After giving birth to her third child, mum Erica Derbyshire began experiencing severe physical and mental symptoms that raised alarm bells about her health. She was plagued by extreme fatigue, anxiety, and an insatiable craving for unhealthy foods, which led to a three-stone weight gain after a lifetime of maintaining a fit and healthy lifestyle.

She was so exhausted that she would often fall asleep in her car after dropping off her children at school, only waking up just in time to pick them up at the end of the day.

Erica sought medical help, explaining her symptoms to her GP, but was taken aback when she was diagnosed with gluten intolerance. Despite adhering to the advice given to manage this condition, her symptoms only worsened.

Determined to find answers, Erica underwent months of tests. Various medical professionals suggested everything from post-natal depression to perimenopause as potential causes.

When her GP ran out of suggestions for what could be causing her symptoms, they recommended seeking help from a private specialist, reports the Manchester Evening News.

Erica ended up paying for several private consultations, which finally revealed the true cause of her symptoms - a disorder she had never heard of before. She was diagnosed with PMDD Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder - a condition that many women, including Erica, are unaware of. Her symptoms were all classic indicators of the disorder, but none of the NHS GPs she had consulted had ever diagnosed anyone with it before and hadn't considered it as a possibility.

Erica, 42, is now sharing her experiences in a bid to help others and to reveal how she managed to reclaim her life after diagnosis. The treatment that proved successful for Erica was ultimately a hysterectomy - it had an almost immediate effect in alleviating some of the most debilitating symptoms the mum-of-three had been enduring.

Erica, hailing from Prestbury, is mother to Faith, 16, Charlie, 12, and four year old Freddie. She revealed: "Four years ago I had my third child, the earlier two births were absolutely fine. But I became quite poorly after I had Freddie and I really didn't understand why."

"I was very tired, beyond tired and fatigued, I was gaining weight because of this. I craved carbs which I'd never done before. I was suffering from headaches and irritability, those were the main symptoms. I went to my GP and they told me I was gluten intolerant."

"I was put on a gluten free diet for about six weeks before I went back as it was not working. I was getting very heavy periods, they were becoming unbearable as well as being fatigued."

"I used to drive to school, drop the kids off, and then be too tired to drive home. I'd fall asleep in the car and then pick them up, in between all that I'd maybe just grab a sandwich to keep me awake."

"I felt frustrated, my memory was foggy, I was sweating, my vision was blurry. I was getting sinusitis every month around my period. I went back to the GP who suggested antibiotics and HRT."

Erica's sinusitis became so severe and frequent that she was advised to undergo surgery to cleanse and redrill her sinuses. It was only later that a specialist consultant informed her that sinus issues can be a primary symptom of PMDD.

Erica shared: "My consultant explained that with PMDD your body doesn't produce the right amount of oestrogen and so produces its own lubrication, and therefore sinusitis is a classic symptom of it. Now, I can't smell anything - after having an operation I don't think I even needed to have - due to lack of knowledge around the condition."

She firmly believes that more women and GPs need to be aware of the symptoms of this disorder. She said: "When I went back to my GP I was told I was the first and last person they've ever known to have this."

"And I thought, is that just because women aren't speaking out about it? Are people struggling to speak out that their PMS is that bad, because nobody even realises this condition is a thing? There must be so many women who battle on not realising they have got this condition. From a young age we are conditioned to think that extreme PMS is "normal" and we should learn to "cope" with it."

"I must have spent £30k to get where I am now, because I saw so many private consultants. It was only by chance I saw the consultant who knew about PMDD. there's a lot of misunderstanding around the illness, I don't feel people know enough about it."

"It's completely debilitating - it's pre-menstrual symptoms but with a vengeance. For me personally it was a typical four week cycle so the first week after your period you feel very fatigued, tired and emotional, second week start to feel irritable and tired, third week of your period you get the anger, the rage, craving carbs and sugars and then on the fourth week it's just too much to handle, you sink into a hole of depression from those symptoms and then you start again on the first week."

Erica had never suffered with the disorder before the birth of Freddie, and consultants believe it could have been the birth that triggered it. She underwent tests on her ovaries which were able to establish that she had the condition.

After diagnosis, her surgeon suggested a full hysterectomy and Erica says: "I feel like women are so scared of the idea of a hysterectomy, but for me I wish I'd done it years ago."

"After having it done I could not believe the change - four days later I was decorating the house, I felt so motivated for the future. It was overwhelming, it changed my outlook completely."

"Over those four years I'd left my career, lost friends, lost self-confidence and gained three stone - I just basically needed to rebuild my life."

Confident and active, Erica always pursued a fit lifestyle centred around balance. She frequently participated in half marathons and weight lifting before PMDD affected her.

Unfortunately, as she grappled with her health, her dress size burgeoned from 8 to 14. Eager to regain her fitness after her operation in July 2023, she found herself at the Ultimate Performance Fitness Centre in Alderley Edge.

Her justification for choosing UP had come from an old recommendation. "Someone had suggested UP in the past but I'd dismissed it at first because it was expensive for me as I'd recently left work," she shares.

Ultimately, rediscovering self-happiness and embracing her new life journey drove her to overcome her initial hesitations.

She adds: "I was so unhappy having the weight on because I've never been big before, but I felt liberated with my new life."

Despite meeting with numerous personal trainers, she found their methods lackingtechnique wasn't prioritised enough, and some even pushed crash diets.

Deciding to give UP a go, she confesses: "So at that point I thought I'm going to visit UP and have a chat. I went to UP and within the first hour of meeting with my personal trainer Adam Newton I knew it was the right thing to do. Adam is extremely professional and the most knowledgeable PT I've met, all of the PTs at UP are experts with the training focused around technique."

Committed and well-skilled, the trainers there make achieving results a priority while imparting - what she calls - a life-changing education. Expressing immense admiration for her trainer, she gushes that Adam isnt just a trainer but more like a life coach.

"I still have to balance my medication, I have HRT after the hysterectomy, and there are times when I still struggle, or feel too tired to train. Adam is good at reading this situation and is there to coach me through when I find it challenging but equally, gives me space and backs the pressure off when I need him to."

Erica's life-changing fitness journey began when she joined Ultimate Performance in November, embarking on a rigorous 3-month body transformation programme. She committed to thrice-weekly gym sessions and boosted her daily activity, targeting over 10,000 steps.

The programme not only sculpted her physique but also educated her on diet and fitness for sustainable health.

The results were nothing short of astonishing; Erica whittled down from a size 14 to a svelte size 8, shedding 10.5kg and simultaneously building 4kg of muscle mass. Her body fat plummeted to an enviable 15%.

Inspired by her transformation, her partner Dan, aged 44, decided to follow suit and start his own fitness quest.

Although Erica was set to wrap up her programme in April, the benefits she reaped were so profound that she's continued training with the professionals. Now, she's taking her passion a step further by training to become a personal trainer herself.

She explained her new career direction: "I've spent my whole life in senior HR roles. But I'm now retraining to be a PT because I want to be able to give to other people what it's given to me."

Her mission is clear: "I want to share my experiences and educate people who might also be struggling or want a better quality of life."

Erica's weight loss journey has been transformative, standing at 5' 5" tall."

Starting weight: November 2023 - 74kg, dress size 14/16.

Final weight: April 2024 - 63kg, dress size 8/10.

Typical diet before:

Breakfast: Cereal or toast.

Lunch: Ham sandwich, crisps and chocolate, snacks.

Dinner: Home-made meal but a large man-sized portion with a lot of bread and carbs.

Typical diet after:

Breakfast: Yoghurt, blueberries and chia seeds.

Mid-morning: Two eggs and half an avocado.

Lunch: Chicken and vegetables.

Dinner: Fish and vegetables.

Snacks: Protein yoghurt, apple and orange.