Intestinal GO Transit

Like a well-maintained GO train* that removes the riff-raff from a city after some weird convention, keeping the guts moving is an important part of dealing with Lyme.

As for me, my guts stopped working at some point over the last few years, and a weird smell started eminating from my body, my poop, and even my sweat. When I spoke to my doctor about it, she passed it off as a malabsorbtion issue, and that some probiotics ought to fix that right up. Only I had been taking probiotics, and they weren't doing shit. Literally.

Add in the fact that I was so B12 deficient (even though doc said I was in the "normal" range haha...for another blog entry!) and consequently had low progesterone which enabled my doctor to diagnose me as "PCOS" (aka: polycystic ovary syndrome.) So for the uninitiated, you need to know that low progesterone in the second half of a mentral cycle can cause brutal constipation. (Brutal. Like guts exploding, lucky-if-you-poop-bricks, awfulness brutal.) This is not a good scenario for the liver either; for clearing out the toxins of Lyme, or environmental toxins, or the estrogen overload that comes with a low progesterone body living in a high xenoestrogenic world.

But back to the intestines...

Because I wasn't absorbing things well in my guts anymore my neurological problems went from bad to worse. Even my best meat-etarian efforts could not absorb enough B12 in my guts and the brain fog, tingling in my extremities, and stinkiness just got worse. I felt like my whole body was just...rotting.

Some internet searching and I found SIBO - small intestinal bacterial overgrowth. Supposedly it happens when you get infected with something (surprise, surprise) or you're incredibly stressed. So, since managing stress is easier said than done when you feel like your life has been ruined by a mysterious illness which nobody is taking you seriously for, so I started with the physical aspect of my problem.

More fibre ought to help, right? So I became determined to get that train moving!

And so, little by little, I started the habit of making batches of bean, pea, or lentil soups, and freezing them in cute single serving sized mason jars. Little did I know how much the added folate would also help me! (Folate is so important for the body overall!)

Now that I'm on the path to healing (again) I see how important this cooked fibre soup habit is.

The real turning point came after I started in with the antibacterial/antifungal/antiparasite herbs. There were critters in there who were clearly train robbers and slowing my internal GO train down.

Now I'm looking into herbs which can actually help my motility more. I need a fast train that gets the riff-raff out of town as fast as they came in.

Apparently berberine containing herbs like the wormwood I'm waiting for at the store, and the other artemisia family members are considered prokinetic herbs. And good ol' ginger is helpful too.

* If you are from anywhere in Southern Ontario, you know what the "GO Train" is. Here I use it as a metaphor because of the fast, efficient transit system that it can be when it's working well.

Resources:

Herbs for Upper Digestive Overgrowth of Flora
https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/abs/10.1089/act.2018.29176.eya?journalCode=act

https://www.siboinfo.com/prevention-of-relapse.html