I decided to try and do something, anything, to get my feet back from being numb and painful due to the neuropathy I’ve been dealing with.   We never did figure out the cause of this but it is most likely either antibiotic toxicity or the methane producing bugs from SIBO.   I  visited a doctor in town who recommended an electro-stim until called The ReBuilder to fix neuropathy so I decided to just buy one instead of having to go in for regular treatments with it.   Now every morning and evening I sit for 30 minutes with my feet in a hot foot bath or in conductive socks and I run current through my feet and legs.  The good news, it seems to be working.  My feet no longer hurt like crazy in the mornings when I first get up and many days I don’t even notice the numbness, especially in my left foot.   They are still numb but not as bad as they were a few weeks ago.  I’ve even been able to walk more and do a bit of light running since starting this treatment so I’m hoping that I can reduce it even more or at least keep it at the level it is at now.

My other neurological symptoms in my arms were also undiagnosed after seeing the neurologist again but they cleared up after cutting nightshades from my diet.   It was a drag since peppers, tomatoes, and eggplant were a few things I actually could handle digestion wise but they were obviously causing inflammation to some extent.   I moved closer to the Paleo Autoimmune Protocol diet and since then these symptoms have vanished.  In fact, I’m lifting weights again and doing yoga so my arms and upper body strength are starting to come back.

I’m finishing up my latest, and hopefully last, round of herbal antibiotics for SIBO today!  I have felt pretty good this last 7-10 days with very few gut disturbances so my hope is that when I get my test results back I’m either clear of  SIBO or very close to being cleared.   I should know in mid-November.

I just was at the doctor yesterday and went over my latest test – a comprehensive stool test.  Some good news in it – inflammation is way down and my relative abundance of bacteria is not that far off a  “healthy” GI tract.   I am low on Butyrate which is a fatty acid that helps keep the integrity of the gut lining so need to find a way to get that higher either from supplementation or by eating more fiber in the diet to allow the bacteria to make it.  The other bad news is that I’m still high in Methanobrevibacter smithii the evil little bastard who is causing my SIBO, a bit high in E. coli and D. piger and H. alvei all of which are kind of bad bacteria.  So my gut still isn’t in balance all the way.   I’m very low in Lactobacillicus species which is probably why these bad guys are on the high side but I’m still afraid to add in probiotics to build that back up since I relapsed on SCD yogurt which was high in Lactobaccilicus.

I also found I have Blastocystis homis, a somewhat nasty tropical parasite that can be difficult to get rid of.   I no longer show Entamoeba histolytica so maybe my earlier test mistook that for Blasto or I killed off the amoeba and have since come down with the new parasite.  I’m going to start some type of parasite cleanse as soon as I get back my SIBO results.

While I still have some healing to do, overall I’m getting better.  I’m getting more exercise, still slowly adding some weight (hit a new high of 155.8 last week), actually working again, and am eating much better thanks to the Paleo Approach Cookbook by Sarah Ballantyne which is my new food bible.  I’m living without constant distress in my intestines which is HUGE for me.  I knew this was going to be a 2 year process and I’m really only 10 months into treatment so I feel I’m on a good trajectory to be healthy by the time the holidays roll around next year.