Mike suffers from recurrent diverticulitis. The belly pain is excruciating. Incapacitating, in fact. Antibiotics were all he needed the first time. The second time, they did nothing, so he ended up back in the E.R. and was prescribed painkillers. In the E.R. for his third bout, he was only given IV fluids and sent home. No pain relief, no specific treatment, no guidance on how to prevent the next episode. His pain continued for days. He was tired of it.

Following up with his doctor, Mike underwent a stool test to see what else might be causing his symptoms. “Everything is fine,” he was told when he returned for the results. “But I don’t feel fine,” he protested. He didn’t realize that conventional stool testing only looks for blood, white cells, a couple of parasites, and a few bacteria. Most of the time, these tests come back normal.

Talking to a friend, Mike learned about the benefits of bovine colostrum. He picked some up from Prestige Wellness Institute and made an appointment with the hope of getting some answers and relief. To his amazement, he noticed immediate improvement after starting colostrum alone.

During his first appointment, Mike was prescribed repair peptides and very high-dose probiotics. Then he sent a stool sample to a lab that specializes in advanced evaluation of gastrointestinal tract function. Upon his return, he was feeling a lot better. And he learned more about his gut function than he could have imagined was possible. He didn’t have any of the 29 really bad bacteria, viruses, parasites, or worms that were tested for. But he had taken so many antibiotics over the years that he was severely deficient in good bacteria. These tiny organisms are necessary for a number of important functions, including immune function, manufacture of B vitamins, and manufacture of fatty acids to nourish the colon.

Mike was also found to have several not-so-good bacteria in place of the good ones. You might think of them as weeds overtaking your lawn. Worse, one of these bacteria is a known cause of autoimmune disease. At least he didn’t have the kind that causes insulin resistance, diabetes, obesity, and acne. But he did have a fungal infection, which can cause a host of problems, such as sugar cravings, weight gain, brain fog, depression, fatigue, insomnia, diarrhea, constipation, and much more.

The most striking findings on Mike’s advanced stool studies had nothing to do with bugs, however. It turns out that his pancreas was not producing enough enzymes to digest his food. It’s hard to be energetic when you can’t absorb the nutrients you eat. Additionally, he had an indicator of intestinal hyperpermeability—otherwise known as ‘leaky gut’—and a raging case of inflammatory bowel. In other words, diverticulitis was not Mike’s problem after all. Instead, he has an autoimmune disease that has been damaging his colon for at least the last five years. And if he had continued simply enduring the pain and taking pain medicine for his bouts of “diverticulitis”, he wouldn’t have a colon much longer.

Mike underwent a treatment to remove his intestinal fungus. He started a protocol to repair his leaky gut. He adopted an anti-inflammatory diet and started a nutrient formula designed to shut down the inflammation in his colon as quickly as possible without shutting down healthy immune function, as steroids and immunotherapy do. Soon, he had no more constipation, abdominal pain, bloating, or night sweats. Without even trying, he lost 10 unwanted pounds in 10 weeks.

If your gut is making you an unhappy camper; you’re requiring drugs of any kind (prescription or over the counter) to control unpleasant symptoms; or you’re tired of not getting the answers you need, chances are good you would benefit from a comprehensive gut evaluation, possibly including advanced stool studies. Unfortunately, you’re not going to get the answers you need from a scope of your stomach or colon. Scopes have their place, to be sure. But if you are looking for detailed answers about how your gut is functioning, you aren’t going to find them through the lens of a camera on the end of tube.

Instead, you will find them in a laboratory that specializes in stool analysis. Your poop can tell a lot more about your health than you know. And you will find solutions to the problems identified by consulting with one of the functional medicine specialists at Prestige Wellness Institute. When you’re ready for real solutions, call (435) 210-0184.