Let me tell you about Megan.
She’s 37. Works full time. Two kids. Smart, motivated, doing everything right.
Except she’s exhausted. Bloated all the time. Hasn’t had a good night’s sleep in months. She’s on her third elimination diet in two years and can barely tolerate more than 10 foods. Her brain fog is so bad she once left her keys in the fridge.
She’s been told she has IBS, adrenal fatigue, histamine intolerance, anxiety, and maybe mold illness... but no one’s really connected the dots.
She’s trying everything that’s been recommended—probiotics, antimicrobials, detox binders, low histamine foods. Each one gives her a flicker of hope... and then her symptoms come roaring back.
Sound familiar?
🏞️ The River Analogy: Downstream vs. Upstream
Imagine your body is a river. Downstream is where the symptoms show up. That’s where Megan is right now—scooping out the garbage as it floats by:
🗑️ Food sensitivities
🗑️ Brain fog
🗑️ Digestive issues
🗑️ Panic attacks
🗑️ Hormone swings
She’s doing her best to clean it up. But here’s the thing:
🔍 The garbage keeps coming.
That’s because the real problem isn’t the garbage—it’s that something is still dumping it in upstream.
🌊 What Lives Upstream?
Upstream is where the root causes live. It’s where the garbage originates. And until you identify and address those root sources, you’ll stay stuck managing the downstream mess.
For Megan, what was upstream? A trifecta:
🦠 Chronic mold exposure from her office HVAC system
😰 Unresolved trauma and chronic stress, keeping her nervous system on high alert
🔥 Candida and Babesia overgrowth, quietly inflaming her immune system
She didn’t need more food lists.
She needed to walk upstream.
🚫 Why Downstream Symptom Management Often Fails
Downstream tools (like SIBO treatments, antihistamines, adrenal support, thyroid meds, or mood stabilizers) can offer short-term relief—but they don’t address why those symptoms are happening in the first place.
That’s why Megan would feel better for a week or two… and then crash. Again.
She was managing symptoms without stopping the source.
🧭 Root Cause Work = Walking Upstream
Root cause medicine means going upstream:
🔄 Instead of just treating the bloating, ask: Why is the gut reacting in the first place?
🔄 Instead of just balancing hormones, ask: What inflammatory or toxic inputs are disrupting the endocrine system?
🔄 Instead of just treating anxiety, ask: What stressors, infections, or neuroinflammation might be activating the limbic system?
Upstream work is slower. It’s messier. It asks harder questions.
But it’s also where lasting healing lives.
🧱 The Bottom Line
If you feel like you’re constantly chasing symptoms, stuck on restrictive protocols, or relying on band-aid treatments just to function—you're not alone.
You might be standing in the wrong part of the river.
Because healing doesn’t happen when you just keep scooping up garbage.
🛑 It happens when you stop the dump truck.