Clyde....The symptoms you experience are very common among several IBS subpopulations. There are a number of possible precursor events which can lead to a loss of oral tolerance to specific foods or additives in the diet which would take all day to explain, but the chemical basis can be oversimplified.Assuming you have been properly worked up by a board certified GI doc and all other possible reversible conditions which can account for this chronic diarrhea and pain have been ruled out, there is a large body of work topped-off by recent studies in Sweden where the small intestine is "isolated" and examined in various ways which shows that, for whatever reason, these symptoms are consistent with an abnormal response of the various types of immunocytes (mast cells, lymphocytes, granulocytes, platelets) which are the managers of the immunoprotective mechanisms of the small bowel.They are provoked, in a pattern that is different from person to person, by various specific foods or a food additives, to respond to those specific foods or additives as if they are pathogens. This results in the cells releasing chemicals in the wall of the small bowel and the circulatory system which are designed to make the inestinal tract and related systems inhospitable, and to gear-up to evacuate the intestinal tract thus removing the pathogens (which in this case are actually foods which the immune syetm should normally tag as "safe" after seeing them).In this case, all else being ruled out, you (like me and many others) have foods or additives or both in your diet which you are consuming regularly which makes the normal patterns of bowel function 'exagerrated', including motor and sensory functions, hence your continuous discomfort.At this time the most effective way to reverse this is to isolate the offending foods and chemicals, thus removing them from the diet, and avoiding these reactions in the first place.This I have set forth as I said without expounding on the various possible etiologies some of which are proven some of which are theoretical. The bottom line though is to keep the horses from getting out of the barn...keep the mediating chemicals inside the immunocytes where they belong until a real pathogen comes along.Keep in mind these reactions are very different than "food allergy" reactions as the mechansisms are different and elude detection by food ALLERGY testing. They need to approached either with different technology or with diffrent dietary analysis methods than are used for food allergy.This is because, simply stated, food allergies are not dose related and are rapid-onset so they are easy to isolate with standard dietary and symptom logging methods. This is a comorbidity ins ome IBS patients, not the basis for the seemingly irreversible parts of the symptom set.These other aberrant reactions in the small intestine seen in patients like yourself are very hard to isolate, and usually cannot be isolated accuratlely with the same intake tracking procedures used for food allergies. Only the most obvious are found, and often the wrong foods are blamed.This is because these reactions are delayed-onset (up to 72 hours) and they are dose dependent in several complex ways. Bottom line is that what you eat and when you perceive the reaction are out-of-phase by up to 3 days, and since dose makes a difference as well, other means must be used to isolate them.Another good book for you to add to your reading list, which will help you understand the differences between food sensitivity and food allergy, thus how to approach them, isolate them, and rid yourself of them was written by the leading immunologist/allergist in this field:�FOOD ALLERGIES AND FOOD INTOLERANCE: THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO THEIR IDENTIFICTION AND TREATMENT�, Professor Jonathan Brostoff (M.D.. Allergy, Immunology and Environmental Medicine, Kings� College, London)
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/089...6487508-3420903 For persons with your symptom set especially, this is a way of increasing your understanding, thus making the tools available to you easier to evaluate and decide how to use more effectively.Applying the principals set forth by practitioners who are expert in this area has allowed many people who had symptoms similar to (or in my case way worse than)yours to enjoy remission.If you have any questions about anything in Professor Brostoffs book if you get it, let me know and I will be glad to try to explain. However, he does a pretty good job of speaking in plain english in this one (it was written for patients not doctors...his other books on immunology are quite "dense").Eat well. Think well. Be well.MNL_______________
www.leapallergy.com
