My SIBO Journey With Dr. Melanie Keller is a multi-part series. If you haven’t read my first posts, please take a look at my introduction, week 1 and week 2 to get caught up.

Welcome back to My SIBO Journey with Dr. Melanie Keller from SIBO Solution! Hold onto your hats my peeps, this week I take you on a wild ride! My treatment is going to go off course and you’ll see why healing is not always an upward trajectory and how setbacks may be beneficial in the long run. You’ll also have wonderful expertise from the fabulous Dr. Keller.

Personal Disclaimer: My SIBO Journey is just that, my very own journey. I cannot stress enough that everyone treating SIBO should have an individualized plan towards healing since it is so specific. I am a unicorn among unicorns. I have multi-layered diseases that can make my journey not look like the typical one. Please keep that in mind as you travel down this road with me.

As I entered week three, I was coming off of a topsy turvy week two. However, I was thrilled to have a weekend free from diarrhea and filled with more energy. I was also sleeping better. To say I was grateful was a massive understatement. My third appointment with Dr. Keller was approaching and it was going to be in person. I live in Orange County and her office is in Beverly Hills. With southern California traffic, I have opted for SKYPE appointments, but getting to meet her and have her examine me in person was something I was looking forward to. I was also going to meet with her colleague Dr. Edward Lichten.  If you recall from one of my previous posts, I had been reading Dr. Lichten’s book, “Textbook of Bio-Identical Hormones” which had been a very good read thus far. Dr. Lichten has many years of experience under his belt with all different kinds of patient’s in addition to his own autoimmune challenges.

Appointment Three

My husband was once again traveling and my best friend was planning on taking me to my appointment. As fate would have it, my diarrhea kicked into full swing again and super violent at that. I was extremely weak and depleted. The morning of my appointment I had to make the sad decision of not making the trek to Beverly Hills. Fortunately, Dr. Keller and Dr. Lichten were able to facilitate a SKYPE appointment instead.

This appointment gave me a severe reality check and explained a lot. I have wondered in the last several years why I am so extremely sensitive to food, water, chapsticks, anything! Why my body couldn’t tolerate herbs and how I felt like I could never make progress with my illnesses because as soon as I treat one the others go crazy! Dr. Lichten shed light on the fact that with my hormone levels being what they were in addition to other factors, my body’s true age was 94! What the what? My body is running only at 10%. No wonder I feel like !@!#%$^%^! It also illuminated the fact of why I can’t really tolerate things. Can you do an aggressive treatment for a 94 year old? No! They wouldn’t be able to hang and neither could I. 94 y’all!

Additionally, they encouraged me to keep increasing my dosage of Orapred. Dr. Keller also recommended a medication to help stop the diarrhea that will also help me sleep more…I’ll take it! They also gave me next steps on how to lower my DHEA (which I will get into in a later post). I left that appointment finally having validation of how bad off I was. It scared me in some ways but it was the reality in which I had already been living.

Then Things Got CRAZY

So you know how you hear those phrases like healing isn’t linear and all those other various sayings that are supposed to help you when dealing with setbacks? Well, I ended up making all of those statements true and then some! Hmmm….how much do I tell y’all? I think I’ll give you the brief overview….that may or may not be so brief.

Yep, that happened! After my appointment and upping my dosage of Orapred I couldn’t sleep one wink for 2 days, I felt severely dehydrated even though I was drinking non-stop and urinating every 10 minutes (annoying!), my body kept uncontrollably shaking and I was so weak that I felt on the brink of collapse at all times. I’ve gone into an adrenal crisis before and this felt like I was headed in that direction. Dr. Keller advised I go to urgent care to get an IV to get hydrated since all of my symptoms that I described sounded like dehydration to her.

Long story short, after several hours at urgent care they could not get an IV in me and I continued to go down hill. They sent me straight to the ER. I was eventually able to get an IV and the ER Doc’s ran blood tests and also gave me medication for my adrenals just in case I was going into an adrenal crisis. Before they gave me much in the form of IV, they came back with my crazy ole blood work (shown below) and said that I was fine and they needed the bed and sent me home.

I am fortunate that my best friend and her fiance were with me every step of the way. My husband got home from his travels and I felt a sense of relief but my hospital journey was far from over.

The Saga Continues

After my ER visit I did get a little sleep. The next day I was not great but much better than the day before. I continued on my medications and was hoping I could recover from all of this crazy. Sadly, the next day everything amped back up again the shaking, weakness the whole nine. Dr. Lichten thought that I may be going into an adrenal crisis and to get the ER within 30 minutes. From my experience going to the ER has brought me nothing but wasted time and enormous bills. The issues I have are way over the heads of my attending doctors, as great as they are. It’s me. I’m everybody’s hardest case. This time was no exception. They admitted me, gave me an IV and another shot to help my adrenals in case they were in crisis. They released me a few hours later…and that’s a wrap on week three! I survived…just barely!

Dr. Keller’s Expertise & Point Of View

I’ll never forget the first patient I saw at the SIBO Center who was referred to me because my mentor Dr. Steven Sandberg-Lewis wasn’t available. He was twelve years old and had two parents in medicine. After the intake and exam I walked out of the exam room at the same time as my mentor next door and I blurted out “I think this patient has Ehlers Danlos Syndrome”. I was immediately shocked that those words flew out of my mouth! I was a new graduate and must be just over thinking it. However he looked at me and said, “good catch”. I felt justified in pursuing it further. They had traveled from out of country so it put a damper on how I would ever get support from their medical system because it was a unique presentation and not textbook. In the end, the support was there and the diagnosis was made. I believe in trusting my gut. It’s not about being correct, it’s about finding a solution.

In Kacy’s case this was another rare presentation and I had to trust Dr. Lichten’s experience in hormonal/endocrine responses, and I trusted my gut that the helminth therapy that Kacy had been on for 7 months was contributing to the picture of the gastrointestinal, hormonal, and endocrine responses.

Dr. Lichten and I spoke several times to both the doctor in the ER and the hospital, and with all professional courtesy, neither could justify what the treatment should be as we were trying to tell them enough history for them to understand. Unfortunately in the ER the doctor can only focus on what is obviously in front of them LOUD AND CLEAR and because her labs were a bit of an enigma, they had to release her. I believe the doctor did hear us, yet their hands were tied. 

I describe Kacy’s situation as the newborn baby in a swaddle and I need to pass her gently to the next doctor, yet I have to find the right person to hold her properly. I spoke to everyone I could possibly think of and asked them if they knew anyone. In the end I used the UC Irvine hotline, and I spoke to a specialist and colleague who understands SIBO and is an endocrinologist. After spending hours trying to find someone who would even consider my swaddled unicorn, I had a new patient who began sharing their history and began describing exact symptoms as Kacy and I knew we were on to something!

-Dr. Melanie Keller from SIBO Solution!

Only the Beginning

My world was about ready to shift, move and come to a stand still all at once. Before I share that with you in next weeks post, you may be interested in how I handled this week on a spiritual and emotional level.

UPDATE: To continue reading my SIBO Journey, take a look at the next article in the series.

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Now that you have heard my crazy saga, I want to hear about your journey how it maybe hasn’t looked linear for you either?

Disclaimer

The medical information on this site is provided as an information resource only, and is not to be used or relied on for any diagnostic or treatment purposes. This information is not intended to be patient education, does not create any patient-physician relationship, and should not be used as a substitute for professional diagnosis and treatment.

Please consult your health care provider, or contact Dr. Melanie Keller at SIBO Solution! for an appointment, before making any healthcare decisions or for guidance about a specific medical condition. Dr. Melanie Keller of SIBO Solution! and Kacy Anacan of Sisters Undercover expressly disclaim responsibility, and shall have no liability, for any damages, loss, injury, or liability whatsoever suffered as a result of your reliance on the information contained in this site. Dr. Melanie Keller of SIBO Solution! and Kacy Anacan of Sisters Undercover does not endorse specifically any test, treatment, or procedure mentioned on the site.

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