EiR Blog
A Blog For Those Affected By Environmental And Invisible Illnesses Written By Fellow Survivors
Bile, Bowels, Bovered?
- Font size: Larger Smaller
- Hits: 4395
- 2 Comments
- Subscribe to this entry
- Bookmark
My health journey has taken some interesting twists and turns of late, the new area of interest being the liver.
For the majority of my poor health I have had a gnawing ache under my rib cage on the right side. Twice my liver enzymes registered as normal and I dismissed it as a consequence of generally being fatigued and secondary to other health concerns.
I'm now starting to give the liver a little more thought, interested by the traditional chinese medicine view of 'liver qi ('chi')' and it's impact on general health.
After getting nowhere using adrenal supplementation I decided to trace back my steps starting with digestion. Perhaps I'm not absorbing nutrients effectively? After all most nutrients will pass through the body if the liver is weak - were my thoughts. Trying to boost the adrenals when your digestion is so poor must be akin to skating uphill..on ice.
And so I made some observations.
1 - Direct bowel support - colonics, probiotics, fiber, herbal cleansers, clean diet etc have not helped me get regular or ease the ache from my side.
2 - My stools are often pale and poorly formed, which in part from what I've read can be a bile issue, and lack thereof. This can contribute towards constipation.
3 - The chinese view IBS related symptoms as a problem with liver qi stagnation and fundamental problem for overall poor health. I'm not quite fully grasping the lingo but TCM is incredibly interesting, and by the looks of things very helpful to many people.
I undertook some changes as a result of these thoughts, with variable results. The first was to supplement directly with additional bile acids. I opted for a fairly potent formula which I used in proportion to how much fat I was consuming during the meal used. The results were positive, my stools were well formed, a darker brown and I've been fairly regular since.
I combined this with digestive enzymes and what I previously thought to be my arch nemesis, betaine HCL. The liver plays a fundamental role in digestion and almost certainly mine is impaired significantly. My reaction to HCL with or even towards the end of meals has been positive, giving me no immediate side effects. The effects of digestive enzymes are a little harder to trace without drawing up a detailed food diary and analysis of feelings but I think they are doing me some good.
So I'm eliminating well and will pursue this path a littler further. My most immediate health goals are consistent bowel movements and regular sleep, the later needing some significant work. Also on the supplemental menu is chinese bitters, to cleanse the liver. These apparently can pack a bit of a punch in terms of boosting and purging the liver of toxins, as well as aiding digestion. I've built up a nice collection of partially used herbs and supplements during my health journey such as turmeric, milk thistle, lecithin, dandelion and artichoke and it may be time to dust off the cobwebs and consider them for there liver regenerative properties.
I'll see how things go as I continue to learn about the body and it's many functions. Give me a few years and I reckon I'll have most of it covered ;)
-
Comment last edited on about 8 years ago by Maff MaffSparky,
Thanks for bringing up the subject of coprophagia as discussed by Dr. Myhill. It is certainly a concept that is not for the faint of heart but those of us suffering from environmental illnesses would be willing to give most things a go if there is sufficient evidence to back them up, wouldn't we? The research findings make a lot of sense as the gut microflora and our own immune systems are constantly probing and communicating back and forth. The immune system needs to recognise certain microoganisms as friendly to enable them to implant in the gut wall and form lasting colonies. It seems as such microorganisms pass through the GI tracts of mammals they are "tagged" by that organism's immune system as friendly and this is picked up by the immune system of an individual whose GI tract the microorganisms are subsequently introduced to.
Over the past decade or so a handful of gastroenterologists around thr world have actually been carrying out Human Probiotic Infusions (HPI) or "faecal transplants" (the first name sounds a bit nicer!), particularly for treatment resistant C. difficile infections with great results. The HPI procedure involves placing a feeding tube into the small intestine and then feeding liquified faecal matter into the small intestine of the patient. The healthy microflora contained in the faecal matter then hopefully take up residence. Obviously everything is screened for potentially harmful bugs etc.
Changing subjects, I have benefitted greatly from Eastern practices focused on restoring the balance and flow of chi/qi. I was introduced to a form of Buddhism that uses mantra meditation and immediately felt something very deep and powerful as I began chanting the mantra regularly. I can only describe it as feeling as if I had found a missing part of myself! I have now been practicing this form of meditation for 7 years and had I not been introduced to it I am certain I would not have been able to build this website into what it is today or be about to complete my degree in nutritional health. Of course it has had health benefits as well but mainly it has given me the inner strength to take action and the positive state of mind it is so easy to lose when chronically ill.
Like you Sparky, I was introduced to this practice as part of a particular sect of Buddhism with promises that it wasn't heavy on religious doctrine and rules...but I quite quickly became skeptical of this and uneasy within myself. I now have no connection with the Buddhist group but continue the meditation alone and intend to do so until the day I die! I personally feel the best way to go is to take the practical tools from Eastern philosophy but leave the strictly religious practices alone.
I have recently started to learn Qi Gong and am finding this a great help also. It is very simple to learn and only takes me 15 minutes per day to go through the exercises/movements. Yet this simple practice leaves me feeling considerably more energised and in brighter mood. I would recommend it wholeheartedly.
Oh and concerning Dr. Myhill - she has had limitations put on her practice for 18 months which include having her ability to prescribe prescription drugs taken away but she is still able to offer consultations and provide nutritional supplements and other non-prescription treatments as far as I am aware.
Take care guys!Like 0 -
Comment last edited on about 8 years ago by Maff Maff
Hi Konner
been following your progress,as my mum has similar but not as sverre ibs as yourself.
All I know about the TCM isthat they regard the alimentary canal as fundamental to good health. this has been neglected by western medicine, however the west is now waking up to it.
Are you aware of Dr sarah myhills site, she has some interesting things to say on pro/prebiotics, and sells a kefir formula you can grow yourself.
she has contacts who are researching,,,unfortunately no nice way to put this..but coprophagia!!! quite disgusting. However they have done studies that if people ingest bacteria that has not gone through the gut of another animal or peron, it is unlikelly to remain in their body, but if it has gone the alimentary canal of another person it stays indefinitely. perhaps permananlty- depending on when they next dose up on doctors lovlies like antibiotics. What she says on the subject makes it clear that commercial yoghurts are inadequate, but cant see how any company will be able to market such a revolting concept. Except maybe as a medicine perhaps.
On another subject: chi, I went to a Taoist group for some free healing and what they did, did work, but I feel, it came with a big caveat. I had to partipate in their lessons reasonably priced at Ă‚Â£6each ( but you have to pay in advance for 100 sessions at least when I did it that was the way things were handled-i had 2 lessons and i didnt get my money back). The caveat was, when you were introduced to their activitties they seemed non-religous but occassionly existing participates would "slip up" (my words and opinion)and call the training room the "temple of life" and added to the fact that their meditations involved prostrating yourself infront of a symbol it was too much for me. This does sound odd I know, the disapointing thing was, was that the therapy did seem to work, but I felt they were a bit "culty"(my opinion). If you want to check them out they are called Ki health and have centres in London and Manchester.
I also checked on the koreaophile web site,(back in 2007) where unfortunatley my suspicions were confirmed and they were listed as a cult although a quick check today, and I was unable to find the site. It must be said that this is the opinion of a korean, and in this country they are free to practice their beliefs.
If you search under ki health (did this today in google)the 3rd article that comes up is of someone alleging that ki health brainwashed them into giving them loads of money.
As to digestive acidity if you find you start getting reflux problems as you are becoming to acidic you can use potassium carbonate (get it from sarah myhill-she is currently being investigated by the GMC and I belive they are trying to close her down)
All the best for now
if you know anything on reflex sympathetic dystropy or trigger point therapy i'd love to know.
hope the above is of some use to you
sparky
I am aware that this is a public forum and of course all these things are my opinions, as we all know we have currently incuralble conditions and therefore we are vunerable to the unscrupulous.
I would like to add that you can seek out your own taoist teachers as many of them are non-sectarian. Generally speaking I think Taoism is pretty cool.Like 0
