Snow Farms Holistic Wellness

Day Care Worker with Lupus and Fatigue

• My client is a female, 34 years old, married with 2 kids who follows the Standard American diet and is mostly sedentary due to her fatigue.
• The client came to me for help with her lupus and fatigue which ranked for a 10 for both frequency and severity. She also shows patterns of Irritable Bowel Syndrome which shows as constipation followed by diarrhea with cramps after she eats. This ranked as an 8 out of 10 on both frequency and severity.
• The goal after her first visit was to decrease her fatigue from a 10 to an 8 and to also decrease her IBS patterns from and 8 to a 6.

The Story of Anonymous

My client came to me with lupus and fatigue along with patterns of IBS. She often goes 8 days with no bowel movement followed by urgent diarrhea with cramps- especially after eating. For her Lupus, she is on lupus meds along with prednisone during her lupus bouts as well as some occasional antibiotics following any sickness. This often happens as the prednisone weakens her immune system. She has also had her gall bladder removed, had a hysterectomy, and frequent bouts of strep throat. She gets a very regular 8 hours of sleep but wakes up feeling not rested. My client is often cold and has little to no energy.

The Challenges

My client was seeking help and coaching for her lupus, fatigue, and IBS patterns so that she could have more energy for her family and job. The goals that she and I came up with were to decrease her fatigue and IBS patterns by 2 points by our next meeting.

How We Responded

At our initial client meaning, I was able to gather missing information, clarify any questions, and start to piece together a chronic symptom protocol that included different herbs, nutritional/diet information, supplements and different lifestyle changes to help give her more energy and experience less constipation! I started with a Aromatic Nutritive Infusion that contained Meadowsweet, Plantain, Calendula, Burdock, and Nettle that the client could infuse and drink a quart daily until our next appointment. I also suggested a Gut Healing Tea of Chamomile, Fennel, Mint, and Marshmallow which should be consumed 2-3 times a day and even more during a lupus flare up. These two would help build back her gut health as well as nourish her body with loads of vitamins and minerals which is what her body needs to heal from the inside out.

For Nutrition/Diet, I suggested a Graduated Elimination Diet to rule out food allergies which would help with the patterns of IBS. What’s a Graduated Elimination Diet, you ask? Basically, my client would start by “eating” broth for 3 days. Then for 3 days add rice to the bread. Then broth, rice, and well-cooked veggies for 3 days. After that add meat into the mix along with the broth, rice, and well-cooked veggies. Then slowly add in 1 new food group for 1 week and report back in to see how the new food affected your body/mind. Repeat. She needs to figure out what foods are causing her IBS symptoms and this is one way to go about finding the culprits!

Her lifestyle tweaks included a decrease in her stress and fatigue by practicing yoga and meditation at least 3 times a week. On breaks at work, I suggested she try to get outside for at least 10-15 minutes and walk briskly. This would help with stress, energy levels, increased natural light exposure, and increased Vitamin D. It’s important to start slowly because this healing is going to take some time.

There were some supplements I suggested she start taking as well Vitamin D to help strengthen her weakened immune system as well as Magnesium Glycinate to help with her sleep and constipation.

For nights when she had a rough day, I suggested a strong infusion of chamomile which would help to relax her mind and body so that she would be prepared to go to sleep. This is just 1/2 of the flowers steeped in 2 cups of just-boiled water for about 10-15 minutes.

We started with these protocols to address her primary and secondary concerns of lupus/fatigue and patterns of IBS. The client was nervously excited to start the long work ahead, but had an overall positive outlook because these were things that she felt she could incorporate into her every day routine.

The Results

After 30 days, we agreed on a follow-up appointment to check in on how things were going, re-check her ratings of her symptoms and adjust the protocols as needed. The client talked about her struggles with the elimination diet but noted that she was feeling much better after realizing that after cutting down on processed foods and dairy, her IBS symptoms seemed to be much better. She is still working through other foods and will let me know those results at a future follow-up. She appreciated the weekly check-ins and the coaching support through text when she had a question or a concern. The client is sleeping better and looks forward to the chamomile infusion when needed as it really helps her prepare to sleep. She noticed since she started sleeping better, that she does have more energy and when she gets starts to feel sluggish that the outside brisk walks really have been helping! Overall, the client’s symptoms had decreased by 2 points each so her goal was met and new goals were put into place.

Conclusion

Through tweaks and new systems with herbs, supplements, and eating methods, my client is experiencing a better quality of life. If you would like to see the same results, set up a discovery call with me today here!