I promised myself when I started this blog, that I would always write from my heart and not censor myself. This post is a little raw, but I felt like it needed to be written so I could share more specific things I’m to heal with you. It’s a long one, so grab a hot tea or coffee and get cozy.

I’ve had gut issues my entire life. At least for as long as I can remember. I was the kid no one believed could have a stomach ache almost every single day. Symptoms were stomach pain, bloating, nausea & constipation. I also had frequent headaches that eventually turned into migraines as I got older, but that is a seperate deal.

About 7 years ago, I spent a lot of time working with some of the worlds best GI specialists at Stanford. Their diagnosis was IBS & advised me to take a probiotic. They also warned that I might eventually have to get my gallbladder removed.

A few years later, still feeling really really sick (like can not get out of bed) and no sign of getting better with Western Medicine, I met with my first Holistic practitioner. She ordered my first food allergy & intolerance blood test & another one specifically for the gut. Of the 100 foods tested, I came back with 11 I was allergic or intolerant to. Also, the gut test revealed I had high levels of Candida and a major gut bacterial imbalance. She immediately advised me to cut out all fruit, dairy and basically eat only non starchy vegetables & meat. Also put me on a probiotic.

At this point, I figured I would feel better just by cutting out all of the foods I’m allergic/intolerant to and things would sort themselves out. HA HA jokes on me! While I did feel a little better, I was still very sick. The more I cut out fruit and added probiotics, the worse I felt.

In April of 2016, I had gallbladder removal surgery and that sent my health into downward spiral. Honestly things went from bad to worse and it left me wondering if I would ever know how it felt to be healthy. I still had gut pain, now my liver felt inflated & painful every time I ate any kind of fat or protein, so I went back to Stanford for more testing. I had the same usual symptoms plus now I was nauseous all the time, weight loss & had severe pancreas pain. After an upper endoscopy, their diagnosis was bile reflux, hiatal hernia, and gastroparesis. The drive home from that test was a very pivotal moment for me. I was sad, frustrated and really really angry. I was done with Western Medicine and would find someone who would get to the root of all of my health problems, instead of treating symptoms.

Y’all may not believe this, but I found a YouTube video on how to heal gastroparesis and tried it. After a month or two and I was actually able to completely heal it. That few minute video offered more help than doctors at Stanford.

Needless to say I found a new doctor who is a MD and Functional Practitioner all in one. He has been very helpful and I like him enough to drive over the Golden Gate Bridge to see him. If you know me, that means I like him a lot because I can not stand going to SF or anywhere near it.

Diagnosis

I have been tested for everything under the sun. Some of tests were done twice to make sure nothing was overlooked. Things we were able to diagnose are:

• SIBO (Small intestinal bacterial overgrowth)
• Adrenal Fatigue (thankfully I have been able to completely manage it)
• Co Infections associated with Lyme Disease: Mycoplasma, Borrelia, EBV and some others. I feel it’s important to note I have not been diagnosed with Lyme. My doctor thinks there’s a strong chance I have it, but so far hasn’t been able to prove it.
• Due to all of the above, I have a lot of inflammation and weakened immune system, gut dysbiosis and several other symptoms, but there’s not enough time to list them.

Now that we have all of that out of the way, I can write more specifically about what I have been doing to heal. I’m all about specifics so the next posts about this are my favorite to write. I’ll be chatting about natural supplements, juicing, foods, even sharing my experiences with antibiotics.

Is there a specific topic you are interested in? I have so many, I don’t know where to start.