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Hi all, I’m Laura, delighted to be here and excited to lead a more healthy life! I have a diagnosis of gastroparesis and had POP surgery in the Cleveland clinic 13 months ago, to no avail. Have tried many meds but tbh would love to correct this naturally!
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11 Replies
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Hey ,
Welcome here! We have many great tips for living a more healthy life! My name is Daniel and I help on the platform.
I was wondering what you feel you want to improve the most. Maybe we can help you point out the most important sections of B Better!
I am wondering if the POP surgery you are writing about was done to improve symptoms of gastroparesis (Per-Oral Pyloromyotomy) or if the POP surgery refers to Pelvic Organ Prolapse surgery which is done to lift muscles in the pelvic floor.
To help you in the best way possible, would you share with us what medications/supplements you are currently using and have used?
Gastroparesis is a condition we see in diabetes patients. The nerves to the stomach get damaged as a result of insulin resistance & elevated blood sugars.
It would be helpful to test blood sugars, Hba1c and fasting insulin (this marker isn’t tested so often with doctors. Also, a lack of some of the next vitamins can cause nerve damage: vitamin b12, b6 and folate. Perhaps your doctor already checked these numbers? Some red blood cell markers can provide us more function tests of how the vitamins are performing. It would be therefore helpful to examine your red blood cells as well.
Also, hypothyroidism can slow down motility. Testing for markers like TSH, fT4, fT3, Anti TPO, Anti TG & Reverse T3 can provide us insight. Perhaps your doctor checked already TSH and fT4. The other markers aren’t usually tested in the protocols they have unless TSH and fT4 are out of the reference ranges.
With hypothyroidism we often see people experiencing feeling cold, hair loss, thinking slow, thinning of the outer parts of the eyebrows, depression, constipation (less than 1 bowel movement per day), fatigue and/or weight gain. But there is always a group who don’t recognize these symptoms in themselves. Perhaps you can share with us if you recognize any.
Some surgeries can also cause gastroparesis. Did you have any in the past?
Any virus that can cause GI problems (including COVID-19) can cause something called viral gastroparesis. It would therefore be helpful to have a White Blood cell Count and Differential.
There are many other neurological conditions that can lead to this dynamic. But we can start your health journey just by sharing what numbers your doctor(s) found and what conditions they thought of.
Lots of questions & information, I know! But every question can help us help you!
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Hi Daniel,
Many thanks for your detailed and thorough response. I guess the biggest thing I’m hoping to address/ reduce is the daily vomiting. That’s my main concern and barrier to optimum health I feel.
The surgery I had to address the gastroparesis was Per-Oral Pyloromyotomy. It’s the only surgery I’ve had.Regarding meds, I’ve tried Metoclopramide, domperidone, Zofran. Prochlorperazine.
Regarding, test blood tests can I send you the ones I had done earlier this month following a viral stomach infection?
Thanks in advance for reading; I’ve included detailed feedback from 2 sessions with a Kinesiologist.
Prior to the surgery in 2021, I attended a Kinesiologist in 2019 who stated I had leaky gut and post virus.I’ve always had success with alternative medicine adopting a holistic approach, below is her feedback;
So what came up were mainly the muscles relating to your digestive system. (Stomach, spleen, liver, small and large intestine). You also showed to “Leaky Gut” where the lining of your intestines is compromised and is allowing particles through to the blood stream that aren’t fully digested. This will be helped with the L-Glutamine.
You also have a number of digestive toxins:
Candida – which will be helped with the change in diet, and the PB Assist (probiotic) phase of the cleanse.
Fungus
Bacteria (the bad kind)
Parasites – 4 types
Post Virus (where a virus goes “dormant” and can lead to anxiety/digestive issues etc).
These will all be helped with the GX Assist (Cleanse).We found a number of foods that you are intolerant to at the moment. Many of these will be OK once your gut is healed. We will check them on your next visit.
Foods to Avoid:
ASPARTAME (artificial sweetener). This was the one that weakened your arm muscle at the beginning of the session. So, no Diet Coke, or diet anything!!
MSG – probably why you reacted so badly to the Thai and Chinese when you came home.
Wheat. Milk (though some cheese is OK especially sheeps or goats)
Beef, Beans, Soy
Pineapple, Banana, Grapes, Nectarines, peaches (due to the Candida), Apples
Broccoli, Cabbage, Green Pepper (Red peppers are OK), Cucumber
Chocolate (sorry!!)Also, be careful of spelt. All other grains (Oats, rye etc) were fine. As were chicken, fish, eggs, mango, grapefruit, all berries.
As I said to you the Cleanse is done in 3 phases: Activate, Remove and Restore. Activate is where you get the required vitamins and minerals to support the cleanse. The AlphaCRS also has some cleansing ingredients, so we start slowly! It can also increase energy, so in phases 2 and 3 I advise taking 2 in the morning and 1 in the evening.
So your “prescription” is:
General Advice:
Drink LOADS of water to help eliminate the toxins.
• Eat slowly to allow digestive and pancreatic juices to be released to digest food
• Massage under your ribs to stimulate your Small Intestine and help digestion
• Massage UP the outside of your legs from the knee to the thigh to help with constipation (stimulates the Large Intestine), and where your middle finger touches the outside of your thigh is a great spot to massage for headaches.Until your kit arrives:
Glutamine x 4 per day. Break them up into 2 doses – or 3 if you prefer – with food. This will start healing your leaky gut.When the kit arrives:
Days 1 to 5 (Activate Phase part 1)
Morning: 2 x Glutamine. 1 x Microplex, 1 x xeOmega, 1 x Alpha CRS
Evening: 2 x Glutamine. 1 x Microplex, 1 x xeOmega, 1 x Alpha CRS
Days 6 to 10 (Activate Phase part 2)
Morning: 1 x Glutamine, 2 x Microplex, 1 xeOmega, 2 x Alpha CRS
Evening: 1 x Glutamine, 2 x Microplex, 1 xeOmega, 2 x Alpha CRSDays 11-20 (Remove Phase) (this is where the cleanse proper starts and you deal with the toxins)
Morning: 1 x Glutamine, 1 x Microplex, 1 xeOmega, 2 x Alpha CRS, 2 x GX Assist
Evening: 1 x Glutamine, 2 x Microplex, 2 xeOmega, 1 x Alpha CRS, 2 x GX AssistDays 21-30 (Reset Phase) (this is where you repopulate your gut with beneficial bacteria)
Morning: 1 x Glutamine, 1 x Microplex, 1 xeOmega, 2 x Alpha CRS, 1 x PB Assist
Evening: 1 x Glutamine, 2 x Microplex, 2 xeOmega, 1 x Alpha CRS, 2 x PB AssistWhen this is finished continue with the Glutamine at 4 per day until the tub is finished, and with the Microplex (3 per day), xeOmega (1 per day) and Alpha CRS (3 per day). If you have any PB Assist left it’s no harm to take 1 per day too.
You may feel a bit “blah” about 7 days into the Cleanse/Remove stage. This is where the “nasties” die off and emit toxins of their own. It shouldn’t be severe enough to send you to bed and will only last a day or two.
NB if you have any other symptoms AT ALL, or are having any difficulties at any stage please contact me. We can adjust the protocol if necessary.
This was the 5 week follow up:
Hi LauraIt was lovely to see you again the other day and I’m pleased to report that, despite you vomiting up some of the tablets, there has been a good improvement in your digestive toxins. The Candida, Bacteria, Fungus and 2 of the parasites have all gone. You are left with:
• Leaky Gut – this will be helped by AlphaCRS from doTERRA
• Post Virus – this will be helped by Microplex (the multivitamin) from doTERRA
• 1 remaining parasite – again the AlphaCRS helps this along with 1 drop of Oregano oil – DILUTED – on the lower abdomen.
•Foodwise, also things have improved. The ones you need to avoid now are:
Soy, Beans (including Kidney Beans), Beef and broccoli. Aspartame and MSG are still out too.But you can reintroduce: Wheat (in moderation), bananas, apples, peaches, nectarines, pineapple, grapes. Cows milk, cabbage, green peppers, cucumber and chocolate (dark – 70% plus) are also OK.
Sweeteners – the best ones are Stevia and Xylitol.The Essential Oils we tested included:
Balance – apply a drop to your Throat and to your abdomen, 2 inches up from your navel in a “swipe” to balance your Adrenals to your Thyroid. For stress, a drop in the palm of your hands, and inhale deeply 3 or 4 times. Apply the residue to the back of your neck and over your chest. It’s also a great one to put on the soles of your feet and over your Solar Plexus for stress.
To help your head stop churning, especially when trying to sleep, put some on your chest and the
And, as it contains Frankincense, its good to use when flying to help your body deal with radiation from x-ray in the airport etc.
OnGuard the immune blend, will help not only your immune system but also your energy so you don’t take on other peoples “stuff”. Dilute and apply to your Solar Plexus as this is where you seem to be taking in negative energy.
ZenGest (or DigestZen in some places). Put a drop around your navel for bloating or discomfort after eating. Put a drop on the tender areas on the lower left or right hand side of your abdomen when uncomfortable –this will help to reduce digestive toxins and support your large intestine.As regards ordering more products, unfortunately it’s not as straightforward as I thought! UAEi is not an “open market” at the moment, though they are working on it (it’s all to do with local laws etc). Currently your order would have to be sent to either your mum and she send it on, or to an address in the USA where you would have to ring them to get them to send it on. I’m going to send a couple of emails to see which is the best/easiest/cheapest way to do this and I’ll let you know when I find out.
Enjoy the rest of your trip, and the wedding, and safe travels back to UAE. Good luck with finding your accommodation too. Hopefully you’ll manage to get some rest when you get back
Take care, and email me if you have any questions when you get back.
Sharon
Regarding hypothyrodism, I had testing done some time ago, nothing showed butI definitely quite sensitive to cold (always have been but perhaps less tolerant now) thinning of the inner and outer parts of the eyebrows and regular constipation.
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Hello – welcome to B Better! I’m glad you’re here with us and already being guided by Daniel.
Just wanted to also quickly chime in about ordering supplements to the UAE. B Better members have access to Fullscript (create an account here) – and how we get around the shipping issue is by using a mail forwarding company like Boxit4Me or Shop & Ship. Their fees are fairly reasonable compared to international shipping fees.
Also, can you please share your current symptom status after following the above protocol that you’ve shared, and the POP surgery. What are your top 5 symptoms at the moment that you hope to address and if you can please rate them out of 10 in terms of severity/frequency.
Also, if you haven’t already seen the post, I just recently replied to another member struggling with gastroparesis as well. Here’s the post.
Looking forward to supporting you further.
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Thank you so much for the detailed information! Let’s start from top till bottom.
Medications
Thank you for sharing! What medications did you felt worked for you and what medications did not? And right now, are you still using any medications? (This by the way would include birth-control pills, painkillers & acid reflux medications)Blood tests
The more results the better! If you have older labs done they are welcome as well since they would provide information about how some numbers have evolved!Leaky gut & Canida
Do you perhaps know how your Kinesiologist determined you had leaky gut and Candida overgrowth? Were there lab tests done for this? And if you have them, would you mind sharing them with us as well?Food intolerances
Would you perhaps know what food intolerance test was done to determine your food intolerances? There are a lot of tests available.Hypothyroidism
I would love to see your lab results done by your doctor as well. Although as I mentioned above, the traditional way of testing hypothyroidism at doctors makes it hard to rule out hypothyroidism. This is why I would advise you (definitely because of all your symptoms!) to also check besides TSH, fT4 the markers that aren’t traditionally done at first with your doctor: fT3, anti-TPO, anti-TG and reverse T3. This could provide us insight into if you are producing enough of the most metabole-active thyroid hormone: free T3. And if fT3 is low it would provide us insight into if it is caused for example by an autoimmune problem (in this case your antibodies could be elevated which could show up on an anti-TPO and anti-TG test) or if it is caused by stress (in this case reversed T3 could be elevated – just be aware that most doctors that aren’t doing functional medicine might not have heard of this marker!).Let me first take a look at your labs before I advise you further. Let’s try to eliminate some options and see what is at play first. Maybe we can provide you with some rapid relief by finding nutrient deficiencies first.
With hypothyroidism, we know deficiencies in iodine, iron, zinc, vitamins A & D, selenium, and magnesium all can play a role. Since gastroparesis can be caused by nerve damage, vitamins B12, B6 and folate are important to evaluate for us as well!
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thank you kindly for your response.
My top (/worst) symptom is vomiting severity/frequency would be 10 being honest as it’s daily, often more than once a day. The nausea/bloating are not as debilitating. My top priority is resolving the vomiting.Thank you I saw the other post on gastroparesis.
Many thanks in advance for your advice/ support.
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I’m so sorry to hear that. In order to help you reverse these dynamics, we need to help you figure out what is causing your gastroparesis. Some questions for you please:
1. Have you ever tested your fasting glucose, fasting insulin and HbA1c?
2. Have you ever tested for SIBO (small intestinal bacterial overgrowth)?
3. Have you ever tested to see if there’s an H. Pylori overgrowth, possibly leading to low stomach acid?
4. Have you ever taken anything to stimulate or support stomach acid?
5. Have you ever done an Organic Acid urine test by any chance? I’m suspicious of toxicity affecting the central nervous system and mitochondrial health.
6. Have you ever tested your thyroid levels? These include: TSH, Total T4, Total T3, Free T4, Free T3, Reverse T3, anti-TPO, anti-TG
7. When did the symptoms of gastroparesis begin? Any particular medications, illnesses, or life events that triggered it that you can think of?
8. You mention daily vomiting. Does it happen randomly or always at the same time. Any known triggers?
In terms of rapid relief for nausea/vomiting, here are a few options to consider trying if you haven’t already:
• It’s been shown that supplementing with 1,000-1,500mg/day ginger with meals (spread out) can help relieve pregnancy related nausea. This might help you too. Brewing fresh ginger tea may also help.
• If the central nervous system is involved in your case, working on stimulating the vagus nerve might help. Humming, gargling water, and ice water face dunks are easy exercises to try when you’re feeling nauseous. Box breathing too (inhale for 4, hold for 4, exhale for 4 to 8 counts).
• If it’s due to histamine overload, supplementing with DAO enzyme may help offer relief.
• Reflexology & acupuncture – have you explored these therapies to help ward off nausea and vomiting?
• Acupressure – here’s a great video showing you the point to press on your wrist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8dhvkGGTnHUSince you’re vomiting daily, please make sure you’re hydrating and replenishing your lost electrolytes. ConcenTrace Trace Mineral drops or LMNT electrolytes are products you can consider. Making ‘sole’ (saturated salt water) with Himalayan or sea salt is another option. I would also add in coconut water for potassium and additional supplemental magnesium.
Also, to protect your teeth from the acidic nature of vomiting, our guest experts Drs. Agnes & David Roze (biological dentists) offered us their pH balancing DIY mouthwash that you might want to consider.
I hope this is helpful. I’ll be waiting for your replies to my questions above and I look forward to being able to support you further.
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Wow, thank you so, so much for your detailed reply Bernadette. I just made sole after seeing it on your instagram page!
I am taking mg to aid sleep, coconut water and ors daily to help with hydration. I actually have gone to Dr Roze’s dental clinic in Jumeirah and am hoping to have 2 mercury fillings removed there under there SMART protocol soon. Interesting you are curious re toxicity.
I have regular reflexology (adore it) and accupuncture as often as I can afford it being honest.
I love your suggestions re CNS and vagus nerve and will try them out for sure. Not sure if relevant, but my phsyio advised I have a very narrow infrasternal angle which affects my breathing when I run – the vomiting has hindered this massively – I prob manage 1 run a week, which is defintely limited / restricted by breathing difficulties due to the narrow infrasternal angle. Just said I’d mention in case.In relation to testing,
I had fasting glucose and HbA1c tested within the last 2 years, not recently though. Same with thyroid function, at my request but not sure that all the ones you listed were tested.Gastroenterologist tested for SIBO and H. Pylori overgrowth about 18 months ago when I first attended.
I don’t think I’ve taken anything to stimulate or support stomach acid.
I have never done an Organic Acid urine test but am intrigued, how would I go about getting this done please?
Symptoms of gastroparesis first began in 2019 following a trip to the Phillipines, docs/ gastroenterologists could not find anything, endoccope was clear. However 6 months later at home in Ireland the kinesiologist found lost of issues; and felt that parasites were present in colon, in addition to the following: digestive toxins:
Candida – which will be helped with the change in diet, and the PB
Fungus
Bacteria (the bad kind)
Parasites – 4 types
Post Virus (where a virus goes “dormant” and can lead to anxiety/digestive issues etc).
These will all be helped with the GX Assist (Cleanse).We found a number of foods that you are intolerant to at the moment. Many of these will be OK once your gut is healed. We will check them on your next visit.
Foods to Avoid:
ASPARTAME (artificial sweetener). This was the one that weakened your arm muscle at the beginning of the session. So, no Diet Coke, or diet anything!!
MSG – probably why you reacted so badly to the Thai and Chinese when you came home.
Wheat. Milk (though some cheese is OK especially sheeps or goats)
Beef, Beans, Soy
Pineapple, Banana, Grapes, Nectarines, peaches (due to the Candida), Apples
Broccoli, Cabbage, Green Pepper (Red peppers are OK), Cucumber
Chocolate (sorry!!)Follow up visit report:
I’m pleased to report that, despite you vomiting up some of the tablets, there has been a good improvement in your digestive toxins. The Candida, Bacteria, Fungus and 2 of the parasites have all gone. You are left with:
• Leaky Gut – this will be helped by AlphaCRS from doTERRA
• Post Virus – this will be helped by Microplex (the multivitamin) from doTERRA
• 1 remaining parasite – again the AlphaCRS helps this along with 1 drop of Oregano oil – DILUTED – on the lower abdomen.
•Foodwise, also things have improved. The ones you need to avoid now are:
Soy, Beans (including Kidney Beans), Beef and broccoli. Aspartame and MSG are still out too.This was 3 years ago now though.
Regarding your qs about daily vomiting, it’s more random I think but seems to happen from 12 onwards, not usually before then but sometimes I do vomit breakfast (either overnight oats with berries or smoothie- pineapple, strawberries, scoop of protein, pear, blueberries)
Sometimes in the afternoon or evening when lunch/ dinner comes up some of the blueberries I had at breakfast will come up, this freaks me out that they haven’t been digested and come up so many hours later.Thank you So much for your detailed and thorough response and investigations, I greatly appreciate you and your time.
Warm regards,
Laura
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In order to start ruling out potential root causes, I think it’s important to pursue testing:
-Blood sugar: fasting glucose, fasting insulin, HbA1c
-Please share the results of SIBO and H Pylori. If negative, stomach acid support may offer rapid relief. If it does, investigating the root causes of hypochlorhydria is the next priority.
-Here’s a sample Organic Acid Test report. The cost is $349 USD plus shipping ~$40. The kit gets delivered within 2-3 business days and collected from you directly once you pay the lab. Results take about 3 weeks. If you’re interested, please send an email to support@bernadetteabraham.com with your full name, email address, date of birth, phone number, shipping & billing address (if different) and we’ll help you access that.
Now that you mention amalgam fillings, I’m even more suspicious of mercury toxicity specifically. A hair mineral test can help confirm that. But all of these tests can end up costing a lot of money. Instead, focusing on supporting your detox pathways and ensuring you’re not constipated is a good strategy to reduce the overall toxic load.
Rubbing castor oil over your liver/gallbladder and taking a binder like GI Detox 30-45 minutes before exercise/sweating on an empty stomach can help eliminate toxins. Make sure you hydrate well before and after and add electrolytes. If you can’t exercise, then investing in a portable infrared sauna (BERN10 for discount) or sauna sessions at a club (ex. The Hundred Wellness) is another option.
-Have you ever kept a food journal to see if there are patterns that you can pick up on since the vomiting is random? Here’s a 3-day food journal you can use as a guide. If you prefer apps, MyFitnessPal is a good one to keep track of your food intake. Not sure if you can add notes though… the goal is to be able to go back and see if the vomiting is triggered by certain types of food groups like histamines for example. Histamine overload can cause nausea/vomiting. I’ve attached a handout that includes foods high in histamine (and other amines) for you to start paying closer attention if these are included in your diet regularly. Pineapple and strawberries are high in amines for example.[SIGHI-Leaflet_HistamineEliminationDiet.pdf]
-Finally, given the fact that your symptoms started after a trip, and parasites have been detected with your practitioner, have you considered monthly parasite cleanses during the full moon week? Have you ever tried CellCore’s full moon cleanse? Especially if mercury is at play, your body will allow and keep parasitic overgrowths as a protective response from something more harmful like heavy metals. Sometimes, my clients need several rounds/months to fully get rid of them once the environment is corrected (in your case, possibly the amalgam fillings?). Just some food for thought. -
Thank you So much for your detailed reply B. H pylori and Sibo were negative but that’s almost 2 years since testing.
Apologies for my lack of knowledge but can a GP test for hba1c?
Although the practitioner detected parasites in 2019 I am definetly interested in the cleanse, especially poignant today on the full moon! Could you let me know how to get Renewlife Cleansesmart 15 day program please? I can get the 30 day here online in Abu Dhabi but wondered if you think the 15 day is better?
I have an appointment on Sat to get the 1st of 2 amalgam fillings removed, it’s very expensive so ideally I would have had them removed months ago when I first discovered how unhealthy they are. On that note, being honest financial circumstances changed drastically recently so I don’t think the Organic Acid test is currently an option, as embarrassed as I am to say.
I will do the caster pack thank you kindly for the link and reduce histamines. Thank you so much B
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nothing to be embarrassed about. Functional medicine and holistic treatments ARE expensive and really add up. That’s a big part of the reason why I created B Better.
So keeping budget in mind, here’s what you can get done through a GP if you have insurance:
-H Pylori breath test (you’ll need to give symptoms to warrant this test like vomiting, nausea, bloating, gas, stomach pain, acid reflux, heartburn, etc). Ask them for it.
-Blood sugar panel: c-peptide or fasting insulin, fasting glucose, HbA1c. It should be all 3 to get a better picture. Symptoms that warrant this test: gastroparesis/vomiting, low energy, cravings for sugar, headaches in the afternoons, jittery unless you eat, etc.
-Liver panel: ALT, AST, Alk Phos, GGT, Total and Direct bilirubin, Albumin, Protein. Symptoms that warrant this test: chronic nausea/vomiting, heavy metal exposure from amalgam fillings (although conventional docs won’t acknowledge this).
If you need a functionally minded doc to order these, you can make an appointment with Dr. Makk at Zia medical center (but it’s pay and claim back), or Dr. Liliana Skorski (functional gynecologist) at HealthBay Polyclinic but I’m not sure how much they allow her to go outside of the “hormone realm” in terms of testing. But these are pretty basic tests so they should be ok. You can also try Dr. Lilya Chub at https://www.hhhmed.com/.
With regards to the Renew Life cleanse. It’s a 15-day kit. Do they now have a 30-day kit I’m not aware of? If not, I would get 2 15-day kits and do them with a 10-day break in between. They are available and discounted in the B Better Fullscript dispensary but you’ll need a mail forwarding company like shop & ship to redirect them from the US to Dubai. Otherwise, you can find them on iherb here.
Please keep us posted on your progress and trials…
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Hi – just wanted to check in with you. Did you end up pursuing additional testing? What have you tried since our last conversations? Looking forward to your updates…
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