What can I do to improve my health?

[villandry]

Over the past three years I've been in terrible health. I had my gall bladder removed, had awful stomach problems which no one could get to the bottom of until I tested positive for helico bacteria, two bouts of depression, two bad bouts of tonsillitis, and a couple of chest infections, and finally, recently an ear infection that left me dizzy and deaf. My blood pressure was found to be high, although that is now under control with medication. I seem to catch every bug going, and have very little energy.

Blood tests have shown nothing untoward. I stopped smoking nearly three years ago, drink very little, and try to eat healthily. I've lost a couple of stone in the past year but still have about a stone to go until I'm at a healthy weight. I swim regularly and walk a lot.

I'm really looking for suggestions as to what I can do to optimise my chances of good health. At the moment I feel like a physical wreck!

What's been your stomach problems exactly?

Diarrhoea, vomiting, acid reflux. These have largely disappeared since the helico bacteria was treated with antibiotics.

Was it H pylori that you had?

Do you drink a lot of water? It's a small thing but it really helps!

Have you had a colonoscopy? I'm only asking because before I was diagnosed with Crohn's I had many other issues. Lumps on legs, puffy sore eyes, dry cracked lips, extreme fatigue, then the stomach issues. I was treated for H pyroli too.

I did a stool sample with had markers for IBD then a colposcopy which was the final diagnosis tool to confirm my Crohn's. It's a long slog but at least I now know why I'm perpetually tired and why healthy food kills me!!!

Watching with interest - I too seem to have had one thing after the other and feel I've not recovered fully from it all . H pylori , proctitus , chest infections , RTA (lots of broken bones ) and now the bloody menopause .

Do you take probiotics? A course of live high strength ones certainly wouldn't hurt. Antibiotics are amazing at their intended purpose but also wipe out all the good bacteria in your gut as well as the baddies. A large part of our immune system depends on those good bacteria so you may be suffering from their abscence!

It's worth mentioning that high strength AB's can also lead to candida overgrowth, which has a lengthy list of symptoms, including low immunity and tiredness. It can be very tricky to get rid of but first steps are probiotics and usually cutting out sugar completely to starve the yeast. Most GP's don't really believe in 'candida' but qualified nutritional therapists, Chinese medicine practitioners and plenty of sufferers certainly do. There have been threads about it here.

I agree with the probiotics. They can only do good.

I agree with the probiotics too. It might also be worth doing a test for your stomach acid levels as candida can cause low stomach acid levels (again something most GP's don't seem to believe in!). Google the baking soda test as that's a good indicator for whether you have low levels.