When to get more help (regarding gut healing)?

[Sarah Milcetic]

I remember hearing or reading somewhere that if the conditions are right the gut will begin to heal in a matter of days but if the conditions are wrong it may never heal (possibly Chris Kresser?).

I'm wondering what it looks/feels like to have a healed gut and what the W30 team's take is on how long to wait (while following strict W30) before deciding it's time for professional help.

[Renee Lee]

I think if you get through your perfect W30 with absolutely NO improvement, you should look into consulting somebody. If you see a LITTLE improvement, maybe extend it to a W60? Sometimes you just have to throw your hands up and ask for help. Everybody's different.

It takes me FOREVER to ask for help. No lie, I hurt my knee 6 months ago and I STILL haven't gone to see a doctor about it. I keep telling myself that it'll resolve with time. (I'm an idiot, i know this...)

[Johnny M]

personal guess here...definitely see what others say...but I suspect a good sign of gut issues would be bloating/gas/constipation/cramping etc after eating though some people will have no signs of poor gut health...it might manifest as regular colds or infections as well since it compromises immune funciton. An unhealthy gut would cause things to be digested poorly or improperly. The best way to heal it is to follow a whole30 type protocol and eat regular probiotic foods like raw kraut. This can take several weeks to heal though. Are you having digestive issues?

[Adagio]

If you are strict Whole30 with no sugar/grain/casein cheats for 90 days, and you see no improvement, perhaps consult with someone who actually understands digestive issues. (With respect, most M.D.'s are clueless.) Perhaps with Whole 9, or Chris Kresser, or a Paleo nutritionist. And perhaps consider testing by Entero Lab. They provide accurate results where other food allergy/intolerance testing is often wrong. The test can be mailed in. That is how I learned I was gluten/casein intolerant and both my parents carried the gene for Celiac disease. IMO, most gut disease is caused by food intolerance, stress-related adrenal issues, and/or over use of synthetic medicines - both OTC and precription.

[Sarah Milcetic]

Thanks for all the replies. I was trying to be brief but maybe more information would be more helpful...

I've been diary-free since November 2011 when I realized my breast-feeding son was reacting to dairy in my diet. My digestive issues started when I removed dairy but seem to have gotten worse since I did my first W30 in January, which I continued until sometime in February. I remember still being W30 on Valentine's Day but can't remember how many days I continued.

Between November and January I also had removed most nuts and many legumes since my son reacted to them too. In January I had walnuts and they were okay the first few times but then my son started reacting to them. Then the same thing happened with hazelnuts so I stopped all nuts. I was thinking it was caused by me needing to heal my gut so that new allergies/reactions didn't develop.

I never reintroduced dairy, though I did have sugar several times and corn, wheat and rice a couple of times each (no noticeable reactions to any of them). I did another W30 in June and saw no changes. I haven't had 90 days consecutively, and I recently realized specific reactions to coconut and cocoa powder (which I think may be nut contamination since fresh coconut doesn't bother me?). I'm hoping that if I don't have coconut and cocoa I'll start to see digestive improvements but I don't know if it's a stretch and I should get help.

I also make homemade sauerkraut, pickles, fermented radishes, beet kvass and kombucha.