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Since my teens, my menstrual discomfort was so intense. 
I`d pass out at school, university and later on in life, at work.  At times the pain was equivalent to childbirth.

After many years of visiting the doctor and having the usual recommendation of the birth control pill to alleviate my symptoms, I eventually was given a laparoscopy and awoke to the news that I had polycystic ovaries.
Routine blood tests also showed that I had an underactive thyroid, which I later learned was Hashimotos Thyroiditis, an autoimmune disease.  These two conditions can often go hand - in - hand.

My gynacologist at the time suggested that I should have a hysterectomy to alleviate my symptoms.  That didn`t sit well with me, especially as I hadn`t had any children yet.  Thank goodness I didn`t listen to that advice!

Fast forward a few years and my little girl was born. 
When she was very small, I got really ill.  I would pass out regularly and could hardly stay vertical.  I felt so ill that I thought my life was over!  I was a shadow of myself and every day was a huge battle.

After numerous consultations I eventually got sent to UCLA in London, the neurological hospital.  They discovered I had a problem with my autonomic nervous system.   That is the part of your brain that controls all the things that you don`t need to think about, like breathing, blood pressure, temperature and everything else that keeps you going each day.

In my case, my blood pressure just wasn`t regulating itself, hence the fainting.  It turned out I had this awful and debilitating neurological condition because of a genetic disorder called Ehlers Danlos Syndrome.  

I was advised to take some very strong medication that I would become dependant on for the rest of my life.  When I read the side effects, I knew I wasn`t happy with that and set about a journey of discovery to get well without resorting to pills that I knew would cause me more harm than good in the long-run.

I read, and read, and read all that I could on the subject and then decided that my lifestyle had to change.  In the meantime, someone had bought me the Deliciously Ella recipe book.  I read the beginning with interest and felt that she had been in a similar situation to where I was at that moment.  I can honestly say that I owe that woman a big thank you because her book was a massive pivot point for my healing.

​I dragged myself into the kitchen, armed with a bin bag and emptied every cupboard, the fridge and the freezer of anything that had been boxed up and processed in a factory.  My fridge was pretty bare after that! 
 ordered an online shop and filled it only with items that had grown on this earth, rather than made by man.  I ordered ingredients I`d never heard of from the book, got myself a nutribullet and a vegetable steamer and some other items I needed.

And there began my healing.  I juiced, and juiced, and juiced.  I could literally feel the magnesium and potassium in those juices flooding my veins with goodness and slowly, but surely, I began to improve. There was a lot more to it than that, but the juices were something that really stick in my memory. 
I had acupuncture, reflexology and massage which also helped enormously.

​After that, as I began to regain my strength and get well, I got a real passion for understanding health and wellness, along with the power of nutrition and naturopathy.  As my vitality and strength returned, I wanted to shout about it from the roof-tops!  I wanted everyone to know that there is another way to dealing with illness... A really effective and sustainable way to recover without resorting to pharmaceuticals.
I decided that the way to pass on this knowledge was to train in this area of science and help people in similar situations.

I completed my post-graduate qualification in Nutritional and Biomedical Science and became a clinical nutritionist. I also embarked on the journey to become a naturopath.  You can read more about what a naturopath is here

​​Today, I help people to make lifestyle changes that can bring about huge and life-changing effects for them.  I can`t tell you how many times someone has told me that I have changed their life.  Each and every time this happens, I feel so honoured and blessed that I have been able to help that person and have such a positive impact on their journey through their life.

I am a big believer that life is a journey with lots of chapters.  Some chapters are happy, funny and positive... some are scary, sad and upsetting.  But each chapter ends and a new one starts.  The amazing capacity of the body to regenerate itself under the right conditions means that everyone has the chance to start a new happier, healthier chapter when the time is right.

Healing from a chronic illness doesn`t happen overnight, and it is something that even now, all these years later, I still monitor closely.  I will never change the fact I have a genetic illness, it`s always going to be there.  What I can do is be extremely vigilant and live my life as purely as possible to keep that genetic difference of mine in remission.  

Healing takes time, dedication and effort, but when you rare ready, believe me... you are willing to try anything.

That`s me.... up there!  Shouting it from the rooftops!!