Hi @yasminatassi

Yes, streptococcus pneumoniae is actually a very common bacteria, not a virus. And many kids carry it in their nose and throat without any symptoms at all. It usually only becomes an issue when the immune system is run down. So the key here is to really just keep your daughter’s immunity strong, especially before travel.

Since it’s found in the nose/throat, one of the simplest and most effective prevention strategies is to flush the nose with saline spray and do saline gargles at home (sole – gargle and spit and rinse mouth from salty water). Follow the instructions on the bottles. I like Xlear saline spray and they have one for kids too (plus same day delivery on Amazon).

If you feel she’s starting to get sick, then definitely start bumping up immunity. You can find the protocol for kids here.

And in the meantime, all the other helpful immune support such as:

-Vitamin C (food/supplement)

-Elderberry syrup (if she tolerates it)

-Good sleep & hydration

Hope this helps you feel more prepared!

Hi @R-S,

Thank you for the very thorough update. What happened last week makes complete sense. A strong emotional shock + osteopathy that was too stimulating + your period coming = a perfect storm that pushed your system into stress-induced histamine overflow. When histamine surges suddenly, the whole body becomes more reactive (digestion, skin, nervous system, immunity) which explains why even safe foods, teas, and supplements felt “too much,” and why the yeast infection showed up. This doesn’t mean you’re going backwards… it’s just that your “stress bucket” overflowed.

Just want to reassure you with a few things:

1. This is temporary. This does not mean you have permanent histamine intolerance or MCAS. Histamine rises with stress, estrogen, heat, lack of sleep, or gut imbalance… all of which were present. Once your system calms down, your tolerance will eventually improve again.

2. No, you don’t need to stay low-histamine forever. Histamine is actually essential. It just needs to be in the right balance. Your reactions right now are simply because your bucket is full. And I’m glad you’re thinking of introducing DAO enzymes, but these are not forever either.

3. Smell and heat sensitivity = nervous system overload. When histamine and cortisol spike together, your sensory system becomes hyper-alert. This improves as your vagal tone strengthens and your system comes out of “threat mode.”

What to do next:

1. Continue nervous system work as a priority. Please look into the Truvaga device for vagal tone. It may help your system settle more quickly.

2. Keep supplements simple for now. Stay with enzymes, DGL, zinc-carnosine once daily. Pause increasing anything new until your system feels steady again. DAO is great to have on hand for the next flare.

3. For the yeast infection. Checkout our Yeast Infection Relief Protocol

4. Food. Stick to your safe baseline until your system regulates. You’ll eventually be able to expand again just like you were doing before this blip.

Hope this helps. And welcome back! It’s good to hear from you again.

Hi @Bahareh,

It’s available on Amrita’s platform (click here). B Better members have access to their full catalogue including a discount. Just click here for steps on how to create an account. They ship internationally.

Hope that helps!

@Raahema – great question, and yes, your understanding is correct. Baking soda is intentionally used to temporarily lower stomach acidity between meals. H. pylori prefer a more alkaline environment, so when we make the stomach less acidic for a short window, it encourages them to move out of the protective mucosal lining, which makes the mastic gum more effective at targeting them.

That’s why timing matters. We never want to do this near meals, because we need strong stomach acid while eating to digest protein and trigger proper downstream digestion.

Regarding Betaine HCL…

During the dosing challenge, the “warming” or slight burning sensation that some people look for is usually:

• Felt within about 5 minutes of taking it

• And typically fades within 5–10 minutes

This sensation helps identify the appropriate dose and generally, the suitable dose is considered to be one capsule less than the amount that caused that short-lived warmth.

If the sensation is strong, neutralizing with a small amount of baking soda in water is often enough to settle it.

However, if there is ongoing burning or discomfort at low doses, or the discomfort does not fade quickly, that may suggest that the stomach lining could benefit from more soothing and repair support first (for example: DGL, zinc carnosine, cabbage juice, bone broth, slippery elm, etc.). In that case, the focus may shift to healing the mucosa before retrying the HCl challenge.

Also worth noting: not everyone with H. pylori experiences gastritis symptoms such as pain or burning, so the absence of those symptoms doesn’t rule anything out. The challenge itself helps give useful feedback.

Hope this helps.

@iryna_klevetenko have you seen our “Immune Support for Kids” protocol? It includes guidance on what to use when a child is starting to get sick and how to support recovery, but it’s not meant for continuous, year-round use.

At 23 months, it’s actually very common for little ones to catch frequent colds once they start nursery. This phase helps build their natural immunity as they’re exposed to new microbes and develop stronger defenses over time.

The best defense is through daily nourishment, sunshine/vitamin D and gut support – things like probiotic-rich foods, daily sun exposure and/or supplements (if needed to maintain optimal levels), and nutrient-dense meals with plenty of vegetables, proteins, and healthy fats to help their system recover and stay resilient.

Cod liver oil is one of those superfoods that I personally like for children as it combines vitamin D and A for immunity, and omega-3 for inflammatory and overall immune support, and brain development. Also, try to limit sugar, juice, refined grains, and processed or fried foods, as these can weaken immune defenses.

Hope these help.

@Raahema – 2 issues with this particular supplement. It’s a very high dose of zinc, and while it may be appropriate for circumstances of correcting a known zinc deficiency, this is certainly not a maintenance dose.

Also, as you mentioned, zinc and copper compete with one another, therefore the idea ratio is minimum 15:1 zinc/copper blends. This formula would therefore likely deplete copper levels if not appropriately handled.

Please watch this lesson on correcting a zinc deficiency from the Mineral Balance course for more information and options.

@Raahema – great questions.

The most common conventional treatment for H Pylori involves a triple therapy taken for 10 days to 2 weeks. This usually involves 2 forms of antibiotics and a PPI to reduce the acid and make the antibiotics work better. This is an aggressive treatment to eradicate the infection quickly. That’s the main benefit compared to natural alternatives, and can be beneficial in situations where “speed” is needed such as in cases of cancer for example.

The downside however, is that recurrence after antibiotics is common, likely due to proliferation of antibiotic resistant strains and upstream root causes not being addressed as you have mentioned.

Using antibiotics may also predispose a person to other GI microbial imbalances afterward, especially given the likelihood of a highly challenged immune system under these circumstances (antibiotics tend to allow yeast/fungal and antibiotic resistance bacterial species an opportunity to grow aggressively, given suppressed competition).

And antibiotics may also cause nausea, diarrhea, taste changes, and fatigue; these are common short-term complaints.

Certainly this comes down to personal choice, and if you choose to go this route, then the adjunctive therapies that you’ve mentioned to help heal the gut and support the microbiome AFTER therapy are certainly wise and beneficial.

In fact, this protocol here can help in times when antibiotics are needed.

I personally prefer a more natural alternative since mastic gum and sulforophane (e.g. from broccoli sprouts) have been shown to eradicate H Pylori infections, often with less to no side effects. But these are longer treatment durations (4-6 weeks) and can be more financially costly as well so that’s something to keep in mind as well.

Regardless if someone choose antibiotics or natural therapies, retesting should always be done after the treatment, and so should addressing the root cause. That’s where introducing HCL to increase stomach acid after treatment can give a person time to resolve the environment that led to an overgrowth in the first place.

Hope this provides some additional perspectives to consider.

Hi @Raahema – thanks for sharing the article link. By the way, this feels very serendipitous… I literally just emailed Dr. Izabella Wentz in hopes that she’ll accept to be an upcoming guest expert on the topic of “The Roadmap to Hashimoto’s Remission“. I really hope she accepts my invitation – let’s manifest this together! 🙂

Now to answer your question… the linked article supports aloe for TPO antibodies and thyroid function based on a small study, but it doesn’t address Tg antibodies. Aloe itself is generally low in iodine, unless the specific formula includes seaweed or added iodine.

That said, anyone with thyroid antibodies should be cautious with iodine-rich foods or supplements. I typically recommend supporting with selenium first for at least two weeks before considering iodine (if needed), and then closely monitoring thyroid function. Too much iodine can sometimes raise antibodies (especially TPOAb, less so TgAb) and over time that can contribute to thyroid tissue damage. So yes, caution with iodine is definitely warranted.

But again, fresh aloe on its own is not a significant source of iodine.

Hope that helps!

@Kkol I replied to your message yesterday. Here was my response to that thread:

I’m not sure if you received our last few emails, but we announced that we’ve launched our new website/platform on Friday. With that, came a few technical issues which our developers have been tirelessly working around the clock to resolve.

I apologize for the inconvenience, but rest assured we are working hard behind the scenes to improve your experience.

Until the notifications and recent discussions features are re-enabled on the browser view, I can suggest a few temporary solutions.

1) Download our B Better app (iOS / Android) instead of visiting B Better through the phone browser. The B Better app still has the notifications enabled and you can find your recent discussions on the Home tab.

2) If you prefer the browser, then you can still access your recent discussions but it will require a few extra clicks to find it. You can click on your Profile on the “Home” tab (it’s a little person icon in a white circle next to “Hello Kkol”). You can also find it from “Members” in the Activity Feed (find your name), or click on your user name directly on this post and click “View Profile”. From there, you’ll see several tabs. Click on “Forums” to see your discussions, replies and favorites.

Hope this helps, and thanks for your patience as we work to make these improvements.

I also recategorized that thread after replying yesterday, so it got moved out of the “Ask Your Question” forum and into the “General Discussions” forum.

Have you tried downloading and using the B Better app instead of accessing it from the web on your mobile phone or desktop? The app still has notifications and the “Recent Discussions” on the “Home” tab until we re-enable those features on the web version.

Your previous discussion about your son’s sinusitis is located in the “Symptoms & Health Conditions” forum for future reference, and you can get to it by clicking here.

And all of your discussions/replies can be found in your profile (click on your user name) under “Forums”. Click here to view all of your past discussions.

Also, one more technical tip… If your “Home” tab on desktop/mobile is taking you to the non-member’s home page, please try clearing your cache. That should hopefully do the trick and start showing you your personal dashboard.

Hope that helps (and hope you see this!). I’ve asked my support team to email you with the same info.

Thanks for your patience as we continue to make improvements.

Hi @amira_s – I know you didn’t specifically ask for an integrative or functional gastroenterologist, but knowing that you appreciate root cause/nutrition-based therapies, I asked around for one for you.

Please checkout these 2 profiles:

1. Dr. Regina Carla Will at Health Bay Polyclinic

2. Dr. Lisa Sharkey at King’s College Hospital Dubai

They do not specifically mention “functional training” but both of them have an interest/education in nutrition which is something since many gatro issues can be resolved/improved with diet & nutrition.

If this referral is for you, we’re happy to assist as well if you need support. Just let us know.

Regarding your question about how to prep for an endoscopy, I can give you a general idea but ideally it’s best to get these instructions directly from the doctor since they may want to provide or discontinue certain medications/supplements, etc that are specific to your case. If you can give the doctor a full list of medications and supplements in advance, they can let you know which to avoid/keep. In general, some supplements like fish oil, vitamin E, garlic, ginkgo, turmeric, or iron may need to be stopped several days beforehand to prevent bleeding risk or to avoid obscuring the stomach lining.

In general though, patients are usually asked to fast from all solids (~8+ hours) before an endoscopy. Liquids should also be avoided closer to the procedure time. Wear comfortable clothes on the day of the procedure and make sure you have someone with you to take you back home since sedation is typically used. It’s usually a straightforward procedure but always ask your doctor about risks and prep instructions specific to your case.

Hope that helps.

@Raahema – great question and I love that you’re checking labels that closely.

Xylitol is often added to make probiotics taste better and, in small amounts, it can have mild prebiotic effects. But over time, especially with regular use, sugar alcohols like xylitol may irritate the gut or shift the microbiome in ways we don’t want, especially in sensitive kids.

If it’s just a trace amount and your kids tolerate it well, it’s not the end of the world. But ideally, I’d look for a probiotic without xylitol or other sugar alcohols for daily use. The number of strains is great, but cleaner formulas tend to be better for long-term gut support.

@Raahema yes correct. And this is the perfect example of how nuanced nutrition can be. What may be beneficial for one person or circumstance, may be unsuitable for another.

It’s best for someone with autoimmune thyroid to limit large or therapeutic amounts of goitrogenic foods. The workaround however is using supplements because the processing removes the goitrogenic effect.

Hi @Kkol – I’m not sure if you received our last few emails, but we announced that we’ve launched our new website/platform on Friday. With that, came a few technical issues which our developers have been tirelessly working around the clock to resolve.

I apologize for the inconvenience, but rest assured we are working hard behind the scenes to improve your experience.

Until the notifications and recent discussions features are re-enabled on the browser view, I can suggest a few temporary solutions.

1) Download our B Better app (iOS / Android) instead of visiting B Better through the phone browser. The B Better app still has the notifications enabled and you can find your recent discussions on the Home tab.

2) If you prefer the browser, then you can still access your recent discussions but it will require a few extra clicks to find it. You can click on your Profile on the “Home” tab (it’s a little person icon in a white circle next to “Hello Kkol”). You can also find it from “Members” in the Activity Feed (find your name), or click on your user name directly on this post and click “View Profile”. From there, you’ll see several tabs. Click on “Forums” to see your discussions, replies and favorites.

Hope this helps, and thanks for your patience as we work to make these improvements.

@DXB yes Trace Minerals is a decent brand, zinc carnosine can help soothe the gut, and liposomal or reduced glutathione are both good options but make sure they’re all cleared by his doctors first.

And yes, acupuncture is a great option as well!

Hi @Raahema – ok we’re getting some answers! Thanks for sharing your results. H. Pylori is endemic, but when given the opportunity to overgrow, they can lead to an infection that suppresses stomach acid. This in itself can lead to a whole downstream set of consequences, one of which is poor absorption of key minerals such as iron in your case. We need iron for good thyroid function and T4 to T3 conversion. And we need good iron for healthy hair!

Now back to TG antibodies. A chronic bacterial infection such as H Pylori will keep the immune system on high alert and over time, that ongoing inflammation in the gut can trigger the immune system to start reacting to thyroid tissue too, especially thyroglobulin (TG).

There’s actually some small research showing that people with Hashimoto’s and H. pylori often see TG antibodies come down after the infection is treated, so I’m hopeful. You can read a few studies here and here. It’s likely because some of the bacterial proteins look similar to thyroid proteins, so your immune system ends up attacking both.

It could also explain your slightly higher lymphocytes… your body’s immune cells are staying active trying to fight the bacteria. And having had the flu when you did your bloodwork would’ve added to that immune activity too.

So yes, addressing the H. pylori could make a real difference not only for your digestion and bloating, but possibly for your TG antibodies as well.

While most doctors will prescribe antibiotics and antacids to kill the infection, there are also natural ways to consider, which are even more effective and less damaging to the rest of the gut microbiome. You can find those protocols here.

After treatment, it’s a good idea to retest 45 days after completing the protocol to make sure it worked or repeat if needed.

oncotarget.com

Meta-analysis of the correlation between Helicobacter pylori infection and autoimmune thyroid diseases | Oncotarget

https://doi.org/10.18632/oncotarget.22929 Yi Hou, Wen Sun, Chengfei Zhang, Tieshan Wang, Xuan Guo, Lili Wu, Lingling Qin, Tonghua Liu