Speaker 1 (00:03):
Hello, this is Jess from her Mood Mentor and today I'm meeting with one of my one-to-one clients and PMDD rehab students. Jade. Hello Jade.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Hi.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
So good to see you. Jade's here to share her story with us, her inspiring PMDD story. So thank you so much for being here, Jade. We're so excited.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
No problem, no problem.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
Yeah. So tell us a little bit about your PMDD experience, the symptoms, how long they were going on, what was happening in your PMDD world.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
Okay, so probably, I mean, I guess since I got my first period at 1415, I've probably had symptoms wasn't until I was about 30, maybe 29, 30, that I realized that this was not normal. I originally thought it was my birth control that was giving me these symptoms. So I went to the GP to look at coming off that and maybe take something different, came off that tried a different contraceptive, which was a progesterone only, and that made things worse. Started researching things, thinking and came across PMDD, spoke to the GP about it. After tracking and things, they agreed that, yeah, this is probably what it was.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
They offered me birth control, which hadn't worked. That was the reason I had started looking into this. They also prescribed me various antidepressants. I think I tried three different ones, maybe helped slightly, but I think they just made me flat the full month rather than they calmed down the bad symptoms. But I kind of thought, well, I'm only having symptoms seven days of a month, so why am I, I'm feeling flat the whole time. And they said the next option for me was chemical menopause slash hysterectomy. And I thought, this doesn't seem right. So to be honest, the next five, six years I've just kind of not taken anything and thought I didn't want to go down that path. So just kind of trying to manage it myself, but it wasn't working and I felt the symptoms, I was getting more symptoms for maybe rather than just five days. It was becoming sort of more 10 creep into the 14 days. And I thought, no, this is not good anymore
Speaker 1 (03:11):
With how sometimes things just get better on their own. And so sometimes things just
Speaker 2 (03:16):
Get worse. And I did have, sometimes I didn't have any symptoms and I thought, oh great, can forget about it now I've had two or three months where it's been quite mild. I don't need to forget about it again for another two months. And then it would get bad if there was, especially if things were stressful or whatever, it would get worse again and then it would ease slightly for a bit and I'd think, oh, this is manageable, it's fine. And forget about it. But yeah, it was then becoming more of a problem than not a problem
Speaker 1 (03:55):
Half the month, half the cycle, dealing with that knockdown effect of up and down and up and down. Can you tell us a little bit about the symptoms that were really challenging you during that?
Speaker 2 (04:12):
I mean, I had a lot of physical symptoms I would get from, basically from ovulation, I get a lot of joint pain, hip pain, bloating, migraines. That was kind of the final straw was getting a migraine around bit ovulation and another one the day or two before my period and I thought, oh, this is too much. But it was the mental symptoms that were the real problem. I can deal with a bit hip pain, do know that is what it is. But it was the anxiety, the overthinking, everything. Problems that weren't a problem three days ago are now the biggest problems in the world, rearranging my social life because I don't want to leave the house. I don't want to have to deal with people. I have a sort of public facing job. So that was difficult. I was sort of able to contain it then, but that just made me more exhausted when I was out of work, getting irritated by everything, people breathing, my cats scratching things, my cat crying. I would be like, it suddenly was much louder than it was three days ago. The noise was just too much, but it was mostly anxiety and the overthinking, which I guess a lot of people maybe didn't see me having. People would think, I've told people, they're like, really? You seem quite chilled out. But I'm like, no, inside it's a different thing.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
And then sometimes it was getting to the point where I was getting really mum mood was really low because of that. And I guess then because of the impact it was having was then making mum mood low when you can't want to go and do things and you're in the house all the time and you're like, you can't even face taking the bin out. It was becoming too much to handle my diary. I think for years I was able to, especially when I was on birth control, I guess I knew what week I would be having my break and when it would be maybe worse. But when it's the two weeks and you don't know if it's going to be the full two weeks or if it's only going to be five days, arranging the diary is quite difficult and people are like, you're never available.
Speaker 2 (07:12):
And I'm like, yeah, because my first two weeks of the month or jam packed with things. And then that becomes I guess your own worst enemy because you're filling up those two weeks with everything. So then your symptoms get worse because you're even more exhausted. You're already exhausted going into that phase and then you're just like, I'm just not leaving my house for two weeks. Work was becoming more challenging. The public were becoming worse. It was becoming harder to not shout back at the people who, and yeah, I thought this is not good. Not good at all.
Speaker 2 (07:57):
So yeah, I thought I'm going to have to actually start trying to deal with this again. But I wanted, the GP wasn't giving me any options, so I started having to look for something else. I tried to doing diet and exercise myself, and I would go through phases where I would do all that kind of thing, but bang, that week would hit and I'd be like, no, back to square one again. I'm not doing my exercising, I'm not doing this, I'm not doing that. And there would be some progress and then it would just be a week of lying on the couch, eating crisps and not doing anything. And then you spend the next two weeks just trying to undo all that.
Speaker 2 (08:56):
And yeah, I mean I've been quite lucky. I guess most of my friend relationships and things haven't been massively impacted. My romantic relationships definitely have been that two weeks. I've always overthinking of the person actually likes you. Why are they not texting you back? Why are they not doing it? Whereas the first two weeks of the month, I couldn't care less. If somebody doesn't reply to me, I'm like, oh, just busy that week. I'm like, oh, something's happened. They're not interested anymore. I would then just be like, this is not worth it. Ending things, I'm pretty sure if I think back, most of the romantic relationships I've ended have probably been ended in that period of time, guaranteed, because there's definitely been things people have been kind of just dating and I've thought, oh no, I'm not bothering with them anymore. And then a couple of weeks later you think, oh, I dunno why I did that. That seemed they were actually not that planned. They were fine. I dunno why I suddenly thought they were the worst person ever for three days. It was definitely having more of an impact than it wasn't three or four days. You can deal with maybe two weeks, half your life. No, not
Speaker 1 (10:29):
So much. There's a real cost to living like that for so long. And I mean we're talking going on two decades. If you started when you got your period and where you are now, this has been going on for a really long time. And then you say worsening over time and the physical symptoms, the psychological symptoms, they cut you down. And so you adapt and you cram your life into two weeks, every single cycle, every single month. And it's a half life. You're living a half life.
Speaker 2 (11:02):
And sometimes it doesn't work out that way. Sometimes I can arrange most things in that two weeks, but people get married, people have birthdays, things don't fall in those two weeks that I have to go. I have work meetings that have to go to a work, social things, and I'm like, oh, that's in the wrong time. That's going to be awful. And you're actually praying that it gets canceled or that there's some good excuse comes up that I can be like, oh, I just can't do that. Can't do that.
Speaker 1 (11:36):
Well, I'm so excited to read some of your quotes. We have some good quotes that are touching in on all of these points that you're making that I'll get to in a moment. But what was the final straw like and also what led you to choosing this type of approach, this root cause, personalized approach? So what was the breaking point or if there was one, and then why did you choose this way forward?
Speaker 2 (12:05):
I think the breaking point was when I started this, I was in a relationship that was being really impacted with it and I thought, is this going to be another? A lot of my previous relationships have been okay up to the point where I've lived with someone and then the minute I have to live with, I can plan my dates around how I feel and just say, I'm busy that week and not be busy, just be lying on my couch. But they don't know that when you live with 'em, they're there all the time. And I thought, am I going to let another this ruin another relationship? It's not going to go anywhere unless I sort this out, whether it's this relationship or it's any other relationship or whatever. Nothing's ever going to move past the dating point if I have to keep trying to hide it.
Speaker 2 (13:01):
And I was like, well, it's only ever going to get to this point. And you can explain to the person, but they don't really get it until they're with it all the time. And I thought, I can't want this to be another thing that I have to be stuck in this cycle of short-term relationships because I can't progress any further because then they're going to find out and they're going to be like, no, I can't deal with this, or I can't deal with them. On the flip side, I guess. So yeah, I thought, no, I can't let it go in any longer. Do you know how old am I 37? I'm nearly 40. Am I going to just, yeah, okay, I'm getting closer to the menopause I guess, but that's still a long way. I could still have another
Speaker 1 (14:02):
Decade plus
Speaker 2 (14:05):
Easily we're dealing with this and then it might get worse
Speaker 2 (14:08):
During that time. I've seen my mom and things have symptoms that didn't have symptoms because the menopause, and I thought, oh my God, is it going to get even worse if it's two weeks already? Am I going to be just like this 24 7 when my cycle goes a mess? I thought that's no enough enough. And yeah, I guess I didn't want to go down the route of having to have major surgery, which potentially I'd have to take hormone therapy anyway, which I feel would then maybe give me symptoms again. I don't know. It doesn't seem logical to me that that would work because I'd still have to take hormones and it's the hormones that seem to be the issue. So I was like, no, I don't want, but do I want to go through all that? And then it doesn't help and I'm back in the same kind of thing and I'm not a huge person for just taking medication anyway. I'd rather try and find out is there a reason for it? Is it something simple? Is it,
Speaker 1 (15:22):
Which is so interesting considering your line of work.
Speaker 2 (15:26):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (15:28):
Well, that's why though, because I'm like, a lot of the time it is just a stick in plaster and it's not, I see loads of people with various ailments in my job that they have the same things for years and you can't get, nobody can figure out what's going on and they're just taking pill after pill after pill to a pill to sort that and then a pill to deal with the side effects. And I thought, no, that's not really what I want. If I can try another way, then yeah, I think it is time to at least give it a try. And if it doesn't work, then fine.
Speaker 1 (16:11):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (16:12):
So I'm not lost anything, and I'd be in the same scenario again, if I try this and it doesn't work, I'm not going to be backwards. I'm going to just be in the same space I was five months ago.
Speaker 1 (16:24):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. So true. And kind of a good recalibration in making that decision as taking this approach isn't going to hurt me. It's only going to help or be neutral or somewhere in between. So what shifts have you noticed in your PMDD symptoms since we've done the work?
Speaker 2 (16:49):
So it's night and day. I mean, I came into it with an open mind and I came into it thinking even if I get a couple of extra days, I can happily deal with five days I'm okay with it. Or even if I still have a week, eight days of mild symptoms, whether it's not too bad, just a little bit more stressed or whatever. Again, I could deal with that, anything really. And I didn't think at all that it would be what it's been. I mean, within the first month, I had barely any symptoms. I had three symptoms, three months, which was insane. I mean, I'm well aware that I was sticking to things very good. And this month I didn't, I was away down to London. I'm maybe eight, a bit bad last couple of weeks, and I've had a little bit symptoms now on day 23. Okay.
Speaker 1 (18:13):
You're doing this call in Louisville? Well, I'm doing this on day 23
Speaker 2 (18:17):
If that's not a testament, oh my
Speaker 2 (18:19):
Goodness. I would never have done this on day 23. Day 23, I'd been in my pajamas eating a tub of ice cream at this time on a Monday night. There's no way. But yeah, I've had a little bit, but again, it's nothing. I've just had a bit more, oh, I'm feeling a bit more stressed, but I know why it is and I know it's because, yeah, I mean, I didn't go crazy. But yeah, I was out and about a lot. I was grabbing and going sometimes for food. I hadn't taken all my supplements quite as rigid. I was traveling and I had to be, I mean, I wasn't overdoing on alcohol, but I had some drinks. But again, I'm on day 23 and I got back, I was back last week and I've been back straight onto the cooking and doing my meals and all that again, back eating healthy, and I feel I'm feeling fine. I would never have done that would've been have done, I'd have feeling rubbish at the weekend, and that would've just went on.
Speaker 2 (19:29):
I had a family event on Saturday, which normally I'd have either tried to get out of going or I'd have had a drink to sort of just be able to be sociable. I took the car because I knew I'd overdone it the weekend previously, and I was starting to get symptoms, and I thought, I can't have that drink this weekend because I can feel it creeping in and I'm not going to make it worse by doing this. We're going into the late twenties. So I was like, no, I can't. And I didn't. And it was totally fine, and it meant then on Sunday I was up getting my food shop, doing my meal prep away to the farm shop to get some healthy good stuff, good stacks that weren't junk food. So yeah, I mean, it's been massive, the difference, and I've not been perfect, but I know to deal with it. I know how kind of far I can push it, and if I start feeling symptoms, I know I need to start pulling it back.
Speaker 1 (20:58):
And that has really, we saw,
Speaker 2 (21:01):
Yeah, you need to find the balance it, you can't just stick rigid all the time. It's not
Speaker 1 (21:07):
About that
Speaker 2 (21:07):
Life, unfortunately. So it'd be great if I could just eat the same meal every day for 365 days and do all that and it would be fine, but that's not how it works. So as much as I've done all the good things I've learned where I need to start reining it in, but still be able to enjoy myself and still be able to have two cocktails, but I know that if I'm any more than that, it's maybe pushing it.
Speaker 1 (21:40):
You've really found your specific triggers, and then we've anchored you to anchors. And also something we've seen throughout the process is a lot of redirection from something's wrong with you. You're not trying hard enough. All of this attention on your self-worth to a more outward curiosity questioning of actually, why am I feeling this way? What is leading me to feel this way? And that's where we see you not getting stuck in those rumination cycles where it's just like, well, nevermind. I'm just going to lay on the couch now and eat the crisps and it's a wash.
Speaker 2 (22:20):
Before I would've just said, oh, it's just not working. It's just me. It's not going to be able to be fixed. I wouldn't have thought, oh, is it because even though I know deep down it was because I was eating junk and not doing anything and whatever, but you just can't get out of that. And it would be like, oh yeah, just feeling sorry for myself rather than now I'm like, okay, what happened this week? Or if somebody was annoying me this week, and I was just like, I just text them and said, look, I just need to put my phone away this week and not be on my phone. Not said they did anything. I just said, oh, I'll probably not be messaging so much this week because I'm not feeling so great. I need to sort some stuff out. Rather, before I'd be just causing a whole stir for no reason at all. But as now I know that I'm like, okay, I'm starting to get irritated. I just need to put my phone away and not just not deal with it, just leave it till the morning and in the morning I'm like, that was a whole lot of nothing. But I would've probably flown off a handle and it would've been this whole big thing that I would've then be trying to fix for the next three weeks or something like that. Yeah, exhausting.
Speaker 1 (23:50):
That's cycle. And I think it's so fun to have this conversation because people who don't live with the PMDD experience, they don't understand what it's like. And so the women who are going to be listening to this, maybe their partners, you're really painting the picture of how this all plays out. It's just like a downward spiral that happens. And it's not like when your symptoms are alleviated, everything's fine. You're cleaning up the messes, you're catching up, you're repairing your relationships with yourself and others, but you've seen through this process as you've learned to reduce and manage your symptoms. We've worked on nervous system regulation, we've worked on mindset and all of these other little, it's kind of like the opposite of a downward spiral, an upward spiral, and all of these other things start clicking into place for you. You have a lot more confidence in yourself in your ability to manage these symptoms.
Speaker 1 (24:40):
You have a lot more awareness about your triggers and how to set boundaries. And then we practice that. Because I think when we talk about healing PMDD and air quotes as in, not curing, but learning to reduce and manage your symptoms, it's like, well, what does that really look like? Well, what does living with PMDD really look like? We kind of have to have these conversations for people to be able to relate to. And for people who don't live with PMD to be able to hear, because you're masking and there was a lot of masking for you, and that is a huge tax that you're paying, a huge cost of energy that's being utilized to hide this, to change your schedule, to push through to all the things. And it's just not really there is what I'm hearing anymore. It's not like that at all now.
Speaker 2 (25:32):
And the biggest thing when I came into it, I kind of thought, okay, it's going to be I'm going to change my diet. We did the blood work and I'm maybe need some supplements and whatnot, depending what was going on with me. And I kind of thought that was going to be the fix, but actually it was changing my mindset on the whole thing. And that was why I picked to focus on my relationship with myself. And that changed because that because I felt better. I wanted to eat better. I wanted to start exercising. That just came as a thing. I didn't even really try that. I wanted to start doing all the things because I was like, okay, it's not me. These are things I need to fix. I need to fix my sleep. I need to get into a better routine at night. I need to organize these things. Not, oh, that's not a thing. It's not an issue. Cutting down on the sugar on the process stuff. But now it doesn't bother me because I see how it's working and I'm like, do you know what do I really need? Yeah, I'm still going to go out and have a cake. Of course I am, but I'm not going to have a cake every day or not going to have five cakes at once, which I would've done before. Buy a family pack and eat the whole thing. Because I'm like, well, I could, but then it's just going to be another bad time in a week, two weeks, three weeks, whenever it's going to reappear.
Speaker 1 (27:21):
It feels like daunting and scary at first of I'm going to have to change my whole life and it's going to be miserable and hard and I can't do anything the same. And you're saying that that's really not how it was for you. It was a few targeted changes, a lot of mindset work, and you actually are enjoying the process now, a process that you feared.
Speaker 2 (27:42):
I think I said that to you in our last session. I had said I was clearing out my schedule. I'm saying, everybody, look, I'm doing this work for the next few months. I'm not going to be going out and doing the things. I'm going to be trying. I did have a holiday booked mid thing that was already planned. I couldn't get around that, but I was like, I'm not going to be seeing people. I'm going to have to be busy doing all this stuff. And actually didn't really, I actually ended up with more free time because I wasn't laying around on my couch doing nothing, even when I was supposed to be being productive.
Speaker 2 (28:22):
It didn't take that, I mean obviously it was work. I'm not saying it wasn't. I don't want people thinking that this was just like, you just do it and it's fine. Of course it was work, but it wasn't anything out of what my normal routine was. Do you know what? I think I already said I was already cooking dinner every night. I just changed what I was cooking to healthier stuff. It didn't change the timing. I always spent half an hour making my dinner. I still spent half an hour making my dinner. It's just a different dinner. Yeah, we saw the same thing. Yeah, fitting a bit of exercise, but I'd do my Pilates in the house before while when I would normally just be laying watching some TV and mindlessly scrolling on the phone. That 45 minutes I still have. I've not had to give up any social stuff to do that or not fitting into my work. I'm just changing what I'm doing rather than scrolling on the phone and getting myself into some spiral of doom. I'm now doing some workout, going for a walk. Well, and you,
Speaker 2 (29:39):
While I'm going on the walk, I really want to do something like that do than just sitting there. It's all fit into my normal routine. I've not had to, I did it all when I was on holiday. I was away for two weeks and still fit it in the exercise, maybe not so much, but everything else was fine. I just chose different, put a bit extra salad on my plate and had some fruit rather than going for the big desserts. I didn't have to go crazy and be like counting my macros and all. You have a judge, but I wasn't want to get into that obsessive of like, oh, well, I've eaten 50 calories more than I should have. What you do. I've done previously. Oh God, I'm a hundred calories over. I'm going to, oh, I'll just give up now. If I'm a hundred calories over, I'd be as well being a thousand calories over, I'll just have that ice cream. Whereas now I'm like, okay, whatever. I don't track it.
Speaker 1 (30:47):
We really made it work for you.
Speaker 1 (30:50):
Yeah, we made it work for you. And we saw a, we learned a lot from your blood labs and we built a protocol that was specific, felt doable, and then we built on that based on what we were seeing with your results. And I think that upward spiral effect, when you're not having as much joint pain and cramping and you're not as fatigued and you're not feeling so much anxiety, you don't feel as hopeless with those symptoms. And so the meter lowers on your activation and how dysregulated you are, and you have the space to choose a walk over doom scrolling. You have the energy, you have the accountability also because we're meeting and we're holding you accountable to the changes. But it did unfold in such an inspiring way for you because you showed up, you did the work, things got better. You showed up, you did the work, things got better.
Speaker 1 (31:49):
And through that process, you learned so much about yourself. And in that you learned that you have freedom where to tweak things, where to double down and it put you in the driver's seat and it gave you the agency rather than you're relying on this medication, which nothing wrong with medications or you're relying on this other practitioner, I wasn't doing this for you. You were doing it. You were the one that was doing the changes and seeing the results. So I would love to read some quotes if you're up for hearing them from your sessions. I think it'll be fun. So I went through and circled some. So by our second session you said I had a great week, even though it was luteal.
Speaker 2 (32:39):
Yeah,
Speaker 1 (32:39):
Two weeks into the program. Then in our third session you said, so we do a lot of data collection. One of them is through the symptom mapping process. If you're listening to this, you can access this as a free resource that we have our symptom mapping kit, but we do this with all of our clients. And you said, my map is a lot less crazy, meaning that your symptoms were reduced. I love this. You said, I have not cried once this month.
Speaker 2 (33:08):
I know I'm not cried this month either, and I'm on day 23. Normally I'd be crying by then. Yeah,
Speaker 1 (33:18):
A lot less crying. You said that quote multiple times throughout. No
Speaker 2 (33:23):
Sob fest. I haven't mentioned that, but yeah, I mean there was a lot of non-public crying, but there was a lot of crying just for various reasons. But a lot of it probably frustrations. Why not? Does this have to be life? Why is this my life? Why can't I go to this again? Or feeling guilty about stuff and having to cancel on people and it's not good. You don't want to be that friend. If they did it to me, I'd be like, strains not showing up. Do you know? There's
Speaker 1 (33:58):
A lot of guilt and shame that comes with this. Yeah, yeah. In session four, I'm laughing so much. You were so funny. You said, I thought I was pregnant because I didn't have any symptoms.
Speaker 2 (34:11):
Yeah, honestly, I did because I thought it's like day 24, 25 and nothing's happening and it's keeping closer. Day 27, and I'm thinking, still not hard. I feel fine. I'm like, this can't just can't be thing. Then I thought, oh my gosh, am I pregnant? Is this why I have no symptoms? Because in my mind, it was the only explanation as to why I would've no symptoms at all on day 27, 28, no way. And then my period came and I was very relieved. But do you do think that I was like, why am I not, I'm not even getting so rest or even just the normal PMS symptoms. What majority of people get none of that. And I thought, oh, there's something. Something's up. It's just can't be.
Speaker 1 (35:11):
I know we laughed about that later at once year cycle came. But yeah, when it starts to happen like that, there is a lot of people just constantly saying, I'm waiting for the symptoms to come. I am waiting for the other shoe to drop. This can be there's, it is weird when you deal with these symptoms, like you're saying since you got your period two decades and then they're not there, there's an adjustment period that feels very uncomfortable to not having them. And that can come with a lot of grief too, and a lot of confusion. But it is part of the process, but it can feel unbelievable when it's happening. The fact that you were able to do that,
Speaker 2 (35:54):
I'm thinking to myself, I'm tracking it, so I know that I'm on the right day. It's not like I'm just going around going, oh, when was my last period? No idea. But I'm like, I'm very aware it was 24 days ago. Do you know? But this doesn't add up to me. I'm thinking, oh, I pregnant, or I've had the menopause or something. Something's off. It's not just, I feel like a normal person, I guess.
Speaker 1 (36:25):
Yeah. It's so weird at first. Shocking. So the last session, I have a lot of quotes because they're so good, so I'm just going to read them. But one, and this was huge for you, you said so much less overthinking and ruminating.
Speaker 2 (36:41):
Yeah,
Speaker 1 (36:41):
Huge.
Speaker 2 (36:42):
So much time wasted. I have so much more free time because I'm not thinking, oh, if I do or I just go and do stuff, rather than going, well, should I do that? Because if I do that, then this happens and that happens, and now I just go and do it. Don't. She's not part of time waste, and it's such a time waste, really.
Speaker 1 (37:06):
Yeah, it really is. But it's hard to see a way out of that when that is just your reality and you've always been that way. It's really easy for you to think, well, that's just who I am rather than this is a symptom of a condition that I'm facing that I can change. That's a leap, but it's the truth. You said I'm not scared of my cycle
Speaker 2 (37:26):
Anymore. No, it's not. I'm on day, what did I say? 24, something like that. And I'm doing this normally, even if I'd felt fine, I would've said not doing it just in case do know. Or I would've been like somebody says to me, oh, do you want to meet in a couple of weeks? No, well wait now I can't because this could be, and this could be you're trying to plan it around that. I don't need to know,
Speaker 1 (38:01):
Which plays into the next quote, which was I'm not actively avoiding life and scheduling everything around my cycle.
Speaker 2 (38:10):
It's true. You know, are you're sitting, you're going, oh, I dunno if I'll be feeling up for this next week. Probably not do that. Or people are like, oh, do you want to do that? And people are trying to plan things really far ahead and I'm like, I can't plan something six months in advance. I don't know, man. That's a lot of getting my diary out and trying to figure this out. No, I can't be like, oh, I can only do this one week in November, 2026 because I don't know what I'm going to be feeling like the rest of the time. You're like, oh, yeah. And I think it feeds into itself as well, because I used to be sitting, I'd get a pain at ovulation and then I'm thinking, oh, this is it now. Do you know this is it the next two weeks? And you self manifest it as well, because I'm going, oh, even somebody slightly irritates you. And I'm like, oh no, you're a big goal. This is starting and you make it worse for yourself constantly. Oh, I'm a week before my period, it's going to get a bit rough. And you manifest it as well. Not saying it wasn't real, it obviously was, but the overthinking and things become way worse because you're convinced that it's going to happen. Yeah,
Speaker 1 (39:30):
Yeah. It's totally a stressor. You said, I know how to deal with this now, you also said, I don't crave sugar anymore.
Speaker 2 (39:38):
No, I do a bit. It is what it's, but I don't crave it. I still like it, but I'm not controlling you. No. I'd be in work and I'd be like, I have to go and get a snack. I have to. There's no way around this. And by snack I mean chocolate. I'm not going to go and get an apple or something and I'll be like, I'll wait to the shop in the middle of the workday. I have to go out Or getting up in the morning being like, I'll just have a little bite of this chocolate while I'm making my breakfast. Come on. I can't start the day eating chocolate. It's not good.
Speaker 1 (40:26):
Yeah. We got answers to that though, through your lab testing on, so before nutrients deficiencies that are driving some of those cravings. But two more quotes, you said the PMM DD symptoms are almost non-existent, which is just jaw drop shocking in our last session. And you said, I didn't think it could get this much better in this short of time.
Speaker 2 (40:49):
No, not at all. I was expecting, yeah, maybe a bit of improvement, but I'm thinking I'm going to be working on this for years. This is like a year. Yeah, I'll do this with you for a few months, and then I still need to be, and yeah, there's still work I need to do. There's a lot of things I still want to change and improve on and all this other kind of stuff, and there's always improvements. I'm never going to be perfect, but I know how I can do it and it's not, yeah, I didn't think it would be this different, this quickly.
Speaker 1 (41:26):
Well, when we started out, when we ran your symptom assessment, your symptom burden was 575 points. We reduced that in that four month period to 261 points, which means you reduced your overall symptom burden by 314 points. And this is the kind of data, so much data between your symptom map, the lab testing, retesting, your symptom burden comparison, the food and mood journal analysis for the nutritional therapy. There's no questions being asked of how am I doing and how did I get here? We track all of that, so you're very aware on what's working for you and what isn't, but reducing your symptom burden by 314 points is a huge accomplishment and puts some numeric quantification kind of on the process for you. If you're 314 points down, you're going to be feeling better. Things in your life are going to be better from just that change
Speaker 2 (42:35):
Alone. Yeah. I can say, oh, I feel great, but seeing the number, I'm like, okay, yeah. It's not just my imagination. I'm not just like, oh yeah, I feel great, but I'm really not great. The numbers are there, so yeah,
Speaker 1 (42:57):
I know. It's got very dark. It's so fun across the world. We're meeting from all the way across the world to tonight, getting to be night where you are, and still very much day here. So your light is dimming if you're watching this on YouTube. But before we wrap up, I don't want to keep you too much longer. I know you have your nighttime routine to get to, but if you were to have a conversation with yourself five months ago feeling like this is just who you are. You're going to deal with these symptoms forever, there's nothing you can do. You have to get a total hysterectomy, whatever it is. Or if you were to talk to someone who's still in that place feeling very scared that this is going to be the rest of their life, their story, now that you're on the other side, now that you have the wisdom that you have, what can you share to your past self or to those women in that position?
Speaker 2 (43:53):
I mean, it's hard. Everybody's different, but I would say do it. I thought, oh, I guess it's different here in the uk here. Most of our healthcare is covered and all that. And I was like, do I want to spend the money on it? Do I want to spend the time on it? Do I want to do that? And it might not work, but now I'm like, would it even matter? It is worth it. Even if I'd got a quarter of where I am now, it would be worth it. I'm just lucky. It's been so drastic, but if I'd got even a fraction of it, it would be worth it.
Speaker 1 (44:46):
Yeah. I see this common pattern in women, and it's this reluctance to invest in themselves. Time, energy, attention, money, all the things. And we could have a whole other podcast episode, maybe we will on that topic. I love that to unpack that, but we can see the cost clearly. Okay, this program costs fill in the blank, or this supplement or buying these foods first, the foods I'm buying, but we can't see the cost of living a halflife for decades.
Speaker 2 (45:22):
No, no. That's what I mean. It's like, and even, yeah, okay. I still have the ongoing costs with some of the supplements. I might not need to take them all forever. We'll see where that goes. But even now I'm like, okay, I'm actually spending more on my food shop. I was always like, I better budget my food shop properly because, and now I'm like, no, I'm going to buy better stuff because I feel better. I'm trying to save the money because I want to go and do social things, but then I can't do the social things anyway because I'm sitting in my house feeling sorry for myself. So I'm like, well, I'd be better off just spending that money on the gym or the better quality food. Yeah. I'm like, I don't know why. I think we're just really bad for that as people. We don't want to spend time on looking after our bodies.
Speaker 1 (46:31):
I guess there's a lot of reasons behind that, but I think it's something that really holds people up. There's a lot of reasons maybe not feeling like there are more options, but you work in the medical field, you aren't a stranger to navigating that. You are very well educated on the human body and the things, and even going through this program, I remember you saying when we were wrapping up, you're like, this is changing how I want to do my job because I can't unsee it now. And yeah, it's funny how the mindset, and it's not like we were sitting there, we're going to change your mindset in all of these ways. It's just, it's a part of the process that starts to unfold where you start to
Speaker 2 (47:18):
See it just happens. It was, yeah,
Speaker 1 (47:21):
I'm worth it. I am worth my life. Getting my life back is worth however much, whatever amount of time, money, investment, because again, you're living now for every day of the cycle, every day of the month rather than,
Speaker 2 (47:42):
And even things like we did that I thought, or some things I've never thought about before when we did the core values and things like that. And I thought, I dunno, I just go through, I just do things. I'm not thinking about it. But that was really important for me to know what I needed to focus on for what I want to do.
Speaker 1 (48:07):
Totally foundational.
Speaker 2 (48:08):
And I would never have thought about that. I'd just thought, oh, that's really weird. That's just not a thing that I want to do. You don't want to talk about these things. And I thought, no, because now I know where I want to be,
Speaker 1 (48:22):
So much clarity
Speaker 2 (48:22):
And what I'm doing this for.
Speaker 1 (48:24):
Yeah. Yeah. We do that in the first session. We really get clear on why you're here, what you want to change. And on a deep level, we peel back those layers to see why, and then we align you with that. Why? Because a lot of times the why is like, I'm ruining my marriage, or I am going to lose custody of my children, or my children are going to be permanently damaged from how I'm parenting, or I can't finish my degree, or I can't work toward the job or the career or whatever life goals that I have. But it's often, it's often for other people or because it's holding us back that we initially get into doing this work. It's not for our own selves and our own lives, because again, we're living in the survival state where we're just not operating from that type of intention.
Speaker 1 (49:18):
And those questions and those conversations that we have in those first couple of sessions when we're building the foundation, they're not questions that you answer with people. They're not conversations that you have. So I always apologize, I know you wanted a few more dates before we have this deep conversation, but here we are in session one and we're doing this now. So buckle in and it's completely transformative because again, we have to get clear on that. And it's different for you, Jade, than it is for my client that I just met with before. You and the client that I'm meeting with after you. So I can't answer those questions for you. Only you can, and that becomes your lighthouse moving forward, is aligning with yourself on a deep level like that and learning to trust your body, learning to trust yourself. And you come out of this program with a completely different relationship with yourself, even if that wasn't your primary goal, which it was one of your primary goals, but can you even believe that in four months you were, that happened? Like what?
Speaker 2 (50:19):
It's crazy. Not all it's been.
Speaker 1 (50:29):
Yeah. Well, I'm so excited to see how it continues to unfold for you, where you go, what you do now that you have days and weeks and months and years of your life back as we move forward. Anne, thanks for sharing your story so vulnerably. I know a lot of women are suffering out there. They feel alone. They feel like you felt four months ago, I felt seven years ago. There's no hope. And it's really inspiring stories like you that keep people alive and keep them holding on to hope that there is support, there is access to protocols that work,
Speaker 2 (51:13):
And people don't speak about it enough. I never spoke about it really. A couple of my close friends knew, but I don't think they really knew. And most people don't know. But since I've done this, I'll be in work and I'm like, oh yeah, well, because I've got this and whatever. And people are like, oh. But I would never have told work colleagues or random people. But yeah, I don't mind now telling people probably because it's not under control and I'm not. But yeah. And people need to be more aware of it and that it's not just their, so antidepressants go away, which was kind of my scenario. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (52:03):
Yeah. Well, it's been a pleasure, Jade. It's been So thank you for, yeah. It's been so beautiful and wonderful to be a part of your journey to see you go through this transformation. So thanks for letting me.
Speaker 2 (52:21):
Thank you. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (52:26):
Alright. Any last words before we hop off?
Speaker 2 (52:32):
No, I don't think so. I mean, it's never too late to do it and start it and see what can happen, I guess.
Speaker 1 (52:52):
Yeah, that's a good message. It's never too late to get your life back.
Speaker 2 (52:56):
No, not at all.
Speaker 1 (52:58):
Yeah. Okay, Jane. Well thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (53:02):
Thank you.
