Leaky Gut... And all that Jazz

I may have finally found someone who can help me.

It all started 3 years ago when I married Jeff. I started really dealing with some pretty crippling digestive problems. I assumed I had celiacs disease, stopped eating gluten, and my issues died down... only to crop back up when I tried going off dairy to lose weight, went back on and suddenly was plagued by food allergies.

I have been looking 3 months pregnant every night before going to bed, dealing with bloating, discomfort, gas, constipation, you name it, I've had it. On top of that my hormones have been out of whack, my body has just been going full freak out on me... most of that has been just the last 9 months or so.

I was told by several people to check out the doctor at the clinic associated with People's Pharmacy, doctor Carlsrud. He's a nice man with bright blue eyes, and a very patient demeanor. So last night Jeff and I went to one of his free seminars on Thyroid issues (because I have a secret fear that it's my thyroid). Not only were we BY FAR the youngest people at the seminar (BY FAR.. I'm talking 30-50 years younger type BY FAR), we were the healthiest. It was a very informative lecture, Dr.Carlsrud was a biochemist, and knows his stuff, especially about hormones. After the lecture was over, I asked him if he felt that my 25 food allergies could be a sign of thyroid trouble. He looked at me and said, "Not really, it sounds like you've got leaky gut." He then told me that it was definitely something I needed to go over with my doctor and look further into. I told him it was a good thing I had already scheduled an appointment with him later this month.

Today the word "Leaky Gut" haunted me until I finally called his office and asked if we could move the appointment up. The image of my intestines spewing holes made me feel an urgency I could not control. They got me in today. I brought him my tests my ex-doctor ordered from almost a year ago, he looked them over, along with all my symptoms, and then pointed to my test results from a year ago, test results my ex-doctor NEVER even looked at with me, and showed me some bad numbers.

Apparently, my cholesterol is TOO low. TOO LOW??? I thought low was good?? No... low is bad... bad if you want your hormones to work right, bad if you don't have enough of the good cholesterol. My muscle ratio is awesome, he could tell I work out a lot, and he could tell I don't eat enough vegetables, at least I didn't when the tests were taken. That was also true, but not true anymore. The scariest part, was my liver function. The levels aren't supposed to be higher than a 56, mine was at 55, and he told me it's a signal that my liver is having a hard time keeping up with whatever is going on in my body. OK... so... what does all of this MEAN???

Well, he knows I have leaky gut probably caused by dysbiosis. Leaky gut is when the intestines are exposed to so much irritant, that little microscopic holes get punched into the intestinal wall, and things start getting through that aren't supposed to. This creates an immune response, inflaming the intestinal wall, causing even more food allergies, and wreaking havic on my entire body systems. On top of that, it is possible, with my high allergy to Yeast, that it is an internal yeast infection (candida) coupled with some other infection we don't know about, and that may be what is causing all the problems (aka dysbiosis). This can lead to auto-immune disorders if not properly treated.

So the next step, is me taking a bunch of tests, finding out where my levels are at currently, and then fixing whatever may be broken. Meanwhile, I am going to try a probiotic he prescribed, and stay on the Paleo diet but be more strict about it.

My point is.. finally someone took me seriously, someone is doing something to help me, and I may actually be able to eat normal food again without going into stomach spasms. That would be awesome. It's funny that I had to go to a more naturopathic type doctor to get help.. all my other doctors just kinda shrugged at me and offered me a colonoscopy or a prescription for some peptobismal-esque pill. Seriously, guys? I find more and more often that the medical profession shuns natural doctors, pushes pills, and never actually fixes or cures anyone, they simply suppress symptoms. I'm glad I found someone who can actually help me.

PS: Ever since I started the Paleo diet, my weight stopped going up, went back down 2 lbs, and I feel great. Oh.. and I haven't counted a single calorie since I started it... I eat lots of fat and it's awesome.