Naturopathic CASE STUDY - HPV with A CIN 3 Diagnosis
In this post I will present a case study of a young 35 year old woman who came into my clinic wanting support with her HPV diagnosis and CIN grade 3 (cervical intraepithelial neoplasia).
The diagnosis of HPV and an advanced CIN grading can bring with it a lot of anxiety and fear about surgical procedures too remove the precancerous cervical tissue. Some of the women who call my clinic are worried about:
The trauma of having a LEEP (loop electrosurgical excision procedure)
Risk of infertility post LEEP.
Risk of preterm birth or having a low weight baby after having LEEP.
Loosing their sex drive or ability to enjoy sex.
Developing infections and other complications after having the procedure.
These are all valid concerns and you should discuss them in detail with your health care providers. I present them here because some of the above concerns is what motivated my client to reach out to me in this particular case.
It’s important that I mention:
The naturopathic health support I provide for my patients is not given as an alternative to gynaecological medical advice. In fact as you’ll see in this case study my client had ongoing and consistent care and advice provided by her gynaecologists. This is vital, a diagnosis of CIN needs to be regularly assessed to ensure it’s not progressed to more serious cervical changes.
For the sake of this very public post I have changed my clients name to Brianna and gained her permission to discuss the case here with you. This is not intended to be prescriptive in any way, each person who comes into see me receives a very individualised plan and support with their health.
Essentially I don’t treat disease, I treat the individual who is sitting in front of me, and so with that let’s jump in.
First Appointment: July of 2022
Brianna came to see me with a recent diagnosis of HPV 18 and HPV (non 16-18) as well as a CIN 3 diagnosis from her cervical biopsy. It had been recommended by her gynaecologist upon receiving these results that she be booked in for a LEEP procedure to have the precancerous cells removed.
Brianna expressed that she was averse to having the LEEP procedure done because she was concerned about future complications and had planned on having more children (She currently has a 7 year old).
Brianna works in a managerial position with some significant level of responsibility and stress at her job. She is a single mum and during this initial consultation she mentions having experienced a high amount of stress due to the sudden passing of a very close family member in the last 18 months.
The death was a significant trauma for her and at this stage she’s still grieving the loss and trying to adjust to life without her loved one. She rated her current stress level a 9/10.
Her sleep has recently been affected by this diagnosis, she is feeling a high amount of anxiety which is impacting her ability to get to sleep and stay asleep. Prior to the diagnosis she describes her sleep as generally ok.
Symptoms: For the most part there were no symptoms associated with HPV and CIN 3 itself that she noticed, including no pain or bleeding during sex or otherwise, there was some very mild change in her vaginal discharge in recent times.
Current Medications:
None- Brianna had been off birth control since she was 18-19 yo and had only been on it a short amount of time during her teens. She had read about some supplements online and had started taking them shortly before our first appointment. I reviewed these as part of her protocol, most of them were not therapeutic in grade or dosage.
Medical History:
She had known about the HPV diagnosis in March of 2021 at this time she showed positive for HPV 18 and HPV (other - non 16-18). She was given a colposcopy at this time and the results came back as low grade change. Brianna was told that she would most probably clear this virus with no need for treatment as yet and the best course of action was to watch and wait.
There was no other history of any major or chronic illness or disease. She is relatively fit and healthy.
She is of normal weight for her height and age. She exercises regularly.
Brianna had no history of chronic or recurrent vaginal infections or other STD’s, she reported having experienced mild thrush once or twice and potentially bacterial vaginosis (BV) once before, but was unsure if it was actually BV.
She had no previous issues falling pregnant. Has a very regular 28 day cycle with what she considered a ‘normal’ bleed. After some questioning it became apparent that her bleeds would be considered to be moderately heavy. Her recent pathology test showed she was low in iron.
She had not had any vaccinations for COVID and had contracted the Sars CoV infection some months ago, she felt it was short and fairly mild, she had fully recovered from the infection at the time.
Briana reported having a healthy gut, with regular bowel motions and no issues with her digestion.
There is no significant history of smoking or excessive alcohol consumption.
Her diet was relatively ‘average’ she eats on the run and while she eats a variety of vegetables she’s not getting her daily requirement of fruits and veg and the carbohydrate intake is on the higher end. She generally stays away from excess sugar and processed foods.
My Initial Thoughts & Goals After This Initial Naturopathic Session
Address The Stress:
The grief and stress she has recently experienced has contributed to her immune system struggling to clear the HPV. It has been well researched and noted that high stress can lead to an immune system that’s unable to heal and the likelihood of cancerous cells going unchecked increases with stress and insomnia.
We discussed the planning and implementation of a stress reduction program that adhered to daily/ weekly.
Individualised hypnotherapy sessions were used to help Brianna with the grief and stress.
Support Liver Detoxification:
There’s been some research that supports higher estrogen levels in the body can contribute to the persistence of HPV and cervical dysplasia. While Brianna wasn’t on the pill some of her PMT symptoms pointed to a potentially higher level of oestrogen circulating in her body.
We talked about environmental hormonal disrupters (xenoestrogens) and the need to stay away from certain plastics and other environmental toxins etc which she was onboard with.
Testing in this particular case was limited due to financial budgets however we discussed at some stage potentially looking to assess genetic markers and hormone levels through functional pathology. At this stage I felt confident we could get results without additional and costly testing.
To help address oestrogen clearance and support general detoxification I prescribed the following:
Curcumin- Medicinal strength turmeric was used for Brianna as it’s been researched to support liver function as well as have anti-cancer properties.
Di- Indolyl methane also referred to as DIM, was given here to assist in healthy metabolism and clearance of estrogen.
Support Immune Function:
A healthy immune response is required to fight viruses and HPV is no exception, so providing support for this system was a top priority for Brianna.
One of the other roles of your immune system is to identify and clear out any precancerous cells in the body and so to support Brianna with this step I prescribed the following:
Medicinal grade mushroom complex.
Vitamin C complex- Clinical grade vitamin C.
Provide Direct Support For The Cervix:
The cells of the cervix which are a combination of glandular and epithelial cells do respond to topical applications in the form of cream or pessaries applied in the vagina itself. There have been multiple studies showing benefit here.
In Brianna’s case I decided to use two different types of custom made pessaries applied at key times in her cycle for a maximum of 7 consecutive nights each time.
Some of the key active ingredients that I used locally to support cervical health:
Zinc
Turmeric extract
Green Tea extract
Glycyhriza Glabra
A seperate probiotic was used for a short period of time taken orally to help Brianna with any potential imbalance of her vaginal microflora.
The pessaries were compounded by me in the clinic, and adjusted to suit Brianna over the 3 month period.
Address The Terrain:
It’s helpful to understand that cancer flourishes in specific internal environments and so Brianna and I spent some time talking about the following:
Anti cancer foods- Importance of green tea and polyphenols.
Cancer promoting foods. What to avoid.
The role of fasting or time restricted eating. (This involved simple changes to timing of meals, not extreme fasting)
Importance of cutting out all alcohol and other toxins in her diet.
Limiting carbohydrate intake for key periods of time.
Excluding sugar from her diet.
Subsequent Naturopathic Health Sessions:
After our first consultation Brianna informed me she wanted to gain a second opinion from a different gynaecologist. She booked this appointment in 3 months post our initial naturopathic consultation it also happened to be approximately 3 months post her initial appointment with her first gynaecologist.
Within this 3 month period of herbs, dietary and lifestyle changes I saw Brianna a total of 4 times to ensure we were tracking well with the protocol and that she was managing and felt supported, each consultation tweaking and building on what we had implemented the time before.
Her compliance across the board was very high. She adhered to the entire protocol hardly breaking it at all.
There was one side effect she experienced around the 3 month mark. With two episodes of hot flushes in the middle of the night which resulted in her waking up very sweaty. I suspected this was due to the DIM. I instructed her to stop taking this at the 3 month mark. The flushes ceased.
She did report despite working on her stress, she occasionally felt anxious about the uncertainty she faced and the outcome of her diagnosis. We spoke about this at length and put in plan a schedule for check in’s with her specialists for subsequent testing.
The Outcome of the Naturopathic treatment for the HPV & CIN?
End of October 2022:
3 months post commencing the above naturopathic protocol, Brianna attended her appointment with the second gynaecologist who took a Pap smear as well as a colposcopy, he took a total of 3 tissue samples from different areas of the cervix at this time.
HPV 18 was still detected and present at this 3 month mark.
The HPV (other/non 16-18) was no longer detected, she was diagnosed as clear of this strain.
However most significant the cervical biopsy showed there was NO CIN reading to report. Meaning of the three tissue samples taken no precancerous cells were detected at this time.
It was noted that under the microscope it could be seen that the tissue was still inflamed but there was no evidence of glandular neoplasia. No abnormal cellular changes to report.
Brianna was both shocked and delighted at this initial result and is very positive about the future.
She is booked in for a follow-up with this same gynaecologist which she feels very comfortable with. His instruction has been that Brianna can push back her next check up and biopsy for 6 months time.
My focus with Brianna moving forward will be to continue to work to decrease the inflammation of the cervix as well as hopefully get her body to clear the remaining HPV 18.
I would like to mention here that 3 months is actually a very short period of time, if the CIN grading had been lower it may have been appropriate to push out the initial follow-up to 4 or 6 months. However this is something that is always discussed with your gynaecologist and needs to be considered on a case by case basis.
You can see in this case study a naturopathic approach requires active engaging and consistent effort. It’s not for everyone as the combination of nutraceuticals and lifestyle changes are key to achieving results. Brianna had a very supportive partner and home environment which supported her decision to follow this path.
Had Brianna come in to see me in 2021 when she was first confirmed as having early cellular changes it may have been possible to take a less comprehensive approach than the one outlined here, but it wasn’t meant to be and it’s nice to see that Brianna’s body has responded well.
I have made significant adjustments to the prescription for the next 6 months, shifting our focus according to the new results.
Brianna’s Testimonial- In Her Own Words!
“When I received my diagnosis of high risk HPV and CIN 3 I was absolutely devastated. I felt so lost, afraid and angry with myself as to how I got into this mess.
I was adamant surgery was not for me so when I stumbled across Krystle’s webpage and found a whole blog on the topic I immediately felt some hope. After connecting with Krystle, I felt so empowered to fight this health issue and hopeful that I can heal my cervix naturally.
Krystle’s plan required me to follow a strict diet, supplementation, pessaries and lifestyle changes. I followed this plan to the T and it truely has been dependant on strong will, resilience, encouragement from loved ones and ofcourse, Krystle.
Although I felt anxious and nervous at times, I was confident with the plan as my body began to feel changes for the better. Fast forward 3 months later and the results are astounding!
I am so grateful for the support Krystle has given me, she’s honestly the best practitioner I have ever come across, her gentle nature and knowledge on health makes me feel really safe and in control of my life.
Thank you Krystle for all your guidance, I couldn’t have gotten this far without you!”
If you’d like to read more about clearing HPV head across to this post.
If you’d like to read more about HPV and cervical cancer you can read this post.
If you have any questions about your health or how a naturopath can help please book yourself in for a complimentary call below so that I answer your questions.