Getting My Life Back – Crohn’s disease

All of my life I have had intestinal issues. I can remember back to 3rd grade being stuck in the bathroom at school hoping that no one would walk in while I was in there. I was in there due to painful diarrhea. At that age, I couldn’t understand why no one else seemed to have problems while going to the bathroom and because I was so embarrassed I never asked or told my parents of my issues. They just knew that I would run away from the dinner table after drinking milk and having mashed potatoes for dinner and disappear into the bathroom for at least 15 minutes.

I went throughout all my school years like this. At the age of 18, I was first diagnosed with IBS and was told that I just had to deal with it. Then, at 24 years old, I was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis. About three years ago they “upgraded” my condition to Crohn’s Disease. I have been very sick for about 5 years. I would have terrible “flare- ups” once or twice a year where I was literally going to the bathroom 30-40 times per day. I had severe diarrhea containing blood and mucous but most of the times it was just blood and mucous with a little diarrhea. I would be put on heavy doses of steroids like prednisone for six months at a time.

During these flare-ups, I could hardly sleep. Any movement would cause the liquid in my intestines to move so I would have to run to the bathroom many times throughout the night. I would literally have about 5 seconds to get there. I used to love lying on my stomach to go to sleep but my large intestine was so badly ulcerated that the only way I could sleep was on my left hand side curled up with the heating pad and crying because the pain was so excruciating. I tried every drug imaginable including 6MP, Remicade®, and Humira®. At one point, I was taking the Humira® once a week for an entire 8 months.

In June 2008, I started getting really sick again. This was the worst flare-up that I had ever had. I lost twelve pounds in a week and a half! Everything and anything would rush through me at lightening speed. Sometimes I wouldn’t even eat and wondered, where was this coming from?! I could literally feel the liquid moving through my intestines. I would be able to tell you exactly at what point of digestion I was at. I had ulcers in my large intestines and I would feel this incredible burning pain as the food would move through.

The whole thing was a living nightmare and not something that anyone should have to endure, let alone a young person in her 20’s. It devastated me both physically and psychologically and I was really at my wits end. I have been to three gastroenterologists. No one could really help me other than prescribe steroids. I was also tested for celiac disease and it came back negative.

Out of desperation, I started seeking alternative healing since traditional medicine was just not helping me in any real way. In December 2008, while I was in a Reike class someone mentioned Dr. Silverman. I was so desperate to find some kind of relief that I thought, “I’ll try anything!” At this point, I wouldn’t even leave my house for fear of having to go to the bathroom. The physical aspects also carried a lot of secondary psychological components and I was just so completely miserable.

So, in January 2009, I went to see Dr. Silverman. I told him my debilitating health history. One of the first things he did, with his specifically tailored method of kinesiology, was test me for wheat sensitivity. He found me to be extremely allergic to wheat. I informed him that I would get hives on my face whenever I ate wheat. The traditional doctors told me since the Celiac test came back negative continued that means that no matter what, wheat is not reaping havoc in my intestines. As per Dr. Silverman’s suggestions, I stopped eating wheat and started taking the grain and seed mix he gave me. Miraculously, I started feeling a big improvement immediately. We also discovered that I was sensitive to certain vegetables which I also eliminated, as well as other foods like corn and lactose. As I healed, he discovered parasites. Through his method of kinesiology, we removed the things that I was allergic to and added various nutritional remedies to help strengthen my system.

After just a few visits, I saw a marked improvement in my condition. The first thing I noticed was the amount of bathroom visits a day had decreased. I also noticed that I was able to sleep more through the night without having to go to the bathroom.

By May 2009, I was able to sleep on my stomach again without having to go to the bathroom. This was a big deal for me because I am most comfortable sleeping on my stomach, but for so many years I was unable to do so without having to go to the bathroom. Also, by May, the diarrhea had stopped and my frequency of going to the bathroom went from eight to ten times a day down to four or five times a day. This was a huge improvement for me and allowed me more freedom in terms of being able to leave my house. The extreme urgency to use the bathroom had gone away as well.

I saw Dr. Silverman for eleven visits total over an eight month period and now I feel like a normal human being for the first time since my diagnosis nearly eight years ago. I am going to the bathroom on the average, 2-4 times a day (which I think is pretty normal compared to the average person) and I really don’t have any symptoms unless I eat something that I shouldn’t eat. I am really enjoying having the freedom to go out and not be preoccupied with the fear of finding a bathroom. I have no pain when I eat now and I am really starting to enjoy my life again. Now that fall is coming, I am looking forward to going pumpkin picking, something that I haven’t been able to do in many years!

Thanks Dr. Silverman, for giving me my life back!

Sincerely,
Carolynn Garcia