I have seen so many similarities in other cases of people experiencing problems like mine after heavy antibiotic use. Many people, like me, start with problems in the stomach, IBD, Crohn's, Colitis, SIBO. After time new pain or disease, seemingly unrelated to these stomach issues, begins to develop. These people, like me, have stumped countless doctors with their symptoms. They, like me, are confused and scared about the new and constant pain they are feeling in their bodies. Fibromyalgia is what I have been diagnosed with, but no one knows exactly what it is, or even what causes it. And the confusion is not limited to my condition. The cause of Arthritis and Arthritis related disease is still unknown, even cancer and it's cause continues to elude the medical field. Doctors have theories, but no good remedies.
95 million Americans suffer from chronic stomach issues. More than 40 million suffer from Arthritis, with at least 2.5 million who are crippled by their condition.
Because I am one of the millions suffering from chronic, widespread, even debilitating pain, I have spent endless hours researching, trying to find an answer. The patterns emerging out of many cases similar to mine are undeniable. When cross referenced with the research that is being done by very small community of doctors and specialists, the findings are incontrovertible. It is already known that antibiotics can lead to an imbalance of the flora in the intestines resulting in bacterial overgrowth of one or more bacteria types. More often we have seen this happen with women; the antibiotic use resulting in a yeast infection. Because much, or all of the good bacteria has been wiped during antibiotic use, other bacteria types living in the gut are able to grow in abundance causing an imbalance in the flora. This is called bacterial dysbiosis. In my case, and I believe, in countless others, this imbalance causes the body to act in a way it is not supposed to, causing systems in the gut to malfunction.
The articles and books in my reference section at the end of this blog, detail new evidence suggesting that this type of digestive system malfunction, (due to the imbalance of flora in the gut) is the major cause of Irritable Bowel Disorder, Irritable Bowel Disease and IBS, and also causes Leaky Gut Syndrome. But problems arising from this imbalance are not isolated to the stomach and intestines. The systems that take place in our body all work together. It follows that, one process cannot be disrupted without affecting the others. SIBO (small intestinal bacteria overgrowth) is a conditon that affects the stomach/gut. It causes terrible bloating or an intolerance to certain foods. SIBO has also been linked to Eczema and Psoriasis, Rosacea, other skin diseases, Rheumatoid Arthritis and arthritic diseases like Ankylosing Spondylitis, as well as other syndromes such as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, and you guessed it—Fibromyalgia. Even colon and breast cancer have been linked to SIBO.
The doctors that have been researching these connections suggest that when we ingest food in this state, it causes one or more of the following symptoms: putrefaction, fermentation, deficiency, and sensitization of food. These systems of irregular digestion cause the food we eat to become toxic, and what follows is an excess or decline of the body’s chemicals relating to these processes. Evidence shows that eating a low carb diet helps alleviate a vast array of symptoms due to the fact that carbs break down into simple sugars and feed the bacteria that have overgrown in the intestinal tract. I am not saying that all cases of the related diseases are due to this cause, therefore not all people can relieve their pain in this way, but cutting carbs from the diet to see if the negative symptoms dissipate can help people to understand more about their condition.
In my case, I have an overgrowth of the Klebsiella pneumonia bacteria. This happened after taking months of antibiotics to treat (unsuccessfully) the reoccurring tonsillitis I was experiencing. Regardless of the antibiotic treatment, I needed a tonsillectomy. I have not had another throat infection since, but because of this over-use of antibiotics, all my beneficial bacteria was completely wiped out, Klebsiella bacteria (which is highly resistant to antibiotics) was allowed to grow. It was a few months after my heavy antibiotic use that I began to have terrible stomach pain and bloating. After multiple trips to a variety of doctors (and after taking a Comprehensive Stool Analysis) I was diagnosed with SIBO. This infection is not at all rare. I have had this infection for almost 3 years now. It’s a good thing I do not carry the HLA-B27 gene, or it would be very likely that I would be developing Ankylosing Spondylitis, an arthritic disease that causes the joints in the spine, and progressively the rest of the body to fuse together. Spondylitis joined with the Klebsiella bacteria sets the stage for the disease to develop and grow. 90% of people with Spondylitis have a Klebsiella bacteria overgrowth. How many other people are developing these overgrowths due to an overuse of antibiotics? How many people are in pain and have no idea why, and how many doctors even understand what is happening to a growing number of their patients? I have never liked taking antibiotics, and I expressed my concerns on numerous occasions, practically begging for the doctor to take my tonsils out. Why did he refuse? I know now that his decision to treat me for months straight with progressively stronger antibiotics caused the mess I am dealing with today.
The Comprehensive Stool Analysis Test was not covered by my insurance, but it was much more informative than the Bacteria Breath Test (which is only able to determine whether there is bacteria present, or not) and the Colonoscopy. Those two tests alone cost insurance companies thousands of dollars, and cost me about $200, and were not able to give me any truly useful information...except that there was bacteria present.
I am seeing an Ayurvedic doctor now, and I have given up on all conventional medicine for the time being. I have started a new blog that details all of my alternative treatments and the corresponding lifestyle I have started to follow which has greatly helped to lessen the pain associated with Fibromyalgia. I would love for you to join me on this trip to wellness. I will be updating the blog daily. You can find it here. http://joyswellnesstrip.blogspot.com/
I am seeing an Ayurvedic doctor now, and I have given up on all conventional medicine for the time being. I have started a new blog that details all of my alternative treatments and the corresponding lifestyle I have started to follow which has greatly helped to lessen the pain associated with Fibromyalgia. I would love for you to join me on this trip to wellness. I will be updating the blog daily. You can find it here. http://joyswellnesstrip.blogspot.com/
Again, if anyone has loved ones suffering in any of the ways I discussed, please share this information with them. And PLEASE check out the links/books in my reference section. I don’t know what I would do without this information. Especially:
The article by Intestinal Dysbiosis and the Cause of Disease, by Dr. Leo Galland M.D., F.A.C.N. and Stephen Barrie, N.D. You can find it here if the hyperlink does not work:
Also, the book Digestive Wellness by Dr. Elizabeth Lipski, M.D. offers a wealth of information relating to stomach health and disease. (And, an interesting fact, is that it is the number 1 book stolen from doctor’s waiting rooms.)
And the book Perfect Health, by Deepak Chopra Md.
And the book Perfect Health, by Deepak Chopra Md.
Here are the tests that have been extremely useful in my search:
If you are feeling chronic stomach bloating and general digestive irritability and cannot find the cause, ask your doctor for:
A Comprehensive Stool Analysis with Parasitology by Doctors Data, if you would like to first try a test covered by insurance, then ask your GI for a Bacteria Breath test. If that comes back positive I would highly recommend a Comprehensive Stool Analysis.
If you are feeling chronic, widespread pain throughout your body, in addition to the Comp. Stool Analysis ask for a Sedimentation Rate blood test. It measures inflammation in the body. If there a lot of inflammation present it could mean a couple of things, none of which are good. If inflammation is present and you test positive for an overgrowth of bacteria, LOWER YOUR CARB/SUGAR INTAKE (or even cut it out temporarily to see how you feel.) Test for HLA-B27 (simple blood test) to determine whether you are at risk for Ankylosing Spondylitis.
If you test positive for Bacteria Overgrowth (SIBO), or if you have been diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Fibromyalgia or arthritic related diseases, or eczema, lower or cut your carb/sugar intake and see how you feel. If this helps your symptoms it is likely you have an overgrowth of bacteria.
It follows that it is important to eat a diet low in carbs and cut out all sugars when treating with heavy doses of antibiotics. Harmful bacteria feed off sugars and without the beneficial bacteria to keep them in check there is a possibility of bacteria overgrowth. Because of this doctors should direct patients to eat a low carb diet, and take a good probiotic when prescribing antibiotics. This is a preventative measure that can benefit all of us, but will especially those who have taken a lot of antibiotics in the past and those with lowered immune systems.
I am not the expert on this subject. But this process has made me an expert on my body systems. I’m putting forth the information I have learned that has helped me.
References:
The best article I’ve seen relating to the condition I am covering in my blog. Intestinal Dysbiosis and the Cause of Disease. Amazing article.
Great article regarding treatment of overgrowth of bacteria. I will be following this treatment plan.
This doctor has personal experiences that moved her to research klebsiella, and infection of klebsiella, and other gut related illnesses and how they lead to disease.
Klebsiella Extremely Drug-Resistant Infections traveling fast.
A person shares their story of how cutting carbs greatly helped alleviate symptoms of Osteoarthritis
I've been trying to figure out what is wrong with me now for over 5 years. It started off as extensive swelling and just feeling crappy when I ate food with additives. After cutting out those completely, it was gluten that made me sick, then the list grew and grew. I finally found a Dr. that was decent and tested positive for SIBO as well as several food intolerances. I blew off my colonoscopy and am thinking that the stool analysis would be good. I am on antibiotics, probiotics as well as a parasite remover-now wondering if I should wait a month until this procedure is complete...? Love your blog!
ReplyDeleteYou are absolutely correct. Ive had fibromyalgia 8 years and spent close to 50000 dollars trying various therapies, diets, and supplements, 1000's of hours researching. Ive regained 80-90 percent of my function this way. To sum up what I've discovered, gut dysbiosis is very likely the underlying cause of many chronic health problems, including fibromyalgia. Unfortunately, effective therapies and research in the area of gut dysbiosis are hard to come by...
ReplyDeleteDr. Jack Tips, wellnesswiz.com
DeleteThere is more and more evidence that FMS is yet another illnesses that results from intestinal dysbiosis. Herbs and supplementation of vitamins, minerals and amino acids can make symptoms better but they do not address the cause at all. They are like trying to address a leaky bucket by just using more water.
ReplyDeleteIt is now proven that gut flora (the gut biome) regulates the inflammatory system, and the wrong microbes in a person gut can easily cause an out of control auto-inflammatory response. The wrong gut flora can cause anything from ulceratative colitis & Chrones, to things like depression, Fibromyalgia, end stage cancer, and even heart disease. People have been accidentally cured of all of these things by treating them for ulceratative colitis with a transplant of microbes from a healthy persons large bowel (yes - a feacal transplant DID totally remove all traces of end stage cancer forma person right before they went in for chemotherapy). Yet in most of the western world this therapy is being regulated out of existence.
In 2014 in the US, the FDA stepped in to a new area of amazing medicine, one completely curing a lot of people... and trey shut down the worlds first faecal biome transplant bank.
They put in new regulations making it illegal to use transplants for anything but ulceratative colitis that won't respond to traditional western antibiotic therapy (which causes it in the first place). They also made it illegal to get a transplant from anyone who is not a close friend of relative (imagine that requirement for a blood donation or a heart transplant)
As a result the entire process had gone underground, and people are doing it on their own (DIY), without the necessary safety of having the donors gut tested for pathogens first. In the few clinics that operated before the FDA shut everything down, about 3/4 of potential donors failed that testing. This ought to tell us several things - 1 that testing is needed and - 2- that something is wrong with how people are living with that many people have bad gut issues.
ReplyDelete** TONSILS ***
The tonsils are a part of the lymphatic system. Constant tonsil infections (including recurrent strep infections) are very often a a result of the lymphatic system having problems.
The lymphatic system is heavily influenced by problems in the gut. Most of the lymphatic system lies along side of the small bowel, and a huge amount of intestinal nutrition (and poisons) cross from the small bowel into the lymphatic system. A bad gut, tend to lead to a bad lymphatic system, which tends to lead to tonsillitis. Antibiotics are wonders, but they can make this whole system break down. Not also that Triclosan, used as an anti-bacterial agent (biocide) in nearly everything - is listed as a large danger to human health by the FDA and is totally unregulated. It is now in all western waterways, and even in mothers milk. It also has been proven to cause disease (including immune problems like asthma). We do not NEED anti-bacterial soaps, plastics, shampoo, body wash, floor cleaners, etc. Old fashions soap and water is proven to work as well. Then entire industry is one fed on fear mongering advertising.
Triclosan (and other agro chemicals that just happen to be biocidal) are eveywhere in our environment today. They are also strongly implicated in killing off our normal gut flora.
It is not a stretch to think that glyphoaphate (round-up) would do the same exact thing to the biome of the human gut, that it does in the soil. Glyphosphate is not what we were told it is. In reality it is a persistent organochlorine (does not break down rapidly - not even in a desert, proven to cause human health problems) and it happens to kill soil microbes indiscriminately (making it very hard from plants to take in nutrition from the soil). It is on most non-organic food that comes from agriculture. It probably kills out gut bacteria too.
The gut biome is being ignored. So is the lymphatic system, which takes on all the blood and other liquids between the cells which do not get into the returning capillaries. That means it holds a lot of pollution. Way back in the 70s I recall reading a study that showed the most common substance in human sweat was auto exhaust. Think about THAT flowing through your lymph....along with all the synthetic toxins (and metabolites thereof) that your liver can't quite get rid of (because humans did not evolve around them) - such that they constantly re-circulate :
* out of the lymph and blood and fat cells - into the liver - into the bile, back through the intestinal wall - and on for another go.
And the tend to fill out fatty tissues.
When I was in my teens and into my early twenties I had constant recurring tonsil infections. I also lived with (and tended) my dad's chemical garden, and grew up in a town with dozens of pulp and paper mills (which are nasty poisonous things, and were even worse back then). I was also exposed to a lot of bad mold as the place is very wet. Now I have FMS, CFS and MCS along with inoperable chronic gallbladder disease.
The lymphatic system is hugely important, circulates lymph through the entire body, has no pump (it relies on physical motion to move lymph) and is is almost completely ignored by everyone in medicine who is not an oncologist. MOST of our immune system comes from lymphocytes, and our lymph (due to its nature) is filled with every last nasty thing in our bodily tissues. It can easily get sluggish (hence people with sore and swollen lymph glands). A person can even get their lymph so poisoned that a person gets burning weeping sores that start out with a very painful burning sensation deep in the flesh, and then burn their way out through the flesh.
The gut biome and the lymphatic system are very important in this sort of disease, as are the things that harm them.
sorry for my mispellings Late night posting
ReplyDeleteI have been diagnosed with Ankylosing Spondylitis and have been on lots of antibiotics over the years. I'm from Alabama and need to know how to get tested for SIBO.
ReplyDeleteTanya, I'm sorry you are experiencing this. I want to assure you that you can be OK and even be well again. It will just take time and a lot of intention focused intention in bringing your body back into balance. There are many different ways to do this what worked for me the most was Ayurveda. My doctor is incredibly knowledgeable of issues pertaining to our western culture. Not all Ayurvedic Drs are as equipped with this understanding.
DeleteYou should be able to order a comprehensive stool analysis test online. It's very worthwhile. The antibiotics I was being treated with did nothing except aggravate everything further.
The phone number for my doctor is (856) 786-3330. Her name is dr Teitelbaum and she does phone consultations . She can help you.
I am also available for coaching talks if you need help with pain management. i'm times it can feel like the pain is your only identity. You are not your pain. Remember this. If you need help please feel free to contact me. Wishing you divine support in your journey.
Joy
Softenandbreathe@gmail.com
Also, please check out my other blog which has much more information and shares my continued journey. I'm now free from FM. But there is so much more coming Through
DeleteWww.joyswellnesstrip.blogspot.com
DeleteI've been away from my blogs for the past 4 years because I have been going deep into processes. Emerging now to share all that has been revealed through this exploration. Please view my blog A Call To Those Who Are Waking Up at www.joyswellnesstrip.blogspot.com and visit my youtube channel if you are moved to explore with me in this way. https://www.youtube.com/user/JoysWellnessTrip
ReplyDeleteI suffered for decades with symptoms similar to Crohn's, CFS, and FM. Intestinal bloating, rheumatism, and general malaise.
ReplyDeleteGood news.....I finally figured it out. Just by a fluke of an idea, I tried rinsing my mouth in the morning, just as I awaken, before swallowing any saliva. An immediate result: no more symptoms. Thru the process of elimination, and research, I am fairly certain it is an oral klebsiella pneumoniae infection, likely originating from the tonsillectomy I had as a kid.
I have been 100% healthy for 2 months now.
Hope this info helps somebody out there. Feel free to email me.