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Advice on stomach problems with treatment.

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Posted 11/8/2018 6:06 PM (GMT -5)
Hey all, I’ve been fiddling around with doses for the Buhner protocol to see if I can find something my stomach can handle, but whenever I take the herbs, vitamins and supplements my stomach gets upset and I get abdominal spasms. They go away in a day or so if I don’t take anything. I’m going to call my LLMD tomorrow but I was wondering if you all had any advice. Should I take a break from treatment to let my stomach get better?

I stopped antibiotics in the early summer due to severe stomach issues. After a month or so I started Buhner and just got to the full protocol last week when my stomach started acting up again. It’s relatively mild compared to the antibiocs, but the spasms are uncomfortable and concerning.

If I should take a break, how long should it be? I don’t want to ruin my stomach with my treatment, especially since it’s an area that I don’t have any other problems with.
Posted 11/8/2018 6:24 PM (GMT -5)
Hmmm, that's a tricky one. So you are having trouble with even small doses of the herbs? I know a lot of other people here have had gut issues so hopefully someone can chime in with ideas. Personally I had gut issues but ironically they got better with antibiotics (I think this is because the infections were driving gut symptoms).

Anyhow, how is your diet? anything you can work on on that front? cutting out refined sugars, processed foods, cutting back on gluten/dairy if you haven't already?
Posted 11/8/2018 6:31 PM (GMT -5)
I’ve tried all the diets in the past, none of them made any difference for me. My stomach issues go away completely after a day or two of not taking any medication, I think months of taking this stuff following several months of 3 antibiotics every day just lowered my tolerance for this kind of thing. And with my current job, adhering to strict diets is pretty much impossible. I travel all over North America every week and often have to eat whatever is closest. That being said, I try to eat fairly healthily in general.

I suspect my LLMD will tell me to take a full week off of everything and then start with low doses. The lowest I’ve gone with the herbs so far is 10 drops each of the ten I’m taking right now. I’m also taking 1g of vitamin C per day, 250ug of selenium, 500mg Quercitin, 750g of green tea extract, 250mg milk thistle seed, and 500mg L-Argynine.

Looking at that list, it still is a lot to take every day. Several of those things are known to sometime cause stomach problems too. I tolerated it all perfectly fine for a few months though.
Posted 11/8/2018 7:40 PM (GMT -5)
My LLMD called me back (he’s great, I really appreciate how fast he gets back to me) and told me to stop everything for a week, and then slowly reintroduce things one at a time starting with low doses. I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed that that’s enough!
Posted 11/8/2018 7:42 PM (GMT -5)
Yeah, short break seems sensible with restart at lower dosages, good plan. Hope it will work out for you! lots of trial and error/improvisation when it comes to this stuff as I'm sure you know!
Posted 11/8/2018 8:22 PM (GMT -5)
If possible you might want to consider a food intolerance test, several people here have suggested the Mediator Release Test
Posted 11/8/2018 8:47 PM (GMT -5)
Since my discomfort is tied to my medicine, several of which are specifically noted as causing GI issues as side effects, I’m pretty confident that that’s the issue. If my issues continue after stopping, my doctor and I will look into other causes. I’m doing pretty well these days and symptoms seem to be fading rather than appearing though, so I’m not too worried about it. I’m just hoping I won’t have to take any more time off than this one week, I want to keep making progress!
Posted 11/8/2018 10:04 PM (GMT -5)
Going to sound crazy but it works, get saurkraught do not cook heat low and slow to warm to eat it so not to kill the good stuff. Bone broth organic from Walmart, low sodium dose 1.25, probiotics 75 big two different with at least 11 strains, then kefir drink it two 8 oz glasses daily, cut all or as much sugar and gluten as possible, no nightshade veggies or no veggies with seeds like tomatoes green peppers they cause inflammation, no honey one teaspoon and ginger tea get ginger Walmart cut one inch of it clean off the skin and chop it and cook it in 8-10 oz of water for 10 to 15 minutes boiling. Remove pour in cup with the teaspoon of pure local raw honey. Drink twice a day for as long as u have Lyme it works wonders thins blood and help inflammation, careful on honey if on abx I drink mine without honey I put lemon in it too sometimes. Try this and let me know you will see results in about 3-7 days with total gut restored in a month if real bad. Forgot heat bone broth and drink twice a day too 6-8 oz at breakfast and dinner
Posted 11/8/2018 11:08 PM (GMT -5)
Whoa! That is way too much at once Donjr. Especially with the kefir and bone broth. You need to go SLOW with bone broth. Most people start with a tablespoon! It is strong stuff. It can cause a histamine attack if you have MCAS.
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