Self Experimentation - work in progress

[Fenris]

Sorry for the scattershot approach in the way I put this together.

Also it should be noted that I have not had a professional diagnosis, but rather attempted this based on my own feelings.

The text in blue in the first half is copied from various places on the net, some linked, some not. The text in black in the second half is mine.

Edited to add some context/ some sort of explanation. It is my firm belief that the majority of my ailments arrises from a less than spectacular digestive system, so much of my mood and wellbeing seems to be related to how my stomach is feeling. I have been taking metamucil regularly which helps a lot with my psoriasis, and I have had a feeling that there may have been a fungal overgrowth in my gut.

I have narrowed down a lot of things that help, but nothing that fixed.

My father was recently diagnosed with stomach cancer after getting through esophagal cancer 20 years ago. He had the H.pylori test and came back positive for it, his father had stomach ulcers as well. My father was told that his offspring should get tested for H.pylori.

I startel looking into the possibility that H.pylori and C.albicans might be somehow related in causing grief in the gut, and it looks like they do act together, so I decided to try some self experimentation. The Lufenuron to attack any possible fungal problem, and the mastic gum to try to combat the H.pylori I have been taking them together as it seems the H.pylori can hide in the C.albicans, only to re-infect after the standard course of antibiotics.

http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijmicro/2012/920459/

Chitin, Chitinase Responses, and Invasive Fungal Infections

International Journal of Microbiology
Volume 2012 (2012), Article ID 920459, 10 pages

An important component of the fungal cell wall that has not been fully explored as a pathogen-associated molecular pattern is chitin, a polymer of N-acetylglucosamine. Chitin is one of the most abundant biopolymers, probably almost as abundant as cellulose and is found on fungal cell walls and exoskeletons of numerous organisms including parasitic worms (helminths) and arthropods. Although humans do not biosynthesize chitin, they do express chitin degrading enzymes, known as chitinases.

But Chitin is highly resistant to enzymatic breakdown.

Chitinase occurs naturally in many common foods. Bananas, chestnuts, kiwis, avocados, papaya, and tomatoes, for example, all contain significant levels of chitinase.

Chitinases are enzymes that degrade chitin, an abundant polysaccharide present in fungal walls, the cuticles of helminths, and the exoskeletons of arthropods, but strikingly absent from higher organisms. These enzymes are expressed by lower organisms including plants and fish, where they have a known protective function against chitin-bearing pathogens.

Worms have chitinous mouthparts to hold the intestinal wall

Research article

Transcriptome signatures in Helicobacter pylori-infected mucosa identifies acidic mammalian chitinase loss as a corpus atrophy marker

http://www.biomedcentral.com/1755-8794/6/41

The majority of gastric cancer cases are believed to be caused by chronic infection with the bacteriumHelicobacter pylori, and atrophic corpus gastritis is a predisposing condition to gastric cancer development. We aimed to increase understanding of the molecular details of atrophy by performing a global transcriptome analysis of stomach tissue.

Biopsies from patients with different stages of H. pylori infection were taken from both the antrum and corpus mucosa and analyzed on microarrays. The stages included patients without current H. pylori infection, H. pylori-infected without corpus atrophy and patients with current or past H. pylori-infection with corpus-predominant atrophic gastritis.

Using clustering and integrated analysis, we found firm evidence for antralization of the corpus mucosa of atrophy patients. This antralization harbored gain of gastrin expression, as well as loss of expression of corpus-related genes, such as genes associated with acid production, energy metabolism and blood clotting. The analyses provided detailed molecular evidence for simultaneous intestinal metaplasia (IM) and spasmolytic polypeptide expressing metaplasia (SPEM) in atrophic corpus tissue. Finally, acidic mammalian chitinase, a chitin-degrading enzyme produced by chief cells, was shown to be strongly down-regulated in corpus atrophy.

Transcriptome analysis revealed several gene groups which are related to development of corpus atrophy, some of which were increased also in H. pylori-infected non-atrophic patients. Furthermore, loss of acidic chitinase expression is a promising marker for corpus atrophy.

Frequent occurrence of Helicobacter pylori in the human gastrointestinal tract and its persistence due to unsuccessful antimicrobial therapy might be related to a stage in the life cycle of H. pylori in which the bacterium establishes itself as an intracellular symbiont in yeast. In this study, occurrence of non-culturable H. pylori in the oral yeast was assessed by targeting vacuolating cytotoxin A (vacA s1s2) and ureAB genes in the total DNAs of yeasts.

The results of this study showed the intracellular occurrence of H. pylori in yeast. This endosymbiotic relationship might explain the persistence of H. pylori in the oral cavity, the consequence of which could be reinoculation of the stomach by the bacterium and spread of infection among human populations.

Candida and H Pylori often live together.

Most people don’t know Candida can cause the same or similar symptoms as the H pylori itself. So although you may have got rid of the H pylori bacteria, symptoms can remain – or even worsen – if the Candida overgrowth is not dealt with too.

Some research suggests that oral Candida may act as a reservoir for H pylori – which means you could reinfection yourself after successful H pylori treatment.

In other words you could take H pylori triple therapy antibiotics, eliminate H pylori from your stomach, only for it to return weeks or months later because it was hanging around in your mouth inside Candida organisms

Mastic" is another remedy that has made the news. It is derived from a tree resin (Pistacia lentiscus) that has been used as a food ingredient in the Mediterranean region for thousands of years, and which is dried and sold in capsules. Using 1 - 2 g a day, there are reports of H. Pylori symptoms clearing in 90% of patients, and stool samples being H. Pylori-free in 80% of patients after only two weeks. In vitro studies have shown Mastic Gum to be effective against at least seven strains of Helicobacter Pylori, and an increasing number of human trials show similar results, backed by urea breath tests coming back negative.

A number of scientific studies around the world are currently underway, including trials to find out if killing H. Pylori in the oral cavity by chewing mastic gum - not just in the stomach alone - would more permanently eradicate the bug. Unfortunately, as is the case with many therapies and remedies, mastic (mastica) is not tolerated well by some patients, who reported side effects such as stomach upsets similar to, or even worse than the discomfort experienced from the H. Pylori bacteria itself.

Other patients reported no problems during the two week mastic treatment, however despite the promising results of some of these studies, there have been other clinical trials conducted with mastic / mastica that showed no efficacy whatsoever.

Lufenuron is a chitin synthesis inhibitor and can be used to treat fungal infections (and fleas) in primates, it is not approved for use in humans. Lufenuron is fat soluble so will be taken with meals containing dietary fats.

It would seem that H pylori can be found in an environment where the chitin regulating enzymes are severely down regulated – I believe that this would promote an ideal situation for cohabitation with candida as there would be a protective buffer for its chitinous cell walls.

Some physical and mental symptoms – Often feeling mentally & physically tired, brain fog, digestive complaints, gas, feeling of fullness (like swollen stomach) even when hungry, psoriasis & dermatitis, sinuses constantly feel mildly blocked, gross mouth feel & very dry in the mornings, furry tongue (not too bad), mood swings, anxiety/depression seemingly related to digestion upsets, usually treat with some mucuna and the dopamine lift seems to fix the problem, dose up on inner health plus, supplement with glutamine as well. Any attempt to boost serotonin with 5HTP seems to aggravate the anxiety/depression so I don’t try that any more. Sometimes I get bad night sweats and wake up soaking wet which can seemingly be due to how late and how much dinner I ate (too much too late = bad) (not too much early =good).

Family history of stomach cancer and ulcers.

Day 1 (tue 9^th): The plan is to take 3.2g of Lufenuron consumed during the course of the day between 3 or 4 serves. 1.0g of mastica gum taken 1 hour before breakfast and at mid-afternoon. This will be repeated for 5 days, followed by a 14 day break from the lufenuron. At this stage I envisage taking the mastic gum daily for at least 2 weeks & will need to order more. Some raw mastic tears are on the way. I took mastic gum this morning and this afternoon however didn't start the lufenuron until dinner time where 0.8g was consumed.

Day 2 (wed 10^th): I had difficulty sleeping soundly but felt really tired, I woke up on time and found the morning brain fog to be less than usual. My mouth seems to have more saliva and I can sense a mild metallic taste in my mouth. I seem to be a bit more mentally active at work. I am attributing the mental acuity to the mastic if it isn't placebo.

I do tend to be far too aware of my mind & body connection and am expecting a significant placebo response to begin with. Just being excited is enough to make me feel healthier and more alert

Day 3 (Thu 11^th) I had difficulty sleeping soundly and woke early with less brain fog again. My cognitive process seems to be getting sharper. The time taken to wake up and be alert is reducing. I still feel physically tired but have been more able to get things done during the day. Again my mouth seems to have more saliva and I can sense a mild metallic taste.

It does feel like there is something going on in my stomach. No real change in stool at this stage.

Day 4 (Fri 12^th) I had a little too much to drink last night and didn't get to bed until midnight, I woke up at 2am for the bathroom and again at 5 for the baby. I had the driest tongue imaginable. I am finding it harder to sleep in, not that it can really be described as such but rising in the morning is taking less effort; despite the lack of sleep and headache I was up relatively early.

It is going to be difficult discerning anything today over my hangover, I didn't think I had drunk enough to warrant feeling like this. Plenty of water today J

Day 5 (Sat) busy around the house, felt really run down by the evening. Went out to a party and had a few drinks, not too much. Had a headache on Sunday.

Day 6 (Sun) Last day of Lufenuron

Day 7 (Mon) terrible nights sleep, baby up crying until midnight. I spent the entire day zoned out and couldn't concentrate.

Day 7 (Tue) Definitely coming down with a lurgy I picked up from the kids. Had an early night and slept well.

Day 8 (Wed) Lurgy in full swing.

Day 9 (Thu) Lurgy still in full swing. It was easier to clear my head this morning than is usual for a head cold. My sinuses don’t feel quite as blocked as what I would have expected. Feeling a bit achy and generating lots of green mucus.

Psoriasis isn't too bad at the moment, the dermatitis on my hands may be starting to ease up a bit, it's hard to tell.

Day 10 (Fri) Feeling generally better today, had 2 pints after work with the work guys.

Day 11 (Sat) -

Day 12 (Sun) -

Day 13 (Mon) Went to bed at 9.30 Friday night, chest cough got progressively worse, I couldn't breathe properly and my lungs were sore. I stayed up from 12.00 to 2am reading and coughing. Dosed up on drugs and went back to bed which got me through the night. Saturday was awful; I pretty much stayed in bed, half delirious, all day. I couldn't eat and don’t remember drinking much.

I got up around midnight to comfort my girlfriend, I felt like I was going to throw up and tried to get back to bed to lie down; I didn't make it back to bed and passed out on the floor, it felt like there was an explosion in my brain I couldn't think or make sense of anything and it is impossible to fight it so just had to hang on until it subsided. During the episode there is nothing but chaos and buzzing, I didn't know how I got there, basically no coherent thought possible, it's a terrifying experience.

I was able to crawl back into bed and eventually get some sleep, strong headache followed.

Sunday was marginally better, I felt very weak and not quite delirious but not there either. I felt I was getting better. The coughing from my lungs had subsided greatly. Plenty of cups of tea and some food during the day seemed to help, as well as the Lucozade. I went to bed early and watched the rest of a movie from a few days prior. Nose and throat not too bad, head still bad, like a mix of exhaustion and vertigo, or mild sea sickness, or the tail end of a hangover.

I feel really fragile today, I still feel nauseous with vertigo although I was able to drive into work without any drama, and I was really hoping that a good night’s sleep would fix everything. I am not looking forward to getting up tomorrow at 5.30. Flight is at 8.

The psoriasis on my elbows seems to be slowly clearing up, or at least it at the less bad end of the scale, it would probably need another couple of weeks to really be sure. The dermatitis on my hands may be getting slowly better.

The mastic seems to still be working for enabling my cognition, much less brain fog.

Edited September 22, 2014 by Fenris

[Alchemica]

Thanks for sharing Fenris.

I had to do some background reading about the alternative options available and found this review to be quite good.

Good luck with the experiments and I hope you find some relief.

[Fenris]

Cheers for the link AlchemicaI, it is a good one.

started a second round of Lufenuron on the 27th September to 01 October taking roughly 3.2g per day split throughout the day and consuming 2g of mastic per day, 1g in the morning and 1g in the evening.

I am finally over my lurgy. I felt awful on the flight to Carnarvon and ended up getting a sinus infection for a couple of days after the flight, it was a few days until I had access to a pharmacy which fixed it up. It is impossible to say whether any of my illness was due to the herxheimer reaction or just a bad persistent chest infection/sinus infection/ cold.

My skin continues to improve, nothing is fully cured yet but there are some definite and noticeable changes for the better. The psoriasis on my elbows is probably the best it has been in 20 years, the dermatitis on my hands is to the point where i could probably eradicate the last of the diminished flare ups with 1 or 2 days of cortisone cream.

I have been finding it difficult to get any sleep past 6.30am and am able to start the day much better. Brain fog is at an all time low. I don't have sugar cravings much any more although I still enjoy sweet things. I have much less of a craving for alcohol, I still enjoy it but don't feel the need to reach for a G&T the moment I walk in the door at the end of the day.

My sinuses and breathing feel pretty good and I don't wake up so clogged in the mornings. Digestive complaints have not been much of an issue. My tongue is looking and feeling much healthier.

This is still a work in progress but the results have been promising so far :-)

I'm not sure how fast my body should be healing itself but at this rate I feel it could be another 4 weeks or so.

[dr.azz]

What would a weekly diet journal look like for you?

[Fenris]

I spent ages typing and lost the post on my stupid work laptop.

My diet is lacking salads and vegetables, but I do try and stay away from bread and wheat based things where I can, and don't drink coffee. I like rice & tuna and might eat a kebab once a week and have gozleme for dinner once a week as well.

Having cut down on daily alcohol consumption has helped me with my energy, as has drinking 2L of water a day, I get a better nights sleep as well.

I don't think that the lufenuron really did that much, however totally rate the mastic gum which I have continued to take, which seems to help my stomach out a lot.

Next step is a trip to the Doc for a H.pylori test.

[dr.azz]

Have a good read of this site, even get his e-book. The guy is a "stomach" beast.

http://fixyourgut.com/gerd-treatment-protocol-2-elimination-of-opportunstic-h-pylori/

[Fenris]

Excellent link there, thanks. It pulls together a lot f stuff that is out there.

Two thumbs up

[dr.azz]

Yeah, any Q's, just let me know. Always happy to help out with nutrition

[Fenris]

Well I had a blood test last week for H.pylori which came back as negative. This now leaves me still not knowing what exactly is wrong, but on the plus side I don't have a H.pylori infection.

From http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/007501.htm

Blood tests for H pylori can only tell if your body has H pylori antibodies. It cannot tell if you have a current infection or how long you have had it. This is because the test can be positive for years even if the infection is cured. As a result, blood tests cannot be used to see if the infection has been cured after treatment.

[dr.azz]

Have you tried his protocol anyway? It's pretty safe to do, even if you're negative.

[sundrop]

How much water do you drink on a daily basis?