Digestive analysis2Are you suffering from bloating, gas, constipation, diarrhea, reflux, or a host of other symptoms associated with your digestion? One or more of these conditions could be the result of an imbalance in your gastrointestinal tract.  To properly function, your gut needs neurological input, enzymes, hormones, and an enormous amount of bacteria to all work in harmony.  When these functions are in tact, you're able to digest a variety of foods, absorb more nutrients, and have less symptoms.  However, many of the things we do can disrupt this harmony and wreak havoc on our gut.

Our society has manufactured and engineered food laced with chemicals and hormones that our bodies can't process properly. We eat a diet of convenience and not health.  We eat dinners out of boxes that contain GMO foods, artificial sweeteners, preservatives, additives, or a boat load of sugar.  Add to this our heavy reliance on Rx prescription drugs, many of which negatively impact the GI tract, and you have a recipe for disaster.  No wonder it takes months to get an appointment with the Gastroenterologist!  

Many of these substances can irritate the bowel - leading to inflammation, immune response, and the unwanted "leak" of food proteins and pathogens into places they were never meant to go. When this happens, the immune system recognizes them as "foreign invaders" and responds with a reaction that causes more gas, pain, and inflammation. You can see how this viscous cycle continues...  Especially at risk are those who take antibiotics, steroids, and oral contraceptives.  

As all of these insults become more prevalent, we see more cases of leaky gut syndrome among people. Without making some changes to your lifestyle, your gut can't heal.  To properly address IBS/SIBO/Leaky Gut, you must deal with each of the factors that influence your gut - infections (pathogens like yeast, bacteria, and parasites), enzyme insufficiency, inflammation, immune reactions, food sensitivities, psychological relationships to food, stress, and diet.   We consistently see great results by using an individualized program that takes into account your diet, genetics, lifestyle, and history.   In addition, we utilize advanced functional stool testing to find the cause of your symptoms.  It's amazing how many people have had expensive scopes up both ends, but have never had a thorough investigation into the functional capacity of their intestines through stool analysis.  We are here to work closely with you to get you on the road to recovery and enjoy foods that won’t make you sick.  Don't suffer another day!

What is IBS, SIBO, or Leaky Gut Syndrome?

Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) is a garbage can diagnosis used by doctors that can't find the cause of your digestive symptoms.  It doesn't tell you anything you didn't already know, but does make you feel better to have a label to refer to it.  There are many things that can cause IBS, but patients typically have either constipation or diarrhea, and abdominal pain that is relieved by having a bowel movement.  We believe that the items we discuss above are at the root cause of IBS, and that would explain why people with IBS feel so much better when these things are fixed.  

SIBO stands for Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth.  This means that there is excess growth of bacteria in the small intestine, instead of the large intestine.  This often comes from poor diet, antibiotics, steroids, or other prescriptions.  While this usually refers to unhealthy or pathogenic bacteria in the small intestine, one can also have too much good bacteria (probiotics) in the small intestine.  The result is symptoms like gas, bloating, burping, constipation, diarrhea, and fatigue.  

Leaky Gut Syndrome (LGS) is a term we use to describe the inflammatory process that occurs from too many insults to the gut.  The result is that your intestines no longer have a strong border to keep large proteins out of your blood stream, so this activates the immune system and causes a wide variety of symptoms.  The "leaking" occurs when the tight junctions between intestinal cells loses its integrity.  This may also be referred to as hyper-permeability.  

What therapies can help IBS?

Functional Medicine Consults

Major Auto Hemotherapy or UBI to balance the immune response

Counseling for abnormal psycho-emotional connections to food

ICIM Success Stories treating IBS

Coming soon

Medical Research about IBS

Coming soon

Additional Info about Leaky Gut & IBS at the ICIM

Additional tests may be required to accurately assess what is causing your digestive symptoms.  We use blood, saliva, urine, hair, and stool testing to evaluate the functions of your body more closely.  Some of these lab tests are not covered by insurance, and do require payment at the time of service.  Feel free to call us with any questions!

Candida Yeast TreatmentCandida can be a miserable condition that affects the gut. When we lack certain flora in our intestines, yeast can flourish and cause a plethora of issues. Some may even be experiencing symptoms of an internal and systemic (whole body) yeast infection and not even know it.

How does Candida take control of the body? Due to factors such as recent antibiotic use, poor nutrition, and compromised immune system, Candida will thrive and grow happily until proper balance is restored in the body to once again keep it in check. If you have a systemic yeast infection, your symptoms may include lethargy or “brain fog”, increased allergic responses, sensitivity to chemicals, heavy metal burden, hormonal imbalances (PMS), headaches, tinnitus, and digestion issues.

The foundation for treating Candida is to boost the immune system and restore the gut flora, but also remove the food supply to the yeast organism. If you suspect that Candida is an issue, please set up a Functional Medicine consult to explore all the options available to you.

What is Candida?

Merrium-Webster Dictionary Definition

"Candida is any of a genus (Candida) of parasitic fungi that resemble yeasts, occur especially in the mouth, vagina, and intestinal tract where they are usually benign but can become pathogenic, and have been grouped with the imperfect fungi but are now often placed with the ascomycetes..."

Symptoms of Candida are varied, but may include:

  • Skin and nail fungal infections, such as athlete’s foot or toenail fungus
  • Feeling tired and worn down, or suffering from chronic fatigue or fibromyalgia
  • Digestive issues such as bloating, constipation, or diarrhea
  • Autoimmune diseases such as Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, Rheumatoid arthritis, Ulcerative colitis, Lupus, Psoriasis, Scleroderma or Multiple sclerosis
  • Difficulty concentrating, poor memory, lack of focus, ADD, ADHD and brain fog
  • Skin issues like eczema, psoriasis, hives and rashes
  • Irritability, mood swings, anxiety or depression
  • Vaginal infections, urinary tract infections, rectal itching or vaginal itching
  • Severe seasonal allergies or itchy ears
  • Strong sugar and refined carbohydrate cravings

What therapies can help?

  • Dietary Changes
  • Lifestyle Changes
  • Supplements
  • IV Therapies
  • Gastrointestinal rejuvination program

Success Stories treating Candida

Coming Soon!

Medical Research about Candida

Coming soon!

Additional information about Candida

The Idaho Center for Integrated Medicine is the place to get the guidance necessary to restore proper balance to your GI tract and the rest of your body.  While lab tests are not completely reliable for Candida, we can often times discover it through careful history and symptoms questionnaires.  In most cases, we like to run a Functional Stool Analysis by a specialty lab.  This evaluation tells us about the function and ecology of the entire GI tract.  If you are having one or more symptoms of Candida please call today (208) 629-5374.