Why Is There No Cure for My Digestive Disorder?
Photo: Jonathan Borba/Unsplash  You probably know the drill: you see a new doctor and have to answer a long checklist about your condition. For me, its a new gastroenterologist, and the long history bit is exhausting. Yes, I have flare ups  yes, they are painful. Essentially, my digestive system goes paralytic. It juststops. But of course, bacteria dont stop; they continue doing the work of digesting things and creating byproducts that take up space. A lot of space. And frankly, you cant just knock out a wall in your intestines and put up a car park. The result is pain. Not a tummy ache pain, but rather a I think someone impaled me from behind with a whale harpoon and is now yanking it back out, barbs, belly-button and all kind of pain. A bad flare leaves me unable to walk. So naturally I try to avoid bad flares. Tell me what you do when these occur, the doctor asks. I blink at him. Pray?  I mean what do you do to treat it.  I thought there wasnt really a treatment, I say, hoping for a minute that I have missed something obvious. He shrugs. Well, true, there isnt. Apparently he was asking me hoping he had missed something obvious. The truth is, there are options for treating my condition. But they arent medical options. Ill run down the list, in case you have the same condition:  I gave up FODMAPS, or fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides, and polyols. There are short chain carbohydrates and they arent well absorbed in the small intestine. Thats a lot of different foods, by the way, from broccoli to apples to onions and gluten. Its usually easier for me to tell people what I can eat than to review what I cant. I re-engineered my entire diet, and dont eat out much as a result. I also went on several elimination diets. I gave up any foods that seemed likely to cause inflammation, ate ridiculously small meals to give my body a chance to break things down slowly. To help, I took Atrantil, which is horse chestnut and some other herbs in blend, along with berberine, a compound found in barberry. I also take cats claw tincture, ginger and turmeric for bloating, and have tried aloe juice and even chlorophyll in an attempt to hydrate my system and invite a better flow of oxygen. And at night, its high doses of magnesium and slippery elm to try and ensure there is enough water in the colon. Big fun. I feel like a food and herb scientist at this point. Curiously, though my doctor(s) all support diet changes, most of them have turned their nose up at any herbal or holistic approaches. Hmm, no need to hear about that stuff because, well, that is not medicine. One doctor did suggest I take antacids and keep up with magnesium if it helped.  My experience isnt unique. Well, your small intestine shouldnt have bacteria (because food is sterilized in the stomach)  and it isnt at all prepared to deal with it. Bloating and pain can result. But patients like me tend to be given the usual course of repeated antacids and other drugs, which can actually make overgrowth worse. Some doctors are now wondering if IBS might be caused by SIBO, or perhaps mimic it. The answer is no, not really. Gastroenterologists want to work with their patients as best they can, whatever that means; they want to help! But when it comes to digestion, there are some tricky factors involved. For one thing, its next to impossible to get a diagnosis. Triggers. Every person is going to be triggered by something different, stress will be a factor, and once the flare begins its really difficult to shut it down. You can be given anti-diarrhea or anti-constipation drugs, but in the end: there are few treatments and there is no cure. At least no cure yet. A little summer fun for all) and told me to stick with what Im doing. But standing here, at the digestive dead end, I cant say its much comfort. Doing all the things right wont mean you dont have bad days (or weeks or months). ?  It can be lonely on this side of the street. Hard to get excited about dinner dates, hard to look forward to food at all. Its frustrating, too, and it often feels like there arent any answers. But I have found three things that help. First, read a lot; not just the science but also forums where others talk about their experiences. Second, get a good cookbook. It helped me feel like at least I was taking charge of something. And I have become really good at sauces, replicating things I thought Id never taste again. Third, recognize that sometimes, despite your best efforts, you will be sick. This is chronic, and lifelong, and not your fault. There will also be good days. There can even be periods of remission. And Ive personally found some help from SSRI (which aid in blocking stomach pain signals and help with IBS-C in particular), but thats a conversation to have with your doctor. In the end, though, it will mean bringing all the therapies to bear, because when it comes to digestion, medicine does not have all the answers.