Anxiety, Arthritis, Brain fog, Digestive issues, Ileocecal valve blockage and Tinnitus

Do not give up hope. I did. I had tried ALL the options given to me: colonoscopy, diet changes (no wheat, no dairy, no sugar, for 3 weeks each on my own), CT scan, MRI, all related to what I believe are related to Ileocecal Valve Syndrome. ALL my doctors and experts had told me – “There’s nothing wrong with you, go home.” EVERY day I would get up, after having not slept well or at all, to feeling like I had the flu when I knew I didn’t have the flu. I felt completely exhausted every day. I felt “brain fog,” to the point of worries of dementia, and had noticeable decreases in perception, memory, retention, and cognition/learning abilities. I wasn’t able to fall asleep, and if I was completely drugged up enough to fall asleep, it was for an hour and I’d be right back up and unable to sleep again. If I tried to ‘sleep in’ more than six hours, I had kidney pains. I had tinnitus really bad, and growing, chronic pain from arthritis all over my spine and joints. I had stomach pains or discomfort most days, knew I had some GI issues, and would have to push a golf-ball-sized blockage through my ileocecal valve several times a day. .I was worried that I had so little brain power and energy that I couldn’t complete my normal duties in IT networking or physical hobbies or family life anymore. I was dizzy, felt awful, and maybe worst of all I had never been like that for the first 51 years of my life. I was throwing up one to two mornings an month, sick most of the time, and having to call in sick due to GI ailments and couldn’t figure out what had gone so wrong with me. I figured either give this a last shot, or let myself degrade until I had irreversible damage and was unable to work anymore or have hobbies.

Everyone has a different set of variables or problems to fix – mine were so interrelated that it was a minor miracle to even figure out, let alone to solve. My problems were generally related to diet and attitude, as well as health changes. ENTER Aarti Batavia – I had heard from a relative that she had helped him with his troubles. I filled out all the forms, got on an individualized anti-inflammatory food plan. I had several rounds of blood tests to discover exactly what was causing me troubles – what a relief to have concrete evidence of precisely what was causing me so many problems. There were multiple, different foods and sources, but not the standard “gluten intolerance” or “peanut allergies” or “lactose intolerance” that everyone seemed to rule in or out before the blood tests. I learned about a huge bunch of foods and ingredients and chemicals, about how my body or GI system reacted to them. Fascinating learning precisely what was causing me so much grief. We worked on cutting out all the bad ingredients and foods my body no longer tolerated, worked on how I was dealing with stress. I knew I was not dealing with people, perception, or nervous issues very well. With a wonderful technique called squared breathing, I was able to calm down better, and I was tracking what I was eating each day as well as how I reacted to each food. I learned where my physiological weaknesses were, and what exact ingredients/additives/foods I should avoid that were now known to be causing me troubles.

The greatest change I have noticed is no more ileocecal valve blockages since just two weeks into my tailored diet changes. No more GI systems upset, much less sickness overall, no more feelings of malaise every day, and I was getting back to my old self of being able to be sharp and think clearly and be more able to cope with work problems and tackle learning or technical tasks each day. I’ve also noticed a lot of additional changes: no more headaches, I was getting them almost every day before – from 3 a.m. to 9 p.m. some nights. I was getting more energy, starting right out of the gate each morning feeling better and having enough energy to once again make it through each long day as I used to do, but now without having to take an hour or two rest for every hour that I worked or played. I could learn again, and memory and retention improved back to where I was feeling normal again.

I remember wondering, after starting the diet plan that had been designed for me, why I was doing this and if there was ever going to be hope of me feeling any better, ever again. I felt like I was broken and was only going to get worse. Two weeks after I had started all the changes Aarti suggested, I was already feeling more energy, almost able to go through a whole day without running out of gas, or feeling the crummy malaise or lethargy or foggy brain. I started to sleep a bit better, feel better, knew I was eating the right things and taking only the right supplements I needed. I ate healthier and lost weight – neither of which I cared about before really 😉

I would recommend Aarti to anyone who knows they want help and are disciplined enough to want to make the right changes, and learn what they need, and learn what they need to avoid. If you are willing to change a bit and learn a bit, you can make big advances, even after all your regular doctors tell you “We can’t find anything wrong,” when you know there is something wrong.