Jacqueline’s biggest concerns when she came to us was her pain and her brain.
She works in a job she loves and she worked her whole life to get to.
She started noticing she wasn’t as sharp and was missing things she’d never missed before.
She was really concerned because her bosses started to notice and asked her if everything was alright.
She’d wake up in the middle of the night with pain in her hips and shoulders, needing to get herself comfortable.
It’d been several months and she’d tried different supplements and hormone support powders because she was told after going to the doctor this was all just “peri-menopause”.
She was on HRT and thyroxine, but the brain fog was still lingering.
“I am not enjoying my life at all lately and have lost hope truly.” Jacqueline said.
Last year, The Dailymail reported that over 25% of women reduce their hours during peri-menopause, yet never resume full time hours. And over 13% of women quit their jobs during peri-menopause and menopause, never to return to the workforce. (This was based on stats in the UK.)
Poor memory/Brain Fog AND Pain are often the two long term, debilitating symptoms that don’t go away after a hysterectomy or even HRT.
In our clinic, these are typically the two most common symptoms that cause women to lighten their work load and do less.
We’re presenting Jacqueline’s test results, treatment and results, so you could see what can be done. We want you to see this life stage as one of personal empowerment and opportunity, not a new part of life as you ‘get old’ that you have to just accept.
Jacqueline was also experiencing:
- pain all through the day
- fluid retention
- really bad hair loss
- mood swings
- heightened anxiety
- weight gain
- constipation, and
- low to no libido
Jacqueline definitely was rattled by her bosses’ reactions and it prompted her to get in touch.
BEFORE & AFTER Test Results: January 2023 to April 2024
We did blood testing on Jacqueline before she started.
Then again, three to four months into treatment.
I felt like her test results were worthy of explanation to get an idea of what we look for, why, and how much your tests help unpack answers to the symptoms… Pictures are below each marker listed below.
1. Metabolic System wasn’t optimal
Jacqueline was diagnosed with hypothyroidism roughly five years ago. She was on the same amount of thyroid medication, but her TSH was within the reference ranges on thyroid medication so there was nothing medically that could be done…
Key findings:
- IRON
Her iron was low, even though she was taking iron every day and had been for the last four years. She actually took iron less often and the right kind of iron that she could absorb, and her iron count more than doubled in few months, from 11 umol/L to 27 umol/L.
- TSH
Her TSH was “normal”, but she was still having thyroid symptoms. Her TSH went down within a few months, no change in medication.
- CHOLESTEROL
Her cholesterol was starting to climb. To us, when cholesterol starts to climb, it’s the body’s way of saying that the metabolism and cardiovascular systems aren’t working quite right… Cholesterol also can be a contributing factor to the puffiness. The body is having a hard time “clearing excess”.
Jacqueline’s cholesterol went down by .3 points in just a few months…
- FASTING GLUCOSE
Glucose tells us a lot more than just metabolic struggle. It’s a communication into cardiovascular and inflammatory responses in the body. When we suspect insulin resistance, we often look at HBA1C, but we only tested Jacqueline’s fasting glucose for cost saving. Even with just a window into her fasting glucose, you can see a big drop here. Medically she wasn’t even pre-diabetic, but her levels pointed that something wasn’t right.
Jacqueline’s fasting glucose dropped by .5 points in just a few months!
2. Inflamed, but not sick
Her Inflammation markers were high, but she wasn’t feeling sick and she hadn’t been sick for more than a year. I think you’lll see why we look a lot further than your blood work being “normal”…
We talk a lot about the gut and peri/post menopause and how it’s a big factor.
We were able to see something was “off” with her gut in her eosinophils marker (can be tested in the standard in the full blood exam through Medicare)
- EOSINOPHILS
Jacqueline came to us with constipation, joint pain, muscle aches, and anxiety.
But no other big gut issues.
Look how much this came down in just a few months (images pictured side by side below). She had a parasite years and years ago, and so the doctor didn’t think much of it.
- CRP (C Reactive Protein)
Jacqueline wasn’t sick, but her C reactive protein was high.
She has had issues from time to time with her sinuses, but her C Reactive Protein you can see in the before and after was still high. In just a few months, we saw a decrease in her levels, but you can see we’re still working on her inflammatory levels.
3. Fluid retention, but told “that’s just part of getting old”
- FLUID RETENTION BioChemistry
Addressing her cholesterol and metabolic markers were a part of it, but her absorption of essential micronutrients was failing. Hence the iron still being low when we first started (even though she’d been taking supplements for years!). You can see that these markers were a way for us to see a piece of the puzzle in the fluid retention that explained part of the reason why.
- LIVER Detoxification (just 1 of the markers due to lack of space)
While her “fluid retention” levels hadn’t changed much, look at the difference in her bilirubin marker. Dr. Sara Gotfried, the “Women’s Hormone Doctor” often references how nearly 92% of women aren’t detoxifying properly. This was clear for Jacqueline.
Medically speaking, her markers weren’t a fatty liver diagnosis, but to us, it was an important part of the picture.
When we dig a little further, we can start to correct the underlying problems. This is a big part of why we test and we have a deep understanding of standard blood work.
The Treatment Process
With Jacqueline, we needed to address her inflammation. This was causing a lot of her problems. The gut, immune, and inflammation support was a key element to helping fix the metabolic, brain and detoxification parts of the puzzle.
Often inflammation comes about because of poor nutrient absorption or nutrient depletion.
This can be due to a genetic problem OR could be because of something that happened to you in the past that you didn’t ever think would happen again.
We were able to see everything we needed through Jacqueline’s blood work to start treatment.
This immune system and/or inflammation can be reactivated in third phase of the Body Recalibration, often as oestrogen is lowering. Taking oestrogen isn’t always the answer to the problem.
All of her blood work seen here are things we are able to get through Medicare. Typically if you haven’t had annual bloods done for more than a year, we can get what we need through Medicare.
Jacqueline was on a handful of supplements over the course of four months to help rebuild her absorption in her gut and to support her liver and metabolic system to come into balance.
The biggest transformation was in HOW Jacqueline eats every day.
We built Jacqueline a specific nutritional protocol, which included how many meals she needed each day, down to how many hours she needed to wait between meals.
Jacqueline’s Results
Within four months…
- Pain Free: joint pains all day that would waking her up at night to being pain free and sleeping right through
- Lost 8 Kilos: 70kg to 62kg
- Smaller Measurements: Her size 8 jeans are too loose. From size 12 to a size 8 jeans. She was smaller than she’s ever been because she’s a lot less puffy.
- Brain is back to normal
- Massive energy
- Hair is growing and not falling out anymore.
Best part: She feels way more under control. Performing at her best again.
Jacqueline started with us at 52. Her oestrogen was starting to go down and that’s a big reason why the doctors wanted her on HRT. But she wasn’t getting hot flushes or not sweats as she was still menstruating.
Jacqueline wasn’t experiencing the normal hot flushes and night sweats like other women.
She did find slight changes to her temperature, but the pain and the brain were the biggest issues for her.
Weight loss was a bonus!
Gene Breakages & Immune System matters
We have found many women really start to struggle after 48-57 years of age.
And things seem to go down hill from there.
Carrie, our director’s gorgeous mum, had knee replacements before 75!
At 49, all the signs were there for her.
She had so many of the symptoms of inflammation, but she didn’t have the information we now have today. She was a housewife, so the memory and forgetfulness didn’t bother her as much as it does many professional women that need/want to stay in the workplace.
If you have a broken genetic pathway or a something like the MTHFR gene, this particular window can be a vulnerable window for you.
Remember though -The Body ReCalibration is a window of opportunity.
Your symptoms are letting you know that you have a problem.
Not all supplements have the same impact.
How you eat through the day and making sure you are having enough of certain kinds of foods can make the biggest impact on how you feel. (even carbs!)
To learn more, there’s a couple of webinars that I think are really helpful, depending on where you are at in this process…
If you have been diagnosed with a thyroid condition and resonate with the new “peri/post menopause” problems, you may get a lot of value from the Thyroid-Gut-Adrenal webcast. You can register to watch that here: https://naturalhormonebalance.co/free-training-thyroid-gut-adrenal/
If you want to learn more about The Body ReCalibration (aka the Four Stages of Peri/Post Menopause from 35 to 67), you can register to watch that here: https://naturalhormonebalance.co/free-training-body-recalibration/
If you resonate with Jacqueline’s story and you want to connect with us today to get support from us, you can organise a free introductory consultation with us here: https://calendly.com/nz-naturopathy/intro-consult
I hope this was helpful. Have a lovely Sunday.
Warmly,
Tiaan & Carrie
