Hi Guys,

I'm trying the no starch diet although it sounds too good to be true. All the sucess stories on this forum however given me some hope. Hopefully I too can have some sucess with this.

My plan so far is to adhere to a strict no starch/no dairy diet. I am also starting a 10 day course of Ciprofloxacin to help kill off some of the klebsiella.

I am hoping some of you can help me with the following questions:
1. can you recommend a starch free vit D/calcium supplement available in Canada?
2. Should I be taking the antibiotics at this stage or should wait a few weeks into my diet
3. If I continue the antibiotic, can you recommend a starch-free biotic available in Canada
4. Any other advise you have would be greatly appreciated.

Welcome to KA!

In regards to question #1, I had a very difficult time finding a starch free calcium supplement. I've always found tablets to have some starch in it, because of the bindings. Ultimately, I did find a starch free calcium supplement:
http://www.amazon.com/Calcium-Citrate-100%25-Powder-Ounces/dp/B0006ZF9NC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1320908841&sr=8-1

For Vitamin D, I use the following:
http://www.amazon.com/Garden-Life-World-...9009&sr=1-1
It'll provide you with Vitamin D and lots of fish oil. I was pleasantly surprised at the taste of this. Unflavored cod liver oil makes me gag. This, I can actually take. I take two tablespoons a day; and give myself two days of break a month from it. Make sure you track your vitamin D levels - since it is fat soluble, too much is bad as well.

When I was first diagnosed by my rheumy, my Vit D was very low (like many other people with auto-immune diseases). My Vit D levels are no longer a problem for me, and my HDL is insanely high (114 mg/dl). I attribute some/much of that to this supplement. I also eat a lot of seafood, so that may also contribute to my high HDL.

I can't comment on the antibiotic approach, but others should be able to provide you with their thoughts there.

Other advise? There is a lot of info in the NSD forum. Use the search feature to learn about others previous experiences; ask lots of questions; get multiple opinions from various perspectives; keep a food diary; be patient but vigilant - fighting the spondy beast is a marathon, not a sprint.

Best of luck!

Be careful with the antibiotics, would probably be good to find a good diet and probiotics first and then try them if you still think it is needed. Antibiotics are a two-edged sword, since they can irritate the gut lining which is counter productive. The balance between good effects and bad effects varies between people, some have benefited while others have suffered setbacks from antibiotics.

Feel free to post your planned diet so that others can try to help you find tricky sources of starch; it can take quite a while to figure it all out.

From what I've read in this forum, I think a minority of those on NSD have used antibiotics. Antibiotics can be extremely hard on a body, so there should be a strong reason to use them, and I'm not sure that just starting NSD is such a good reason. But that's a decision you have to make for yourself. Some here have used antibiotics with good effect, but I'm not sure about their full scope of reasoning for it.

--Greg

Hi, Tailor:

I don't know about the supplements, but most things I order from Puritan's Pride (vitamins.com) have the labels available and there are many supplements without starch.

I would wait a little while--maybe a week or so--before starting an 11-day course of Cipro (I don't know whether the extra day would make any difference, but it was 11 days for most microbiologists I consulted prior to starting the regimen).

Perhaps starch-free antibiotics are a moot point just like garlic; Klebsiella does not like garlic apparently, so garlic even though it has starch is not Kp food and probably antibiotics tainted by starchy fillers would have a similar effect.

I think calcium is not recommended taken with antibiotics, so take them at opposite clock times as much as possible, same with yoghurt for probiotic, perhaps.

I would do cycles--11 days Cipro and followed by tetracycline or better might be rifaximin in lower doses immediately before meals. I took the Cipro in a single dose well before first meal of the day and tetracycline around 15 minutes before each of three largest meals of the day and had great results.

In fact, FOUR DAYS after starting the Cipro, You should have great results; You will KNOW this is the right way. However, be careful with these drugs because they are still a two-edged sword and will strip away intestinal mucosa by killing good and bad bacteria, so You can be at risk of increased activity that You might mistake for a "Herx," but it might also be from the bactericidal agent, so following up with a bacteriostatic like tetracycline would be best approach at first. And further, I recommend using Flagyl (metronidazole) not only to help prevent C. difficile overgrowth, but also to eliminate the potential for cysts of Giardia that could be hiding even after many years.

But be sure You do not react to these drugs; sometimes allergy testing is performed even before lowest dose is administered. CAUTION is the word of the day and just be aware of how Your body is reacting and get in to the doctors is You suspect anything at all is going wrong.

Keep exercise and stress to body and especially Achilles tendon to a minimum during the Cipro.

HEALTH,
John