Hashimoto's, painful periods, perimenopause, exhaustion that sleep doesn't touch. Each has its own specialist, its own test and its own prescription, and rarely does anyone look at how they connect. That's the part I work on.
I'm Lou Chalmer, a natural medicine practitioner and counsellor. I look at how your hormones, thyroid, gut, immune system and nervous system affect each other, and we work out what to stabilise first.
Does any of this sound familiar?
Your blood tests came back "normal," and you still feel anything but.
Your thyroid, your cycle, your gut and your mood each have their own appointment, and none of them talk to each other.
You've been told it's stress, your age or "just hormones," and you suspect it's more than that.
You've tried the diet, the supplements and the therapy, and each helped a little before it stopped.
Your symptoms flare around your period, after a stressful month or after a virus, and nobody can tell you why.
You've been unwell for a long time, and you're tired of being managed rather than understood.
If that's you, you're probably not missing a diagnosis. You're missing someone willing to look at the whole picture.
Women's health usually gets divided up by organ: one specialist for your cycle, another for your thyroid, another for your gut, another for your mood. Your body doesn't work that way. Your hormones respond to stress, your gut influences your immune system, and your immune system shapes your thyroid.
So instead of treating each symptom on its own, I ask three questions. Where has your capacity been lost? What is keeping the problem going? And what does your body need in order to stabilise and recover?
When several things are going wrong at once, the order of the work matters more than any single intervention. There is a sequence that creates traction and a sequence that wastes your energy. In my experience it almost always starts here:
Sleep. Hydration. Fuelling. Airway. Immune load. Gut depth. Hormonal resilience.
When those foundations are steady, deeper work becomes possible and it lasts. Layering more onto an unstable system is one of the most common reasons people don't improve.
This is the thinking behind capacity-first care, the approach I use with every client. It draws on functional nutrition, nutrigenomics, nervous system physiology and Internal Family Systems-informed counselling.
I'm not looking for the diagnosis. I'm looking for the pattern.
What I work with
Hormones and cycles
PCOS, endometriosis, painful, heavy or irregular periods, PMS, fertility and IVF support, postpartum recovery, perimenopause and menopause.
Thyroid and autoimmune conditions
Hashimoto's and other autoimmune conditions, including lupus, fibromyalgia and chronic pain.
Energy, nervous system and immune reactivity
Chronic fatigue, long COVID, POTS and dysautonomia, mast cell activation and histamine intolerance, mould and chemical sensitivity, stress physiology and trauma-patterned stress.
Gut and metabolism
Gut symptoms and SIBO, insulin resistance, methylation, mitochondrial function and nutrient deficiencies.
Don't see your symptoms listed? Many of the women I see arrive with a long list that doesn't fit one label. That's what the first consult is for.
I also see teenagers and girls. Parents are welcome to get in touch to ask whether it's a good fit.
Not sure where to start? This might help.
I've put together a free guide on the five findings that show up most consistently in complex chronic illness — and that standard testing almost always misses. If you've been told your results are normal while continuing to feel anything but, it's worth a read.
Sign up to my free newsletter, Metabolic Medicine, to access it.
How We’ll Work Together
Start with a conversation. If you're not sure a full consult is the right first step, book a free orientation call. It's short, it isn't an assessment, and I'll tell you honestly whether I think I can help.
Make sense of the whole picture. Before your initial consult you complete a detailed questionnaire, so our time together goes on interpretation. We look at which systems are under the most strain, what your body can currently tolerate, and where to start. You leave with a clear understanding of why things haven't resolved and an agreed first step.
Get the right information. Where it helps, we test: bloodwork, hormones timed to your cycle, and genetic or other functional testing when it's relevant. You get a written report that explains what it means as one picture. We only test what changes the plan.
Stabilise in the right order. Your plan is staged and paced to your capacity. For many women the next step is a structured 90 days of stabilisation, with support between sessions.
Keep adjusting. Your plan changes as your results and symptoms do, and ongoing care is there for as long as it's useful. You never need to commit to long-term care up front.
What women say
"Painful periods, a short cycle, terrible PMS, low energy. All of it has shifted. My cycle is now 28 days, I have no period pain, my mood is even across the month, and I feel like myself again."
— Woman in her late 30s, hormonal dysregulation and PMS"There were months I couldn't leave the house… I'm not 100% better. But I'm back at work, I'm socialising, I'm doing yoga. And for the first time in a long time, I'm actually excited about the future."
— Woman with lupus, mould illness, endometriosis and multiple chemical sensitivity"I'd done years of therapy. Nobody had ever asked why… Working with Lou was the first time I felt truly seen and accepted, all of me."
— Client with complex trauma history, online
Not ready to book? Start here.
Not everyone arrives here ready to book an appointment — and that’s okay.
If you’re still trying to understand what’s happening in your body, or need time to orient before taking the next step, you may find these resources helpful:
Free cycle tracker. Track your basal body temperature to see when you ovulate and whether your cycle is doing what you think it is. DOWNLOAD IT HERE.
Start reading. These posts explain patterns I see often:
When you're ready, the best place to start is an initial consult.
Lou Chalmer
Scientist · Integrative Natural Medicine Practitioner · Counsellor
I came into this work through my own experience with autoimmune disease and chronic illness, so I know both the biology and what it's like to not be taken seriously. My background is in environmental science, nutrition, counselling, nervous system physiology and genetics, and I practise Internal Family Systems therapy alongside my clinical work. I see women in person in Ballarat and Daylesford, and online across Australia and internationally.