"Kelly really listened to me, analysed my situation and tailored the solutions/supplements to me"
What were her symptoms?
I first saw Daisy in 2020 and her symptoms were causing her a lot of pain and discomfort. They were affecting her daily life, her relationship and she was also worried about her future fertility.
Heavy, painful periods accompanied with tender breasts
Major gut concerns including stomach pain bloating and piles
Very little energy
Diagnosed with fibromyalgia
As part of our initial discussion Daisy also revealed that her GP had diagnosed her with PCOS. This diagnosis had really concerned her, as she was warned her fertility may suffer and she was already experiencing pain during intercourse. The lack of solutions or support she had not received, had raised Daisy's anxiety levels, which I suspected was increasing the severity of her other symptoms.
Where did we start?
Daisy completed a food and lifestyle review, so I was able to assess her nutrition content and if any key health or lifestyle indicators were affecting her symptoms. As I often see with other patients, Daisy was not drinking enough water and as a vegan, did not appear to be eating enough simple sources of protein such as legumes, tofu or tempeh. Any symptoms associated with hormones always indicates inadequate detoxification processes, which relies on water as the vessel to detox (essentially, help the body excrete hormones via urine or faeces).
Not eating enough protein can contribute to feelings of lethargy as the body is unable to repair cells overnight, and often means people are replacing protein with carbohydrates, which can affect blood sugar balancing and other symptoms of PCOS or painful symptoms.
Therefore the most important tasks for Daisy to start with were:
Increasing her water intake
Ensuring she had some protein in every meal
Increase fibre intake to aid detoxification
What did we do long term?
Long term we focussed on Daisy's diet to help alleviate her symptoms and start to balance her hormones to reduce the severity of PCOS. This centred around having 3 meals per day that included sources of protein to ensure she felt full and nourished, avoiding any energy drops and reducing temptation of sugary foods and simple carbs.
In addition to establishing a route of eating 3 meals daily, I created a FODMAP protocol for Daisy to identify if there were any specific foods causing the bloating. Over the next 6 - 12 weeks we worked together to reintroduce foods that were not triggers.
Supplements to help PCOS and gut health
In conjunction with diet, I curated a specific supplement protocol for Daisy to support her blood sugar and PCOS symptoms, whilst also ensuring she was hitting her micronutrient targets.
When someone is suffering with PCOS it can often mean they don't ovulate which means chances of infertility are much greater.
Choosing a blend of herbal tinctures to support hormonal imbalance, supplements to balance blood sugar and improve chances of ovulation, as well as rectifying nutrient deficiencies with high doses of vitamins and minerals, was key to improving Daisy's health.
A poor vegan diet high in processed foods and saturated fat also meant Daisy's gut was compromised. We focused on an intensive gut healing protocol to improve stomach pain, burning and bloating.
"We used food diaries, a multitude of supplements and introduced/removed certain things from my diet and to my shock, I immediately started to feel better!!"
Lastly, as part of our holistic approach at The Natural Balance, we worked together on Daisy's mental health. Asking someone to make large changes to what they eat, or remove favourite foods, is challenging, especially when they're in pain and seeking comfort. There were two parts to this - working on Daisy's sleep hygiene and introducing daily exercise.
Creating a positive sleep routine, such as winding down 30 minutes before an early bed time seems obvious but so many of us don't do it. For exercise, spending at least 30 minutes each day doing a variety of exercise was essential to her protocol. Walking, cycling and yoga were all introduced into her routine.
What changes did Daisy see?
Seeing an increase in her energy levels and improved sleep was a huge win for Daisy. It meant she woke up feeling like she could tackle the day, especially during stressful periods of her project based job. It also meant she had energy to incorporate more exercise and mindfulness into her routine.
Over time, Daisy was then able to attribute dietary changes to going not just hours or days, but weeks without extreme bloating or painful bowel movements.
Where is Daisy now?
Daisy's bloating is essentially gone, and her periods have become much more manageable, reducing from lasting 6 to 7 days to 4 or 5 days. But more importantly, Daisy's mood has improved, she's lost half a stone and is now a mother to a lovely little girl!
"The biggest thing for me and probably the one I’m most thankful to Kelly for is helping me prepare to conceive!"
Here is what Daisy had to say...
"Before working with Kelly I had extreme fatigue, a burning sensation in my stomach, horrible periods and wasn’t sleeping very well. I also have Polycystic Ovaries and Fibromyalgia which didn’t help my symptoms. The combinations of these things was making my life very difficult/uncomfortable and was getting me down a lot. I found The Natural Balance through work and booked a free consultation with Kelly. I was nervous that, like most doctors, I was going to be judged for being overweight and following a plant based diet and that they were probably the causes of my symptoms! However, for the first time ever it actually felt like someone understood my symptoms and wanted to help heal me, rather than mask the problems with medications and make me feel even worse.
I enjoyed how personalised the consultations were, each time, Kelly really listened to me, analysed my situation and tailored the solutions/supplements to me, unlike doctors who prescribe the same medications to everyone! Kelly made me feel really comfortable too, it was like talking to someone I’d known for years - plus she was always at hand outside of consultations. We worked together to heal my stomach, balance my hormones and ensure my diet was sustainable and that it was providing me with the right nutrients. We used food diaries, a multitude of supplements and introduced/removed certain things from my diet and to my shock, I immediately started to feel better!! So many things improved such as my sleep, my periods and my mood - I also lost just over half a stone.
The biggest thing for me and probably the one I’m most thankful to Kelly for is helping me prepare to conceive! Due to my PCOS the doctor told me me I might not be able to have a baby but Kelly gave me hope, helped me heal, cleanse and prepare and now, a year and a half later I have a beautiful, healthy baby girl! My time with Kelly was invaluable, I’m still using the methods, meals, practices and information provided and I just can’t thank her enough!"
How can we help you do the same?
I see so many women just like Daisy, whose hormonal imbalance is impacting so many parts of their life. If you're suffering from one, some or all of the same symptoms as Daisy it's worthwhile getting help.
At The Natural Balance we work holistically addressing the entire body, not individual parts. We have package options tailored for everyone, so why not book a free 20 minute consultation with us today to see how we can help you.
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Kelly Mulhall
Registered Nutritional Therapist
Kelly is a Registered Nutritional Therapist who focuses on positive physical and mental wellbeing, achieved through diet, lifestyle, sleep and exercise. Having struggled for years with IBS and hormonal imbalance, and increasingly frustrated with the lack of support and helpful advice from her GP, Kelly began her own journey of healing the body from the inside out. After seeing huge improvements she quit her job to study nutrition and focus on harnessing the healing powers of food to help other people in similar situations.