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Monday 9am - 5pm Thursday 9am - 5pm Saturday 9am - 12pm

https://lucy-owens.com/me-cfs-specialist/

Lucy Owens ME/CFS specialist, Godalming (2026)

16/06/2022

SIBO stands for Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth and is commonly defined as the presence of excessive bacteria in the small intestine.

Common gut symptoms include:

Diarrhoea

Constipation

Bloating

Burping/flatulence

Abdominal pain

Other symptoms include brain fog, anxiety, food intolerances and body pain.

Approximately 81% of CFS sufferers and 93% of fibromyalgia have SIBO which causes chronic inflammation and contributes to their symptoms.

If you would like to learn more about SIBO then take a look at the latest blog on my website. Link is in my bio.

23/05/2022

ME/CFS does not happen overnight and usually evolves over time. Phase 1 normally consists of early warning symptoms which seem unrelated and are often ignored and or treated individually. Phase 2 is termed the “crash phase” or final straw. Every individual is different however evidence supports a combination of different factors that are thought to contribute to the development of this chronic illness:

📌Chronic stress
Overwork, dysfunctional relationships, money worries, not being "authentic"

📌Genetics
SNPs or genetic polymorphisms can affect numerous body systems and cause the over or under production of important enzymes in the body eg MTHFR gene

📌Physical & emotional trauma
Accident, surgery, ACE, significant life event

📌Personality Types
Type A personalities – over achievers, over-givers, people pleasers, empathic, highly sensitive people

📌Environmental toxins
Heavy metals such as lead, mercury, cadmium; mycotoxins (from mould exposure), organophosphates, phthalates, PCBs (Polychlorinated Biphenyls) etc

📌Infection
Viruses – EBV (Epstein Barr Virus), coronavirus, enteroviruses, mycoplasma, retroviruses, human herpes virus 6
Bacterial – clostridia
Fungal – candida
Tick-borne - Lyme Disease

Is this you??

If so contact me at www.lucy-owens.com. Link is in the Bio.

20/05/2022

Congratulations to BANT on 25 years of setting standards of excellence in science based nutrition and lifestyle medicine! So proud to be a BANT member.

BANT has come a long way since its inception. The importance of nutrition and lifestyle medicine is increasingly being recognised by the general public and the medical profession, particularly when it comes to the prevention and healing of chronic illness. Drugs can provide immediate relief but come with side effects and don't resolve the problem, just mask the symptoms.

BANT provides amazing support to its members so that they in turn can support their clients in their quest to improve their health.

Thank you BANT!!

13/05/2022

I love walking outside and my favourite place to walk is the Winkworth Arboretum BUT....

It is tick season! Ticks are active all year round but are more active in the spring and summer when the weather warms up. They are found in green spaces and woods and are carried by deer.

Ticks can carry a bacteria called borrelia burgdorferi. If you are bitten by an infected tick you can develop an infectious disease called lyme borreliosis or Lyme Disease.

Lyme Disease is on the increase and whilst only 3,000 new cases were reported in 2021, because of a lack of reliable testing through the NHS and a lack of Lyme "literate" GPs, the real figure is thought to be much more.

Lyme Disease can be acute or chronic. If caught early it can be treated with antibiotics but if it is not then the infection spreads to different tissues in the body and becomes systemic, affecting multiple systems and causing a vast array of debilitating symptoms. It can also come with around 200 co-infections such as babesia.

Lyme Disease is called the "The Great Imitator" as it mimics many diseases. It is for this reason that it is often misdiagnosed as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, fibromyalgia, Multiple Sclerosis and other autoimmune diseases, migraine, depression and anxiety.

So PLEASE:

Wear long sleeved tops, long trousers and a hat

Wear light coloured clothing (easier to see ticks)

Use an insect spray to prevent tick bites. I personally use a non DEET containing, natural, scientifically proven spray, Mosi-guard natural.

Check yourself and pets for ticks after being outside

If you find a tick remove it immediately with a proper tick removal kit

Check for symptoms of Lyme Disease (1 out of 4 people don't get the circular "bullseye rash" often associated with Lyme Disease). Even if you don't have a rash but have a fever and don't feel well consult your GP IMMEDIATELY.

If you think you have chronic Lyme Disease I offer a specific Lyme questionaire and sensitive testing from Armin and Immunosciences laboratories. If you already have a diagnosis I offer dietary and herbal protocols to address Lyme.

12/05/2022

What amazing news! And what good timing!
Until now there has been no validated blood biomarker or test to diagnose ME/CFS or Fibromyalgia. Many patients wait months or years to be diagnosed.
Researchers led by Dr Alain Moreau the Montreal ME/CFS Collaborative Research Center have developed an innovative tool in the form of an arm cuff that replicates Post Exertional Malaise, a primary symptom of ME, to diagnose and differentiate these illnesses. The test may also allow in time the early detection of ME in Post COVID 19.
The tool measures 11 microRNA which can block and prevent RNA, our cellular messaging system from working. MicroRNA can be modified by diet, exercise and oxygen levels. One faulty microRNA can affect up to 200 genes!
The Open Access study is available here https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-76438-y

05/05/2022

It is so important to recognise the impact of ME.

So, what do we know about this very real and physical, but often invisible illness??

What should you believe or not believe?

TRUE

✔️Up to 265,000 people in the UK and 1 million people in the USA suffer from ME (Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome). That is more than suffer with Multiple Sclerosis (ME Research)

✔️It has a prevalence of 1 to 4 per 1,000 of the population. Some 25% are severely affected ie housebound or bed-bound (ME

✔️Defined by WHO (Works Health Organisation) as a neurological disease

✔️It is a complex, multi systemic disease with a wide array of defining characteristics, the primary ones being fatigue, post-exertional malaise and unrefreshing sleep.
It causes a multitude of symptoms which fluctuate in severity.

FALSE

❌ It is of unknown cause (www.patient.co.uk)

❌Self-management of symptoms is the only alternative (NICE)

❌Although a proportion of people recover or have a long period of remission, many will need to adapt to living with ME/CFS (NICE)

I want you to know that although defined by patient.co.uk as “often severely disabling” and resulting “in a very poor quality of life” ….. it does NOT have to be that way.

THERE IS HOPE.

It IS possible to get to the root cause of your chronic illness and be well again using functional medicine testing and my signature REBOOST protocol!

To find out more contact me at www.lucy-owens.com.

07/04/2022

Are you stressed and chronically ill?
Have you heard of the HPA Axis?
And what has it got to do with chronic illness?

The HPA Axis consists of 3 glands, the hypothalamus, the pituitary gland and the adrenal cortex. It has 2 feedback loops, the Sympathetic Nervous System loop which is activated when you feel under threat, and the Parasympathetic Nervous System loop which is activated once the threat subsides and everything calms down.

BUT when we experience chronic stress our nervous system becomes hypervigilant and hypersensitive to constantly monitor and detect threat.

IF we continue to live with chronic, long term stress and or unresolved trauma, the HPA Axis is constantly firing which leads to a dysregulation that de-sensitises and prevents the calming effects of the Parasympathetic Nervous System.

This impacts ALL of the body systems creating lots of unexplained symptoms such as fatigue, brain fog, IBS and sensitivities to light and sound, that cause more stress and anxiety so you get stuck in a repeating loop.....

The good news is that once you aware of this there is alot we can do to address this and rebalance your system!

07/04/2022

6.Get good quality sleep.

Unrefreshing sleep is a hallmark of ME/CFS.

Sleep helps you rest and repair, increases
mitochondrial production, protects beneficial
gut bacteria and supports neuroplasticity, the
building of new neural pathways in the brain.
This is essential for a healthy mindset and a
healthy body.
Establish good circadian rhythms by having
regular meal times, waking up and going to
sleep times and getting out in the sun. Practise
good sleep hygiene such as using blue light
filters or blue-light blocking glasses. Avoid
stimulants such as caffeine, alcohol and
ni****ne. If you need to nap, try to do it as early
in the day as possible.
Make sure you can breathe well at night so that
you can get that essential oxygen supply for energy production.

07/04/2022

Relax. Calm your nervous system.
Many fatigued individuals suffer chronic physical
and/or emotional stress and as a consequence
may have HPA (hypothalamic-pituitary-
adrenal) axis dysfunction. The HPA axis
consists of two loops, one which activates the
Sympathetic Nervous System when you feel
under threat and the other which activates the
Parasympathetic Nervous System, which calms
everything down.
If you live with long term chronic stress and
unresolved trauma the HPA Axis is constantly
firing stress hormones (cortisol, adrenaline)
which leads to a dysregulation that desensitises
and prevents the effects of the Parasympathetic
Nervous System. This impacts all of the body
systems creating lots of unexplained symptoms
that cause more stress and anxiety so you can
get stuck in a repeating loop.
Use meditation, breathing techniques, yoga
nidra, Epsom salt baths, gentle massage or
consult a qualified professional to do some
trauma release work such as EFT (Emotional
Freedom Technique) or EMDR (Eye Movement
Desensitisation Reprocessing) to calm those
anxiety and stress levels.
Try to resolve any physical stresses such as
chronic infections. ME/CFS is associated with
EBV (Epstein Barr Virus) reactivation and with
Mycoplasma and Coxsackie Bl infection.
Resetting your stress hormone levels will help
establish not only healthy cortisol levels but will
also increase melatonin, your "sleep" hormone
too.

07/04/2022

Keep your gut healthy.
Eat a high fibre, plant-based, colourful "rainbow" diet with a diverse range of fruit and vegetables.
A good guide is 30 different fruits and vegetables
a week if you can tolerate it. Beneficial gut
bacteria need to be fed a good diet to stay
healthy as they produce metabolites which give
you energy, protect your gut and provide many
vitamins such as vitamin K and B vitamins.
An unhealthy gut can lead to dysbiosis, an
imbalance in gut bacteria, or SIBO (Small Intestinal
Bacterial Overgrowth), as demonstrated by
many sufferers of fatigue. This in turn can lead
to malabsorption of essential nutrients and
"leaky gut" where toxins and food molecules
leak out from the gut and cause an immune
reaction and yet more inflammation. "Leaky gut"
can also lead to "leaky brain" causing brain fog
and cognitive dysfunction.
Your gut is also where 70% of your immune
system is housed, responsible for those
inflammatory reactions, and where a large part
of your nervous system resides, responsible for
producing the "feel good" neurotransmitter,
serotonin, and the "anxiety busting"
neurotransmitter, GABA (gabba-aminobutyric
acid). Your gut and your brain are
interconnected physically through millions of
nerves in what is called the gut-brain axis so a
healthy gut means a healthy mind and a
healthy body.
A "rainbow" diet will not only keep your gut
bacteria happy but will also increase your
antioxidant intake. Dietary antioxidants such as
dark chocolate and berries fight the effect of
oxidative stress and help protect your mitochondria which are extremely sensitive.

07/04/2022

Boost nutrient intake. Eat a nutrient dense diet.

Whole, healthy, real (unprocessed) foods
include micronutrients like essential vitamins,
trace minerals and electrolytes like magnesium/
calcium/potassium, plus macronutrients
including complex carbohydrates, proteins and
different types of healthy fats. They are essential
for your recovery.
Correct any nutritional deficiencies (common
ones are iron, B12, magnesium, vitamin D3) and
make sure you are getting enough energy
supporting nutrients such as B vitamins (meat,
eggs), omega 3 fats (avocados, oily fish, olive
oil), magnesium (nuts, seeds, dark green leafy
veg), L -carnitine (poultry, meat) and CoQlO
(meat, oily fish, green vegetables).
Avoid anti-nutrients such as alcohol, tea and
coffee. Alcohol and caffeine deplete B vitamins
and minerals, necessary for energy production.

30/03/2022

A recent BBC study found that PFAS (Poly and Perfluorinated Alkyl Substances) levels in nearly half of the UK tap samples taken, exceeded European safety levels of 2.2ng/l.

Toxic PFAS or “forever chemicals”, as they are known, because they never break down, are substances used in everything from cookware to clothing, furniture, carpets, packaging, coatings and firefighting foams. Currently they are not tested for in UK drinking water.

PFAS are linked not only to increased likelihood of COVID infection but to numerous health problems such as fertility, pregnancy hypertension, early menopause, immune disorders, cancer, high cholesterol and thyroid disease.

To reduce your exposure to PFAS and other contaminants such as pesticides, heavy metals, and hormone disrupting chemicals invest in a water purification system.

I use Pure H2O which uses reverse osmosis to remove contaminants. It is purer than bottled water, tastes great and I can hydrate safe in the knowledge that it is toxin free!co.uk

Lucy Owens ME/CFS specialist

16/06/2022

23/05/2022

20/05/2022

13/05/2022

12/05/2022

05/05/2022

07/04/2022

07/04/2022

07/04/2022

07/04/2022

07/04/2022

30/03/2022

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