3 month die-off

[Guest guest]

How do you determine what's die-off or what's a food reaction?

Hi Libbie,

A food reaction usually takes place within a day or two of starting a new food.

Elaine writes:I have not met the kind of die-off problems that so many other books talk about. Usually, when people say they are very tired or are getting nervous when they go on SCD at first, I think it is because they are not getting enough carbs in the forms of bananas and homemade applesauce and carrots (because the advice from some doctors is that you go off all sugars with Candida). I will not argue about who is right or wrong but I do not think it wise to go off all carbs when the sugars in carrots, for example, are so easy to absorb. Also anyone with thryoid problems may have to adjust their thyroid medication (usually lower it) (with doctor's approval) since the thyroid usually works better when one is on our diet.

Here's some advice for flares:

Symptoms of "die off" (AKA the HERXHEIMER reaction) or the "transition":

nausea and sometime vomiting Change in bowl movements Bloating and gas cramping Achy joints and lower back Fatigue Dizziness Headaches Skin rashes Flu like symptoms Low grade fever Mood swings OFTEN mistaken as "food intolerance" to the yogurt.

Remedies to make die off easier:

Warm and long soaks in the tub, at 110 degrees, with Epsom Salts added. Foot soaks with Epsom Salts Added For the short hall. SCD legal Activated Charcoal capsules one hour before or after meals. Getting plenty of fluids. Going to bed. Treating yourself as sick. Hot water bottles or heating pad on the tummy for cramps and gas. Introductory diet needs to be eaten a minimum of two days, and then peel and cook everything. Follow guidelines in book on when to introduce certain foods. Dilute your juices and decrease honey intake. Eat yogurt and acidophilus (as tolerated) to introduce good gut bugs Go to www.pecanbread.com if you are not able to do the yogurt, so that you learn how to do SCD with out it...and introduce it as soon as you are able to.

The SCD yogurt and acidophilus replace the good bacteria that is also eliminated with SCD.

SCD starves the bacteria and when this happens, they release toxins that make us feel like we have the flu. In BTVC Elaine calls this the "transition". WE also often revisit die off at the three month mark (mentioned in the BTVC book). And many say that they have die off again every three months until it stops. Getting easier each time...that is if fanatical SCD is adhered to.

Elaine writes: Another concern that is sort of related is that bacteria can go dormant if they sense they are in a nutrient limiting environment. So if someone goes SCD, they attempt to starve out the bacteria. The bacteria would then attempt to go dormant in such an environment (the ones that weren't killed off initially). The flares might follow a cycle where some bacteria might try to re-emerge.particularly if new foods were introduced. If bacteria go dormant, that means you would really not totally eradicate them and they would be a persistent threat. You would have to stay SCDâ„¢just to break even. This was my supposition when I wrote the above and still is but only G knows! Furthermore, the bacteria that go dormant most often form spores which are not killed by most antibiotics.

Since hundreds of SCDâ„¢successes have remained well for many years - over ten years as I I have been keeping score - as time goes on and people watch their diet as I advise them in my book, it has been TOTALLY PROVEN that eventually the microflora return to a harmonious balance. We both know that what I mean by "watch their diet" is that they do not return to french fries and ketchup or another rendition of the standard American diet. There is one exception to this long term symptom-free recovery and I have noted this a few times and this has to do with Clostridium difficile raising its ugly head. I have followed two patients carefully and am now observing another. When they are given vancomysin/or flagyl, they get rid of the Clostridium and go on for years as healthy, cured people,Get the scoop on last night's hottest shows and the live music scene in your area - Check out TourTracker.com!

[Guest guest]

I'm nearing the 3-month mark too and wondering the same thing as the last guy. I

see

people refer to it, but no real concrete info.

How do you determine what's die-off or what's a food reaction? And sometimes I

feel like

" Oh well, I guess I'll have good days and bad days with this stuff. "

Any extra info and a reference to some source we could read would be greatly

appreciated.

Libbie

[Guest guest]

Great post, lattanzio4! (For anyone else for whom Elaine's quote was obscured by Yahoo, just copy/paste it anywhere for easy reading.)So one good tip, then, is to avoid introducing new foods near the 3 month mark. ie. Reduce variables, reduce confusion. If you're doing everything "just so" at the three month mark and symptoms appear out of nowhere, you can be quite sure it's "transition" die-off.Baden