MY DIAGNOSIS: Why Did I Look Pregnant Every Time I Ate?

This mom knew the pain and bloating weren't just in her head. Now she's helping others eat-and feel-better.

- KRYSTYNA HOUSER, AS TOLD TO MARISA COHEN

In 2013, soon after I had my third baby, I started to experience strange things with my body. When I would eat, I would get this terrible pain that moved from one side of my abdomen to the other. I developed unexplained rashes and brain fog too. But the worst thing was the extreme bloating. I had never experienced anything like it before! I would start eating a meal looking like my normal self, and then by the end I would have to unbutton my pants, because it looked as if I was eight months pregnant.

Over the next two years, I saw several doctors in New York, and they couldn't find anything wrong with me. They assumed I had postpartum depression and suggested I see a therapist. I started to think that maybe they were right and it was all in my head. But something inside me knew that wasn't it. A friend recommended that I see Frank Lipman, M.D., who practices a mix of Eastern and Western medicine. He listened to me describe my symptoms, looked at my eyes and tongue, and within minutes said, "I'd bet anything you have SIBO." It was astonishing-1 had been looking for an answer for two years, and he figured it out in five minutes.

THE CLUE IN MY BREATH