What is blocking your gut healing?

What is blocking your gut healing?

I could’ve probably counted on both hands the number of times I had dealt with GI issues in my whole life… sure, when I had a stomach bug, or had eaten some bad food. Then; yes, I had a bout or two of diarrhea that resolved itself in 24 hours or less.

At age 50, in the summer of 2021, I was deep into my perimenopausal transition. Over the previous two years, I had experienced heavy bleeding, severe pelvic pain, hot flashes, sleep struggles, a ruptured ovarian cyst, vaginal dryness and more… I thought I’d seen it all. But when my bowel movements began to change that August, I didn’t know what to think! I began having serious diarrhea and lost too much weight. Fortunately, I was already under the care of a naturopathic doctor for hormone help…

When Dr. Alexandra Cope, my naturopathic doctor, told me that that my GI stool test had revealed that I had “Candida overgrowth”, I was only vaguely familiar with the term. Candida is a type of fungal yeast that we all have, but when it grows unchecked, it causes gut dysbiosis which poses a risk for autoimmune disease and other major health concerns. Gut dysbiosis occurs when there is a reduction of good microbes and an increase in pathogenic ones. This causes intestinal permeability (leaky gut) which leads to inflammation. This provides the perfect opportunity for Candida to multiply. Not a happy situation to be sure!

Dr. Cope says: “To identify what is causing this phenomenon of leaky gut and eradicate it would actually allow us to push pause on many of the idiopathic and multi-faceted lifestyle diseases today!”

How can we heal Leaky Gut? (Source: Dr. Cope)

This is a great question!

1. Identify Food Intolerances.

2. Get rid of further toxin exposure.  

3. Give the gut a rest, Probiotics, & Prebiotics.

4. Load up on herbs that heal tight junctions.

5. De-stress while you eat.  Make what you consume a Sacred Act of Radical Self Care <3

Dr.Cope’s personalized treatment plan for me addressed both the mental/emotional component of IBS as well as the physical/dietary component. As an advanced Somatic Experiencing practitioner, Dr. Cope helped me to release trauma and increase my capacity to manage stress. Her therapy also helped me to reset my nervous system, thus calming acute GI symptoms. SE also helped me to integrate positive emotions for improved mental health. This was all coupled with her nutritional guidance and meal-planning tips plus a supplement protocol that healed my leaky gut, restored a healthy balance in my microbiome, and eventually eliminated my symptoms.

Sometimes it is hard for me to adequately put into words what I feel when I reflect on the miracle of my gut healing. My experience with IBS taught me so much. It changed me. I wouldn’t have chosen to go through it (the out-of-control diarrhea, the extreme weight loss, and the accidents), but I also wouldn’t trade ALL that I have learned! The compassion that I now have for women who have had life-long gut issues compels me to get the message out that spiritual/emotional healing cannot be left out of her treatment plan. 

I’m finding that the topic of gut health and GI symptoms can be a source of shame and embarrassment for many women. I hope to change this by normalizing the “poop” conversation and letting women know that they don’t have to suffer in silence…and, there are often underlying emotional causes for GI symptoms that are waiting to be discovered and rooted out. Complete healing from the inside out is possible!!