How Michelle Stopped Her IBS-D for Good: A Real Success Story

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. Hello there! Welcome to another episode of IBS Nutrition Podcast. Today I have a very special guest with me and this is Michelle. Michelle is one of my past clients from last year, actually. It’s been a year since we’ve worked together, and Michelle is here today to share her story and also share with you what we did together to help her get to a really good place to be able to manage her symptoms.

Jessie Wong 00:01:08 So thank you, Michelle, for taking the time. And I’m going to start with a bunch of questions. So Michelle, do you mind you know, introducing yourself a little bit.

Michelle 00:01:19 Sure so I am a mother of three, a 21, 19 and 15 year old, then happily married for 25 years. And I’m a pediatric occupational therapist who specializes in feeding and swallowing disorders and early intervention.

Jessie Wong 00:01:31 Thank you for what you do. Well, tell me, what was your life like before having IBS?

Michelle 00:01:37 Yeah. so I had never had any stomach issues. And in August of 2022, I got Covid for the first time, and my husband got it on Monday. And on Tuesday, I remember running to the bathroom and going, oh, I have the GI Covid thing that people talk about. Didn’t have a sniffle, didn’t have a stuffy nose, a cough, none of that. And I was like, that’s interesting. And then the next couple days, I still was running to the bathroom and then, you know, days, weeks and on.

Michelle 00:02:09 I’m like, still running to the bathroom, but not knowing if I was coming or going. I didn’t really know what was going on, to be honest. I was like in it and like didn’t realize how bad off I was, although I think I did know how bad I off I was both sides of that. Like I couldn’t even eat a full meal without running to the bathroom So that lasted a long time and I couldn’t figure out what food was triggering me. If there was a food that triggered me, the whole triggering of foods wasn’t even kind of in my wheelhouse of thinking. I just thought I had something in my stomach from the Covid still, and I needed to get Covid still out of me.

Jessie Wong 00:02:54 and how long have you had that symptom for before you seek medical help?

Michelle 00:02:59 Yeah. So that was like August 20th of 2022. And then I finally, at the beginning of November, happened to be at a pediatrician’s appointment with my youngest, and she something got brought up and she said something about Fodmap.

Michelle 00:03:13 And I was like, what’s that? I never heard of that. And then of course I went home and googled away. And so I kind of started dipping my toe in that and putting on it, you know, myself on that and trying to just. But obviously it’s a really hard thing to do by yourself. You need someone who has expertise. So I kind of I would say I dabbled in that for three weeks. And then I saw a GI nurse practitioner who at the time put me on a medicine, and she never said the word Sibo. I had never heard of it, which is in small intestine, bowel bacterial overgrowth. And so I was on some really powerful antibiotic, I believe it was for like two weeks and it complete. I could just tell my stomach was just being stripped away and I went back. I’m like, well, I don’t think I’m any better. And she’s like, you’ll get better, you’ll get better. But she didn’t offer me any tools or anything.

Michelle 00:04:02 And I remember asking her for a dietician, and she just kind of looked at me like, why would you need that? Okay. And then I remember calling the office like two weeks later, like in tears, like, no, I’m not okay, I need help. I think I need a dietitian who can help me sort this out. And they kind of were like, no, you’re fine. I’m like, there’s nothing about this. That’s fine. and so I then started searching on social media, and I don’t even have accounts like I was just like, I’ve never posted anything on Facebook or Instagram or anything. And somehow I came across your post or your something about your free masterclass in January.

Jessie Wong 00:04:44 Oh yes. Okay, the free masterclass. Do you think that masterclass was very helpful?

Michelle 00:04:50 Oh, 100%. I think it was the first time, like I heard things. I’m like, I think this program can really help me. and then I remember I was able to write in a question on the webinar or zoom call about Covid, and you answered it directly, and I was like, oh my gosh, she actually answered my question.

Michelle 00:05:12 And you were so confident that you could help me. And I loved your approach that I was like, I got off the thing. I’m like, honey, I think we need a I need to purchase this. He’s like, you mean to tell me you’re on Instagram and you’re going to pay what for what? And I was like, yeah, I think I’m taking taking a leap of faith. Thank God. Thank God I did. Yeah, thank God I did.

Jessie Wong 00:05:36 Yes. For anyone who wants to watch our free masterclass, it’s a really good in-depth, and actually I would say it’s more educational based. Masterclass to the tail end of the masterclass. We talk about our group program if you want to join. But for the first part of the program we talk about different types of IBS. What are some symptoms to watch out for, and what are some of the practical tools that you can do to really help, understand your symptoms better and find some relief? So if you’re interested in watching our free IBS masterclass, go to IBS dietician.com/masterclass.

Jessie Wong 00:06:08 masterclass. Okay. Well thank you for trusting us. And I am so glad that you joined our program. and I still vividly remember at our first sessions you were in tears. If you don’t mind. I don’t know if you remember that. Yes, I will. You can take away whatever you want to share. Yeah.

Michelle 00:06:27 Oh, you share what? Your side of it. What? You’re. I’m fine.

Jessie Wong 00:06:30 Oh, I think you started a program. Right? And then you started watching our videos. And if I remember it correctly, you were taking a supplements that was making your diarrhea a lot worse. And of course, in our program, the first thing we say is please stop any supplements you are taking that is not a prescription medication. And after stopping that supplements your symptoms improved and you share it with me in that meeting is that this is like the first time in months where your diarrhea is not as severe. Yeah. Do we remember the same thing?

Michelle 00:07:04 Oh yes.

Jessie Wong 00:07:05 Yes, yes.

Jessie Wong 00:07:06 And for those of you listening for our listeners here, if you are struggling with diarrhea, one thing we want you to know is supplements may not be helpful and sometimes they can be the culprits. Why your diarrhea is becoming more severe. So please, please, please, you know, always talk to your health care provider before taking anything or if they are recommended by your health care provider, ask them how long you need to take it for. What are some of the outcomes you need to be measuring to see if the supplement is helping? Because if it’s not helping, you want to stop it. Okay. Right. okay, let’s let me ask you the next question. What do you think was your biggest challenge or frustration prior to joining a program or prior to working together?

Michelle 00:07:52 I had no plan. Every day I wake up and it was like, what am I going to eat? Is it going to make me sick? I have no idea. I couldn’t eat full meal, so I was kind of eating every two three hours.

Michelle 00:08:04 I lost a little bit of weight. Not much, maybe like 2 or £3. So it wasn’t like I was like dropping weight and like there was a concern there, but just constantly thinking about food and what I could eat and how I might feel better. Took a lot of air time. And so I think being part of your program, there was a plan in place. I finally had a roadmap like start here, listen to this video. Just little things. Like I always drink a lot of water, but you know, you’re like, that was one of your things. Make sure you’re drinking plenty of water, which I, I thought, I drink a lot and I think I still do, but I’m sure there was room for improvement, especially just kind of flushing out. So that was helpful. That was one thing I really remember from the lifestyle change section of your program. another one was I enjoy working out and I had a hard time working out in like my stomach and you’re like, yeah, Michelle, it’s too much.

Michelle 00:08:58 Your all your blood is being, you know, sent to your stomach. Maybe you can’t do those high impact stuff. Not that I was doing crazy high impact, but it was still too much for me. so that was kind of helpful knowing that. Right.

Jessie Wong 00:09:14 I’m glad you share about this, because I think a lot of the times people come to a dietician thinking that one is going to have to restrict their diet because we put people on a diet. That’s not that’s entirely not true, because the goal is always to expand your diet. And the other components that we don’t often talk about is working on the lifestyle side of things, because that can really impact a person’s digestive track and also impacts, I guess, the central nervous system to improve it, to help you to help the recovery process be faster and a bit smoother. And yes, you are just saying about the exercise portion and drinking enough fluids. And then there’s also other components as well that we do now after we started working together.

Jessie Wong 00:09:57 Do you remember a specific point where you know that the program is working?

Michelle 00:10:02 Yeah, I think we finally identified what my trigger was or what we suspected it was. And I remember March of 2023, I was on spring break with my daughter, and so I went to like the chef or whoever it was at the resort that was like an all inclusive. And they kept me, kept me safe the entire week. And I was not sick that entire week. And I was like, oh, that must have been my trigger, which you had already pointed out, probably was my trigger. So it just kind of reaffirmed that that was my trigger. And then that’s when I completely eliminated that trigger for my life. And I’ve still, you know, it’s not in my life that trigger. I will not consume that food.

Jessie Wong 00:10:46 Yes. And for anybody else listening, we because everybody have different triggers. We don’t want to maybe share what that food might be because it may not be your own trigger. So identifying your own trigger is really important.

Jessie Wong 00:10:59 And that was the turning point. You realize, oh, you know, after removing that food, you were not running to the bathroom constantly. And do you mind sharing a little bit about the process? Because we when we identify a trigger, right. We don’t just say that it is your trigger. We still do a challenge. Do you remember the challenge?

Michelle 00:11:18 Not specifically. I think if I went back to my binder, my notes, it would bring shed some light, on it. But I still I think one thing that I remember is I didn’t realize how long it would take my gut to heal. So I had had Covid in like August 20th. And so that was March. So what about seven months later of damage and then eliminating that trigger from my diet? It took me to the end of July to eat a full meal at one city I was still only able. It took me like four months for my gut to heal from whatever Covid had, you know, done to me and that that I didn’t realize.

Michelle 00:12:01 Like at the end of July, I was like, oh my gosh, I just ate a full meal in one sitting and I’m okay. Like, I don’t feel like I didn’t, you know, I wasn’t registering it in my stomach as much. Not that I wasn’t running to the bathroom at all. That had minimized significantly.

Jessie Wong 00:12:16 Okay, that’s really good to know. But it does take some time, right? After identifying the triggers and removing from your diet. Now again, my people have different triggers. Sometimes this understand the level of tolerance. You may still be able to eat your trigger food, but you need to understand the level of tolerance. But then there are some triggers where we do have to remove it fully for the GI tract to start healing. Well, it’s been a while since you’ve finished a program. How do you think your life have changed since finishing the program?

Michelle 00:12:48 In some ways, my life’s a lot harder because my trigger is challenging. but, I don’t I don’t worry about the food anymore.

Michelle 00:13:00 when we travel, I’ve done it a ton. I have kind of like my bag of food. I would say the kind of. The one bummer would be like to go to an event and, like, you don’t want to worry always about, like, what you’re going to cook, what you’re going to make. And I don’t have that luxury to just show up at a party and be like, I’ll just see what that’s at the party. That just that’s in my history. I can’t do that any longer. So then I just kind of have to know that that’s not in my world any longer. So I eat before the party. I eat after the party. I don’t like it. But if that means me being safe and me being healthy and me not being bloated and me not running to the bathroom, then it’s an easy fix in life. In the grand scheme of things, I could have something so much worse off from Covid. I don’t have brain fog. I have plenty of energy.

Michelle 00:13:51 so, so much worse could have happened to me from Covid, so I’m appreciative that it is a simple fix, but totally not a simple fix. Removing it from my diet.

Jessie Wong 00:14:02 All right, well, thank you for saying this. and for anyone listening, you know, if you do have a food trigger, it can be really hard, especially during special occasions or events like what Michelle is saying, because you know, you are avoiding maybe certain foods or foods that are catered at an event to keep yourself safe. But having the mindset knowing that this is what is best for your body, it can be really helpful to think about it that way so you don’t so you don’t get sick, or so you don’t have to deal with the consequences later on. So knowing your trigger is really important in that sense. But sometimes knowing your trigger can also be a difficult thing to I remember, I don’t know if it’s okay to say I remember initially when I suggested, oh, this might be your trigger.

Jessie Wong 00:14:47 And you, you know, we want to avoid it in its entirety and it might be in these things. I don’t know if you remember, you shared in our small group where you said, in my house, like I said, you said something like Jesse said, I cannot eat this. Jesse said, I cannot eat that. And then, I think it was so interesting because of course, when you’re going through the transition, right, there’s a lot of grief and there’s a lot of probably anger, maybe not so much toward me. But you are able to, you know, express it in a way to get it out of your system. And I think that is completely okay. And we had such a wonderful and supportive group. I don’t know if you remember sharing this. And I think everybody was laughing. Yeah, yeah.

Michelle 00:15:34 Well, I said it. I used to say it nicely. I was like, just can’t have this. And I’d be like, Jesse says, I can’t have, like, I’d be like, totally.

Michelle 00:15:40 Like if my family is like, who? The Jesse like you are part of our family. They all my kids know who you are and oh, like, what does Jesse say? And Jesse this and Jesse that for all those 14 weeks. So it was good. They, they were all. You know, it was funny, but I, I to your point, I was angry. It was hard. It is hard. But again, life, everything is relative. I’m healthy. I’m happy. I’m safe. I’m okay. I can remove a trigger. I can do this. I can do hard things. So can anyone else, right?

Jessie Wong 00:16:13 Oh, that’s powerful. Thank you. Because the process is not always easy. Now some of our clients is relatively easy is really just resolving the constipation. But some of our clients do have a true food intolerance. And in those cases, you have to avoid the food trigger in its entirety. Oh wow. Thank you for sharing that. And I thought it was hilarious.

Jessie Wong 00:16:33 No, I took no offense at all because I know you know, I know part of the grieving process. Yeah.

Michelle 00:16:40 Yeah. Because you you speak of that in your in your program, there was a part about letting it out and like going through that process of loss.

Jessie Wong 00:16:49 Yes. And that is very important. And for anybody else listening here, if you do have a real food trigger and if you are going through that process, you know, seek out help and sometimes certain mental health, providers who specialize in the GI area can be a really helpful resource to help you process the grief, to help you process the loss of certain foods that you cannot eat. But again, as a dietitian, I would say, please, you know, don’t just cut things out because you think they are your triggers. Even the low Fodmap diet, it is temporary. And then we what we do is we go through a step by step reintroduction process to identify your trigger and understand your level of tolerance. I think that is the key.

Jessie Wong 00:17:30 Most of the time, you don’t have to cut out a formal group entirely. There’s probably still a small amount that you can consume. Michelle, did you go through the formal challenge?

Michelle 00:17:40 Yes, we did do that.

Jessie Wong 00:17:42 Okay. Do you remember if you had any maybe specific Fodmap triggers at that time?

Michelle 00:17:48 I did not. I was fortunate, fortunate enough that that was not one of my triggers.

Jessie Wong 00:17:52 Okay.

Michelle 00:17:53 Back to the whole part about the grief thing. I think your the program that I did with you in this small group we met every Wednesday. It felt like sometimes it could be an hour, sometimes it went to two hours. but I feel like that was like my therapy. Like, I don’t know who these other people were in the group. I saw their faces. I saw their logs, and, their diaries of their food. And it was such knowing that I wasn’t alone, that this wasn’t even though my journey to get to you was different than their journeys. Some of them had years and years and some other medical complications, and mine was pretty new, but we were all in it together and that was really, really helpful.

Michelle 00:18:34 I look forward to those Wednesdays afternoons in my kitchen. And, it gave me a peace. So thank.

Jessie Wong 00:18:42 You. Well, thank you for sharing that. yes. And I don’t often remember that is a big piece of our program. I think a lot of the times people are afraid of doing group program because they feel like, oh, no, this is such a private information. I don’t want anybody else to hear it. But what people don’t understand or if you’re listening, if you’re considering about the group program, is that in a group program is a very safe environment. First of all, everybody’s going through similar situations. Nobody is the same, right? But everybody’s going through similar situations and they have their struggles. And it’s very nice hearing other people’s struggle and other people’s successes, and then also sharing your own struggle, because these are the women. So it’s only women. These are the women. And of course, as dietitians in the program too, we understand exactly what you are going through and we can provide the right support to help you one feel better about your situation and also giving you the tools to really manage it.

Jessie Wong 00:19:44 Okay.

Michelle 00:19:45 And then hearing your advice you would give others, like I’d be like, oh, that’s interesting. And maybe a week or two later I was like, oh, Jesse said two weeks ago, do a, not b. Oh, okay. Like I didn’t have to worry about texting you or contacting the group. I remember what you said. So even though it didn’t apply to me then it applied to me two weeks later. And so that was kind of helpful to just kind of hear the other tidbits of information.

Jessie Wong 00:20:09 Right? Right. And would you say that is a very safe environment and you feel okay sharing whatever.

Michelle 00:20:17 Oh, absolutely. Yes, I loved it.

Jessie Wong 00:20:20 Thank you. Yes. Okay. I think let’s wrap up our conversation here. What would your recommend recommendation be for people who may be struggling with IBS right now and they don’t know what to do next? I’m sure a lot of listeners might be in the same situation, and they’re just not quite sure what the next steps are.

Michelle 00:20:38 Well, my first thing would be run. Don’t walk to Jesse. I don’t know where I would be without you. without the program. It’s great. Thank you. Because it was such a journey, to feel better. It was horrible what Covid did to me, what it’s done to other people. And it was hard. It was hard. I was in isolation. No one, you know, thank God I had an awesome husband. I had awesome children to support me, but they couldn’t help me at times because, you know, they didn’t have the information. The doctors couldn’t help me. so, you’re just such a tremendous help. I really don’t know where I would be. I think I’d still be struggling trying to figure out, oh, this or that or that, because when we went through the triggers, I never would have dreamed that would have been my trigger. So, yeah. And you just had so much confidence and empathy. you’re a compassionate. You are available. you’re kind and funny at times, you know? So it’s just it was a perfect package to allow those of us who suffer.

Michelle 00:21:49 And it was such a holistic approach with the lifestyle, the group setting, the software program even that you use was so user friendly. Yeah, it was just I can’t recommend it enough. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Jessie Wong 00:22:04 Yeah. All right. For those of you who may be listening, you know, if you’re interested in working with us, I would say go watch our free masterclass. First, learn more about our approach, whether it is suitable for you or not. And we. There are three things we really do in our program. One is identify your food trigger if you have one, because not everybody with IBS has a food trigger. And then the second thing is identifying your lifestyle trigger if that is something. And of course there’s always some aspect of our lifestyle that we can improve. and then the third thing is also creating a long term plan to help you improve your function in the long run, because it’s not a short sprint. Yes, the program is 14 weeks, but it’s not a short sprint, and what we hope to accomplish in the program is to set you up with a solid foundation in the long run.

Jessie Wong 00:22:52 So thank you so much, Michelle, for joining me today and sharing your touching story. This is going to be really helpful for everybody who may be struggling right now and not sure what to do. 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 favorite podcast platforms and please leave us a five star review! We would really appreciate that you can access links mentioned in this episodes 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. 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.