Meet Gail:
‘I look 6 months pregnant! It’s 5 pm, and my stomach is huge. It wasn’t this big this morning. Thank goodness for stretchy pants that suck it all in. I’m supposed to go out to dinner tonight with my husband. Jeans are not even an option at this point. I’m not even hungry; I already feel full. If I even eat a bite, I will literally explode.
I am so tired of this bloating and gas. I am like my own orchestra with the toots, bottom burps, horn blasts, and stealth bombers.
Okay, aside from the gas and bloating, I really think something serious is going on. My digestion is messed up.
I went to my doctor, and he ran blood work, did a stool test for ova and parasites, and tested for blood in stool. It was all negative. He said I was fine and told me to take over-the-counter gas-reducing medication.
But I feel like it’s more than just gas.
I am so tired all the time. I have brain fog terribly. It feels like a washcloth is in my head instead of my brain.
Plus, my skin on my face! My skin (on my face) will get red at random times, and there can be little bumps, or it's just rough. My skin is so, moody! Over nothing, or at least I don’t know what is aggravating it.
Yes, I am bloated, but I just feel full and heavy all over. Like I’m inflamed or something.
At least my doc ruled out anything serious, and my last colonoscopy, which was 4 years ago, was perfect.
I just feel like my gut is causing me problems. My doc thinks that I have gas, and maybe it’s in my head. My stools are not bad. I don’t have diarrhea, but do skip #2 every few days or have a bm every other day. So bc of that, my doc says I don’t have IBS, but I could consult a GI doc. But my colonoscopy four years ago was fine, and the GI doc said all was well. I am so confused.
I will eat something and have no problem. Then I eat that same exact food again the next day, and I blow up like a balloon. What is going on?’
Needless to say, Gail’s digestive system is not happy. And honestly, who can blame her? The digestive system is a long, complicated assembly line with many moving parts. A problem in even one step can throw off the entire process.
Again, there are so many components to the digestive system, such as:
- Mouth with salivary enzymes like amylase to start breaking down carbohydrates
- The stomach that breaks down food with hydrochloric acid and pepsin
- Pancreatic enzymes (amylase, lipase, proteases) are designed to break down carbs, fats, and proteins. The pancreas produces bicarbonate to neutralize stomach acid.
- The gallbladder that secretes bile to emulsify fats
- The liver detoxifies everything
- Small intestines that absorb nutrients to fuel your body
- The large intestine absorbs water and electrolytes, ferments fiber, houses the gut microbiome, and helps produce vitamin K, while also storing and eliminating waste.
With such a long and interconnected system, it’s no wonder it can be hard to pinpoint where Gail’s gut is going off the rails.
This is where comprehensive GUT/GI testing becomes incredibly helpful, allowing us to identify which parts of the digestive “assembly line” are underperforming, inflamed, overgrown, or simply exhausted.
Back to Gail:
I have taken so many probiotics, vitamins, and supplements with very little improvement. I have changed my diet so many times, with no real benefit. I do find the low-FOD map diet helps a little with my gas and stools.
But I am so puffy and bloated all the time. The fatigue and brain fog are starting to make me wonder, could this be something else? Something horrible, like the C word, or dementia?
And I cannot pinpoint what is aggravating my skin.
Some docs call it acne, others eczema, and others rosacea. I don’t know, but I hate the redness, the texture, and the bumps that come and go with no rhyme or reason.
I exercise, eat organic, avoid sugar, never drink soda or alcohol, drink alkaline filtered water, sleep 8 hours every night, use environmentally friendly products, meditate, donate, recycle, drive an electric car, treat others as I want to be treated… I mean, what else can I do? Donate my body to medicine??
I’ve taken so many blood tests from my doctor. And I am fine, he did say there looks to be a little inflammation, but at 49 years old, he says that is to be expected. Everything is always normal, fine, don’t worry about it, maybe it’s in your head?
Well, I know it is in my stomach, or digestion, or gut. I can eat the same thing one day, no problem. Then eat the same thing the next, and I am a bloated mess. Or my stomach is flat in the morning, and by late afternoon, I look 6 months pregnant, and feel so uncomfortable.
As a last-ditch effort, I am going to do a GI test.
Yes, I am going to do a comprehensive GI, advanced functional, multimarker stool assessment.
Basically a ‘poop-test.’
It has come to this. I feel so poorly, and will do anything for relief, that I am going to do a poop-test.
I am going to play with my poo. Oh, Gail, your life is weirder than fiction.
This is not going to be easy, and perhaps a bit gross.
- I’ve got my gloves, collection tray, tubes, bags, mailer… what I need now is…poo.
- I put the collection tray in the toilet
- Go potty #2 (don’t let any urine get in the sample)
- Use the scoop tray thing and transfer the doodie into the tubes.
- Put those tubes in the fridge and mail them out tomorrow
- Well, that wasn’t so bad, right?
Gail’s Poop-Test:
After waiting for what seemed like forever… at least two weeks, we have Gail’s results! Her comprehensive poop-picture.
This poop-test looks at four markers.
Each marker contains a surprising amount of detail.
In fact, for some, it can be difficult to interpret. That is why you are reading this. Let’s understand what the poop-test, I mean, stool analysis, really shows us.
Scoring:
0 = optimal
10 = most concerning
-
Maldigestion: 5/10 (Gail has a moderate need for digestive support)
- How well Gail’s body breaks down fats, proteins, and carbs
-
Inflammation: 10/10 (Gail has a high need for inflammation modulation)
- Tells us whether the gut lining is irritated or inflamed
-
Dysbiosis: 10/10 (Gail needs some major microbiome support)
- Imbalances in gut bacteria and the actual bacteria/microbes that make up your microbiome
-
Metabolic Imbalance: 0/10 (her small chain fatty acids look good)
- How your gut bacteria process food and produce beneficial compounds like short-chain fatty acids that support health and metabolism.
-
Infection: 10/10 (Gail is showing parasites, yeast, and pathogenic bacteria present)
- Parasites, yeast, bacteria, and pathogenic infections
Sum up Gail’s GI test:
- Her GI tract is inflamed and irritated,
- She has an imbalance of good vs bad bacteria
- Moderate pancreatic under-functioning (pancreas needs some help/support)
- Infection (parasites and bacteria)
What Can We Do For Gail’s Grouchy Gut?
- Calm the inflammation: soothe her gut lining
- Support Digestion: help her pancreas break down food more easily
- Clean up infections and overgrowth: address the parasites, yeast, and bad bacteria
- Rebuild the microbiome: reestablish the beneficial species that regulate immunity and calm inflammation.
It’s not a quick fix. To help repair Gail’s gut will be a process, but it is absolutely doable.
Understanding Gail’s stool test is only the first step.
The real transformation happens when you know what to do next.
In the paid version, I walk you through:
- How to prioritize Gail’s results (what actually matters vs. what can wait)
- Targeted strategies for: inflammation, dysbiosis, digestive support, and infections (parasites, yeast, bad bacteria)
- When diet changes help
- What supplements, antimicrobials, and probiotics are selected
- Why treatment timing matters (and how doing things in the wrong order can make symptoms worse)
This is where data turns into a personalized treatment plan, and where Gail’s gut can finally stop being grouchy.
Sound Familiar? If Gail’s story feels familiar, you don’t have to navigate this alone. Inside the Progress Your Hormones Community, we talk through real cases like this, explain testing, and focus on step-by-step ways to help support your gut, hormones, and overall health.
Our gut microbiome is like a fingerprint. It is unique to each of us, shaped by our history, hormones, diet, stress, and environment. Because of this, the gut can have a profound effect on our lives, influencing everything from our skin and energy to how we feel day to day. Gail is not alone; many people have symptoms that stem from their gut microbiome and digestion. If you resonate with Gail, you are not alone, and it’s reassuring to know there are natural, healthy ways to heal and support the gut.
