Functional Dyspepsia Treatment
Constant upper abdominal discomfort, fullness after a few bites, burning or bloating — with a normal gastroscopy. That's functional dyspepsia, one of the most common and most under-treated GI conditions.
What is functional dyspepsia?
Functional dyspepsia (FD) is a disorder of brain-gut interaction affecting the stomach and upper gut. The stomach's sensing and accommodation become dysregulated: normal amounts of food trigger pain, pressure, early fullness or nausea. Because there's no ulcer or visible inflammation, endoscopy is typically normal — which is diagnostic of the problem, not proof there isn't one.
Why acid medication often isn't enough
PPIs help a subset of patients, but FD is not primarily an acid problem — it's a sensitivity and signalling problem. When the stomach's stretch receptors and the brain's processing of those signals are sensitized, suppressing acid alone leaves the core mechanism untouched. That's why so many patients are still symptomatic on long-term PPIs.
How brain-gut therapy helps
Gut-directed hypnotherapy and CBT target the sensitized signalling that drives FD — reducing hypersensitivity to normal stomach distension, improving the stomach's reflexive relaxation with meals, and breaking the meal–fear–symptom cycle that shrinks patients' diets and lives. Clinical evidence supports psychological therapies as effective treatment for functional dyspepsia.
Your treatment pathway
We confirm the diagnosis against Rome IV criteria, screen for overlapping conditions like IBS and reflux hypersensitivity, then begin a structured course of gut-directed psychotherapy with validated symptom tracking — all delivered virtually anywhere in Manitoba.
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Virtual care across Manitoba · Self-referrals welcome · Response within 2 business days
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