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An update on overgrowth after my doctor’s appointment.

Since I’ve already shared the last 30 days, I thought I’d bring you with moving forward.

Overgrowth: My Doctor’s Appointment – Update

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Yesterday I had a doctor’s appointment.

After a thorough evaluation and discussion, the doctor thinks this mess that currently is is likely a gut infection, SIBO and/or adrenal fatigue.

Here are the tests I’ll be doing: complete metabolic panel, complete blood count and several other random blood tests which include complete thyroid analysis (none of this, “‘Oh your TSH is fine so you’re “good“‘ nonsense).

In addition, I’ll be sending off fecal samples (ew, I know) and breath samples (the SIBO breath test).

Tests, tests and more tests…..and ironically? All tests I don’t think any doctor has ever thought to do before.

Supplements, for now

I then tell you that he said I am spot on with the current supplementation I’m doing (Cod Liver Oil, probiotics, digestive enzymes, HCL, l-glutamine and collagen).

However, he is adding 4 to this list (which I start after my testing samples have been collected): Florastor, apo-STOM, MUNDIPUR and SyGest.

I am unfamiliar with all of these, and I’m looking forward to researching them.

Diet, for now

This is something I enjoyed most about my new doctor. He said we’re not going to do anything really with my diet until we know what’s wrong.

However, he did mention that an even tighter control on GAPS might be best for me for now, but if I didn’t make the best decision at every single meal then that was okay.

He feels that I should be as close to the Autoimmune Protocol as possible, but that stressing over it right now is not the focus.  And he also said to be cognizant of FODMAP’s, as they may be making the problem worse as well.

FODMAP’s are no stranger to me. I wrote briefly about them in The Gutsy Girl’s Bible, but at the time I wished I’d never had to pay attention to them. Turns out, I might need to.

This new doctor

I was there a little over an hour. It took me 3 hours to get there, and 2 hours to get home. It cost a fortune. But last night as I reflected on it all, I began to truly believe there will be light at the end of this tunnel.

I have spent YEARS with half-@#$ answers from doctors who skimmed over the general surface in order to make things right.

A prime example is my low blood pressure (abnormally low). Since I had my tonsils out, doctors have always wondered about the low blood pressure. Every single time I have it taken, comments are made, “Do you know you have low blood pressure? Oh, you do. So it must be normal for you then? Do you workout a lot? Oh, that makes sense. Your blood pressure is normal.“

Not this doctor. This doctor said, “This is not normal. We need to look into it. It could be a symptom relating to your adrenals.“

If my life was simply based on a “healthy lifestyle” and knowing exactly what to do, I’d be an expert. And even when it comes to healing the gut, I know exactly what to do and this has allowed me to heal and progress as much as I quite possibly can.

But here’s where the appointment kind of got twisted for me…. he said that what’s going on now might have nothing to do with the Colitis, but instead that several years back it was simply pure coincidence that they found the Colitis when I complained of these issues.

The reality is there may have been another problem that was never taken care of at some point in my life. When problems aren’t addressed, they ultimately manifest in several other crazy ways. This could be my current battle.

This doctor is helping me take the guesswork out, and for that, I’ll clink my bone broth mug with yours and say, “Amen!”

If you liked this post, you might also enjoy:

1. I Have SIBO
2. Reasonable SIBO
3. Root Cause Analysis is King

Xox,
SKH

p.s. For the record, this doctor is an MD. I say he is Eastern meets Western medicine. From his mouth,

As a doctor, I believe my primary duty is to simultaneously be knowledgeable and compassionate. I value the ability to be an ally and someone with whom to walk the healing path. My goal is to facilitate each person’s innate healing capacity using all treatment options, both conventional and alternative.