The big 3 - gut, adrenal and liver trouble

[Matt O'Connor]

Hi Pat,

I was wondering If I could pose my case to you in the hope you might be able to offer some pointers that perhaps I haven't considered yet in the search for better health.

I'm a 25 year old male and my symptom list is essentially

- chronic fatigue
- gut inflammation
- post nasal drip
- digestive - constipation, gas, bloating, undigested food (improved since the removal of grains, legumes and seeds), distended belly
- hypoglycemia (now diet controlled)
- liver/gallbladder ache
- light sensitivity
- insomnia
- brain fog
- dark circles round eyes

I have a history of broad spectrum antibiotic use for acne, and a few rounds for dental infections and skin infections. I was also previously a carb addict also leading a high stress lifestyle. I have (or more so 'had') a typical type A personality - driven, shy, overly conscious, isolated etc.

I'm essentially troubled by gut inflammation and therefore lots of food sensitivities, a struggling liver/gallbladder evidenced by an occasional dull ache on the right side, and weak adrenals causing allot of fatigue, sleep trouble etc. Naturally these 3 overlap each other and it's hard to feel confident about a regime as each organ can have extensive nutritional requirements, and also which is primarily at fault.

Diet wise I follow an SCD/GAPs/Western A price type diet, implementing as much as I can tolerate. I don't digest beans and grains very well and do better with moderate to high fat for hypoglycemia and potential Candida issues. I have a long list of sensitivities such as dairy, yeast, nuts, eggs, nightshades, spices, tomato's, mushrooms etc and also struggle with anything from the onion family and garlic. I suspect the later may be more liver related due to the sulphur content, detoxifying nature and the rest from a leaky gut. 

Supplement wise I mainly focus on the gut, for which I started a capsulated probiotic about 2 weeks ago. I unfortunately find sauerkraut quite potent, promting anxiety, increased brain fog, and slightly oddly cravings for it. I don't feel my gut is quite ready for it yet. Similarly I haven't yet graduated to proper gelatinous bone broths and instead currently save and drink the broth from slowed cooked meat joints. I take a few other things mainly for overall generic health including vitamins D (D3), C (sodium ascorbate), zinc and magnesium (to also help move the bowels as I am generally constipated). I also take some betaine HCL and bile acids with meals as I feel my liver and/or gallbladder is under some stress (routine bloodwork and an ultrasound came out all clear). Diet wise I make sure to get in some liver 2/3 times a week and vary my cuts from beef, pork, lamb, chicken and turkey mainly, with occaisonal salmon, duck and venison. I take about a tablespoon each day of both Cod Liver oil and coconut oil. I also do occasional epsom salts baths.

I'm unfortunately one of those types that doesn't handle fiber well, and for a long time tried to treat my constipation with things like psyllium, flaxseeds etc which only served to clog me up further. The magnesium (citrate) has been extremely helpful both for it's calming effect and help moving the bowels, although obviously ultimately it would be good to go unassisted or at least probiotic assisted in future.

What I'm struggling to determine is what liver support to implement. I'm not sure whether the toxicity effecting my liver is from my poor gut health (inflammation, leaky gut) or a problem in it's own right. I don't experience any pain to suggest gallbladder attacks, merely a dull ache just under the right rib cage. One correlation I have noticed is that this is slightly worse when constipated.

I can't attempt anything too aggresive with the liver as I am in quite a weak state and perhaps wouldn't handle the mobilisation of any toxins very well. It's hard to determine whether I need amino's, herbs, vitamins etc. My intuition tells me repairing the gut should be the primary focus, and that the liver needs to be supported rather than cleansed at this time while I am weak. Do you have any suggestions?

Same thing with the adrenals. Hard to say whether my compomised gut will impede any attempts at supplementation. Also there seems to be many conflicting opinions on the use of glandulars, herbs etc.

I like to think I'm doing many of the right things, and looking at your 14 steps to gut health have implemented what I can. It's frustrating that I struggle with kraut and eggs and I have tried on numorous occasions to work them in very slowly, at just a half teaspoon of kraut juice or egg yolk a day, but I still get a noticeable 'ramped up' reaction, significantly worsening my brain fog among other things which feel autoimmune like in nature. It doesn't feel like die off and has persisted for up to a month without any improvement whilst having small amounts daily, ample time I feel for any die off/detox reaction to pass. Because of this I've not tried kefir yet as it seems like an equally advanced food. I've read about it's amazing health benefits and it may be something I just have to try testing the water with. 

Would warmly appreciate your comments or respond to further queries you might have.

Many thanks,

Matt