bernadette
Forum Replies Created
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are you asking about heartburn or vaginal burning? Or both? Please clarify.
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Hi – I agree with you… that’s quite the cocktail of drugs without any testing. Was he informed of the potential side effects of these drugs?
Ciprofloxacin in particular is a fluoroquinolone (flor-o-KWIN-o-lone) antibiotic with some serious and disabling side effects. Here’s more info on the mechanisms of damage to mitochondria caused by cipro and other fluoroquinoline antibiotic drugs. There are net toxic effects by overtly interfering with protection to mitochondria DNA.
I personally know a few people who were “floxxed” and there are many Facebook support groups for these victims. I’m not sure why they still prescribe it so liberally when there are many other alternatives, such as the anti-parasite herbal options shared here in the Gut Health Masterclass, as well as anti-microbial options here, which are effective and much safer.
The Gut Health Masterclass also shares probiotic suggestions here and gut healing therapies here.
Hope this helps.
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mid-June so hopefully soon!
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sorry your son is having an ear infection. Have you seen my go-to protocols when an illness hits my family, including ear infections? Mullein garlic oil and silver hydrosol work like magic alongside immune support for ear infections. The brands are linked in that guide. I’ve successfully used those for my kids. Of course, antibiotics can indeed be helpful with severe infections, but I personally always like to try a more natural approach by supporting immune function, before resorting to antibiotics since they decimate the gut microbiome.
Your request for probiotics is a wise one! It can take several months (6-9 months) to repopulate the gut microbiome after just 1 course of antibiotics, so definitely continue with the kefir and other forms of fermented foods regularly and long term.
Since antibiotics reduce both the beneficial and pathogenic bacteria, this creates an environment for yeast to overgrow. That’s why I often recommend Klaire Labs ABx support during and 30 days after courses of antibiotics since it contains a beneficial type of yeast called S Boulardii, as well as lacto and bifido strains. This is a capsule, so it can be opened up and sprinkled directly into his milk or gently on the breast if you’re breast feeding.
I then switch to Klaire Labs Therbiotic Baby for several months in addition to fermented foods.
Wishing your son an effective recovery!
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Hi has any other type of blood chemistry testing been done like a liver panel? Blood sugar?
From a root cause perspective, low thyroid function (higher TSH) increases the level of Prolactin, which suppresses GnRH and can cause menstrual irregularity or cessation.
Was a full thyroid panel run? You can see what that entails in this video in the Thyroid Balance course.
Given that she had a fibroid removed, there was likely some estrogen dominance at play. Removing the fibroid doesn’t get rid of the dynamic that allowed it to happen, so I would encourage you to read our handout on estrogen dominance to get a better understanding of the reasons at play: xenoestrogens (outside estrogen mimickers), lower progesterone relative to estrogen, or lack of estrogen detox. These are essentially the contributing factors for developing estrogen dominance, which can lead to fibroids. This is probably a good place to start… do you know anything about her lifestyle choices (personal care products she uses, plastic bottle use, perfumes/scents, etc)?
We also have this 1-page handout that discusses other possible causes for Fibroids inside the Symptom Dictionary with some initial actions steps to consider.
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yes, no issues as long as it’s prepared and consumed fresh, and no eating leftovers the next day. Here’s a handout in our resources that can help you navigate histamine in foods.
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so definitely avoid broth as an introduction for now and start with eggs. I collect mine from Organegg (WhatsApp +971 50 300 0048). Greenheart organic farms is my other go-to as well.
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YES! Broth is a great first introduction. It’s not a muscle meat so it shouldn’t really cause any reactions unless you’re histamine intolerant.
If you want to make your own, I share a recipe in my book (if you have a copy). I’ll create a recipe handout here as well for July’s release. If you want to purchase ready-made, there’s some frozen at Organic Foods & Cafe, or Broth Lab (local, not organic but good quality chicken), or Happi’s broth (bonebroth.ae – organic, imported).
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sorry about that – your previous question was somehow missed. Thanks for pinging us again.
Insulin resistance is definitely at play: Fasting glucose of 94, fasting insulin of 13, and HbA1C at the upper end of the clinical reference range. Just a reference, optimal fasting insulin should be between 5 to 7.
Please watch this video which explains the optimal reference ranges as a comparison to your husband’s levels. This is definitely a contributing factor for calcification since higher insulin can cause damage to vessels and soft tissues and promote calcification. Blood sugar regulation should be prioritized. It could also explain his high uric acid, an antioxidant that increases in the presence of higher oxidative stress (which happens when blood sugar levels are high).
His labs also show low vitamin D. As mentioned above, in blood vessels, Vitamin K2 is necessary to carboxylate MGP, a protein which strongly inhibits vascular calcification. Vitamin D plays a synergistic role in this activation too! Here’s a handout which explains how to increase vitamin D levels. If he chooses to supplement, make sure he’s taking magnesium glycinate and a vitamin D3/K2 combo to ensure calcium shuttles into bone and not soft tissue.
Have you gone through the Blood Sugar Balance course yet? I share solutions and strategies for the different stages of insulin resistance. He should watch it to understand these dynamics too, so he’s motivated to make changes.
A few other markers jumped out but can you please confirm if he was sick when these tests were taken? His white blood cells are showing a pattern of possible viral infection, which would skew other markers like globulin. It’s clinically low and could indicate immune insufficiency. We know vitamin D is insufficient. I would also check vitamin A, zinc and copper levels.
His liver markers are also suboptimally high. Again, this could happen when there’s a virus like EBV or CMV for example. Does this make sense in his case?
Finally, I’m still suspecting issues with thyroid function given his suppressed TSH, cholesterol and triglycerides. If chronic stress is part of his picture, this would also need to be reduced, not just managed as it can be playing a role in his higher insulin levels, especially if his diet is low in sugar/carbs.
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d-limonone helps break up congestion. It’s not pushing bile flow. Polyphenols, digestive bitters, artichoke, etc help stimulate emptying of the gallbladder (i.e. flow). Hope that makes sense.
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Hi – great question! Veganism is a risk factor for low stomach acid since the body intrinsically knows it doesn’t need as much, so adding animal proteins back into your diet should be done gradually to help with digestion. Assistance with HCL betaine (if no H Pylori overgrowth present) and digestive enzymes, can also help with this transition if a person feels they cannot digest animal proteins well.
With that in mind, starting with lighter animal proteins would be helpful. Here’s a suggested order of reintroduction (top-down):
-eggs
-light fish (ex. seabream – I buy the organic one by the company Fish Farm. It’s tested to have no heavy metals or lice)
-oily fish (ex. salmon, sardines)
-shellfish & mollusks (ex. shrimp, oysters, clams)
-chicken (ex. thigh, organs)
-turkey
-cow/lambIntroduce these one at a time, and in small quantities to really allow your body the time it needs to adapt over time.
Hope this helps. Do keep us posted!
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Hi – I’ve never recommended chicory in this form as a digestive bitter, but technically, anything bitter to the taste can help stimulate bile flow. Does this taste bitter?
Here’s a post I did on digestive bitters which includes supplements and foods to incorporate before/with meals.
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if there’s anything missing, please let me know.
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there could be other Lyme co-infections that weren’t measured in the tick test. If he’s not showing any new symptoms and all is well, then you can skip the testing, but if you do start noticing new symptoms, then keep Lyme testing in mind.
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1. Yes, correct: organic, raw, grass-fed milk, A2 milk (that’s what iFarm provides by the way), then pasteurized organic grassfed milk.2. iFarm offers grass to their cows so I’m confused by your question. Did you get different information from them about what they feed their cows? I would opt for local, raw, organic, grassfed first. If none available, then pasteurized organic plain yogurt.
3. Regarding brands I recommend, I actually have that as an accompaniment for readers. You’ll find the link towards the bottom of p.119 in Chapter 6: Let’s Go Shopping of my book. It’s a reader-only privilege so I’m not going to share that link here. 😉
