#93: How to Advocate for Your Health in a System That Doesn’t Always Listen — with Dr. Mariza Snyder

0:02: Welcome to the Fully Expressed podcast.
0:04: We’re your host Karenna and Samantha.
0:06: This show is your permission slip to stop holding back.
0:10: Here we talk about what it really means to live unapologetically you in your relationships, your business, and your everyday life.
0:17: We believe the most magnetic version of you is rooted in self-expression, honesty, vulnerability, and showing up fully as you are.
0:24: When you own that, you naturally attract the people, the opportunities, and the life that is meant for you.
0:30: Hey guys, today’s episode is with one of our besties, Doctor Mariza Snyder.
0:34: She’s been on the podcast before and we’re so excited for what she’s going to speak about today.
0:39: We specifically asked her to come back on the show because we really want to talk about the importance of advocating for your health.
0:45: personally, Samantha.
0:46: And I have both navigated the, let’s just call it the doctor’s current modern system of medicine and you know, really learning how to navigate when doctors don’t really hear you, see you, or pay attention to your symptoms or when you find yourself going back to the doctors over and over again for specific pain and you feel like you’re not being heard, but something’s really present in your body.
1:09: , as a fully expressed woman and as women in general, like you intuitively know what’s going on in the body, and so how do you become an advocate for yourself in the doctor’s office as well as partnering up with the doctor or finding the right doctors that can support you and it really does come from a place of connecting to your voice and allowing your intuition to speak and how do you do that?
1:33: The reason we chose Doctor Mariza is because she truly is a powerhouse advocate for women and especially women in midlife who are starting to experience all these different symptoms.
1:42: She’s so passionate, she’s been an author and practitioner for over 17 years, and she actually has a book coming out called The Perimenopause Revolution, which we’re so excited about, which is the ultimate resource for women ready to take charge of their health and embrace para.
1:57: Menopause with resilience and confidence.
2:00: She also has a top rated podcast called Energize with Doctor Mariza, which has over 13 million downloads.
2:06: You’re not gonna want to miss this episode.
2:07: Yes, so grab a journal, maybe a pen and or open up your notes on your phone because you’re gonna want to take notes.
2:13: We really break down how to work with your doctor and get the health services that you need.
2:21: Enjoy.
2:23: Welcome back to the podcast.
2:26: Our bestie, our doctor who gives us all the advice just we love you so much and we’re so glad that you’re back here today to talk about such an important topic that has been coming up in our community, in, you know, events that we’re having, and that is medical.
2:44: Advocacy and really advocating for yourself within the medical industrial complex.
2:51: I’m so happy to be having this conversation.
2:53: So happy that you guys invited me to have this conversation.
2:56: I am so passionate about this topic because like millions of women, it has happened to me more than once.
3:05: It, yeah, there’s so much to unpack here.
3:07: I think the older that I’ve gotten, I didn’t realize how important advocating for yourself and your health was so important because I always looked to doctors thinking that they would have my best in mind, right?
3:20: That they were gonna do all the options.
3:22: But one thing that I’m starting to see a little bit, I’d love your perspective is like we have a lot of knowledge.
3:26: You have so much knowledge about health and Nutrition and what’s going on with our hormones and then there’s like this gap going on where you want to say I want the blood work for this thing.
3:37: I’m feeling called to this thing and the doctor’s like, you don’t need that.
3:42: So I feel like that’s like the crutch of what’s going on, but there’s also so much going on.
3:45: I think a lot of women are trying to find their voice in that, but they don’t really know how to have their voice in that.
3:50: So where can we start and just even start to unpack this conversation around.
3:55: How do you advocate for yourself sitting in a doctor’s office for you, for you and why that is, yeah, that’s let’s just get right into it.
4:03: Let’s start right there.
4:04: How do you even do that?
4:05: I think the first thing we’re gonna get into a little bit later is recognizing when you’re getting gas lit, you know, and, and knowing, and I mean I think at the end of the day.
4:14: It’s about trusting your intuition.
4:16: The one thing that I think society has tried to steal from us is trusting when we something isn’t right or something is full body right, you know, and it’s like saying, OK, this isn’t, this isn’t you right right now, right?
4:29: And you’re, you are the CEO of your health.
4:32: No one knows your body better than you, and no one’s gonna advocate unfortunately more than you are for yourself, which I get can be a very scary proposition.
4:40: I know I’ve been in the doctor’s office multiple occasions.
4:43: Where I have felt, even myself felt intimidated by what was happening to me and, and, and because the type of questioning, you feel like you’re being interrogated, and all of a sudden you can feel very small in that moment.
4:57: It can be very hard to like step into your voice, step into your power and really advocate for yourself.
5:04: And I think the other thing that I have been sharing a lot recently and I, and I, with a, with a heavy heart, but I also just feel like we We’ve kind of got to own this is that no one’s coming to save us.
5:15: No one’s coming to save me.
5:18: Like my son just had surgery.
5:20: I was the ultimate advocate for my son’s care.
5:23: I was the one moving his care along his recovery along, you know, all the things I was doing to to kind of flush out the general anesthesia, optimizing his gut and mitochondrial health, like having that conversation with the anesthesiologist or the surgeon was like, it wasn’t, there was no point.
5:39: Like I had to be the one handling that.
5:40: And when family members are having issues, they come to me and no one thinks I’m not going to somebody else, you know, either it’s a colleague or it’s myself and so, so often, especially whether you’re a mom or you’re a woman, a matriarch in your family, you’re the one that’s making the decisions, you know, whether, whether you recognize it or not, and you’re the one with the buying power so often it’s, it’s really on you, which is so deeply unfair, especially in the way that the medical system has been created.
6:09: It was created around men.
6:11: Let’s let’s be honest.
6:12: It was created around, centered around white men, to be, to be honest.
6:16: And we, the clinical trials, the research, the diagnostics, our diagnostic criteria, it’s very clear that that is what has happened and we really haven’t shifted a lot, even since the 1990s where it became mandated that we that we actually study women in clinical trials when it comes to research, diagnostics, and even medicine.
6:39: Can you talk a little bit to the system because I think it’d be so helpful for someone to understand and have the awareness of how the healthcare system is set up and why we’re, they’re just missing the ball.
6:49: Yeah, absolutely.
6:50: We think about the advent of modern medicine probably in like the, I would say early, early 1900s, right?
6:57: And when we were studying what the drugs or we were doing clinical, early clinical trials, when we were looking at How to diagnose something, even, you know, particularly like using MRIs or any anything it was, you know, back then it was, it was drugs, right?
7:10: It was medicine.
7:12: we, we kind of, the way that the medical system was created was, well not not only by white men, but for white men is what it was.
7:20: And so, and that just kept being perpetuated to the point that even in 1977, the FDA mandate.
7:27: that clinical trials never be done on menstruating women, women who have reproductive cycles because hormones, it was just too complicated.
7:37: But then also the same argument was made is that women are just small men.
7:40: So I was well it can’t be both.
7:43: It can’t be that we’re too complicated or that we’re just small men, but that, that continued into the 1980s where we had a lot of clinical.
7:51: Research was done and I’ll, I’ll never forget being in college.
7:53: I was a psych major and a biology major, but I remember learning all of the psychology studies back then and it was all performed on college males.
8:02: I remember I was like, is there any overthinking?
8:04: I’m like, well, there’s no research on women in this department, although we see a lot of mental health issues for women, but it was all done on on these young college men.
8:15: And so, as we came into the 90s and there became more kind of awareness around the fact that half of the population, half of taxpayer dollars is going to the NIH is going to all this research, this funded research, and we are not folk, we, we are not researching women at all that there had been a complete stop.
8:35: I mean, not that we were doing it much before’77, but there was no more happening.
8:39: And so in 1993, we manage.
8:42: it, but I will tell you that not a lot has changed in the last, you know, 30+ years.
8:47: And even if we’re starting to see more and more research coming out in women between research, clinical research trials and bedside, so in the, in the practice, it’s about 10 to 20 years of a lag before we actually see that information, that research implemented in your doctor’s office.
9:05: And so there’s just this massive lag that’s happening.
9:08: And then the other part that I think is it’s really been a major disservice to us is that there was way back, gosh, you, as far as medicine can go back, we believed that, you know, women had hysteria because of a wandering womb and you’re thinking, you know, this is, this is way back in the day and, and that that was eventually, I wanna say in like the early 1900s, we finally dispelled the myth that the womb was not wandering and it was not making women crazy, particularly in perimenopause and menopause, that after their reproductive, you know, lifespan or that part of their life was done, all of a sudden the wound was just off wandering the body.
9:52: I don’t really understand.
9:53: But unfortunately, the the way that we thought about that, the women being hysterical or it’s all in their head or they’re being too emotional, or they’re constant complainers or they’re whiny women that has pervaded throughout the medical system up until today.
10:09: And so in a lot of ways that myth is still being perpetuated in our medical system and so you’ll go in describing pain or describing, more, I would say psychosocial type of symptoms, more they’re not, they’re like, oh, I don’t feel well, or I don’t feel like myself anymore or I don’t feel as energized and my brain isn’t working as well and or man, I’m just having this, you know, crazy pain.
10:36: We, we often dismiss that as, oh, well, your menstrual, your menstrual cramps, that’s normal or You’re supposed to have PMS symptoms or you’re just stressed or you’re a mom of young children or, you know, all of these things and you’re not sleeping well because you’re a mom, like it’s, and not that it’s not some of those things, but it’s a big level of dismissal that leads to women being underdiagnosed and treatments being delayed, you know, up to 10 years, give or take, depending on the circumstance of the the condition.
11:06: I didn’t even say like I’m thinking back to like when I got put on birth control the first time like I don’t think they even ask us questions about like how’s your mood, you know, or how’s your mental health doing.
11:15: Like I don’t think there’s like that integrative kind of questions, but I remember being like dismissed.
11:19: They’re like, all right, so here’s some birth control.
11:22: Yeah, no one got really curious as to like, or even educated me on, I would say even not like the furtherness of like, OK, this is just what you need.
11:28: It’s kind of like a, you come into the doctor’s.
11:30: Office, they’re gonna be like, OK, this is what you need to go take this go away or go forward.
11:33: There’s no like extra education or like this is what we need to do or here’s the blood work or even if you get blood work and everything looks fine, but you still feel like something’s off.
11:44: Like, and I think as women we know that we’re like, no, something something’s here like I’m not just making this up like there’s something going on in my body.
11:50: I know something’s off.
11:52: I’m not, I’m not showing up the same, but my blood work looks great.
11:57: I think there’s also this, yeah, like this immediacy too of treating the symptom and not looking at the root cause.
12:03: And that’s something you’ve spoken to before as well.
12:05: But it’s like, well, if your menstrual cycle’s off, then what’s actually the deeper problem there?
12:10: Or if you’re in menopause or perimenopause instead of just like being thrown on birth control, like maybe.
12:15: There’s something that’s off in the hormones.
12:17: Maybe there’s more to be looked at, but I think that this, the medical industry is just like, oh, what’s your symptom?
12:23: OK, here’s a pill for that.
12:24: Here’s a pill for that, instead of actually getting to the root of what is causing that pyramid of problems.
12:29: Yeah, absolutely.
12:30: I called the birth control pill, the, the shut up pill.
12:34: I was, I was put on a birth control pill in my twenties as well, not for contraception, you know, although that’s the main purpose of birth control, but for symptom management.
12:44: And I think, you know, if I had to extrapolate back then what was going on, I think I had a little bit of insulin resistance and maybe a little bit of not full blown by no means polycystic ovarian syndrome, but things were just a little bit off.
12:55: Also, chronic stress was not doing me any fevers, but no, yeah, no one, there was no conversation and I remember it being my, my cycle.
13:02: was very uncomfortable.
13:03: I felt off everything.
13:04: There was obviously something deeper going on.
13:06: If it’s a vital sign, if it’s an indicator, a signal, it it, it, it, it deserves the research and the exploration of what’s driving this, you know, is it, is it something metabolically driven?
13:18: Is it the mitochondria are not functioning properly?
13:20: Is your thyroid working properly?
13:23: What’s your stress like?
13:23: What’s your, what’s the toxin toxic load that you’re dealing with?
13:27: These are all playing out in young girls in their teenage years and early twenties, but no, what happens is you complain about period symptoms or menstrual cramps and and we’re just like, OK, well then, here you go.
13:39: Here’s your, here’s your birth control, here’s your, here’s your shut up pill, and this is going to regulate and, and that’s really the knowledge gap.
13:48: I think a lot of primary doctors really think that synthetic estrogen and synthetic progestins regulate the psyche.
13:58: And they do not.
13:59: They are, they are endocrine disruptors in their own right, and they’re just going to shut the whole system down.
14:03: And if ovulation is your superpower, well, you’re just going to completely diminish and shut that down as well.
14:08: And so, I remember, yeah, just being offered that and initially when I was in my twenties, early twenties, I was like, OK, I’ll take it because they sold it really well.
14:17: They’re like, we’re gonna just shut this whole thing down.
14:19: I’m like, oh good, that this is a nuisance.
14:21: I don’t want to deal with this.
14:24: And but then the side effects of The birth control pill.
14:26: Oh my God, I felt so crazy, so, so out of sorts, so out of place, mood symptoms, I’ll be like we just need to put you on a different brand.
14:35: I’ll be like, oh, if that brand doesn’t work, there’s like this other brand that you could try this other synthetic hormone, yes, combination that we’ll get you on and ultimately birth control never, I mean I lasted I think 9 months on birth control and I was like this is a full body, no, but then I’ll never forget it.
14:53: In my thirties where I knew something was very off.
14:55: It definitely was a little bit of insulin resistance and massive fatigue issues like I woke up just exhausted and I was like, gosh, I don’t think a 30 year old is supposed to feel like this.
15:04: I remember just crawling out of bed trying to function to go take care of patients.
15:07: And so at the time, this was 2010 and no one was running hormone labs unless you were trying to get pregnant, like unless you had infertility issues.
15:14: It just wasn’t the thing we were even doing.
15:16: That was not that long ago.
15:17: We’re talking about 15 years ago, right?
15:20: And But there was this hormone guru because I wasn’t even looking, I wasn’t even in women’s health just yet.
15:25: This was the turning point for me.
15:26: I was literally 30 years old and I went to the hormone guru who supposedly like knew all the things about hormones and sure enough, my labs and cortisol levels, which really very much validated the fact that I couldn’t get my cortisol awakening response wasn’t there.
15:41: I had nothing in the tank for cortisol in the morning.
15:44: I had no progesterone and my estrogen was just, well, it couldn’t be, it looked normal.
15:49: But we didn’t, they, that was it.
15:51: We didn’t look at other labs.
15:52: We didn’t look at fasting insulin, fasting glucose.
15:55: We looked at nothing else, no inflammation.
15:56: It was obviously I looked inflamed and she was like birth control and Xanax.
16:01: And I was, I walked, I, I mean, cause I knew so much more than, I was so floored.
16:07: I was honestly, ever like, you ever walked out of a doctor’s office and you were just shook by the experience.
16:13: I think I, my mouth was like still on the floor.
16:16: What I I walked, I just, I was so dumbfounded by the experience, by the gaslighting, and I just was like, oh, OK, you know, like you just walk, you don’t say nothing, you just walk out the door.
16:28: And then I just remember crying in the, in the car and I looking at these scripts and I’m like, this, this can’t be it.
16:34: This can’t be what she thought was gonna address what I was going through and that was my turning point.
16:40: I was like, how many millions of women are walking out of doctor’s office right now.
16:45: Experiencing what I just experienced and either knowing that this isn’t right or hey thinking that that was the thing that was gonna actually fix them.
16:54: So talk to me a little bit about what does it look like to get gas lit in the medical office in the in the room.
17:00: , I brought a list.
17:01: Yeah, perfect.
17:03: I was like perfect, because I think this is like things that we need to pay attention to when we’re in the doctor’s office.
17:08: And I think that, you know, the three of us are very much into health and wellness and so we have a lot of knowledge and we have people like you.
17:14: Your husband like in our lives.
17:19: Beyonce, sorry to be,, in our lives to like navigate this with us and give us wisdom and and explain things to us, but I think there are so many people who literally know absolutely nothing and they don’t even know they’re being gas lit.
17:30: They’re just like, OK, yes, please tell us, yeah, and again, as I mentioned earlier, many of women’s health problems involve subjective symptoms like pain and fatigue, like me going in there or feeling stressed, like a little Xanax, fix that up, you know.
17:44: , so that women are 3 to 2 times more likely to develop RA, Hajjimotos, any autoimmune condition, I think like 78% of us will, 7 years for the diagnosis on average is what it’s gonna take.
17:56: It’ll take 7 years for them to be diagnosed with Hashimoto’s 4 times more likely to develop chronic fatigue, which is what I had again, takes about 5 to 7 years for that diagnosis if they even believe you’ve got it, right?
18:08: And then 3 times as likely to develop, the cardiovascular issues earlier than.
18:14: We imagine, I cannot tell you how many women have walked out of the in the middle of a heart attack, and they, they’re walking out with an anxiety medication because the, the symptoms look so different.
18:25: 80% of us with migraines, women, again, and we’re not usually believed it takes, takes countless visits to get that diagnosis as well.
18:32: And so what that will look like and it just really just kind of describing what gaslighting is, is it happens when one person tries to convince another to second-guess their instincts and doubt their perception that something is actually real.
18:44: And then when it comes to medical, it’s when healthcare professionals downplay or blow off symptoms that you know you’re experiencing and instead try to convince you that they’re being caused by something else or that it’s normal or that you’re just imagining it, right?
18:57: So that is obviously so they tell you drink more water and more weight, drink more water or eat food.
19:04: Yeah, yeah, you’re like what kind of food and they’re like, like soup or Drink, you know, like there’s no like anything like what do you mean drink more water?
19:12: I drink a lot of water, but you have to understand, like in the in the in the it’s like standard medical curriculum, medical school curriculum, like just let’s take one, no perimenopause education at all.
19:23: So women 35 to 55, you are out.
19:27: menopause is less than 4 hours, usually 2 hours of menopause care.
19:31: Mind you, half the population are going to.
19:33: Go through this and it’s gonna be about half your life between Perry and menopause and no care, no, no education, no nothing.
19:41: Also nutrition is an elective.
19:43: Oh yeah, at least it used to be.
19:44: I’m sure it still is that lifestyle medicine, it’s, it’s a no go, and then women’s health alone again, not happening unless it’s related to fertility or bikini medicine.
19:55: So unless it’s your uterus or your ovaries or your boobs.
19:57: , you know, we just don’t have a lot for you.
20:01: OK, so what it can look like, so minimalize, mini minimizing debilitating or dangerous symptoms.
20:06: So your pain can’t be that bad.
20:08: I mean, the fact that IUD insertions have not had local pain medication given on tens of millions of women is mind blowing.
20:17: I’ll never forget when I, so I did try.
20:20: , a copper IUD when I was, I want to say 32 years old.
20:25: And, I almost, I, it just almost didn’t go in because it was so excruciatingly painful.
20:31: And there was again, there’s no, there was no mandate for local medication or local pain meds when the IUD is inserted and so it is one.
20:39: One of the most excruciatingly painful experiences for most women if they decide to do something like an IUD, which again, 6 months, I lasted 6 months.
20:47: I was like, all that pain for 6 months, I could, I was like, I can’t do this.
20:51: I cannot do this.
20:52: And it was, it wasn’t even a hormonal IUD.
20:54: It was a copper IUD, but it’s so disruptive, right?
20:56: We’re all, everyone’s a little bit different.
20:58: So again,, I remember my, the doctor being like, oh, you know, you can get through this.
21:02: Let’s try this one more time.
21:03: Let’s just do it one more time.
21:04: And I’m like, are you kidding me?
21:05: Do you have any idea what this feels like?
21:07: This is awful.
21:08: One of the best inventions I think that I’ve seen truly is that period pain.
21:13: , it’s a machine that you can put on a body.
21:16: Like they use it on men to show them what period pain feels like, and they’re at a 2, and these men are on the like crumpled on the floor.
21:24: They can’t even get to the 10 that most women are feeling all the time.
21:27: So it’s crazy to think that so many of us are told, oh, it’s not that bad.
21:31: They can’t even handle it.
21:32: Oh, women with endometriosis, especially young girls, it’s, oh, they’re, you know, they’re, it’s really horribly painful, and doctors are like, you know, it’s menstrual cramps.
21:40: Take some Motrin.
21:41: It’s gonna be fine.
21:42: And endometriosis is so much more, I mean, it’s an, it’s we’re really recognizing it as an autoimmune condition.
21:47: It’s so debilitating and yet it takes about 10 years for an endometriosis diagnosis, give or take.
21:53: We just put women on.
21:55: What are we doing?
21:56: Like, yeah, OK, I’m gonna let you keep going before I like go off blaming symptoms on mental illness, so it’s all in your head like that, yeah, assuming a diagnosis based on sex, race, identity, age, gender, ethnicity, and weight.
22:07: So if you lose weight, your symptoms are gonna disappear.
22:10: , refusing to order important tests or imaging work.
22:13: I know you don’t have X Y Z.
22:15: You don’t need an MRI to, I don’t need an MRI to tell me this.
22:18: I know how to do my job.
22:19: So, and you’ll get that like that, that kind of, that wall, right, where you’re just like, don’t tell me what I, I know what’s up and, and then it’s the conversation’s over.
22:29: I feel that way with blood work too because I remember I was like trying to get thyroid stuff and like they were like, we’re just gonna start with like one or two.
22:35: No, I need like a full thyroid panel with like with like the like the 3 or 4 whatever, but that’s all you get.
22:41: And I’m just like, no, I want the whole thing and I feel like there’s like these steps like I have to like warm them up.
22:45: I’m like, what are we waiting for?
22:47: Like this is here.
22:48: Why are you ignoring me?
22:49: It’s just how they were taught.
22:51: It’s their standard of care, standard of diagnostic.
22:53: It is, it’s ridiculous.
22:55: yeah, I had a a a a preschool mom that recently come to me.
22:59: It showed me her labs and she was on the cusp of pre-diabetes, I could tell and insulin resistance and ran the basic lab panel, which we can get into all that.
23:09: and there were things that were out of range.
23:10: She had inflammation markers that were out of range, and she was heading towards pre-diabetes.
23:15: She was super on the cusp of that.
23:16: And the doctor was like, You’re fine, you’re normal.
23:18: You have two kids under 5, like you’re not sleeping, you’re just stressed, like, it’s fine.
23:23: Like you’ll be you’ll be fine.
23:24: And she was like, I’m not fine, like I’m not OK.
23:27: Like I want further investigation.
23:29: And so she, I, I sent her a bunch of labs.
23:32: I was like, here, this is what you asked for.
23:34: You’re like, based on this lab out of range, this lab is out of range, and this lab is out of range.
23:38: I want follow-up labs to look deeper.
23:40: And the doctor’s like, well, I won’t order these unless you come in.
23:43: So she had to pay a co-pay to go in to be told that the doctor wouldn’t do it.
23:48: She wouldn’t run them.
23:49: She’s like, but I have, I mean, these are out, and she’s like, you’re fine.
23:53: Stop bothering me about this.
23:55: That was, that was like literally 4 months ago.
23:57: My friend just went to, I was telling you this off camera, but my friend just went to the doctor to run labs because she’s in in menopause and having issues, and the woman accused her of taking advantage of her.
24:07: And she said, I pay $2000 a month in insurance.
24:12: Yeah, I want my labs.
24:13: Like I want this test done.
24:14: This is what I pay for.
24:15: What do you mean I’m taking advantage of my insurance?
24:18: That’s his job.
24:19: That is such a gaslighting, a medical gaslighting statement.
24:22: Yeah, and my my last little.
24:25: My last little story is, a year and a half ago, 2 years ago, I had a couple big brain issues.
24:31: I had two concussions and it spiraled me out of control and I ran labs, I would say every, and some of it wasn’t within my insurance, some of it I ran out of pocket, but I remember at the end of that year, something was very wrong and I didn’t know what was going on.
24:45: I, I could not get up.
24:46: I was struggling to function.
24:48: I remember very like.
24:50: Acutely and so I went to the doctor and I had a whole list.
24:54: I was very clear we’re gonna get into advocacy and, and I remember she looked at me point blank with this list, and she’s like, you know, you’ve been struggling with whatever this is for this whole entire year, and I, I don’t know what to do for you.
25:07: Like, you obviously haven’t figured it out.
25:08: I’m like, that’s literally why I’m here.
25:11: I’m not asking you.
25:12: I, I believe me, I do not think that you’re gonna be able to.
25:16: this out.
25:16: What I’m asking you, it was my insurance within labs that are reasonable to run my freaking labs.
25:24: So run the labs and I believe me, I’m, I’m not, I’m not gonna come back, OK?
25:29: I’m, I’m, I’m trying to figure this out myself, but I just, I couldn’t the first thing she said to me when I walked in the door.
25:34: She’s just like, why haven’t you figured this out yet?
25:37: And I was like, get out of my face.
25:38: Like, why is it your job to figure it out?
25:42: I mean, as I started this, I was like nobody coming to save you.
25:46: It was out of her scope.
25:48: It’s her job.
25:49: That’s what kind of bugs me in this like the entire thing.
25:51: It’s like why are they being so defensive when like this is an opportunity for them to do what they think they go for they don’t know.
25:58: She doesn’t know.
25:59: And here’s the thing, the reason why they want, she wouldn’t potentially run some of these labs is she didn’t know how to interpret them, and that’s a liability.
26:07: Yeah.
26:08: And I would say like if there is a doctor or someone in healthcare listening to this, go learn.
26:12: That’s like I’m like that’s the invitation that I get frustrated about.
26:15: Like I as someone who has held space for clients from an emotional standpoint, if anyone’s ever stuck on something and I can’t help them with something, like I’m going to go do the work and say like, OK, what can I do?
26:26: What am I missing?
26:26: What more can I educate myself?
26:29: And I will say maybe they are worked out.
26:32: Maybe they are exhausted because the medical system doesn’t set them up for success either.
26:36: Like I will say that like they’re seeing patients come in, patients come out, and it’s like one or the next, and they can’t keep up, and I understand that they’re running a lot of hours and I want to give them that understanding and You know that even takes it more to why we have to advocate for ourselves because and yeah, they have to do better and guidelines we can’t lean on that either.
26:58: Like my mom, she’s tell so many medical stuff.
27:01: She knows all of her medical history like the back of her hand.
27:04: And every new doctor she goes to, she’s like, I’m trying to give you the history because the new person is just going to see you sometimes as the present moment and they’re not really seeing the last 10 years.
27:13: So we have to be able to remember that for ourselves.
27:16: I’m bringing it back to.
27:18: Medical guidelines are outdated, they’re not up to date by any means, and insurance is often dictating what doctors can do.
27:26: I mean, it’s, it’s a very I, I wouldn’t say it’s an entirely broken system because goodness knows, I mean, how, how grateful I am for acute care.
27:35: If my son were to break his arm today at the beach, like we can run him over there, like just really grateful.
27:40: I’m grateful for the surgeon who was one of the best surgeons, eye surgeons in the area who ninjaed my son’s eyes, you know, and so I’m really horrible bedside manner.
27:50: By the way, but like I was like, I’ll tell you, you are number one at what you do.
27:54: You do you, I’m gonna do me, you know, but but a lot of people don’t really have, I don’t have my education, wouldn’t have known to do all the things for my son, unfortunately.
28:03: And he was, I remember even asking the the him about what the anesthesiologist was using as medicine for my son, and he’s like, I don’t, I don’t know.
28:10: Like that’s not my, that’s not what I do.
28:13: That’s literally what he said to me.
28:15: No, no, the surgeon, the surgeon.
28:18: I was like, he’s like, I don’t know.
28:19: I don’t know.
28:20: Like that’s not, I’m here to do eye surgery.
28:23: And I was like, OK, OK, like I think I still think it’s important to know what what anesthesia medicine your patient’s being given can’t help you out.
28:33: You’re gonna have to.
28:33: , OK, so refusing to, OK, we went over that, refusing to discuss health issues with the patient, berating patients for trying to self-diagnose, writing off symptoms and offering a quick pill solution, the shut up pills, straight out saying everything is normal, there, there’s nothing wrong with you, dismissing physical symptoms as a result of stress, anxiety, or some other mental or emotional issue, or the tendency to attribute symptoms that aren’t readily explained to a patient’s psychology that disproportionately affects women.
29:05: So this dynamic leaves women in a catch-22 where they’re dismissed if they’re dramatically describing their symptoms due to hysteria or also dismissed if they downplay them.
29:15: So it’s one or the other.
29:16: And then according to one of my favorite books called Doing Harm, medical gaslighting also means that many conditions that primarily affect women like fibromyalgia or Hajjimoto’s or endometriosis or polycystic ovarian syndrome are often associated as being psychosomatic, which means very few research dollars are directed.
29:35: To them and ultimately we continue to poorly understand them because they’re being marginalized.
29:40: So you think about the, the, the dollars being spent for something like Indo or even perimenopause or menopause, is just so insignificant that we just don’t have the knowledge, we don’t have the information to support women in a whole-body way.
29:56: So those are, those are the things that we’re doing and what this ultimately ends up, what the result of this is, is one, again, we’re not being diagnosed quickly, treatment protocols are not being implemented quickly, and our quality of life is suffering.
30:09: And, and really what this boils down to is that although women live 4 to 6 years longer, so average woman in the US lives 81 years old, average man lives.
30:17: 76 years old, and mind you, that has declined, used to be like 83 and, and 79 or 78.
30:23: It’s declined in the last 10 to 15 years that although we’re living longer, on average, 20% of our lives, we are riddled with so many chronic conditions that we are living a lower quality of life and that is often in the second half of our life.
30:39: Where all these things that could have been caught earlier aren’t being diagnosed and we get to the place where our bodies are literally shutting down on us because we weren’t given the tools.
30:49: Yeah, it’s inflammation.
30:50: Yeah, because we weren’t being managed properly.
30:54: any a lot of the stages of this journey, we just are being poorly managed.
30:58: I mean, even think about, I mean, not that, you know, I, I want to say there’s something to be said about, you know, birth control.
31:05: Whether it’s a mini pill or combination of Mirena IUD, and that allowing women to build out their careers and go to college and all of those things, but then if it’s being leveraged or used as a symptom management solution that turning off our ovulatory cycle is, it has very detrimental implications, including nutrient deficiencies, microbiome changes, causing neuro Neuro inflammation.
31:32: I mean, they’re endocrine disruptors in a lot of ways and so you know there’s two sides to one coin here, particularly when it comes to birth control.
31:38: And so it’s no surprise that women come to me who’ve been on the IUD for 1015, 20 years and they’re, they’re really struggling on the back end of finally coming off of it because their body has been depleted of these hormones that really we needed to function for decades.
31:55: I feel like in that I have.
31:57: Friends that are kind of stuck in that, they’ve been on birth control to manage their symptoms and they’re so scared of the backlash on the back end.
32:03: Like there’s so much fear of like because they’re to use your language, like their menstrual cycle has been turned off.
32:09: Like these hormones haven’t been working for 10+ years, and then you get off the pill and you’re starting to become awake and like your body is starting to like kind of refine its balance and recalibrate.
32:17: There’s like a transitional period, but a lot of women are hesitant to even dive into that because they’re like I already have so much on my plate.
32:25: I’m already feeling so many symptoms.
32:26: I’m already exhausted.
32:27: I already go through like seasonal depression or, you know, deep depression, exential crisis is once a month.
32:33: I can’t even imagine what it would be like to get off a pill, so I feel for that too, you know.
32:38: I mean, it took me 3 years probably to fully balance my hormones from being on birth control for 10 years.
32:44: I mean, and I luckily had acupuncture and like all these other tools in my toolbox to help me because like the doctor was just like, oh, you’re fine, it’ll balance out.
32:54: Yeah.
32:54: So should we talk about a little bit about that?
32:56: Like what can what can women do to honestly kind of have both because I think we need the acute care.
33:03: We got to go to our doctors for some blood work.
33:05: A lot of people are using insurance, but they also realize that naturopaths, other people that are looking at the root cause like you are and like describing and educating people, where are some areas that we can start with like, OK, where do I even start?
33:18: Absolutely.
33:19: so let’s talk a little bit about advocacy because I do, I go to my insurance providers for the labs, and I, you know, they again.
33:26: , I’m 45, just gonna admit that right now, and I did like I did a an at-home colonoscopy this year.
33:33: I did a breast cancer screening this year.
33:37: I did a thyroid ultrasound this year.
33:39: So I’m like, your, your doctor, when you go to your primary doctor and go to that physical exam, they’re gonna have a checklist.
33:45: I even had a Pap smear this year.
33:46: I mean, and it’s, this is, mind you, all cancer prevention, all these things, and this is the box that they’re checking.
33:51: And then also I came in and I was like, these are the labs I want.
33:54: And I mean, I had my list, right?
33:56: And so you got your list, I got my list.
34:00: Let’s somehow meet in the middle, right?
34:01: How, how are we both gonna get what we want and then I take that information, you know, let them do them, and I take my lab information and then build out an integrative plan for whatever I’m seeing in those labs.
34:12: you know, as a practitioner, I can do that, but let’s talk a little bit about what it can look like because I know not everyone has access outside of their insurance, and not everyone has.
34:23: , the ability to hire like an integrative practitioner or functional doctor.
34:27: we are entering a time where bio observability is becoming incredible.
34:32: I, I wear a lot of wearables to kind of get data about myself in real time to kinda understand what’s going on with my body, and that we can order there direct to consumer labs.
34:42: So if for instance, you get most of the labs, like you, you had the little you had the little tiff and that, you know, you really, you argued your case and they’re like, OK, well, I’ll give you, I’ll give you that.
34:51: I’ll give you this one, but they wouldn’t give you maybe 3.
34:53: You can always go direct to consumer and order those.
34:56: So this is what I would do.
34:57: Like, let’s say you know something isn’t right, like you’re feeling fatigue, moods off, brains off, you’re just, you’re feeling puffy, like whatever that symptoms, menstrual cycle symptoms are not feeling right, whatever that may be, first thing I would do is I would be tracking.
35:12: I track your cycle.
35:14: If, if you’re not on birth control, you really get a lot of information about what’s Going on throughout the month.
35:20: And then I would also keep notes of symptoms.
35:23: So getting really clear on, you know, for example, I know how many on average how many migraines I have a month.
35:29: I know when I typically have them, and so I can take this information to a provider to help kind of construct what we can do to kind of mitigate these, right?
35:38: So an example of that was like, I really have great notes on what’s going on with my migraines so that I can fight, I can advocate for myself.
35:46: So just take as many notes as you can.
35:47: , also note what medications you’re on, if you’re on any, maybe you’re on hormones or supplementation, like what are the things that you are doing and yet you’re still not getting the results you’re looking for.
35:58: So have as much info as you can.
36:00: Also, there’s, yes, doctors are, you know, asking questions and it can be a lot to take in because you, you know, you hopefully have your list of things.
36:09: So I always say I have my list of symptoms and I have my list of prior priorities.
36:13: So this is like my greatest priority is Migraines.
36:16: My second priority is, man, I’ve noticed my energy levels are not so great.
36:20: My third priority is, I, I’ve been noticing, my brain, brain fog or something like that.
36:26: So just be super clear on those priorities because again there’s only so much time that they’re gonna have unfortunately and just knock out the big, the big ones and then kind of what’s your, what’s what’s your proof and then what you know based on conversations that you’re, we’re having on this podcast or other podcasts, what are labs you would love to see what are what are.
36:44: , clinical diagnosis, whether it’s labs or something else that can give us more answers.
36:49: So coming and prepared with a piece of paper and what’s so great about a piece of paper is even though your doctors may be throwing you off your game or maybe intimidating you, you can always get back to your paper and be like, actually, I, and get back because again, they have an agenda, you need to have your agenda.
37:07: If you know you’re getting super, you know that you don’t do well in this environment that you’re a bit frazzled.
37:12: Do you have more anxiety, your blood pressure is soaring, have someone come with you, a friend or partner, a sister, anybody who can also help to hear what’s been going on, but also interpret what’s also happening in the conversation and making sure that you are relaying what you’re trying to say.
37:29: So just even having someone in there to help, just even be there to listen so that you guys can process together on the back end, especially if it’t go the way that you imagined.
37:39: That is great.
37:40: Advice.
37:41: That is such great advice.
37:42: , if another doctor has commented on these symptoms or made suggestions, take that letter or take that note to the doctor because doctors typically don’t want to go against the suggestions of colleagues.
37:54: So that may be helpful too if another doctor was like, hey, these migraines seem to be more of this nature, or I’m noticing that this is happening on the, you know, 5 days prior to your period.
38:06: Like things have been, or this is inflammation or I’m noticing that you’re heading more towards pre-diabetes before, and again, so many people are written off as everything’s normal when they’re almost pre-diabetic.
38:16: So if you have that information, that would be great.
38:19: Also keeping record of those symptoms, including for like photographs or videos, anything, especially when it comes to skin issues or maybe it’s hair loss, like have those vis like those visuals that you can really show that proof.
38:32: and then, you know, I would say do your research.
38:36: I mean, Thank you, Chat GBT, right, of like, you know, running through some of those symptoms, what’s going on with you so that you kind of have a sense of what, what may be going on, you know, based on symptoms, like even things like perimenopause and menopause, well, perimenopause specifically, that’s, you know, 15-year transition, give or take, we don’t have a blood lab or a blood test to diagnose you for Perry.
39:01: We just don’t.
39:03: the only way we I know, is, you know, even the first potentially 4 to 5 years, your menstrual cycle isn’t gonna look a lot different.
39:10: You know, mine isn’t.
39:10: I’m 45.
39:11: I’ve been in perimenopause for a minute.
39:13: I run a 28 day cycle right now.
39:15: And but do I have perimenopause symptoms?
39:17: Absolutely.
39:17: Am I mitigating those?
39:18: Sure.
39:19: but symptoms are gonna be the thing that diagnoses this, right?
39:23: And so, even menopause symptoms are often the thing that’s gonna be diagnosing it.
39:26: I don’t, so often doctors won’t even run a follicular stimulating hormone test.
39:31: To look at if it’s high enough to, to be diagnosed as menopause.
39:35: But it’s all just a continuum.
39:36: Like, it’s so patriarchal to be like, OK, well, we need this lab to actually decide that you’re here.
39:41: It’s just ridiculous.
39:42: And so those are just kind of an example.
39:44: Or if you have, you know, hot and cold, cold intolerance and your eyebrows are falling out and your hair is getting brittle and your nails are getting brittle and your fatigue issues and you’re getting your, you’re kind of feeling bloated and puffy, these are Thyroid symptoms.
39:59: These are low thyroid symptoms.
40:00: And so yes, we need to run the full panel, but symptoms can really, if you put that into Google or into chat GPT, we can at least potentially get a sense of like, OK, we’re in the ballpark of what this may be.
40:14: So I would say I know doctors don’t, don’t love to hear this say what do you do when you, when you run into the doctor’s office and you’re like, well, I have these symptoms you can be like this and the doctor’s like, well, I googled it or I did.
40:25: You know, whatever you say how you did it.
40:27: Well, and you could just say, hey, you know, I, these are the, these are the cluster of symptoms that I have.
40:32: I kind of think that it’s my thyroid, you know, and then there’s a health history of my thyroid and my family, family history of thyroid issues.
40:39: And so, and this is actually how you get labs, you know, if you’re like, hey, these are my symptoms, there’s a family history of Hajjimoto’s.
40:47: I’ve been feeling super inflamed.
40:49: I need to know if this is an autoimmune condition or not, then They’re gonna run the antibodies, right?
40:53: And so really you’re trying to plead a case for getting labs.
40:57: Like for instance, a DEXA scan, which is used to always be classically known for bone density, but we know it looks at visceral fat, visceral belly fat or visceral fat, which can be very dangerous, and also looks at overall lean body mass.
41:11: So it looks at muscle mass and it looks at overall fat.
41:13: And we don’t, it’s not a diagnostic criteria until you’re 65 years old.
41:19: Except that all of these metabolic changes are happening at least in your 40s.
41:24: And so like, well, how do I plead for a DEXA scan to get approved by insurance at 40 years old versus 65 years old, talking about 25 year difference.
41:33: And the argument is like, hey, I have a family history of osteoporosis.
41:37: My grandmother has osteoporosis, my mom has os.
41:39: Osteopenia.
41:40: I have noticed that I’m losing muscle at an alarming rate.
41:43: I’m also, my strength isn’t what it was.
41:46: I need to know if I am losing my muscle and bone, and I know, I know I need to know now because the window of intervention is now, not when I’m in my 60s.
41:56: Can you please look into running an approval for my DEXA scan?
42:01: Wow, that is so good.
42:02: So those are the kind of things you’re like, OK, and you can even ask Chat GBT of like, I think I have a thyroid issue.
42:08: What is the languaging that I need to use to get lab approval?
42:12: Yeah, so I have all these tricks of the trade.
42:15: I mean, we’d have to go condition by condition to be like this is how you get this lab, this is how you get this lab, you know, but like, you know, pre-diabetes, you could even say if you wanted a fasting.
42:25: Insulin and be like, hey, the last time I ran my labs, I don’t have them right now, but my fasting glucose was 98 mg per deciliter.
42:32: I need to know if I’ve got insulin resistance and metabolic issues because my dad had a heart attack, my sister had a stroke, and I have a family history of type 2 diabetes.
42:44: So then that’s how you get that lab, you know, so.
42:48: Totally, yeah.
42:49: The one thing I think about is you’re saying that there’s also like new apps.
42:52: I don’t know how you feel about this, but like function functions one function health and there’s another one specifically that I don’t know if you can get your labs or insurance or not.
43:00: That’s something you’d have to look into, but it does do a lot of the predicting of like what’s going on in your labs like this happened to my sister recently.
43:06: She did it.
43:07: She got some things that came up for her.
43:09: And now she’s gonna go to the doctor with that and be like, and I think it’s like 400 to $500 just to get access for a year and run the initial labs for fun, for function health, I believe.
43:18: But long story short, she used that as like the the credibility like to go to her doctor and she’s gonna be like, hey, I need to get this checked on.
43:26: We need to check on this da da da da and it gives her the power or the confidence to be able to say like, I’m not only like feeling these, this app is also helping me say that there is something here and I want to dig in deeper and that’s what you’re kind of saying.
43:38: It’s like, I know there’s something here.
43:39: I’m gonna advocate and plead that you help me dig in deeper to see what’s going on.
43:44: Yeah, so again, direct to consumer labs like function health that’s looking at cancer markers, that’s looking at metabolic markers, inflammation markers, antibodies, like looking at all.
43:54: All of this.
43:55: And so, and then they give you this readout, at least preliminary readout that’s like, hey, flagged, flagged, flag, there’s some autoimmune stuff going on here or metabolically, you are metabolically unhealthy, you know, and so then you take that information based on their, you know, initial, again, it’s not full diagnosis, but it’s it’s an assessment from those labs.
44:17: You can take that assessment from this very comprehensive panel.
44:20: I gets, it’s dozens and dozens of I want to say it’s over 48 different metabolic or different biomarkers, probably up to like 60 biomarkers.
44:29: I forget exactly what function health and then you can, you can plead your case with your doctor.
44:34: Same thing with Joy or, or Quest Labs, there’s, you know, inside trackers, there’s all different types of, of companies that are making assessments based on the data that you can then take take to the doctor’s office or like take to the bank basically.
44:46: But also often with those assessments, they’re making recommendations as well that you can do in terms Of lifestyle medicine that you can begin to implement because at the end of the day I think we all know that lifestyle medicine is one of the biggest levers that we can pull.
45:00: Yes, you’re going to your doctor hopefully for further testing, but I think yeah I think we’re all very clear that how we really move the needle in our health to be helpful and to future proof our health is gonna be a lot within what you do on the day to day.
45:16: 80% of what we do every day is really gonna dictate what how we’re gonna feel and.
45:21: How our bodies are functioning, you know, 5, 1015 years down the line.
45:25: And that’s kind of the gap that we’re talking about.
45:27: I think a lot of doctors don’t have the talk track or the understanding of lifestyle medicine.
45:33: No, no, absolutely, because it’s kind of just throw it at you, but there’s no details, there’s no concepts, it’s just they don’t really take that in consideration.
45:40: It’s not how the medical complex it was created.
45:44: It’s about diagnostics, it’s symptom management, not even really symptom treatment it.
45:50: Triage, yeah, and, and that’s not, that’s not gonna get you to feeling more alive and more vital, in general.
45:58: I mean, you know, I one of the medicines that I’m a big proponent of is hormone replacement therapy HRT and all you got to get it from a, a, a prescriber, but otherwise, you know, a lot of its lifestyle medicine that is going to be helping you.
46:14: again, I’m deeply grateful for the medical providers in my life where, you know, I have a thyroid doctor, I’ve Got HRT practitioners, you know, that we’re all figuring it out for myself.
46:24: But the thing that moves the biggest needle for me, and I think any of us when we’re really intentional about how we’re tending to our body is in my, my, my sleep consistency that when I go to bed and wake up consistently every day, like that is a major lever, building my life around movement, eating anti-inflammatory foods, getting enough protein to support my lean muscle mass, you know.
46:48: , taking supplements to support my longevity and, and reduce inflammation.
46:53: So all of these things, self-care, being outside in nature, you know, those are the types of things that I think about every day that I’m doing to support my aliveness.
47:02: It’s, it’s not about the, the, the medicines that I’m taking or anything like that.
47:07: I would even say, even though hormones are great optimizers and I’m so blessed to have them, they are not the, the biggest needle mover when it comes to me feeling alive in my body.
47:17: So good.
47:18: Yeah, I, I would also like to say that, you know, and I think you would agree, if your doctor’s not listening to you or you’re not feeling heard, you can also get a new doctor.
47:28: You always have to stay with that doctor.
47:30: Yes.
47:31: So that would be the other thing to advocate if you’re, if it’s not feeling right in your body, so can just check in with that.
47:36: If you’re not getting the answers, I mean this is you have one life, one life to live, and it is short and you deserve to feel alive and amazing in it.
47:45: Deserve to have a team that is working with you.
47:48: And if you’re not getting that, if, if your quality of life is suffering because you keep getting the same runaround, like a broken record, you deserve different.
47:59: If your doctor is putting you on birth control instead of looking at hormone replacement therapy, or if your doctor is not willing to look at your full thyroid labs, or not willing to just entertain the conversation.
48:12: Then it’s time to get a new doctor and there’s a lot of doctors out there that are, that are shifting the way that they think about healthcare, shifting the way they think about your body, and they are out there.
48:23: so I just wanted to just say, yeah, get a second opinion, wait, get a second opinion, and 2, If it doesn’t feel right, do not have an issue with walking away and getting another doctor.
48:34: What are some alternative, you know, you spoke like briefly, just, you know, alternative, but what are alternatives to the Western complex that people can pursue?
48:45: Like, obviously someone like you, a naturopath, like what, what, where can people find these resources or where would you direct people if they’re not being seen in the system?
48:55: Absolutely.
48:55: So like where to get another doctor, so one of the things, especially if I’m working with midlife women who are looking for doctors who really understand, hormone therapy or just, just optimizing good metabolic health is I would call your local compounding pharmacy and ask what doctor is.
49:13: Prescribing, like where the prescriptions coming from to know and and how do you like what, what doctor would you recommend?
49:21: Like of all the doctors that are prescribing right now, like who’s, who’s the real deal.
49:25: So I would, that’s the one place I would go, you know, I would also, I would, I would, I would Google search like an integrative doctor or naturopathic doctor or a Chinese medicine doctor, like someone who’s more open to a very integrative approach.
49:41: Those are the, those are the places I would go.
49:43: Also, there’s a lot of telemedicine companies that are popping up everywhere that at the very least, you, you can get labs for a very inexpensive price.
49:51: You can get an initial assessment and you can take that information and then, you know, and meet with another doctor about that.
49:57: So I feel like the options are more available.
50:01: There’s more options today than there has ever been before for us to really empower ourselves and find the right team to work with us.
50:09: it’s just, again, You know, and I, I don’t say this lightly because I know it’s a lot of work and I, I gosh knows like women already have so much on their plate in terms of the mental load and the physical load, but in order for us to really function at high capacity, we really do need a good team and that really means having to do the research, finding that person, testing them out, interviewing them, like, are you even, are you, are you OK running a full lab panel?
50:36: Are you OK running a full thyroid panel?
50:38: Are you willing to look at my Metabolic status.
50:41: Are you willing to interpret my DEXA scan?
50:44: do you even prescribe HRT to your patients?
50:47: Is it bioidentical?
50:49: Like, kind of hit them with a couple of questions and get a good sense really quickly if this is even what you need or what you’re looking for.
50:56: If your doctor’s like, oh no, I don’t do, I don’t do HRT or I don’t, I only do birth control or or whatever, like I don’t feel comfortable having that conversation.
51:04: You’re like, thank you so much for self-selecting out of my healthcare plan.
51:08: You’re not the one.
51:09: You ain’t it.
51:11: I also want to like like highlight the ones that if you have good doctors that are doing that for you, like a part of me is like, say thank you, you know, because I think there are some really good doctors out there still that are doing the best that they can to.
51:22: Yeah, I, I, this last year I got reassigned.
51:25: We’re, we’re back in a different medical system and I was kind of over the, the doctor who was, you know, giving me the runaround, and so I had this new doctor again.
51:35: I was just coming in for labs.
51:36: I’ve got a whole team outside of the medical system that helps me to.
51:39: me and but I had my list, I had my lab list.
51:44: I had the things that I wanted and she obviously had the things that she wanted and I was like, I will do all those things and will you do all these things?
51:51: And she was like, full body, yes.
51:53: She’s like, I can’t tell you that I’ll know exactly what to do with all of it, but I will get you the information that you need to make these decisions.
52:00: And I was so I came out of there skipping, OK?
52:04: I was skipping out of that, that, that.
52:07: man, I was, I was, you were like, you feel like you’re winning.
52:10: You’re like, did I really just get everything that I wanted I just exactly.
52:15: And mind you, it was just it was data and information that I was gonna make behavior changes based on, but she was like, absolutely, I will do all of this.
52:24: And I was like, Really?
52:25: Really, really?
52:26: You’re gonna do it all?
52:27: You’re gonna run that la?
52:28: like you teasing me?
52:30: She was like, I’ll even run a uric acid, which is an inflammation marker for insulin resistance, and I was like, Well, I didn’t even ask for that.
52:37: Like I just she’s like bonusing me laughs and I was like, wait, to give us her name.
52:43: Yeah, yeah, I will definitely do that.
52:48: So let’s talk a little.
52:49: Well, thank you for all of that.
52:51: I like I think this is like such an important conversation because advocating for yourself, having the strength to know how to even advocate for yourself, identifying the symptoms of someone gaslighting you, all the things was just so important.
53:02: And you have a book that has recently launched and is available for pre-order that talks a lot about this as well and so much more.
53:12: Can you talk a little bit about it?
53:13: Yes, absolutely, right here, yeah, I was looking at the video.
53:18: I am in my perimenopause revolution era, OK, it’s the perimenopause revolution, and I wrote this book at a based on a time where I was in early perimenopause.
53:29: I was in perimenopause postpartum, what a, what a.
53:32: situation, but happening to so many women, where I was exhausted and confused and wondering like, is this, is this how it’s supposed to be?
53:42: Like what is happening to me?
53:43: Is this aging?
53:45: And why is nobody talking about this?
53:47: Like I was like, why is my body changing without permission and we’re not talking about this.
53:52: And, and so I wrote this book, it was the book that I needed at that time.
53:57: It was, it was basically, it’s a rally cry for any woman who’s ever been.
54:01: gas lit or dismissed or confused about what she’s going through because so often in peri menopause, we, we don’t really know we’re in it until we are in it until we are like this, like, send me a sign, make it impossible for me to miss like that I am in perian menopause and it’s, it’s been years in the making at that point.
54:21: So I wanted women to not only know what the heck is going on with my body, right?
54:25: This book isn’t just about symptoms and hormones and, you know, belly fat and brain fog and and Hot flashes, it’s about understanding what your body is going through, understanding that these hormones are whole body hormones and they are impacting silently impacting your metabolism, your bone, your muscle, your brain.
54:46: I mean it’s a neuroendocrine transition, your heart, I mean, everything is up for review.
54:51: Your whole body is up for review and it’s also this beautiful time of not only vulnerability because all of a sudden our bodies are changing without permission.
55:01: You know, and, and, and everyone’s like, oh this is normal aging.
55:04: I’m like, no girl, this is not, nothing about this is normal.
55:07: Nobody asked for this, but also not only recognizing that, but recognizing that this is a beautiful window of opportunity.
55:18: This ain’t your mama’s menopause and peri menopause.
55:21: This is a whole new way that we get to approach prioritizing ourselves in a world that Constantly bombards us with prioritize everyone and everything else, right?
55:31: This is, this is your wake up call to say I have boundaries.
55:35: There are things that I have tolerated that I’m not tolerating anymore.
55:38: I am, I am fully listening to my body and I am clear on what is a full body yes and what is a full body no.
55:45: This is such an opportunity.
55:46: So I, although it feels like a reckoning in so many ways, it’s an awakening.
55:52: That’s what this revolution is about.
55:53: So this book is a rally cry for every woman who is wondering what the heck is going on and what can I do about it?
56:00: And I mean, I give it all.
56:02: Like there is no gatekeeping.
56:03: You get all the things.
56:04: I mean, so how we can optimize our metabolism, optimize our hormones, optimize our brain health, our sleep, our circadian rhythm, reduce our inflammation, basically everything you need to feel alive and to futureproof your health for the next 40 years.
56:19: And I, I love it too because you give recipes, you give exercise routines like you give step by step what can be done.
56:26: So it’s not just the information, it’s like everything together of how they can change right now, like how you can take action right now.
56:32: Yeah, I am a big fan that every woman, especially women in midlife, when they are holding it all together for everyone and everything, that they deserve every tool in the toolbox.
56:43: And so when I wrote this, I wrote this.
56:45: From the perspective of my, I am my own demographic.
56:49: I am my own, avatar.
56:52: I’m her.
56:53: And I’m like, what would I demand?
56:55: What would I deserve?
56:56: How do I want to make sure that I am not being ignored anymore in this journey?
57:00: And I put all of that into this book that is very actionable, that is doable, because I’m not trying to add more to my my women.
57:11: plates, but I also want them to feel so fully prepared for what is going on in their bodies.
57:18: I am not disillusioned that my body is changing, OK?
57:21: I, but I am not, I’m also not a passenger or princess on this ride, OK?
57:26: I’m like this is not, I’m not going down willingly.
57:29: I’m gonna, I’m gonna pivot on this and I’m gonna reclaim because I am, I am training, I am doing all the things.
57:37: For my future 80 year old grandma self.
57:40: OK, that is what I am doing.
57:42: And then she is kicking some serious butt.
57:45: And so that’s how I’m training, that’s how the book was built.
57:47: Also, if you order it now, you ordered this incredible book, this beautiful revolution that is so much more than a book.
57:54: Like it is a, again, it’s the rally cry.
57:55: It’s a movement.
57:57: It’s so much more because I am in this with you.
57:59: I’m literally in it with you.
58:03: Like viscerally, like I can feel it, but it, it, I have all these yummy goodies, all these bonuses that you get literally with the book.
58:11: I call it my perimenopause power tool kit, the workout videos, the recipes, the meal plan, Mindfulness strategies like circadian rhythm optimization.
58:22: I mean name it.
58:23: I have built everything that I’m doing myself and everything that’s gonna literally move the needle for you.
58:29: I am results driven because I don’t got time for anything less than results.
58:33: I don’t, I don’t like.
58:35: Is it results or get the heck out of here.
58:37: OK.
58:38: So that is how the book is built.
58:39: That’s how the bonuses are built, is I want you to experience wins out the gate so that you feel motivated to take the next step and the next step and the next step to the most empowered, healthy future of your life.
58:53: Let’s end on that.
58:54: We’re so excited for you.
58:56: We both have a book already.
58:57: It comes out October 21st.
59:00: Oh my goodness, and she’s beautiful and she’s beautiful.
59:03: She is gorgeous.
59:04: She is what you tilt hers.
59:07: She’s shiny, she’s pink, she’s purple, she’s, she’s everything.
59:10: She’s, she is, oh man, she is fierce.
59:13: She’s loyal.
59:14: She is, she’s bringing the goods, you know I love it because you’re making it easy.
59:18: You’re like, here’s everything you.
59:19: Need to know, and here’s how to do it and you’re including videos and all kinds of amazing things to go with it to make it so easy for women to make shifts immediately.
59:29: Yeah, and she’s literally one of the first books of her kind on this topic, which is just amazing and I’m just gobsmacked that how do we not have a per menopause book in 202 should read it too.
59:44: Yeah, but I, you know, even while you’re waiting for the book to.
59:47: Arrive, your bonuses are instant.
59:48: They are instantaneous, so you get them immediately because I want you to feel like once you make this decision, you’re I’m literally going to deliver silver platter deliver the things you got to do or the things you get to do for yourself to just feel alive.
1:00:02: So fucking good.
1:00:03: I love it.
1:00:04: Yeah, congratulations.
1:00:06: And we’re so excited for everyone that gets to read it.
1:00:08: Yeah, yeah.
1:00:09: I mean, it’s really what I love about everything you said is like that time I haven’t gone through perimenopause.
1:00:14: And I know I’m not in that.
1:00:16: However, I know it’s a time of chaos and you’re making it easy in a time of chaos, and I think that’s what one would mean.
1:00:21: I’m definitely starting out my husband the other day was like, You’re an emotional roller coaster lately.
1:00:25: What’s wrong with you?
1:00:26: I was like, Read this book.
1:00:28: Read this book.
1:00:29: My, my, my brain is changing.
1:00:31: OK, I’m right.
1:00:31: And it is, your brain is changing and, and nobody, nobody asked for that, you know, so but there’s a lot of things that we can do to support ourselves and that’s the, that’s the knowledge and the information that should never have been kept from us.
1:00:44: I mean, it’s interesting to be on the cusp of perimenopause or like right entering into it.
1:00:48: I’m 38 and I never knew what that even was.
1:00:51: Like I, until I met you.
1:00:52: Thank God I met you.
1:00:53: But also just realizing like, oh, now I can put a voice to the symptoms I’m feeling and the things I’m feeling and, oh, OK, maybe there is an indication something’s off and I need to look at this or I need to take progesterone or I need to do these things and I think there’s so much power in that and you’re creating that for people, which is amazing.
1:01:09: Yeah, we need a book what to expect when you’re going through.
1:01:12: So you menopause and women deserve to know in their early 30s, mid-30s that what the subtle symptoms, yeah, what to look for.
1:01:21: Why does it feel like the daily pain points of everyday life, but just a little bit extra, you know, and so why am I why is everything you do so irritating and it is, it’s shifting hormones.
1:01:32: It’s perimenopause and it’s the sooner that we can recognize.
1:01:35: the earlier that we can identify it, man, we just, there’s so much more that we can mitigate.
1:01:41: So the journey doesn’t have to be as intense as it has been for so many other women and our moms and our grandmothers.
1:01:47: Yeah.
1:01:49: Amen.
1:01:50: So good.
1:01:50: Thank you so much.
1:01:52: Yeah, thank you for letting me share it.
1:01:54: I’m so excited.
1:01:54: This is such a good conversation.
1:01:56: We’re so excited to get this book out.
1:01:57: Yes.
1:01:58: All right, we love you.
1:02:00: I love you too.
1:02:00: Thank you.
1:02:02: Thank you so much for tuning in.
1:02:03: We really appreciate you being here.
1:02:05: If you enjoyed this episode, we’d be grateful if you could leave us a review and share it with a friend.
1:02:10: Also, we would love to hear from you.
1:02:13: Reach out to us on Instagram and let us know where you feel inspired to express yourself as you embrace this next era.
1:02:20: We’re here to support you and encourage you.
1:02:23: Before we go, we want to remind you that you are powerful and deserving a fully Expressing who you are.
1:02:28: Embracing your journey toward authenticity is a vital part of that process, and we’re grateful to be alongside you.
1:02:35: If you’re looking to dive deeper and connect with others who celebrate their true selves, we invite you to join our community.
1:02:41: It’s a virtual space for connection and accountability where you can share your experiences and grow together.
1:02:47: You can find the link in our show notes.
1:02:49: We can’t wait to welcome you.
1:02:51: See you on the next one.