EUREKA! LEAKY GUT MAY BE THE ANSWER!!

The doctors are at the end of what they can offer.  I have done weeks of antibiotics (no change), endless labs, tests, a round of steroids (no change) and still I am no closer to answers than I was almost 6 weeks ago.

Sometimes when everyone else has given up, you just have to redouble your efforts and figure it out yourself.  Hours of research on the Net brought me to something that seems to tick all the boxes and even has my doc saying it's a possibility.

LEAKY GUT SYNDROME

This leads to inflammation throughout your system and can cause symptoms, such as:

Bloating

Food sensitivities

Thyroid conditions

Fatigue

Joint pain

Headaches

Skin issues like rosacea and acne

Digestive problems

Weight gain

Basically the longer my gut stays inflamed - the more holes appear - the more things get through - the more my liver overworks - the more antibodies the body produces - the more things I become allergic/reactive to.  Whew!

There is a lot of varying info out there about this - most on sites trying to sell you stuff - but the core information makes sense...

Here are a few articles that I have found helpful:
https://draxe.com/4-steps-to-heal-leaky-gut-and-autoimmune-disease/

http://scdlifestyle.com/2010/03/the-scd-diet-and-leaky-gut-syndrome/

https://rebootedbody.com/leaky-gut-syndrome/

If this is the case - it explains why nothing else we have tried has made any difference.

So what do I do?

Basically from what I can gather there are several things to do to help heal the gut lining...

Portion size:  Small meals every few hours - do not stretch the stomach or stress the bowel by overeating.  Part of this is a brain game for me - I am going to use smaller plates so I am not inclined to fill a large one.

Chew, chew, chew!:  Make it easier for your gut to process foods - esp meats - I am soooooo bad at this.  (Part of this is a psychological effect of my eating disorder - panic eating in a sense)

Elimination Diet:  I am having an allergy panel done to see what I am the most reactive to so I have a place to start - somewhere between the IBS FODMAP plan and the rather extreme versions of the Leaky Gut diet  - most leaky gut diets recommend getting rid of all sugar (including fruits) / gluten / dairy / soy - basically anything that feeds the yeast and irritates the bowel. It is a highly restrictive eating plan for those few weeks.

Add Probiotics/Digestive Enzymes:  Especially of the Lactobacillus variety (Which I have ordered)

Gradually reintroduce the food groups you eliminated - one at a time and if you react to anything - remove it from your diet for 3-6 months

If you don't react - gradually increase the amount and variety of items in that group to see what your levels of reaction are.

The test results should be interesting!