Reaction to L-glutamine: Hi. Tried it in hopes... - IBS Network

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Reaction to L-glutamine

Aghu profile image
Aghu
11 Replies

Hi. Tried it in hopes to assist in healing a very possibly leaky gut. Shortly afterwards started to feel persistent sizzlings in stomach, then some stomach ache (vaguely, not strong), then as the day progressed an obvious feeling of fullness in bowel and then next day was bad. Went to loo 5-6 times with loose bm.

It’s a ‘recovery after exercise’ oriented brand, but does it really matter? 100% pure l-glutamine, produced (it says) without gluten, dairy, etc.

I’m very curious indeed why, how?

chemistwarehouse.com.au/buy...

I mixed 5 gr into a cup of water twice during the day. Suggestion on the package is the same too.

Thank you

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Aghu profile image
Aghu
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11 Replies
Maureen1958 profile image
Maureen1958

I tried some of this stuff a few years back as I read on the net that some people taking it for sporting activities found it improved their IBS and in some cases it completely disappeared. When they took it they had any idea this would happen. Although I guess if they did a lot of sporting activities their IBS couldn't have been that bad! Anyway, I gave it a try but it just made me go to the toilet more than usual so I soon gave up with it.

Lancs65 profile image
Lancs65 in reply toMaureen1958

Same here tho after about 4 weeks I noticed an improvement in my overall wellbeing that is energy slept well and lost weight. They were tablet form that I took but stopped taking them as thought I was cured and hey presto after a few months I was back to old ways. A dietician at the hospital I worked at said sugar and yeast are the enemy for leaky gut but I would think it's different for everyone. Maybe your symptoms were your tummy readusting? No idea

Aghu profile image
Aghu in reply toLancs65

They say, yeast is a no, if the cause is candida. I still couldn’t decide what to do with it. I don’t think i’ve candida. I wanna have some yeast containing food in the form of vegemite (active) and nutritional yeast (dead).

Aghu profile image
Aghu in reply toMaureen1958

Same reaction somehow.

Thanks a lot for the response.

xjrs profile image
xjrs

I looked into L-glutamine some time back and decided not to take it in the end after reading this:

eatbeautiful.net/2015/12/28...

I've also read reviews that some people had tummy troubles with it.

I ended up taking Arthred (digestable collagen) instead. This was very very expensive and I can't say (even after taking it for an extended period) that it made that much difference.

You might also want to read this:

nhs.uk/conditions/leaky-gut...

I like these NHS fact sheets - they are very no nonsense and tell it as it is.

Aghu profile image
Aghu in reply toxjrs

Hi,

That’s a very valuable response.

Read the first article, will be onto it further.

At this age you certainly can reach meaningful info on internet. So much so in a subject where all of the doctors even specialists i’ve seen proved to be useless for me (btw none of the gps i’ve seen knew even what sibo is. After i while it became obvious to me that it’s totally pointless to try to extract some info from them) But what i still find amazing is that the advises/methods you’ll find on the web that are followed by doctors/scientists are in such contradiction with each other.

I’m cautious with any sort of supplements, yet this glutamine.. whenever I’ve read something about it, it was always suggested to be one of the cornerstones of leaky gut treatment. Wasn’t expecting such an unambiguous reaction to that.

Cutting down lectins, occasional slippery elm tablet and bone broth will be the course I’ll take probably. I’m on such a good streak recently and it’s like living a dream.

Careful with carb sources&lectins (can’t cut off rice altogether though) , of course no sugar, and result is brilliant even with no supplements.

Just wondering if the time will come when I’ll start eating things that i haven’t been able to for so long (the list kept expanding)

Thanks so much.

xjrs profile image
xjrs in reply toAghu

Yes. The information is very contradicting since the science isn't fully there yet. It sounds like you are on an anti-SIBO diet? I was on this for some months. It reduced my pain, but the reason it did this is because it avoids feeding the microbiome, so it doesn't produce gases and cause symptoms - it's like an extreme version of the fodmap diet. Unfortunately long term this isn't great for health. I've spoken a lot about SIBO on these posts. Since the testing for it isn't accurate many people are testing positive that don't actually have it. They might be responding to the diet since it is also giving the large intestine a rest. That is what happened to me, but I felt very stuck on it - I couldn't go on holiday, I couldn't work and I had to be at home to cook every meal. I lost a stone in weight and had to bulk up on rice eventually to put weight back on. What has been my saving grace has been treating the symptoms I was experiencing with Linaclotide for IBS-C and intestinal nerve pain. I have also started Alflorex probiotic (on trial from the ibsnetwork.org) which has now eliminated the pain. This has allowed me to become more tolerant of foods - I am still in the very early stages though. You might want to read the post I made today towards the end of this question about fodmaps (and getting back on more foods): healthunlocked.com/theibsne...

Aghu profile image
Aghu in reply toxjrs

I too can’t eat anything when i’m away from home. I bring my rice cooker with me whenever I’ll be off several hours. But, I also noticed that i actually can’t eat rice as much as i want to. So i recently started to cut it down, substituting it with steamed veggies or sweet potato noodles. I also needed to cut off these cereal&muesli (freedom foods ancient grains and same brand buckwheat and quinoa). Needed to cut off quinoa, buckwheat flour (i used to make bisquit out off it) too. No to grains. And prior to all off these, i needed to cut off potatoes but it still didn’t stop my symptoms (certainly made an improvement on its own at that stage.

So i know it’s similar to what’s suggested on sibo diet now. And it actually makes me lean toward believing this ‘somewhat alternative’ medicine stuff. Food intolerances I’ve developed, hypothyroidism (chances are it’s hashimoto’s) , all those irregular bowel habits etc...

So wanted to give it a go and ordered even some herbal antimicrobials and all. But before starting them, my intestines started to act just as fine on this current (&very restricted) diet. 180 degrees different from how it was. Btw i cut off any sort of sugar too, no plant milk anymore.

I can’t get very much hung up on long term sustainibility at the moment. Whenever i deviate, things take a turn for the worse.

And i couldn’t find any help so as to have guidance to cure the root cause -there must be one-, whatever it is. Whether be leaky gut or sibo causing leaky gut, bacterial imbalance causing leaky gut etc.. I really don’t believe in ibs anymore. It just refers to the inability of a diagnose for me.

As a curious example. Potatoes were just fine when i started to use them first. Then it proved itself and become one of my ‘secure’ foods. And i started to consume them on a regular basis everyday. And in a very sneaky way, things got worse and worse. What was wrong with them? Lectins wearing out the intestinal lining in time? Or simply carbs feeding bad bacteria and leading to probably the same end? It’s just all a huge mystery.

I read your posts carefully.

Thank you

xjrs profile image
xjrs in reply toAghu

It all depends on what your core symptoms are. For example, if you're still getting diarrhea despite a very strict low fodmap diet, it is possible that you have BAM (bile acid malabsorption) and there are completely separate tests and treatment for that via your GP. If you are experiencing pain (like me) you may be suffering from visceral hypersensitivity (intestinal nerve pain). This is due to the brain registering normal activity of the bowel as pain due to loss of neurons in pain control centres of the brain as a result of extreme stress, PTSD, or even neglect or abuse in childhood. Totally paring down the diet will provide relief (like it did for me) since it reduces the activity of the bowel so it sends less signals back to the brain, but this isn't a long term solution. In this case the brain/gut connection is the root cause. The first line treatment for this is 10mg Amitriptyline (which acts as a nerve pain agent at this dose). This is meant to help with the pain within 4-6 weeks and in 6-12 months it is supposed to replenish the pain control neurons, so you don't need to be on it anymore. I couldn't tolerate this which is why I ended up on Linaclotide. So what I am saying is there is help out there for your symptoms (depending on what they are), which should help you tolerate more foods.

Aghu profile image
Aghu in reply toxjrs

Your gut issue is very different than mine (i wish you luck). I never had any pain. Considered and eliminated BAM before. Oil on its own is no trigger for me. If it’s the right oil(Saturated isn’t). I mean, quite some olive oil or salmon, or some canola doesn’t cause even loose bm.

At this stage, i noticed that an increase in grains or sugar effects badly. Grains have been cut off, so what’s left on that front was only sugar ( from fruits I’ve been trying) . I was well quite several days back to back until i tried having fruit not one but 3-4 times during the day(of course still staying way below fodmap limit) Result is no good. All this data makes me lean toward trying some sibo remedies. I can’t find much guidance on the net concerning oral use of oil of oregano and I’ll just post a topic seeking for those who’ve used oil of oregano before.

Thank you

xjrs profile image
xjrs in reply toAghu

If you truly suspect SIBO, I was presented with this handout which shows the root causes of SIBO:

clinicaleducation.org/docum...

On the right hand side you will see the box containing the heading "Aetiology" which actually means 'a set of causes'. I went through this list with my gastroenterologist and I have added comments from my own health perspective.

He said that these areas would be covered by the Small Bowel MRI scan that I had:

• Stasis: dysmotility – not apparent

• Surgery (loops, vagotomy, bariatric) – not apparent

• Short Bowel Syndrome - not apparent

• I also added ileocecal valve (which sits between the small and large intestine) to this list, which my therapist kept going on about. She said that my ileocecal valve was stuck open allowing bacteria from my large intestine to wash back into my small bowel and I'd need to visit an osteopath who practices visceral (organ) manipulation to get them to close it for me (or you can do it yourself via a youtube video). I had to go to another city 1.5 hours away to visit such an osteopath who eventually said he didn't manipulate the ileocecal valve (although a phone call indicated he might), but I had a couple of sessions of him manipulating my intestines because they were stiff. My small bowel MRI showed there was nothing at all wrong with my ileocecal valve - it was closed and showed no inflammation or any abnormality that would cause SIBO.

And now for the rest:

• Achlorhydria – no stomach acid – he said this was highly unlikely and also considering I can experience acid reflux

. I also would have thought a fecal elastase test would show if you aren't breaking down proteins correctly (which require stomach acid for digestion) and mine came back OK.

• Hypochlohydria – low stomach acid – same answer as above – the only real test is a PH test directly into your stomach, but he said they didn't do this any more and home testing is inaccurate

• PPIs – my therapist said that I hadn't been on PPIs long enough to make a difference

• Malnutrition – no

• Collagen vascular disease – immune system inflammation e.g. arthritis – not in my case

• Immune deficiency - unlikely

• Advancing Age – no

• Chronic Pancreatitis – this causes constant abdominal pain/fatty stools - no

. It is interesting that another IBS Network member had responded to Rifaxamin but was also diagnosed with a compromised pancreas.

• Chronic ABX use – no

• IgA Deficiency – my tests show this is normal range

• Coeliac Disease – I had blood tests with the GP and these came back fine

• Crohn’s Disease – I had blood tests with the GP and these came back fine

and colonoscopy was OK

• NASH – non alcoholic fatty liver disease –looked at my records for this and this is normal

• Cirrhosis - no

• Fibromyalgia – widespread pain - no

• Rosacea – no

I don't know whether this list helps at all, but might be worth working through from your perspective. If you do have SIBO and the root cause isn't tackled, it will only keep coming back. Good luck.

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