Berberine / Curcurmin essential oils? - Thyroid UK

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Berberine / Curcurmin essential oils?

Regenallotment profile image
24 Replies

I’ve been reading about use of Berberine, curcurmin, clove and cinnamon oils for SIBO/ SIFO symptoms. (In Dr William Davies book supergut)

I’m pretty much there with resolving my GI issues so reticent to mess around, but you know how it goes, I’m also curious as to whether it could be even better.

He suggests that of you still have autoimmune food intolerances you haven’t fixed it…. I would like garlic and onions back in my life. But I also can’t afford and AIRE breath tester to know for sure. I’ve seen them on eBay for £70 second hand. Anyone know of any cheaper?

Anyone got any insights to share on using Berberine, curcurmin, essential oils? What did you learn? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

🌱🦋🌱

Ps Imaaan if you have time I’d love your advice 💕

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Regenallotment
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24 Replies
Jaydee1507 profile image
Jaydee1507Administrator

I did try a course of 'herbal' supplements which incuded berberine for my gut issues, I had methane SIBO. It helped somewhat and I do believe that sometimes multiple courses are required.

Before the introduction of fancy (expensive) gadgets to test breath levels of substances one would just trial a low level re introduction of onions/garlic so thats always an option. With FODMAPs its not always necessary to completely eliminate, but a reduction in quantity can work for some as well. All very individual, and there are people that can never tolerate onions/garlic in any quantity. I hope you are not one of those! I've been lucky and over time with many interventions & added T3 I can tolerate them.

Regenallotment profile image
Regenallotment in reply to Jaydee1507

thanks, I’m just at the stage where (thanks to you I think!) stopping onions and garlic after reading about FODMAPs has made me much more comfortable. By excluding and then eating them I’ve discovered they give me the typical windy tummy and loose stools (which according to Dr William Davies book Supergut suggests SIBO/SIFO).

Not sure I can reintroduce without dealing with the underlying causes. Hence the queries on these things I haven’t tried.

What were the herbal supplements you tried?

🌱

Jaydee1507 profile image
Jaydee1507Administrator in reply to Regenallotment

This was a few years ago when I was seeing a nutritionist to help with gut issues. I did a hydrogen breath test and also a comprehensive stool analysis. The herbals + specific probiotics were chosen as a result of those tests and I can't now find the details of what I did take. You do really need to know what overgrowths you are dealing with to know what will likely help. It may not even be specifically SIBO but more a gut dysbiosis issue for instance. Dealing with gut issues is all a bit of a mine field!

TiggerMe profile image
TiggerMe in reply to Regenallotment

Hi, my sister has been taking this for a week or so and has seen a distinct improvement in her burpy, windy, bloaty system... I've not looked into it but thought I'd put it out here

Biomel
Imaaan profile image
Imaaan in reply to Regenallotment

Regarding garlic and other sulphur containing foods linked to yeast overgrowth and SIFO

youtu.be/0tyc9HMNVgU

Imaaan profile image
Imaaan in reply to Jaydee1507

Excuse and pardon me for jumping in but Congats on becoming admin🎊

Jaydee1507 profile image
Jaydee1507Administrator in reply to Imaaan

Thank you Imaaan. I hope to be able to help a few fellow weary travellers along this awful path.

Imaaan profile image
Imaaan

I was researching berberine supplements yesterday. I'm on the hunt for an affordable one that has low a dosage.If you want bang for your bucks, look into New Roots Purge Parasite. It has a few of the stuff you mentioned and a few more.

If you're looking for a supplement that actually has a study behind it. Look at the Metagenics candibactin-br and candibactin-ar. ** The ar contains lemon balm which has a contraindication to hypothyroidism *

I finished my 3rd round of antimicrobials ( biotics research dysbiocide and fc cidal, oregano oil, blackseed oil, mastic gum and neem ). During the period I was able to bring back garlic after not being able to touch it for a few yrs. I started eating 4 raw cloves of garlic a day for a week and half. I've made some improvement thanks to God. I had to stop the garlic after a week and a half because it triggered gastritis pain and lpr

Dr Seibecker and I believe Dr Pimentel (leading sibo doctor) suggest Allicin supplements for those that cant tolerate garlic.

I'm taking a break and plan on starting another round in April, God willingly. My plan is to attack with herbs that target hydrogen sibo. The hydrogen producing bacteria is usually eaten by the methane and when those are dealt with than the lurking hydrogen sibo becomes apparent.

For the hydrogen sibo, I'm going to take the metagenics BR only and not the AR and add in blackseed oil supplement. Also, I might possibly add in the purge parasitis and stop candida from new roots to treat sifo.

Hopefully that will do the trick and if not I'm going to look into adding more herbs that target SIFO.

Jaydee1507 profile image
Jaydee1507Administrator in reply to Imaaan

You've reminded me of some of what I took. Neem was in there and oregano oil, also Allicin was amazing for me, probably the last thing that sorted me out. Totally cant remember what order or combo I used though now.

Did you do any testing before embarking on the gut protocols?

Imaaan profile image
Imaaan in reply to Jaydee1507

I know its important to test before embarking on the herbs to see which sibo you have and to know what your numbers are to track the progress but I couldn't. I was on a tight budget so I decided to skip the testing and decided to treat based on symptoms. I looked at the study that compared antimicrobials to rifaximin and chose to do one of the protocols(Biotics Research) By the second week, I felt a difference for the better thanks to God, so I knew I was on the right track.

Jaydee1507 profile image
Jaydee1507Administrator in reply to Imaaan

Yes it's definitily not cheap doing the tests. I only did tests in the beginning and then went by symptoms. I'm glad I did them though as then knew what I was dealing with. There are some folk who completely lack certain beneficial bacteria for instance and that would be something important to know.

Imaaan profile image
Imaaan

Sorry for bombarding your post but I can go on and on when it comes to the gut. Just wanted to share the progress of a lady that I've been following. Shes done 2 rounds of antimicrobials and the l reuteri yogurt. Shes been using the food marble to track her progress. In her last video she mentioned she was able to reintroduce more foods.

I've done a similar herbal protocol with a few tweaks and differences. I've been wanting to do the yogurt since many have benefited from it on the sibo fb group but I dont feel comfortable enough to make it myself youtu.be/dzmom5PLhh8

Regenallotment profile image
Regenallotment in reply to Imaaan

I have made the yogurt, I did half his recipe with a can of coconut cream, took 48 hours for mine to ‘go’ but it’s working, I’ve just put my second batch in the airing cupboard 🌱

Imaaan profile image
Imaaan in reply to Regenallotment

Glad to hear that you've got the hang of it. If you continue to benefit from it, hopefully you can update us in 3 weeks time.

I dont have the guts to make it😜

Regenallotment profile image
Regenallotment in reply to Imaaan

and no absolutely not bombarding, this is super helpful 🤗🙏 thank you 💕

Imaaan profile image
Imaaan in reply to Regenallotment

Good to hear ;)

Forgot to mention earlier that I was too scared to introduce berberine hcl before since its known to reduce blood pressure and does something to blood sugar levels. If I recall, diabetes can benefit from it. The metagenics br doesn't have a crazy dosage amount.

PS ...I never got an alert that you tagged me. I just clicked on your post when I saw it on the forum.

Jaydee1507 profile image
Jaydee1507Administrator in reply to Imaaan

The nutritionist I was seeing recommended l Reuteri in the form of a probiotic by BioGaia. Have to say that made little difference that I was aware of and then I stumbled on Allicin which was amazing.

Imaaan profile image
Imaaan in reply to Jaydee1507

I looked into Biogaia around January and figured the amount of pills I would need to take to make a difference was too much and costly.

Thanks for sharing your experience with both and I'm glad to hear that the allicin was a powerhouse in your journey.

Swissgirl profile image
Swissgirl

 Imaaan  Regenallotment  Jaydee1507 Heartfelt thanks for all this info on SIBO/ SIFO. Have saved this thread you’ve shared as this is next step on my MCAS journey. Test and then treat. Have so many horrible food reactions ( not just gut but many others as well), am on extremely restrictive diet just to be able to survive. In fact, the food intolerances are one of my worst symptoms of MCAS. Sacaromyces Boulardii as recommended by Izabella Wentz-Thyroid Pharmacist, is helping a little with chronic diarrhea. Was wondering whether worth buying the Dr W Davis - Supergut book you mention as can’t eat most things in recipes and probiotics / supplements very tricky due to reactions and MCAS🌸

Imaaan profile image
Imaaan in reply to Swissgirl

Sibo is beyond difficult to treat and it's my pleasure to help in any way :)

I'm currently taking s boulardii . I started it after the day i finished my 3 round of antimicrobials.

I've compiled a few links and hope you benefit from them:

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl....

^^Mentions the brands that were the most effective and the recommended dosage.

facebook.com/groups/4706283...

^^^ By far the most helpful info found on this group and I really learnt a lot about their experiences.

restartmed.com/sibo/

^^^^ Ran across this yesterday as I was doing a search on berberine hcl. It's really comprehensive and informative.

If you end up testing positive for sibo, I would highly encourage you to first try herbs rather than conventional antibiotics . The latter come with black box warnings except for Rifaximin. They also carpet bomb the diverse flora of your microbiome.

As for histamine, I have thoroughly benefitted from a thymus supplement at 2grams and a kidney supplement and blackseed oil. Something to do with DOA and histamine. Amazingy , I wasnt reacting to food as strongly after taking them when I ate.

I'm glad to see youre no longer vegetarian.

I'll link a girl's video I watch that has dealt with mcas, sibo and other health issues.

Swissgirl profile image
Swissgirl in reply to Imaaan

Hi Imaaan. Thank you very much for your detailed reply and all the info , I really appreciate it. Yes, my MCAS doc told me that the antibiotic treatment for SIBO was pretty aggressive! If I do test positive ( which I wouldn’t be at all surprised about!) I will most definitely go down the herbal route first and see if I can deal with it without using antibiotics. I am actually at the moment most concerned o about the SIBO test itself, as we don’t know whether i will tolerate the lactulose liquid, which I’ll have to take before testing. We’ve decided that to be safe we’ll do the test at the clinic, in case I react badly and like this will have immediate medical attention available. I’ve never had anaphylaxis so far, although similar type reactions and we don’t want to risk it! We are hoping that if I do react we’ll be able to get an elevated tryptase level measurement, which will hopefully help with the whole disability pension process I am in to recognize the MCAS, as I fulfill all the criteria.

I am also concerned about the herbal supplements did he possible SIBO, as again don’t know which ones, if any, I’ll tolerate. Definitely nothing from the allium family ( garlic, onion, etc) as these make me very ill.

My DAO levels have returned to normal after going on the strict elimination diet and raising Armour NDT and I have been diagnosed with MCAS without HIT.

But I will definitely look into all the other supplements you mention.

Yes, back to meat and fish for the past few years, as body was craving animal protein after ca 30 years of being vegetarian. Initially really helped with energy levels. Eggs and cheese just weren’t enough anymore, and I also then became egg and diary intolerant, as well as gluten and soy - I think linked to Hashis. This was all before getting seriously ill in Oct 2020

Thanks again🌸

Imaaan profile image
Imaaan in reply to Swissgirl

Hopefully the test will be smooth sailing for you and you wont experience any hiccups. As for the garlic supplements, as long as the supplement says allicin you shouldn't have any issues hopefully. There is one particular brand that is recommended on the fb group and is recommended by naturopaths because its sibo friendly

All the best and update us on your progress

FoggyThinker profile image
FoggyThinker

A quick and heartfelt THANK YOU for mentioning the Super Guts book (somewhere else, I think, but can't recall where...) I have bought it and am fascinated. Hope you get some help for these symptoms soon. Have you read Dr. Peatfield's book? It could be good alongside Super Guts (he mentions SIBO but I think there was less known then, but I've found him more helpful and simpler than the Izabella Wentz books, for me)

Regenallotment profile image
Regenallotment in reply to FoggyThinker

thanks for the tip, I will order that immediately! Glad it was helpful. I have to say symptoms are in a good place this week. Long may that last. Wishing you well too 🌱🦋🌱

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