Perimenopause or Something More? Uncovering the Drivers Behind Jill’s Symptoms

Jill is experiencing weight gain and fatigue. She is perimenopausal and her periods are irregular and often 45-60 days apart. Her hair and skin are dry and her joints stiff. She’s not sleeping well and feels a bit anxious.

These symptoms could all be explained by perimenopause and the peaks and troughs of oestrogen and falling progesterone. Jill has a family history of autoimmunity and has recently had a significant viral illness. Registered Nutritional Therapists do not diagnose conditions, however, clues to potential underlying conditions like in Jills case, hypothyroidism or autoimmune thyroiditis should be assessed by her GP.

A letter of referral is written by the NT asking Jill’s GP to assess her. While a full thyroid panel can be run through functional testing, often the GP is the 1^st port of call where a diagnosis is a possibility. Further functional testing may be carried out at a later stage e.g. a full metabolic screen to assess Jill’s management of her lipids and blood glucose.

Jill is also keen to understand how her hormones might be contributing to her current symptoms. A DUTCH Plus (Dried Urine Test for Comprehensive Hormones) is carried out to understand what Jill’s hormones including her stress hormone activity is, in order to make personalised recommendations to support better health.