“I’m Always Bloated”
For YEARS, I convinced myself that constantly feeling bloated and not having regular bowel movements, were all just normal facets of life. BOY WAS I WRONG!
No matter what I ate or didn’t eat, my stomach would blow up like a balloon, I’d have irregular bowel movements, and I just felt downright terrible.
Horrible gas
Tender stomach
Constipation
Diarrhea
Excessive hunger
Loss of appetite
EXTREME BLOAT
Check, check, and check.
I had all of these symptoms for YEARS and convinced myself that this was absolutely NORMAL.
Before you ask, of course I saw a gastroenterologist. His advice: Eat. More. Yogurt. Being lactose intolerant, that made things worse. My pediatrician suggested I take Tums. My gynecologist blamed my fluctuating hormones. All of these medical professionals didn’t seem to think much of it, so why should I? I began to believe that many other people must feel this way, so it’s just part of life. That is, until I met Dr. Linda Tao.
Instead of jumping the gun to immediately school me about gut health and how to improve my lifestyle, she did something miraculous: she listened. She let me ramble on about my bubbly gut and how everyone has let me believe that being bloated all the time is something to be accepted. After spilling my life story out, she began to put the pieces together and worked WITH me to formulate my own health plan. That meant actually explaining— in detail—the science behind what was going on in my body and how to address the root causes. After years of chasing answers and resorting to complacency, my experience with Dr. Tao was like a breath of fresh air.
Since I spent years taking antacids and acid reducers, my stomach was pretty messed up. The more damage done to the gut, the longer the healing process may take. By longer, I mean 2-3 months. MONTHS. That was nothing compared to the YEARS of gut issues I endured. After all was said and done, I actually forgot what constant bloating felt like. Just a few weeks into my healing process, my friend made a comment about how she would drink water and felt bloated. That made me stop and think in amazement about how I had not felt that way in a while!
So what’s the point to me telling you all of this about my previously messed up gut? We want you to know that your chronic gut issues don’t have to stay that way. In fact, experiencing any digestive issue may be a way of your body trying to tell you something: food intolerance, gut dysbiosis, imbalance of digestive enzymes, inflammation, etc. For instance, constant or excessive bloating can be a sign of a major imbalance in the body.
Yes, eating clean may be hard (like extremely difficult in the first couple of weeks), but the feeling of not feeling those gut symptoms is absolutely worth the effort. I never would have thought that I can now have a bite of dairy here and there without feeling anything. In the past, just looking at a milkshake would give me gas. I’m not saying that I can just go out and grab an ice cream cone whenever I please, but my fear of eating has now dissipated.
The journey to wellness is not simple nor quick. That’s why the ability to work with someone like a health coach or integrative practitioner, is so important to help you achieve your wellness goals. If you would like to start saying, “I used to always feel bloated,” let’s work together to get you back on track.
