Case Study 3: The Gut’s Vicious Cycle

The final GPM Integrative Office case study focuses on a 20F employee. Leading up to her examination and blood work, she had a couple of key problems. During the day, when working, she often would have brain fog and inattentiveness. Additionally, she would often have mood swings and digestion issues like bloatedness.

Patient Medical History: The patient was delivered via c-section and had a history of frequent yeast and mycoplasma infections.

Bloodwork: The patient's blood work revealed:

• Persistently positive IgM(evidence of mycoplasma infections)

• Borderline high HbA1c

Intervention approach: 

Many of this patient's symptoms stem from her C-Section delivery. When babies are born vaginally, they receive good bacteria from their mother's vaginal fluids. However, since this patient was delivered via section - she did not receive that good bacteria - and instead, her gut was colonized with yeast. 

High levels of yeast in her stomach have been problematic - and are responsible for her frequent yeast infections. Furthermore, yeast is involved in a "vicious cycle" of:

Bad bacteria & yeast thrive on sugar and highly acidic environments

As a result of this process, her naturally high levels of yeast from birth have increased the presence of harmful bacteria in her gut. Furthermore, her overconsumption of carbs and sugars has increased her gut's yeast, which has increased her gut's bad bacteria.

This vicious cycle contributes to her: 1) Poor immune system, 2) being prone to infections, 3) digestive issues, and 4) All of those symptoms are worsened by high sugar and carb diets.

To help combat her health issues, we aimed to fix her gut by recolonizing it with good bacteria and removing yeast.

Interventions

1) Reduce yeast - and the sugars yeast feeds on

-Dietary changes - reducing carb intake and replacing it with vegetables, proteins, and healthy fats. 

-Berberine Supplement - To kill mycoplasma and yeast and help with sugar control

- Alkaline Water - This increases the gut’s PH(makes it less acidic) since yeast likes acidity

-Cinnamon supplement - To improve sugar metabolism so the gut's yeast doesn't feed on it

2) Recolonizing the gut with good bacteria

• Began taking a probiotic supplement

• Incorporate cultured foods into her diet