Imagine walking into your doctor’s office with a problem and they hand you a basket of vegetables and say, try this for a month and call me.
That doesn’t happen in most situations. In my experience, I go into my medical doctor’s office with a problem and come out with some type of prescription for medication. Sometimes they can be truly necessary but are they always needed?
I remember going to my Gastroenterologist office after he determined that I had ulcerative colitis. I had been put on a massive dosage of steroids but according to him, more had to be done with medication. And why would he not….he is trained in medicine.
He looked me in the eye and said “If you do nothing, I will be removing your colon when you are 40 because you will have cancer”. That hit me…..hit me hard. I had a new baby, a husband, a life I wanted to live. Take out my colon, cancer….sign me up for whatever needed to be done to stop this.
So I began the trial and error of treatment medications. Within several months we determined the first drug was attacking my liver. The second wasn’t strong enough and I may have been allergic to it. Finally, after a second flare, my husband and I sat down to review my options for injections.
These injections happened every several weeks and would last for about 3 to 4 hours. The actual injection didn’t hurt, sometimes my skin became itchy but the injection itself wasn’t bad. The problem I had was that I was no longer experiencing any of my IBD symptoms…urgency to go, diarrhea, abdominal pain…etc but I still wasn’t right.
At this point my GI doctor had become more of my counselor than my doctor. He would listen to me and watch me cry. When my journey started he suggested that I reduce stress in my life but we didn’t talk about food too much. His advice was to try turmeric and eat more omega-3s. Two things I had never heard of before. I filled out a food log before every appointment and he never once asked about it.
I also remember having a conversation with my GI doctor about a tingling feeling in my face and my feet….it would come and go but there was never any explanation for it. I shared it with my doctor numerous times and finally, after doing my own research, I asked for a vitamin B12 test. And yep, my number was low (which is very common for IBD patients). I began to get injections of B12 and could feel the difference. I started to wonder what other vitamins and minerals I was missing.
As time continued, I still didn’t feel great. I was trying a couple supplements….eating what I thought at the time was healthier….and swimming every other day at the local YMCA. But something bigger had to be done.
I started reading and asking questions. I was told repeatedly that there was no way to manage my disease without these powerful medications.
Over time, I began to find people who had changed their life through food, meditation, movement, lifestyle and more natural ways of living. It was overwhelming and refreshing all at the same time. I thought, “I can do this!” “But where do I start?”
If you are about to talk to someone the first time or feel you haven’t been getting the care you desire, follow these steps.
- Don’t be afraid to ask questions. If your doctor won’t engage in a conversation with you, it might be time for a new one.
- Know your body and write down your symptoms. How many times do we go to the doctor and forget everything we wanted to say?
- Ask “what can I do to make it better or alleviate some of the symptoms”?
- Think beyond the pain or discomfort…..our body operates as a whole. Could intense headaches be symptoms for something else in your body? Don’t just take a painkiller, dig deeper, share more, and ask more.
- If you still aren’t satisfied with your current doctor, look for alternative forms of care. Integrative and functional medicine clinics are growing all over. This care focuses on the whole body and how to treat conditions more naturally.
You deserve the best care. Make sure you are prepared for your appointment and are meeting with someone who supports the outcome you desire.
