. He’s not even a psychiatrist but he knew every reason why and how I’ve been feeling this way.

Elimination diet begins and the journey continues….stay tuned.