Archive for December, 2009
Are You on Antibiotics And Have Stomach Bloating?
Genie suffered from diverticulitis and was one of the unlucky ones who had to have some of her colon removed.
But then a whole new problem came up. Here’s what she writes:
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On September 9, 2009 I had 12 inches of my colon removed because of diverticulitis.
The surgery went well, but because of the antibiotics I was given I developed C. difficile bad bacteria. This is where the bad overthrow the good.
This is very hard to get rid of, and I had two relapses.
One day I was praying and I believe that God led me to an answer. I have been on probiotics for one month and have not had another relapse of this bacteria.
The doctor never told me about probiotics.
I am grateful to have found something that works.
Genie
Probiotic
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While antibiotics have many beneficial uses, they have a dark side, and causing bad bacteria overgrowth is a big part of that dark side.
The overgrowth that Genie had was Clostridium difficile, often called C. difficile or “C. diff.”
Usually our bodies can fight off C. diff if we’re healthy. But if our bodies are low in beneficial bacteria (which is a result of taking antibiotics), then the harmful ones can easily take over.
The antibiotics that most often lead to C. diff are:fluoroquinolones, cephalosporins, clindamycin and penicillins.
Mild C. diff causes diarrhea and abdominal cramping, but the real concern is if the overgrowth continues and becomes severe–then it can become life-threatening.
Severe C. diff causes your colon to become inflamed (aka colitis) or to form patches of raw tissue that can bleed or produce pus (called pseudomembranous colitis).
Symptoms of severe C. diff include:
- Watery diarrhea 10 to 15 times a day
- Severe abdominal cramping and pain
- Fever
- Blood or pus in the stool
- Nausea
- Dehydration
- Loss of appetite
Severe C. diff can also lead to kidney failure, bowel perforation (a hole in your colon), a ruptured colon or even death.
Now here’s the kicker–the standard medical treatment for C. diff is:
MORE antibiotics.
The claim is that these antibiotics “work” by stopping C. diff growth.
But the problem is that they kill the beneficial bacteria in your gut, too.
As Genie mentioned, C. diff is very hard to get rid of. So once you get off the antibiotics, C. diff can easily come back…and you won’t have a good supply of beneficial bacteria to fight them off.
So you’ll be back where you started from–making sure there’s nothing in the path between you and the bathroom.
It can be a neverending cycle.
Genie learned how to combat C. diff overgrowth naturally, without harsh antibiotics that can make the problem even worse.
Constipation Bloating, IBS, Crohn’s – Stop Suffering
Here’s a heartwarming story of parents that finally found an answer to their 7 year old son’s digestive issues.
Here’s their story:
Thank you!
Out of desperation for the health of our son (7 years old) and a willingness to try anything that appeared to be healthy, we ordered your
“Great Taste No Pain” program.
About one week later, here’s what I can report so far: He is now a normal kid with a healthy appetite. Big deal, right?
This year alone (from Jan 2008) he missed 23 days of school. His pediatrician kept claiming he had a “flu bug” that was going around that was especially bad this year.
During his worst episode, in which he went 4 days without food and with very little water, we took him to a gastro doctor. She prescribed Miralax claiming he was constipated.
My wife and I were astonished. Constipated? He went through 4 days of pure agony – 27 bouts of diarrhea – 6 bouts of vomiting. How could he be constipated?
She also later did a scope from both ends and found no disease or entangled intestines – just some acid “burns” in the stomach. Of course she recommended Prevacid and to stay away from citrus and spicy foods.
Her numerous biopsies did show some allergies. The allergist found a lactose intolerance and cited minor findings of other food allergies. Our first visit with him seemed promising, but the second visit only got confusing.
With his level of allergies, his severe symptoms could not be explained. Back to the gastro doctor. Over time and between the 2 doctors “treating” him, we got prescriptions for Singulair, Xygal, an asthma inhaler, Prevacid and
Pentasa.
After these didn’t work, they wanted us to up the dosage. The pharmacist even commented about the excessively high dosage.
My son’s symptoms, especially looking back, were terrible. Never a good eater, never wanting to go to the bathroom, bouts of violent diarrhea and vomiting, bouts of the agony of bloating and constipation, long periods of inactivity, and asthma attacks that always seemed to coincide with his
digestive issues, which we noticed, but the doctors quickly dismissed once they ruled out Crohns and Celiac.
During the worst and last of these episodes, I even had the worst thoughts imaginable – that my son can’t keep any food in him and the doctors are helpless – can he even survive like that? I seriously talked with him about the
things of God and what he specifically needs to do to prepare for eternity.
My son has been diagnosed with many different things. Thank God he doesn’t have any of these things. And thank God (and you) for the work you do.
After 3 days of your 4 day plan, my son was feeling good and he now eats more than me. We stopped all the medications. In just 8 days, he’s eating like a horse, he’s playing like I’ve never seen, he’s going to the bathroom without being forced into it.
So far, so good. Our family loves your recipes and we’ve all taken to the plan.
Just thought you’d like to know – there’s a family in Wisconsin who greatly appreciates the help from this program…
Dave
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SB: Dave, I’m speechless (and my eyes are filled with tears). Thanks so much for sharing your story, and please give your son a big hug for me. May you ALL enjoy great health.
As Dave’s story shows, adults are not the only ones who suffer the effects of eating the wrong foods. Most kids don’t have the severe stomach symptoms Dave’s son had, but instead the effects come out in other ways with them–ADD, ADHD, depression, allergies, obesity and headaches, to name
a few.
For your sake and your kids’, you must feed your body the way it’s meant to be fed–The right foods eaten with the right other foods. It’s a simple formula, the food is delicious, and you’ll be astonished at how great you (and your kids) feel.
Bloating Causes – You Never Thought Of
More than anything else, it’s what you put in your mouth that determines your level of health.
It’s not genetics, not your neighborhood, not how much money you have, not even exercise (although all of these can play a role too). Far and away, food is number one.
Let me tell you about Pam who had gone to the doctor last year because she was addicted to fast food and was always feeling bloated and out of sorts.
She couldn’t help herself. She thought about Wendy’s, McDonald’s and KFC all the time.
She found herself going through the drive-thru several times each week, even for snacks. She craved it late at night, and even if she resisted her craving and went to sleep, she would wake up thinking about it.
Pam’s a very intelligent woman (she’s an attorney) and logically knew that this food was horrible for her…but the addiction was overwhelming.
So she did what she thought was the right thing—went to her doctor for help.
And…can you guess?
Was given a prescription for Prozac (an anti-depressant).
Yet another of thousands of examples of dangerous, life- altering anti-depressants being handed out like candy.
Pam was smart enough to refuse it. Then she asked her doctor to look at a rash she had developed. He said, ”It’s nothing. But I still think you need Prozac.”
She walked out of his office without the drugs, but still feeling devastated and helpless against the tsunami-like power of fast food.
She just didn’t understand some facts about fast food. Fast food creators are very skilled at making their food addicting and taste unbelievably good (thanks to the chemicals they use). And not only is it addicting, but it’s grossly mis- combined and lacking in any nutritional value.
Pam finally decided to do something herself about her addictions and started doing research on how to change things around. Her results speak for themselves.
| She began eating a different way |
She no longer feels an urge for fast food. She admitted that her daughter had come home recently with some leftover fries from McDonald’s, so she thought she’d just take one. After all, she had been “good” for so long.
She spit it out because it tasted so bad. Now that’s success!