I tried to split this post into three sections-background, insights from the last two weeks, and a summary of each day. If you are a friend or family member, I’d recommend sticking with the background and insights. If you’re someone who is having digestive issues or is wondering what treatment might be like, I’d recommend reading everything.
This post is for informational purposes only and is not intended to treat or diagnose anyone. Go see a doctor for diagnosis and treatment.
Background:
This particular bout of health issues flared in 2015. My job had become extremely stressful and travel intensive, in conjunction with some major life changes: moving in with my boyfriend, becoming a Christian, getting married 2 weeks after being proposed to, becoming a step parent, then planning a wedding reception for the following summer. In 2016, I was finding I could no longer work full days, and my hair was falling out. When I felt that work was finally slow enough to go to the doctor, I was diagnosed with adrenal fatigue and told to take a month off of work to rest. HA! It didn’t seem possible at that point. However, I did take 2 weeks off then go back at halftime in May of 2016. Over the summer I was able to do less and less, and I finally ended up quitting my job in October 2016.
Between October 2016 and June 2018 I had the opportunity to learn how to rest and was able to work on a treatment plan for adrenal fatigue. I was feeling like I was making good progress in the first 3-4 months of 2018. Looking back now, I can see where I was sliding back a bit in April and May. In June, I experienced an extreme energy crash that left me looking for answers, since I didn’t think I had done anything significantly different than I had previously. At the beginning of July 2018, I went and saw a functional medicine doctor who ran a bunch of tests up front to figure out what other things might be wrong with me.
As mentioned in my post about the results from the last visit, my test results show that I have a yeast overgrowth, a parasite, SIBO (small intestinal bacterial overgrowth), and gut dysbiosis.
Previous test results indicated I have low stomach acid, nutritional deficiencies, and hormone imbalances with the adrenal glands, ovaries, and thyroid.
Previous test results indicated I have low stomach acid, nutritional deficiencies, and hormone imbalances with the adrenal glands, ovaries, and thyroid.
I have been on supplements for the hormone imbalances (previously diagnosed as adrenal fatigue) for a while. They started with my previous doctor. The new doctor is continuing to work on those issues, but with different supplements.
I started day 1 of my 4 phase, 10 week treatment plan on September 3rd, 2018. Phase 1 will work on the yeast, phase 2 will work on SIBO, phase 3 will work on SIBO and the parasite, and phase 4 will continue with the SIBO. The supplements for everything else will continue through the whole treatment period.
Treatment for phase 1 is focusing on killing off the yeast imbalance. I currently take 11 different supplements throughout the day. Only 1 pill is for the yeast. Three are for the hormone imbalances, 3 are for nutritional deficiencies, and 4 are for digestive support.
I take 7 different types of supplements at breakfast:
Breakfast of champions?
Insights from the last two weeks:
I spent much of my prep time trying to figure out a good way to track and organize pills. I wanted to prep food, but trying to find recipes that were both paleo and low FODMAP was overwhelming to me. I also wasn’t paying close attention to what I was eating during the prep week.
Prior to starting the first week of treatment, I had unknowingly eaten several high FODMAP foods and I wasn’t drinking enough water. Some days I didn’t get my one grain in, so I was lacking fiber in a big way (lots of veggies that have high fiber are also high FODMAP). All of that appears to be a recipe for very sluggish digestion.
By the time I started the treatment last Monday my digestion felt slow, and it only got worse during days 4-6. I am currently on day 8, and things are just starting to move a little better.
If I had to do it over again, I might have given myself 2 weeks of prep- one to figure out pills, and one to figure out food.
If you find yourself with a similarly prescribed diet (paleo-ish and low FODMAP), pay close attention to your fiber and water intake! The last few days, I’ve been taking about ½ tsp of psyllium husk 2-3x a day which seems like it might be helping. I plan to increase the dose slowly over several days. I’ve also been drinking at least 2 liters of water a day. I use a Nalgene bottle to keep track. I’m getting extra fluid in addition to the 2 Nalgenes when I take supplements or drink tea so it might be closer to 2.5-3 liters when the day is done.
The last 2 days, I’ve been ‘eating’ mostly liquids- pureed green veggie soup and a protein powder mix. I wasn’t feeling hungry for solid food because my digestion was super messed up, so I figured liquid food would give my digestive system a break. This was a ‘listening to my body’ thing, not something that was recommended. If you are in a similar situation check with your doc first. I’m going to check in with mine today since it’s Monday. I felt surprisingly good yesterday afternoon/evening and this morning, so I’m going to see if it’s ok to keep doing.
I’m finding my brain fog isn’t quite as bad as earlier in the week. During my prep phase and the first part of week 1, I recall having trouble tracking with one on one conversations. Yesterday, I could track conversations as long as I wasn’t interrupted.
I still can’t do a task that I have to think about and have someone talk to me, and multiple noises at once make me really irritable and/or anxious- I just can’t process it well. My memory might be a little better, but it could just be I’m getting better at writing things down when I think about them.
Day 1
Today I started on the Nystatin to kill off the yeast overgrowth.
After I ate breakfast and took my morning pills I started cleaning the kitchen. After about an hour, I felt unusually hot (hot flash?!) and a little weak so I got some water and sat down for a while. The more I sat, the more exhausted I felt. I haven’t been sleeping well for the last several days, so not sure if it was medicine related. I ended up taking a couple hour nap about 2 hours after I took the first dose.
After taking the second dose with lunch, I figured I’d relax for about an hour since I’d had a hot flash about an hour after the first pill. I didn’t notice anything after about an hour and a half, so I got up and started doing things around the house. THEN I got another hot flash. They seem to happen when I’m doing things, and not necessarily a certain time after each pill.
With taking the last days’ dose with dinner, I figured the hot flash would come at some point, so I didn’t try to anticipate it. My husband and I waited for about an hour after dinner before taking the dogs on a 40 minute walk around the neighborhood. About halfway through the walk, I felt a little light-headed, and the hot flash didn’t come until we got home, so about 2 hours after the dinner dose.
I ended up making a late trip to the grocery store after the dog walk so that I had everything I needed for the week. I wasn’t successful in doing much in the way of meal prep over the weekend, but I was able to come up with a meal plan that would have me cooking every other day instead of every day.
Day 2
I slept much better last night, but don’t think I slept long enough. It would be helpful if I developed better sleep hygiene habits! Going to the grocery store right before bed last night probably wasn’t the best idea, but at least it’s done.
After both the breakfast and lunch dose today I didn’t notice hot flashes like day 1. About 2 hours after lunch I am noticeably more tired than I was this morning. I also noticed my throat was a little sore, but that may be due to allergies- sage and ragweed have both been high for the last week or so, and many people I know are having allergy symptoms at the moment.
Even though I was tired, I went to the gym in the late afternoon and did 30 minutes on an elliptical….hoping it will help me sleep better and help with some of my blood values that were off.
Nothing noticeable after the third dose at dinner.
Day 3
Over the last few days, I have recognized that my digestion is sluggish. This morning when I woke up, I realized that I needed to eat because my blood sugar was low, but food didn’t sound good at all because of my sluggish digestion.
I ate anyway so I could take my pills, but not much sounded good.
I haven’t experienced any obvious reactions with the pills at breakfast or lunch.
I do feel more tired overall. They way I am gauging this is level of lethargy and physical energy.
Currently, I’m hyper focused on what symptoms I might be having. I recognize that if I were still working or running lots of errands, I probably wouldn’t notice what’s going on as much.
No symptoms after dinner.
Day 4
No reactions to medicines or supplements I’ve taken today.
At this point things updates are getting repetitive, aren’t they?
The biggest thing going on is that my digestion is still slugglish. I’m eliminating about every other day, and the stool on the Bristol scale is between 1 & 3 (towards the constipated end). Did you know there was a scale to analyze your bowel movements? Here’s a link to a chart if you're curious: https://www.webmd.com/digestive-disorders/poop-chart-bristol-stool-scale
I’m a little nervous about that. If I’m going to be taking medicines to kill stuff in my body I’d like to eliminate the little microscopic corpses instead of carrying them around in my intestines….my intestines have enough issues already!
I have been taking natural calm (magnesium supplement) in the evenings to help with sleep, but if you take enough of it can also have a laxative effect. I’ve increased my dose to one teaspoon in the evening AND in the morning to see if that helps. I called my doctor to see if there was anything else I should be trying. They recommended Psyllium husks.
I’m noticeably more tired today, but that’s because I went to an event last evening, then didn’t sleep enough.
Day 5
I went and had lymph drainage massage done this morning, which can sometimes make you feel tired later in the day. I had a few times today that I felt tired, but they didn’t last long. I went because I felt like I may have had lymph fluid collecting in my left arm pit area, and sure enough, the left side needed some work!
Between the sluggish digestion and lymph work, I knew I needed more water. I just haven’t been thirsty lately, so drinking enough has been hard. Currently, I’m at 2 liters of water, not counting the broth in the soup we ate for dinner, and the almond milk I use to mix one of my supplements in. It’s 7 pm as I’m writing this, so I still have more time for liquids!
I’ve not been doing a great job following diet directions… I’m supposed to be eating grains once a day, but some days it’s easier to not eat any grains at all. Today I made sure I had some rice with lunch. After that, I was craving carbs. I ate a bunch of gluten free crackers after lunch. After dinner I thought coconut milk ice cream sounded amazing, but I’m going to resist (which is easy because we don’t have any in the house). I haven’t had many sugar or carb cravings lately, so we’ll see if it happens again tomorrow.
Later in the evening I felt pretty bloated…I think it was the crackers:/
Still no noticeable difference in how I’m feeling.
Day 6
I slept for about 10.5 hours last night, and I felt almost normal this morning!
Until it came time for breakfast…my digestion is pretty screwed up at this point, and eating did not sound good at all. I drank fluids until my blood sugar got low, then made some breakfast.
Before starting the treatment plan, I ate a few things that I didn’t realize were high FODMAP, so I think my digestion was slowing down before I even started treatment.
This morning I drank some olive oil and lemon on an empty stomach, did an abdominal massage, and jumped on the rebounder for a few minutes in an effort to get things moving….no such luck. I made a large batch of green soup today, so I’ll try and eat that for a few meals in an attempt to give my system a break from harder to digest foods for a bit.
As I mentioned, I felt pretty good after I woke up, but after the first round of pills and eating I’ve felt tired and a little weak for most of the day.
Also of note- I got stung this afternoon by a wasp on my right ring finger. I did feel slightly nauseous for a few hours afterwards. It’s 8 pm as I’m writing this, and the closest joint to the sting is starting to feel achy.
Overall- still nothing noticeably different except that my digestion messed up.
Day 7 (and a touch of 8)
As I was surveying the kitchen today, I noticed a large jar on top of the fridge that I forgot was there. It contained a protein powder that was derived from beef. Since I had decided to give my digestion a rest by eating mostly liquid foods (I wouldn’t recommend that anyone else do this without checking with their doctor or nutritionist first. Day 6 and 7 were over the weekend and nothing I was doing was working so I decided to experiment), I thought it would be a good supplement to take in addition to my green soup.
I only ate green soup (spinach, chard, garbanzo beans, bone broth, lemon, cayenne, salt, pepper, topped with olive oil) with the protein powder today, except for a low FODMAP friendly protein bar while I was out shopping. I also started to add psyllium powder in with the protein powder mix for some fiber.
I was still able to take all my supplements at their normal times without any stomach upset. Actually, the only supplement I wasn’t taking with the liquids was the digestive enzyme. It seems to be more helpful with high protein meat meals, but I need to ask about taking it with the liquid foods as well.
I was surprised by how much energy I had in the afternoon. I went homecoming shopping with my step-daughter, and we were out and about for about 5 hours. I still could have kept going, but we had to go home and get the kid some dinner. When we left the house, I was thinking that I’d be able to do 2 hours max…I was surprised! The homecoming shopping was surprisingly fun and exciting, and I’m thinking that it must have helped with energy a little bit.
That concluded day 7.
I did not sleep much of day 7 going into 8, maybe 5 hours. I’m not sure why I woke up, but once I was up I couldn’t go back to sleep. For as little sleep as I got, I actually feel pretty good this morning- the best I felt since starting the treatment. I'm not sure if feeling better is related to one specific thing...it's more likely that there are a few things that are coming together at this point.
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