Resetting the gut after years on unanswered symptoms

This has been a long road for me. One that you could say started to bother me almost 8-9 years ago now. It started with skin rashes, digestive problems like bloating, gas, brain fog and stuff an otherwise “healthy” person shouldn’t be experiencing, but I was, and none of my doctors could explain it.

I kept digging to find answers, to find SOMEONE who would actually listen to me, to find someone who would ask me all the questions and get to the ROOT of how I was feeling. I needed to find deep healing in my body.

In 2012, I started experiencing some major digestive issues, always bloated, always gas and never knew why. By my terms I was eating healthy and by my physicians terms I was healthy! What was going on? I was given gas pills and told that I had IBS after seeing as GI doctor. I then developed dermatitis on my eye and saw a dermatologist for topical skin cream only to realize that these were just symptoms and my body was telling me something was happening at a deeper level but I just didn’t know what or how to fix it.

After that, I found myself in the hospital not once, but twice in a matter of a year due to stomach pain so bad that I could not even stand up straight.

I was told pancreatitis at one hospital visit, and at another I was told to drink less alcohol. Noted, but now what? Could that be it?

So I listened to both and did some major cutting back of alcohol AND changed my diet to a liquid diet with just raw fruits and veggies for a couple weeks but realized I couldn’t live like that and eventually just got back to my old eating habits. I was really into Intermittent fasting, where I wouldn’t break until 1-2 pm and then I’d be so hungry that I’d eat everything in front of me for the rest of the day.

This cycle repeated itself for years until I started doing more research and then found myself with another relapse in 2019 with psoriasis, constant sugar cravings, bloating and gas. This time I needed to go down a different path, one that wasn’t really an option 7 years prior as so little was known about the gut. So I found a Naturopathic doctor to help me by starting with asking a lot of questions getting to the root of symptoms. It was determined that I was on birth control for 10+ years, that I had taken regular antibiotics for my acne in my 20’s, was taking 800+ mg Motrin to get through my awful periods only to realize that these were contributing or related to my gut health. So we started with a gut test, a full panel of thyroid, hormones, heavy metals, and everything else that a normal GP would not test for on a regular basis, or even by request!

We found that I had Candida and my thyroid had a slight dysfunction at the time and the numbers were high from a functional medicine standpoint. Yet the same thyroid numbers by my GP was completely within normal range. So, for 6 months, we worked on cleaning up my diet further eliminating sugar, processed foods, cutting down alcohol and carbs. I also took a slew of herbs that frankly caused me a lot of stress having to take so much and I wasn’t in love with this idea. I continued with acupuncture and ended up stopping the herbs after 2 months because #1 it was expensive, and #2 I felt it was causing more stress than it was helping me. Thankfully, with a more simplified approach, I was less stressed and I felt 100% better. I got pregnant with my son immediately after to which I will forever be grateful and attribute that to my gut health clearing.

However, after that and being pregnant, I went back to a not so great diet with all the cravings, and this time with my son they cravings were a lot worse! So I decided after I gave birth and after I was done breastfeeding, I would get another test and do another gut healing protocol if necessary.

Well, as life would have it, my son started self weaning about 2 months after I started experiencing symptoms again. The bloating, the cravings, the gas, the brain fog, all of the symptoms I had before. At nine months this week, he’s down to one feed a day and I can start to clear out my gut again.

I took a stool test for a full GI map back in December 2020 and had the results in January 2021 and started working with a Functional Nutritionist, Acupuncturist and Functional Medicine doctor to understand what was happening in my gut. With a full panel done and now a very clear pictures, we could start to get to work on what needed to be removed, and added in.

It was determined that I have h.pylori, which almost 2/3 of the population has and doesn’t even know it! That was crazy to me. So many people are suffering and have no idea why?!?

In addition to h.pylori I have an unevenly distributed amount of bacteria. Some of that GOOD bacteria is abnormally high which created a dysbiosis of bacteria overgrowth. That needs to be rebalanced and reset as the body is always trying to be in a state of homeostasis. With this state the pancreas is having to work harder and therefore causing a problem in the breakdown of digesting foods which it would normally be able to do without problems. The pancreas helps to break down the foods we eat and when its not functioning properly, food gets stuck, create a backup and then bacteria starts to form.

I also have leaky gut which could be connected to the h.pylori and also not be, we have no way of really knowing. Leaky gut happens when the wall of the gut lining has a hole or leak and the gut keeping us exposed to any and everything that encounters the body. As we know, 70% of our immune system is housed in our gut, so it must be healed and sealed so that it can perform its function. By having an open leak in the gut lining keeps us more exposed to viruses around us and even everyday colds as its normal function cannot perform properly.

So, in a nutshell, that’s where we are at and I wanted to share this as a way to try to bring more attention to this as I know many of you may also be experiencing the same things. However, testing and treatment is not easy or cheap so sharing as much information as I can that will hopefully be helpful to you. I also put together a series of questions below that may be commonly asked.

What is h.pylori?

Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) is a type of bacteria. These germs can enter your body and live in your digestive tract. After many years, they can cause ulcers, in the lining of your stomach or the upper part of your small intestine. For some people, an infection can lead to stomach cancer.

How does someone get h.pylori or leaky gut?

If you’ve taken antibiotics, been exposed to unsanitized water, have taken NSAID’s for year which can run the stomach lining. All of these could be We live in a very toxic world these days. From the pollution we breathe, to the water we drink, to the chemicals in our foods, the copious amounts of sugar we consume, to the overload of heavy metals, to the chemicals we put on our skin, to taking antibiotics, we are overloaded on a daily basis with toxins. The body can only take in and remove so much, from there we are left in excess to where we start to develop bad bacteria or an excess of good can even create an off balance.

Are h.pylori and leaky gut connected?

Yes and no. In my case the h.pylori most likely created the leaky gut as it destroys the gut lining.

Can h.pylori and leaky gut be healed or removed?

Yes. There are many ways to go about this but the way in which I am doing this will be through diet initially and then with the addition of acupuncture and Chinese herbs, if needed. In addition, keeping presence when eating, helping with digestion using breathwork and alleviating stress with exercise and relaxation techniques.

If left untreated, what can happen?

h.pylori can lead to ulcers, digestive problems like leaky gut, malabsorption of nutrients, and even stomach cancers. With a leaky gut, your immune system is compromised and therefore unable to protect as well as it would normally be able to leaving us exposed to more illnesses.

I hope if you are struggling with gut health, you find the answers you are looking for healing. My hope is that if I continue to write about my own journey it will inspire you to be your own advocate for health and find the answers to all of those unanswered questions.

Love and healing!

Until next time!

XX

Angie