Episode 43: 43: Gut Problems and Breast Implant Illness

Foreign Dr. Rob Whitfield, the board certified plastic surgeon specializing in explant surgery Breast implant illness is a topic that is not often talked enough about, especially in medical community, but is something that affects many women. In this podcast I'll be discussing the latest research, treatment options and personal stories of women who have undergone explant surgery in an effort to heal breast implant illness. In this podcast, we'll explore the symptoms of breast implant illness and delve into the latest surgical techniques for explantation and the recovery process. Whether you are currently experiencing breast implant illness or are considering explant surgery, this podcast is a valuable resource for anyone looking to take control of their health and wellness. So let's dive in. Before we get started today, I wanted to tell you about a way you can speed your healing and to begin reverse aging in your body. Reducing inflammation is especially important for women with breast implant illness. In fact, one of the most important pre explant surgery steps we take is to get rid of as much inflammation in the body as possible. So I've created a special inflammation support bundle to give you everything you need to reduce inflammation as quickly as possible. Don't let inflammation hold you back. Visit drrobsolutions.com now and grab the inflammation support bundle today Again, you can get it@drrobsolutions.com hey good morning everybody. It's Dr. Whitfield, breast implant illness expert, and I just had something happen last week. I wanted to do a quick show about almost a little faq. I have a lot of patients who have breast implant illness who have trouble with their guts and everybody's probably heard about the gut brain axis and how important your microbiome is. And there's all sorts of tests associated with looking at the microbiome which are the bacteria in your gut. We all have those in healthy individuals are all kind of relatively similar. But in folks who have what's called dysbiosis or trouble with their gut, there's a abnormal growth in we'll just say a category. Maybe it's bacterial, maybe it's fungal, maybe it's parasitic. So when I have somebody who is communicating with us that they're having gut trouble, what I try to figure out is they're a short term solution to the problem based on what they're telling me. So will give you a scenario where somebody who eats will say a quote unquote clean diet, doesn't eat processed foods, doesn't eat gluten or dairy. And so you know, that may be a paleo Type diet, a Mediterranean diet, more a protein based diet. It may be plant based, animal based, doesn't really matter. Why is that person who's trying super hard to eat as well as they can to support themselves as having trouble, are they taking probiotics, are they, what kind of water are they drinking? And in this example we'll use lemon water. Lemon water has been touted for a period of time to really help and eliminate we'll say bad bacteria. So it's acidic and the more acid it'll affect certain bacteria like E. Coli, Bacteroides fragilis and fungus for that matter. Depending on how much you do ingest lemon water and how much you have, over time you can create an imbalance. So stick with me here. The point is, if you take in too much acid and you decrease the bacteria and get the balance wrong, say you drop down your E. Coli and your Bacteroides fragilis and your fungus for that matter, and you raise up something like parasitic overgrowth in a woman, that can be really bad. So the next steps, it may not make sense, but I'll try to help you with it. So the woman who's still premenopausal, who has a cycle, who may experience problems with their cycle, they may have a lot of pain, they may have a lot of bleeding, they may have pcos, they may have endometriosis. That means they usually have a lot of elevated estrogen levels, in particular estrone. So that's one bucket. So they don't necessarily metabolize their estrogen in a way that helps them best. The other is if they're having these really bad periods and they've really lower the bacterial and fungal component which has allowed the parasite to parasite component in the microbiome to overgrow. Parasites can sequester iron. And so it's really hard to recover after a cycle for that person because they'll just kind of remain anemic. We'll get back to this show in a moment, but I wanted to share something that I think can really help you. You might not be aware, but part of my work as an innovator in the cosmetic surgery space is to create products that will give my patients the best possible outcome outcomes and restore their health as quickly as possible. I can't tell you how critical it is for all of my patients to actively work to reduce inflammation in their bodies. We do this through diet and supplementation. In fact, I've created a special inflammation support bundle for my patients and now you can have access to it as well. One of the reasons this bundle is perfect for my patients is that so many of them have pill fatigue. It's just not going to work for them to have a handful of pills each day to reduce inflammation. So I made sure to include the liposomal version of many of the vitamins and minerals within the bundle. You'll still get the full absorption of these supplements in your mouth without having to go through your gut first in order to be absorbed. You can get the inflammation support bundle@drrobsolutions.com and begin to feel better when you make the supplements a part of your daily health routine. The website again is drrobsolutions.com I can't wait for you to get this help in your hands. We've had first hand experience in our clinic, you know, with this. So anemia is difficult because you're obviously going to be more tired and the more often this happens, the more anemic you become to the point where when they check your ferritin level, you may need an iron transfusion, which I've had to do for clients in our practice. Certainly before surgery, if you have somebody who's told you that they have problems with their cycle and there's prolonged bouts of bleeding, you have to check their hemoglobin, hematocrit, and you have to check their ferritin levels to make sure that this issue is sorted out just for their safety, obviously around the time of surgery. So in this scenario, I would tell the patient like, okay, I want you to stop either acidifying or alkalizing your water. So just have filtered water. And then the other thing that can be happening, if someone's taking a probiotic, it can further complicate the situation because probiotics can be very good, or in this situation, they can be not adding as much benefit as they would in a normal situation. I know that sounds probably a little odd, but I would just, at this juncture, if someone's experiencing those problems of bouts of anemia, problems with their GI tract, maybe constipation, diarrhea, bloating, swelling, I would just try to normalize that by filtered water and then just hold the probiotic. And then the other thing I think it's important is I have so many people trying to work so hard to eat as well as they can, and they're having higher protein diets, whether it be plant based, animal based, it's fine. But if you take in a lot of protein, sometimes it's really hard for your body to be able to break it all down. So typically what we do is recommend our clients with those meals use additional digestive enzymes. The ones that I feel are the best are mastimes from bio optimizers. So those are the real time interventions you can do right now to help yourself to get your swelling, bloating, gut, bacteria imbalance, more in balance versus out of balance, and then do more to help you digest and get nutrients from your foods. And so when I get faced with these, obviously I want to run my CARP program just to check in terms of their genetics, their toxicity profile, and certainly a GI map that looks at microbiome specifically, which is a stool test, accompanied with a food sensitivity test and looking at hormones and everything, it paints a broad picture so you really can get more of a clear understanding of what is going on with that patient. Now, if they really have extreme problems with their gut and digestion, swelling, bloating, pain, what have you, it affects everything. Okay, you get your nutrition, you absorb nutrients in the gut. So if there's problems with a leaky gut, if there's problems like with the bacterial imbalances or digestive enzyme imbalances, you're gonna have to do more than one thing to help yourself. So whether it's with each meal just taking enzymes, forgoing probiotics for now, stop alkalizing or acidifying your water, and then how are you going to get more nutrients in the short term? So my specific nutrient supplements are liposomal liquid formulations to avoid the problems with absorption in the gut. So my inflammation support bundle was geared to help that. That's how I get people started on the right track. And we all know that the gut plays a central role in in your mood and your overall well being. And the gut itself has the most lymphatic tissue surrounding it in the body. The gut associated lymphatic tissue, galt, it plays a central role in your immune system. So we want to get that functioning better for you prior to surgery. I think it's paramount and it's not talked about enough. So I hope this helps and I look forward to talking to you all again soon. Thanks for joining me today. I hope you found the information and stories shared on this podcast helpful and informative. Remember, taking control of your health and wellness is key to recovery from breast implant illness. If you're looking for additional resources and support, be sure to visit our online store, Dr. Rob's Solutions. At drrobsolutions.myshopify.com you'll find a wide range of wellness products and supplements. Supplements to support your journey to recovery. From specially formulated detox supplements to personalized skincare products, we have everything you need to aid your recovery. Visit Dr. Rob's Solutions today at DrRobsSolutions.com thank you for listening and we'll be back with another episode soon. Remember, you're not alone in this journey, and together we can overcome breast implant illness. Take care of Sam.