For years it felt like I was just muddling through with my gut. I had symptoms, I was tired a lot and I kept turning up at my GP, but real answers never came. It felt like something I would simply have to live with.
When I eventually started passing blood, I ended up in hospital. Tests came back with a diagnosis, and that was pretty much where it ended. They told me what it was, but not what I could do about it. There was barely any support. If it got worse, I could always ring.
That felt empty and unsettling. I did not want a life spent waiting for the next thing to go wrong.
I found myself looking for something more. For an explanation. For someone who saw past a label for my symptoms. Out of nowhere I remembered a newspaper article I had kept years earlier. I still do not quite know why, but somehow I must have sensed I would need it one day.
From the moment I got guidance, my whole outlook shifted. My body was looked at as a whole, not just my gut, but my food, my lifestyle and what my body needed to settle down.
That meant big changes. My diet had to be completely overhauled. It took getting used to and it was not always easy. Some days went well, others did not. But what made the difference was that I was not left to figure it out alone. I could ask questions. I got explanations. There was time, and there was attention.
After a few months I really started to notice it. My gut calmed down. The tiredness eased. I felt steadier and more at home in my body than I ever had. My gut had honestly never worked properly before. Now it did.
It is not about letting everything go and never thinking about it again. I know now that what I do has a direct effect on how I feel. That comes with responsibility, but above all it gives me a grip on things.
Maybe the most remarkable part for me: I feel taken seriously again. By my body, and by the people guiding me. That has changed my life in a way I never would have dared to hope for.
