A Patient's Story

This is the story of Meredith. She used to have digestive problems and has shared with us her journey to better health. She does such a wonderful job of conveying the frustrations that I've heard from so many people that I wanted to you to be able to read what she has to say. I know that many of you will be able to relate.

It has been about a year and a half since my trip to IBS Treatment Center. I don’t think I am exaggerating to say that the trip changed my life. I have been suffering from symptoms of IBS since I was a child. I have vivid memories of scoping out the remote bathrooms at schools, malls, and work places. Road trips have always been routed based on the availability of bathrooms. This has always been an embarrassing and emotional subject for me and I’d mention it almost in passing to doctors and acted like I had it under control. After giving birth to my first child and the strain that delivering a 9 lb baby put on my body, the urgency became more of an issue. I finally got a referral to a gastroenterologist who ordered a sigmoidoscopy and a barium enema. The end result was “good news” that nothing was wrong and that I was just going to have to live with it. Don’t get me wrong, I was very relieved to know that there wasn’t something life threatening but there was also nothing I could do to fix me. As my first child got older, it wasn’t fair to ask him to wait in the ladies room with me over and over again. We would have to get out of line at amusement parks, leave the museum, etc. and he was such a trooper and never complained. At his kindergarten musical, he was selected to bring a flower to his mom and he couldn’t find me because I had to excuse myself. Wow, what “good news.” After having my second child (8.5 lb), living with it meant that I was afraid to leave my house and was raising my children from the bathroom. Working was a nightmare as I would have to excuse myself from client meetings not just once but several times and it is really hard to come up with enough polite excuses. My solution was basically not to eat whenever I knew we were going somewhere or if I had any sort of meeting. I was an emotional roller coaster and it was affecting my job and more importantly, my family.

I was desperate.

Then I found Dr. Wangen’s book. In tears, my husband and I decided we needed to come up with the money for me to make the trip from Minnesota to Seattle. The wheels were in motion. I made the trip to Seattle to visit the clinic. After my visit, we discussed my results over the phone rather than have to fly back out to Seattle. My results were a bit shocking and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t angry with every doctor I had ever seen before. I had necator americanus or in other words, hookworm.* Not once had a doctor ordered a stool sample previously and who knows how long I have been living with this parasite. This species has been [thought to have been] virtually eradicated in North America and it is anyone’s guess where I picked it up. I was shocked and embarrassed to say the least. My yeast was elevated and my Bifidobacter (one of the good bacteria) level was very low. On top of that I also have some food intolerance, primarily to dairy (which I already suspected) and to sugar cane. Sugar cane has been the hardest because labels don’t have to disclose if the source of sugar is cane or beet. Dr. Wangen provided me with great resources for my specific food allergies. There are more and more dairy free alternatives becoming available, but most use cane sugar because it is perceived as healthier than beet sugar. Ironically, at a time when high fructose corn syrup is getting criticized, it is my best friend!

Shortly after starting my treatment plan, we found out we were expecting our third child and I had such a wonderful pregnancy! We have gone on vacation, I have volunteered at school, taken my kids to amusement parks, and the list goes on and on! Getting rid of the parasite was easy and although adjusting my diet has been a challenge, it has been worth it. I’ll be honest and admit that there are times I just can’t resist a bakery item or something else that I know I will pay for later but at least I am in control.

Thank you,

Meredith


* Note: This parasite rarely shows up on conventional stool testing. It is likely that even with previous stool testing this parasite would have been missed. The DNA/PCR testing that Meredith used is far more advanced than the testing available to most doctors.