Bile Acid Malabsorption | 2 YEAR UPDATE!

After being misdiagnosed with 'IBS', I was finally diagnosed with Bile Acid Malabsorption. 2 years on, I update you on how treatment is going!
* Please remember I am not a doctor *
#ibs #bileacids #guthealth #bowel

First Bile Acid Malabsorption video:

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👉 Instagram: @amypeachYT

[catfisher]

I had similar issues the last 4 yrs. My doc tried many things and lots of tests. The cholestyramine helped for a couple months, then nothing. Not IBS, not BMA, not exocrine pancreatic insufficiency, not Crohns, not cancer, not celiac... My gall bladder was removed 20 yrs ago, no issues after surgery BUT it turns out, diarrhea.. cramps... can occur years later. I now take digestive enzymes with every meal and my bowels are doing well, not totally great, but I can leave the house again. Still have car anxiety but its getting better. I wish you all good luck because not everything is IBS and it takes perseverance to root out the real issues.

[NeonJ]

“It makes it’s way into your intestines where it shouldn’t be” is wrong, bile is meant to be excreted by the gallbladder into your intestines to emulsify fats & mix with the food that has stomach acid on it to create a reaction that properly breaks it down. The problem is you’re just not reabsorbing your bile into the enterohepatic circulatory system. Being on bile binding drugs is not the answer, fixing your gut function & motility is the answer. Start with high strength fat soluble B1 for vagus nerve function, and betaine HCL to stimulate enough stomach acid to signal the rest of the gut in the proper way. I also had “IBS” and was failed miserably for over 15years. I’m now 95% symptom free! Almost there 🤞

[JanetHines-xjti]

Hi Amy
I have undiagnosed BAM since cancer surgery to remove half my liver, bile duct & gall bladder. I literally woke up with this condition post surgery. 10kg weight loss, immense abdominal pain subsequent scouring of rectum and anus from frequent bowel motions, hospital visits to address pain etc have followed. Finally my dietician said I must commence BAM Questran Lite to stop this disorder and it seems to be a solution. Early days for me; having seen your videos I’m hopeful. Congratulations on your good deed to advise and on your baby.

[grimreefer]

I watched your other video and wow what a gut wrenching story, no pun intended. I’m so glad you were able to figure out the problem and be able to live a relatively normal life but I feel terrible that you had to suffer for so many years and doctors either didn’t know how to treat you, or were dismissive and didn’t entertain the idea that maybe there’s a deeper problem. Doctors should really continue their education after medical school and go the extra mile for each individual patient to discover what’s going on but sadly that usually doesn’t happen. Doctors need to stay up to date on the latest literature but from what I can tell many of them are kinda stuck in their ways.

[odysodys]

The medical establishment can be very obtuse. Money is their big guideline. So glad you found a solution. Thank you for sharing.

[Keithjsullivan]

Hi Amy, I watched your 2nd video before I realised there was a 1st video; in short, I went to India in 2019, caught a bug, came home, GP prescribed antibiotics which cleared up the problem i.e. bad bacteria but in so doing it also cleared up the good bacteria. I then went through all the symptoms your 1st video explained with no GP giving me anywhere near an acceptable answer. I was referred to a dietician for a year or so, that was hopeless. What made things worse, my symptoms were occurring all through the lockdowns and if I went out for a walk, most public toilets were closed. You would appreciate what that meant. One visit to the GP a receptionist announced loudly in the waiting area 'your tests are normal' - I publicly said out loud, 'going to the toilet 12 times before lunch is not normal'. Oh she said! After pushing and refusing to be signed off, I received a SeHCAT test and I'm now 3 weeks into taking the Sequestrant you refer to. Huge improvement. I have had to cut out dairy and I'm better if I avoid cheese, cheesecake, cream, etc etc - so if anyone is listening to your video's I hope my explanation adds weight to your story. Kind regards to you.

[addysontheartist]

Hey there! Fellow bam suffer here. I’ve recently learned a few tricks to make it a little more tolerable. Use a protein shake cup to mix it. It is life changing! And two make sure it let it set for a minute to let it fully desolve

[lianeclark]

Having watched your first video I am absolutely delighted to see that you are so much better! My heart really goes out to you for all that you endured, particularly the 'it's only IBS' comments!!! I have 'lost' 20 years trying to sort out a different health issue, so can relate to the frustration about being so debilitated. Recently BAM/BAD seems to have joined my queue of problems hence my starting to do some research. Have you seen Elliot Overton's YouTube video entitled 'Chronic diarrhoea on Carnivore - Excess bile, FXR and Inflammation'? The title may not seem relevant if you're not on a carnivore diet, but in it he looks deeper at the underlying/root cause of BAM/BAD. I am hoping that I can implement one of his suggestions which breaks a vicious cycle and permits resolution of the underlying problem, and avoid asking my GP to consider prescribing me cholestyramine (Questran) or colsevelam.

[lychee]

Thank you so much for raising awareness for BAM. I came across your original video 5months ago and mentioned BAM to my doctor who put me on a trial of questran light. My symptoms have improved by 80%! Although I still have to be aware of my fat intake, it is far more manageable now. I had been misdiagnosed with IBS for 4years, hospitalized and had bouts of depression. I felt barely alive. Now, I am trying to reconstruct my life. Once again, thank you so much!

[Tammi]

I hope you still receive and read the comments even though the video was done more than two years ago.

In your first video you had expressed you are not sure why you were put through this including the pain the struggle a lot of life that you could've lived was lost, and you think about "what if". I don't know if it is as obvious to you as it is to me, an unfortunate experience as you went through I see was for you to save and help other people find the answer they have been searching for. Some people may disagree with me and say your suffering may not be worth the trade-off of helping and saving other peoples lives. I am so sorry you did suffer so much and that you were able to turn that suffering into help and hope for other people experiencing what you have experienced. Thank you for sharing your story.

The way I see it, you have given many people something to hang their hat on where their doctors have not been able to.

[xephorce]

thank you for updating your story. now that I am getting treatment I am hoping I will be able to find a job. I haven't worked because of this in a few years. really hope I can. I always hated working with BAM. most employers just see that ur in the bathroom all the time. lost a few jobs because of it.

[allstarsout]

Hi Amy I have been diagnosed with bam but after years of being diagnosed with IBS. I could not tolerate those powders I felt sick bloated. What has helped is eating resistant starch in my diet. Potatoes, lentils, beans, wholemeal bread. It helps. The questran light contains aspartame something I try to avoid so another reason for not taking it. Hope you are feeling well and enjoying your life. Thanks for the video.

[danniolsen]

Hi Amy,
I watched your first video from 2 years ago. Just wanted to tell you again in case you're not reading comments from the other vid. I went 54 years of my 64 years of life undiagnosed and wrongly diagnosed with IBSD/IBSC, I actually researched for myself and took the info to the G.I. doctor. Which I THEN/FINALLY got the medication Colestipol, which is the tablet form of Cholestyramine! I think you'll be glad if you can get that in the UK! I take 4 tablets a day. I wouldn't miss my Colestipol ever! Now...today I discovered a natural alternative for the Colestipol, Bentonite clay. I'm going to try it! I'll let you know how well it works! God bless you and your family!!! All the best to you sweet girl !!!

[donalddattilo]

I KNOW HOW YOU CAN IMPROVE YOUR CURRENT CONDITION BECAUSE I HAVE ALREADY DONE IT. I went through the same thing you did for 21 years before getting relief; except my case was complicated by not having a gall bladder and having undergone intestinal surgery that re-sectioned my ileum. The ileum is a portion of the intestine that absorbs bile acids back into your body. Normally 97% of the bile is recycled back into your body but not for you or me or anyone else with BAM. I saw your original video for the first time yesterday (3-7-24) not knowing that it was 2 years old. I replied with comments that are worth your time to go back and view. But for now, I will make a long story short and share some information that can help you improve your life even more. I had BAM for 21 years before I gave up on the doctors and started doing my own research. I'm not a doctor and I am NOT recommending that you regard this information as medical advice. Instead I will explain to you what I did to control my BAM. I am a nuclear engineer, so I think very critically and pay attention to every little detail. I did a "ton" of research to discover what really worked and why. I will spare you all the boring details and concentrate on the issues that made a difference for me. Cholestyramine powder is awful stuff to take and it doesn't always work the same way every day. It is suppose to "suspend" (bind with) the excess bile in the colon to form a gel that makes it easier to poop out. I found a better way to do that; but you need to understand what is happening to appreciate the difference. Bile acid normally binds to soluble fats that you eat. That's it's primary function in the body. But that alone will not help you poop. You also need insoluble fats (fiber) to ad bulk to your stool so your intestines have something to push against. So you need both soluble and insoluble fiber together to get relief. Cholestyramine powder can't do that. But there is something that can. Pecan nuts contain the perfect ratio of soluble-to-insoluble fiber to produce exactly what you need. The only questions are how many and when should I eat them to get the best results. Here is what I have found. You need to eat 10-15 pecan nut half's every night before going to bed; and 10-15 more before breakfast in the morning. It's not a perfect dosage but one half of a pecan nut per 10 pounds of body weight seems to work the best. So 120 pound person should eat 12 pecan half's each night and each morning. That's it. You don't need anything more and it's all natural. If you do eat too many it's not going to hurt you. But remember that more is not better, you're trying to balance the quantity eaten based upon the need. You can prove it to your self but you need to stop taking the powder first. Wait one day and then start eating the pecan nuts as described above. (Do NOT eat the pecans and take the powder at the same time. You should notice a difference in less than 2 days. It's such a perfect match for what your body needs that the results are almost immediate. If it doesn't work for you then you can always go back to the powder. Here's another suggestion: get tested for vitamin B12. A deficiency can make BAM worse and actually cause more diarrhea. Another suggestion: get a small pump spray bottle (4-in tall) and fill it with water and keep it in the bathroom. When you poop wipe your self normally and then spray water on a second folded handful of toilet paper and wipe off all thin film residue. That's what is causing the irritation. Then apply Neosporin Pain Relief Cream (not ointment) to the irritated area and rub it in. If you have a burring pain (from hydrochloric acid from your stomach) then wipe with Alocane Emergency Burn Gel. It has 4% Lidocaine to relieve the pain from chemical burns. It will take several weeks for your skin to heal. Every 3-4 times skip applying the medication and just do the wet wipe to judge how much you skin is healing. All of these suggestions put together should make a big difference. It did for me after 21 years of absolute agony. I wish you the best.

[brianphilbrook]

I am taking the regular questran and it’s nasty too. Your video helped a lot of people understand what I was going through when I couldn’t put it into words.

[elinordrake]

Congratulations on the continued improvement in your quality of life! It's simply splendid! I do not have the condition you have but was diagnosed w/ibs 20 or so years ago....which was of absolutely no help at all. Then last year I was diagnosed with fructan intolerance & congenital sucrase-isomaltase deficiency. So basically, my body cannot properly process a fructans, sucrase & isomaltase. Before that, I tried many different types of diets. The only one that helped at all was keto with a higher protein amount, but this was just because I was accidentally eating far less of the things my body hates. Thank you for making both of your videos on this topic! Very interesting.

[briannesanchez]

Omg! I just got prescribed the exact same medication and took it today for the first time I added mine to a cup of applesauce and it was not so bad actually. Can you make a what I eat in a day video including when you take your meds or talk about when more or less of the medicine? I'd love to get advice from someone who's been taking it longer. Thanks for the video. Wishing you all the best!

[fantasmagoracle]

Thanks to your video, I changed doctors and he is looking into a new pill I could take. Thank you for raising awareness of this hugely misdiagnosed and horrendous illness!

[jonnypee]

Wow I have been diagnosed after 15 years and life is a lot better. Same story as yourself. Only issue I have is diverticulitis on top of bile salt malabsorption. Also on morphine and other pain killers so trying to juggle meds so they do not clash is an issue. Great video please keep up good work really helps.

[coulterry]

I have Crohn’s and had a small bowel resection in 2013. For months after the op my toilet habits were worse and I put it down to things settling down, I went to many post-op appointments where I repeatedly stated that I was still going to the loo a lot. I was put on to a nutritionist, tried fodmap with no success. Finally after 6 months I saw the surgeon who had operated and she told me during the operation they removed the terminal ileum which is where I had an abscess and consequently it left me with BSM. I was never told that may be the outcome, all I knew was that they were going to remove the infected bowel and join the two ends together and the only problem being that I may have needed a colostomy bag. I came out of that appointment wondering why none of the other specialists had mentioned it. I had no idea what it was or what it meant but from that day on I had to live with it and finding this video Amy echoes everything that applies to me, without the pain. I have tried Questran but I take other meds which means I need to take it hours before or afterwards so I don’t find it easy to get into a pattern with it plus when I have tried it I get bloated and feel uncomfortable which impacted on my job. I know there is a tablet equivalent but it’s not available in Australia and I think I would find that much easier. So I live on Imodium, if I know I am going out I take Imodium and I don’t eat and I don’t treat myself to coffee/cake or anything like that any more because to eat means I might need the loo. If I go to a concert I literally don’t eat from that morning until I come home at the end of the day and I take a bit more Imodium to make sure I will get through the evening. On days I am at home I don’t take anything and I never take more than the recommended tabs in a day. My GI is fine with it. I just feel my world has got limited. I don’t get excited about going for a meal, there are some things I can’t eat any more. I would like to go walking but I get scared I might need to go hence I’ve put off getting a dog. I can’t have anyone calling me in an emergency because if I haven’t prepared myself I don’t like leaving the house. I have put off an o/seas holiday because of it and because once I get with my family and friends I will be worrying about going out and food etc. I didn’t have this problem when my Crohn’s was active, I’d get pain with a flare-up but that was the issue rather than needing the loo so sometimes I wish I’d never needed the op. Listening to Amy I have learned more about the condition than I ever have reading up on it. I was wondering where her pain was because I’ve just recently started to get pain right in the middle of my waist crease. It has been on and off for a few months so I am eating very cleanly, I’ve had a colonoscopy and having my yearly MRI next week then when I see my GI I will mention it, I’ve been waiting to see if anything turns up but so far all I know is that I have inflammation but it hasn’t been diagnosed as anything and my Crohn’s has been in remission since the op. I definitely feel something is going on but inbetween times I feel very well in myself, I haven’t been able to pinpoint what causes this pain. I certainly didn’t know BSM could cause the severe pain that Amy describes. To have that going on for 14 years is unbelievable. I had the merest of discomfort when I was sent for tests, my GP must have suspected something because he never said it could be this or that, he was ruling out the more serious before he settled on something like IBS. I then had 4 years of nothing and thought the diagnosis was wrong, I didn’t fit the age for it to have started. It wasn’t until the op really that they were positive I had Crohn’s. But for the BSM my life would have been perfect after the op, especially remaining Crohn’s free all this time. However, we have to live with what happens and it’s not easy, especially knowing apart from Questran there’s no other meds. Sometimes I think a colostomy bag might have been easier but I know that brings it’s own problems. I’m so glad I found Amy’s channel and I only wish she’d been saved from everything she went through by being diagnosed quicker. I don’t think my friends really understand the limits I put on myself but I just say think of it as having gastro all the time every day! All we can do is live life the best we can, there are lots of people worse off.