Irregular periods, short luteal phase, PMS and High Stress

I’m excited to be working with Brandy Buskow, Functional Nutritionist.  Here is her story of how with lab testing, diet and lifestyle changes she was able to get pregnant after struggling with numerous health issues.  Brandy is part of the Fab Fertile team and provide nutritional support for our Couples Coaching Program.

Case Study – Irregular periods (21 days, 28 days), short luteal phase, PMS and high stress.

My health struggles started early on, as a child I struggled with chronic ear infections, chronic colds, and chronic tonsillitis. After having my tonsils and adenoids removed when I was 8 my symptoms seemed to improve for a short while but within a year or two I began a long term struggle with digestive issues, and weight gain. I was diagnosed with IBS when I was 16 and followed the standard advice of eating more fibre, exercising and worrying less. 

In my early 20’s I starting have severe anxiety and depression. I spent over a year trying several different medications but soon became frustrated by the side effects and with the help of my holistically minded grandmother I weened myself off the medication with amino acids, and herbs. After seeing how amazing they worked I became passionate about learning anything and everything she could about holistic and alternative health. I went on to lose over 100lbs and managed my anxiety and IBS with diet, visualization, and exercise. 

In 2011 after a difficult pregnancy and birth of my third child, my health crashed and I began experiencing digestive issues again, extreme fatigue, body pain, anxiety, hormonal swings and panic attacks. I began researching again and was tested and diagnosed with celiac disease. Although giving up gluten helped some it didn’t address the panic attacks, body pain, and extreme fatigue. I started working with a Naturopath but didn’t see any results. I became frustrated and came across Reed Davis and Functional Diagnostic Nutrition and decided enroll in the FDN Certification program with the sole intention initially to help myself. Doing the testing and following the lifestyle protocols were nothing short of amazing, I began healing and my symptoms started improving very quickly. 

Next we’ll discuss the lab tests and the recommendations for healing.

Analysis of Test Results:

Summary

Not producing adequate cortisol, due to high stress, initially cortisol will stay high, but then the adrenals will become burnt out and this will lead to low sex hormones.

Diet and Lifestyle Recommendations

• Consider possible food sensitivity – elimination diet or food sensitivity testing
• Assess blood sugar with Glucometer (assess blood sugar before a meal, (fasting blood sugar) and 1 hour after meal.  Your blood sugar should return to fasting levels 2 hours post meal) and/or use a Food Journal to determine how feel after food eg. Headaches, moodiness, still hungry, or hangry (hungry +angry!)
• If notice any blood sugar changes consider adding protein/fat to your meals to stabilize blood sugar levels. If you are experiencing blood sugar swings before bed consider adding a protein/fat based snack such as a handful or nuts or nut butter to keep blood sugar stable and prevent disrupted sleep
• Remove emotional/mental stress – eg. Meditation, sleep ritual, journal, prayer, deep breathing, support group, coach
• Exercise – ensure not too much exercise as this may cause stress to the body – aim for moderate exercise
• Personal Care – switch to organic personal care products
• Cleaning Chemicals – switch to organic cleaning products

Supplement Recommendations

• Consider a melatonin supplement (2 months)  – As directed by your health care practitioner
• Consider low dose bio-identical hormone as directed by a health care practitioner
• Multi vitamin/mineral (prenatal) – Thorne Basic Prenatal
• Consider Adrenal adaptogen  (1 month)- Gaia Herbs Adrenal Health, BioMatrix Support Adrenals
• Consider high quality vitamin C, and B vitamin complex.

Next Steps

• Retest after 90 days
• Consider further testing – liver health, gut health, food sensitivities

Need Support? Book your FREE Supercharge Your Fertility Discovery call.  Learn specific steps you can take to improve your chances of having your baby!

Sarah Clark empowers couples to discover how lifestyle and diet can dramatically impact their chances of conceiving.  She was diagnosed with premature ovarian failure at 28 and had both her kids with donor eggs.  Not until years later did she discover that the root cause of her infertility was a food intolerance.  Ready to gaze into your baby’s eyes….but struggling.  Download 10 step Checklist here