41 year old Lavina’s pain began in 2008 when she was working as a chef and noticed pains in her hips and elbows but put it down to wear and tear of the job. After giving birth to her third child in 2010, she suffered tremendously, putting it down to exhaustion, having to look after a newborn as well as two other children. “This didn’t feel right, it just never went away, no matter how much I slept, no matter what pain meds I took, hot baths, freeze gels, nothing worked”. Her GP referred her to a specialist rheumatologist in Blanchardstown Hospital where after a series of blood tests for Lupus, Arthritis, Rheumatoid Arthritis, she was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia.
She was sent back to her doctor with a list of medications to try, which only gave her temporary relief. The only option she was given, by her doctor, was to increase the medication. Lavina refused to accept a constant increase in medication was the only solution and decided to do some research into her illness herself. She sat for hours trawling the internet and the one thing that kept coming up was diet and nutrition.
“I came across Fiona’s page in a search engine, clicked on it and started to read how this lady had managed to overcome her Fibromyalgia pains and live a normal manageable life, I was very intrigued. I sent her a message, we organised a meeting and it was a day I will never forget, it was the start of me getting my life back”.
Lavina recalls how we discussed her diet, carried out a food intolerance test and in a matter of a few weeks, her pain levels had gone from a 9 to a 4. “I went back to Fiona, feeling so much better, looking so much better and practically pain free, I was amazed and so so grateful”
“I will forever be grateful to Fiona for her help and encouragement and also for her aftercare, as still to this day we keep in touch through Facebook and email. I always recommend her to anyone I think she could help as she’s helped me get my life back. I can play with my 4 year old now, I can take her to the park and for long walks and I get out of bed in the morning and feel so good. I do have some bad days but they are very few and its usually down to something I’ve done like eat something I shouldn’t, but I get back on track as my life is way too good now to let it slide.”
Lavina wanted to share her story and hopes it inspires others to “pull themselves up by the bootstraps and research research research because you can feel better!!!”