My Experience with a Gut and Hormone Dietitian!
If you've been following along for a few months, you know that I started seeing a gut and hormone specialist (Allie) back in May. I have since completed a four months program/protocol with her, and I'm so excited to share more about my experience!
How we met!
I have known Allie for almost 5(ish) years now! I met Allie in college, as we were in the same sorority, and she was friends with my sister in law, Madi. I've stayed in touch with Allie, through my SIL, and we get to see her quite a bit, especially during the summer at the lake!
I have followed Allie's professional journey via social media and have loved watching her grow her business over the last few years. When I started experiencing symptoms I'd seen her frequently discuss on her Restored by Allie page, I knew she was the one I wanted to talk to.
My symptoms
While Allie works with many different kinds of people for a multitude of different reasons, she mainly specializes in treating people with gut and hormone issues. After nailing down exactly what my symptoms were back in the spring, I knew I fell into that category and decided to reach out.
I was experiencing so many different symptoms, but just to name a few:
terrible quality sleep, even with sleep aid
waking up to go to the bathroom 2-3 times a night
never felt well rested
fatigued throughout the day, felt like I could crash by 2pm
no energy in my workouts
unexplained weight gain
general puffiness/bloat all the time
extreme stomach pain after certain meals
zero tolerance for stress
intense cravings
brain fog
There were some other minor symptoms, but these were the issues I came to Allie really wanting to target.
What my 4 month protocol included
Initial Evaluation call (60 min)
Bi weekly phone calls (30 minutes)
Direct chat permission included for 4 months if there are questions between appointments (Allie responds to messages during normal business hours- M-F 9:00-5:00)
Lab Testing based on what you need
Discuss lab results and your personalized plan in detail
Review and adjust nutrition intake, lifestyle habits & supplement use
Strategize to make changes fit into your reality
Make adjustments as needed and talking out any wins, struggles or barriers throughout the process
Labs/Testing I did
Allie recommended I do 3 different kinds of testing:
GI sample
Extensive blood work (she ran 22 different tests)
HTMA test
My Results
Results are personal to each person, and while I won't get into the nitty gritty of what my labs showed, or what protocol Allie put me on (I would never want to say I take XYZ, and have someone go out at buy that thinking that's what they need), I wanted to briefly highlight what we found through my results.
Blood work results:
Moderate high copper
high zinc
low ceruloplasmin
high iron
low vitamin A
high histamine
What this means:
Copper is a very important mineral that regulates the functions of several processes in the body. It needs a balance of essential nutrients to be able to work optimally. With your labs copper was a tad high and its transporter, ceruloplasmin, was low which impacts the way copper can be used by the body Basically it means your body doesnt have enough "usable copper" which is so important energy, metabolism, iron regulation, defends against oxidative stress, riding excess serotonin, etc. Copper also impacts iron absorption. For you, your iron was high in the wrong places which we don't want to see because this can create inflammation in the body.
Interventions implemented:
We added in beef liver and cod liver oil, because they are potent source of all of the nutrients necessary for copper and our iron recycling system to work optimally. The cod liver oil has vitamin A which is needed for ceruloplasmin to properly work.
I had you donate blood to mobilize the high iron that was "stuck"
Thyroid:
tad high TSH
high reverse T3
What this means:
Basically your thyroid is not functioning optimally. Reverse T3 competes with our active thyroid hormone, which slows everything down and tells your body to "put on the breaks".
Interventions implemented:
Gave a thyroid support protocol and worked on some foundational things to help your thyroid function optimally at a cellular level.
A few targeted supplements based on your needs.
GI Map:
A lot of low normal flora
Low gut immune function
Response to gluten was moderately high
Zonulin- a maker of leaky gut was also high
What this means:
There were some bacteria that were deficient which can create a lot of inflammation in the gut. We want a very diverse microbiome to help support digestion, mood, sleep, energy throughout the day, etc. A low sec IgA is basically saying you have a weakened gut immune system. These guys are your first line immune soldiers- they keep the good guys in and the bad guys out. When this is low, it can lead to being sick more frequently, and reacting to foods more often. Anti-gliadin is a marker looking at how your body responds to gluten. Yours was moderately high, so we just went "gluten light" Zonulin is a marker of leaky gut, aka increased intestinal permeability. This means things can leak in or out, it does not have a strong protective mechanism.
Interventions implemented:
strong round of probiotics and prebiotics to support your good gut bacteria
dietary changes to support the microbiome.
gut immune system support
gut lining support
*limited* or became mindful of gluten intake
What's crazy about this is that I had talked to my doctor about all of my symptoms, and there was never any mention of testing anything, at all. My doctor's answer really was just to go off of birth control. And while I am not here to bash doctors or modern medicine in any way, shape, or form, I did feel somewhat written off after that was her only answer for me. There was no talk of any testing to learn more, getting my IUD removed was the only thing we ever talked about.
Would that have worked? I'm obviously not sure, but I am personally not ready to be off of birth control right now, and I felt very strongly about the fact that there had to be a way for me to be on birth control, and not feel miserable at the same time. These symptoms were also very sudden, and after having an IUD for 4 years, I just wasn't sold on the fact that it was overnight causing me these issues.
Video Sessions
As mentioned previously, after I completed testing, Allie and I met every other week for the full four months to go over the results, put together a plan of action moving forward, and to check in, assess, and make changes as needed.
This was the part of this process that I really enjoyed the most. It gave me a time to ask questions, for Allie to dive into specific feedback, give me smaller goals to work on each week, etc. People tend to throw the "advocate for yourself" advice around, but sometimes that can be hard to do in an a doctor's office setting. This process made me feel like I was able to take responsibility for how I was feeling, I advocated for myself, and I was able to get somewhere with someone who cared, and listened. And I was able to do that through these bi weekly calls!
My Protocol
As I mentioned previously, I won't be getting into what exactly Allie had me taking or what my protocol was. I say that for a few reasons!
I don't want you thinking that what I was taking, is what you need to take! My protocol was specifically developed by Allie, based on extensive test results.
My protocol was ever changing throughout this process! What I'm taking now is not necessarily what I started out taking. Allie took into consideration my feedback each week, to let me know what I needed to continue ordering, what I didn't need anymore, and what new supplements I might need to start.
How I feel Now
I feel like a different person than when I started with Allie. I have not one of the symptoms I rattled off at the beginning of this post. On our last video call, Allie asked, "what symptoms do you feel like you're still suffering from" and I literally have none.
It wasn't magical and it wasn't overnight, and I'm still a work in progress! But over the last four months I can safely say I feel a million times better than I did when I started. I am not bloated all the time, I have no brain fog, I'm energized, I wake up rested in the mornings, I never crash in the afternoons, I have a ton of sustained energy, I haven't napped in months, my skin is better, every part of me feels better! Every single bullet point I mentioned above is essentially a non issue anymore, and I am so thankful.
Investment
Like I mentioned, this process isn't cheap, but you get what you pay for and I would have paid for this 100 times over now that I know how much better I feel.
Total investment: $2997-3479, depending what labs and supplements are needed. It will be different for each person! After you complete a program, you have access to a la carte sessions and testing if needed in the future.
Working with Allie has been the best decision I've made for myself in a really long time. I truly felt like I got to the root of of my issues, most of which I had written off as, "I'll just have to live with it, it's hormonal", when that is truly not the case.
Allie is so passionate about what she does and that is so evident when working with her. She is a wealth of knowledge, she is incredibly good at explaining things in an easy to digest way, and she truly makes you feel cared for. She never made me feel like I was asking too many questions, no question was ever dumb, and I always felt like I understood why we were doing what we were doing.
I cannot say enough about her and this program and I would recommend it to anyone I know! If you're feeling stuck, like you can't get the answers you're looking for, or you just feel like you don't feel as great as you should/could, set up a call with her to see if you're a good fit.