You need one thing to overcome IBS.
Hope.
Believing you can do it is the fuel that keeps you progressing towards health when things get difficult, uncomfortable, scary and/or frustrating.
The hardest thing about having IBS is wondering if you’ll live with it forever. The daily pain and suffering is bad enough, but projecting it into an indefinite future is overwhelming. When you feel overwhelmed or defeated, you give up. Then your fear becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy.
What got me through these dark thoughts and times was finding beacons of hope in the form of IBS success stories. People who kicked this condition despite their doctor’s bleak prognosis and lack of help or support.
I couldn’t accept my “incurable but managable” prognosis as truth. Instead of succumbing to this reality, I did everything in my power to combat it so I could enjoy a pain free life.
Many of you know my story of healing IBS. It was a life changing experience. I try to spread hope through my information and motivation-packed blogs because the world needs voices of hope and empowerment.
And luckily, I’m not the only one putting out positive messages about overcoming IBS.
Many of my patients have regained their health (check out the testimonials on my site). And other people share this self-healing story.
Recently, Casey Hibbard contacted me to put my healing success story on her site. After healing from severe and debilitating SIBO herself, she started a website dedicated to publishing the same sort of stories.
When we were the sickest both Casey and I scoured the web for example of people who healed themselves naturally. These stories were harder to find than stories of pain and despair.
Casey’s story
In 2008 Casey scaled Machu Picchu in Peru.
In the years following the birth of her son, her gut health and energy spiraled downward. She suffered from fatigue, inflammation (puffy/achy fingers and toes), and brain fog along with an array of gut symptoms, which worsened after an episode of food poisoning.
She was diagnosed with SIBO soon after.
Like many of us, Casey spent much of her time visiting doctors, such as her primary care physician, gastroenterologist, allergist and rheumatologist. She developed a sensitivity to dairy as well as two dozen other foods from leaky gut.
She took a number of prescription meds and antibiotics to clear SIBO but was not able to do it.
Her story turned around when she decided to go explore a more natural approach. She hired two practitioners, one in complementary medicine and the other a functional medicine practitioner.
She assembled dream team to help her get at the root cause of her issues and support major lifestyle and dietary changes.
An investigative approach is often required to unravel IBS. You need to put your detective cap on and find practitioner(s) to help answer important questions (why is this happening and how to reverse it?)
When you throw medication at a problem, you are addressing the symptoms instead of the root cause (reason why).
I believe that gut problems are an invitation to deeply examine your life, listen to your body and make the changes it’s asking for.
Much easier said than done, of course, because trying and failing at healing can be more painful than the IBS symptoms themselves.
That’s when hope comes in. Getting there is easier if you believe it’s possible.
The secret is not to do it alone.
I didn’t. And neither did Casey.
How Casey fixed her IBS
Through deeper exploration and testing Casey found out that part of her issue stemmed from a pancreas was not making enzymes needed to properly digest fat. Replacing those enzymes with the correct supplements helped a lot.
She reduced her inflammation with diet and used a combination of natural antimicrobial and mainstream medicine to finally get rid of SIBO.
In her own words Casey writes:
First try – 3 weeks of Rifaximin, plus VSL3 probiotic with NO change to diet
Second try – 3-4 weeks Candibactin BR and AR, plus VSL 3 with the Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD)
Third try – 3-4 weeks berberine and oregano oil, plus VSL 3 with SCD
Both Casey and I spent thousands of dollars trying to get well. It took a few tries for both of us.
The fear of spending/wasting money terrifies people. It’s an understandable road block. Trying and failing and few times is discouraging. But should not be a deterrent.
Failing is part of a process that gets you closer to success. Few people get it right on the first try. You learn what does and doesn’t work and gain experience.
Hope and support keeps you moving forward and on the right track.
How to stay positive
Focus on the people who did it.
Find inspiring stories buried in Facebook groups and obscure corners of the web. Voices of pain and failure scream loudly drowning out those who healed and went with life.
I can’t tell you how long it will take or the challenges along the way, I know there’s magic in facing your greatest fears and challenges. Your gut will pin point those challenges by reacting to them.
If you have a healing story, please share it on Casey’s blog.
Don’t let anxiety or depression turn into a self-fulfilling prophesy.
As Casey and I will tell you, healing is possible.
Read my story here.
Angela Privin is proof that IBS is NOT an incurable disease, but a cry for help from a gut out of balance. When the body AND mind are complaining, it’s an opportunity to examine what’s not working and change it. After solving her own IBS mystery almost two decades ago, Angela became as a health coach to help others. Angela uses root cause medicine protocols personalized to the individual to solve each IBS mystery. Her tools are lab testing, dietary changes, supplementation, subconscious mind work and nervous system rebalancing . Learn more here.