I would certainly defoliate these... you want to achieve good air flow through the plant and get the light down to buds that aren't receiving any.... but you also want to do it fairly slowly so as to not stress her out very much. Do a bit today, see how she reacts... if she hasn't noticed anything, do a bit more....
What you're talking about when you say "cut everything underneath 4/5 nodes is lollipopping and that's ok - but I think you also need to thin out the canopy a bit...
Good luck!