How I Cured My Irritable Bowel Syndrome

Spoiler alert: Medical school cured my IBS.  But don’t worry—you don’t need a medical degree because I’m about to share exactly what I learned.  

One of the ways we study in med school is by answering many practice questions. And if you do enough of them (which I did), you start noticing patterns. Here’s one that stopped me in my tracks:  

The question would describe a young woman in her 20s or 30s with chronic abdominal pain. No clear diagnosis. Maybe she was told she has IBS. Maybe fibromyalgia. Sometimes, she had a history of lupus or past trauma, even sexual assault.  

And the answer? “Schedule frequent follow-ups with primary care and reassure her so she doesn’t overuse healthcare resources by going to the Emergency Department.”  

That’s right—the medical system’s response was essentially: Check-in, pat on the back, send her home.  

And in those questions, I saw myself.  

For years, I lived with excruciating abdominal cramps, constipation, pelvic pain, and relentless shoulder pain so severe it made me nauseous and vomit. ER visits became routine. So did CT scans. So did anti-nausea meds. But solutions? Nonexistent.  

One day, amid all my studying, it hit me like a diagnosis I wasn’t looking for: I was training to become the very doctor who had dismissed me. 

That’s when I took a step back and faced a hard truth: There was no identifiable physiological reason for my symptoms. But knowing that wasn’t invalidating—it was freeing.  

And that knowledge became my cure.  

I realized my body was screaming for something deeper—acknowledgment, healing, and the power of feeling truly heard. That’s why I created Hear Her Heal—a space where we share our stories because when we feel heard, we heal.

Let’s rewrite the narrative together. Let’s heal.  

Have you ever felt dismissed by doctors? Share your story in the comments. You’re not alone.  

Share. Be Heard. Heal.

Dr. Su