I’m so glad you’re daughter’s stools are improving!

Unhappiness does come up in healing. Theories about this abound. One idea is that healing resurfaces all “traumas” we’ve been through previously, while the body works it out for good. eg. If we had profound sadness when first becoming ill (a common emotional response), we might experience some of that sadness again wile healing. Another idea is that die-off in general will leave one at times temporarily lethargic and sad. In this case, increasing die-off relief supports (slowing probiotics, incorporating one or more detox baths per day, etc) can make all the difference. Another idea is that of too-low carbohydrates. In this case, increasing foods such as butternut squash, carrots, honey, and nuts (if at that stage) can shift this.

I would proceed to Stage 4 without waiting for further improvement. That is, I always recommend people keep progressing through the stages until a given introduction brings up a clear reaction, in which case we would remove that food for now, rest at the previous point for a few days, then move forward again (skipping the suspected item).

All my best,
Baden

Thank you so much for your wonderful advice. We have another question and we are wondering if you can help again. By the way, our daughter’s stools are improving significantly.

Our 11 month old daughter is on now on day 37 of GAPS intro diet. She has multiple food intolerances and colitis (bloody stools). The GAPS diet has helped significantly in the short while she has been on it, however, we are noticing that she is very unhappy these days. She does not smile or laugh nearly as much as she use to and almost always wakes up crying from sleep. This is not her usual behaviour. She seems depressed and uninterested in playing.

What can be causing this? We are very concerned.

She’s been eating plenty of organic free range animal fats, stock, GAPS veggies, egg yolks, probiotics and fermented cod liver oil. We are diversifying her diet within stage 3 gradually, waiting to see improvement, before moving on to stage 4.

Can you offer any advice in regards to possible causes of her depressed state?

Thank you kindly.

Angela (Robin’s wife)

And thank you very much for your words of appreciation and blessing These always do my heart, soul, and energy much good.

All my best,
Baden

I’m not a health practitioner, so can’t generally advise on supplements, etc. In terms of aloe vera, I don’t know about age limits and doses. I can say that aloe vera is recommended to avoid on GAPS. At the same time, I know that some people coming to GAPS and in early healing have found it to be a very helpful transitional remedy for specific issues. I used it once myself (post-GAPS, during a flu with much diarrhea) and was very impressed with its results.

On that note, you might enjoy this post: http://gapsguide.com/2011/11/14/supplements-gaps-illegals/

Off hand I can’t think of any other anti-inflammatory approaches (besides GAPS itself) that might fit, especially for a very young child. You might want to ask on one of the email lists presented on this blog’s ‘Support for You’page. There may be families there who’ve journeyed through very similar circumstances and can give specific tips and information.

All my best,
Baden

One of the tests we had done on Maya indicated inflammation in the digestive tract (which would explain the bleeding).

We were thinking of giving her aloe vera juice as it is known for its anti-inflammatory properties. What are your thoughts on that? Is Maya too young for it? Do you know any other natural anti-inflammatory foods we could try (I already looked up ginger and garlic but some people they’re not recommended for children under 2 years of age).

Thanks again!
Robin.

We suspected UC as well but her diarrhea has completely cleared up in the last couple of months. We’re going to try an Organic Acid Test and continue pushing our Gastroenterologist for a endoscopy and biopsy.

We’ve moved onto stage 2 and introduced egg yolk, Maya seems to be taking to it really well. Also, we’ve stopped with the home-made fermented cabbage juice as we realized that there was sugar in it (applesauce… based on an old family recipe).

In any case, thanks again. God bless you for taking the time to help all of us.

Regards,
Robin.

Wonderful to “meet” your family, and wonderful to hear of Maya’s results to date!

Upon reading just the opening of your post, my first thought was “ulceritive colitis”. However, I’m not a health practitioner so cannot speak much to this. In any case, you might be very encouraged by this article, sent to me by dear Jodi who resolved many intense symptoms including bleeding: http://crohnsdad.com/2012/01/13/ibd-pilot-study-using-diet-based-on-scd-shows-100-success-rate/

Some thoughts:

1. Most people should be on Stage 1 only 1-3 days. A person with Maya’s original symptoms would be on Stage 1 longer, but only seven days max. It is time to move forward. The additional foods bring important nutrients, not to mention variety for psychological support.

2. For a ten month old this early in the program, one capsule of BioKult plus fermented juice is a LOT. In the GAPS Guide book, my recommendations are very different than this. In there, please do review the ‘Probiotic’section, as well as the note at the top of page 41.

3. It is normal for stools to vary for the first few months. On different days they may be loose, more solid, “perfect”, more frequent, mushy, containing mucous or some undigested food or some fat, etc. All of this is fine. Blood -or diarrhea to the point of risking dehydration- is not. Unfortunately, I don’t have any more information about the management of blood -again, as I’m not a health practitioner, it’s outside of my realm of experience and knowledge. If Dr Natasha says it can take months for the blood, in this situation, to stop, I respect that knowledge. In terms of what others have directly experienced, you might want to also connect with folks on the (free) support lists. There are folks on the GAPShelp one, for example, who’ve resolved this symptom (whether diagnosed as part of UC or not), thus will be able to tell you what their experience was, what helped them, etc.

Please let me know, Robin, how things progress.

All my best,
Baden

As you’ve noted, Dr Natasha’s recommendation is to skip intro and do only full GAPS while breastfeeding. One concern some mothers have shared is that of a reduction in breastmilk upon doing intro. These noted, I myself did intro (due to not having this information at that time) while nursing my 3.5 year old. It worked out beautifully. He nursed until he weaned himself a few months in, and neither of us experienced any problems. He was at that time eating solids as well, so he was not dependent on breastmilk. You can read blogs of other women who did intro while nursing. Off hand, I can’t remember who did this, but you can check the blogs listed here: http://gapsguide.com/about/support/ (Scroll way down, and be sure to check those under the section for ‘GAPS Blogs Specifically Covering The Intro Journey’.)

I totally understand your concern about the antibiotics. Without knowing about GAPS, I tried so hard to do everything “just right” in my pregnancy, but my son was born prematurely and was exposed to lots of antibiotics before, during and after birth. Unfortunately, it’s hard (impossible?) to say what will affect us and how, and what remedies might be needed. I’m not personally familiar with tests that show the state of one’s gut flora. Some readers have referred to tests that state they are absent in one bacteria or inundated with another. Ultimately, though, upon spending the money to hear these results, they generally just go on the GAPS program as-is anyway. That is, the program doesn’t change based on what flora each person is low or high in. Personally, I would skip the testing, do the GAPS program as presented, and observe the results. If after 3-6 months, you feel a more focused approach is necessary, you might follow the tips listed in the GAPS Guide book under ‘Progressing Further’.

Many people see excellent gains on full GAPS alone. Some people choose to leave it at that; others choose to do full GAPS for a year or so before doing a round of intro for even deeper results.

All my best,
Baden

My wife, Angela and I are parents to our beautiful 10 month old daughter, Maya.

Maya has been in ill health for some time. We started noticing small flecks and streaks of blood in her stool starting at 6 months. It has become progressively worse now that she is 10 months old. It climaxed over the holidays with us at the emergency ward due to ongoing bloody diarrhea and severe weight loss. She has not grown in 2 months and she started off 50% in weight at birth, now hovering around 10-15%. At this time, she is not able to digest most foods and the doctors and specialists at the hospital are not able to help her due to their protocol to prescribe hypoallergenic infant formulas (main ingredient: glucose syrup). Maya can not tolerate any infant formula, including all the hypo allergenic brands which cause bloody diarrhea 3-4 times daily, rash and weight loss etc. etc.

We discovered the GAPS diet which has been the only thing that has stabilized her. We found within 24 hours, her stools almost completely cleared up. Her rash is now gone, she has solid stools with only a little blood remaining. She is smiling again, sleeping much better and looks like she is putting weight on very slowly again. What a miracle!

We are fortunate enough to find a doctor who specializes in digestive disorders here in Australia and who more closely matches Maya’s needs and acknowledges the GAPS diet over commercial infant formula. This doctor suspects it may be a parasite infection which is the root cause of all the food intolerances and colitis. We are waiting for test results (this test uses DNA in the stool to determine what parasites are in the gut) from a lab in the US coming back at the end of this month. If it is indeed a parasite or parasites, we’ll need to consider what path to take at that time since Dr NCM doesn’t recommend antibiotics for the gut.

We are confused with some of Maya’s symptoms. We have just completed day 13 of stage 1 Intro diet. Maya is consuming strictly, 24 hour chicken stock, chicken fat, some stewed pumpkin, zuchini and carrots. We have also worked up to 4 tsps of home made fermented cabbage juice per day, 1 capsule of BioKult perday, and fermented cod liver oil.

Day 3 she was very lethargic. We understood the symptoms and let it play out. Day 4 to 6 she was very hungry, in better spirits, and she regained what she lost during her last episode of bloody diarrhea. We increased the fermented cabbage juice today to 4 tsps and she looks somewhat bloated and was gassy so we will hold it at 4 tsps per day. This has passed and we are now at about 6 tsps of fermented cabbage juice per day.

What has been confusing has been her stools. We saw significant improvement in the amount of blood in the stool from days 1 to 4. From days 5 to today it’s been more bloody again with intermittent diarrhea, then solid (mash potato-like) stools again. However, we are noticing overall increased digestion and absorption since we first started as she no longer has undigested pieces of food coming through. It’s just the blood with intermittent diarrhea. Is this a retrace symptom? Can detoxing cause the blood and colitis to return, along with the diarrhea as part of the healing process? We have not introduced anything new into her diet. We called Dr NCM in Cambridge and Peter (Dr NCM’s husband) told us it might be ulcerative colitis and it can takes months for the blood to go away. Our doctor disagrees as he believes UC is rare in infants.

It’s scary seeing the blood again but if it is a normal part of the healing process, we will be patient with it. We just need some reassurance. Does this sound right to you, or is there a reason for concern? How long should we expect the blood to continue?

I apologize for the very lengthy message but my wife and I are at our wits end and don’t know what to expect or how to proceed. Any advice or insight would be greatly appreciated.

Sincerely,
Robin.