Intuition Protocol

Hi! My name is Tiffany, and It’s so great to meet you! If you are taking the time to read my health story, it’s probably because you have a similar experience and want to know exactly how I healed and got my life back. I am glad you’re here, and very much hope my story helps you or someone you love. 

The symptoms that changed everything began in 2019. I was four years sober, in yoga training daily, eating well – and feeling awful. I was grasping at everything I could do – just to ‘feel better’. The impact of grief from my mom dying had created such high levels of stress that I was unable to sleep or eat due to acid reflux. I couldn’t even drink water without cringing in pain. I ended up in the hospital with ulcers and was sent home with no solutions.

I continued to look for answers. I worked hard to alkalize my diet, and continued working out. I was eating really well – a vegetarian diet. I tried parasite cleanses, juice fasts, cold plunging, massage, counseling, chiropractic, lymph drainage, acupuncture – you name it. But nothing was working. I was gaining weight, and feeling miserable physically and mentally.  

The next symptom was a massive hormone imbalance. Although it’s natural for hormones to change as we age, this was different. I tried herbal remedies, as well as prescription medication to balance things out. The changes were monitored by a hormone specialist and functional medicine doctor – through bloodwork. We made adjustments over the next several years as needed. Even though the bloodwork looked right, I was still: not sleeping, feeling bloated, and easily agitated. Eating meat made me puke – but no one suggested I might not be digesting fats. 

In 2021 the spasms started. My pain tolerance is pretty high. I’ve had natural childbirth, endured kidney stones, and survived a near death experience from a car wreck. So believe me when I say the pain from these spasms was the most intense pain I have ever experienced. The spasms were felt in the front part of my upper abdomen and were diagnosed as esophageal spasms. They lasted about ten minutes and had no rhyme or rhythm to when they would occur. The spasms would bring me to my knees in pain, and my entire body would sweat profusely. The spasms would end with a massive amount of saliva (sorry), and the grand finale was me heaving over the toilet (hope you’re not eating). 

I took medication to reduce acid, and muscle relaxing medication to stop the spasms. I tried homeopathy, diaphragm adjustments, and xanax (to relax the muscles) – but nothing was working. It became scary to leave the house because I didn’t want to have an episode while driving or in public. No one knew what was wrong with me. I wasn’t believed that this ‘wasn’t just acid’, and it was more than ‘just stress’. I had no food allergies, and there were no extenuating circumstances such as mold/allergies/toxins. I began to lose my faith and question myself. 

Eventually in a CT scan we found an enlarged gallbladder full of gallstones. After researching and getting other opinions, I felt confident in removing the gallbladder. The surgery was scheduled in the Summer of 2022 and I was excited about the possibility of feeling better. But the day I got home from surgery, another spasm attack occurred. The surgeon said I was having panic attacks. I was devastated.

Months went by and the attacks continued—each one more painful than the last. It was so bad that I put my affairs in order and was mentally prepared for the next episode to be my last. I realize how dramatic that sounds – it’s truly how I felt. That is how painful it was, and with no solution – it was quite hopeless. 

I went in for an endoscopy. Nothing. The surgeon still felt the best diagnosis was panic. I went home defeated, and the attacks continued. I began experimenting with microdosing ayahuasca. Surprisingly, it worked for several months. When I felt an episode coming on, I would take a small microdose and the spasms would stop, the pain would stop. This worked – until it didn’t. 

On summer vacation in 2023, I had an insane level of shoulder pain. I went to the chiropractor every day, bought a massage gun, and went to a functional medicine/chinese medicine doctor there at the beach. She said shoulder pain was related to hormones. It was then that I started researching how the gut/brain axis being unbalanced is a major part of hormonal imbalance – and I started taking probiotics to cure this gut health issue – in order to have hormonal issues relieved. Only I didn’t know there were different strains of probiotics – and that I was taking the wrong one.

Fast forward to February of 2024. I was hosting an astrology retreat in Tulum, Mexico. At night, the episodes increased from ten minutes to three hours. I was suffering. I was in so much pain by the end of the retreat that I had to decline joining them for one of our planned excursions. The day we were scheduled to leave, I didn’t sleep at all from an all-night attack. I ran into a friend who had stage four cancer (in the lobby of all places!). She happened to have some pain medicine which I reluctantly took one from her. It was that bad. When our flight was delayed, I really questioned if I was going to make it home or if I would need to seek medical support from the airport. 

I threw up the whole plane ride home. The stewardess thought I was a drunk from Cancun and avoided me. My best friend picked me up from the airport and we tried to calm the attack down. But the pain had increased to an intolerable level and she took me to the ER. None of the best medications were even beginning to touch the level of pain I was enduring. 

Everything made sense once the MRI was complete. Three stones from the gallbladder surgery had fallen loose and became stuck in my bile ducts. So on a daily basis, for years, my body was creating spasms to try and move the stones which had adhered to the tubes. I was equally relieved and mad. How could we have not caught this? It made so much sense!