Help wanted (Score so far related)

[Jersey Girl]

I think that it is understandable to be scared. How did it go?

I've only taken it for 2 days so I don't know what to say. My stomach is making all kinds of noises. Do you think that's normal? One thing I noticed (and this is probably coincidence or just that I don't feel dizzy now since I got the cork out of the bottle) is that both days I had an afternoon/evening blast of energy. No idea how that happened but I got a lot done! So many things I wasn't able to attend to and now I'm moving through each task. Strange but I'm very happy about that! Even getting my C'mas shopping done and I'm usually done by October so that feels really good too!

[IWMP]

Lol. I have no idea what either would smell like. I did have remifentanyl at hospital on a clicky pen thing and it was amazing. But it was intravenous. No smell. Don't know if that is the same thing.

I asked my husband about this because I didn't think we had much meth and fentanyl going on in this country. He said it's not as popular here. I think heroin and crack are the heavy ones that people take here.

It's probably because she's treated meth dogs. Know what the treatment is? Vodka IV. I'm serious.

Meth dogs? Like dogs that take drugs? That's interesting. Is that like to trick the brain into thinking it's still got what it needs and then wean off vodka?

[IWMP]

I think that it is understandable to be scared. How did it go?

I've only taken it for 2 days so I don't know what to say. My stomach is making all kinds of noises. Do you think that's normal? One thing I noticed (and this is probably coincidence or just that I don't feel dizzy now since I got the cork out of the bottle) is that both days I had an afternoon/evening blast of energy. No idea how that happened but I got a lot done! So many things I wasn't able to attend to and now I'm moving through each task. Strange but I'm very happy about that! Even getting my C'mas shopping done and I'm usually done by October so that feels really good too!

Aww my heart. Sounds amazing. Maybe the noises are your guts preparing to work? I don't know or maybe the good bacteria is moving all it's furniture around. Not literally. I think as long as you aren't bloating or having an episode then gurgling is good I hope.

I love it. I hope this keeps going.

[Jersey Girl]

I've only taken it for 2 days so I don't know what to say. My stomach is making all kinds of noises. Do you think that's normal? One thing I noticed (and this is probably coincidence or just that I don't feel dizzy now since I got the cork out of the bottle) is that both days I had an afternoon/evening blast of energy. No idea how that happened but I got a lot done! So many things I wasn't able to attend to and now I'm moving through each task. Strange but I'm very happy about that! Even getting my C'mas shopping done and I'm usually done by October so that feels really good too!

Aww my heart. Sounds amazing. Maybe the noises are your guts preparing to work? I don't know or maybe the good bacteria is moving all it's furniture around. Not literally. I think as long as you aren't bloating or having an episode then gurgling is good I hope.

I love it. I hope this keeps going.

Guess what? It's still going!

One morning when I woke up I thought "Who's stomach is this?" because I felt so good I could hardly believe it.

I like what you said about moving the furniture around. Everytime I take a probiotic dose I say "Get in my belly!" or "Be fruitful and multiply!". I've got a gastro follow up the end of this week and I have a few questions on dosage because I think I can take more of the shelf stable pill ones. Explaining that below. Also, the live bacteria was delayed on and off for 11 days. I contacted the seller on Amazon and got it cancelled and refunded.

Two days later it was delivered. It was packed with cool packs and I think it's okay to take. That batch cost $75.00 USD so that's a lot of value if the product is wasted. The difference between the shelf stable and live is how much bacteria is inside each capsule. Shelf stable is 30 billlion CFU (?) and live is 112 billion CFU. That's why I want to check dosage on the shelf stable with the gastro this week.

I'm probably putting more details here than I need to but this thread is still like a journal for me and who knows maybe someone else could be reading here that finds something useful. I will likely have a recurrence eventually and looking back will help me remember things.

I've had very good days where I could manage to go out to 3 places to run errands in one go. Done that many times. Diligently do getting my overdue vaccines and doing them 3-4 days apart instead of the usual 1 week I do. One more shot to go! Not completely symptom free but hardly at all. The other night I did have symptoms and was awake until 6a.m. It's not that I'm not sleepy. I don't want to lay down and risk afib and the ER so I stay awake until the symptoms are resolved.

But for the most part, energy is good and I'm getting a lot done. Being productive and feeling on top of things is really important to me. I haven't been able to keep up all this time. Now I'm managing to take care of things that have been long neglected because I just couldn't do them. I feel really good about this!

Sleep is so much improved. Going to bed earlier, waking up earlier, part of why I'm able to get more done.

Weight is starting to tick up just a little. It fluctuates so I try to stay off the scale and concentrate on getting 3 meals and at least one snack (yogurt) every day. I treated myself to a margherita pizza last week and picked up another this evening. It'll last me a while, too. So I'll have that and...my favorite of all time...chicken.

Next up...add more veggies. Probably said that a million times already but I buy veggies and even though I know that's exactly what I need I get scared of them. Baby steps...been through a war over here.

Current Best Friends:

FD Guard
Simethicone if needed
VSL #4 probiotic

[IWMP]

Aww my heart. Sounds amazing. Maybe the noises are your guts preparing to work? I don't know or maybe the good bacteria is moving all it's furniture around. Not literally. I think as long as you aren't bloating or having an episode then gurgling is good I hope.

I love it. I hope this keeps going.

Guess what? It's still going!

One morning when I woke up I thought "Who's stomach is this?" because I felt so good I could hardly believe it.

I like what you said about moving the furniture around. Everytime I take a probiotic dose I say "Get in my belly!" or "Be fruitful and multiply!". I've got a gastro follow up the end of this week and I have a few questions on dosage because I think I can take more of the shelf stable pill ones. Explaining that below. Also, the live bacteria was delayed on and off for 11 days. I contacted the seller on Amazon and got it cancelled and refunded.

Two days later it was delivered. It was packed with cool packs and I think it's okay to take. That batch cost $75.00 USD so that's a lot of value if the product is wasted. The difference between the shelf stable and live is how much bacteria is inside each capsule. Shelf stable is 30 billlion CFU (?) and live is 112 billion CFU. That's why I want to check dosage on the shelf stable with the gastro this week.

I'm probably putting more details here than I need to but this thread is still like a journal for me and who knows maybe someone else could be reading here that finds something useful. I will likely have a recurrence eventually and looking back will help me remember things.

I've had very good days where I could manage to go out to 3 places to run errands in one go. Done that many times. Diligently do getting my overdue vaccines and doing them 3-4 days apart instead of the usual 1 week I do. One more shot to go! Not completely symptom free but hardly at all. The other night I did have symptoms and was awake until 6a.m. It's not that I'm not sleepy. I don't want to lay down and risk afib and the ER so I stay awake until the symptoms are resolved.

But for the most part, energy is good and I'm getting a lot done. Being productive and feeling on top of things is really important to me. I haven't been able to keep up all this time. Now I'm managing to take care of things that have been long neglected because I just couldn't do them. I feel really good about this!

Sleep is so much improved. Going to bed earlier, waking up earlier, part of why I'm able to get more done.

Weight is starting to tick up just a little. It fluctuates so I try to stay off the scale and concentrate on getting 3 meals and at least one snack (yogurt) every day. I treated myself to a margherita pizza last week and picked up another this evening. It'll last me a while, too. So I'll have that and...my favorite of all time...chicken.

Next up...add more veggies. Probably said that a million times already but I buy veggies and even though I know that's exactly what I need I get scared of them. Baby steps...been through a war over here.

Current Best Friends:

FD Guard
Simethicone if needed
VSL #4 probiotic

Loving this <3 great job. Making me hungry for pizza.

We had a slither of snow last night. I really hope we get real snow this year and my kids get to actually play in it and build a real snowman.

[Jersey Girl]

Loving this <3 great job. Making me hungry for pizza.

We had a slither of snow last night. I really hope we get real snow this year and my kids get to actually play in it and build a real snowman.

The pizza is my only "comfort" food these days. Makes me feel like a normal person.

Don't get me wrong, the snow is beautiful and refreshing but when you are stuck in the house for 4 days, cabin fever becomes reality. I know it doesn't snow much where you are. If you don't get real snow you could probably find some in Scotland!

[Jersey Girl]

Update:

Gastro follow up. All good things!

Reported my very noticeable improvement! Got the green light on taking more than one dose of shelf stable (VSL#4) probiotic. Just ordered a small ton of it from Amazon on offer for Black Friday so 10 dollars cheaper than regular. It's going to cost a small fortune to stay on it but how do you put a price tag on quality of life, right? I've paid more for a pair of shoes so let's keep that in perspective.

The live bacteria probiotic that was delivered late is okay to take, she said. The only problem could be a loss of potentency. I'll alternate that with the other so as not to waste it.

Famotidine: I've been taking it for 2 years. A normal course is 2 weeks. I've cut the dosage in half and am planning to discontinue because I think it could be a contributing factor or the actual reason I got SIBO. She approved that choice and my reasoning for it.

My energy level continues to improve. Getting so much done bit by bit that I couldn't manage before. That's a big sign of recovery for me and I don't feel like a complete failure about not being "able" any more. I'm definitely recovering. Feels so good to say that!


Weight: 84.2 pounds

Full transparency: Last month I weighed at home 81 pounds. I might as well say it since I'm saying every other darn thing on this thread. Two weeks ago, 82 pounds in a doc's office so...ticking up a bit which is good. Fluctuates so I try to stay off the scale. I think I wrote in a brain fog haze a different weight in a reply down in Prison but these are accurate. I'm not going to go look it up in Prison.

Good things:

1. The Boy fell out of his truck about 3 days ago. Really bad ankle sprain. Why is that good? Because I'm able to take care of him now. If this happened even 3 weeks ago, we'd be up a creek with no paddle. I'm strong enough and "there" enough to take care of someone else now.

2. I have an artist friend who I heard from his son that he's going through a tough time medically. He's a 90 year old Scot and getting cranky because he can't go anywhere. It sounds like a temporary thing but he's stuck at home. I made plans with his son to go over for a little visit after Thanksgiving and just be a friend. I'm bringing him some Walker's Shortbread, too. I like him and he knows it. He's one of the coolest people I've ever met. This is another good thing because it means I can extend myself to someone else now. I haven't been able to do that in a very long time.

3. Probiotics for the win!

[Jersey Girl]

It's probably because she's treated meth dogs. Know what the treatment is? Vodka IV. I'm serious.

Meth dogs? Like dogs that take drugs? That's interesting. Is that like to trick the brain into thinking it's still got what it needs and then wean off vodka?

I missed replying to this. So apparently some dogs get into their owner's meth stash. They ingest it and it makes them psychotic. There's another medical term for that. Anyway, the vodka IV drip depresses the central nervous system and I guess they sleep off the effects of the meth or it calms them down...or both. Something like that.

Can you imagine a vets office where in their medications cabinet they have meds and vodka on the shelf? Well, they do at least in that part of our area where it happens a lot. This was a 24 hour emergency vet clinic. If it's meth the do the vodka IV drip. Marijuana is activated charcoal and fluids IV. I forget what the other drugs are treated with. I don't know if all emergency vet clinics use the vodka but this one did on a regular basis.

[IWMP]

Brilliant news. I am so happy for you.

I'll have to look up the medicine you are stopping. Never heard of it. I'm glad you are managing to get things done.

Love a bit of shortbread. I like shortbread with marmalade.

I can imagine lots of snow over a long period would be too much. I know people here complain. There is probably more people wishing for no snow than people wishing for snow. But a little bit of snow seems to slow everything down here and even shut things down. Like 2 inch of snow and the schools boiler breaks. (Not literally but it has happened before). But one day of decent snow would be great for my kids to get to play in it. I think a few cities over here had snow this past week but we didn't have any other than like a little in the air here and there but nothing substantial.

I think we have a storm this weekend. It's very dull outside and very wet. Kids are watching Christmas movies. I'm stuck in today waiting for Amazon deliveries for my sons bday. Might order a pizza

That's horrible that that happens to enough dogs that the vets have to keep things supplied.

[Jersey Girl]

Brilliant news. I am so happy for you.

I'll have to look up the medicine you are stopping. Never heard of it. I'm glad you are managing to get things done.

Love a bit of shortbread. I like shortbread with marmalade.

I can imagine lots of snow over a long period would be too much. I know people here complain. There is probably more people wishing for no snow than people wishing for snow. But a little bit of snow seems to slow everything down here and even shut things down. Like 2 inch of snow and the schools boiler breaks. (Not literally but it has happened before). But one day of decent snow would be great for my kids to get to play in it. I think a few cities over here had snow this past week but we didn't have any other than like a little in the air here and there but nothing substantial.

I think we have a storm this weekend. It's very dull outside and very wet. Kids are watching Christmas movies. I'm stuck in today waiting for Amazon deliveries for my sons bday. Might order a pizza

That's horrible that that happens to enough dogs that the vets have to keep things supplied.

So the medicine I mentioned is an antacid you can even buy over the counter. It was given to me 2 years ago to help stop heartburn (which I never even sensed that I had) that seemed to be a trigger afib. Who knows? A normal course is just 2 weeks. I read that such meds can suppress stomach acid to an unhealthy level and that ultimately can cause an imbalance in the gut microbiome or flora (?) that causes you to develop bacterial overgrowth like I have been dealing with. Taken 2 times a day. I'm down to 1 time and planning to phase it out completely. I'll use a pinch of baking soda in water if I think I should take something. Hopefully the probiotics will help out with that, too. Re-introducing broccoli tomorrow. Steamed. I just want my good food back!

I've never had shortbread with marmalade! Well, I won't be having any for a very long time now since trying to stay away from sugar. Normally I would have some with my tea. Just love it!

There are areas of the US where everything stops when it snows and they don't have plows like where we live here to clear the streets. Southern states are like that here. I hope you DO get a nice snow enough for the kids to get out and just play! That'd be such a joyful thing for them to do and they'll sleep so good that night! When I was a child I'd play in snow until my mittens were soaked. Come in and put the mittens on the radiator with my snow pants, socks, and coat, and have a nice cup of hot cocoa, then go out again. Such good memories for children!

I think my pizza posts are growing on you. Did you get one?

p.s. High Spy has been posting. I made a reply to him in Paradise about your Terrestrial post for him that I saw. Hope he gets back to you!