Fatigue, low mood and hormonal imbalance: A case study

Rosie (not her real name) came to me for help in December 2020 seeking solutions for her fatigue, hormonal imbalance and low mood.

1. Background

As a 42 year old legal professional, running her practice from home whilst caring for her 2 young children, Rosie had a lot of demands on her time. Like many of the women I see her needs came bottom of the list. She’d reached the point where she was really struggling to keep a handle on everything.

“I hit rock bottom at the end of November 2020 after a year of hormonal related issues including scary lumps in my breast and haywire periods. My emotions were all over the place, which I thought was part and parcel of living in a pandemic.

I have previously had recurrent miscarriages and can only describe each month as reliving that experience three weeks out of every four. The doctor offered me HRT, antidepressants and various other supplements, but it all seemed so overwhelming. I knew I didn’t want to take medication if I could avoid it but I had no idea where to start, or if I could even sort this by myself.”

Rosie

Focus areas

Having agreed my Foundation Package would be most appropriate, Rosie and I worked together on a 1:1 basis over the course of a month.

Rosie’s main aims were to

  • Regain control
  • Eat more healthily 
  • Achieve greater energy levels and hormonal balance

As with every client I work with, after taking a comprehensive health history, we agreed two symptoms to track. Rosie picked her anger/irritability and fatigue. I also track overall wellbeing with all my clients. I asked Rosie to score her symptoms on a scale of 0 to 6, where 0 is as good as it could be (ie. no symptom) and 6 is as bad as it could be. Rosie scored both her anger and irritability and fatigue 5 out of 6.

2. What we did

Started with the basics

We worked on blood sugar balancing to help stabilise Rosie’s energy levels and mood. This took the form of making time for proper meals, ensuring her diet contained a good balance of protein, carbohydrates and healthy fats and cutting down on sugary snacks.

I encouraged Rosie to eat a greater quantity and wider variety of vegetables, to improve her digestion and support her microbiome. Vegetables also provide a range of vitamins and minerals essential for production of energy in the body.

Rosie’s symptoms were suggestive of her being in a state of oestrogen dominance, so we also included foods to support oestrogen detoxification on a daily basis. In addition, I recommended a probiotic supplement to optimise her microbiome and support the excretion of oestrogen metabolites.

Lifestyle

The Nutritional Therapy process is about more than just food, lifestyle changes play a big role too.

By encouraging Rosie to make time for herself each day, take a daily walk and improve her bedtime routine she saw reductions in her levels of stress, improvement in her sleep and was better able to cope with the day to day challenges of life.

Testing

Rosie had undergone previous testing as a result of her multiple miscarriages so we knew that she had mutation in an MTHFR gene. This leads to suboptimal methylation, a biochemical process that is important for effective functioning of neurological, reproductive, and detoxification systems. We supported Rosie’s methylation with an appropriate multivitamin whilst making changes to her diet to optimise this important process longer term.

We also discovered through testing that Rosie’s vitamin D levels were inadequate. Insufficient levels of vitamin D are associated with a variety of conditions, including depression and PMS. Vitamin D is also important for immune and bone health. We addressed this with a vitamin D supplement.

3. The Result

Rosie’s saw huge improvements in her symptoms over the course of our time working together.

Her Anger/irritability moved from 5 to 1 and her levels of fatigue moved from 5 to 2. Rosie’s overall wellbeing also improved, moving from a 5 to a 2.

There is still work to do, but Rosie now has the knowledge and the tools to continue her wellness journey.

“Beth was a breath of fresh air! She is so thorough and supportive and she just gets it! Within 2 weeks I noticed significant improvements. My ongoing nausea was finally gone and week by week I felt stronger and better. My energy levels improved, my anger and irritability disappeared and I can honestly say I feel almost like I did before I had the kids!

The changes I’ve made to my diet and lifestyle are not dramatic, but they’ve made a huge difference to how I feel. Beth made sure that what we agreed together was achievable and realistic bearing in mind my work and family commitments. I’m now much more knowledgeable about how to support my health and I’m confident that the improvements I’ve seen so far will continue

I am so grateful for the excellent care and help I have received from Beth and recommend her without reservation.”

Rosie

If Rosie’s story sounds familiar, and you’re interested in finding more about Nutritional Therapy why not book FREE DISCOVERY CALL?

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