It seems that life has taken me down a separate path for a while.
I am in the middle of discovering what is wrong with me after falling very ill while abroad. So far, this is what I've come up with:
At first I thought I had
pneumonia. We know the symptoms and we know that it shouldn't have taken this long
for me to recover.
Then I thought I had
mononucleosis. Which I began reading on mono:
and it was a period alternating between "Ive got mono" to "Im recovering from pneumonia and encephalitis" when I really didn't know.
this thread has a member
named Dave78 who discusses his situation with mono. It was very similar to
mine, especially considering the gastrointestinal issues (also mentioned by
another member whose nurse practitioner dx'd post-infectious IBS), which as you
know caused me to chase down leads into that arena and will be discussed later.
It's interesting to note
the timeline and similarity in symptoms of her son and my situation during my
return and the break. Also, if you follow the thread it's interesting to note a
lot of the similarities in certain symptoms such as the brain fog and the
fatigue. There is also mention of Chronic Fatigue syndrome. Of course that
worried me, especially since there is a correlation of people who contract mono
and eventually develop CFS. so I looked into CFS as well.
Side note: It is
interesting to note the undertones of people's diets, exercise, and supplement
regiments throughout their recovery. They seem to experience relief when
following healthy diets high in vitamin c and low in sugars/refined
carbohydrates. People who end to at least try to exercise seem to recover
faster. People who supplement with natural herbs such as Echinacea, garlic,
vitamin C, vitamin B, and more.
Side note on thoughts at
time: there was no linkage between low iron found and mono, at least that I
could find. There was a correlation between low WBC and mono.
Side note on correlating
symptoms: Fatigue, breathing difficulties, malaise, loss of appetite, brain fog
(zoning out/difficulty concentrating), balance issues, dizziness, depression/anxiety,
lethargy, changes in bowel movements, weakness. Symptoms that do not
correlate or I did not have: sore throat, fever, chills,
swollen lymph nodes, insomnia, enlarged spleen, nasal problems, elevated liver
enzyme count (? possibly), cold hands and feet,
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
On page two there is
mention of the XMRV retrovirus which is present in all CFS patients. Also
interesting to note is the relationship between CFS and Fibromyalgia(FMS).
Which I am starting to develop symptoms of such as joint pain.
This is a list of
symptoms correlated with CFS:
Noteworthy symptoms
include: Gastrointestinal disturbances, hormonal disturbances, and of course
the fatigue/exhaustion/tiredness and un-refreshing sleep
Gastroparesis and post
infectious IBS:
Gastroparesis is
basically an infection of the bowels. This was probably my spell
of diarrhea that lasted around 1 week.
It is interesting to
note that 84% currently have IBS. The GI Dr. I saw in Cookeville confirmed that
my symptoms sound like IBS.
So.. SIBO?
After she complains a
little she gets to the good part:
"30 year olds don't get this," I thought.
Not so. 30 year olds who travel abroad get this. It seems the little trip I
took to Greece over a year ago is the culprit. I got horribly ill with a
stomach bug while there (gastroenteritis? food poisoning?"
Also, the link between
post-infectious IBS. Which I have been diagnosed with (tentatively as of 3/25)
Further down in the
article: " Mostly I learned
that tons of people with IBS are walking around with SIBO and don't even know
it. For years—decades, even! Their quality of life suffers, and this is
something that's treatable. It's even curable in some people! And not only
that, but SIBO leads to other conditions like rosacea, acne (ahem, yep), even
fibromyalgia"
The scary part is this
"It seems that bacteria
like to bore holes in the small intestines, allowing toxins to leak into the
body. So that leaky gut idea from doctor #1? Not all wrong, but again—not a
diagnosis. A symptom. And that leaky gut leads to autoimmune responses in the
body (like food intolerances)"
And this is not just
speculation on the author's part, this is backed by information I've found in
different places through reading about this.
A lot of patients who
have SIBO also have IBS symptoms, this is seen in many n=1 of people who
started having IBS issues and other issues similar to mine that began to worsen
My symptoms were matching
up in a significant way, I thought "Bingo"
If I meet most of the
risk factors for post infectious IBS and there's some relation between IBS and
SIBO, as well as a correlation with people who fast for prolonged periods of
time, and I'm showing symptoms related to it, then I have a good chance of having
this.
SIBO Videos:
SIBO Resources:
The resurgence of the
thyroid?
At one point, I did
think I had thyroid issues due to my extreme diet, exercise, and fasting
regiment. That was mitigated when thyroid levels were shown to be high, 0.86
and 0.97. It was surprising then, that my TSH returned a 1.43 value this round,
which the Endocrinologist mentioned, is low, but not low enough to cause
symptoms. Reaching out I posted this: http://paleohacks.com/questions/187209/hack-my-tsh-t3-and-ft4-levels-please#axzz2OVXx0ESd
There have been other
symptoms relating to Hashimoto's as well.
Tying it all together: This video helps explain kind of where I'm at
in thinking how this all manifested. Why I'm more "OCD" and
"Depressed" and "ADD" now. Because I had
Gastroparesis.
along with the SIBO
thing have me concocting this theory about bacteria, but I'll have to focus on
that more after I get better.. It basically involves the current thoughts
behind disorders like ADD, depression, dyslexia, autism, etc. but I'd be
interested in exploring whether there is a connection to body composition as
well. Maybe because certain bacteria in there digest and ferment food in a
certain way that gives your body more or less of a nutrient (macro or micro)
leading to overall health and maybe that's why humans are either A) developing
diseases like Diabetes and obesity, Celiac's etc. or B) slowly adapting to this
higher carbohydrate diet as witnessed in populations like Asians and the
French. Maybe there's no paradox at all, they just have a predisposition to
certain bacteria that "digest" carbohydrates better. But again, I
need to look into that later.
Anyway, why does this
"GAPS" diet exist? Well it turns out there's a lot of correlation
between GAPS symptoms & SIBO symptoms, and "Leaky Gut"
Leaky gut symptoms I've
had my whole life: Eczema, slight rosacea/facial flushing.
But, I'm starting to
develop more after the gastroenteritis (fatigue, brain fog, joint pain, trouble
breathing, reactions to foods) and some of these are getting worse! It needs to
be stopped now!
Leaky Gut Video(s):
And all that is why I'm
fairly positive I have Leaky gut, caused by SIBO that was caused by gastroenteritis,
that was caused by an extreme regiment of diet, exercise, and other external
stress factors such as travel abroad, school, etc.
Interesting reading:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hygiene_hypothesis
http://www.martinez-lavin.com/Fibromyalgia.htm
*interesting studies done on circadian rhythms; section
titled "our research on fibromyalgia"; treatment sections lists
liberal intake of vitamin water to help ease symptoms and caffeine, nicotine,
have adverse effects. fits my n=1
->From
what I have read and understand, I am convinced FMS is caused by intestinal
permeability b/c of the constant onslaught of "toxins" being
introduced into the bloodstream which causes this constant stress response.
