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My stomach trouble started in college around the age of 20.  It was shortly after a long battle with strep throat (group a and b) that took 2 months of antibiotics to conquer.  After that I had lots of trouble with almost all antibiotics.  Constant diarrhea during any antibiotic treatments(I thought I had numerous antibiotic allergies).  I also had alternating diarrhea and constipation.  I consulted a doc who did a barium enema test and sigmoidoscopy(not fun :-().  He determined I had lazy intestines and gave me a fiber supplement which was awful and I didn't take it for long.  Over time I started having terrible gas as well and it became a joke among my friends that I was "silent but deadly".  A few years later I saw a lactaid commercial and ordered a free sample.  I determined I was lactose intolerant. So sad as I loved milk! I could always tell when I had gotten into some milk because my gas would get bad again, but at least I knew how to fix it.  I wasn't too diligent about my diet and continued to have regular problems.  Eventually my docs told me I had ibs and that it was psychological.  That was why some foods would set me off sometimes, and not others.  I finally gave up milk although I continued with cheese and cream as they didn't seem to bother me.  This helped a lot but I would regularly have bouts of diarrhea and was constipated most of the time(bm's 1x per week).  I tried more fiber but that just seemed to set my intestines off - i couldn't eat beans at all. If something set me off, it could take up to a week for my intestines to settle back down.  I regularly had some stomach pain.  I had tried some cleanses and only strong laxatives seemed to help with the constipation and i didn't want to keep taking them so I kind of resigned to living in this way.  I'd discovered probiotics which I thought was the answer and have taken them for 10 years but that didn't help either.  Then I found the Atkins diet in 2002 which I went on with my husband fully thinking I'd have a heart attack as I had been vegetarian for over a year - surprisingly I was always cold and didn't have any energy eating this way.  Three weeks into Atkins, my gut totally calmed down and I started having regular bowel movements.  It was after we started reintroducing carbs that my symptoms returned so I found a naturopath to do a food allergy test on me.  I thought I'd be allergic to loads of things as I couldn't handle any kind of high fiber food. But it only showed milk allergy.  So I got more diligent about milk products but the problems continued.  I discovered magnesium and that helped with my constipation but I was taking 800 mg per day and was told that might not be a good thing(becoming physically dependent).  I continued anyway because having regular bowel function seemed the better option.  Finally I found another ND who specialized in gut issues.  She did a stool test and found that I only had about 20% of the good bacteria in my gut that I needed.  I also had moderate yeast and a bit of clostridium. She said that the Atkins diet probably starved off most of the yeast but that it didn't last because my good bacteria weren't strong enough to keep the yeast at bay and they'd grow back when i reintroduced the carbs. It explained why I always felt better on a low carb diet.  She put me on very high doses of probiotics (100+ cfu's) and caprylic acid(for the yeast). I also took a fiber supplement with fos. The first month I was in a lot of pain.  The nd said that the fos would feed the good bacteria but also the bad, but as the good increased, the bad would die off and things would get better.  It was a rough month but about 5 weeks in the pain ceased and I started to feel a lot better. I feel it would have gone faster had we done a low carb diet in conjunction. We continued this regimen for 6 months and I am now much much better.  I do have an allergy to something in milk but I can eat cheese and real cream.  I've only had to take an antibiotic once in the last 10 years so I don't know how that will go now - they tell me the symptoms I was having to antibiotics was due to the low counts of good bacteria - a classic sign of it which no one picked up on(even 4 nd's).  I still have to be very careful when I eat out - I usually end up with some stomach pain probably because there is something contaminating the food. I also cannot eat a lot of wheat - not every day, I have a bit of sensitivity to it although it did not come up on my test as an allergy(a common culprit in ibs). I can eat beans now but need to take an enzyme and as I am older now I typically take digestive enzymes with my meals as it helps.  Anyway, I had this problem so long (25 years) and found a solution so I wanted to share it as it might help someone.  Find someone to give you a stool test if you have any kind of digestive issues - I took the 3 day comprehensive one.  If I had done it sooner I could have avoided at least 10 years of this misery.  Surprisingly I had the answer (probiotics) but apparently I was not taking enough to tip the bacteria back into balance.  Sadly I found the answers to my problems through my own research.  We certainly have to be proactive in our quest for health.  Some docs and NDs don't like that we do this research - it can lead us down strange paths, but when you go to so many docs and get no relief and people tell you it is all in your head, what else can you do? 

I was diagnosed in 1988 with hpv. Got cryosurgery for it and was never told I could infect people.  I thought I was cured.  In 1990 it was found again.  A dose of liquid chemicals used that time.  Again an encounter with it in 1992.  This time, laser surgery.  I continued to have ASCUS results on pap smears off and on.  Until 2000 when a colposcopy revealed cervical dysplasia.  The doc wanted to do a LEEP procedure so I asked if I could try an alternative.  I researched and took a load of vitamins for three months - especially Bs.  A vitamin b12 deficiency can show up as cervical dysplasia.  Went back and was told the pap was normal.  I asked how and the doc said - 30% of the time these things clear up on their own.  I continued to clean up my diet and take my supplements.  I have not had a bad pap smear since.  My doc this year said my body has conquered this virus and that I wouldn't need another pap for three years.  So please don't let the vaccine makers push this shot on your girls.  Your body can fight and kill this virus. 

I had my neurotransmitters tested by my ND.  She used a lab www.neurorelief.com  I have trouble converting dopamine correctly - sometimes it goes to serotonin, sometimes to norepinephrine.  We did some amino acid therapy - I took 5htp for over a year and then weaned off.  It keeps me even keeled unless there is a hiccup(sudden stressor).  I also take GABA when stressful situations arise.  I have taken melatonin(.5mg) for sleep. I am a very light sleeper and must wear earplugs to rest well. Good sleep is very important for my wellbeing. There is another website for neurotransmitters that I like called www.neurogenesis.com - lots of explanations. I do take 3g of omega 3 and a whole food supplement but they didn't seem to help me mood wise. Hope this was informative for you.