What Going Deeper With Clients Actually Looks Like
When we talk about going deeper in clinical practice, we are talking about zooming out enough to see the full system.
Recently we had a client come into care in December with a hysterectomy scheduled for March.
She was young and overall healthy aside from the fact that she was in debilitating pain with her cycles. Within the last year she began having recurrent cysts and her doctor suspected there may also be endometriosis.
Her doctors’ recommendation was surgery, a hysterectomy to be exact.
When she came to us her cycles were extremely symptomatic. Severe ovulation pain, menstrual cramps, heavy bleeding, breast tenderness, and mood swings. She would also experience bloating, lower belly swelling, and fatigue.
If we only looked at her ovaries, we would have missed the entire story.
We ran a GI-MAP and a DUTCH test to understand her gut, hormones, detox pathways, and stress.
Her stool test showed:
Overgrowths of beneficial bacteria and inflammatory opportunistic bacteria and yeast
Parasites
Significantly elevated gut immunity
Sensitivity to gluten
With a history of recurrent BV, the microbial imbalance wasn’t just in the gut. It was systemic.
Her DUTCH test showed:
Overall low normal estogens
Phase 1 estrogen detox was favoring more proliferative and inflammatory pathways
Free circulating cortisol was low
Melatonin was low
HVA, a dopamine metabolite was below range
So while she had symptoms of “estrogen excess” like heavy bleeding, breast tenderness, growth of cysts her total estrogen wasn’t high.
Low total estrogen combined with inflammatory detox pathways can still create estrogen dominant symptoms.
What We Actually Did
Month 1 was foundational. We added in a high quality multivitamin, nighttime magnesium, daily electrolytes, and nightly castor oil packs to support detoxification. Sleep improved and digestion became more regular.
Then we layered.
Month 2 we removed gluten, began supporting estrogen detox more intentionally, and started a gut protocol to address bacterial and yeast overgrowths.
By month 3 of working together (and 1 month into her gut protocol) ovulation and period pain was manageable, periods became lighter, no more bloating, night sweats were minimal, and she had lost 5 lbs. Even with all of that positive change, the biggest win was that she was able to show up as a better partner for her husband and a better mom for her children.
And most importantly, she cancelled her hysterectomy.
Within one month of starting her protocol, she was seeing enough improvement to feel hopeful. By month three, her symptoms were manageable in a way they hadn’t been before.
As practitioners, we have to be willing to ask better questions. When we only address the symptom location, we often miss the system driving it.
This level of discernment doesn’t come from memorizing protocols. It comes from understanding patterns across systems.
From knowing when to start foundational.
From recognizing when immune activation is driving hormone imbalances.
From seeing how gut dysfunction influences pelvic inflammation.
If you’re a practitioner, this is the level of thinking we train inside the Funk’tional Nutrition Academy.
If you are a client who feels lost when it comes to your health, know that you have options and there are practitioners out there who can help you feel confident in your own healing.
