Hello! I'm Amanda
Nutritional Therapy Practitioner & Forever Foodie“You’ll need to take this medication the rest of your life.”
In 2007 I asked my doctor if had PCOS. I knew nothing about it, but had done an internet deep dive and thought it might explain my irregular periods, thinning hair, facial hair growth, and acne.
He said that since I wasn’t overweight that I couldn’t have PCOS but prescribed me birth control pills for the irregular cycles and Aldactone for the hair growth.
The side effects from the pills were worse than my symptoms. I felt bloated, constipated, hyper-reactive, exhausted, and overly emotional all the time.
After 3 years and no noticeable improvement, I quit all the meds and just suffered through my symptoms.
Fast-forward to 2017. I’m 1-year post delivering my first child and my body started to rebel against me.
- I was in the worst depression of my life.
- My weight was ballooning out of control.
- I was losing my hair,
- My skin was erupting like Mt. Vesuvius,
- I had terrible insomnia, and I had no energy to perform basic tasks.
I was FINALLY officially diagnosed with PCOS. My doc told me to lose weight (like I hadn’t been trying) and start a bunch of medications.
But since the last time I spoke with a doctor about this, I had become a registered nurse and was fully aware of the severe side effects of the medications. Not interested, at all.
I wanted to reverse my PCOS symptoms without being stuck on prescription medications and a restrictive diet for the rest of my life.
But I didn’t even know what is driving my PCOS or if there was anything I could do naturally to fix it.
One day I was listening to an episode of Lisa Hendrickson-Jack’s Fertility Friday podcast and learned that PCOS is a metabolic and not a hormonal issue as I had believed for so many years.
I was fascinated by the idea that improving my metabolism could help my PCOS. I enrolled in a functional nutrition program so that I could learn how to reverse my PCOS without medication.
But unfortunately, my functional protocols required a lot of supplements, almost three times the amount of pills I would be taking with prescription medication. This is what I was trying to avoid.
I furthered my education and learned to see food for its mineral content and consume it in ways that defeated the need for huge amounts of supplements and diet restriction.
Today I am prescription-free and on minimal supplementation, eating delicious food with a healthy thyroid, regular period, clear skin, stable weight, and happy mood.
As a Functional Nutritional Therapy Practitioner, I help women with PCOS reverse their symptoms without prescription medication.