I hear this story frequently from clients.
One day they were perfectly healthy, then after either intense stress or a poor diet or surgery or child birth or antibiotics, etc..they suddenly developed IBS symptoms.
Digestive issues don’t happen overnight or come out of nowhere. They are years in the making.
Just because you don’t have obvious digestive symptoms, doesn’t mean that there isn’t an imbalance brewing in your gut and biome. This imbalance happens over time, but just one major stressor could push people into experiencing symptoms, sometimes intense ones.
If the gut was tested prior to symptoms appearing, mostly likely we would find an underlying dysfunction.
The symptoms/problems that would be caused by this dysfunction/ imbalance are kept in check by a strong immune system, fueled by a good balance of beneficial bacteria. This is the internal protection that keep pathogens, parasites, h. pylori, bacterial imbalance, inflammation or yeast overgrowth from taking over.
Once you disturb the protection of the biome and immune system, the underlying problems can become symptomatic. That’s when you begin to feel the effects of what’s been brewing there all along.
Your beneficial bacteria is a large part of your immune system, policing your gut and keeping things in balance. Stressor, like the ones listed above, exacerbated by lack of rest/sleep, a high carb/sugar/processed diet, over exercising or toxic exposure will stress the good bacterial and keep them from doing their job. Symptoms of IBS will begin.
To regain balance, your body may need extra support in the form of anti microbial herbs, a real food or low carb diet, rest, digestive support, stress reduction, probiotics or adaptogens.
A look inside the gut of someone with no digestive symptoms
I ran the GI Map on someone who had no digestive distress but complaints of mood issues and lagging energy.
When the test results came back I learned that this person was one course of antibiotics away from developing digestive symptoms.
The GI Map revealed two parasites and some candida overgrowth.
It’s not that unusual for the parasites to cause no digestive symptoms, but candida usually causes some.
While there were NO typical symptoms of candida present (cravings for sugar, yeast or fungal infections, UTIs, rectal itching, skin conditions) there was lack of energy and anxiety. That is how candida manifested in this particular case.
The likely reason digestive symptoms were not present is the healthy balance of beneficial bacteria present. This is likely what kept more profound symptoms at bay.
One course of strong antibiotics could have changed this playing field, creating an opportunity for parasites and candida to multiply.
Here’s the big reveal:
The person I tested was me!
I was so close to having a problem again.
Months prior, I had a gum infection that caused massive ear pain. I avoided antibiotics then, instead using natural pain relievers like CBD, as well as herbal antimicrobials, salt water rinses and time to let my body fight it.
If I took antibiotics I could have started feeling the digestive effects of my gut infections.
The best preventative medicine is knowing what you’re dealing with. My plan is to clear the infection with herbs and diet. It will take two months.
This will clear up my energy issues and excess anxiety, which really aren’t that bad right now. But more importantly, my gut will no longer be vulnerable to life’s unexpected stressors or an emergency course of antibiotics that can’t be avoided.
How did I get parasites?
I’ve been living in a developing country for the last year, which raises my risks considerably.
But the stress of moving here was intense and lowered my body’s immune defenses, allowing the parasites to take hold. A well functioning immune system will kill any ingested parasites and escort them out of my body.
Now I can add parasites to my gut-healing resume. The silver lining is that experiencing this healing protocols first hand will be so helpful in my health coaching practice.
Interested in finding out who lives in your gut?
You can learn more about the GI Map here. And more about parasites here.
I hope this explains how people can go from feeling “normal” to having IBS overnight. They simply have not looked “under the hood” to see what trouble was brewing.
Those subtle hints that something’s off (fatigue, headaches/migraines, depression/anxiety, joint pain/muscle aches, brain fog, skin issues, unexplained weight loss/gain or PMS) are not typically associated with gut imbalance. These symptoms are considered a normal part of life or a sign of aging, but it’s your body telling you that something is off.
Here’s what else my GI Map revealed:
While I digest my fats well, I don’t make enough pancreatic enzymes so I need digestive enzymes to better break down my food. This is not forever, just until I heal and rebalance my gut.
Also, the digestive markers revealed that I have low inflammation, strong immune function and no issues with gluten.
While I plan to address the parasites with herbs, I’m not planing to directly address the candida.
Because my immune function is strong, it’s enough to “weed” my garden of parasites and reseed with probiotics and prebiotics. My rebalanced biome will naturally lower my candida levels.
Once I’m done with my protocol I plan to retake the GI Map to make sure the unwanted visitors are gone.
Learn more about how you can take the GI Map here.
Angela Privin is proof that IBS is NOT an incurable disease or a disease at all. IBS is a body out of balance. It’s an invitation for change. After solving her own IBS mystery more than a decade ago Angela trained as a health coach to help others.
Angela uses both science and intuition to help people figure out what’s out of balance in their body. She works with lab tests, dietary changes, supplementation and nervous system rebalancing. Get help rebalancing your digestive system and solving your IBS mystery here.
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