Anyone tried L glutamine for GI issues?

[daisydoll]

Hi everyone, I am currently suffering severe stomach issues which have resulted in a rapid weight loss. This happened after I trialled a non dairy diet for a short while then returned to dairy. As I was taking high dose iron at the time I blamed the supplements at first before realising several weeks later that it coincided with the reintroduction of dairy. Despite cutting dairy and wheat recently my symptoms have not improved and the weight loss is frightening. I have also developed oral thrush and I fear oesophageal thrush as I have a burning sensation in my throat that comes and goes depending on my intake of dairy/ sugar products. I recently reintroduced dairy and wheat to try and bulk up my diet as I am now very underweight. I have had two thrush medications which have had little impact and am suffering with gas, bloating and diarrhea daily along with a very dry mouth and low saliva production. I have been taking pre and probiotics for a couple of weeks to no noticeable effect. I have heard L glutamine can be helpful in repairing the gut and preventing diarrhea. Has anyone ever used this supplement and to what effect?

Thanks, D.

[humanbean]

I have taken L-glutamine.

Please be aware that it is not recommended if you have any liver problems at all. Damaged or unhealthy livers can't process the L-Glutamine.

livestrong.com/article/5369...

livestrong.com/article/7052...

I actually took the stuff because I'd read that it helped lower sugar cravings, at a time when I couldn't stop eating sweets. It did work for that, and I don't recall having any side-effects whatsoever. I was taking a heaped teaspoonful in squash in the mornings. I think it is a supplement popular with the bodybuilding people, but I have no idea what they take it for. Patrick Holford suggests it a lot too.

L-Glutamine is a white powder (don't buy the capsules, the dosage is much too small to do any good, buy the loose powder). It has no smell and no taste. It is destroyed by heat so don't take it close to hot food or drink.

[daisydoll in reply to humanbean]

Thank you. I have no liver issues that Iknow of but have made two errors that you mention here already! I bought the tablet form and am pretty sure I took one with a cup of herbal tea this morning- d,oh! Well that was a waste of money then! Might give them a go for a few days just to see if there is any effect anyway. Thanks again for replying.

[daisydoll in reply to daisydoll]

Further question humanbean, I noticed an old post where you mentioned candida and similar symptoms to what I have now. Can I ask did you get sorted and if so how? You mentioned a gluten challenge but I'm not sure what you meant. Thanks again.

[humanbean in reply to daisydoll]

I am pretty sure my sugar cravings were candida related. I did lots of experiments in an attempt to bring the problem under control.

1) L-Glutamine

2) Increased my fibre intake - I took a fibre supplement called psyllium seed husk for quite a long time (it must be taken with lots and lots of water to prevent it clogging up the gut). I had diarrohea, not constipation, and I found the extra bulk helpful.

3) I took Diflucan (fluconazole) several times. I hated doing it because it made me feel terrible, but I felt it helped in the long run.

4) I tried to keep my sugar intake to a minimum, with varying degrees of success.

A gluten challenge is where someone stops eating gluten for a couple of months, then re-introduces gluten to see if things get worse again i.e. just what you did with dairy. If lots of symptoms come back then you know you have a problem with the substance you have challenged with.

I stopped eating gluten in January (I resisted doing it for ages). It has had no effect on my gut health at all. But it has helped other things - my mood has improved, I don't stagger as badly as I used to. I had never knowingly eaten gluten since January, until this weekend. I ate three chocolates, knowing they had gluten in. The effect on my mood has been dire. I won't be knowingly eating gluten again.

I forgot to say, there are lots of sites with far more rigorous explanations of how to do a proper diet to eliminate candida. I just bumbled along and did my own thing, just like I usually do.

[humanbean in reply to daisydoll]

If you want to buy the loose powder, you should try browsing the sites that are aimed at body builders. They tend to be much cheaper than sites who market to people buying for medical reasons. (This is a very recent discovery of mine.)

[daisydoll]

Thank you human bean. I only managed 12 days dairy free! I really wish I hadnt done it now because it's had such detrimental effects on my gut and overall health. I didnt think the trial was long enough to warrant any care with reintroducing (challenging) dairy so went hammer and tongs for milk, cheese and cream then took ages to figure out why I was so ill. By this point thrush had developed and I had started losing weight due to daily diarrhea. My gut is now so sensitive I seem to be reacting to all kinds of things whereas this was a rare occurrence previously. Fluconazole is the tablet the Dr gave me yesterday but I don't think one pill is going to do much when the yeast is so entrenched and my stomach is still so poorly. Ironically, the hives went nowhere as well during the trial so it seems I made myself ill and restricted my diet for nothing.

[humanbean in reply to daisydoll]

A single pill is the usual way of taking fluconazole these days. If a repeat treatment is needed a gap of a week between treatments is necessary.

Personally I hate the weekly tablets. I much preferred the ones that were taken once a day or three times a day, but they are not available over the counter, and are not easy to get out of doctors either.

evidence.nhs.uk/formulary/b...

[daisydoll]

Did your gut issues ever resolve by the way? Or at least improve?

[Angel_of_the_North]

I've been taking glutamine for about a year now and it has definitely helped (bulkpowders.co.uk are very reasonable on price). I take about 3-5 g a day. I probably need more.

It helps to heal gut problems.

[daisydoll in reply to Angel_of_the_North]

Thank you Angel of the North. I guess I will have to try buying the powder form for results. Glad it helped you. Did you have stomach issues? If so, what were they and did you do anything else to help? Sorry to pry, just trying to figure out a way forward from a very uncomfortable and frightening situation.

[Angel_of_the_North in reply to daisydoll]

I have what seems to be IBS-D but gastro can't find anything wrong.

The other thing that helps (but you can't take it all the time) is a parasite cleanse formula called Humaworm. No idea why it helps as tests for SIBO and parasites were negative ... I also don't have bile acid diarrhoea or ulcers or gall bladder problems or coeliac or anything else they tested for.

[daisydoll in reply to Angel_of_the_North]

At least you know it is nothing serious, although it must be very frustrating not knowing the cause. I imagine it's all linked back to the thyroid. The list of symptoms is now nearly endless for me.

Thanks for getting back to me.

[Lisasones]

This may or may not be relevant but I get your stomach symptoms daisydoll when I take pre and pro biotics - you'd think I was nine months pregnant with gastric enteritis - don't know why my system over reacts so much to them X

[daisydoll]

Thats interesting Lisasones thank you. I only started taking the pre/probiotics when the situation didnt resolve though. I'd also read they can help with thrush but as yet there is no impact on that either My mouth feels like a desert and it's difficult to eat, despite being starving!

[Justiina]

I take l glutamine and zinc to heal leaky gut. My dietitian told me to also take cod liver oil with added vitamin A for 2 weeks. I did.

Worked a bit but biggest difference was after taking B12 which helped me big time. No irritation nor bloating.

Ps the vitamin A did actually cure my sore eyes lol.

[daisydoll in reply to Justiina]

Thanks justina! I might have t try zinc too. Out of interest are u on any special diet or did u find certain foods an issue for your stomach? Also how do u take b12? I know it can be injected or spray or pills?

[Justiina]

Gluten and dairy free. Cannot tolerate any milk. Not even tiny traces in probiotics which have been cultured in milk. I get very ill.

I have made yoghurt from cashews and coconut milk and quality probiotics. I only take few spoonfuls per day since probiotics can also cause die off symtoms.

I find seeds and blueberries good for my stomach. Seeds are good for good bacteria and blueberry is known to calm irritated stomach. Raw blueberries for constipation and blueberry soup for diarrhea.

I also take flax seeds to feed good bacteria but if your stomach is really irritated then I would wait until feeling better.

I have B12 as spray ( better you) and solgar sublingual nuggets 1000 mcg. Worked for me in two days. No more bloating and irritation. But I had already been on l glutamine and other supps for a month so might take time for other people.

I hope some of these would work for you!

[daisydoll in reply to Justiina]

Me too! Thank you. Do you take levothyroxine? I took it throughout my dairy free trial with no issues (I tolerated milk with no noticeable GI issues before the elimination) but now realise it has Lactose in it. Also I think my probiotics have a trace of milk. How did u find out u couldn't tolerate gluten and dairy?

[Justiina in reply to daisydoll]

I am not on any proper medication. If I do use even a pain killer I make sure it has no lactose. Even birth control pills might contain lactose. That is why I also take most of my vitamins as sprays if possible, then I know no gluten or dairy!

I was constantly nauseous and bloated, had diarrhea and hives and so on. I started elimination diet and figured out gluten and dairy was the worst.

I have taken the stool test and I am missing some good bacteria, that might be one reason why I am so super sensitive even to small traces of lactose.

[daisydoll in reply to Justiina]

Wow thank you for this. I have suffered the exact same symptoms so I hope you have relief now.

[Justiina in reply to daisydoll]

I am much better now compared to past years. Had forgot how "normal" stomach feels Still hard to get used to it and I am super careful with stuff.

I hope you will find working solution for your issues too. Fixing leaky gut or irritated stomach whatever one has, takes some time and patience, unfortunately.

[Fuzb]

I tried L-Glutamine for a month with breakfast but it didn't really seem to do anything for my gas symptoms, Yakult didn't do anything either. But along with getting my T4 levels right to get my motility and acid back to normal, I have been taking Probiotic Max 5bnCFU Lactobacillus with meals and after a week that calmed my gas/SIBO down a lot. Too many carbs makes it worse (especially desserts and alcohol!) Still a way to go for me as I'm still not there with the T4 I think.