Ollie

Any Elite Athletes out their suffering with their health?

I’m an Elite Athlete and after numerous trips to the emergency room with chronic stomach pain as well as dealing with uncomfortable bloating, distention, and poor digestion everyday for years,  I was diagnosed with Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS). I even had my appendix removed during a particularly bad attack, which may not even have been necessary!

I subsequently learned a lot about IBS, including its main cause, which is an imbalance in the gut flora that affects the enteric nervous system. However, lifestyle stress is also a very key component in the IBS process, as was the case for me.

The diagnosis was devastating to hear that there is no cure and I was going to have to deal with this for the rest of my life. I kept thinking ‘why me’. At age 16, I imagined suffering these symptoms every day for the rest of my life and couldn’t bear the thought. After the diagnosis, I spent the next year or so with a range of medical ‘experts’, testing out several restrictive diets, medications and programs, without any relief of my symptoms.

I then came across the LTLA program and this is when things started to turn around. It was at this point, I realised that if I made some key changes, I wouldn’t have to suffer from these symptoms any longer.

For the first time, I accepted what I had been diagnosed with and began to look at how I was treating my body, to see where I could make changes with both what I put into my body, as well as how I think.

I became obsessed with the mind gut connection and understanding how mental health influences gut health and vice versa, an interaction which can be really positive or unfortunately really negative if treated poorly.

I started on the LTLA Gut Repair program and instantly noticed the difference. I was able to train for my sport of rugby without any gut interruptions and was significantly clearer mentally as a result.

For the first time in my life, I feel in control of my IBS rather than it controlling me.