So I’m the lady who is on 5 meds, and have actually been doing much better. (Drive 2 hours! Took a 5-hour bus trip!) But I got a bug last week and had to have a stool sample tested (Sorry! TMI!)
They found no bad bugs in my gut but they also found NO GOOD BUGS. Not a one. I haven’t taken antibiotics in years. So it must be from the antiviral (Valtrex, which is off-label for ear issues and has helped me, along with the other stuff.)
SO… The doctor put me on Probiotics (the same stuff we avoid in yogurt, and also related to all the fermented foods on the trigger list, pickles et al.)
Now I’m a wobbly basket case. Vertigo roaring back. Heavy legs, can’t drive, etc.
Anyone tried Probiotics? Anyone have any suggestions? I seem to be able to handle aged cheeses. But yogurt - no. Qefir - no.
This is so interesting to me, as I’ve just taken up fermenting (I’ve made yoghurt, fermented berries, sourdough, and I’ve got kombucha brewing) because I had such a bad withdrawal from Venlafaxine, my body felt wretched so I wanted to stuff it full of goodness!
I haven’t tried the kombucha yet as it’s still brewing, but I’ve been okay on my yoghurt and berries so far. Is it the dairy in the kefir and yoghurt which affects you? If yes, you could try kombucha? It’s tea based, though the scoby looks like an alien and makes me queasy when I think about how I’ll have to touch it when I harvest the kombucha when it’s ready lol…
I believe evolution has the answer to most things … and we didn’t evolve to eat crap! So my suggestion is to eat as much fruit, nuts and veg as possible and forget any ‘faddy’ stuff
Bugs are a fact of life and the body is very well equipped to fight them.
My personal opinion why these exacerbate our symptoms is that many of us maybe nursing a healing fistula (personally I’m totally convinced that’s what I have) and any sneazing or coughing can worsen the breach. I have a conspiracy theory that doctors don’t like to tell you this is a possibility (“it’s so rare!” - yeah right!) because you may demand surgery and as Dr Hain says this doesn’t work very well (66% failure of surgery versus 90% spontaneous healing rate) There is also no reliable test widely available.
Shazam will need foods with good bacteria in to help her gut recolonise (which will in turn improve the whole immune system), which I think is what she’s asking for help on? The issue here is that a lot of foods with probiotics in are triggers, especially fermented foods.
Probiotics aren’t faddy! You may be mixing up expensive probiotic drinks and tablets, with actual food high in probiotics which humans have eaten for centuries?
Shazam I not only eat homemade yogurt but also take a probiotic tablet every day because I have gastric stasis so my digestive system needs all the help it can get. I also eat liquidised fruit and vegetables aplenty and I have no VM symptoms as a result of any of the above. As we all have different triggers it may be you cannot cope with fermented foods, or it could be coincidence that you are recovering from being unwell and that has set off the dizzies again perhaps. The only way to find out is to stop all fermented foods, see how you feel and then reintroduce them a little at a time after a few weeks. If you feel unwell again you have your answer and they are a trigger for you. I hope that helps a bit.
This is interesting to me. I’ve recently read more and more about the gut biome and I’m sure I have a problem with mine. Whether it is behind the mav or contributing to it, I’m not sure. However, in the year and a half running up to this all kicking off I had a horrible bout of food poisoning and course after course of antibiotics for a couple of different issues. I definitely annihilated my gut! I’m not sure but think it could contribute in some way to the mav as they’re finding out more and more about how so many issues come back to our guts.
Anyway, I’m very slowly and gradually trying to build things back up just now. I’m very wary of fermented foods as well though so not going overboard. I take a probiotic and try to have a little of some things like coconut or goat yoghurt (nothing from a cow though) and little bits of kimchi, raw apple cider vinegar etc. I have loads of prebiotics in the form of veggies etc, and these are meant to feed the bacteria in our guts. I’m going very slow though because of the problem lots of migraineurs have with fermented foods.
I have a personal theory about fermented foods and I do stress this is only a personal theory. I think the problem with these foods lies with the strain of yeast as I absolutely cannot tolerate marmite, cheese, over ripe fruit, dried fruit unless it is soaked first in boiling water, fresh bread of any kind (I am gluten free), or any other foods that are obviously yeast carriers. Because I make my own yogurt it does not contain guar gum, which is fermented, and probiotics I think are a different form of bacteria to the yeast found in bread and fermented foods. Well that is my take on the situation anyway as I have had a candida problem since I was about 8 years old when I ate bread and anything made with sugar, I looked 9 months pregnant with a stomach that sounded like a washing machine!
Thanks and apologies for that. It was a fascinating article because I suffer from Coeliac Disease and a neurologist once told me that there might be a link between people with GI tract issues and migraines which this article reiterates. I used to take probiotics but I had to stop during my chemotherapy and stupidly I never restarted. I am.paying the price now GI tract wise so I am restarting this week. Let’s see what it does for my migraines
Of course all these things are theory. Nobody really knows true cause however it is best medical practice to treat any other conditions that co-exist so trying to do that can hardly be a bad thing.
For some reason, it says I cannot post links. I must be doing something wrong. Oh dear! It’s on patient.info and it’s titled “is there a link between guthealth and migraines”
Dont stress. It’s the system not you for sure. All to do with trust levels which are greatly linked to your forum usage. Hope the one I linked is The One. Helen
