Jane got really sick with the first wave of CV-19 in 2020 after a holiday in LA just before the lockdowns started.
She was told she had post viral fatigue and was taking supplements and herbs from the local acupuncturist, just to get enough energy to make it through her work day.
After several months of feeling very flat and barely responding to supplements and eating right, Jane’s doctor tested her thyroid and thyroid antibodies. Her TSH was 3.0 and her antibodies were over 1000.
Her doctor told her to come off gluten and wait until her TSH was high enough for thyroxine and sent her on her way. And let her know she had Hashimoto’s (autoimmune thyroid).
For the next three years, she was taking all the right herbs, eating right, and struggling through the fatigue, brain fog, and anxiety.
It was the big reason why she came to us in 2023.
She still wasn’t feeling right and realised that the doctor and health food store meant well, but weren’t helping fast enough.
But now, she had a new osteoporosis diagnosis.
Her calcium levels were going in the wrong direction, and she was really concerned.
She needed to do something different.
Jane’s symptoms when she came to us:
- Fatigue
- Poor Memory
- Brain Fog
- Difficulty Falling Asleep
- Dizziness
- Body Tremors; Heart Palpitations
- Anxiety
- Weight Gain
She had been diagnosed with:
- Hashimoto’s
- Osteoporosis
- Long CV
When we looked at Jane’s bloods, we could see that her immune system was really struggling.
Jane was 61.
She wasn’t taking ANY medication.
Her TSH was good, even though she had Hashimoto’s and half of her thyroid (removed in 2008).
Her most debilitating symptoms
were strongly connected to her Hashimoto’s.
Her tests went all the way back to 2005 and gave us a massive history back to her thyroid surgery and what happened BEFORE her Hashimoto’s diagnosis.
You could see the regression of her immune system in her haematology, micronutrients, and the hit to her immune system.
Jane is a great example of WHY we look at genetics early and often in our peri/post menopause patients.
She had a clear anomaly in her haematology (blood count markers), liver enzymes and thyroid, which pointed us to look further at her MTHFR gene.
She had two MTHFR heterozygous mutations.
Jane’s MTHFR helped us understand the lynchpin that made Jane so vulnerable when she caught CV19 in 2020.
The mutation was coming through in her
- Red Blood Count
- White Blood Count
- Iron Studies
- Liver Enzymes
Her B vitamins were really low, which affected her metabolism AND her immune system.
Her key metabolic markers that worried us were:
- Elevated Liver Enzymes
- Thyroid Antibodies
- HBA1C
Whilst her HBA1C and Hashimoto’s were key reasons for her weight gain, her immune system appeared to be responsible for these levels.
We went on to test Jane’s gut microbiome to look further into what happened to her viral loads, absorption, and balance of bacteria.
Her insulin resistance and Hashimoto’s symptoms were actually being driven by high levels of inflammation.
Largely due to disturbances in her gut microbiome (image on right) including:
– one highly inflammatory bacteria
– two immune provocative bacteria, AND
– two parasites.
Blastocystis hominis parasites are also connected to heightened anxiety.
Dientamoeba fragilis parasites are connected to diarrhoea, nausea, and flatulence.
Jane’s Treatment Path
With Jane, her MTHFR and poor gut health were causing so many problems and we needed to address it.
She had really poor secretory IGA markers leading to poor nutrient absorption.
She also had leaky gut, so wasn’t holding on to the nutrients she needed.
We had to ensure that whatever changes we made nutritionally – would actually be absorbed.
This explained a big puzzle piece as to why Jane came to us!
For three years, she had tried so many things and it only just helped take a few of her symptoms off the edge, but she wasn’t actually absorbing many of the supplements.
We needed to help her gastrointestinal lining and absorption first, then get the essential micronutrients to help her:
- Immune System,
- Rebalance & Increase of Good Bacteria,
- Absorb Essential nutrients in Foods, and,
- Bring down the inflammation in her body.
Early on, Jane had lost a little bit of weight, got her energy and vitality back.
We decided to get new blood tests back from her about six months into treatment after the gut protocol.
But, there was further concern that her immune system was still struggling after our gut microbiome work, and we could see that her MTHFR mutuation needed to be looked into because she was having weird anomalies in her markers.
For instance, her neutrophils and white blood cell count was down, making her very likely to catch a virus.
Her digestive lining and gut microbiome had massively improved after the months of work on her gut, but her immune system still needed more support.
This all pointed that her MTHFR was causing methylation issues.
(The lynchpin that caused the gut microbiome problem to begin with.)
But, Jane got busy with work and was feeling so much better that she thought it’d be okay for a little while. Shortly after that blood exam, she came in contact with CV19 a second time, and it knocked her down for over a week.
We did nutrient intervention to support her, and address the MTHFR mutations, giving her the right types of nutrients to support health methylation and her immune system, and she started feeling way better.
Jane’s final test results (several months after the MTHFR treatment) showed the massive improvements in her immune system:
- WCC 4.8
- Neutrophils 2.23
- Thyroid Antibodies 2.2
After 12 months of treatment, Jane had put her Hashimoto’s into Remission!
Jane now knows how important certain B vitamins and micronutrients are for her.
High levels of inflammation in her body (triggered by the immune system) made her vulnerable to catching viruses easily. Maintaining the right B’s and micronutrients meant she would keep her inflammation down and regulate her entire body, even her osteoporosis and metabolism.
When Jane came to us she was really concerned about her
- Metabolic symptoms: fatigue, weight gain, brain fog, poor memory,
- Osteoporosis, and
- Hashimoto’s.
Her osteoporosis was flaring up because of the levels of inflammation coming from the immune system. Which likely was activated due to the lowering of oestrogen, which “switched on” the MTHFR vulnerability, that with time, created a downstream impact on her gut microbiome.
Jane needed to pay attention to her pH and calcium moving forward to manage the decline of the Osteoporosis.
Impressively, you can see the before and after of Jane’s calcium levels in the image below.
Higher in 2024 than 2022! Equal in 2024 to her levels in 2005 (before she was diagnosed)!
Today, her inflammation is lowering and her immune system is supported.
Jane’s weight, mood, and brain are so much better with the lowering of her thyroid antibodies and the repair of her immune system.
But after the most recent CV19 hit, her HBA1C went up and she felt the weight gain in her stomach again.
Her metabolic results in her late 2024 results showed that her
- TSH was stable, up to 1.37,
- Albumin (liver enzyme) was down to 45,
- Thyroid antibodies were in normal ranges,
- HBA1C was 5.7 (insulin resistant),
- Homocysteine was 8.1, and her,
- Triglycerides (cholesterol marker) dropped from 1.7 to 1.1.
Jane ensures she is eating properly and getting the right micronutrients that work with her genetic mutation and promote healthy methylation. She now can fully focus on weight loss and ensuring her energy is good.
She knows that she needs to keep an eye on her full blood exam, liver function, iron studies, cholesterol and HBA1C.
She can control her metabolism, weight, immune system and inflammation levels by ensuring she eats the right types of foods her body needs AND that she ensures she eats three meals a day, waiting enough time in between meals.
Jane now has more energy, better brain function, and feels much more robust.
She’s walking, swimming, and exercising every day and feels completely in control of her body.
Her weight is coming down easily.
Poor methylation affects more than 40% of women, yet rarely is looked at until it’s too late.
Jane is a great example.
We could see funny things happening in her haematology all the way back to 2005, but she felt like it was “a waiting game” until she was diagnosed with Hashimoto’s and Osteoporosis.
To learn more about how your Genes & Methylation can be driving symptoms and/or diagnosis, join our free training here: https://naturalhormonebalance.co/free-training-genetics-peri-post-menopause/
We’re always here to help too! If you are ready to get help and want us to support you, please organise a Free Introductory Consultation with us here: https://calendly.com/nz-naturopathy/intro-consult
I hope this email was helpful today. And I hope that if you want to know more about your blood work markers, testing, and learn what is happening for you that you take the time to join our free training :).
