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Key takeaways:
- After 30 years of gut problems and painful reflux, a patient started two weeks of the low FODMAP diet before adding the Nerva gut-directed hypnotherapy program.
- Once hypnotherapy was added she experienced a 90% symptom improvement and passed every single food reintroduction, revealing no food intolerances.
- Her lifelong meditation practice helped her commit to daily gut-directed hypnotherapy sessions across the six-week program.
- When she stopped listening for a few weeks, symptoms like gas, bloating, and pain slowly reappeared, and revisiting the program helped her get back on track.
This blog explores a case study of a patient with 30 years of gut issues who achieved major symptom control through a combination of the low FODMAP diet and gut-directed hypnotherapy.
A history of problems
When Sue* first presented to Erin, she was desperate for help and depressed about her long history of gut problems.
“The first thing she said to me is that she'd had painful reflux for many years, and she couldn’t find help from anyone,” Erin said. “She told me within the past six months, her gut had become particularly ‘uncomfortable’, and she was experiencing gas, pain, and fatigue, which led to feelings of depression.
“She didn’t have an official IBS diagnosis at this stage, and her doctor had prescribed pantoprazole, which is often used to treat damage from gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). She’d also been taking probiotics and digestive enzymes, but they only helped her momentarily.
“For her diet, Sue told me she generally eats well overall and is mostly vegetarian. She had tried eliminating wheat, which helped for a little while, but was yet to try the low FODMAP diet.
“Sue said she had a bowel movement most days and wasn’t constipated or experiencing diarrhea, but her big issues were gas, pain, and bloating. Though, when she told me the gas and bloating weren’t occurring every day, I thought this might indicate it’s something she’s eating.”
