How soon do symptoms resolve?

[khethma]

I had a question for the people who were diagnosed with HFI as adults.

I've read through all the old posts in this section of the forum, and I noted that a few of the members who were diagnosed HFI as adults had issues with Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS).

My doctor and I have jointly come to the conclusion that HFI is a very probable diagnosis for all of my lifelong bizarre health and dietary issues, including my IBS, and she's ordered me to start a very strict fructose free diet.

I started last week, and I'm already starting to feel just the tiniest bit better, but I'm still having GI reactions (intermittently) to almost everything I eat, even the extremely safe foods.

I'm just wondering if others experienced the same phenomenon for a little while after they started their fructose free diets, and if so, how long did it take for that to stop?

It seems that if I eat something 'bad' that sets off my symptoms, my GI tract is extra sensitive to everything for the next couple or so days. Has anyone else experienced this?

Heidi

[ukbill]

Hi Khethma,

In case I have not welcomed you to the site already.. Welcome

OK..

IBS.. I have this more or less all the time now, although it is completely controlled now since I have reduced or cut out all "tolerated" foods which contain some Fructose.

The last one was the hardest.. Fried Onion! OHH I love the smell and the taste of the stuff.. but did I pay for it? Err yes I did as did the people down wind of me or in the same room, house or building.. if you get my meaning?

Have to make some fried onion oil up to replace the taste of it in cooking soon..

You also have to look closely at fiber.. Fiber breaks down in the gut (intestine) into sucrose which then causes the inflammation gas etc etc..

TO keep the condition completely at bay I take two things on a daily basis.

1/. Colofac Mebrevivine something or other.. its like an anesthetic and it stops the gut going into spasm all the time.
2/. None Digestible Fiber which bulks up the stool and stops the seesawing from constipation to dioerea which was a constant feature of my life.

These two items have changed my life and no mistake. I was for some time unemployable because of the problems i was having. (Which is why I was self Employed)

I sometimes miss taking my usual stuff in the morning and although that day will be OK I will then get problems for the following 3 to 5 days until things get back and stabilised again.

This is not bad however as IBS goes, many people find the condition almost completely life controlling.

So if this is all I have from 50 odd years of abusing my Gut then I have got away very lightly I think

[khethma]

Hi, ukbill:

Sorry I didn't reply earlier and that I've been a bit AWOL, so to speak. I've been putting in an enormous amount of overtime at work and haven't had a chance to tune in to the board as much as I'd like.

Anyway, I am pleased to report that several weeks into the fructose free diet, I am doing much better. I have more energy and my IBS is much better controlled. Fibre has usually been a disaster for me, but I suspect that might be because the sources I was using were not fructose free. I intend to discuss a fibre supplement with my Dr. at my next appt. (hopefully in Dec. but maybe not until Jan.). I want to give the diet a few more weeks to be sure that it is really the diet that's helping.

Also, now that I'm on the diet and generally feeling so much better, I can finally identify some non-fructose triggers for my IBS. Before, I was sick all the time and everything I ate seemed to set off nausea and IBS, so I had no idea what the triggers were. Now, in addition to fructose, I've discovered caffeine and garlic are very bad triggers, and I suspect that I've developed a slight intolerance to lactose that is new but that I hope I can overcome since dairy is my lifeline.

I've also found some SF vitamin supplements that seem to be helping with the energy and the IBS.

Anyway, I just wanted to thank you for the response. It helped me a lot to clarify in my mind that even though I seem to be very reactive to fructose (not sure yet if FM or HFI), it might not be the only trigger for my IBS, and it also gave me some good ideas for options to pursue with my Dr. if the IBS continues to be a problem.

Once I'm more sure of additional triggers and that the diet is really helping, then my next step will be to pursue some further testing and an official diagnosis. One step at a time, though.

Sorry for the essay - just so excited to be feeling better and have some promising potential answers to my bizarre dietary problems!

Heidi

[carolyn]

Hi Heidi

I'm pleased to hear that you're feeling better. I was originally diagnosed with IBS, and only later with HFI. Although the gastroenterologist that I saw did not want to see me again after his arrogant misdiagnosis, I think from the symptoms that I still have that I have IBS as well as HFI.

Fibre wise, I find that I can tolerate Oatbran, which I make into a daily porridge. I tried Psyllium husks, that I know are OK for some HFIers, but I had horrible stomach gripes and diarrhoea every time I tried it. I can tolerate spinach, mushrooms and curly kale well, so these are regular additions to my meals.

I too have been a bit manic at work. Must be the time of year! Good luck with the diet.

Carol

[khethma]

Hi Carol, thanks for your reply.

I am so glad to know that some HFI suffers do also suffer from IBS - of course I'm sorry that you guys (Carol and UKBill) have such problems, but your experience is helping me remain optimistic that I have finally figured out what's been making me sick my whole life.

I was just wondering if you both also have the severe vomiting reaction to fructose that the other HFI sufferers report.

Heidi

PS. Happy New Year!

[khethma]

Also, it's interesting that you mention the arrogant GI specialist. I have been through 4 of them since I was 16. One misdiagnosed my extreme nausea, acid reflux, and inability to eat anything except dairy, meat, and potatoes as a hiatus hernia; one did a lower GI scope, found nothing, and told me it's just a little mild IBS and I should just take Metamucil and eat a high fibre cereal daily (both of which made me gag and I couldn't swallow them - too sweet); one told me that since I've had diarrhea since birth, it can't be anything serious; and the latest one told me that I have IBS but IBS isn't triggered by any particular food and I'd just have to live with it and treat the symptoms as they come up.

I've spent my whole life convinced I'm allergic to vegetables and being told its impossible to be allergic to vegetables. Incidentally, that's how I stumbled across HFI and FM - I was googling vegetable allergy symptoms.

Unfortunately, my next step is to go back to the latest GI specialist because while my family doctor is 100% convinced I have some form of fructose intolerance, she says she can't order the HFI DNA test - only a specialist can.

So, for now, I'm sticking to the HFI diet, which has my IBS very well under control and has me feeling better than I have in years, and I'll update my profile once I've had the HFI DNA test, which likely won' be for months at the rate our healthcare system moves. Canadian Medicare is wonderful, but it is dreadfully slow when you live in an underpopulated area.

(Sorry about the rant!)

[charlie]

Hi Heidi,

the problem with the medical side can be arrogance but also this condition is very unknown in alot of places, some doctors may never come across it. It seems as though it is slowly getting better known as people are coming on with children younger and younger, and that is probably thanks to mediums on the internet such as this board. Many of us were told our children couldn't have something like HFI, they would be dead............... well how come Fred, Bill and Laura etc are still alive to filll us in???

The only way forward is polite perseverence. I am glad to hear you are feeling an improvement and yes, stick to the diet for now and see what happens, often that is the only way some get diagnosed, a positive elimination test. Watch out for the hidden surprises though in foods, its amazing what contains fructose you just don't think should.

[ukbill]

Heidi,

Happy new year!

The vomiting is a natural reaction (Pavlovian type) and is basically learnt. and as such can be un learnt.

Like the choking / vomiting reflex.

I cannot tollerate any sweet flavours even if they are Glucose based (its how I remain so healthy) and still feel like I would vomit if I ate enough of them even though I would never get a reaction because its Glucose.

If I was used to eating Glucose / Dextrose I doubt I would have the same resitance to eating sweet foods / ability to taste low levels of sweetness, and so would very likly eat far more Fructose in food before I felt the reaction starting and stopped eating (usually its too late by then.)

However I cannot remeber how long ago it is since I ate enough sugar to cause a vomiting reaction.. 20+ years for sure and that was a case of mistaken identity.. (a glass of Coke looking like a glass of Guinness beer!

If you are going on a veg free diet to avoid Fructose then you will need the only suppliment we really need.. vitamin C

I take a slow release version (because its not stored in the body whats not used is excreated) which also contains a little Zinc.

Since I went on these I can report not having lost a day off work in over 6 years as a result of a cold or flu!

It will take your gut some time to recover (if ever) mine has not done sofar.. and I have to take anti spasmodic tablets every day along with the none digestable fibre as well.

I also find at least one pot of probiotic plain yoghurt a week helps a lot too.

The flora (bugs) that live in your gut will react to the change in diet and can cause you problems for a time until things settle down, the Yoghurt helps that a lot.

I think this might be the problem carolyn met with

If you live in Cannada then Freds your man to tell you how to get though the hoops of buocracy and what specialist to see..

He is the most deeply investigated HFI we know about.

PM him he's a great guy.

Gald you are feeling better.

Just one question how do you feel after eating something containing fructose?

[khethma]

Hi, Bill:

The reason I asked about the vomiting is that it's the one thing I don't seem to have as far as a reaction to fructose goes.

When I eat fructose (even just a little bit), I develop heartburn almost instantly, and within anywhere from a few minutes to several hours I get stomach pain, severe diarrhea, sweating, gas and bloating, and often also urgent and frequent urination. I feel like I've been poisoned and my body is just trying to get all of the poison out as fast as it can.

After eating, I also often develop weakness, shakiness, lightheadedness, near fainting, anxiety, trouble concentrating, fatigue, and ravenous hunger, but this has generally stopped now that I'm on the fructose free diet - actually, this is now my first clue that I've had a little too much fructose in something.

I also can get very nauseated, but I'm almost always nauseated all the time no matter what I eat, so it's hard to say what triggers that, although it is definitely much more severe after fructose.

But, I never vomit. I'll get very close to throwing up and I often feel like I would feel better if I just could throw up, but I never do.

I think I have some weird anti-vomit reflex. It seems to take a lot to make me throw up. Even stomach viruses like the norwalk virus don't do it. My mom says even as a baby, I never threw up. She says that when I was so sick after eating I would behave as if I wanted to throw up and she always wished that I would because she thought it would make me feel better, but I never would.

(Sorry to be so graphic, here!)

Anyway, it's the vomiting that has me puzzled. Everything else, my entire history, is suggestive of HFI. I even have an aversion to sweets.

I was just curious to know if any of the confirmed HFIers has IBS-like symptoms rather than vomiting as a primary reaction to fructose. I know there is at least one case reported in the literature (Jurgen J. Wenzel et al. Clinical Chemistry. May 2009 v55 i5 p1026(6)), but I just wondered if there were any others.

[ukbill]

Do not worry about the formal diagnosis you have it plain and simple its clear from what you have just posted above.

Well I have to say that I do not remember vomiting much as a child.. very rarely in fact.. Although my mother said I did a bit as a baby but then simply refused to eat anything sweet tasting but milk.

The reason I did not vomit much is I did not eat enough Fructose to cause it.

For me the initial reaction is gut based yes, within a couple of minuets which then gets worse and lethargy, confusion, shakes, and the most horrible feeling that every cell in my body is desperate to vomit. and all of the symptoms you are describing, exactly.

I just want the terrible feeling to stop its a bit like the feeling you get when you are about to have really severe diarrhea but in every cell everywhere all at once, only much worse.

If I had an off switch I would throw the switch.. anything to stop the pain although extreme total discomfort is closer to describing it than pain..

I have said many times if a parent of an HFI child had the experience of 5 mins of a strong HFI reaction (30 seconds would do it really)

They would be far, far more sensible about feeding sweet foods to an HFI child and destroying the child's only form of self defense.

A child simply has not the vocabulary to describe the feeling, even as an adult I have difficulty finding words descriptive enough to explain, besides which a certain level of this HFI reaction is more or less constant for an HFI child / adult unless an strict HFI SAFE foods diet is followed.

All the explanation is pointless anyway because it is so far beyond what normal people experience as to need a whole different language to describe it.

Its harder than trying to describe a waterfall on a spring morning or bird song to a deaf blind person.

It is only in the last 3 to 4 years I have realised how much background effects I was dealing with every day.

To a child or adult for that matter, if pain is what they have every day then pain is not remarkable, its just part of life.. so is feeling ill from HFI.

But normal people, however have no idea or concept of just how horrible it is.. lucky for them. (And I really mean that too)

The problems with IBS developed over the years becoming worse and more extreme as I got older and I suppose the long term damage increased and became permanent.

I am now, since I finally understood that "Tolerated" HFI foods are not "SAFE" HFI foods and reduced or cut them out completely, very much better than I have ever been in my whole life!

Along with the Colofac anti-spasmodic and none digestible fiber every day these last 3 to 4 years have been the best health wise in my life.

I can honestly say I have never, ever, felt better or more part of the human race!



And I have the people on this forum who gave me the pointers to find out how to truly live with HFI to thank!

Thank you all!

Frequently it has to be said, by arguing with me because I could see how they were getting it wrong and making themselves (or their HFI children ) ill.

So its been a long road but I got here in the end I just need the end to keep on going now.. I feel fit enough and ready for another 50+ years please.

If another 150 years is out of the question??.. (if anyone with control of these things is listening)

IF not, and who knows when it will come, for I have had more than a couple of cats worth of extremely close shaves with the grim reaper already, and I know he will get me someday, well so be it! but not yet please

Keep smiling because now you have found the way, and you will find it easier to smile every day from now on

Enjoy and celibate your new life!

Bill.

[colormist]

khethma,
You mentioned having heartburn after eating fructose. I tend to get heartburn after drinking a beer with a small amount of fructose. I can't taste the fructose, but it causes massive heartburn within an hour. This was a new development for me.

During the Christmas holiday I ate somethings I shouldn't have (delicious garlic bread) and ended up with severe kidney pain that evening. It was so intense that I couldn't sleep (that'll teach me to cheat and eat a very small piece of bread). It was curious because when the pain first started, I thought it was heartburn. After a bit I resolved that the pain had settled on one side of my body and was not heartburn.

I used to vomit more frequently as a child, but quickly learned how to not vomit (usually by binge eating safe foods and drinking lots of water) if I felt nauseated and how to detect if foods were unsafe. I recently had salmonella poisoning and did not vomit. I was sweating profusely, breathing lots of fresh air, and making sure to stay near a trashcan, but I did not vomit.

People with HFI generally have excellent constitutions, otherwise we'd be walking around every time we smelled cinnamon rolls and we'd be social outcasts.

[Tammy]

Heidi,
By all means keep looking for a formal DX. It will help so much if you have one. It sure seems that you are on the right tract, but no one on here is a doctor and is qualified to tell you that you have it plain and simple.

If it was something else, but similar and you stopped looking, then you could actually miss some major problem. Also, if you have unrelated issues in the future it's much easier to get doctors and even insurance companies to treat it as a needed diet. Example, when my daughter was in hospital, she needed tube fed for a few days. The cheapest one - and the only one the insurance would pay for contained fructose. Because she has the formal DX the insurance was forced to pay for the more expensive fructose free formula.

In the mean time, glad to hear it sounds as if your on the right tract and feeling better.

[khethma]

Thanks, all, for your replies. I really appreciate the support.

I am determined to get a formal diagnosis. Fred has made some suggestions that I think will be very helpful on that front.

If it's not HFI, then it's probably something else that's similar, and I'll keep digging now that I know I'm on what seems to be a promising track. I know there are some other possibilities, but I think either confirming or ruling out HFI is a good first step.

I don't think it's just FM simply because it nearly killed me when I was 5 weeks old, and I was also extremely sick off and on as a toddler and again through my early teens. I've battled it my whole life.

I guess it's possible that it could be FM or maybe even multiple food intolerances, but I intend to find out for sure and to stick to the HFI diet (which is making a big difference) until I know for sure.

As for symptoms, I can totally relate so much to UKBill's statement: "extreme total discomfort is closer to describing it than pain."

I just always feel like I'm on fire on the inside after I eat something that sets me off. Or like someone is torturing me slowly in my insides, and it's just not quite bad enough to make me quit going about my life, but it's always there.

Sometimes, the nausea is a welcome relief from all the other symptoms. Usually if I have nausea, I don't have anything else right then (the rest comes later).

But, this has been normal for me probably since the day I was born, so I've just lived with it.

I can relate to the pain Colormist describes, too. Pain around the kidney area or settling on one side of the body. It could be kidney or liver pain or it could be intestinal. All I know is that it's different from gas pain. When I was a kid, I used to get these excruciating pains in my mid back, right around my kidneys, that would wake me up screaming. I haven't had one of those in years, thank heavens!

I can also relate to the binging on safe foods and drinking lots of water. I never knew before why I was so thirsty all the time and craving foods like olives, potato chips, McDonald's french fries, milk, milk, and more milk, and plain white rice (which tastes like heaven to me and everyone else complains is so plain).

Anyway, I can't tell you how much relief and hope you have all given me. I've spent nearly 40 years feeling like hell and having people tell me not to worry about it. You've all given me hope that the next 40(+) years don't have to be like that!

H

[ukbill]

Heidi,

I know I am not a Doctor, so far as I know none of us with HFI are.. (now there's a Life target to give one of our HFI Children! )

However I know everyone with formally confirmed HFI will tell you your symptoms, reactions and life history are spot on!

I aware of the symptoms of a lot of people who have close similar conditions (genetic and none genetic) and none have the key descriptor symptoms you have described.

Also your positive reaction to the HFI diet is very encouraging and although it also helps out so many people with other multiple food allergies it is most effective to someone with HFI.

The improvements will continue for some years as your body slowly repairs the damage that has been done by the constant low level poisoning.

The main problem we have is too many people (almost all) cannot get their heads around the HFI diet.

Most people cannot understand that a diet that contains no refined sugars, natural sugars or artificial sweeteners, for that matter, can actually be good for you!

The simple facts of history are that until the last few years (micro seconds in evolutionary scale of things) the only time anyone had sweet flavoured foods was for a few weeks a year in the Autumn when the trees and plants were fruiting.

So for most of history the human body has had to survive without any sugar at all in the diet! And certainly no REFINED sugar.

Now also along with this is a built in addiction to sweet flavoured foods that every person genetically has!

This also can be explained because when anyone eats sweet flavoured foods their brain turns off its ability to know when we have had enough to eat! So when we eat sugar or any sweet flavoured foods (zero cal or not) we eat too much and get fat!

This is an evolutionary advantage because fat people will survive the long winter months when food is very hard to find a lot better than people who are slim (historically)

Since the advent of supermarkets, canned food and freezers it has no longer been necessary to get fat in the Autumn months. However our bodies cannot adapt so quickly as this to now running on the equivalent of mega supper gas (petrol) using a Auto (car) based analogy.

With the resulting epidemic of obese and diabetic people not to mention that now children are being born with Metabolic syndrome and are unable to live on a diet which excludes these high octane sugary foods!

This is only just starting to develop into a major health problem but just watch the next 30 years! The UK government has finally cottoned onto the problem and are trying to ban sweetened carbonated drinks and reduce the sugar and salt contents of pr-prepaired foods!

It will not work because they have not realised yet swapping sugar for artificial sweeteners has the same effect... we all eat far more than if the foods are not sweet flavoured!

But at least the UK government are making a start and I congratulate them on this initial attempt!

Therefore surprisingly the HFI diet is the one most likely to be suitable for healthy living for EVERYONE!

Which is a statement that will throw any nutritionist of diet councilor into pyroxissims of both anger, and confusion, because they will not like to think they have got it so very wrong, and also they have been brainwashed into believing the opposite is true throughout all their education!

OK I will add to that a variety of foods is always best to make sure we get enough micro nutrients and a vitamin C supplement is highly advisable

Food for thought?

[khethma]

Hi, all!

I just wanted to give you guys an update and explain my long absence.

So, nothing in life is every easy, right? Shortly after I started this thread in January, my husband had a bad turn. He's okay, but he suffered a major stroke that has left him partially blind (though hopefully only temporarily). He's only 35, so, needless to say, it's been a shock and has consumed an enormous amount of my/our time and energy. But, things are finally starting to get back to normal, and I actually found myself with a free morning, so I thought I'd check in and report on how I'm doing with my health.

So, since last I posted, I had a bad bout of norovirus (stomach flu) that set my recovery back by about 6 weeks. I call it recovery because this new fructose-free diet has been a miracle cure!

Over the past few months, I have experienced an unbelievable recovery. I still have the occasional bout of nausea and lightheadedness, and I've had a couple of bad bouts of diarrhea (always after what I have come to call accidental poisonings), but outside of those few incidents, I am doing wonderfully. I've lost over 20 lbs. I'm sleeping better. My appetite is much more normal (i.e., I'm not ravenously hungry all the time). I'm even getting up early in the mornings and going to the gym, although working out is a little challenging because it can trigger lightheadedness and stomach discomfort, but not as badly as eating fructose used to. At least I usually don't get that horrible drowsy lethargy I used to get after working out. For the first time ever, I feel like exercising is giving me energy rather than sapping me of what little energy I had.

I'm also really enjoying the foods I'm eating, and I do not miss a single thing that I've eliminated. Over the years, I'd learned to eat a lot of things as an adult that you could not have gotten me to eat even by force as a kid. I've essentially reverted back to following my childhood preferences, and it's working spectacularly for me. My old aversion to sweet flavours has reasserted itself. I used to eat a very, very limited selection of sweet things as a kid and had learned to eat a few more as an adult. Now, I don't even like the look or smell of anything sweet or fruity. I feel like gagging even just watching someone else eat something sweet.

Diagnosis remains a challenge. I ordered the 23andme DNA test. It came back negative for HFI, but their test only covers 75% of mutations, so it was basically inconclusive for me. I am still pursuing a couple of other possible diagnoses (highest on the list are either fructose malabsorption due to underlying celiac or else disaccharidase deficiency either genetic or from celiac).

My GI specialist won't budge on his IBS diagnosis. He says some people with IBS just do better when they change their diet. He said to try reintroducing the fructose, but, I told him that I'm extremely sensitive to it (the few accidental exposures I've had to it since starting the diet have been disastrous). He said that the sugar sensitivity could be from bacterial overgrowth, but that I'm already doing the best thing for that - avoiding sugar. He said that if I can manage the fructose free diet and I feel better, then it's up to me if I want to follow it. He doesn't "believe in tolerance tests" so he wasn't at all interested in doing any sort of follow-up tests (not even an endoscopy just to conclusively rule out celiac). His instructions were to just do whatever I have to do to keep the diarrhea from happening at all costs. If that means following a super restrictive diet, then just do it.

Needless to say, it wasn't very satisfactory, but since I am feeling so much better, I feel like there's much less urgency about pursuing a formal diagnosis. I still intend to push for one (I'm seeing my GP next week about getting a referral to a different GI specialist), but I'm more focused right now on expanding my diet to include more safe foods and taking care of my husband.

So, all in all, though 2013 has been a stressful year so far, all I can say, is thank goodness I'm feeling better or I don't know how I would have coped! I have this forum to thank for a lot of my recovery, so I'm very grateful to everyone who posts!

Heidi

[ukbill]

Sorry to hear about hour husband.. I am sure all here will join with me in wishing him a fast and speedy recovery.

Your "lightheadedness and stomach discomfort," confirms the diagnosis of HFI.

When you convert body fat back into blood sugar we all create a little Fructose in the process. so when we exercise hard we all get the same result.. a Hypo.

The Psyllium Husk Husks Ispaghula I take are great I also have a anti-spasmodic called Colofac (mebeverine hydrochloride www.nhs.uk/medicine-guides/pages/selectorshow.aspx?medicine=mebeverine%20hydrochloride ) which is also needed (well for the last 4 years) to stop my gut misbehaving..

I forgot to warn Caryolin of the side effects of taking any strong detox product for the first time..

I got the same when I first took Alovera gell.. the effect only last a few days then all returns to normal and you never get the "green poo" again.

[khethma]

Thanks, Bill, for the well wishes for my husband.

What's interesting for me is that before starting the HFI diet, I used to get really bad stomach discomfort and diarrhea from sudden high stress. It's one of the reasons I keep getting an IBS diagnosis. In the past, getting the news that my husband's sudden vision loss was from a massive stroke would have sent me running instantly for the toilet. Interestingly, my stomach was sound as a fortress. Not a hint of discomfort throughout the whole ordeal! It's as though my gut has healed enough that the sudden onslaught of stress hormones didn't matter!

Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that the link you gave in the previous post isn't working. It goes to the NHS but brings up an error page.

I did read somewhere that isphagula (sp?) fibre is much better for IBS-D than psyllium. I tried to get some from a health food store here, but they'd never even heard of it. I might just have to order some of the stuff you recommend.

What's this Alovera gel you mention?

Heidi

[ukbill]

Alovera Gel is also available in health food stores but avoid if you are HFI because it contains some Fructose.. not a lot but some for certain.

A friend of mine got suckered into one of these direct sales jobs selling to friends etc the health benefits of this "wonder" plant extract.

I tried it to help him out.. it was VERY expensive £17 for 2 weeks supply.

However after the green slimy Poo bit wore off I think it did me some good.. above the damage the Fructose was doing.. but at the time I was taking far too many foods that were HFI "tolerated" and therefore not safe.. so was constantly slightly ill.. as I had been all my life.

I am not certain drinking the juice of the plant dose anyone much good but it certainly is a wonder for cuts and burns.. it seems to stop all scaring.. and enhances healthy skin regrowth while reducing bacterial infection.. it is now used in medical dressings used in hospitals.

Breaking a leaf off a plant and rubbing it on a cut or burn gives instant relief as well.

Isphaugula and Psyillium husks are the same thing or are marketed as the same thing anyway..

I wonder if they were testing the fine ground powder against the whole husks?

I have tried both and find the powder is not good.. I think the increased amount of "edges" when the husk is ground up allows the digestive enzymes to get in and digest more of the fiber.. which is not the idea at all! particularly as this will mean more sucrose in the gut.

I am hoping after a number of years as HFI safe as I can get I might be able to drop the Mebreverine.

So far I can miss the odd day and the number of days when I have to take 2 are now very few and far between.. I have to be very silly to need a second dose.

So I'm hoping the antispasmodic will have eventually retrained the nervous system in my gut to think in the right way..

A crazy fact, but we have more nervous tissue dedicated to digestion in our gut that a cat has in its brain!

So please do not swallow a live mouse or a feather! the results would not be good

Keep smiling Heidi hugs

[khethma]

Are they really using aloe in hospital dressings? The reason I was asking more about the Alovera gel is that I'm horrifically allergic to aloe (topically), so I was wondering if this was something topical or ingested. I'm a bit horrified that it's being used in hospital dressings. I suspected it was being used in adhesive bandages, but I've never been able to confirm if it's in, say, surgical dressings.

Anyway, the Mayo Clinic has a quite a warning about ingesting aloe, especially if you suffer from hypoglycemia, liver, or kidney disorders. Here's the link: www.mayoclinic.com/health/aloe-vera/NS_patient-aloe/DSECTION=safety

Since the subject's come up, I think I'll post a new thread on this.

Heidi

[ukbill]

So far as I know its used in burns dressings specifically.

I have no current proof of this its a what I remember reading and seeing on some burn dressings which were for sale when I was building up a first aid kit for a camping trip.