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What is the Digestive Issues Programme?
This is for people who want more long-term support for their digestive issue. I have seen clients with IBS, Crohn's disease, diverticulitis, hiatus hernia, lactose intolerance, coeliac disease and general bloating to name a few.
How does it work?
Once a month for 6 months we will either meet at the clinic or on MS Teams. We will discuss your progress, answer any questions you have and talk about one of the below topics. The topics are only suggestions and the programme is client led. At the end of the conversation, we will set new goals for the month. Seeing me once a month will encourage accountability.
How much does it cost?
One hour face to face or zoom call per month for 6 months, plus email access to me during the month, costs £450.00 (works out to £75 per month).
Month 1, 1 hour appointment
Diet adjustments
Whether you have IBS, coeliac disease, lactose intolerance, Crohn's disease (like me) or just have a sluggish digestive system, we will go through your diet together and make adjustments or I could suggest an elimination diet or low FODmap diet.
Month 2, 1 hour appointment
Gut health
Gut health is so important and a healthy gut includes lots of different species of good gut bacteria. We will go through how to get a diverse microbiome through diet or if you prefer, supplements. We will also go through prebiotics benefits.
Month 3, 1 hour appointment
Lifestyle changes
We all know that smoking, a sedentary lifestyle and binge drinking effects your digestive system, this week we will look at other ways your lifestyle could be effecting your digestion. We will also make some goals and look at ways to make simple changes.
Month 4, 1 hour appointment
Managing stress
Stress can effect all areas of our life including our health. Stress is a major trigger for a lot of digestive issues. We will talk about the stress in your life and how you can deal with it.
Month 5, 1 hour appointment
Exercise
Exercising on a regular basis is important. We can talk about exercise that could be enjoyable for you and how to make little changes to your lifestyle to encourage more movement.
Month 6, 1 hour appointment
The way forward
We can talk about the changes you have a made and what has worked or hasn't worked. At this stage, we can work out together a plan that you know can be achieveable and realistic.
I, of all people know how important it is to consult your GP when your symptoms are just not normal for you. It was a battle to get my Crohn's disease diagnosis but I my gut feeling (pardon the pun) was that something was not right. I highly recommend seeing your GP before seeing me.
When to see a doctor
The following has been taken from the NHS website.
Digestive symptoms are usually harmless and often settle down by themselves, but sometimes they do not go away and can be a signal of serious illness. Dr Emmanuel advises anyone who has taken a pharmacy remedy for a digestive problem for 2 weeks with no improvement to see their GP. He also highlights 5 symptoms, which mean you should see a doctor straight away.
These symptoms may be a warning of a serious digestive illness:
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a sudden, persistent change in the pattern of how your bowels work
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worsening heartburn, indigestion or stomach pain