Clinics in Bedford and London
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Read on to learn more about your symptoms, me, Director Helen Olphin, who will be here to guide and support your journey and how we can help you.
• Sharp, pulsing or aching pain
• Pain on one side of the face that can extend into the eye
• Head pain that radiates into the neck and shoulder muscles
Unrefreshed from a nights sleep in the morning, difficulty working, needing a nap in the day and unable to socialise or cook due to fatigue
Unexplained migrating pain, tender sore points throughout the body, pain on touch
Swelling or pain in joints, stiffness in muscles, sweating at night or feeling overly hot in bed
Difficulty eating certain food groups, inability to tolerate grains, knowing what to eat so as not to stir up symptoms
Brain fog, forgetting words and people names, unable to concentrate for any length of time and lack of focus, with difficulties in making decisions
Difficulty getting off to sleep, staying asleep, or general insomnia or getting up to go to the toilet frequently.
Constipation and or diarrhoea, bloating and wind, changes in appetite, reflux and indigestion
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Having originally trained as a physiotherapist where she became Head of Physiotherapy for Surgery including 3 intensive care units and A&E at the world famous Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town where she looked after Nelson Mandela. She continued her surgery and cardiothoraxic work at Milpark hospital in Johannesburg and then joined the Senior Management team at Dudley Road Hospital. She has lectured worldwide on the subject of blunt and penetrating chest trauma. She also completed her Master’s in Organisation Development and Coaching successfully running her own private business for 15 years working with directors and executives in corporate business
With this experience of the body systems and the effect that infection, surgery trauma and psychology can have on it, she then set up Optimal Energy Nutrition in 2013 to focus
specifically on a Integrated Nutritional Therapy and Coaching business for people with chronic illnesses, Lyme, Auto-immune conditions, ME/CFS, Chronic Fatigue, Long Covid, Gut issues, Autism, Skin conditions and Hormonal issues with clinics in London and Bedford.
She is registered with BANT and the CNHC and also The Institute for Functional Medicine and has completed the AFMCP course in London (the application of Functional Medicine) and many other IFM courses
She continues to educate herself having completed The ART courses (beginner ART 1 and 2, intermediate, and advanced) with Dr Klinghardt at the Klinghardt Academy and numerous Chronic Illness conferences in the USA every year focusing on Lyme, Mould and Chronic ill health. She has also completed most of the Kharrazian Institute courses on the gut, diabetes, immunity and immune tolerance, neurology and neuro inflammation with traumatic brain injury, thyroid and fertility/infertility.
Download your FREE guide that explores the ROOT CAUSES of chronic health issues.
Medically researchers believe that pain messages are being amplified by the way the brain and spinal cord process pain however, pain maybe as a cause of low level inflammation possibly from chemicals, bacteria and viruses, small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO), gut issues, food intolerances and gluten sensitivity.
Often fibro is accompanied by tiredness and fatigue ranging from mild tiredness to complete exhaustion. This is often characterised by not feeling the benefit of sleep and waking feeling unrefreshed, something which doesn’t improve in the day and often requires additional periods of rest . This can also be accompanied by flu like symptoms.
Often fibro clients complain of sleep disturbances this maybe because of an increase in their pain at night or just not being able to get comfy. They often have insomnia and reduced sleep quality, efficiency, and duration, often increasing their other symptoms and some even have sleep apnea.
Many Fibro clients experience cognitive difficulties affecting such things as concentration, word retrieval, long and short term memory, impaired judgement, difficulty multi tasking and decline in mental activities overall.
This typically overlaps with fibromyalgia and is found in up to 70% of cases with symptoms such as pain, digestive discomfort, bloating constipation and or diarrhoea. These symptoms can be very debilitating
These may be chronic in nature and is thought by some to be associated with chronic over stimulus of the nervous system, however it may be linked to food intolerances or an increase in inflammation. The headache can be a sharp pulsating pain, pain on one side of the head going to one eye or a pain from the head radiating to the neck and shoulders.
It has been found that in approximately 50% of cases people with fibro experience food intolerances, allergy or sensitivities and find some foods increase inflammation and pain. This is very much on an individual basis and can include gluten/NCGS, (non coeliac gluten sensitivity), dairy, nightshades, processed foods, MSG and aspartame. Removing identified intolerances/sensitivities can often reduce the level of pain an individual experiences.
As 70% of the immune system is in the gut evaluating the microbiome makes good sense. It is important to look for parasites, overgrowth of bacteria (dysbiosis), SIBO, yeast overgrowth and be able to assess digestive and inflammatory markers which are key to understanding your gut and immune health.
I work with FDX, Regenerus and Cyrex labs, to test Metabolic imbalances, Mould, Food Intolerances, Stool tests, SIBO, Environmental Toxins/Allergens and Pathogens. I also use AONM and Armin labs who use sophisticated elispot and antibody testing for a range of potential bacteria and viruses including Lyme Disease (borrelia Burgdorferi) and co-infections.
Hormones are very important in our body being the chemical messengers within it, co ordinating different functions, helping to maintain homeostasis and can in some instances control the function of entire organ.
Tests include Thyroid and Thyroid antibodies, Adrenals, Blood Sugar Regulation, Sex Hormones
Cyrex Labs offers advanced clinical tests for immune function and its dysregulation, with predictive auto-antibodies, identification of intestinal permeability, and advanced testing for wheat/gluten reactivity and many food sensitivities to name but a few.
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Download your FREE guide that explores the ROOT CAUSES of chronic health issues.
Here are some frequently asked questions that we get from people wanting to know more about Fibromyalgia
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Often dietary changes adopting an anti inflammatory diet can make a significant difference in the pain and other symptoms.
You will through exploration and testing have a better understanding of the possible root cause(s) of your condition and an active plan to tackle the issues identified to work towards remission.
From the initial consultation follow up appointments can be arranged to meet your individual needs and the level of support you require whether that is every week or after 6 weeks and with additional email support.
Often with fibromyalgia we wish to target specific pathways whether this is detoxification, inflammation, lymphatics immune or endocrine systems and to be very specific this is better achieved with supplements.
Schedule a complimentary discovery call with Helen directly to start your journey into discovering if Functional Medicine can help you.
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*This is not a substitute for medical care and supervision, results may vary from person to person.
