Most everyone has heard of IBS, right? Perhaps you’ve not only heard of it but also experience it’s effects–diarrhea, constipation (maybe both!), bloating, abdominal pain, excessive belching and/or gas, nausea, and just not feeling good. But have you ever considered what the acronym IBS stands for? That’s right: Irritable Bowel Syndrome. Let’s examine this a little further. Whenever medical people add “syndrome” on to something there’s a pretty good chance that it is a “catch all” term meaning they have no idea what causes it. In fact, what usually happens is this: you have these bowel problems and see your doctor who then refers you to the gastroenterologist who then performs a colonoscopy or something similar and this examination turns out to be “normal.” When all the really bad things have been excluded (like cancer, inflammatory bowel disease, etc) you now get thrown into the category of having irritable bowel. “What’s the cause, Doc?” you ask. He or she then answers, “We don’t really know but here’s a prescription for something that might help” and the root cause is never considered. WHY? is never asked, explored, or investigated in many cases–and perhaps you are one of these people.
Legacy Health can pick up where other providers may have left off or given up. In 25 years of focusing on intestinal health and disease, many have come to me seeking help and answers for their chronic abdominal pain, diarrhea, constipation, indigestion, bloating, and similar symptoms that greatly effect their quality of life. It wasn’t until I incorporated the principles of functional medicine that I was able to help these people. When we began searching for the root cause of these problems, it was surprising to find that although these patients all had “IBS,” the root cause in each case was different. “Leaky gut,” dysbiosis, food intolerances, food allergies, pancreatic dysfunction, low stomach acid, bile acid disorders, SIBO just to name a few–and some had a combination of several root causes as the source of their problem! Since everyone is different, it is then necessary to develop a personalized therapeutic protocol focused on the root cause or causes unique to that individual.
If you have or think you have IBS but don’t know why and haven’t been able to get any answers–give us a call. Together we can make this better!
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