My personal health journey
Having suffered with food sensitivities, digestive issues and problematic skin for most of my life, I never really felt well through my teens and twenties. This ultimately affected my confidence in life. I felt I always had to watch what I ate, scared to face the consequences of indulging in food that could potentially leave me suffering with symptoms for days. It was also quite isolating at times because social situations would leave me feeling judgment from my friends and family over my restricted food choices.
So although I had suffered with these digestive issues for about as long as I could remember, this hardly prepared me for the even more challenging health journey to come. My SIBO journey began after I was hospitalised for almost a week with a severe infection. I endured multiple rounds of different intravenous antibiotics followed by oral antibiotics. I felt depleted. And what followed in the months to come were repeated rounds of antibiotics for a string of urinary tract infections I suddenly began to experience.
In amongst these infections I started to notice changes in my digestion. Chronic constipation had me feeling sluggish and uncomfortable. Every time I ate I would have this churning feeling in my gut, often accompanied by severe bloating. I felt embarrassed and would avoid eating around others. I started to feel isolated once again and frustrated that no one could tell me why this was happening to me or how to fix it.
Out of desperation, I tried almost every diet, spent thousands of dollars on tests and started to acquire my own dispensary of half used supplements. It is this search for answers that led me to enrol in a Clinical Nutrition degree. As I progressed through my studies, I finally began to piece together the puzzle and gain control over my health.
The first SIBO breath test I ran on myself changed everything. With severely elevated methane levels, I had finally found the root cause of what had been plaguing me for years. My SIBO journey was tough. I had food sensitivities and histamine intolerance which made my initial diet quite restrictive. But once I found the right natural protocol, my symptoms started disappearing and I could finally see the light at the end of the tunnel!
While I wouldn’t wish it on anyone, looking back I know that there was a reason I went through this long and challenging gut healing journey; It gave me the motivation and skills to help people that are also suffering. It can be a dark place at times but I want to provide hope and support to my clients so that they feel heard, understood, supported and don't have to feel as isolated as I once did.
