HouseCall: Dry Scalp, How to Pursue a Health Career, Antibiotic Gut Issues, CBO Cheat Meals, Fructan Confusion, Pre-Pregnancy Detox, Stress-Based Hives

Welcome back to our weekend Cabral HouseCall shows!

This is where we answer our community’s wellness, weight loss, and anti-aging questions to help people get back on track!

Check out today’s questions:

Nikki: My husband has had dry scalp since his teen years and continues to do so into his thirties. He has been treated by conventional doctors for this with antibiotics/steroids with little effect. For the past 11 years it’s only been him who has struggled with this. As of last year, I have started to have dry scalp as well as our children. We try to eat healthy. We do eat out every other month and consume some white flour. We live on a small farm but are surrounded by conventional fields/farmers. Where should I start in healing my family? We recently ran the big five lab tests on my daughter and hope to get the rest of the family tested as well. Thank you!

Anonymous: Hello Cabral Team, I am an undergraduate student looking to pursue a naturopathic or functional medicine health career. I have always had a passion for health and wellness, but last summer, through exposure to your podcast and products, I turned my attention towards natural remedies including detoxification, nutrition, and lifestyle changes to address chronic illness rather than through the use of pharmaceuticals. I am very interested in helping others discover this lifestyle and change their lives as I did; however, I am confused about how to pursue this path as many of my professors and advisors at school are unaware of functional medicine and the jobs it includes. Could you talk a little bit about your path in pursuing your degree, how you chose a medical school, any internships, opportunities, or jobs that lead you there and solidified your decision to attend medical school? Is it better to pursue another degree such as nursing or physician’s assistant studies and build a job as a holistic practitioner around that or is it recommended to go to naturopathic/functional medical school?

Ingrid: Hi Dr. Cabral, We made a video version of this email that I’m including the link to here which is better to see his skin clearly: https://youtu.be/h4PeKh-O0SQ My husband and I live in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He is a very healthy man of 34 who has never had alcohol, smoked cigarettes, has eaten a vegan diet for the last 3 years, and exercises regularly. Both he and I got a lot of mosquito and bug bites in the summer last year. In October, he realized that a small bump (he figured an insect bite) on his arm had not gone away. Thinking then that it was a wart instead, we put a salicylic acid patch on it. This burned a hole in his skin, which turned into a dime-sized open sore, oozing yellow watery liquid. Dermatologists nearby weren’t available until January, so we went to the PCP office instead. The nurse practitioner determined it was impetigo (no tests, just visually) and gave him a topical antibiotic (Miuprocin) to put on it for a few days.This made the spot on his arm worse. The sore widened to be a strip of bumpy, oozing skin about 2 inches wide. We went back to the PCP, saw another NP who determined that the antibiotic must not have been strong enough, and prescribed him an oral antibiotic, Bactrim. Within a few days of the treatment with Bactrim his whole body exploded in hives, bumps and rashes. The original area on his forearm did not improve at all. It was very challenging, he couldn’t sleep at all due to the itch and was extremely uncomfortable for the next few weeks. Total misery. We finally met the dermatologist in Jan. She said he likely never had a bacterial infection, that the original bump was probably an ingrown hair, but now he had developed severe eczema due to his response to the antibiotics. When asked why this happened, she basically shrugged and said “sometimes a person develops eczema”, and informed us that this is now something we need to just “manage” for life. She gave him a tapered dose of oral Prednisone for a few weeks, and advised the use of hydrocortizone and triamcinolone steroid creams for some of the worst areas. This took his symptoms and level of discomfort from 100% to about 20%, but he never got completely better, some areas of the skin like the nipples were still very inflamed, itchy and scaly. After being off the prednisone, some symptoms elsewere re-emerged slightly, and the derm said this was normal after coming off of steroids. For the areas like the nipples that never got better she prescribed Protopic (a non-steroidal immune suppressant). Despite her assurances, this cream has been linked to development of lymphomas and so we never used it. From mid-March to the beginning of April his skin health really took a nose-dive. The sores and rashes came back at full steam and he’s as uncomfortable as he was after the antibiotic. We began seeing an Integrative doctor in our area who had him take the OAT and a blood IgE and IgG food sensitivity test. The doc said that according to those tests, he has a number of food sensitivities and an extremely high level of d-Arabinose in his urine, which indicate a Candida overgrowth. She felt this candida overgrowth is the reason for his skin reacting this way after the antibiotic. She has him on Diflucan and Nystatin, as well as Borage Oil, Vitamin C, Quercetin and Nettles, Vitamin D3, Magnesium, Zinc, L-Glutamine, and a B Complex. We have also removed all his trigger foods from the sensitivity test and are following a paired-down anti-Candida diet (basically we’ve removed fruits and are eating mostly vegetables, some brown rice, mung beans and lots of nuts and seeds). We are now almost at the end of week 4 of the treatment and are concerned that his itch and other symptoms have not significantly improved. He is still incredibly itchy at night and while the scabs of his sores have fallen off, the skin underneath is raw and red and doesn’t seem to be healing at a normal pace. Last weekend, some of the spots that we thought were looking somewhat better began oozing clear serum again, but have now dried up again. It’s hard to say if his skin is healing, it doesn’t look better, it just looks different? My question is, are we pursuing the wrong course here? We really thought the integrative doc had the answer when she said he had a candida overgrowth. But even she seems surprised at the lack of progress. We are feeling like no one really has a handle on what is actually happening to him.Thank you,Ingrid

Cherie: Hello. A few questions. Can you have cheat meals on the CBO protocol, and if so, when can they begin? I am asking because foods are slowly re-introduced and I did not know if a cheat meal with foods not on the Gut guide list would negate all the benefits. Also can you have CBD oil on the protocol? And lastly, when should I take vitamin c and zinc during the protocol? Can I take them with the CBO pills?

Cassandra: Hi Dr Cabral  I’ve completed the CBO protocol and stuck to it 100% however I’ve ran an organic acid test and have high bacterial and yest markers. I’m confused why you approve of legumes and beans on the CBO when they are high in fructans and they feed yest and bacteria. I understand they are easy to digest foods but still all naturopaths I have spoken to say to stay clear of them. I’m really disappointed that I’m going to need to do another round. I’d love to hear your thoughts on this. Many thanks

Yvonne: I am just listening to your podcast with Dr Gerry Curatola and think I probably have several issues related to what you’re talking about – teeth removed, root canals and mercury fillings and have health issues.  My concern is that the detailed information about what is required to return health sounds extremely expensive and only available for the rich. I live in Canada and am on a retirement budget so I either wouldn’t have the funds required or if I did I would then be destitute.  So does that mean for someone on a retirement budget good health will not be available?

Ashlee: Hi Dr Cabral. My husband and I have been trying to conceive for almost a year and would love some guidance. We have completed the 21 Day detox, have both been doing the daily protocol level 2 for 5 months and I have been taking the prenatal package as well. We both just competed the Big 5 labs and are now doing the heavy metal protocol and will do the parasite cleanse and CBO by the time you read this. I am also seed cycling and we are taking vitamin d, adrenal soothe, cal-mag, zinc, DHEA, digestive enzymes and vitamin c as recommended by our health coach. Most of these were recommend for up to 12 weeks. We eat organic as best we can and follow a similar diet to the DCD with the inclusion of carbs. We have also detoxed the house from everything we have control over too. We are hoping that by the time you read this I will be pregnant but if not I am asking where can we go from here? We want to have a natural birth and feel like we have done everything possible to help the process. Is there anything else we can do? Or what do you suggest our next step be? Thank you so much in advance for your response and we appreciate you taking the time to help us. Ashlee.

Judy:Help! I am breaking out in random hives for over 2 weeks. I thought maybe it was something I ate but when I eliminated certain things from my diet, it is still happening. I get tingly itchiness and anything that rubs against my body, I get welts on my skin. I am not sure if it is a delayed response to food or some other allergen.I have been highly stressed for over 6 months. I am taking 2 capsules of adrenal soothe every night and I plan to take your TAH test again next month. I have also experienced eye floaters recently and my acupuncturist says I have a chi and blood deficiency (my last cycle ran for 25 days which isn’t normal for me). Also my tongue swells and my skin is tender to touch when I have cheat meals which sadly are happening more than Once a week. What can I do to get well again? My friend recently took the MRT food sensitivity test and it has a lot more foods on it than the one you are currently using. I prefer to go with your coaches and health plan but I wonder what your thoughts are on a more comprehensive list of foods from this competitor’s test. Sorry for the long questions but I did want to say that although I am dealing with these issues, I have come so far in my health journey based on your recommendations and health coaches and look forward to continued improvement. Take care, Judy