17 minutes ago, Lighty said:

take it one moment at a time.

try to support yourself with the proper nutrition that fits you, maybe different foods could be easier on your stomach.

I'm already doing a bland diet. But I don't know, I feel like I looped around back to the start of my journey.

I remember I started feeling like skipped heartbeats and then burning stomach occasionally, then nausea appeared, tachycardias, upset bowels and foul stools... That was january 2025, when I got diagnosed this bacteria.

Now in April I started getting these skipped heartbeats again, slowly lost my appetite, then nausea appeared, burning returned through ppi, stomach sensitive to the touch, stools smell foul now too, globus and intestines pain... GP says it's a stomach bug since there's a wave right now, but I don't go out to socialize or eat anything weird? All the symptoms align and I don't really have vomiting or diarrhea. They appeared over months. I wonder if all this decline without windows is because of an actual illness irritating my nervous system. Yesterday I felt like cold, despite my room being at 29 degrees, and then all tingling and withdrawal symptoms got really bad...

@ALonelySoul12 another thing that popped up, maybe you could try using Aloe Vera Gels supplement, it might be less effective than some others but it's more natural compared to some others that aren't really natural, I do take an extract pill daily.

Edited August 1Aug 1 by Lighty

Alonelysoul12, just a few things that seemed to help me with stomach issues, chamomile tea, and honey. Like the old saying goes consume what nature provides. I found local honey/raw honey helped. In Wisconsin we have a lot of local honey from farmers. We tend to call it natures antibiotic. You will get through this my friend, your system is still trying to sort things out. I to had a lot of what you talked about and described, and it did get better over time

Just a thought @ALonelySoul12 , Have you been tested for small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO)?

20 hours ago, Catbird said:

Just a thought @ALonelySoul12 , Have you been tested for small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO)?

I have not. I've been a bit too sick, and kinda skeptical about the whole SIBO testing thing. It's usually not that reliable, almost like a coin toss according to studies on its accuracy. I investigated plenty on the digestive side, and you always end up going down the rabbit hole of SIBO, leaky gut syndrome, and other mumbo jumbo. It might be real, I don't know, but many of those conditions seem to be promoted by bots, supplement sellers, or people that say they cured their symptoms years ago. But then you still find them lurking and dealing with the same issues years later if you enter their profiles, with plenty of comments in other posts like "How are you now?". What I know is that I have a weak LES, which allows reflux, and gastritis in the antrum of my stomach due to an h pylori infection.

By the way, is it possible that I'm experiencing the same acute withdrawal again? I've been a year off since the 23rd of July. So now it's when I was in acute back then. I'm reading my diary entries of the past year, and see more or less the same issues I'm dealing with right now. Waking up at night sweating or with bad tinnitus, upset stomach that gets angry even at water and gives me stabbing pains, burning deep down my throat and stomach, crying spells, stool changes, nausea and feeling hot/cold, plenty of movement in my GI tract, the "multiple sclerosis hug" in my abdomen. It's like i'm experiencing a withdrawal on top of withdrawal.

In January-February is when I felt more or less the best after a bad wave. Then late February and March I start going downhill (I took antibiotics last year late February to 1st of March), and summer has been hell (I reinstated lexapro for 3 months starting in April and ending late July). I hope this doesn't mean that I'll be in this loop forever 😔 So far I'm not feeling good at all neither physically or mentally, and nothing really improves since March. It's like I'm experiencing withdrawal again with all my previous withdrawal issues on top of it, which is harder because I was better off mentally last year on lexapro. I don't know.

Edited August 3Aug 3 by ALonelySoul12

Sorry to hear you’ve intense symptoms after a year off.

12 hours ago, Catbird said:

Sorry to hear you’ve intense symptoms after a year off.

It's alright. My life is over for all I know since 2025 started and needed antibiotics 😔, pushing me towards a failed reinstatement when I wasn't recovering like other people.

I kinda wish my life ended there after the happiest years of my life, with my now ex by my side before everything got bad and I decided to set her free, even if it hurt her. This sickness was destroying both of us. I'm glad she cut contact and is not here to see this. I have days where I get emotional and want to share what is going on in social media, so my friends know. But I don't want her to know how low I've fallen through friends of friends. I want her to not worry and build a good life, as a thanks for all the good years she gave me. I never thought I could be happy or live drug free until I met her.

Little did I know that the deal with the devil was already made, and leaving drugs meant it was time to pay up.

There’s others here who have made it through. Im hoping it will be the same for you 😢

14 minutes ago, Catbird said:

There’s others here who have made it through. Im hoping it will be the same for you 😢

I hope so too, I can have a day or moment of peace, but most days are 1/10s. I hope it eventually starts tending up. Haven't had an okay 5 or 6 out of 10 day in two months.

4 hours ago, ALonelySoul12 said:

It's alright. My life is over for all I know since 2025 started and needed antibiotics 😔, pushing me towards a failed reinstatement when I wasn't recovering like other people.

One thing that may help is to stop writing in such catastrophic terms. When you write something down, it tends to stick in your mind. Your life is not over, and judging by your response to @Catbird I think intellectually you know its not. Try replacing the negative thoughts and writing with more positive affirmations. For example, you can tell yourself "I've had a rough two months, but I've had six pretty good days, and that means I may have more in the near future. Tomorrow might be better than today." When you write it down, your brain absorbs more than if you just say it. The thing about WD and recovery is that one day does not dictate what the next day will be. The more you practice turning negative thoughts into positive affirmations, the more your brain will back away from the catastrophic thinking.

Why am I not healing? Why do I feel every nerve irritated? Why do I feel like my whole insides are burning up... It's 1am and cant sleep... It hurts... It Hurst so, so much... I wanna go to the doctor and make it stop :(

@ALonelySoul12 it just breaks my heart reading you last 2 post, . Trust me when I say, I was in the same position as your in right now, and trust me my friend when I say it does get a whole lot better. I'm currently coming to 22 months since zero, and my biggest ahaha' moment for real relief was when I hit 15 and half months, when I felt a shift in my symptoms, and another shift in my 21st, month. The Lord our God will give us all strength in our most difficult times, and carry us at our weakest. Relief will come, I will say a prayer tonight for some needed relief while I say my rosary before bed. You will get through this stronger and more resilient and unbreakable. Hugs for now xxx Bernadette

1 hour ago, ALonelySoul12 said:

Why am I not healing? Why do I feel every nerve irritated? Why do I feel like my whole insides are burning up... It's 1am and cant sleep... It hurts... It Hurst so, so much... I wanna go to the doctor and make it stop :(

So sorry @ALonelySoul12 it's 3:40am here if it helps you feel less alone, it's especially tough when the nights are interrupted but no choice but to accept in the knowing that it's temporary and find ways to navigate through.

I know how much it hurts, it's terrible but no doctor can help you here except pushing more drugs which we know where it goes from there.

from what I know the point in time when significant and long-term improvement occurs is around 1.5-2 years which means you're getting closer so please hang in there, all this suffering is not in vain, you'll see in time what it's like to live in a clean and clear system without the exhausting chemical haze, it's a different colorful world with many more opportunities, it will all pay off for you in the end, keep fighting, you can!

1 hour ago, ALonelySoul12 said:

Why am I not healing? Why do I feel every nerve irritated? Why do I feel like my whole insides are burning up... It's 1am and cant sleep... It hurts... It Hurst so, so much... I wanna go to the doctor and make it stop :(

@ALonelySoul12 it's 8:00pm here in Wisconsin, so sorry with what your feeling at the moment, if I could sit with you at this second I would say " Lord my God I'm not asking for me but for my friend Alonelysoul12, please grant him the strength to push through this difficult moment, give him relief and almighty God grant him calm for some restful sleep.in the name of the Father, and the stone and the holy spirit, Amen" My friend this will pass. I've learned that the bigger the wave the bigger the window. This is when the most healing is happening. When you have windows, no matter how big or small, short or brief, hang on to those feelings and carry them with you, so when in a wave, remember that window, because that my friend is what you have to look forward to. Hugs xxx Bernadette 🤗

1 hour ago, ALonelySoul12 said:

Why am I not healing? Why do I feel every nerve irritated? Why do I feel like my whole insides are burning up... It's 1am and cant sleep... It hurts... It Hurst so, so much... I wanna go to the doctor and make it stop :(

8 hours ago, ALonelySoul12 said:

Why am I not healing? Why do I feel every nerve irritated? Why do I feel like my whole insides are burning up... It's 1am and cant sleep... It hurts... It Hurst so, so much... I wanna go to the doctor and make it stop :(

I am so sorry, it break my heart to hear your suffering mate. I know we have said this 1000% time now, however reframing these sentences in your mind is so important. You are hurting now for sure, the suffering however comes from resisiting this reality rather than accepting. Stuck record I know. Read it in your post above. Why, why, why etc..... That is just adding to the suffering by focusing on the pain and giving it more volume as a result. Reframing as @mstimc60 suggested is exactly how to deal with this whilst you heal, which you are and will be doing going forwards, you just are not feeling the rewards yet. They will come.

I can imagine what you will write in your success story, 'everyone told me I would get better but I did not believe them and I felt hopeless at the time, but here I am telling you I made it!'.

Thank you people, feeling very hopeless when life goes on and you're stuck here in a limbo.

I got my test results from a blood test I requested. My B12 increased from 280 to almost 320 like I had in November last year, so that is good. Alternating my ppi and taking sardines/salmon paid off. Although now I deal with terrible stomach issues, probably irritated my gastritis with that. I'm sad that is not healing after a year and a half. I guess it's back to the daily ppi. I remember in February I was able to air fry a thing or two, or even reintroduce my beloved yogurts. But I haven't been able to do so anymore since I entered this endless wave.

Other than that, my folate plumetted from 6-7ng/ml to 3,75. So now I'm deficient in that. Also, my vitamin D is borderline too.

Today I tried a pharmacy 400mcg folate + 2mcg B12 supplement. I thought why not, it's literally the daily dose. No more, no less... All my symptoms got triggered. Vision issues, palpitations, twitching, getting jolted, dizziness, ears ringing, vibrations, depression, sleepy but got jolted awake... But that dreaded burning disappeared for a while (although after lunch it came back, gastritis triggered burn?), so I don't know what to think of that.

I don't know if I should continue so the body adapts to it or try to go "natural". But that doesn't quite work with my trash digestive system and limited gastritis/gerd/fodmap diet.

I even sent some samples for h pylori again. To see if I got it again or something. Will have the results hopefully before the lab goes in summer vacation as I told them it was urgent. Hopefully all is clean and it's all a silly gastritis flare for skipping my ppi and pushing heavier meals. Even then, I'll have to eventually face the music and let myself do another sedated gastroscopy to see if there's healing going on. Hoping it doesn't mess me up too much. My gag reflex is way too strong now hypersensitive to do it awake.

Here's the thing on getting a bunch of tests. 20 years ago, you'd go for a blood test and they'd check maybe 10 things. Now , because of technological advances and the risk of lawsuits, they can test for 30 or 40. The chances of any given thing being out of normal bounds are pretty high. But a doctor told me that unless there are multiple things off scale and you're having symptoms, one or two things don't mean much. If you feel something is wrong, by all means have it checked, but bear in mind that a common behavior when we're in WD is trying to find some external cause that can be treated and make our symptoms disappear. In reality, the key to recovery is already in you; you have the power to manage your anxious thoughts and feelings, but like any muscle, you need to work on coping methods to strengthen them and make them part of your everyday habit. You can recover if you give yourself a chance and use the tools you already have!

3 hours ago, mstimc60 said:

Here's the thing on getting a bunch of tests. 20 years ago, you'd go for a blood test and they'd check maybe 10 things. Now , because of technological advances and the risk of lawsuits, they can test for 30 or 40. The chances of any given thing being out of normal bounds are pretty high. But a doctor told me that unless there are multiple things off scale and you're having symptoms, one or two things don't mean much. If you feel something is wrong, by all means have it checked, but bear in mind that a common behavior when we're in WD is trying to find some external cause that can be treated and make our symptoms disappear. In reality, the key to recovery is already in you; you have the power to manage your anxious thoughts and feelings, but like any muscle, you need to work on coping methods to strengthen them and make them part of your everyday habit. You can recover if you give yourself a chance and use the tools you already have!

Well said @mstimc60 100% agree

I mean, I understand the whole testing too many things, like every single vitamin out there at once. But I requested the most basic stuff like iron, vitamin D, B12 and folate. Things that can actually cause big issues like anemia, neurological issues and more. I more or less kept track of them ever since I got my stomach infection and was forced to overhaul my diet. In a year and a half, both my B12 and folate got lower after every checkup until borderline, so I haven't succeeded in reversing the pylori gastritis damage.

The B12 i managed to increase just a tiny bit to leave the gray zone, but then my stomach exploded due to those meals being heavier and harder to digest, and my folate plummeted to borderline. Then I started getting weird symptoms like a burning mouth/throat, getting out of breath by climbing stairs, acne, hair loss, change in taste... All symptoms of low folate.

I'm not saying all symptoms are because of vitamins or something, because withdrawal obviously plays a big, cruel part in this and I experienced some similar things... But man am I tired.

I feel like @Jack . I've read one of his posts and completely relate. I'm just a year in, but I feel like despite being a 30 year old, my aging is accelerating at light speed. All this dieting means I'm not eating dairy anymore for my bones and can't find alternatives, which I'm sure I'll have to pay up this debt at some point. I'm on a ppi to control my reflux, which means I'm not absorbing iron or B12 as well either.... Can't eat like 90% of things because of reflux, or bloating, or pain that triggers withdrawal too...

I look like a zombie now. Back in 2024 I was doing 20km mountain bike rides, kick scooting to work and back up to 10km... Then in January this year, I was not as strong, but could still carry up to 20kg of groceries in a shopping trolley for a km or two...

And today I look sick from head to toe. I climb the stairs of my home and I'm out of breath already, get weird acne, white hairs, lose a ton of body hair, cracking lips, mouth sores... It's terrible.

Before, I would pop a multivitamin once or twice a week to get a boost and make sure I'm not missing anything despite eating varied. It gave me a good boost to workout a bit. I should now do the same, but I can't. Even targeted supplements will trigger this disease. A folic acid only supplement? Trigger. B12 cyancobalamin? Trigger. Methyl supplement? Trigger. Both at once because they work together? Super trigger.

I'm sorry but I'm beyond tired. I'm waiting for they day I can do more, but it never comes. I look in the mirror and every day I look more pitiful than the last. Months go by waiting to get better, but I look back only to see how mundane tasks become harder and harder, or issues that didn't bother me like a gastritis flare, now feel like the end of the world.

My gp is fed up with me already and wants me back on medication, and at this rate, if I'm still in utter misery by the end of this month without anything giving me hope, I'll end up accepting a micro reinstatement. Sure, I was kindled last time, but even then, I only had like 5 bad symptoms compared to the hell I'm in right now. Some of those side effects even disappeared after a month. And I could more or less push through what needed to be done and have a resemblance of a life. I stopped because I thought all the stomach issues were because of the drug, but I ended up solving nothing after quitting, breaking my mind and adding even more burden to myself... It works for some people, so perhaps I should give it a try without all the weird medications I was testing last year... I don't know, I feel like I'm reaching the point where this journey will deal real damage in my body.

Edited August 6Aug 6 by ALonelySoul12

It sounds like you're trying to maintain some perspective, and that's a good thing. In WD and recovery, it all about perspective. When I was in WD and went in for my annual physical, the blood test showed I had a high platelet count. That can mean a lot of things, from an infection to some pretty rare ailments. But everything else was normal and I felt fine other than the WD effect. But I freaked out and made another appointment with my GP. He looked at the results and just shrugged and said "Your platelet count runs high. Lots of people have high counts. Doesn't mean anything". Its not just the test results--its how we react to them.

Also, your writing reflects what I call absolutist thinking, which is very common in WD. Statements like this:

24 minutes ago, ALonelySoul12 said:

I'm sorry but I'm beyond tired. I'm waiting for they day I can do more, but it never comes. I look in the mirror and every day I look more pitiful than the last.

I get it--I've been through it and you just want it over. But reminding yourself how bad you feel every day is holding you back. Try telling yourself you're in a bad spot for now, but one day you can get back to biking and walking and all the other things you used to do. Set a goal of recovering little by little, and trying to do one positive thing a day, even if its just walking around your house five times. Move your mind away from the doom loop and you may feel better.

59 minutes ago, mstimc60 said:

It sounds like you're trying to maintain some perspective, and that's a good thing. In WD and recovery, it all about perspective. When I was in WD and went in for my annual physical, the blood test showed I had a high platelet count.

Yeah, I mean. I also had some abnormal things like my thyroid because I have hypothyroidism since birth, and my platelets are larger than usual... But it's all nothing to worry about. Normal variations.

What worried me was the nutritional side. My B12 and folate were all in the average, but slowly went down after every 6 months I repeated my labs. B12 would go lower by 20 points or so, and folate half or 1 point. But now I did this test again, and my folate dropped straight down to borderline at 3 points. Quite the drastic change for doing nothing, when before I was walking, doing things... Maybe increasing my B12 levels affected my folate as my body produced more cells or who knows. But I think that supplementing is going to be a necessity for me, to make sure my body has all the building material it needs and is not running on reserves or hurting itself with foods it doesn't tolerate. Like maybe having swings in vitamins also affects the symptoms and their severity.

I'll let members like @Chippy address supplements versus getting vitamins from natural foods give you specific advice, but I'd tread carefully with supplements, at least for now.

15 hours ago, ALonelySoul12 said:

Yeah, I mean. I also had some abnormal things like my thyroid because I have hypothyroidism since birth, and my platelets are larger than usual... But it's all nothing to worry about. Normal variations.

What worried me was the nutritional side. My B12 and folate were all in the average, but slowly went down after every 6 months I repeated my labs. B12 would go lower by 20 points or so, and folate half or 1 point. But now I did this test again, and my folate dropped straight down to borderline at 3 points. Quite the drastic change for doing nothing, when before I was walking, doing things... Maybe increasing my B12 levels affected my folate as my body produced more cells or who knows. But I think that supplementing is going to be a necessity for me, to make sure my body has all the building material it needs and is not running on reserves or hurting itself with foods it doesn't tolerate. Like maybe having swings in vitamins also affects the symptoms and their severity.

I think it is great if you can give the body the things it needs to heal, however I would be careful. Supplements often worsen people and there is a whole bunch of scandal with supplements, they just a product in a captalist market trying to make money from you. I would do everything you can to eat the foods that contain the resources you are looking for.

In WD are always looking to fix things, looking for levers to pull to give us back control, to make sure we are doing the best we can to heal, unfortunately this can lead to harm. It is counter intuitive but leaving the body to do it's thing without interference is always best imo, just giving it the vital raw basics that it requires, such as whole foods, water etc....

Quick Chat gpt search

Very high in B12

• Beef liver – ~70–80 µg per 100 g (one of the richest sources)

• Clams – ~80–100 µg per 100 g

• Oysters – ~15–30 µg per 100 g

• Mussels – ~15–25 µg per 100 g

High in B12

• Sardines – ~8–9 µg per 100 g

• Mackerel – ~15–20 µg per 100 g

• Trout – ~7–8 µg per 100 g

• Salmon – ~3–5 µg per 100 g

• Tuna – ~2–10 µg per 100 g (varies by species)

Moderate sources

• Beef – ~2–3 µg per 100 g

• Lamb – ~2–3 µg per 100 g

• Chicken – ~0.3–0.5 µg per 100 g

• Pork – ~0.7–1 µg per 100 g

Dairy and eggs

• Milk – ~0.5 µg per 250 ml

• Yogurt – ~1–1.5 µg per 200 g

• Cheddar cheese – ~1 µg per 50 g

• Eggs – ~0.5–0.6 µg per large egg (mostly in the yolk)

On 8/5/2026 at 12:16 AM, ALonelySoul12 said:

Why am I not healing?

It's common among those quite significantly harmed not to be noticeably healing at 1 year off.

I only really began to improve consistently at around 3 years off.

I know that you feel very stuck, but it is likely that eventually things will begin to change.

I'm terrified man 😭 I did try my best to correct my B12 deficiency with sardines, which more or less worked... But it gave me a horrible gastritis and reflux flare up. It's now been 2 weeks that I have weird symptoms like my front teeth feel like I ate an ice cream, my stomach feels acid despite taking a ppi, I have dyshpagia where I can't even swallow saliva properly, constant burning from my stomach all the way to the roof of my mouth, change of taste, nerve pains in all my face...

It's been 2 weeks now and don't know if I should go to the doctor as it's not getting better 😭 It's miserable. I'm literally the worst I've ever been, so bad I can't even work properly at all on the daily... I took that folate supplement and this burning, indigestion, dysphagia, etc disappeared like magic... Even had a peaceful nighttime moment where I could lie in bed, breathe and fall asleep... But then bad akathisia appeared the next night and had a horrible time, sweating in bed as if I had a bad fever with my ears screaming with the loudest tinnitus, being jolted awake... And since I stopped, the burning is now back again.

Please lord, give me a sign, anything to tell me it's gonna get better and it's not gonna be like this for another year... I can't even enjoy my hobbies in this excruciating pain... Even breathing burns... Why?? Am I a worst case scenario?