I've finally fallen off the cliff ... What gives?

[gurs]

Jazz,

Not sure, but it could be hormone issues?? my instant menopause threw my Sjogrens into a firestorm that has not
quit in almost 10 years. Low estrogen, or other hormones can make everything 100 worse for us with SS. The dryness is just
crazy. Your gut sounds like mine..nightmare!!!!! Wish I had some answers. Im still searching.

Gursie

[cari]

Good info.... albeit very sobering. I'm currently on an anti-fungal, I watch my diet and am dairy, gluten and as much sugar-free as is possible.

I can take probiotics in moderation. I also have SIBO... so my gut is a mess. Has been for years.

I spent 18 months on the Body Ecology Diet and that sent me over the edge because the sauerkraut is high in histamine.

Is the anti fungal a medication?  I don't know anything about diets, people keep throwing diets at me.  All I know is that if you have a leaky gut, your  body cannot absorb whatever nutrients you are getting from food and the medication is harmful to any good flora you have in the body.  I therefore suggest you see a good nutritionist who can work with you in a holistic way in order to heal your gut.  This may take several months and I understand that you can't stop taking prescribed medication but the anti fungal for example may be swapped with less harmful supplement that doesn't do as much damage.  If you can tolerate Tummeric which as far as I'm aware is very high in salicylates, then there may be other supplements you can take that work with your body rather than against it.

I found this website which gives more information on salicylate sensitivity which has recipes and and lists of food that you can eat and may be worth having a look at:
http://salicylatesensitivity.com/

I wish you all the best and hope you find a solution

[jazzlover]

Thanks, cari.... I'll keep looking. I don't have access to any holistic nutritionists that I know of. My health coach would have been the closest to that .. but her ideas made me worse since we didn't know I was sals sensitive at the time.

I've seen that site... thank you. I'll just keep plugging along over here.

Gurs.. I had to stop taking testosterone cream as it made me itch and the estriol also...6-8 mo ago. I'm still on estrace and I use progesterone cream as much as I am able.

[irish]

I have had colon issues off and on and two times it was to the point that it affected my everyday living in regards to pain and frequent and almost emergency bathroom trips.

I had been in ER and given IV's etc and meds one time and sent home. I ended up back in ER and saw a different doctor who took as different approach. He put me on Flagyl which is an antibiotic that affects anerobic and aerobic bacteria. This is bacteria that lives without presence of oxygen and bacteria that live in oxygen. It got rid of my bowel issues.

This past year I had suffered for pretty much the whole year with colon issues. I had colonoscopy, and scoping of the whole GI tract with biopsies of many areas. Celiac was ruled out and there was nothing that showed up that could cause all my problems.

After the testing I continued to have the problems. I went back to my internist and explained about the Flagyl treatment years ago and how it helped. She told me about a condition (it had a name that I had never heard of and, of course, I forgot) that involves low grade infection in the GI tract. She put me on the Flagyl tablets and low and behold I got better. You might want to investigate this treatment when you have gut issues that don't seem to respond to anything else.

Sometimes we can have such bothersome problems that can end up needing a less complicated treatment than one would think. Good luck all. Irish

[jazzlover]

Thanks, Irish. My problem is more from candida and SIBO than from my colon. I would say my big issue is the small intestine.

I can't take flagyl as it causes nerve pain for me.

I tried the meds for SIBO about 6 yrs ago and I just went downhill after that.