persistent tongue coat

[RyanD]

Hey Shelley,
I have my friend doing some cleansing, but the problem for him is that he just cannot get rid of his tongue coat. Its not a thick coat, but moreless just the tongue is moreso white than a nice healthy pink (if you scrub it some white does come off). Fasting does not help; he did a three day fast with pungent tea and it made no difference whatsoever. I thought maybe excess kapha/mucous, but he does tons of pungent therapy and drinks the cleansing drink, this also does not really help. His digestion is weak, but he stays within the guidelines for digestive power and is working to improve digestion. I'm pretty much positive he has Candida and possibly leaky gut (he does have some classic LG symptoms, although no adverse reactions to kefir). Do either of these things cause a persistent tongue coat? For 3 weeks he's been doing candida/gluten free diet, fasting, tons of pungent therapy, a liver flush, kefir, fiber shakes for 2 weeks (one of the weeks with GSE), lots of Eater's Digest and Classic India Spice tea, enemas, and some juicing. The tongue coat really hasn't improved at all. He feels discouraged because he thinks no matter what he does there is loads of toxins in his body because his tongue is always coated. I don't really know what to tell him. Any words of advice??

[shelley]

Wow, it does sound like a tough case! Okay, there are two other issues you need to address: his calcium/phosphorus levels and overall digestive power, meaning be thorough and check stomach acids and take digestive enzymes.

A lot of guys get really imbalanced cal/phos ratios and so the body desperately tries to shed the excess phos, which causes a very high level of tongue coat and tooth placque. So have him take Cal-Mag Fizz or something similiar if he's not already.

Also, be sure and have him do the stomach acids test, take digestive enzymes, and sane levels of B vitamins. It could be he's simply not able to digest fats and so they're mucking up the works! This is usually true of acne people anyway so go for it!

[RyanD]

Thanks Shelley! I'll have him do the stomach acid test right away. I'll also get him to take some lecithin with every meal to help with the fat digestion. He has been taking calmag fizz, but only one scoop every other day. I'll tell him to take it every day for maybe two weeks to see how that affects the tongue coat. If it's still an issue I'll come and ask again, with updated protocols etc.

[RyanD]

Oh and I forgot to say: whenever he eats kichadi (I make it really spicy for him with lotsa garam masala and cayenne) he says that during and after the meal mucous will "form" at the back of his mouth, like the thick kind you wanna spit out, and afterwards he has a bit of a dry mouth. Is this the pungent therapy removing excess kapha, or is he dehydrated?? Thanks so much Shelley

[shelley]

both - when you do pungent therapy you have to drink more fluids because it will dry you out.

[RyanD]

Thanks Shelley! Here are some updated pics for comparison, what do you think of how his tongue looks now? (note: the yellowish tinge on "day 21" is not usually there, its just cos he ate some mustard the night before). Its still not great, but I think its better. I had him take calmag fizz at two scoops per day for a week, as well as increased the pungent therapy a bit. He just had a consultation with a chiro so treatment will begin soon. Any other recommendations? Thanks

Here is the tongue pre cleanse:

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc108/ryandejager/Tongue-Pre-Cleanse.jpg

And at the end of day 21 (after calmag fizz/more pungents):

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc108/ryandejager/Tongue-Day21c.jpg

[shelley]

That looks so much better! The chiropractor should be able to take him the rest of the way back to good health/digestion, but he'll need to be aware of what it means to pass a lot of gas, stool analysis and tongue analysis to keep it all working from now on - he's just got to relearn his limitations on how much bad stuff he can eat.

He can probably back off the calcium and only take it on the high-protein days from now on.

[RyanD]

Yep, he only had that much calcium for a week. One quick question about gas Shelley, can it be a result of die-off? Like he says every now and then there will be a day with a bunch of gas even though he eats the same sort of diet as days where there is only a little bit of gas. Could it be Candida dying off or just the intestines getting back in order or something? Or is it always related to digestion? Thanks so much

[shelley]

Gas always means fermentation/microbe activity. It's normal to have a little, but increased amounts usually means something didn't go as good as usual. Perhaps the timing was off, more fluids got in the way, etc.

[RyanD]

Okay, that's good to know. Shelley, could I ask you to be a little more specific about "a little is normal"? I've always wondered what you meant specifically. I know that protein digestion always causes some gas, and that some gas is normal accompanying a bowel movement, but is a very little amount of gas in between bowel movements normal (let's say, 5 or 8 small farts per day?? Lol... talk about getting specific)? Or should we, if we are healthy, really be having no gas whatsoever in between bowel movements? I'm curious because I have a small amount of gas in between bowel movements, and I seriously follow EVERY single recommendation for digestion the flatulence diagnosis you provide on this website. As a matter of fact, often I have almost no gas accompanying the bowel movement itself, it just seems to come more apart from bowel movements, especially after meals (which I guess means I have great peristaltic action). I think this may indicate something about the condition of my colon (Jensen says, for example, that if you have diverticula you will inevitably have gas because stuff gets stuck in the pockets where it putrifies), but I'm not totally sure. In any case I never have lots of gas period, like I remarked earlier maybe 5-10 small farts a day. Its just that no matter what I eat this always happens, I'm always wondering if I fed the yeast, and my friend Brian has the same kind of problem, and I don't really know what to tell him, if it is good or bad. I'm probably taking it too seriously but I'd just like to be clear. Thanks for all your wisdom Shelley! You are such a blessing, I'm so glad I found you:)

[shelley]

yep, 5-8 farts in between meals is definitely a symptom, not something you want to consider normal by any means. Just one small or medium fart immediately before, during or after passing a large stool is normal. Diverticulitis sounds like a good diagnosis, but be sure to take the stomach acid self-test, determine need/sufficiency of B vits, carbonates (baking soda), digestive enzymes, cleanliness of bowels (have you done a fiber-based cleanse), probiotics, bile production/cleanliness.

[RyanD]

Thanks Shelley! Here is what I have done so far and what I plan on doing in the future:

Have done:
- Fiber based cleansing: two week long sessions. For the first, I built up to 5 shakes a day and released what I am pretty sure was MP (had some white strings in it), but then I went off cleansing for a while. When I recommitted, I did 2 weeks of Candida fiber shakes, at two per day. Never saw any plaque (I am thin anyways so I don't think I have and more). I went off high fiber for a while, for fear of leaky gut, as I do have some symptoms of it, but as a side note I never react at all to probiotics, so maybe its time to start reintroducing bulk fiber as flax seed tea?
- Candida, gluten free, alkalizing diet for 2 months: lots of superfoods, cultured foods, kichadi, homemade kefir 6 days a week for the past 6 weeks. I chew my foods thoroughly (about 50 chews a bite).
- Get plenty of B-vits by having NYF about 5-6 times a week, plus supplementing the B's occasionally that NYF doesn't have tons of (B5, Folic Acid, Biotin, occasionally supplement B6 as P5P on non-NYF days because I heard Candida people need lots). I also get enough organic sodium.
- Have done two three day sessions of baking soda at night. Maybe I need to do more?
- Triphala: 4 caps at 1000mg each per day for the past 6 weeks.
- Marshmallow and slippery elm every day.
- L-glutamine: two teaspoons a day for 3 weeks.
- 2 liver flushes, a bottle of PF bupleurum Liver Cleanse and a bottle of Liv. 52, plus a week of having your carrot cleansing salad for a meal every day, and having carrot juice spiked with oil about 3 times per week for the past month. Plenty of ACV and Lecithin.
- Liquid chlorophyll, lemon juice, cayenne pepper, CLO and Udo's choice, coconut oil, lots of pungent therapy, Classic India Spice and Eater's Digest Tea.
- Gotu Kola for 6 weeks, Ashwaghandha for a month
- Had my thyroid checked, all is normal.
- Took GTF chromium daily at 500mg for two weeks. Now, I take it every now and then (2 or 3 times a week)
- Stomach acid test: mine went kind of funny actually. On the day with two capsules (650mg each) I got a mild burning sensation. The next day I tried three, and I got absolutely nothing. I don't really know how to interpret this, but I take 3 capsules with meals. I take trikatu if the meal doesn't have a lot of pungents. I don't get burning with meals, but I don't feel full long after meals either.
- I take digestive (pancreatic) enzymes, 2 caps with every meal.
- I keep my meals small and separate fluids from meal. A typical day for me includes kefir or congee for breakfast, and candida safe meals for lunch and dinner. I don't eat after 7:30. I take triphala an hour after meals.
- My tongue is for them most part coat-clear, and I have noticed an increase in my appetite lately. The tongue is a little pale however. I got a crack down the middle and am going to a chiro. I have had two adjustments but so far no emotional release. I also don't really get emotional releases from liver flushing, I don't know why but it seems the repressed emotions are "stuck." I'll give it more time and see.

And yet, despite all this, I cannot get rid of the gas! It's odourless. I have followed your recommendations for carbohydrate digestion. The only thing I can think of that would be causing the gas would be some sort of misshapenness in the intestines or colon. Like I said earlier, I suspect diverticula, and that food passing through gets stuck in the pockets where it can ferment and cause gas. If I massage the colon it is not really sore, it does have kind of an uncomfortable feeling though. Before I started cleansing if I massaged the right side of my colon, especially where it changes to the transverse colon, it would be sore. I may have prolapse, although I definitely do not have constipation (transit time about 18 hours). I also suspect balloon or stricture because when I do enemas often the water gets stuck inside and I can hear it sloshing around afterwards if I massage my abdomen.

Here is what I am going to do in the future to try and help:
- Your prolapsed colon protocol. I have already been doing slant for 15 mins a day for about a month. I am leery about starting to take bulk fiber however, since I am not sure if I have LG. I guess I'll do flax seed tea.
- Aloe vera juice. Do you think it okay to start this, because I read that aloe feeds Candida? I have been on the diet for 2 months, but I fear that the Candida still has a good hold since it could hide in the pockets. It's kind of annoying since every time I have gas it's just like "crap fed the yeast again," and I can't tell which foods cause it, because no matter what I eat I get a bit of gas. I am gonna cut out onions and the other high sulfur foods and see if that helps. I've already cut out garlic.
- A month of minerals: Iron and zinc on alternating days, iron at 50 mg and zinc at 30. I have read that a lack iron contributes to digestive distress. I'm gonna take it with vit C and gentle laxatives so it doesn't cause any trouble. I also understand that zinc is needed for digestive enzyme production so hopefully this will help. I also read iodine is part of HCL production, and I ordered Atomidine so I'm gonna take at least RDA of iodine.
- Take Colostrum
- More baking soda
- Once I'm done with Ashwagandha, I got a bottle of PF Ginseng Revitalizer to use up.
- Continue seeing the chiro (posture is stooped, forward neck posture), continue with the stuff from above (triphala etc)

One more question: when is the best time to take digestive enzymes if I'm also taking HCL? Some say before, some say during, some say after. I have no clue.
Anything else I should be doing? I really wanna get this under control because otherwise there is no way for me to reintroduce new foods and tell if they are ok, since everything gives me a small amount of gas. It's just frustrating not knowing if I'm giving Candida a feast or not. Progress seems slow. Well, this is a long post. Thank you so very much!

[shelley]

Your plan seems right on to me! It does sound like you have divirticulitis/prolapsed colon and need to do a lot of work on your posture. Try taking the stomach acid acidifiers immediately before eating, then take the digestive enzymes immediately after eating, and occasionally skip one or the other.

[RyanD]

Okay! I will def update you on progress. Thanks Shelley!