08/22/2021
Here is a new testimonial addressing Ulcerative colitis and Lyme disease:
I began working with Dr. Vilich in 2016 when I had no help from the traditional medical model. When I found Dr. Vilich and Functional Medicine I had brain fog that caused me to stutter, I often couldn’t find the words I needed (aphasia), my memory was limited, I had gained 20 pounds in 2 years (as a fitness professional on a Paleo diet for one year prior to seeing her), I had insurmountable chronic fatigue that left me with no energy for friends, family or enjoyment of my life, I would fall asleep while driving nearly daily, I had unexplainable and untreatable skin rashes, heart palpitations, GERD, daily headaches, depression, achy muscles and joints, generalized weakness (particularly noticeable in my hands), fragile skin, constant bloated belly, irregular menstural cycle, constipation, and I was only 33 years old but I felt like I was 80 years old. Most of these symptoms had been slowly building in intensity since 2005 in my early 20’s.
Fast forward to 2021 and I was still working on some minor health improvements but my life is great, my brain so sharp that I had graduated nursing school, I have strong relationships with plenty of energy to maintain them and I lost 10 pounds. With Dr. Vilich’s plan, and my discipline to stick with it, my life was on track within two years. All of the aforementioned symptoms were long gone. However, unfortunately in February 2021 I began to notice my healthy and normal-looking stool changed and I had sharp intermittent abdominal pain with eating. In just one day in March the pain became so bad that I could not even drink broth without pain so I went to my primary care doctor because I knew I would need an official absence from work if I could not physically eat anymore. The treatments that came thereafter, such as the use of polyethylene glycol in Miralax, for misdiagnosed constipation, bowel prep for colonoscopy and even found in Lialda (an Ulcerative Colitis medication) sent me to the hospital with bloody stools up to 12 times per day, frequent vomiting up to nine times per day, fevers reaching 103 F, arthritis pain all over my body (I had never had arthritis before), an unrelenting headache for 3 weeks that I could only relieve by laying flat on my back on the floor, and a depression that left me crying just as much as I was vomiting and going to the bathroom. It took me 90 minutes to eat broth with rice and boiled carrots because the abdominal pain felt like shards of glass moving through my intestines with each spoonful. At times my stool would look as if I had passed intestinal tissue (think ground turkey) and those were the worst and most painful bowel movements. Through the medical model I had been diagnosed with an autoimmune disease, Ulcerative Colitis.
After being hospitalized for a week due to dehydration, uncontrolled vomiting and high fevers I was off of Lialda and finally feeling a bit better but I was put back on the medication and I had a resurgence of symptoms that were nearly identical to what sent me to the Emergency Department just two weeks prior. I stopped the drug immediately and began Dr. Vilich’s Functional Medicine protocol. I felt improvements in just one day and it has been getting nothing but better since I’ve been on her protocol for 16 weeks at the time of this testimonial. I’m operating at 100%, I eat within my protocol all day with no pain, I do CrossFit three times a week and I feel even better than I did prior to the Ulcerative Colitis diagnosis. I changed jobs to reduce stress but I am working again in a job that I love. My trips to the bathroom are a painless zero to two times per day and I have no nausea or vomiting. It takes me 15 minutes to eat a meal with no pain or ramifications.
Through the process Dr. Vilich tested me for gut infections and Lyme disease. We found 15 different gut infections with two of which the bacteria mimic the intestinal lining and influence the autoimmune reaction. Repeat testing after 12 weeks demonstrated my infections reduced to 7 and the ones for autoimmune influence are gone. My non-existent symptoms are in line with testing - it’s incredible! We also found I have two species of Lyme bacteria and we have began working on that protocol as well. I’m excited to see the improvements from that protocol too. It’s hard to imagine things getting even better but I am certain they will.
I thought I needed emergency acute-care medicine for my autoimmune issue but it was not the solution that helped me. Unfortunately it hurt me and I ended up hospitalized and with 20 pounds of weight loss but now I’m truly healing. The transformation is incredible and I am so grateful for her practice and what functional medicine is providing for true health care.
If I can give a nugget of advice it’s this: Dr. Vilich has answers that get results but only you can make the protocol effective. At times this requires planning, diligence and commitment when close friends and family members may not understand your goals or your protocol. The protocols are not the norm of society and that’s OK. That’s likely why you are here reading this testimony - you are not getting the help you need from the modern medical model. Hold on to knowing the results will speak for themselves so long as you stick to the protocol. Lastly, be honest with Dr. Vilich about your struggles with the protocol be that financial or personal missteps. Those things happen as we are human beings living complex lives. She is very understanding and will be supportive of your needs. When money was tight for our family, the protocol went slower, as did the results, but I still had forward moving progress that I could feel. Thank you for reading and I’m excited for how much better you’re going to feel!
Melisa
