Irritable Bowel Syndrome
Step 1
Causative Investigations
Step 2
1:1 Consultation
Step 3
Lab Tests
Step 4
3-month Restorative Plan
Your Functional Health Score devised by the Institute for Functional Medicine is an assessment of the extent to which your symptoms are affecting your daily life. You will be taken through a series of questions and the answers will be submitted to me so I can calculate your score out of 200. An ideal score is less than 15 so the higher your score, the more benefit you would get from professional intervention rather than trying to manage everything yourself.
You are welcome to check your health score for FREE anytime by clicking this button. If you decide to become a regular client, I will keep a log of your scores each month and we will be able to measure the effects of the interventions to ensure you are getting the results you need. Please note that you will need to complete this quiz on a laptop or desktop computer as it is not yet compatible with phones or tablets.
Step 1: Causality Investigations
When you have been accepted as a client, you will be invited to complete 3 questionnaires as part of the initial investigations. The more detail you can provide in these crucial early steps, the better, so you may need to save your answers and come back to it later hen you have found out more dates or inforamtion.
in addition to being asked about your own health history, it is helpful (although not essential) if you can obtain information from your parents about their health when you were conceived, how your Mum was during the pregnancy, whether you were breast fed, what childhood illnesses you had, what conditions run in the family etc. This helps me to understand your heath during your early formative years because it could be that your current symptoms have been developing behind the scenes for a long time.
These 3 questionnaires will need to be completed on a desktop or laptop computer rather than your mobile device or tablet.
Step 2: One hour detailed Consultation
Irritable Bowel Syndrome covers a wide variety of symptoms that are experienced differently by many people. For some it is triggered by food intolerance, for others it may be stress, a change in diet, worry or anxiety. The best way to address your symptoms is by examining what is called your ‘functional digestion’.
Functional Digestion refers to your body’s ability to digest your food effectively and get it to where it is needed efficiently. It is the cornerstone to all your health issues whether physical, mental or emotional. Your body systems all need fuel in the right format and at the right time and the only way to get this is through your mouth. Your food is, quite literally, the building blocks of your body so anything that disrupts your ability to get the food to where it is needed is going to have a detrimental effect on all your body systems including your ability to think clearly, sleep soundly and move around comfortably.
Basic digestive health begins by knowing whether your body is physically able to break down, absorb and process the nutrition you put into it. Otherwise, it does not matter how healthy your diet is, you could still be malnourished. In functional medicine terms, there are 3 key areas to consider in digestive health: digestion/absorption, inflammation/immune function and the gut microbiome (the ‘ecosystem’ in your digestive tract).
Step 3: Test, don't Guess
Because there are many different causes of irritable bowel syndrome, I include three basic tests to identify where to break the cycle. All tests can be done at home, one is a 3-day stool sample to measure your body’s ability to absorb nutrients from your food and get it to where it needs to be. Two urine tests are done, one to measure the nutrient levels in your body and the other to measure sensitivity to 190 common foods. Find out more by clicking on each tab.
This is a very detailed 12-page report looking at how your digestive system is functioning. This test looks for maldigestion, inflammation (the main cause of chronic disease), dysbiosis (the balance of good vs bad bacteria which is particularly important for anyone who has been on antibiotics), metabolic imbalance and infection. In each of these 5 categories, your body is ranked 1-10 on whether there is a low need for support, a moderate need or a high need for support right away.
This excellent and very detailed report indicates whether you have the right nutrients in your body for the cells to function at their best and for you to have the energy you need. It also looks at oxidative stress which is the ageing process, not just in your appearance, but inside your body as well. This video explains it very clearly.
Measure your immune response to 190 common foods using this blood spot finger prick test that you can do at home.
Anti-Inflammatory Food Plan
To use your ‘food as medicine’, which is the ideal, can be challenging with irritable bowel syndrome because of the difficulty in digesting certain foods. To overcome this, we begin with an elimination diet or a detoxification diet (depending on your test results) then move on to an anti-inflammatory diet. During this transitional phase, Simone will recommend nutritional supplements that are readily digested and can get the nutrients to where they are needed without your digestive tract being overly taxed breaking food down.
All of these can be personalized to your personal preferences and in addition to recommended meals and recipes, you can add your own favorites. Working with Living Plate Rx, we can offer tailored meal plans and you cn even print out your shopping lists to make life easier and cut down on waste.
Advantages of Partnering with Simone
- No more ‘going it alone‘ and trying lots of therapies that don’t seem to work. Simone will be your Partner from Discovery to Recovery. I will not only recommend which tests and therapies may work for you, but I will discourage you from wasting money on unnecessary or inappropriate treatments.
- No more wondering what to eat and whether you will regret it later! Our meal plans are in-depth and tailored to meet your needs so that foods can be eliminated then reintroduced gradually once your gut lining has healed.
- Reduce the need for medication such as omeprazole! your body is trying to tell you something and it is NOT that you have a deficiency of drugs! Let’s get to the bottom of why you have acid reflux in the first place!
- No more repeating your symptoms and history to every health practitioner you meet. Our online portal will have a timeline of your health history, any interventions, diet plans, exercise plans and other relevant information needed. If you choose to share this with your healthcare team, Simone will co-ordinate a strategy of ‘joined-up-thinking’ with your other healthcare providers so we can all work together for your wellbeing and the best possible outcome.
- All our consultations are done online to relieve you of the stress and exhaustion of going out to your appointments.
- You have access to my calendar so you can book or reschedule appointments for your convenience.
- All the recommended tests are non-invasive which means that no blood draw is needed.
- The testing kits are sent to you at home for your convenience, then collected by courier when you are ready.
- Simone will identify trends that have developed year-on-year by creating a functional medicine timeline to see what has got you to this point in your health journey, then adding to the timeline each year giving you continuity of care and giving us the ability to spot ‘trends’ in your health with a view to identify potential warning signs early.
- No more confusion, isolation and lack of hope. Simone will help you fully understand the root causes of your health problems so that you will be empowered to make lifestyle and eating habits that will help you turn a corner towards a happier, healthier future where you will be able to reach your full potential without being held back by worsening chronic health problems.
