# Inflammation markers and IBS



## soladeo (Mar 28, 2013)

I was diagnosed with IBS when I was 16- no tests were done and the doctor told me there was nothing I could do. I'm now 40. I've had various health issues, including thyroid cancer. I had my thyroid taken out and RAI done. I've had low levels of digestive problems--diarrhea, urgency, feeling like I still have stools in my bowel, bloating since I was a teenager. Last few years, I've been told I have some vitamin/mineral deficiencies: mostly vitamin D, magnesium, and iron. I was able to pull my iron up a bit with supplements, but then the doc ordered iron infusions. My ferritin skyrocketed, and it's never gone down, and my iron won't budge. I've had CRPs and Sed rates done, and the CRP's been consistently high, and sed rate sometimes is and sometimes isn't.

I went gluten free a few years ago, and that's helped somewhat. I went paleo in January, and auto-immune paleo in Feb. I started to notice more intense symptoms- stomach cramping and pain along with everything else. Also had naseousness and loss of appetite. This Fall I would have pain in my middle back, and a doctor did a gallbladder ultrasound that showed no stones. The pain went away, but now I have lower back pain and a burning sensation in my middle back- it's like my bra strap is burning. I tend to have that sensation after I eat. The low back pain is constant and may not be related to digestion. I went on the SCD diet last week, thinking I might have SIBO or some other gut issue. Symptoms have somewhat subsided but still have stomachaches and the back burning sensation. I'm very, very tired, which might be bacterial die-off. I've stopped all my supplements- vitamin C, iron, magnesium, fermented cod liver oil, HCL, probiotics, to see if my gut might heal.

My most recent crp/sed/ferritin was done on Friday, and the CRP and ferritin were still very high, and the sed rate is close to the upper limit. I see my internist this Friday, whom I see for my thyroid/hormones. I'm very worried, and I'm tired of doctors blowing off my inflammation. I should also note that my triglycerides/cholesterol/homocysteine are perfect. I've lost 60 lbs, and am continuing to lose weight. I was exercising quite regularly, but have no energy to do so right now.

I guess my question is if anyone with IBS has had issues with inflammation? What has helped lower it?


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

Typically IBS people do not have issues with those inflammation markers.

Have you tried a low inflammation diet?

http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/ART02012/anti-inflammatory-diet


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## soladeo (Mar 28, 2013)

To be honest, I do not believe in eating industrial seed oils or grains. Like I said, I eat auto-immune paleo, which is anti-inflammatory. I added to that the SCD diet.

I need to find the reason for the inflammation. One doctor's suggestion was to take an aspirin each day. I need a doctor to take me seriously.


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

Not sure there is good science data to guide with this, you could try an Integrative Health Doctor, but they are going to recommend the same diet I did, and maybe add some supplements which sounds like you may not want. And I thought you could do an anti-inflammatory diet without industrial foods, but it does include carbs and that may be something you won't eat. Not all meat is the same, wild salmon is different from farmed, etc and I don't know what you are eating even with the broad description. The nutrition database at self.com has the inflammation ranking for all foods so you could see if there is still anything to tweak.

Maybe someone that does functional medicine, or a naturopath, but again the naturopath may recommend the same kinds of supplements or diet as the Integrative Doctors.

The IBS isn't causing the inflammation, so you won't find much help in that direction. Typically those markers are normal in people with IBS and I don't know how much you can change the blood values with diet alone.


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## soladeo (Mar 28, 2013)

I've found good scientific support for gut health and anti-inflammation in regard to paleo- especially auto-immune paleo. Grains can cause cross-reactivity in regard to gluten, and given my reaction to gluten, I would prefer to eliminate them from my diet. Yes, I eat wild fish and grass-fed meat. I eat organic whenever I can. I eat no processed foods. I go to an integrative doctor, but his experience is with thyroid and hormones. They aren't naturopaths in my area, unfortunately.

Does anyone have ideas what this inflammation may be? I don't have symptoms of rheumatoid or lupus. My brain is starting to go a little crazy here, with fears of cancer again. My mom was recently diagnosed with non-alcoholic cirrhosis and had stomach pain for a while before the found it. I really hate this.


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

Are your numbers in the frank disease range, or just high normal range? (or just a bit higher than normal range).

Some people do run high all the time just from genes, just like some people run low consistently because of genes. The normal range usually includes about 95% of healthy normal people (so there are always outliers). I also don't know if the Radioactive Iodine could have upset the system in some chronic way. Radiation is needed for some therapies, but it does damage and I don't know if it could just have ponked things in a way that messes with these numbers.

A quick lit search indicates inflammation markers do go up during treatment, I just don't know if it can lead to a chronic issue with it.

I might go with more fish and less of the meat, and do you eat nuts? Is olive oil off the menu? How much do you sleep and do you do a stress reduction meditation program? The Antiinflammatory diet also adds a lot of the oriental mushrooms, do you eat those? I know fruits and veggies can be hard for IBSers and often Paleo types avoid many if not most of them (some will eat more than others) but there are things in plants you can't get from animals that are some good things as well.

I mean people who need to take aspirin (as much people can be anti-pharmaceutical...and you probably would get similar results from willow bark tea if you don't want anything that went through a drug factory) for other reasons (like after a heart attack) do see CRP go down, but it does have it's risks even with the benefits of lowering risk for a fair number of diseases. Statins do bring it down, but that is probably also off the table, but there is a naturally occuring statin in Red Yeast Rice, just take a Coenzyme Q supplement with it just like you would for a statin drug as it has the same effects on CoQ metabolism as anything from the drug manufacturer. It isn't free of the side effects just because you get it from nature rather than in a prescription vial.


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## someday (Dec 13, 2012)

It's interesting that you should post this!! I was going to start another topic, but I'll just post it here. I was always led to believe that IBS was an inflammatory disease. The bowels become inflamed due to a multitude of reasons, be it diet, stress, or an auto-immune disease, which I happen to have. But now I don't believe this to be true at all. I was diagnosed with RA specifically last year but I've always had issues with my immune system since a kid.

When going through the tests for RA my CRP levels were elevated (enough to start taking methotrexate) but not so much so that caused the RA doc to worry too much. I ended up quitting my meds (even though I felt great!) last Dec because I couldn't stand being tied to a clinic once a month to have my blood drawn to make sure my liver wasn't being affected. As a result, my RA symptoms have come back full force in the last month. Here's the kicker...while on the meds...my IBS was under control but still a tad unpredictable, more than likely a result of the medication itself. After all, methotrexate is a chemo drug, but I was taking it in very low dosages. Since stopping it though and having the inflammation return in my hand and wrist, I almost feel like my IBS as strange as this sounds has gotten better. No idea if there is a connection or not and again could be related entirely to the medication which is probably most likely.

In any case, having RA is no fun and the pain at times is just unbearable. So I need to take something again but just don't want to take any hardcore prescription drugs....so I've found Anatabloc....I haven't started taking it yet, only just ordered it but reading the reviews about it, it couldn't hurt to try. Basically anatabloc is a natural anti-inflammatory and people have credited it to reducing many different parts of their body that were inflamed from their gums, to joints, to prostrates, to psoriasis, and some are even claiming it to work for altzheimers...and most importantly for me it's all natural. HUGE downside is, it's extremely expensive....and hugely expensive to try not knowing if it will work for me or not.

But my hope is that not only will it reduce the inflammation for my RA but also for my gut and IBS symptoms.


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## jmc09 (Oct 5, 2009)

As i have mentioned previously,there are a few schools of thought that ibs can and is linked to inflammation in some sufferers. There seems to be many crossover symptoms and microscopic inflammation is found in some cases. Also some of the anti inflammatory meds used in chrohns and colitis help some ibs sufferers too.
I took sulfasalazine for many years with good results myself.
I have had blood tests showing inflammation in the past without having anything other than my bowel problems going on.
Doctors have never seemed concerned either.


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

Typically IBSers have normal frank inflammation markers when measured. Inflammation in the gut will cause symptoms and doesn't have to be through the same things that cause IBS symptoms. I think it can do that directly, not just by inducing IBS (although you can get IBS from frank obvious gut inflammation over time, but that is when people continue to have symptoms even when all the inflammation is controlled/in remission).

There are changes to immune cells in the gut in IBSers even without anything that pops up in the usual medical tests, but there is also roles the immune system plays in regulating the nervous system (just read an interesting study where mice without T-cells can't learn a maze and if you put the T-cells back they become almost normal in being able to learn the maze). So there are interactions that I don't think we fully understand.

I don't know that most people with IBS really have something else going on. There seem to be plenty of us that have totally normal CRP and Sed Rates. But inflammation is going to cause symptoms if you have something other than IBS causing the inflammation.


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