42-year-old René F. claims that she’s always been a healthy person. So finding herself in the emergency room for an elevated heart rate and extreme fatigue was not fitting for her.

It was the summer of 2022, and her symptoms had escalated to the point of requiring immediate attention. Her husband took her to the emergency room where the doctors suspected a blood clot, yet found none. The only clue was an abnormal thyroid level, leading to a referral to an endocrinologist and a preliminary diagnosis of Graves’ disease.

The conventional approach

“I went from this very scary episode in the ER to reaching out to specialists the following day and being told that there was an 8-10 week waiting period until I could get in,” she recalls.

Her GP prescribed thyroid meds in the meantime, and René waited until that first available appointment.

“What I’ve learned about treating the thyroid is that it’s a lot of guesses, treat and repeat,” she says of that first visit. “I went in, they’d draw my blood, and I’d see the results in the portal. There was no discussion aside from discussing those numbers.”

A 2nd specialist proved to have a slightly improved process, and yet there was still no talk of her other symptoms. “They didn’t even touch on my anxiety, my insomnia or the hair loss I was experiencing,” she recalls. There was a sole focus on her thyroid levels.

A turning point

“There I was 14 months into my diagnosis of Graves’ disease, not having it under control, having wild swings in my thyroid function, and a colleague referred me to Companion Health, where I met Anya (Wallace, PA-C).”

“This is what I’ve been missing,” René thought as Anya proposed looking at her anxiety, insomnia, hair loss, hormones, gut health, and adrenal function.

Finally, she was on a different path, the right one that looked at her overall health.

But it wasn’t all smooth sailing

Under Anya’s guidance, René got off of her birth control pills, which she had been on since the age of 18. But things got a bit harder before they got better. Upon stopping the pills, she experienced hair loss, acne and body changes.

“Unfortunately, due to what birth control pills actually do in the body, specifically the normal processes they shut down, there can be some rebound effects when getting off of them as the body tries to get back to normal. You’re almost never dealing with a single hormone issue in isolation; these hormones are intertwined so it’s important to address the whole picture.” explains Anya.

Instead of the synthetic birth control pills, Anya worked to rebalance René’s hormones with the use of bio-identical hormones. For birth control purposes, René turned to the Natural Cycles App. With these changes implemented, her cycles are normalizing and hormone numbers have leveled out.

Diet-wise, Anya recommended removing gluten, as is often suggested to those with autoimmune diseases (and which was supported by a gut test in this case, as well).

“This was a lifestyle change,” René admits. “Meal-prepping is essential; when I go out, I drink cider instead of beer; it’s not unmanageable, but you have to put additional thought into it.”

All about the protein

In addition to dialing in her diet with gluten removal, René has made an effort to pump up the protein.

“I’ve done diet-tracking over the years,” she says. “But with Anya and Lisa (her health coach)’s help, I learned how much protein you should be getting at my age, including exercise considerations. It was really eye-opening.”

René’s day now includes 100 grams of protein, and most days look something like this:

Breakfast: Vital Proteins in her coffee and chia seeds added to overnight oats

Lunch: A salad with lean protein, often chicken

Dinner: Something that she meal preps over the weekend, such as a chicken/rice/veggie bake

Rene reports recovering better from activities and having more “fuel in the tank” to do things as a result of the added protein.

What’s next for René?

Before we look to the future, let’s quickly recap all of our member of the month’s successes over the last year:

✅Graves’ disease under control

✅Perimenopause managed with bioidentical hormones

✅Gut health improved

✅Incorporated an Oura Ring and Apple Watch to obtain data, which is shared and discussed with her provider and health coach

✅Focused on and improved sleep

✅Added individualized supplements (which René says is the “secret sauce”)

✅Increased knowledge of and implementation of meal prepping

“It’s taken me two years to get to where I am,” René says. “I’m just now starting to feel the effects of all of the things I’ve been doing, and I think they will only continue to improve.”

Since active travel is important to her and her husband, being physically able to participate in all of it is a focus. Long hikes, climbing, walking, standing and sustaining in their journeys is the goal; honing in on physical fitness, adequate nutrition and rest are the tools she’s using to get there.

“I will also continue to address hormones,” she continues. “I have seen improvements, but I don’t think it’s done yet. Going through your 40s as a woman … I look forward to having someone keep an eye on them. It’s easy to talk yourself out of dealing with them!”

“I’ve learned it takes time. Something I’ve done differently is investing in my health. It’s been a year of saying YES to my health and seeing what the results are. It’s been a great experience.”