Announcing Best Life’s Energy Accelerator Program! Learn More

Back to the Blog

Patient Success Story: Emilie

Jun 27, 2022 | Blog, Functional Medicine

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

Issues in the gut don’t necessarily cause gut issues.

It seems obvious to look at the gut when that is the patient’s primary concern but what about when those symptoms are not a big concern?

You know how they say what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas? The gut isn’t like that– issues in the gut don’t stay in the gut. An imbalance in gut bacteria can lead to an array of symptoms ranging from skin issues to depression/anxiety to autoimmunity and yes, gut issues too. The thing is when you aren’t feeling well, there’s a reason. Often that reason can be found in the conventional approach to healthcare, but when it isn’t found, it can be found by digging deeper.

My approach is to partner with patients and look together for these root causes in a step-wise fashion. The body breaks down in a predictable manner and we usually find the answer by looking at the most common causes of dysfunction from a functional standpoint: adrenals, hormones, gut issues, and toxic overload. If we don’t find an answer there, we keep looking. Your body is an amazing machine that was designed to function optimally. When it isn’t, there is always a reason![/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row content_placement=”middle”][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]

Meet Emilie.

Emilie is 74 years old. She has had a history of severe eczema for the past 3 years. She was initially misdiagnosed with scabies, but when the treatments didn’t work, she was diagnosed with papular eczema. The rash covered her entire body from her neck all the way down to her feet. It itched and affected her quality of life. Steroid creams helped a little but never caused the rash to go away. The relief was temporary. When she stopped them the rash would return with a vengeance.

Because she wasn’t responding as typical eczema patients do and she had a history of hyperthyroidism as a teen and then hypothyroidism in her 40s, her dermatologist appropriately decided to dig deeper. She ordered thyroid antibody tests and was diagnosed with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis.

Seemingly unrelated, Emilie also had some gut-related symptoms. She suffered from constipation, bloating, heartburn, and gas/belching. She also experienced mild intestinal pain and mild nausea. These symptoms were present for years also. She blamed these symptoms on her diet. She had cleaned her diet up in the past and during that time her symptoms were much better. Although even when she was perfect with her diet, the symptoms weren’t entirely gone. Intuitively it seemed to Emilie that there was something more going on.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”14817″ img_size=”full”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row content_placement=”middle”][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]When I first met Emilie in the summer of 2021, she was looking to discover the root cause of her thyroid and eczema issues, eliminate those issues and come up with a structured life plan for her health.

We both appreciated the work the dermatologist had done, but we decided to dig even deeper. For starters, we checked her adrenals. We also did in-depth thyroid testing. Once we established a strong foundation, we tested the gut.

Want to know what we found and learn how Emilie is doing now? Register for my free workshop on gut health taking place on July 28th at 7:30 PM EST. You’ll hear more about Emilie’s journey and so much more. I hope to see you there!

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_cta h2=”Register for Learn With Dr. Libby” h4=”Why Should We Care About the Gut?” add_button=”bottom” btn_title=”REGISTER TODAY” btn_style=”custom” btn_custom_background=”#ecaa00″ btn_custom_text=”#ffffff” btn_link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fbestlifefunctionalmedicine.com%2Flearn-with-dr-libby-why-should-we-care-about-the-gut%2F”]Through her experience in conventional and functional medicine, Dr. Libby Wilson has seen through her own health and through the health journeys of her clients about why we should care about the gut, how to properly test the gut and how a Functional Medicine approach may be just what your body needs to get back on track.[/vc_cta][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Related Posts

Are Doctors Influenced By Big Pharma?

Are Doctors Influenced By Big Pharma?

There are a lot of things that I used to believe that I now doubt in regard to medicine. Like are doctors influenced by Big Pharma?    As in any profession, there are some unethical people but as a whole, the majority of doctors I’ve come to know are caring...

read more
Sober Curious? Going Alcohol-Free Is Trending (& Good For You!)

Sober Curious? Going Alcohol-Free Is Trending (& Good For You!)

Let’s raise a glass to your good health - but let’s make the contents of that glass alcohol-free. For many years, it was widely accepted that moderate alcohol use was actually healthy, in the absence of alcohol dependency or health problems exacerbated by alcohol. But...

read more
The Top 5 Latest Health Trends

The Top 5 Latest Health Trends

Many health trends come and go, and at times it can be difficult to determine fad from fact and healthy from unhealthy (we’re looking at you low-fat and Atkins diets). In college, my friends and I would consume lots of licorice, Fig Newtons, and Snack Wells.  They...

read more