IBS Success Story: How Deb Overcame IBS and Regained Control of Her Life

Jessie Wong 00:00:00 Welcome to the IBS Nutrition Podcast, your go to source for navigating the complex diagnosis of irritable bowel syndrome. Here, we dive deep into IBS and discover the power of diet and lifestyle to find freedom from your IBS symptoms. I’m your host, Jesse Wong, Fodmap dietitian and a gut expert. For years, I suffered from debilitating gut symptoms that kept me out of work, feeling constant discomfort in my body and anxious around food. Today, I’m in control of my IBS. Able to eat the food I love again, travel whenever I want and spend quality time with loved ones. It is my mission to help you do the same and transform the way you live with IBS. Let’s get started! Welcome to another episode of IBS Nutrition Podcast. Today we are so excited to bring in our honorary guest, Depp, who is our past clients, to the podcast to share with you her experience, what kind of IPS she has, how she’s doing now after working together to give you some hope and maybe inspire you to know that you do not have to live with IBS symptoms forever, knowing how to manage and knowing what are triggering your symptoms is the key to finding freedom.

Jessie Wong 00:01:13 And of course, I’m here with my amazing co-host Brooke, our lead team, IBS dietitian at IBS dietitians. Are you? Hi, Brooke. And hi, Deb. So glad to have you here.

Brooke Keenan 00:01:25 Hello. Thanks for having me.

Jessie Wong 00:01:28 Thank you for sharing your story, because it’s really helpful for other people who are struggling to one, know that they are not alone in this journey, and to know that there are better ways to really manage their IBS for good. And it’s really not by taking a ton of supplements, or is not by just seeing providers who may not be on the more evidence based side of practice. So, Deb, if you don’t mind, can you introduce yourself?

Brooke Keenan 00:01:56 well, I’m a mom of three. I’m 53 years old, and I’m a registered dental hygienist. I enjoy travel. I enjoy hanging out with my friends. I love to entertain. Recently, I’ve taken up piano lessons and golf lessons. So always trying to learn something new.

Jessie Wong 00:02:16 And you enjoy traveling a lot, right?

Brooke Keenan 00:02:19 We do, we do.

Brooke Keenan 00:02:20 We are very fortunate to travel as much as we do. so the all my symptoms were starting to become a problem and were hindering on my travel and my excitement for travel. It became more of a stressful situation than I wanted it to be. It took all the joy out of it really, especially when it came to eating. If I could just travel without eating, I felt like, oh, I’ll be okay then.

Jessie Wong 00:02:46 Yeah, well, let me ask you a little bit more. When did your symptoms start and what happens? And how long have you been having IBS?

Brooke Keenan 00:02:55 well, in 2012, I had my gallbladder removed, and I feel like symptoms changed from then on. I always remember as a kid and even into my later, like my late early 20s and such, I had more constipation. And then I would have I would not go for so many days. And then I would really go like to the point where I felt ill, but I don’t know, I never really thought much of it, you know, and I think I probably lived that way up for quite a long time.

Brooke Keenan 00:03:26 And it wasn’t until after I had my gallbladder out that I started to realize, wow, like, this doesn’t seem normal, you know, why do I react to so many things? So then I started to kind of figure out my own kind of food elimination. I realized that beef products, you know, gave me a stomachache, so I eliminated beef. And then as the years went by, the constipation became more and the stomach issues became more of a chronic diarrhea situation. So I went to see my doctor, who really quite didn’t know. Plus I was also starting to have more menopause, perimenopause and menopausal kind of leading into that symptoms. So I wasn’t sure. Maybe that was a component of that. because I didn’t really have, like typical hot flashes and things that some people have. So from there, I spoke with the gynecologist, and he put me on a some different medications to deal with the menopausal symptoms, and he suggested I see a natural path. So I went to the natural path.

Brooke Keenan 00:04:22 And then I spent loads of money on different supplements, and I needed to work on my sleep and my adrenal glands and taking these vitamins and along with all the other medication that I was prescribed. And then from there she suggested, because I wasn’t making I wasn’t getting any better. If anything, I felt sicker. so I stopped taking some things, and she suggested I pay to have blood work to find out what food sensitivities I have. Well, $300 later on that testing. She’s like, don’t eat this, don’t eat that, and don’t have any dairy. So I thought, well, you know, every time I have a shake I seem to really react. So maybe I maybe it’s dairy. I gave up dairy. I mean, I just was getting so frustrated. I, I went to my doctor and, you know, I’m a big. If you don’t. I truly believe if you do not advocate for yourself, you’re not going to get very far. And I was very adamant with her about wanting a colonoscopy done, even though it wasn’t quite, Well, I would have been.

Brooke Keenan 00:05:21 Yeah, I would have not been quite 50 yet. I really wanted an endoscope done. And from there I had that testing and everything came clear. They said I had a little gastritis. Fine. I’m not sure how I got that, but how that happened anyways, probably from all the supplements and stuff is the only thing I can think of. and then they put me on an acid reflux med, which worked. I assume it healed, but I didn’t really feel like I had acid reflux anyways, so I did that for a few months, and then from there, you know, I was still having issues. So then I said, I think I need a CT scan, so find me a CT scan. Thank goodness everything came back clear. And you know, this is over time and I’m trying to travel and I’m getting upset. I’m getting sick, you know, and I the whole time I would get on a plane, I would be popping Imodium like it was Tic Tacs along with gravel, because my nerves literally were on the edge.

Brooke Keenan 00:06:17 A year ago, I had a gastroenterologist appointment, and I asked my doctor to get me one, and I waited a while to see him, and, he was very, he was very set in his ways, one might say. Bedside manner wasn’t very kind. And he only wanted to do a phone interview. And I had said to the nurse, Will you please have him call me at 145 or later, like put me at the end of the list because I’m with my patient till 130, and as soon as I’m done dismissing them, I have time. Like I can go somewhere in the office, I can go to my car wherever She’s like, absolutely no problem. He called me at 1:00 and I thank God I had my Apple Watch on. And I looked and I said to my patient, I said, I’m really sorry. I just give me two minutes. I’ve got to run and get this call. So I get on the phone, I said, hi, you know, it’s like it’s a bad time.

Brooke Keenan 00:07:07 I go, actually, you know, I’m with my patient. You think, call me back, like, give me 30 minutes. You know, he’s like, no, I said, but I’m with my patient at work, as you would be with your patient at work. And he said, no. So I said, just give me a minute. I had a dental assistant come in and finish one of the things that she can do that I do, and I said, I’ll be back. My patient was wonderful. She sees only me. She was very understanding. So I go into my boss’s office and I’m chatting. And he was asking me when did all my symptoms start? And I said, oh, you know, I’m going back to my gallbladder, blah, blah, blah. And he was getting aggravated with me and very like rude. And he’s like, how long have you had this for? Answer the question.

Brooke Keenan 00:07:58 Answer the question. And I’m like, oh my goodness. So now I’m already flustered because when I don’t have my notes with me, because I was very prepared for this appointment and I said, I don’t like ten, 12 years. And he goes, well, do you travel? Have you gone to over dinner in 10 or 12 years? He’s going on. I go, yes. And he’s like, well then you’re just fine. From now on, just carry Imodium and follow the low Fodmap diet and you’ll be just fine. And I got off the phone and I couldn’t believe that. That’s what what I’ve been waiting for was an answer. Some guidance. Treatment, medication autocare. Somebody who specializes in gastroenterology should have the answer, right? And I was so depleted. I was so upset. I started crying at work, which I am not a crier. And my one boss is like, oh my goodness. Like what happens? And I’m just like, I just I just was so fit to be tired.

Brooke Keenan 00:08:51 I was so sad. So sad that that was the answer that he had left me with. from there, I reached out to a dietitian here, and she suggested that I just, she put me on really funny, and she put me on, she thought I should have overnight oats for breakfast every morning. Oats were not were not the problem she thought I should have. I know I’m going to. Hopefully I don’t get mixed up. I think she said I should have insoluble fiber only. Right? It’s not soluble. Or is it the other way around? I had to have one fiber.

Jessie Wong 00:09:22 Probably the other way.

Brooke Keenan 00:09:23 Around soluble. The soluble.

Jessie Wong 00:09:25 Fiber only.

Brooke Keenan 00:09:26 Gave me a booklet of all every food you can think of in the amount of fiber, so I had to keep looking before I could eat a veggie to see, or a fruit to see what the fiber content was, and I had to be below a certain mark That, to me, was harder than doing the format challenge. Way harder because I’d be like, oh, no, no, no, I was I felt like I had more things that I eliminated that way than with the format challenge.

Brooke Keenan 00:09:59 So that did not go well. And she put me on a probiotic, which as soon as I started with you guys, you’re like, nope. Off you go. so I just yeah, I once again, just being so grateful for you guys because you just totally eliminated so many things that people were putting me on. And in fact, it was just a matter of something that I was actually eating to eliminate instead of trying to buy more vitamins nor supplements, more medications. Do this, do that. When in fact, if you just take one ingredient and then you can feel like 110 times better, you know, that’s the best answer. Yeah.

Jessie Wong 00:10:37 Well, thank you for sharing that. And for anybody else listening, this is what we hear all the time is people being put on, maybe some even 2030 and beyond types of supplements to try to fix their gut. Now that’s a lot of money to spend. and that is a lot of time wasted not actually getting to the bottom of.

Jessie Wong 00:10:58 If you have a food trigger for people with food triggers, you need to understand what really triggers your symptoms. And a lot of the times we are heartbroken for our clients because they’ve you trusted the provider who recommended you with these things, or you found it online, or family or friend who recommended it for you. And they don’t. And they not only don’t help. Sometimes they really make your symptoms a lot worse. And a lot of the time, sometimes we see patients with persistent bloating or symptoms that won’t go away that was actually triggered by a supplement. And those are the worst case scenarios. So if you are listening to this, you know, if even if you don’t work with us, which is totally fine. One thing I would like you to get out of listening to today’s podcast is that supplements are not the solution and it’s not helpful and sometimes can be more harmful. So be very careful and always talk to your health care provider before trialing any sort of supplements, and make sure you know what you are, what outcome you are measuring when you’re trialing anything.

Jessie Wong 00:11:59 Yeah, and the first recommendation, right step is stop everything except for your prescription medication. Stop everything so we can really see what your baseline is without being maybe aggregated or aggravated or have a bandage on so we can see, you know, what the baseline is.

Brooke Keenan 00:12:17 Well, I’d be happy to report I have a new gastroenterologist who’s fabulous. And when I talked about you guys, he was like, that sounds great. And he was happy with all the outcome and all the treatments. And yeah, he was really good, so it was good.

Jessie Wong 00:12:32 That is so great to hear. That is in the process, of putting together a compassionate GI or PCP list for everybody who comes to our website. So I would love to send you that link. And maybe if you can share with your GI doctor, then he or she will get on our list and people can find them. It’s, And thank you for sharing your story. I think this is one that we hear all the time. As people go into their gastroenterologists, they feel like they’re dismissed by the physician because there’s not a whole lot of physician can do when it comes to diet and lifestyle.

Jessie Wong 00:13:07 Yes, medications can work and people will try out different types of medications, but if diet and lifestyle can help you, it should be ideally the first line of defense. But there are limitations to what GUIs can do because they only have 15 minutes with you and they have to move on. Otherwise their days will not end. But if you’re listening to this and you heard that story, she found a guy that is compassionate, that listens. So don’t give up. Find yourself a child that listens. And one thing we recommend to people is that go on to Google Maps. Search for gastroenterologists in your area. Google has reviews, look for ones with higher reviews and actually read through their comments and see, hey, does this doctor listens the system to help you with multiple things? Or do they, you know, do they have bad reviews that way it saves you time and money when you’re looking for a physician.

Jessie Wong 00:14:16 And if you have a good gastroenterologist, you love your GI. I would love for you to, you know, put in a contact on our website so that we can reach out and get their information and put on our website.

Brooke Keenan 00:14:29 So from then on, your phone truly listens to you, because I seem to be getting more of an influx of Instagram things on IBS and across came on one of your reels and I was like, wow, this exactly is me like. And you had one of the other clients on there and her symptoms were exactly the same, and I was just like, oh my goodness, like this. I need this because I feel like I’ve exhausted everything I possibly could get from any doctor, any person or any medication, you know? And I truly don’t think carrying Imodium with you and following the low Fodmap diet is the answer. Like I truly knew doing my own research, that that just wasn’t the case. That’s I needed something more than that. And to me, that wasn’t a resolution.

Brooke Keenan 00:15:20 That was just like putting a Band-Aid on it. So I have a friend who’s a dietitian here and I said to her, do you mind looking at this, this, this woman’s Instagram account. And you know like what are your thoughts. Do you think it’s legit. Like, you know I don’t want to spend money if you know you don’t know right. She’s like no no no no I, I think it’s great. Like you should probably seek it out. And honestly, I am forever grateful I did because that was the best decision I ever made, ever made for myself. So thank you. Thank you ladies. So yeah, thank.

Jessie Wong 00:15:52 You for trusting.

Brooke Keenan 00:15:54 Us because I honestly, I always think now, like if I never would have reached out, what would have where would I be? I mean, I couldn’t I mean I was losing, I lost over £20. Like I’m not a big person. I mean, I could afford to lose a few pounds, but not 20. I was getting so sick and every time I go to somewhere I always had like that.

Brooke Keenan 00:16:12 Yeah, fine. Kind of look, you know, like I’m feeling great. Like, you know, on the. I couldn’t be counting in my head. Like, how many more hours do I have to sit here? I just want to go home. You know, we’re always wondering, where’s the bathroom? How many bathrooms are there? Where are they located? Like, it’s just it’s not enjoyable. And the more I worried about it, all that stress and aggravation aggravated my symptoms even more.

Jessie Wong 00:16:34 Deb, you were mentioning well, prior to recording, we talked about your daily routine prior to working together. I think that’s something people can really relate to if you don’t mind telling us again. Yes. What you shared with us. Yeah.

Brooke Keenan 00:16:46 So I have to be at work for like seven, ten, 15 in the morning. So I would literally I get up like at 5:00 and I would eat something. And then I knew that no matter what I ate, things weren’t going to settle, and I would literally be trying to get out the door to get to work on time.

Brooke Keenan 00:17:03 And I would have to go to the bowel movements. I would have at least 3 to 4 every morning, to the point that I was so depleted that now I feel nauseous, and now I’m stressed because I’m gonna be late for work. So by the time I’d get to work, my nerves are on edge and I just try and focus. I wouldn’t eat anything. I just have a few sips of water at work and maybe the odd banana or soda crackers, just to kind of keep things, you know, because as a hygienist, I don’t have a break. I’m on a schedule, I’m people waiting, and I want to keep my patients waiting. So and then, you know, I would just always feel so sick all the time, like nauseous. And I just felt like I wasn’t myself with them. And I would literally on the way, I’d be like, okay, I’m going to take that road. How many Tim Hortons are there or how many places could I literally stop at quickly? If I needed a bathroom? And I would have, I’d have supplies in my car.

Brooke Keenan 00:17:58 I had carried wipes, I carried Ziploc bags. I carried extra clothing, extra uniform, extra whatever I had, I had in my car always just in case I didn’t have an opportunity. And it’s it’s not a way to live. And when I think back to being told just to carry Imodium and follow a low Fodmap diet, I’m like, I don’t I don’t want to live like this. This is there’s there’s got to be an answer. There’s legitimately a reason you just aren’t inflamed. Like, you know what I mean? Like there’s something in my body that’s.

Jessie Wong 00:18:31 Reacting, right? Well, let’s give a little bit of hope to our listener.

Brooke Keenan 00:18:36 Well, there’s resolution here.

Jessie Wong 00:18:39 Can you share how your life is nowadays? And then we can talk about what we did together to get you to this point.

Brooke Keenan 00:18:45 Well, I’m always at work on time now. I have no trouble getting out the door. it’s way better. Yeah. We were just away. We went to, in March. We went away.

Brooke Keenan 00:18:57 And that was my first trip, since working with you guys. And I think overall, I did pretty good, like, I wasn’t, I don’t know, I felt good at the airport. I didn’t feel I just remember Brooke giving me my travel like kind of guidelines, what I need to bring with me. And I just I felt good. I felt like it’s going to be okay. And every time now I leave the house on time. I don’t bring all those supplies with me anymore. You know? I don’t miss things anymore. We can say yes or we go out for dinner. I just use my Find Me gluten free app, which lists a lot of restaurants. more and more restaurants are having actual gluten free menus now, so, like, there’s, there’s as each day goes by, there’s a comfort level that comes with it and you start to feel more relaxed and not so stressed. So yeah, it’s it’s better. And I feel like my husband doesn’t seem to be so like, oh, are you all right? Like, do you need anything.

Brooke Keenan 00:19:49 Like, you know what I mean? Like, it’s just it’s better. Yeah. Much better. Yeah.

Jessie Wong 00:19:55 Okay. And I want to quickly remind everybody who may be listening. Most people with IBS does not need to be on a gluten free diet. But if gluten is your trigger, then that’s when you might need to do the gluten free diet. And in our program, we never just put somebody on a gluten free diet and say that they are gluten intolerant. We actually do elimination and challenge to identify because it’s not always gluten. And most people who are self-identified as gluten intolerance are not actually intolerant to gluten, because there’s also friction from the web group that we need to consider when it comes to wheat food. Okay, Deb, thank you so much for sharing that with us. Let’s talk about what we did together. I know you worked with Brook primarily, so maybe I’ll have Brooke ask you some of the questions as well. And maybe what do we do together? What really helped you? And maybe when was the point that you realize the program has really turned your life around or it’s working?

Jessie Wong 00:20:51 Yeah.

Jessie Wong 00:20:51 So I was well, I was looking back at your journal, and we didn’t start gluten free. I think maybe, we started with a little fiber, cutting out some drinks and things, and then. And I do remember a little bit of resistance about going gluten free.

Jessie Wong 00:21:12 And then.

Jessie Wong 00:21:15 but then you were all in by the end, so. Yeah. So we don’t ever want to do we don’t just across the board say everyone’s gluten free, everyone’s low-fodmap. And but we do. If we do feel like cutting out gluten can be helpful, we really just say, let’s do it for two weeks and see what happens. Yeah, yeah.

Brooke Keenan 00:21:32 I think I was so resistant to. Because last summer, I took my daughter to Paris for a week. France. And I was really hard to find a lot of foods there to eat. And a lot of the things that we’re avoiding were a lot of cheeses and stuff because I thought, oh, it’s, you know, dairy or whatever, and bread.

Brooke Keenan 00:21:49 I felt like, oh, every time I ate bread, my stomach felt good. It was the next morning I didn’t feel good. Not even beginning to think that possibly it could be bread or cracker, like any of those items, because I always went to those items to make myself feel better after. Yeah, because primarily the majority of the time that I would have, issues was in the morning the next day. Not like some people who are like celiac. They get very ill instantly, whereas I the next day would be. So I was like, what? It can’t be bread. No way.

Jessie Wong 00:22:23 Yeah, yeah. So then we got you to a good place. Yeah. And then we did all those lovely reintroductions. Yeah. Tell us a little bit about your reintroduction phase.

Brooke Keenan 00:22:40 Like with the formats. You mean like initially like we did the whole map challenges? And then when we did all the challenges which was eliminating different all the groups, I think there was eight in total. I did fairly well with them except the gluten, the oats and the mushrooms.

Brooke Keenan 00:22:56 Those are my triggers. Gluten free oats, regular oats, anything with oats. Oats and I are not friends. and I, I was so disappointed. I was like, I not, I guess not really, because I do enjoy good oatmeal cookie. That was for the thing, because I don’t really like oatmeal on its own, but I was just like, okay, okay, so but I did, you know, I went through all the challenges and that was the end of all of them and the results. And, I have to say, I was very nervous initially doing all those challenges. And I thought, oh, this is going to be such a pain. But it was good. I’m glad I did them. You know, I think you learn a lot. Yeah, I learned a lot about the fiber too. Like that was huge. Like I always was unaware. Like I always knew you needed fiber, but not to the extent. But I was amazed that foods I eat regularly all the time, how much some of them actually have a ton of fiber in them.

Brooke Keenan 00:23:49 Yeah.

Jessie Wong 00:23:49 So how do you structure your day now? Eating? Is it more around fiber, or do you just kind of eat kind of what you enjoy?

Brooke Keenan 00:24:01 A little bit of both. I still try and stick to the 25g of fiber. as you know, I don’t really eat a lot, so sometimes I might only get to 20. but I still I still try and make sure I have all the fruits and veggies, and, I mean, always been pretty good clean eater. Anyways, like, I always have lots of protein. lots of veggies, you know? So I think I do hit the mark pretty much almost every day, but I’m definitely, I would say I’m probably more 20 to 25, but. And then I also have that fiber that I take at night as well, that one scoop, which is helpful. But, you know, being my age group and going with menopause. Fiber is so important for that to like, you know what I mean? So we need that.

Brooke Keenan 00:24:44 That’s just I think a combination of going through this IBS issue and the menopause, there’s a lot of similar things that go together on our diet or exercise. All those things. They all play the whole sleep, the mindfulness, all of that, or they’re very similar. So I kind of between the two, the two problems here, they’ve definitely come together and I’ve been able to help both things I guess.

Jessie Wong 00:25:11 Deb, that was like my next question actually, beside food, their lifestyle challenges that we did together that helped you and you answered it before I even asked it? Yeah, yeah.

Brooke Keenan 00:25:22 And I’m pretty good about getting my exercise in anyways. But definitely, you know, trying to be more mindful. The deep breathing I find really helps like that. (543) 215-4321 that really can bring a person from here to here. Just a few rounds of that makes a huge difference. And the journaling. Back to journaling that helps all these things. You know, just trying to shut your mind off.

Jessie Wong 00:25:50 You’re talking about the gratitude journaling right.

Jessie Wong 00:25:52 That helps you feel better.

Brooke Keenan 00:25:54 And yes there’s one that can be here that’s really good. I’m sure you could buy it in the States but it’s called the Five Minute Journal. And it’s great guideline because you’re not having to just have a blank paper. So you’re writing three things that are grateful things. Three things that happened today that were good, three things. So it gives you that guidance and it’s just the smallest page, but it really makes a difference. And you don’t have to write a whole journal of your feelings for the day, you know what I mean? But it’s amazing just answering a few things and you just all feel a sense of like, oh, calmness.

Jessie Wong 00:26:26 That’s great. Yes. So that’s one of the lifestyle things that we challenge our clients to do is the gratitude journaling to help you feel better. Okay. Oh, when was the what at what point of working together maybe broken? You can talk together about this. Did you notice that you are actually getting better? When did you have that light bulb moment or a moment where you’re like, oh, things are changing.

Jessie Wong 00:26:50 This is actually working because you’ve done so many things that didn’t work in the past. Yeah.

Brooke Keenan 00:26:55 Well, when I finally gave it to Brooke and did the gluten free diet, honestly, it was like just a couple days in and I was like, Holy Hannah. Like, I could not believe the difference. And it just from then on, it just got better and better and better. And I actually looked forward to my appointments every Wednesday. I couldn’t wait to find out. Like what Brooke thought. Like, does this good? Like, can you believe it? What have I learned? Like, I mean, it was just so good. So good.

Jessie Wong 00:27:28 Thank you. Well, let’s also share maybe with our audience a little bit. So we our group program, there are 14 sessions, right. We meet every week routinely which I think for us that’s the sweet spot to it’s really meeting every week to analyze, to look at things. You know, if things are not working, then we recommend something else.

Jessie Wong 00:27:46 But you were saying you look forward to these meetings because you’ve done a challenge, and you want our opinion on the challenge to see whether things what are what we are thinking about those challenges. What are some of the challenges on the top of your head that you wanted us wanted our opinion on?

Brooke Keenan 00:28:05 Well, probably the gluten was the big one. Yeah. The gluten. Okay. The mushrooms. I really struggle with the mushrooms because I really like mushrooms. And I kind of added it to a lot of different meals. It’s a great add on that you can add to a stir fry, a pasta sauce, you can stuff it like whatever. And I find it such a good way to get another veggie into you. But sadly, mushrooms are not friends. No one bit. So I think.

Jessie Wong 00:28:29 We saw the mushrooms, in your journal and then like the later that day or the following day, you know, you weren’t feeling so well or had loser, loser stools. And then so then I was like, I’m sure mushrooms.

Jessie Wong 00:28:44 So trialing the mushrooms was going to be important just to see if that, you know, that had been what was causing the the issues. So yeah, that was a good informative challenge for sure.

Brooke Keenan 00:28:58 Know for sure. Yeah. Everything else I did pretty good on funny some of the things I would just eat. And then I look later and I go, oh, that was part of a challenge somewhere. But I’m like, well, I must be okay with it. Nothing happened. That challenge then. Yeah.

Jessie Wong 00:29:14 Yeah. And actually then that’s always the goal. Yeah, yeah.

Brooke Keenan 00:29:17 I did find the red kidney been a challenge because I mean nobody really, I don’t know, loves to eat that many beans, but. in the end it was good though. It was all good.

Jessie Wong 00:29:30 Oh that’s great beans. It’s often a challenge for a lot of people.

Brooke Keenan 00:29:34 Yeah, yeah, but the group, the group sessions are, They were really good. I really at first I thought, oh, as if I want to talk about my problems to people I don’t know.

Brooke Keenan 00:29:44 At the tail end of when I joined some, there was a lady who’s at the tail end of, her sessions, and she had very similar symptoms as I did. So I looked forward to hearing what she was going to say, because not only could she be late, but she was also towards the end. So to hear her progress, to me, that was encouraging. It was hopeful knowing wow. Like look at. She’s overcome you know like so I felt like this is a good thing. This is going to work out, you know, and you learn so much from so many other people in the group.

Jessie Wong 00:30:18 Yeah. Well, thank you for those people. Thank you for sharing everything. And I think you oh, actually you messaged me really quickly into the program was like, Jesse, your program is amazing. I can’t believe I’m already feeling so much better and I will have to say it’s all broke. Brooke was reviewing your journal. You guys are meeting weekly to really get down to the bottom of it really quickly.

Jessie Wong 00:30:40 Now, for anybody else who is struggling right now, what is one piece of encouragement you have for them and maybe advice as well? So two things encouragement and also advice.

Brooke Keenan 00:30:54 Well sign up. First of all, sign up. You’re crazy not to sign up because you will have resolution, I think I think you really have to advocate for yourself and you have to go with your gut. Because if you know in your heart like something’s not right and something’s not working and you know it’s normal and what’s not normal, that you definitely need to seek out alternative medicine elsewhere. Because just because your doctor is your doctor, it doesn’t mean that they have the right answer, especially if you’re not getting any better. I think my doctor, initially, when I asked her to have that bloodwork, she was a little hesitant, but I pushed it. I said, like I said, I go, why does it matter to you? Like you’re just signing off the requisition. She’s like, well, you’re going to have to pay for some of this.

Brooke Keenan 00:31:41 I’m like, it doesn’t affect you. I’m fine with that. You know what I mean? Like, you just you just have you just know you have to just push and push and push until you find the right program. And I really think that your program, I mean, it shows you when you’re getting people all around the world signing up and are having great results, that’s success. That is success. And Brooke, because we work primarily with Brooke, she’s such a great leader. She truly is and so knowledgeable and so kind and so empathetic to people’s symptoms and what they’re going through. And she tries to help you find alternatives and resolution. And do you try this and do this? And, you know, she never just says, oh, well, good luck. You know, you just you really walk away from every meeting feeling like there’s hope. You feel like, okay, that challenge work. That’s great. Okay. Like you’re ready for the next one because you can check one off your list or it’s okay, you fail the challenge.

Brooke Keenan 00:32:36 It’s okay. It’s okay that you can have mushrooms or it’s okay, you can have gluten. Yes, it sucks when you go out, but you can you can live better. You can have your life back and you’re still millions of other foods you can eat. And I love to bake. I love to bake. during Covid, my poor family, I baked so much, I baked bread, I baked, I baked so much. My husband begged me to stop baking at one point. but now I’m learning to bake with gluten free flour. You know, I make cookies and different things, and sometimes the kids don’t even notice, so there’s there’s alternatives. So, yeah, I actually think that’s great. You can’t go wrong with your program. while you girls are awesome. Thank you.

Jessie Wong 00:33:22 Thank you. We really appreciate that. And again, for anybody else who are listening, you know, you need to identify your trigger because that trigger may not be your trigger. And you don’t have to cut out food endlessly without knowing, even with the low Fodmap diet.

Jessie Wong 00:33:36 It’s a three step protocol eliminate, reintroduce, understand your triggers and then eat what you can actually tolerate and feel good. The last thing we want people to do is eliminate everything, and not really feeding themselves appropriately and not feeling their gut microbes, because variety is so important in supporting better gut function. Yeah, in-depth. We are so thankful for your time and sharing your story with us today. It’s it’s been a real pleasure on our end, I would say to work with you and seeing your improvement over time and really getting you to a good place. Now that you know your trigger can go out and travel without fear and yeah, live a normal life, would you say yes?

Brooke Keenan 00:34:21 Yes. And you know I’m all my friends are there so kind. And when you go to their house, they go out of their way to make sure there’s gluten free options. And it’s just it’s really good. Yeah, it’s it’s a new I’m glad it’s now and not ten years ago, because I think people saw ten years ago that gluten free would have been a lot harder than it is now.

Brooke Keenan 00:34:41 but yeah, no, I just I don’t really stress, like, we want to go for dinner. All right, let’s go. It’s not the spring. You know, a few years ago, I’m no longer. I’m a foodie. Like, I love meals, I love wine, I love it really is taking the joy out of that for me. And I feel like the joy is coming back again.

Jessie Wong 00:34:59 We are so good to here.

Brooke Keenan 00:35:00 Thank you guys.

Jessie Wong 00:35:01 Oh thank you. All right. We are going to wrap up our episode today. And thank you for all of our listeners listening. Thank you so much for joining us.

Brooke Keenan 00:35:13 Thank you.

Jessie Wong 00:35:14 Thank you.

Jessie Wong 00:35:15 Thank you for tuning into the IBS nutrition podcast. We hope today’s episode has brought you closer to understanding and managing IBS. Remember, you are not alone on this journey and finding freedom is possible. For more on IBS, make sure to follow us on your favourite podcast platforms and please leave us a five star review. We would really appreciate that you can access links mentioned in this episode in the show notes, to learn more about your type of IBS and how to identify your own food or lifestyle triggers, Register for a free IBS masterclass.

Jessie Wong 00:35:48 Three steps to IBS relief for our proven, holistic, three steps approach to managing IBS once and for all, head to IBS dietician. Com forward slash masterclass to register. Until next time, take good care of your gut and here’s to your health and happiness.