Anna is a beautiful petite young woman who reminded me of a dancer the moment she walked through the door, moving with the grace and elegance of a classically trained ballerina. Underneath that exterior was someone suffering with nausea, bloating, dizziness and brain fog on a daily basis and had been for years. Anna has Pyroluria, also known as Pyrrole Disorder or Mauve Factor. If you google this condition you will read many articles claiming that it is a myth, it doesn’t exist, or is over rated. Tell that to Anna, I am sure she would disagree.
What is Pyroluria? It is an overproduction of pyrroles which is a by-product of haemoglobin synthesis. Pyrroles binds to several nutrients, in particular Zinc and B6 making them unavailable for use by the body. Both of these nutrients are essential for immune function, digestion and neurotransmitter creation. The effect on the body can be severe depending on how high your pyrrole reading is and how long it has been left untreated. Some of the common symptoms that Anna also experienced are:
Nausea
Low appetite
Pale complexion
Digestive complaints
Skin irritation
Anxiety
Stress
Fatigue
Anaemia
Brain Fog
Now Anna has two young children, she works, and her husband has a high stress job with long hours. How she managed to get through each day, I just can’t imagine and yet she remains gentle and kind, a loving mother and wife.
I would love to tell you that Anna is fully recovered and running marathons, but we are not there yet. One of the major hurdles with Pyroluria is that it uses up all the zinc stores in the body and it is extremely difficult to absorb zinc when your levels are low. Without zinc your body struggles to make stomach acid which is the first major step in the digestive process. The absorption of all your other nutrients also suffer further exacerbating the problem and often leaving the patient with anaemia on top of everything else.
What did we do? Anna’s stress levels were extremely high at 9/10 on her first consultation, so my priority was to get these levels down. Stress is a major contributor to ill health, when we are stressed we don’t digest our food properly and our body can’t heal. After two weeks we reduced her stress levels from 9/10 to 4/10 allowing us to work on increasing Anna’s zinc. Now as I mentioned before the body needs zinc stores to be able to absorb zinc, and no matter what we tried Anna’s levels weren’t increasing. I ended up sourcing a zinc cream which is absorbed directly through the skin allowing it to bypass the digestive system. Finally, we noticed an improvement in her energy levels, appetite and concentration but as soon as we stopped the cream her symptoms started to return. At this stage Anna is back on the cream and we will eventually get to a point where she will be able to absorb zinc in a tablet form and she will know instinctively when her body needs a top up. We’re not there yet but we are well on the way.
Anna is such a wonderful client, so patient and committed to the process. I am so proud of everything she has achieved and am very much looking forward to the day when she can manage this on her own.
If you think you may have Pyroluria then don’t wait until your zinc levels are so depleted the rest of your body starts to suffer. If you are ready to make a change in your life and get yourself well then book a consultation and let’s get started.
*Disclaimer – This article was written with the client’s permission; personal details have been altered to protect her privacy. Anna hopes that by sharing her story it will inspire others to reach out and obtain the help they need to improve their quality of life.