Well, after sharing these, these, and these test results I am left with one final test result to share. Yes! The not-so-fluid bodily fluid. Let’s talk about my poop! Because poop truly is fascinating – as long as you’re not the one who actually has to do the disseminating and testing part. Getting it in the vials for shipping was plenty enough disseminating for me.
Collecting poop for testing is more involved than you might imagine. Not that many of you are likely to sit around imagining what is involved in collecting poop for testing. First you have to stop taking all medications and supplements 4 (or maybe it was 5?) days ahead of the first poop collection. Yes, ‘first’ poop collection does indeed indicate that there is more than one required. Then you have to make sure that you have eaten enough greenery the day before the first poop to ensure that you can produce something to collect. Collection day means that you pretty much have to stay home unless you have a set daily poop schedule or can poop on demand. Otherwise you might be somewhere entirely inappropriate for poop collection when the urge arises. Plus, carrying vials around in your purse in order to catch poop at a moment’s notice is kinda bulky and annoying, not to mention all kinds of awkward, and don’t forget you gotta get that poop in the ‘fridge straight away. If the ‘fridge you’re closest to is not your own things could get a little problematic. Then you live life as normal for a day before it’s back to house arrest while you wait for some movement. Once you’ve got all the poop required into the right vials, stirred and shaken, labelled and boxed up it’s off to the lab they go!
My ND emailed me as soon as she got the results back. She was SO excited! I love that my Naturopath is so excited about my poop! I am sure you are too. I bet you are all on the edge of your seats waiting to hear about my poop. So here we go.
Nontoxigenic E. Coli moved into my gut, repainted the walls, laid down some fancy carpeting, brought a lot of furniture in, and took up residence. Or, in less romantic terms – I have a massive E.Coli infection in my gut. It’s been there for around 11 months and has created utter havoc – the most noteworthy being damaging the walls of my gut and making it leaky. Bastard.
However, there is great news! The infection has not (yet) caused irreversible damage to my gut, so I will be able to heal it once we have tossed Mr. E. Coli out onto the street. We have issued an eviction notice, ordered the moving truck, and sent a team of packers round. He’s on his way out. This dude has one hell of a lot to answer for.
Adding in the adrenal fatigue, leaky gut, exhausted liver, and E. Coli infection into the mix, here is my updated treatment plan.
Treatment Plan #2 (around October 15th)
Supplements:
- Multivitamin
- Mitochondrial support
- Vitamin D
- α-Lipoic Acid
- Heavy duty specially formulated B vitamins
- Adrenal support
- Thyroid support
- Liver support
- Heavy duty probiotics
- E.Coli slayer (not a pharmaceutical or antibiotic)
- Magnesium
Diet:
- KETO (very low carb, adequate protein, very high fat) diet – separate post coming on this!
- Elimination diet – foods I can eat:
- Kippers (smoked herring), mackerel, sardines
- Avocado
- Cheese
- Macadaemias, hazelnuts, pine nuts
- 100% fat dairy – butter, heavy cream, sour cream, creme fraiche
- Lamb
- Pork
- Duck
- Bison
- We added the following foods (one at a time to check for sensitivity) to my diet because I was healing so fast:
- Leeks (almost pee’d my pants in excitement!)
- Cabbage
- Fennel
- Cucumber
- Zucchini
- Bamboo shoots (although that anyone would want to eat these is beyond me)
- Crimini mushrooms (this made me so happy I about cried)
- Raspberries (singing hallelujah!)
- Strawberries
- Rotation diet:
- No food from list above to be eaten more often than every 4th day
- Increase liquid intake
- Water must be bottled
- Keep food log and track any symptoms or lack thereof
**NOTE**
My list of permitted foods was made a lot shorter because of my need to be on a ketogenic diet. I will explain this in a separate post.
This list of permitted foods is unique to me based on my test results and needs. I am in no way advocating that anyone else should follow this list.
Other:
- Reduce stress as much as possible
- Get as much sleep as you can
- Do not exercise or over-exert
So, how come I have a massive E.Coli infection then, huh?
PS. Turns out those folks from Scrubs were right. Everything comes down to poo! Thanks, Danielle for sharing 🙂
Sandy P.You did make me laugh … but I truly was excited to hear your poop results. Ha! Ha! Ha! I do want to hear what the E. Coli slayer is. I have a well and when we first moved in, we had to pour a gallon of Clorox down it to kill E. Coli. I suppose you may have picked it up during your travels? Our well sat “still” for a year until we bought the house. Just as a precaution, we still pour Clorox into it every 6 months. Sounds scary, right? I can’t wait to hear the rest of your diagnosis.
Deb SandersThis is so fascinating. You’re on a roll,now.
GregI don’t know what probiotic you’re taking, but if you want the best of the best, you want to check out elixa-probiotic.com
It’s a short 6 day dose of high strength probiotics. You get 50x (3 Trillion CFUs) the dose of the average probiotic.
SusanCurious to know what your E-coli slayer happens to be. I used wild oregano oil to kill off some overly abundant bacteria in my gut. It worked beautifully.
Best of everything to you, especially good health.
Deidre EdwardsI am so relieved that you are on the path to truth, discovery, and recovery! Clearly, you have a message to share and many will learn that they are not alone and that there is HOPE!
I speak briefly about elimination diets in my up-coming book “Toolkit for Wellness” but your story takes things way beyond that! May I share a link to your blog in my blog?
Best wishes and thanks for sharing-
Deidre
AmandaI’m so glad to read these posts and hear you are making some headway into what is causing all of these symptoms!
I know this is all very specific to you, and likely if we want to do something similar we will need to undergo much of the testing you described in an earlier post.
I’m wondering– did your insurance help to cover any of this and (if they did or especially if they didn’t) ballpark how much it is costing you to go through all of this?
I think it is admirable that you are taking charge and making a difference in your health after all these issues for all this time. Many people would balk at the list of things you can eat (and the strict schedule about when you can eat them) as “too much”. Keep it up!! It sounds like you are feeling much better due to the efforts so I hope it works out well for you!
Joe WCarrie , can you pls explain to me what exactly is Mitochondrial ,thyroid and adrenal support? Out of curiosity, are you dealing with hashimoto’s problems (thyroid)?
carrieHey Joe! Waiting on thyroid test to come back 🙂 Without telling you exactly the supps I am on the best way I can describe them is mitochondrial, adrenal and thyroid support. Let me think on how I can improve that…
joewOkay, thank you,and thanks for sharing!
Lynn GibsonHi Carrie, Glad to hear that you are getting to the bottom of all your symptoms. I am interested in trying this Naturopathic approach in the UK, As you know it is not so common over here and I wondered if you had any advice about finding a good one and not a ‘quack’ if there a proessional body that I should look for? Regards Lynn x
carrieHi Lynn – I would start here: http://bna.gcrn.org.uk/ I’ve been gone too long to have any contacts in that sphere, plus things have changed dramatically since I abandoned the mothership. Let me know how you get on!
Deb SandersCarrie, where are you? We are all waiting to hear from you and know that you are okay.
carrieDeb! I am here! It’s all good – been a ride the last few weeks – posts imminent!