Case Study: Life Long Digestive Problems And Chronic Sinusitis

Dianne is a 52 year old lady who came to see me for help with chronic digestive problems and sinus issues. She suffered with digestive problems for many years, but just recently they got a lot worse, and that’s what prompted the consultation.

Dianne had her gallbladder removed when she was 31. She wasn’t overweight and didn’t eat badly. She wasn’t the typical patient with gallstones. Her gallbladder problem was a result of food intolerance. She had irritable bowel syndrome, insufficient stomach acid production and dysbiosis in her intestines. When the stomach and intestines don’t send correct signals to the gallbladder, instructing it to contract, this can cause stone formation. Unfortunately Dianne wasn’t aware of this at the time, so she had her gallbladder removed.

Over the years Dianne suffered with reflux, heartburn, abdominal bloating, burping and flatulence. Sometimes they were a little better and other times they were distressingly bad. Dianne also suffered with facial pain and headaches. These were caused by chronic sinusitis. Her sinuses were congested with mucus, which caused chronic pain. Quite regularly her sinuses would get infected and then the pain would intensify.

Low mood was another long term problem of Dianne’s. She said she often felt depressed for no reason. We both agreed that this was likely due to her poor overall health and poor gut health in particular. Despite feeling quite unwell, Dianne was very motivated to do whatever it took to restore her health and improve her quality of life.

My recommendations for my patient

• Dianne already took some appropriate supplements. She took vitamin D and selenium because she knew about their benefits for thyroid conditions such as Hashimoto’s thyroiditis. I asked Dianne to take Thyroid Health capsules instead because they contain iodine and there was very little of that in her diet. Iodine is necessary for the production of thyroid hormones, thus it enhances metabolic rate.
• Dianne had a fairly good diet. The problem was she didn’t eat sufficient protein, and she ate 5 or 6 times a day. Her meals were too low in protein and not satiating enough, thus she needed to keep eating multiple times a day. That’s not ideal for someone with digestive problems. I asked Dianne to eat 3 meals a day and avoid snacking. I asked her to only eat animal protein and low FODMAP vegetables for now. By avoiding fermentable carbohydrates, less gas will be produced in her intestines, and that should help all of Dianne’s digestive problems.
• I gave Dianne supplemental ox bile because she no longer has a gallbladder, thus isn’t releasing sufficient bile into her intestines. I also asked her to take Super Digestive Enzymes with each meal, to provide enzymes and stomach acid. This will help relieve her symptoms, and enable Dianne to extract more nutrients from her meals and supplements.
• The sinus issues were bothering Dianne a lot. I asked her to take 2 Bactoclear capsules with breakfast and 2 with dinner. The antimicrobial herbs in this formula clear the mucus from the sinuses and are excellent for clearing out bacterial and fungal infections from the sinuses.

Five weeks later I had another consultation with Dianne. She was delighted with the improvement in her digestive system. Dianne had a much brighter disposition and said the depression had lifted. She became extremely excited about her health improvements and bought several cook books. The sinus pain in her face completely vanished and then came back. Through trial and error, Dianne discovered that she had a sensitivity to almonds. When she completely removed them from her diet, her sinuses were fine and her abdomen was no longer bloated.

The above statements have not been evaluated by the FDA and are not intended to diagnose, treat or cure any disease.