Less than eighteen months ago 33-year-old Sam Dixon, from Northumbria, was five stones overweight, battling bulimia, and was addicted to anti-depressants.

In a spiral of despair Sam often refused to leave the house and had even removed all the full length mirrors in her home as she couldn’t bear to look at herself.

Today Sam, a business director for a North East company, is unrecognisable. Confident and healthy, Sam turned her life around with the help of award-winning naturopath and medical herbalist Rumana Zahn.

But it has been a difficult journey not without challenges. Sam explained: “Since being a teenager I have struggled in an ongoing fight with bulimia, my yo-yoing weight, hard drug abuse, depression and a string of abusive relationships.

"As a result of my inability to deal with my feelings about myself I had spent the whole of my adult life on various anti-depressants.

“And, in a misguided effort to manage my weight, I had become bulimic. This was really taking its toll on my health and the back of my teeth were ruined, my face swollen and new symptoms were cropping up on almost a daily basis.

"Regular visits to my doctor brought no relief – modern medicine only treated my symptoms and didn’t get to the root of the cause.

“Initially I was sceptical when I heard about Rumana; I questioned how she could help me where so many others had tried and failed, but any doubts evaporated from the first appointment.

“Rumana looked at the causes of my problems, instead of writing a prescription for my long list of symptoms and, through a tailored health programme, encouraged me to take stock of my whole self – rather than each individual problem.

“Having gone to Rumana primarily because of my ongoing weight problem, I was very surprised to find that she didn’t focus on it at all. In fact it was barely even mentioned. Instead Rumana encouraged me to look at the whole picture; my lifestyle, my emotions and the methods I used to disguise my feelings and focused on reducing my anti-depressants and eliminating foods my body could not easily tolerate.

"She also prescribed supplements that my body so desperately needed – I quickly learned that it is possible to be fat and malnourished at the same time!

“To date I have lost 59lbs in weight, and my bulimia is under control. All of my ailments have disappeared. Now people comment on how well I look and, for the first time in 15 years, I am free of anti-depressants. The experience has totally transformed my life.”

Watching the weight fall off was certainly motivating for Sam but it wasn’t all plain sailing. Sam explained:” I have had some very low points since starting working with Rumana, but not a patch on how I felt previously. Some of the treatments, the liver organ cleanse in particular, were hard-going and required determination.”

Sam also had to face certain issues along the way. “At times I had to look deep inside myself for answers to a lot of questions that I had chosen to ignore for the duration of my adult life. And, as I reduced the anti-depressants, I began to experience genuine emotion which felt real and raw.

"I found myself crying with joy at the simplest of things; people clapping, particular songs on the radio, seeing people I loved. It was as if I was learning to ‘feel’ again.”

It hasn’t been an easy road for Sam but, by using natural medicine, she was able to take control of her health and wellbeing and re-direct her life in a positive way. Sam is full of excitement for her future as a fit and healthy young woman and has even recently completed a 10k run for charity and is knee-deep in preparations for her wedding.

Rumana concludes: “Sam is a really good example of how obesity and eating disorders such as bulimia can actually be a symptom of another underlying problem.

"She suffered from very low self-esteem and relied on a range of substances, including food, to propel her through life. By addressing the root of her problem it was relatively simple for her to reach her ideal weight and regain full health and vitality.”

Rumana runs clinics in Newcastle (within a GPs practice), Darlington and Seaham Hall’s Serenity Spa. She also set up the only walk-in clinic in the country at Tesco, Kingston Park, where people can book a 10-minute consultation free of charge every Friday between 2pm and 6pm.

To contact Rumana call 0845 680 14 18.

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