How I Transformed My Digestive Wellness in a Year

This time last year, I was feeling the worst I had ever felt in my life because my digestive wellness was poor. I felt unhealthy, out of shape, and sick to my stomach every day.

I had always been someone who would look at reviews of restaurants in detail before deciding to eat out. And I have always been skeptical of cleanliness of restaurants and whatnot. This was all in an effort to make sure I avoided any potential stomach issues. No one likes those.

However, the gut health issues I experienced over the last year coincided with the client facing corporate role I had taken on.

I was constantly stressed and anxious at work because of frequent fire drills and urgent tasks, multitasking, strong personalities of senior management with whom I was frequently working with, and long hours. It was a 9-5 that was much more than a 9-5.

The prolonged stress and anxiety I felt facilitated the downfall of my health.

I began to notice things were not feeling right around this time last year. Pretty much every day of the week, I was experiencing some sort of stomach issue. My husband, (then fiance) noticed I was off. I would never have energy to go to the gym, I would barely eat or constantly avoid eating until I was absolutely starving. I knew I did not have great digestive wellness.

This went on for a few months non-stop. I knew something wasn’t right because it wasn’t like I was eating out frequently and caught something. Seemingly harmless home cooked dishes were making me sick too!

I knew I had to make some changes. So, like anyone else with something unexplainable going on, I first took to the internet.

I didn’t know what to call what I had going on. I was just searching the symptoms I was feeling to see if anything made sense. Of course, it only led me to think I was dying.

Word to the wise: do not go to “Doctor Google” when you aren’t feeling good. It will lead you to assume the worst!

Eventually, I decided it was time to speak with professionals. Once I did that, I realized it was the first step on the long road to healing. I was first diagnosed with gastritis and irritable bowel syndrome triggered by stress and anxiety.

I say “first diagnosed” because once I got that diagnosis, my physicians resorted to prescribing medicines to treat symptoms. The focus was not to improve my digestive wellness just to help me manage symptoms.

But as I met with different types of professionals and experts on digestion, I learned so much more about gut functioning and the gut environment. There were so many more factors at play.

I want to share my story because I always felt alone in this struggle with gut dysbiosis and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Now, I know that I am not and have not been alone!

There are so many people, and women specifically, that are out there struggling and suffering.

I want this to be a community of women learning how to heal their body holistically and become the best versions of themselves!

So here we are. I would say these are the key reasons I was able to transform my own digestive wellness within a year. If you are able to incorporate some or all of these, you will be well on your way to improvement as well.

1. Surrounded myself with the right support

First. I let my parents know that I wasn’t feeling well and that I had been struggling lately.

My mom could tell I didn’t sound energetic over the phone!

By speaking with my parents about my situation, I was able to learn more about my family health history.

Understanding your family health history is so important especially with chronic conditions. It helps you understand just a little bit more the potential root causes.

I didn’t have any family history of stomach issues that my parents knew of. That helped me pinpoint that at least it wasn’t genetic.

I also wasn’t an excessive drinker, and I didn’t have any terrible habits generally. The only factor left was my constant stress.

Also, opening up with my close friends about my digestive wellness journey came easily. I trust them with everything. They could also tell something wasn’t right when I started becoming super picky with where we were eating out.

I had stopped drinking as well because I realized that was hurting me so much more. Alcoholic drinks were just making matters worse.

It became super obvious to my friends that I had something going on because usually when I get together with my friends, it involves drinking since hangouts are infrequent given we all live in different states.

But what I realized in telling them was that I was not alone! A few of my girlfriends specifically had similar stomach issues.

For a long time, I kept my gut issues bottled up and to myself (which I am sure didn’t help).

I felt so alone. I always thought why was this happening to me? What did I do to deserve this? Everyone else looks like they are enjoying life. Why am I suffering?

But when I finally started opening up about my situation, I realized there were more people, in my circle even, who had similar issues if not the same!

And if that was the case, I could only imagine how many more people were out there in the world who suffered in silence.

2. I built a network of digestive wellness specialists

Next, I spoke with my primary care physician. She referred me to see a gastroenterologist, a doctor who focuses on the gut and all related organs.

The gastroenterologist was able to run specialized tests, such as an upper endoscopy, and was able to diagnose me with gastritis and eventually IBS.

I was relieved to finally be able to have a name for what was going on. However, those types of doctors only helped with managing the symptoms.

I was still feeling bad, and still kept taking medicine to ease the symptoms.

After doing more research on gut health and digestive wellness, I came across a holistic / integrative medical practice in my area and decided to try them out.

This was truly the transformative piece of healing my gut. If it is in-network for your insurance and you can afford it, I highly recommend you look into this practice of medicine.

They look at your entire health and different indicators to see what the root cause is of your symptoms and heal those instead of just treating your symptoms.

I also started seeing a therapist as well. It is essential to work through any traumas or mindsets that could be blocking you from healing from within.

IBS and gut related issues really are a constant feedback loop. One causal factor is that it can stem from anxiety and stress, which in my case it did. The symptoms are constantly fed by feeling anxious or stressed about the condition you have!

Working with my therapist has helped me break that negative feedback loop. She has also helped me rebuild my relationship with food which I had lost after months of not feeling well.

3. I took steps to remove stress from my life

Now, this in particular, needs to be acted on immediately whether or not your symptoms derive from stress. 

Even if your condition is genetic, or caused by some other reason, being stressed will not help.

Stress directly impacts the amount of cortisol (a hormone produced by your adrenal glands) that is in your bloodstream. So, levels of cortisol are directly tied to your stress levels. There is such a thing as a healthy amount of cortisol to be produced by your body. 

For that reason, too much or too little can adversely affect your health. I had way too much cortisol being produced by my body at that time.

And, “stress is a killer!” according to my doctor. It truly is not something to joke around about. It can be the root of many diseases and destruction of your body overtime. An example of which is negatively impacting digestive wellness which can lead to a whole host of other issues.

I took the stress I was experiencing and what it meant for me for granted for so long. 

I had always seen stress as equal to working hard. Just a thing everyone in their twenties went through to climb the corporate ladder and be successful. 

I mean, I couldn’t be the only corporate boss babe who was constantly stressed, right?

So, to tackle stress, I started going to acupuncture. This is common in traditional Chinese medicine for treating chronic conditions and improving overall wellness. There are even certain acupuncture points that specifically target digestive wellness and functioning.

I didn’t even know there was a difference between western and eastern medicine before I came across this treatment! I have noticed that since the focus of treating your entire wellbeing is similar across both eastern medicine and holistic/integrative medicine, you will often see holistic care centers offering acupuncture as a service.

Acupuncture helped me learn how to calm my body down. I was forced to lie still for 30-40 minutes with needles in strategic points in my body and focus on relaxing. This was virtually impossible at first. I slowly got better at clearing my mind and focusing on my breathing and just being present.

I started noticing immediate positive changes in my temperament and ability to manage stress within just the first few weeks of going. This practice also helped lower cortisol levels.

Along those lines, I started incorporating breath work and meditation into my daily routine where I could.

This was not easy because I was still working my not so 9-5 job, and I had a hard time actually finding silent moments in my day to practice this. 

But it was imperative that I managed my stress. So I did my best to find time and learn proper meditation practices, because this was all so new to me!

One of my favorites is the simple 5-5-5 breathing practice which helps to immediately lower stress and your body’s reaction to stress:

1. Take 5 seconds breathing in through your nose
2. Take 5 seconds holding your breath
3. Take 5 seconds breathing out of your mouth
4. Repeat at least 3-5 times or as long as you need to until you are calmer

I still do this breathing exercise when I feel the potential to be stressed.

Finally, when push came to shove, I removed myself from what was causing me the most amount of stress at the time which was my job.

I took a leap of faith, and asked for a leave of absence. Anyone in the finance industry knows this is quite the taboo thing to do.

I definitely do not know anyone my age who has taken a leave of absence for health reasons in the industry.

I was terrified to ask because of the stigma around it, how I would be perceived, and the potential impact it would have on my growth trajectory at the company.

Luckily, I worked on a team with females. It helped to be able to open up about my gut health and digestive wellness struggles and to have the support from my team. They encouraged me to take time to focus on my health.

I know not all of us are as lucky to feel free enough to speak to our boss about our personal struggles. Not to mention, lucky enough to even be on a team with a female boss!

But, being able to take the leave helped me to feel more like myself sooner.

By cutting out the primary source of stress, I was able to contribute a significant amount of time towards healing and understanding my diagnosis. 

It wasn’t easy to figure out what to do with my time, but eventually I found a good rhythm. Between nutrition/holistic appointments and therapy, I found a whole new meaning in life.

Here are a few things I have learned during my time off:

1. I realized that stress was not always a good thing, and I certainly shouldn’t always feel constantly stressed or anxious.
2. I learned that it was ok to not be ok with the state of your life at the moment.
3. And I learned it was never too late to implement change.

That is why I am here starting this blog. I hope that by sharing my story, someone can relate. And hopefully it helps too!

4. I focused on improving my sleep habits

This one took a lot of time. I was used to going to sleep at midnight or 1 AM and waking up at 7 AM for work. Rinse, cycle, repeat.

I always had this mentality that I needed to extend my personal time outside of work and obligations which often meant staying up late so I could have more time to myself.

My nutritionist told me that the most restorative part of sleep occurs between the hours of 10 PM and 2 AM. These hours would be crucial for healing my gut. Digestive wellness highly depends on the restoration process at night.

While you are sleeping your body is healing, digesting, preparing for the next day!

But, yeah right. How am I going to start going to bed at 10 PM? That was never something I had ever done before?

It literally took living in a different time zone on the other side of the world for 2 weeks during our honeymoon for my body to have a forced reset.

Of course, a more reasonable person could just gradually start going to bed at earlier times in 15/20 minute increments until the desired time feels comfortable!

Now, I go to bed around 9/9:30 PM and wake up around 6 AM, and I truly think that has made a huge difference in my healing journey.

I have been maximizing my sleep by doing the following things as well:

1. I stop eating at least 2 hours before it is time to go to bed.
2. I drink a soothing and relaxing tea like chamomile or lavender an hour before bed to help me wind down.
3. I leave my phone far away from bed (like in our bathroom) so that I do not lie in bed scrolling and can instead focus on sleeping. Additionally, in the morning when the alarm goes off, I am forced to get out of bed to turn it off.
4. Sometimes I wear earplugs if I am having a tough time tuning out the sound of the fan or if there is noise outside.

Try these tips if you are struggling to have good sleeping habits, and likely you will see after a couple weeks you start feeling energized and more balanced!

5. I overhauled the types of foods I was eating

One of the benefits of engaging a holistic wellness doctor was that I was able to get comprehensive lab and blood work done that was able to tell me what foods I was sensitive to, and what nutrients I was deficient in.

I see plenty of self service kits now. Similar tests done from the comfort of your own home too! There are plenty of options at different price points because today more and more people are realizing how important your health and wellbeing is!

 Unfortunately, my gut issues had gotten so out of whack! I had become sensitive to most food items! 

My nutritionist worked with me to figure out what foods I could still have. Then we slowly worked back in food groups over time.

Currently, I eat low glycemic fruits, most vegetables, and pretty much all meats, but I have had to avoid dairy and gluten which oftentimes are huge triggers for many people anyways.

If you think your digestive wellness could improve, try removing dairy and gluten as much as you can and see if you notice a difference. Foods that include these ingredients are harder for the body to digest.

I’ve been following this guidance since the beginning of 2023. To this day, I am still avoiding dairy and gluten when I can.

I allowed my body the space and time to heal by taking a break from the foods that were triggering and that I had a lot of sensitivity to,

On top of that, being able to give my body the nutrients it was lacking, such as vitamin D and vitamin B12, helped rebuild my energy and combat fatigue. Zinc supplements aided in the healing of my gut lining and supported a healthy gastrointestinal environment.

Taking time to focus on the nutrients your body needs and how you feel after eating certain foods is important for navigating your digestive wellness.

I would suggest keeping a food journal to help you monitor and remember how you felt after certain foods or nutrients. Overtime you can see if there are any trends!

For me, I was sensitive to most things, so instead I focused on figuring out what I could eat!

Overall, it is not an overnight process and will take time and commitment, which all the specialists I was working with never ceased to let me forget.

It would take several months for me to start feeling better. Just like it took several months for me to get to such a bad place. Additionally, the gut is so sensitive that it is important to make gradual changes and not overload it with a bunch of change at once.

Take your time. Take a breath. Recognize that you are not alone and that you are not the first and only person to be suffering from gut issues.

Realizing that and repeating that to myself helped me overcome some fears that I may never be able to live a normal life again.

You will be ok! Your here! You have found a community that will support you in becoming the best version of yourself!

We’re in this together!