Digestive Health
You don’t have to suffer alone.
Generally, most people should be having a bowel movement, at least daily, that is formed and easy to pass, and isn’t urgent or uncomfortable. Unfortunately, this isn’t the norm, and often digestive disturbances go misdiagnosed or undervalued for too long. I understand, that your digestive symptoms don’t only affect you, but reach out into your social, family and intimate life and can create unpleasant disruptions.
I also see people avoid getting support with their digestion in fear of embarrassment (I talk about poop all day, so I promise you no information is too big), and also in fear that I will take away all of your favourite foods (which I am also unlikely to do!). So if you’ve been waiting to seek help, take this as your sign that it is time. There are attainable solutions out there, and you deserve to be freed from the bothersome symptoms.
Let’s work together to improve your gut health and reduce bothersome symptoms so you can get back to being the best version of yourself.
Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)
Irritable Bowel syndrome is a “diagnosis of exclusion”. This means that all other digestive conditions have been investigated and ruled out but you still have gut troubles.
IBS is a congregation of symptoms that include the following:
Abdominal pain at least weekly
Change in stool frequency
Change in stool appearance (loose and/or constipated)
Abdominal bloating and/or production of gas
Sensation of incompletion after a bowel movement. (I.e. not completely empty)
Although the symptoms look similar from person to person, the effect they have on every day life vary. Running to the bathroom multiple times a day looks different to someone in a corporate environment vs. someone working in a daycare vs. someone working in a home office.
IBS has a whole host of different suspected causes, some of which we can test for. In the world of functional and naturopathic medicine, IBS is very manageable and I have the tools and methods to help you reduce or eliminate those symptoms altogether.
If you have been given a diagnosis (such as IBS), and you want to investigate it further to gain more control over your symptoms, you have come to the right place. Book an appointment with me and let’s get to the bottom of this.
OTHER DIGESTION CONCERNS
So what else is giving you gut issues? That is a loaded question! So let’s dive in to some possibilities.
Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD)
IBD can sometimes get mixed up in conversation due to the similar nature of the acronym. IBD is an umbrella term for Crohn’s Disease and Ulcerative Colitis both of which are auto-immune in nature. Diagnosis and management of these conditions is much different than dealing with IBS. This isn’t really a gut issue, its an immune system issue. The great thing though, is that I can help with both IBD and IBS!
Small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO)
SIBO is exactly what it sounds like. Bacterial overgrowth where there shouldn’t be bacteria. Often times, SIBO symptoms look like IBS and when treated, IBS resolves. If you are someone that has chronic bloating and/or gas following meals along with other digestive symptoms like constipation and/or diarrhea or even skin concerns, SIBO is a very plausible cause! Commonly people that have experienced a bout of food poisoning will develop SIBO. How long after? It depends on a lot of factors! To test if you have SIBO, we can do a breath test.
Parasites and worms
These little bugs can be really *crappy to deal with. Usually there are some quite obvious gut changes that occur when you ingest a parasite such as foul-smelling stools, gas and/or bloating, abdominal cramps, nausea, and even weight loss. If you have a worm, you may even see it in the stool. The cause can typically be quite easily pinpointed too. The usual course of action is to blast it with an antibiotic or other prescription medication but sometimes, those bugs avoid the drug and keep on thriving inside you! Once the parasite becomes chronic, then it can go relatively undetected by common lab tests. But it’s still there, contributing to your problems and consuming your nutrients. Luckily with the right tests we can help put your mind at ease. I use the GI MAP test, you can learn more about it below.
H. Pylori
H. Pylori is a bacteria that people have kind of heard of, know that you have to drink some solution and blow into a bag to test for, but don’t really understand the relevance. And that’s ok. This is a bug that lives in the upper gastrointestinal system and can be the cause of ulcers, abdominal pain, dyspepsia, vomiting and chronic digestive symptoms. It also has a role in chronic gastritis and stomach cancer. When H. Pylori lands in the stomach it can start changing the acid levels which can also lead to other problems like SIBO. There are a number of ways to test for H. Pylori but I usually go with a GI MAP so I can see all of the other organisms and gut health markers.
Candida albicans
Candida is what microbiology calls an “opportunistic” yeast and is normally found in the gut. It is when there is space for it to grow that it can become problematic. Often when a large number of bacteria are killed off in the intestines (following a round or two of antibiotics) the yeast notices space and can stretch their tendrils and start taking up more occupancy. Patients may present with symptoms such as fatigue, brain fog, indigestion, allergies, skin rashes and often symptoms will get worse with sugar and alcohol. If you think this might be going on inside you, you may be right…but let’s talk just to make sure we’re not missing any pieces.
So, as you can see, there are a lot of things that are on my radar when you come in to see me for a digestive health consultation.