Miss C is 35 years of age. She initially came to see me in October 2017 for help with her Crohn’s disease, weight issues, stress management and guidance with her diet and lifestyle. There were also some general aches and pains in her lower back area that needed addressing.

For those of you that don’t know what Crohn’s is……..

Crohn’s disease is an inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). It causes inflammation of your digestive tract, which can lead to abdominal pain, severe diarrhoea, fatigue, weight loss and malnutrition. Inflammation caused by Crohn’s disease can involve different areas of the digestive tract in different people.

Firstly I looked at Miss C’s lifestyle and did a full physical assessment. From there I gave her simple nutritional and lifestyle coaching steps that could quickly and easily be implemented to improve her current health. I also asked Miss C about her goals and what would she like to achieve in her life and she advised that she wished to return to medical school to finish her PhD which she had put on hold due to family commitments.

Following on from this initial assessment I began to start correcting Miss C’s gut health; this is really crucial as 70% of your immune system depends on the health of the gut and therefore this is pertinent to Miss C as she suffers from Crohn’s disease. Additionally, gut health also correlates to the “feel good” neurotransmitter serotonin; if your gut health is good you feel better mentally because you produce more serotonin.

Other things I implemented were

  • Zone and meditation exercises
  • A switch to organic food
  • Corrective Exercise and Mobilisations of the restricted joints
  • Subtle and easily applicable dietary changes and the introduction of fresh bone broth to act as a natural anti-inflammatory to help nourish her body and joint health.
  • Used other supplementation and whole food supplements for support

A few months into the program Miss C was achieving some great results; her back pain had disappeared, her posture was improving, her medications were reduced, digestion was better, and there was a little bit of weight loss too.

Things were continuing to go well but in March 2018 we sat down and had a chat. Miss C told me she was unsure if she wanted to continue with the coaching as she didn’t feel she was getting the results she wanted, she also told me that she was getting a divorce from her husband and things were beginning to ‘get on top of her’. I assured Miss C that I still had a lot to offer, reminded her of how far she has already come and explained the direction we were going in for the upcoming months. Miss C agreed to continue with the coaching.

From here I began to set Miss C some 4 Doctor action items for her to implement. The main focus was on Dr Happy because she was often surrounded by incidents that made her feel sad such as the divorce, the stress of the house sale, her son’s illness, and her own health. We also adjusted some of the supplementations and looked further into an autoimmune dietary approach which we began to slowly build up to. Miss C often gets flares ups from even consuming grains and some of the other common foods such as gluten and dairy (if you are unfamiliar with the impact Crohn’s disease can have). I also recommended some essential oils and healing crystals.

Over the next few weeks she was doing really well and I was impressed at how well Miss C was coping in a very stressful situation. Miss C was very ‘zen’ about it all and began to lose more weight too which was fantastic to see.

One week later Miss C told me she needed a break from the coaching and could not fit in anything for the next couple of months with all the things that were going on. I could see where she was coming from and was really hopeful that she would carry on implementing what I had previously taught her while she was unable to continue with the 1:1 coaching.

Two months on Miss C has come back to coaching a different person! She is still dealing with some of the personal issues she had, which are ongoing, but hopes they will come to an end soon. Nonetheless, Miss C has lost a significant amount of weight, is managing stress really well and her medication has been significantly reduced.

I really admire how Miss C has progressed in a year and it is evident this is down to her commitment and dedication. Miss C is a true inspiration for many people who are going through stressful situations in their life and having to combat chronic diseases such as Crohn’s. Miss C did all this while looking after 2 children, being in and out of the hospital with her son, and then going through a house sale and a divorce.

It just shows that chronic diseases can be improved significantly and overcome if you are open to change with dedication and the correct guidance.

Hippocrates said, “Treat the person that has the disease, not the disease that has the person”.

I hope this was a great insight into a real-life case study.