It had been a very stressful last 6 months. I was finally done with school after 8 long years and instead of it being a time of freedom and new beginnings, I was stuck at home, isolated with crippling anxiety for no apparent reason. Day after day I was flooded with irrational thoughts running through my head, my chest felt tight, and my heart was racing. I quite honestly thought I was going crazy. Every day felt like something new was going wrong and I didn’t know why.

 It was late July and I finally made myself a doctor’s appointment.The chief concerns were: mild intermittent abdominal pain, alternating bowel movements (but mostly diarrhea), frequent belching, unintentional weight loss, and mild to moderate anxiety. The diagnosis was gastritis due to stress.

It seemed like a fair assessment to me. I mean, I had just put myself through 4 rigorous years of naturopathic school and there had been quite a bit of life events in my life that proved themselves challenging the first 6 months of the year 2018.

I was prescribed some supplements to aid with healing my gut lining, digestive enzymes, probiotics, adrenal support, and chewable GABA to help with my gut symptoms and anxiety.

The Bible and the chewable GABA quickly became my best friends. They calmed my anxiety and kept me from having full blown panic attacks. Slowly but surely my symptoms were improving. So much so that I was able to take a flight from Phoenix, Arizona to Queenstown, New Zealand followed by a flight to Sydney, Australia for vacation and to attend a Christian conference.

Fast forward to October 2019, I was now working at a busy walk-in clinic. Not very stressed to be honest, but maybe subconsciously stressed enough to begin to call on my gut symptoms again.The symptoms gradually started getting worse: intermittent sharp right lower quadrant abdominal pain and painful gas and bloating at night. I could no longer eat Brussel sprouts or cabbage without feeling like my stomach was going to explode. Now at random my heart rate would raise to about 120 bpm. And it so happened that the one thing that hadn’t been a problem before was now becoming a problem, an irregular menstrual cycle. I entertained the symptoms for a few more months. Finally the straw that broke the camel’s back was a noticeable amount of acne that appeared on my forehead.

At this point I knew there was something that had to be wrong. My suspicion was small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO). So back to the doctor I went. At this appointment we decided to test for SIBO and to perform a comprehensive stool analysis. The diagnosis: elevated methane and hydrogen gas in my small intestine. My suspicion was correct.  Unfortunately, it was now March 2020 and we all know what happened. I am sure I will write more about this in the future but the fact that the borders in the USA were closed, my treatment was delayed by two months, not once but twice.

November 2020 rolled around and a third SIBO test confirmed that I was healed. I beat SIBO! What seemed like a never-ending wilderness journey finally did come to an end and I had learned a lot. Would I want to relive this experience? Absolutely not! But was it worth it? Yes. You always hear that an unhealthy gut can affect many other systems, and now I can attest to it, as I have lived it firsthand.

Through this experience I gained a new level of empathy for others going through a similar situation and I am more quick to identify the root cause. Majority of my patients come to me with a diagnosis of IBS, only to find out that their symptoms are actually due to SIBO. They now get to enjoy a life that they didn’t think was possible!

If you’ve read the “about” page you know that our Christian faith plays a big role in our lives. Romans 8:28,29 says “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are  called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.” SIBO wasn’t something that was handed to me by the Lord, yet it was something He used to bring about good, to me and to those that have been entrusted to be under my care in medicine. What an honor!

If you’re one of the many people that has struggled with digestive issues, I hope this blog post has given you hope and makes you feel seen. You’re not alone, friend!