Elimination diet

I am starting to think all this burping I do is diet related... ( usually once a day for hours I burp/ try to burp . It comes with yawning sometimes so I though vagus nerve)

At any rate I also have had an increase in heartburn. ( took me awhile to figure out that my chest pains were in fact heartburn as I had never had it before)

So ....I want to try an elimination diet to see what foods / supplements etc., if any, are causing this reaction...

Has anyone tried to do this? Any reccomendations?
I was told only to eat a few things( rice, lamb, ginger)
I've also seen MR guidelines for elimination diet that includes more foods( eliminating the most generally problematic foods only)

It would be great if I could tackle one of my four current daily symptoms. If this shed light on the brain fog that would be a bonus, as that has been shutting me down.

Ps.
Lately I have been trying to look for causes other than Lyme to see if I'm missing something.

Post Edited (Lightlife) : 9/30/2020 8:36:56 PM (GMT-6)

in the functional medicine paradigm - reflux is caused by too little stomach acid causing bacteria to survive the stomach and live in the small intestine where they ferment foods ( that is not intended to happen until food reaches the colon) this produces gas which can push bile and stomach secretions back up the esophagus - ie reflux

this is opposed to the conventional medicine view that says reflux is caused by excess stomach acid without explanation of root cause - and sells us acid-blocking drugs to treat the symptoms on a chronic basis - without ever curing the disorder.


there are many forms of the elimination diet - some more extreme than others

the most restrictive i heard ( other than fasting) was lamb, rice, and pears - apparently, almost no-one is ever sensitive to these foods

another approach would be to follow something like the AIP diet or AIP paleo style diet and gradually add foods from there

most food allergies/sensitivities are to a known list of food types
-milk/dairy
-gluten/grains
-shellfish
-nuts and seeds
-eggs
-some say potatoes/tomatoes/aubergines etc ( nightshade family)

this is essentially what is removed in the AIP diet

sometimes it's not really the food groups driving an immune reaction as such - but the bacteria they feed that the immune system is reacting to

so for me for instance - i found that all starchy foods increased the stomach upset, bloating, fatigue etc
so its wasn't the foods themselves that was the issue - but carbohydrates in them feeding gut bacteria that were out of balance or in the wrong place ( SIBO)

converting to a Keto diet with very little carbohydrate ( less than 20g a day) made the biggest single difference in my symptoms in 5 years!

i would also suggest a SIBO breath test - do the lactulose version - as the glucose version is less useful - and the GI-MAP test seems a decent option (i had that one also )

of course, it may not be a case of only two possible discrete scenarios of
Lyme/Bart OR SIBO -
it could be Lyme / Bart - AND - SIBO

my current thinking around my own condition is that i believe Bartonella and Lyme have infected my gut and caused low stomach acid and gastritis - which has lead to SIBO and dysregulated microbiome and other downstream effects from the leaky gut those cause.

many SIBO treatments have failed - but the low carb is helping while i now treat the BART and LYME which is the root cause - but as many here will testify is a long slow process.

I must stress that this is my personal conclusion and we each have to find our own path through this complex condition. it does at least seem to fit all the facts pretty well.

if this sounds like you - as a test you could try v low carb and perhaps take betaine HCL tablets ( increase stomach acid ) for a week or so and see if there is an improvement in symptoms..
its a big adjustment - but benefits arrive pretty quickly - sometimes days
be ready for carb withdrawal symptoms while your body adjusts though

low carb diet may lessen your symptoms - would have to be v low carb though - and nothing fermentable - this may help you gather if you are fermenting your food in your small intestine rather than digesting it (also known as SIBO )

HCL + pepsin tablets up to around 6 per meal - may help ease symptoms in the short term and help you understand if stomach acid is suppressed

breath tests are done at home following a controlled diet for a day or so than a fast and then a special sachet of a sugar-like compound - the bugs eat this - produce gasses ( usually hydrogen and or Methane) which passes through the gut into the blood and travels to the lungs where it is exhaled in your breath.

this is collected in tubes every hour or so after you eat the special meal and send it to the lab. they then send you a report that shows if gasses are produced before your food gets to the large intestine ( where it is supposed to ferment)

it's not perfect as it misses some cases - but that is the case with just about every test method - but its still a good step as it relatively affordable and easy to do and shows up the majority of cases.

most labs do not require a practitioner to order them - Genova does them i think
be sure to rder a lactulose version ( the other version is glucose - and this is less sensitive)
also be sure to order one which measures both hydrogen and methane

This is overwhelming as I am in the middle of depression episode.
I will check back.

My symptoms are that I feel like I need to burp for several hours most days. It doesn't happen right after I eat. So I never thought it was digestion. It's at least an hour later.

And I wake up with heart / chest discomfort followed by more burping.

I also have severe brain fog
And tingling in my back.
And anx/ depression.

That's about it for symptoms( plus occasional twitching, occular migraines )

I’d bet dollars to donuts you have SIBO. This is bringing back bad memories from my bad bout with it. Would burp for hours on end. Also had some depression at the time

as far as I can tell its an evolving picture.

as you described it is pretty much my original understanding - but it seems that now - with more research there is more to the story - but not the final chapter yet.

it seems like gut motility issues ( or lack of it ) potentially caused in part by methane or hydrogen-producing microbes that are now overgrown may be a part of a deeper root cause - and then deeper still there is a suggestion of a two-way relationship in the gut-brain axis being involved - ie nerve damage ( potentially from infection) - or gut brain axis damage is hampering the normal peristaltic action.

the work of Dr Mark Pimental is at the forefront of this research

it has been known in functional medicine circles for a good few years now that people with lyme may have it more often - and that Lyme makes it harder to treat - ( like so many other things! ) it was one of the things that switched me onto pursuing Lyme tests for a diagnosis. as the wisdom at that time was that if you had SIBO and it kept coming back after proper treatment ( which it did ) then gut infections or parasites, Lyme, mold - or a couple of other rarer things were likely the cause. i had had many of the normal tests for parasites and gut infections and i thought i could pretty much rule out the mold as my partner and i got sick at the same time - but worked in different places and our home seemed free of any signs.

Chris Kresser ( a kind of grassroots functional medicine guy - gone a bit more commercial ) had a podcast recently with Dr Ken Brown that is worth a listen.

Post Edited (Garzie) : 10/2/2020 3:28:04 AM (GMT-6)

The responses here are interesting. I very likely have SIBO. No testing, though. Unusual belching was actually my first indication that something was wrong. This started 3-5 years before the onset of my life altering symptoms. I have lifelong constipation tendencies.

Ive experienced and did most of whats mentioned on this whole post - its good info.

Here are some more things:

1)Gerd can also be your digestive system "stuck" in some bad memory cycle. As in- the cause (many listed here) may be boarder line but was over the line for a while and is not anymore- but the cycle remains partially because one or two digestive valves are acid burnt. The LES- top the stomach, and the one at stomach exit.

What heals these valves? D-limonine, Jarrow is the best for your money. I mention this occasionally and most people ignore this odd information. 90% of those who tried in the past thanked me. 10% burped orange oil. Which I why you take it before bed when your not moving around.

2)FODMAP foods cause SIBO in some people. No cure other than limiting or not eating FODMAP foods - some are though to be good for all - wrong!.

3) Seritonine is made in your gut, but moved to the brain. Bad gut? - depression and anxiety might follow.

4) Low thyroid T3 can create low stomach acid.

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My gerd was so bad conventional gut Drs said I need the Nissan rubberband operation after all thier Rx attempts made it WORSE.

I said your all nuts and fixed it myself.

The end

Post Edited (astroman) : 10/2/2020 12:36:12 PM (GMT-6)