Intro - long!

[Guest guest]

Hi

I would like to give my " case history " as a means of introduction and see

what advice you guys can give me or what experience you can share.

In the past 6 months I've had 4 " episodes " of severe burning heartburn pain

under my ribs, across my back and across my right shoulder blade. The first

time I ended up in emergency because the NHS 24 (I'm in the UK!) helpline

were worried I was having a heart attack. I have ME/CFS and get the classic

adrenal stress out of breath thing when I'm stressed. I was given

lamprazole and a painkiller that worked a treat, almost immediately.

I was tested for helicobacter but this came back negative. My brother had

helicobacter and my father suffered from ulcers (in the days before the

helicobacter association was made) so I fully expected that would be the

problem. I've since been told that the test should be done without any

antacids in the system for at least 2 weeks and I was taking lamprazole at

the time. Can anyone confirm this?

The second time I was advised, again by NHS 24, to take the remainder of the

lamprazole I had left and painkillers. The third time was the worst - I

wanted to die; neither the lamprazole nor painkillers got rid of it though

it lessened enough for me to lie down and rest rather than trying to hold my

ME/CFS body upright!! - the pain subsided after the usual 3 or 4 hours but

resumed as soon as I ate something (I thought eggs would be easy to digest).

My GP had me admitted to hospital on the correct suspicion of gallstones.

An ultrasound scan the next day showed " gravel " . I do remember the

radiologist telling the nurse who'd accompanied me to come and see how one

of the stones was near the pancreas (at the time I thought she said in the

pancreas) but the two hospital results I've received since say there was no

stone in the duct.

I overheard the radiologist tell the doctor that my pancreas was " very

bright " and I asked for clarification. I was kept in hospital for 3 nights

altogether because my amylase was raised in the blood test on admission

though was lower the next day. My GP has since told me that it wasn't

incredibly high but high enough for them to want to keep an eye on it and in

keeping with the gallstones. While nothing was mentioned to me about my

liver while I was in hospital, the most recent letter from the hospital says

I had abnormal LFTs (liver function tests, presumably). It's also been

clearly stated that I had choleocystitis and pancreatitis. I've been

referred to a bigger hospital (I live very rurally) and am still waiting for

the appointment after 4 weeks. Local doctors have recommended the

gallbladder being removed, of course, but I've also been told that, at

nearly 21 stone, it's unlikely they will do the op (I've lost 7 lbs since

the hospital stay).

I was given lamprazole again by the hospital but my doctor changed the

prescription to (the cheaper) omeprazole which coincided with a griping pain

in my gut which disappeared when I stopped taking it.

I was given the usual advice by the hospital and my GP about low fat diets.

My experience has been that only a low carb diet does away with my

heartburn. Even a low fat / low GI diet doesn't get rid of it. High fat

high carb definitely make it much much worse and I had lapsed from low carb

to high fat high carb in the timescale covered by these attacks. Since

leaving hospital, I've done as much reading about it on the internet that my

ME/CFS impaired brain will allow and came to the firm conclusion that low

carb is the way to go. My heartburn, as predicted, has disappeared.

However, over the course of about 10 days, I kept lapsing into eating a few

high carb foods and a low level heartburn returned and culminated in the 4th

attack last Monday. This time it wasn't as bad as before (or perhaps I'm

getting used to them!) but lasted over 36 hours, fluctuating in severity,

but it was mainly worse for the first 12 or so hours. For a couple of days

afterwards my stomach felt like it had a brick in it!

I've also suffered from halitosis for the past year, something that has been

really bothering me. This is NOT ketosis induced smelly breath through low

carbing as I still had it when I was no longer low carbing. My tongue is

coated and never feels fresh. Are these signs of gallbladder and/or liver

problems?

Ok - to my questions.

As I have only gravel in my gallbladder, is it so necessary for me to do a

flush?

Before this latest attack I would have asked if it was possible for me to

get by without the op and without flushing but with just controlling it with

my diet. I would still like to know this as I feel the attack was brought

on my the occasional high carb food (which are absolutely off limits now!).

Is it generally accepted that we have to follow a low fat diet now, in order

not to aggravate the gallbladder? I'm trying to avoid excessively high fat

in my low carb diet, just the fat that comes with the food (if you see what

I mean!) but it is and needs to be higher fat than a low fat diet.

If I do go for a flush, do I need to use epsom salts, as it's only gravel

that I have? I've felt I could cope with the fresh grapefruit juice and

olive oil flush. I honestly feel concerned about ingesting such a high

level of oil and fear it'll bring on severe heartburn - or am I missing

something?

What is the recommended diet for liver and gallbladder health? Does low

carbing fit with most people's understanding about what's good for this

condition?

(I found this site last week and was delighted to read the following extract

about carbs:

http://www.scdiet.org/7archives/lutz/lutz7.html

Distressing heartburn is often the first symptom to disappear following

withdrawal of carbohydrates from the diet. However severe, and even if made

worse by factors like the back-flow of gastric juice into the esophagus in

hiatal hernia, the chances of success are good. If patients come back with

the complaint that the diet is no longer effective and their heartburn has

returned, a closer look usually reveals that some carbohydrates have again

crept into the diet. Or a gastrointestinal infection cam be suspected - and

treated.

In some way carbohydrates appear to disturb acid regulation, i.e. the normal

state of affairs in which acid is produced by the stomach only when it has

something to digest. Only a sick stomach produces digestive juices when

empty. This so-called 'fasting secretion' is the reason for the

auto-digestion seen in gastric ulcers, or at least in ulcers near the

pyloric sphincter, the duodenum or at the artificial exit of a resected

stomach. Excess gastric acid is responsible for or provides the right

conditions for, for development of a gastric ulcer, which is deducible from

the fact that a typical gastric ulcer is found only in sites where contact

with gastric juice is possible.)

I also suspect I have candida and/or leaky gut (still to research the latter

enough to make a decision).

I'm sure I'll think of more questions but I hope you guys can help me with

this lot in the meantime!

Thanks in advance.

Alison

God bless

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