I have "leaky gut" Part 2

I had hoped to get the follow up to my last post up well before now. So my apologies to anyone that has been trying to follow this part of my story.

It has been a total of six months since I started treatment for my leaky gut. I have to say that I am a believer now! In my last article I was getting results but they were so limited it was hard to get too excited. But now, I can report that my hands are fully recovered! I have significantly less back pain as well. There are days that I get a flare-up but it can usually be traced back to food, and the magnitude of my symptoms are dramatically reduced.

So, where am I now with my treatment? I am in the stage where I can start reintroducing some of my forbidden foods, one at a time, to see if I have healed my gut enough to bring them back into my regular diet. I will be consulting the results of my blood test since it had broken the foods out into groups based on how dramatically they effected my body--or how strong the immune response was to the food. I will be starting with the foods that caused the least response first. I will eat a modest amount of the food in a controlled meal to ensure that any symptoms could not be attributed to another food response, and then wait a week before moving on to the next food. My doc told me that food related symptoms can be delayed as many as 3-4 days, so waiting a week will ensure that there is no confusion as I reintroduce foods.

I had mentioned in the previous article that I was having issues with some of the supplements that I was given. They were causing me some discomfort especially if I did not take them on a full stomach. After following up with my doctor, he informed me that the pills at the beginning of treatment are designed to rid the gut of the excess bad bacteria in my system, so as those bacteria are killed and eliminated I would likely have some issues. He asked me to stick with it for a week before we changed anything. By the end of the week all the supplements were tolerable on a full stomach, as I mentioned. So I was able to push through.

Some caveats:

First, since selling off the restaurant and truck part of our business I have had a dramatic reduction in my level of stress. This has likely improved the speed of my recovery. I also currently have some extra time on my hands as I figure out what my next steps are, so I have been able to get to the gym and rely less on convenience foods. Not everyone has the luxury of dropping the stress from their lives, so diet and exercise get compromised and neglected. If that is you, I feel for you! I was there! But I can't implore you enough to make an effort in these areas. If after a month of good effort you are not getting the results you need, then it may be time to consider a blood test to see if there are other issues--like leaky gut.

With all the positive results in my back and especially my hands I was surprised that my left knee started to really bother me. I was trying to keep track of my sugar intake thinking that it was somehow related to my diet as my other symptoms were. But this pain is not diet related. This pain is due to lack of exercise! Since I have done a poor job of regularly exercising during the stress of running a business, my muscles have become weaker. I guess I was fooling myself thinking that I was getting plenty of steps in while working. So some of the muscles in my leg must have atrophied more than others which apparently has caused the muscles to pull unevenly on my knee joint. A trainer at L.A. Fitness was kind enough to help me with an assessment, and he found that my patella was being pulled out of place when I flexed my leg. This was likely causing my pain. He recommended a few exercises to help me improve things. I am happy to report that in the few weeks that I have been going to the gym, I have already felt the benefits!

So I guess what I am trying to say is, just because we share some symptoms doesn't mean that you have leaky gut and even if you do make changes in your diet it may not cure all that ails you! Please consult a medical professional like Dr. Shaffer at Thrive Health Systems in Alpharetta, GA.

Stay healthy!