Three cheers for synchronicity!
My daughter developed an aggressive form of strep, and it's not unusual - not unprecedented - to treat all the siblings with an antibiotic. We select one that will kill strep, yes, but is also effective against intestinal bacteria. And this time we run the full seven days. Are you ready? Drumroll please. Nothing! Sure, it cleared up Elizabeth's strep, but it had no effect, good or bad, on John. So the game of 20 questions continues, where each question represents months of research.
John's symptoms exhibit a huge variance - they respond to food in longterm patterns - there is no metabolic disorder - his blood contains nonhuman chemicals - the food carb correlation is undeniable, albeit long term - it's not yeast - it's not a bacteria. What does that leave?
If you live in Michigan you know Randy Tent. Even if you're not in Michigan you may know him. He's the greatest naturopath around, and if you're not sure, just ask him. That's all right; why should doctors have a monopoly on ego? We take John to see him, and he diagnoses a calcium deficiency and worms. But he doesn't sit still long enough to explain what he means by worms. He hands me an expensive supplement and dashes out of the room. He dashes in later to evade some of my questions in a manner that would make a politician proud, then he dances out again. The man has serious ADHD, yet we're bringing John in for treatment - for ADHD! Oh well, we're desperate - and who knows, he might be right. The parasite isn't yeast or bacteria (though it may be a strain that is resistant to antibiotics, but I doubt that, because I remember how Wendy's symptoms disappeared under the same regimen), so no matter how improbable, and no matter how silly this man looks jumping around the room, and no matter how bizarre some of his other theories, I have to take this one seriously. But what does he mean by worms? Surely any macroscopic parasite would have been seen in all the stool samples we've run.
At the same time I receive email from one of my loyal readers, suggesting a protozoan. If it wasn't one of the well known strains, like giardia, it could go unnoticed, and would be resistant to all the treatments we've endured thus far.
Have a look at <this website>, and <this one>. The latter suggests that protozoa actually eat, and thrive on, the good bacteria in probiotics, hence probiotics can make the patient worse. You need to grow your own good bacteria. You can't call for reenforcements. And the only way to grow your own good guys is fiber. I keep coming back to fiber. It saved my wife's life, and if I can get the formula right, it will save my son as well.
Of course we've tried high fiber diets before. With my wife's history, fiber is one of the first things I tried. But there are subtle differences between individuals. My wife didn't mind the oligosaccharides that are present in most high fiber foods; but my son can't tolerate them. In other words, his protozoa thrive on the complex sugars present in legumes and leafy vegetables. Perhaps this was not the case with the bacteria that colonized my wife. Each microorganism is different, and the treatment varies accordingly. We need to look to whole grains for our fiber, setting most legumes and vegetables aside. I put John on a low sugar, low oligo, whole grain, high fiber diet. It seems to be helping, but I've said those words before, so time will tell.