I came across an article the other day about a young woman who was struggling with awful bloating and weight gain, and it was a story I’m all too familiar with.
Kalista Dwyer, who is only 22 years old, gained 50 pounds in 3 months with no reason or explanation. She had very intense bloating and pain, swelling in her hands, and was tired all the time, according to the article.
Her conventional medicine doctor put her through very invasive tests and one doctor told her that her symptoms were simply “psychosomatic.” That is so heartbreaking.
As both a functional medicine physician and a thyroid patient, I hate thinking how badly conventional medicine is failing people, because I know how awful it feels to go through the medical mill because I have been put through it.
While I was in medical school, I struggled with the nightmarish symptoms of Graves’ disease, an autoimmune condition in which the thyroid gland attacks itself and overproduces its own hormone. Awful as the symptoms were, the helplessness was worse—the feeling that my life was no longer my own.
I felt as though I were living in a prison of anxiety, dizziness, and fatigue. “There has to be a solution,” I told myself as I stared miserably at my peacefully sleeping dog, Bella. But this was my life now, and I couldn’t help wondering whether this would always be my life.
Finally, my tremor got so bad that my friends noticed it. They were alarmed and convinced me to go see a doctor—who quickly brushed aside my concerns.
“I think this is just stress,” she said briskly. “You’re a second-year medical student, and it’s very common to think you have every disease you’re currently learning about. I wouldn’t worry about it.”
As painful as her response was, it provided a valuable lesson, much like the one Kalista recently faced – trust your instincts and advocate for yourself at the doctor.
Like the feisty Louisiana woman I had been raised to be, I demanded a full workup and lab testing. It turned out my instincts were right on the money. I wasn’t just panicking over courses and exams, and it wasn’t in my head. I had an actual, diagnosable condition: Graves’ disease. Finally, my misery had a name.
Because the conventional medical treatments for Graves’ were pretty terrifying. There were three choices on the menu, and none of them seemed like the route to a happy life. I knew there was a better way.
Conventional medicine is a “one-size-fits-all” approach that focuses on treating symptoms rather than trying to help you get to what’s causing those symptoms in the first place. Doctors told me that my symptoms were all in my head, the way they told Kalista they were all in her head. Thankfully, Kalista’s story has a happy ending.
In the article, Kalista said she felt defeated and that in a year she went from 120 to 180 pounds. Kalista turned to functional medicine. Her functional medicine doctor ran a GI-Map test and tested her for food sensitivities and intolerances. A month later, Kalista had a diagnosis: SIBO, Leaky Gut, and Candida. She also learned that she had sensitivities to rice, potatoes, corn, avocado, milk, beef, pork, broccoli, baker’s yeast, tomato, and asparagus, the article said.
Conventional medicine seeks a diagnosis and medicates symptoms, but fails to get to the root cause of the symptoms and the disease. This is why, many years ago, I created The Myers Way®. This proven approach is based in functional medicine, a medical approach that looks at how all the body’s systems interact and seeks to get them functioning optimally.
The Myers Way® gets to the root of your symptoms, helps you get off your harsh medication, and enables you to live a healthy, energetic, and pain-free life. This approach rests on four pillars, each of which has been tested through extensive research and has seen amazing results with thousands of patients over my own years of practice as a physician and while empowering the world to achieve optimal health.
If Kalista’s story sounds familiar to you, know there is a better way and you CAN reverse your symptoms and get to the root of what’s causing your symptoms. I’m so happy she was able to find peace of mind and it appears from her most recent Instagram post that she has begun her journey toward reversing her symptoms and getting back to living a healthy life.
