A 22-year-old client, full of energy and ambition, found himself battling severe digestive issues that completely derailed his life:
- 5+ bowel movements a day
- loose stools with undigested food, mucus, and even blood
- debilitating abdominal pain, gas, and constant bloating
- weight loss
“I feel like I’ve lost all joy in life,” he said. “I can’t go out with friends, I don’t know what to eat anymore, and I barely sleep because of stomach pain. I just want to feel normal again.”
He tried everything: cutting out dairy, gluten, sugar, and alcohol, and even following a low-FODMAP diet, but none of it had a significant impact. His gastroenterologist had run a long series of tests – endoscopy, colonoscopy, Celiac, H Pylori, calprotectin, gastrin, ultrasound, CDSA, and SIBO.
The findings were: mild erosion in his esophagus, hiatal hernia grade I, and the rest of the tests were normal. The gastroenterologist’s diagnosis: IBS-D (diarrhea dominant IBS) with a recommendation to take Mebeverine (a pharmaceutical antispasmodic drug) to slow down gut transit time and work on stress management.
If you have IBS, you know how hard it can be. The physical pain and discomfort are overwhelming, but the emotional toll – missing out on life, social isolation, loss of confidence, can be just as devastating.
Here’s the thing: I have learned over the last 15 years, starting with my own recovery from IBS and working with many clients after that, that IBS is definitely not a lifelong sentence. It is important to find and address the root cause.
For this particular client, after running functional lab tests, we discovered the likely culprit – a dysbiotic gut microbiome with pathogens (Shigella flexneri), overgrown pro-inflammatory commensals and low levels of keystone beneficial bacteria such as butyrate producing species, Faecalibacterium, Bifidobacteria, and Akkermansia.
We introduced the following supplements: a herbal tincture with pomegranate peel, oregano, thyme and clove, a probiotic (Saccharomyces cerevisiae var boulardii), prebiotics (PHGG), and Meriva curcumin and Iberogast for the visceral hypersensitivity.
In just a few weeks, he went from:
💥 5+ loose bowel movements a day → 2 normal movements
💥 Constant stomach pain → no more pain
💥 Fear of food → eating without symptoms
💥 Severe weight loss → gaining weight again
If you’ve been told that your digestive symptoms are just something you have to “live with,” know that there are ways to find and address the root cause and start healing.
If you’re struggling with gut issues, let’s work together to find out what’s really going on.
Be well.
