In this episode of Get Your Shit Together we chat about:
🧡 Disclaimers and systemic probs
🧡 Client stories of taking back their health
🧡 That time Diane fired her doc mid appointment
🧡 Adina’s response to being bullied by her GYN
🧡 Ways to respond to “your labs are normal” when you still don’t feel well
🧡 How to build your care team if current providers aren’t a good fit
Episode Show Notes: www.getyourshittogetherpod.com/podcast/episode80
Follow us on Instagram @getyourshittogetherpod
Connect with Diane:
Instagram: @dianeteall
Website: www.diteawellness.com
Enroll in Root Cause Reset Course (self-study): www.rcrprogram.com
Connect with Adina:
Instagram: @adinarubin_
Website: www.adinarubincoaching.com
Enroll in self-paced Strength Training for Happy Hormones (STHH)
In this episode of Get Your Shit Together we chat about:
🧡 Disclaimers and systemic probs
🧡 Client stories of taking back their health
🧡 That time Diane fired her doc mid appointment
🧡 Adina’s response to being bullied by her GYN
🧡 Ways to respond to “your labs are normal” when you still don’t feel well
🧡 How to build your care team if current providers aren’t a good fit
Episode Show Notes: www.getyourshittogetherpod.com/podcast/episode80
Follow us on Instagram @getyourshittogetherpod
Connect with Diane:
Instagram: @dianeteall
Website: www.diteawellness.com
Enroll in Root Cause Reset Course (self-study): www.rcrprogram.com
Connect with Adina:
Instagram: @adinarubin_
Website: www.adinarubincoaching.com
Enroll in self-paced Strength Training for Happy Hormones (STHH)
What is up? Our little sheet heads.
Diane:Hey, little shithead affectionately. She says it's been a while since we opened up like that. Like just heads doesn't make sense. Does anyone have ideas for like a cutie little name that we can give to you? Our G Y S T fam?
Adina:I think they like being called shitheads. Do they not
Diane:I do. I think it's funny. it's funny. Anyway, we're back in business.
Adina:Yeah. Um, as you can hear, I've got a little tickle in the throat and I'm hoping I can get through the episode without like hacking up along. So wishes, luck.
Diane:yeah. The lung butter is buttering. Well, spring is springing. It's here. And man, are we fired up? Like we don't have many days left for me to wear a sweater, so I'm trying to get that in. But as we were outlining this episode, I was just sweating through my sweater because I'm so fired up.
Adina:Sweaters never really work for me in the indoors,
Diane:not even a light cashmere.
Adina:as I was never about sweaters in the indoors. I could do, like if there's a t-shirt under and I have the option of removing the sweater.
Diane:of popping your top.
Adina:Yeah, And
Diane:I really.
Adina:this climate, like, I mean,
Diane:Yeah. Oh, it's all nice. Yes. Yes. I love that for you. Well, I've been trying to wear more bright colors, I think just because it's happier and it feels more me, but also the more that I sow and quilt. Remember, I'm a, I'm a budding sewist. I just love playing with fun fab fabrics, and that's translating now into my wardrobe. So over here, I don't have much to report as far as what I'm consuming, except for like on the media front, because I've just been sewing. So I shared this on Instagram. I've been whipping up purse meat pouches. That's what we're calling them. And this matches my sweater today. Like they don't have the visual component. But you know, orange, I found this, um, fun food print, and it's got steaks and bacon and shrimp fish. It's like a surf and turf theme. They're also hotdogs, which a friend was like, are those worms?
Adina:do look like worms, but
Diane:And once she said that, Yeah. They're like hot
Adina:it's lyx. It's some Lyx.
Diane:Yeah, they're, but far away, like, and then I thought if it was parasites that would fit with my gut health theme. Like we got some purse meat, got some parasites that we're gonna get rid of, but not, they're hot dogs. And I have this stocked, of course, with purse meat for the coffee shop. Workday days.
Adina:Very cute.
Diane:Yeah. So not much media over here. What are you watching?
Adina:Um, we've been watching some dumb stuff. We watched Ibiza. Have you heard of it? Yeah. Okay. So it's a Netflix movie from a couple years ago. Um, it's, uh, starring, what's her name? Um, the one who plays Brita and Community. Is it
Diane:the blonde.
Adina:Is she Gillian or
Diane:also in love. I think whoever, that girl, that girl she's
Adina:Some someone's screaming. Maybe it's Donnie downstairs screaming. Um, and then, um, Vanessa Byer, who I love, we were just joking about that bit from I think you should leave.
Diane:Yes. Which is, it's a very specific sense of humor. I'd say that it's close to mine. It's just really weird. And there's a season two coming out. But briefly tell everyone what that skit is about.
Adina:I don't know if you've s it. Okay. It's so good. So like Vanessa Byer is out to lunch with some friends and they take a cute photo and they're all posting it on their Instagram. And they're, the other two gals are like out to lunch with these dumb dumbs And then she just like doesn't get it and takes it way too far. like,
Diane:out to lunch with these absolute pigs or something like that. Isn't you from s n
Adina:yeah. And she's very
Diane:where they're, they're like, it has to be self-deprecating whenever you take a picture of yourself where they're, where you look cute. You have to make fun of yourself, which I always thought was kinda a weird thing. But also I do stuff like, oh, these dumb
Adina:Yeah. Liz Lemon style. Um, yeah. But it's
Diane:this episode title
Adina:it's really funny if you haven't seen it. But anyways, Ibiza, this movie, it's um, it's not great, but she's very funny and it's like a fun movie. I liked it. I enjoyed
Diane:Wait, maybe I have seen that. Is there like some DJ that one of them sleeps with? Yeah, I did watch that.
Adina:yes,
Diane:as Donny has pointed out, I've seen most movies, but I, they blend together because there's been a lot, a lot of them
Adina:yes. So again, is it amazing? No, it very isn't. But was it fun? Is Vanessa by hilarious? Yes. Yes she is. Um, on that note, wait, I forgot there was something else I was gonna say about media. Did we watch something else? Oh, wait, you, you had, okay. We had told you that we started this movie and then stopped and then you were like, no, you should finish it. It's actually funny. The law city.
Diane:Oh yeah. With Sandra Bullock and Channing
Adina:Yes. And I love both
Diane:and Daniel Radcliffe, he's also in it.
Adina:I love chatting Tatum and I love Sandra Balik, especially in. those situational action romcoms. Like
Diane:Mm-hmm.
Adina:It's fun. It was fun and
Diane:you liked it? Are you glad that you finished
Adina:I am. It's funny.
Diane:I really liked it? I was laughing out loud and I feel like it's,
Adina:that I was laughing out loud
Diane:I mean, it's been a while since I laughed hard at something like at a com recent comedy, and I just really like Sandra Bullock. She's, she's great. I'm glad that She's, making more movies again,
Adina:Yeah. They both work really, really well in that type of movie, so it was fun.
Diane:those cute little dumb dumbs. Well, we have a lot to cover. In this episode, so I think we're just gonna dive into it. I mean, we were outlining this and we were just getting carried away and fired up, and who knows, maybe we'll still get carried away and fired up and have to split it into a couple EPIs. But man, you guys are blowing up our dms with anecdotes about doctor encounters and all kinds of nonsense that doctors have said to you, as well as questions that you would like for us to help you answer or prepare for your next doctor visit. So that's what we're gonna get into today. And I also wanna give you a little fair warning that this may be extra sass like SASS level 200 because I am a late lal phase Lal Lucy has entered the chat, so I can't promise that this won't be unhinged at times. But our aim is for it to also be helpful and for you to walk away with some phrases that you can use at your next appointment, some peace of mind, and some tippy, as always, some practical hippies for you to be able to advocate better for yourself, for your health and yeah. Yeah, let's, that's it in a nutshell.
Adina:Wait, I just thought of something funny while you were saying that, so I wasn't entirely listening to what you were saying, but
Diane:Road.
Adina:know when I'm uploading the episode and I have to like mark it as explicit or not, and it's obviously always explicit. We should email our podcast hosting platform and tell them that they need to give us a little box to mark what phase of our cycle we're in. Just so people know when they push play on the episode. What type of energy to expect?
Diane:yeah. I'm gonna bring very different energy here than I would when I'm in my ovulation station, because maybe I, things would be a little different then. But also, I don't know though, because I'm just. It really pisses me off the absolute bullshit that women I work with are told by their PCPs, like all the gaslighting. And then I know I'm coming into this with my own messy experiences I've had with doctors that were either unprofessional or just otherwise unhelpful. I know you've had those too, and I hate that it's a shared experience that we all have, but it also guided us to what we're doing now. So that is helping people address the root cause and to regain, reclaim their health for the long haul. So oof rolling up these sleeves over here. murder fight.
Adina:whatever phase of our cycles we were in this episode is gonna get spicy. Spicy, and we always have to say it if you're listening for the first time. And if you're like, who are these bees? And what are these opinions about doctors, we don't think that all doctors are dumbs. Our, our
Diane:Our dumbs,
Adina:dumb, our dumb dumb stupids.
Diane:Yeah. Let's get the disclaimers outta the way. Cuz some of'em probably clicked on this and we were like, oh, hey, squeeze me
Adina:Um, if you're a doctor listening and you're great at what you do, we love you. You're the best. Thank you for doing you. But the reality is that we all know that especially America, our sick care system, cuz let's call it what it is, it's a sick care
Diane:Mm-hmm.
Adina:is a real problem. And people are not getting the help that they need. Their doctors have five to 10 minutes with them on the long end.
Diane:average seven to nine
Adina:yeah, we've done many episodes with these conversations in the past because we are coming from our experience of. Working with hundreds of women when they are at their last resort, when they are like, I have been in and out of so many doctors' offices and I am just not getting the help that I need. And then what's crazy is that like for ex, I had a client who I worked with for 12 weeks. 12 weeks, and she was in and out of doctor's offices for 15 years with unexplained stomach pain. 15
Diane:say, I, ibs, or what? What do they tell her? Like we just dunno.
Adina:you just you just have
Diane:let's do that.
Adina:Anyways, we worked together for 12 weeks and her? stomach pain was gone. It story after story, like Diane and I have story after story of clients with the same conversation of, it was a revolving door. I was in and out of offices and we. Take them through a 12 week protocol, focusing on nutrition, focusing on lifestyle, focusing on strength training,
Diane:focusing. on learning how your body works and what these symptoms mean. Things that we just never learn until we sought it for ourselves. It's,
Adina:Yeah. And it's amazing what we have seen shift in three months when people have been trying to take care of these things for years with no avail. And like, and we have our own stories. If you've heard my eczema story, I was in and out of Dermatology's office, dermatologist's office for as long as I can remember since I was little And cream after cream and conversation after conversation. Yeah. And it wasn't until I took my health into my own hands and really learned how my body worked, that I was able to overcome all of that on my own and, and many other symptoms. But the point is that the way the system is set up, is not for our health. It's not about empowering us to take our health into our own hands. There is a lot more money in keeping people sick in prescribing medication.
Diane:yeah. making a customer versus empowering someone to take charge of their health
Adina:yeah. And it's really frustrating and it's really upsetting. But our goal with this episode is it's not just to be like doomsday. This is what it is. We
Diane:Or to as we've joked, like are we just shitting on doctors too much?,are we shitting unconventional medicine too
Adina:Um, yeah. But we really want to empower you as we always do, and give you some language around how to navigate some tricky situations. I mean, this episode was born out of conversations that we've had with you after previous episodes that we've done, like when we talked. you know, prenatal care and trying to find a team that supports you. We had so many people messaging us, asking us how to get the care that you want. When we talked about birth control, we had tons of people messaging us, sharing their experiences, and asking us how they're supposed to talk to their doctors about this. And then we did our recent ozempic episode and we had plenty of you DMing us and telling us about, yeah, the pressure you were receiving from doctors around medication like this. So we thought it was time to put it into one episode and to help give you some language around navigating some of these interactions. And also when to understand when the conversation is not gonna make the shift. And maybe you need to find a new doctor or even care outside of the conventional medical system.
Diane:Right. And we know that is not something that everyone can do, but let's get honest about where we have agency to maximize our resources, time, energy, and money, and bring that to someone who is going to honor our wishes for our health and meet us where we are and actually support us. So as always, there's nuance here and like Adina was saying, it is a sick care system. And just reflecting in the past few years and what we've seen, in the media in the way that, um, largely our society responds to health solutions or cr how they create health solutions. It's just been a whole fucking mess and just really cracked open the big problem that we have here, I mean, as of 2014, the lifetime medical spend, medical cost of managing type two diabetes was estimated around$125,000 up to$211,000, if not discounted or if not, uh, with healthcare, uh, depending on when you're diagnosed. So I think that was based on if you were diagnosed with type two diabetes and like your mid fifties, early sixties. But a lot of people are diagnosed earlier than that, so those costs can vary. And this was as of 2014, so I imagine that's only increased since then. I mean, we just did the ozempic episode and if you were to get that weekly pokey poke, that could set you back up to$900 a month, or I'm thinking of gut health and how I was told that I'd have to basically take. Antacids and Prilosec or acid suppressors forever and ever. Antiacid market size is expected to hit 6.46 billion by the end of 2025. That's coming up quick, so,
Adina:M S K, like pain management, musculoskeletal care? You know, it's like
Diane:mm-hmm.
Adina:insane how much this system is spending on painkillers and medical management and. Manual treatment and things that are just not empowering individuals in their strength and how helping people navigate pain in their own lives, like it makes me violent. Violent. How many cortisone injections and manual therapies. Muscle
Diane:Dude, did I ever tell you about this? Did I tell you? I was, I think a sophomore, a junior in college and I had neck pain and I was not exercising at all at this time, sitting at desk long hours. My diet was a whole mess, but I remember going to the doctor and I told them my neck and my shoulders hurt. They prescribed me fucking muscle relaxers. They didn't say a single thing about physical therapy or strength. Not at all. It was so
Adina:Yeah. I'm pretty sure musculoskeletal spending is higher than like heart disease now. It's like hundreds of billions of dollars.
Diane:Mm-hmm. It's wild. And in preparing for this episode, I mean y'all, our community is awesome, but we also. I'd like to put spicy sassy titles out there. So I don't know what kind of new audience this could potentially bring, but, um, certainly on like the tickety talk, people get real fired up there about anything and everything. Uh, and sometimes people are wary of things that fall outside of the conventional, traditional allopathic model and like, oh, you're not a doctor, and well, good. We don't want to be, we don't want to diagnose and manage. We want to help people learn how their bodies work and how to make their routine work smarter. So what qualifies to talk about these things we're gonna talk about in this episode? I, I know, uh, Dean already shared some case studies over here have helped a few hundred women through root cause reset and through one-on-one nutritional therapy. I actually just got an email from a client who this morning who got off of her thyroid meds with the approval of her doctor. So we play nice, like sh I told her, if you wanna come off of that medication, we do. I try to play nice, I try to play nice. It's a collaborative effort. And that like, that's because my best, my top priority is for my client to feel well, not for, like, I know we're, we're being sassy here, but not to be like right or to like, I know say that we're better than a doctor. We're never going to tell you to like not see a doctor or to stop a medication without consulting them. So what she did was she told her doctor that she wanted to get off of a thyroid medication. They were supportive of that. She has a pretty good doctor, I think. and, um, she said that she was able to get off of her thyroid medication and she feels like she has more of her life back because she can spend more time with her family. And she said, play with her two year old instead of feeling exhausted. Uh, and it just like gave me chills because she has more of her life expanded to her now by like making those food and lifestyle changes. This is a client that I worked with a couple of months ago, um, but I also worked, I also have worked with many people who have improved their a1c. Uh, one client in particular who improved, not only hers but her husband's a1c improved as well because he was eating the food that she was making after implementing some changes from our work together. So that's really cool to see that positive trickle effect when people learn how their bodies work. Um, easy steps with nutrition, with lifestyle, it's really quite amazing. And then on the free front, I had a TikTok comment where someone said that you've helped me more than doctors in the last eight years. So it's all about those small, effective food and lifestyle tweaks, and that's what we wanna share with y'all.
Adina:yeah, I've been in the fitness industry for like a decade at this point and over a decade at this point, and it's amazing to see how much I can help a person by just empowering them in their own health, in their own strength, and just teaching them that they are not fragile and that they are not, they don't need to rely on this system.
Diane:That they don't have to be weak after 30, like
Adina:Yeah, but it's just like, I don't know so many of the interventions that are just commonly prescribed in the conventional medical system make people feel so weak. And when we're talking about pain, that has such a large impact, that mental outcome, and I've talked about this too in the context of autoimmunity, like one of the biggest shifts that I've seen with a lot of my clients who have struggled with autoimmunity in the past, who have struggled with Hashimotos in the past, like their whole lives, they have just felt so weak and so fragile. And that shift of introducing strength training, teaching them and showing them that they are strong inside of their own bodies has such a lasting impact on how you view. Your entire self in the medical system, and I think it's so important that we provide this opportunity for people to view themselves as strong, as capable, as empowered, and not just subject to a system that benefits off you being weak in pain, sick, all that. You know what I mean?
Diane:Right. Yeah. It's so, it's one of my favorite things to see someone. come back and say like, oh my gosh, I can't believe where I am now. When things were so different 12 weeks ago or a year ago. I've seen so many of my clients have their periods return after the missing for months to some of them even years, or getting pregnant naturally without an, an intervention that they were told that they would have to have medically. Like it's just, oh, it gives me chills and that's why I keep doing what I do. But anyway, we could be going on on that for hours. We just love our clients and we want for you to feel a taste of that, to feel like you are in charge of your health because you have more agency than you've been led to believe. And I know it can feel intimidating when you go into a doctor's office and they talk at you like they know everything about your body and your health. And if something feels amiss, like listen to that. And we want to arm you with some things that can help those appointments feel more successful, more empowering. Um, so. That in mind.
Adina:Wait, I actually wanted to say this. It's funny because, not funny. Ha ha. You know it's funny,
Diane:weird.
Adina:it's funny because Prior to that strength and empowerment that our clients gained from working with us, many of our clients have had the experience of being in a doctor's office and feeling so vulnerable, like feeling like. not knowing what to say or what to do, feeling so gaslit, like all of that kind of stuff. Bullied. But I think there's almost in some ways, a worse interaction that comes up once our clients have been empowered, once they have gained knowledge about their own body,
Diane:A worse for
Adina:right, like then they get into these like standoffs with their doctor where they like, I, I don't know about you, but for me it's like I avoid doctor's office at most costs. And sometimes when I, when I have to go I'm like,,I just feel so angry the whole time. And like my claws are out, you know,
Diane:Yeah. Yeah, I know exactly what you mean. And I I guess this is a good time to share where I fired my new primary care provider this past fall. y'all. I, I think I teased it on my Instagram story, but get
Adina:the notes??Can we get the
Diane:Oh, yes, yes. Okay. Th those were hilarious. Like at first it felt traumatizing. Cause I have had some bad, really bad experiences with doctors that were unprofessional. Um, you know, prior to this one, like so many of our listeners have shared too. And so I did go into this appointment, admitted Italy, feeling activated, and also on day like 29. 30 of my cycle. So who Lu Lucy was, she was there, she was ready to f she was revved up. And I also,I also went in with my custom unhinged LL Bean boat and tote. And it's like this script font, I think it was facing at least towards the table because otherwise they would've been like, oh, uhoh we're in for something. And they were so, okay. So to, to set the scene for you. I hadn't been to a primary care provider in five years. Five years because I thought, what are they gonna do for me? And I also, I also I'm resistant to going because I won't take health advice from someone who doesn't walk their talk. Like, I'm not going to a dentist with shitty teeth. Why would I
Adina:take health advice from anyone without muscles
Diane:Or Why so why would I go to a primary care doctor who like doesn't also value like strength training and other things. Right. Okay. So I go in and in walks Kelly, we'll call her Kelly cuz that was her name and.
Adina:and.
Diane:She had with her.I haven't yet left a scathing Google Review. And, um, anyway, she come, maybe tonight's the night, she's probably like, oh man, yeah, I probably ruined her day. Anyway, she came in with this resident and I ca I had prepared Spark notes update because it had been a while. I said, here's how things have been going. This is what's going well. Here are a couple of my concerns. I wanted to, um, explore some testing cause I hadn't had blood work in a long time. Now I can order labs, functional labs, uh, but I figured, all right, I pay more than$500 a month for this health insurance that I really don't use. It's a just in case thing. Okay. So let's just see if I can get something covered. Right. So I go in and like many primary care providers, she would, she really didn't wanna run anything thyroid related. She said only sh she would only run ts h. annoying. Now, several of you in our, our question box also share this experience.
Adina:Wait for those that are hearing this for the first time, do you wanna just briefly explain why that's not enough information?
Diane:yeah, we can, I mean this, oh, this episode is going to spiral, but basically thyroid stimulating hor hormone, ts h it's actually a pituitary hormone. And so a lot of doc conventional doctors, they will screen that with wide ranges to see if maybe they need to do deeper digging about your thyroid function. But in a functional space, there are a lot more markers that we look at, and we can explain that more when we go through the questions. But I, um, went in there wanting to look at my thyroid because I was experiencing some symptoms despite, like a lot of things dialed in with my food and lifestyle, little basal body temperature, my stress has been higher. Um, yeah, so. wanted to explore that, right? And she was resistant. She said, no, I'm not gonna run those. We'll run those if they are off, if TSH is off of, out of range. And I said, well, I don't wanna come here twice, I'll just pay for it. It's my blood. Why does it matter? I said, it was my blood. Why does it matter? And that made it into the notes that I saw after the appointment, which we'll get into in a second. Okay. So I had brought with me, this was probably my mistake. I brought in my hair and tissue mineral analysis, my H T M A results, uh, that I run my, for myself and for my one-on-one clients. And she looked at it and laughed and I said, why was that funny? Just like that. I go, what was funny? She said, I don't, she like threw her hand up and said, I, I don't know what this means. Like why are you running this, uh, And so that is not something that a conventional medicine doctor is going to be able to recognize or run. I shouldn't have brought that in, but, Anyway, she then tried to explain to me what t ts H is, and she at this point knows now what I do. And I said, just because you don't know how to read that test doesn't mean that it's invalid And then she went on to SI several times and I said, I don't appreciate you being condescending. And she said, I'm not. She said, well, do you want to run this marker? And she was going to, I guess run a couple of piddly markers. And I said, I don't, I think this is just a waste of time. I'm offering you some dots here because, I dunno, maybe I would've responded a bit more abundantly if I was in a different part of my cycle. But I was just so pissed that I wasted my time getting here early in the morning. Right? So all, all the meanwhile, this resident's just in the corner staring at the floor. So I said, I don't appreciate the condescension. And she said, well, do you wanna continue this appointment? And I said, I don't see why we would. This is four minutes in folks. So she signed again and I remember she held the door open for me, like waiting for me to leave. Like what am I gonna do? Like take some pamphlets about birth control, birth control out of your like exam room. And it was just a ridiculous experience. I'm sure I was not my best. Uh, some things I would've got, I wouldn't have brought the h t maam. I'm sure I wasn't my best, but I'm also not sorry because she laughed at it and then she was trying to explain to me how t s h works. And I'm like, I already know. I already know, but I don't wanna waste my time. And I said, it's my blood. Why does it matter a few times? And then I got the notes and it said something, I'll, I'll put it, I can put it in the show notes. cuz I don't care. It said patient became upset and repeated, it's my blood. Why does it matter? So I had to ask for it and. Then I got a bill for$150 because it wasn't, they didn't count it as a primary care visit, which would've been included. And so I emailed the finance or the billing department, and I said, I don't understand how this abysmal bedside manner and horrible appointment qualifies for$150. So I spent three minutes with this physician and we decided there was a breakdown in communication and they, they waived it. So I said, I'd rather use these funds towards a provider that better suits my knees. Oh, unhinged, unhinged. But I mean, here's the thing too. I've had experiences with good doctors or those who, it's not their, it's not their paradigm, but they are open. And I'm sure she did not like being challenged in front of a resident
Adina:Yep.
Diane:But, um, It was, it was an experience. I have had some who are open to things. I had, uh, she was a, a great pcp. She ended up moving on, so I had been assigned to someone else and she valued strength training. And I would come in and she'd say, looks like you're doing, it works for you. That's great. We're just checking to rule out anything, um, of concern, which was, which was, fair. Uh, but then I got paired with this delight of a doctor the last day of my
Adina:sounds like a really good fit. sounds like it was a really good fit.
Diane:Yeah. So anyway, what's your, what's your, uh, doctor firing story? Do you have one?
Adina:I have a few. Um, So again, I avoid doctors at most cost. Like I really, I check in with my health in the ways that we know how, and I keep. You know, like I've, I've had three pregnancies in the last five years, so,
Diane:You'd say, you know what to expect, kind of, sorry. No.
Adina:um, I shared a little bit about my midwife team that I worked with for Rye's birth, and so they were a really good fit for me. But there were definitely things, some things that we disagreed about. And because I was, I knew that I was gonna be working with them once I got here. I wasn't going to see a doctor prior to moving, and I was like meeting with them over Zoom, whatever, and they had asked me to get the 20 week anatomy scan, which I was not planning on getting. But then, you know, we had a conversation and we ended up compromising on that scan. So I had to, I was still in the US at the time, so I had to go into my OB that I had worked with previously for my other two births. and it was like an OB team and there was one doctor on the team that I really hated. I had had, I shared about this on the podcast, but I had a really bad experience with him when I had an early miscarriage before Minnie was born,
Diane:Oh yeah.
Adina:and he was just the worst like terrible bedside, really uncomfortable exam. Like just I, I,
Diane:What you really don't want when you are dealing with miscarriage and ugh.
Adina:Oh my God. It was so bad. It was the worst experience, but I was like, okay, I never have to see this guy again. Then I made this appointment for this 20 week scan, not to mention I was 22 weeks at the time, and they gave me hell on the phone for trying to schedule a 20 week anatomy scan on 22 weeks. Like their heads were spinning when something goes outta their protocol, like their heads just spin and they don't know what to
Diane:like this dog. She was like,
Adina:Yeah, it's like 0, 0 1 1. Yeah.
Diane:I'm not used to being challenged in this way.
Adina:Anyways, they let me schedule the exam. They told me it was gonna be the doctor. I like get there to find out. The doctor I like is on vacation, and it was this dumb, dumb, stupid that I really hate. By the way, if you guys don't know what that's from It's a Parks and Rec. Yeah, it's a, it's a parks and rec reference that Diana and I love. Um, yeah, so Jeremy Jam says that DDS doesn't stand for dumb, dumb, stupid which sometimes it kind of does. But, um, anyway, so I had to see this, this doctor that I hate and I'm 22 weeks pregnant and I haven't been to a doctor yet. The entire visit was him shaming me for having not come to a doctor yet. Like, you're 22 weeks pregnant and you have not been to a doctor, are
Diane:Well, you should have gotten your time machine and then
Adina:yeah. He just kept looking at it and being like, oh. So you, you haven't been to a doctor yet? and I kept being like, he's like, wait, so you didn't do this intervention or that intervention
Diane:stutter? You know, I haven't
Adina:Because I haven't you haven't been to a doctor yet. And it was just terrible. It was so terrible. Most of it I have just like put somewhere in my brain that I probably can't find. But I asked him to run some labs for me. Same kind of situation where I was like, I'm here. Am I as well? Find out what I wanna know about my blood?
Diane:right? Same.
Adina:And once again, his head was They did not wanna run any of the labs I wanted to see again. He told me, well, your TSH has always been normal, so why would you wanna see things like t4, t3, reverse e, t3, you know, all the stuff we wanna see.
Diane:Mm-hmm.
Adina:I had to get my claws out. There were fighting words. I cannot remember exactly what I said because it was
Diane:Did you like black
Adina:idea.
Diane:I'm surprised that I
Adina:you. I could probably search our text and find what I said, but
Diane:yeah, you did text
Adina:I definitely said it was my blood. I also said it was my blood, but it worked in my case. Um,
Diane:and that and you're, we are so right. But now I think after that appointment, I think that I am aware of like the limitations of what a lot of doctors can do. There are some, some out there who will advocate for you and, and will try to look outside of what they know and are open to things. Their learn it alls not know it alls. Um, they can set their ego aside. Um, and also too, I was having this conversation with a client who, a one-on-one client who told me she was really feeling anxious about going to a doctor's appointment and she just was real stressed about it. So we did a tapping session and then I told her like, maybe this is something that you can do before you go into the office. That's definitely something that in retrospect, I could have done. Just knowing that I have that like white coat, anxiety and anger apparently, like just really try to cool my nervous system down before going into that appointment. Um, if I do go to one in the future, I'll also look into maybe who, who I'm seeing. I just kind of got paired with them, but preparing myself before going in or just realizing the limitations of what some of these conventional docs will do.
Adina:Yeah, no, I'm with you. I, I, definitely, like, I think part of what helped me in that moment was that I knew I was never gonna see this man again. Like I knew I was moving to Israel
Diane:and so you
Adina:gonna Yeah. Um, but oh my God, I totally forgot the funniest part when I was in that ultrasound and ore's back was to the front of my uterus so they couldn't see what they wanted to see. And so I go into the doctor's room and he's like, um, we couldn't find the heart. That doesn't mean your baby doesn't have a heart And I was just cracking up cuz I'm like, what a ridiculous thing to say. But if I didn't like yeah. If I wasn't the person, I was like, could you, I just kept thinking about all the women who sit in there and like, that makes them spiral, you know?
Diane:That's like, the worst thing that he could have
Adina:Yeah. It, it doesn't mean your baby doesn't have a heart. I'm like, well, I fucking know that because I heard it beating. Like, what are you saying? You know, they're just like so crazy. Um,
Diane:The suspense that we don't need
Adina:And then I refused some interventions that he wanted me to get and he told me that my baby, me and my baby could both die if I refuse these interventions.
Diane:Wow.
Adina:just, just really kind comforting stuff.
Diane:Oh my gosh. Those are That's our story. Let us know if it resonates. Um, and hopefully we didn't just stress you the fuck up by telling them again,
Adina:No, but I will say, okay, once I, like calmly said, I know you don't think it's important to run these markers, but I am the patient and it is my blood and these are the things that I want to know about my body as I'm growing another human.
Diane:Mm-hmm.
Adina:Finally once I like was able to clearly say that um, we sat down and he like went through his little computer and tried to put in the markers I wanted, yeah. Some of them he like could not find like they, you know, some of these offices can't run the things that we would wanna see. And I was limited because I was in New Jersey and so I couldn't just use something like request a test or, you know. But my advice, and we can get into this in some of the questions too, my advice to you, if your doctor's really giving you a lot of pushback and you have the means to pay out of pocket for things like that, just if you live outside of New Jersey, just yeah, just go through something like request a test or work with a nutritional therapy practitioner like Diane or myself or plenty of our other friends who are amazing and run these labs. Like just get the markers you wanna see from a person who respects you and your requests and wants to help you get that information about your body.
Diane:yeah. Yes, yes, yes. Again, like we'll come back to that too, and I think that it would be helpful to know what you absolutely won't accept. So, on a similar note, the month prior, again, how did I happen to schedule this in my late LAL phase? I. Had a new GYN because I needed to go in hip again like five years. So I go in and it was, it was like a six out of 10 experience like
Adina:That's amazing.
Diane:Y yeah. Right. I thought, I thought you'd say that. So first,
Adina:I think.
Diane:yeah, Kelly was like the ultimate boss. I like, I'm thinking of video game analogy of horrible bedside manner doctors, and I fought back, but the GYN I was paired with, she didn't know what I do and went on a rant, a rave about hormonal birth control And she said literally, this is what she said. Well, periods are just supposed to suck, like we're women and periods are supposed to be difficult and we just deal with them and hormonal birth control is the only effective way of balancing that. And I just didn't feel like fighting. I was like, yeah, well I really. Again, do not want to do that. I knew that was a hard no for me. I'm not kidding. Back on that bullshit. After 10 years, and it was a six out of 10 because she said, if you go and can't get the markers you want ran at your general, I will run them. Come back in here, I will run them for you. And after that appointment I was like, nah, nah, I'll just, I'll run them myself.
Adina:Yeah, I don't wanna ever have to talk to you again, but I do want those markers,
Diane:Yeah. Never wanna see you again. But you know, thanks. But no thanks. So let's get into some common scenarios that we've heard from clients and maybe you're wondering how to respond to these two. This one is far and away one that I, that we hear so often.
Adina:Yeah.
Diane:so you go to your doctor's appointment maybe
Adina:we've ever worked with has shared an
Diane:pretty much everyone, myself included in the past. Okay. So it is, maybe they, they ran some lab tests for you and you're like, oh cool, I'm finally gonna get some answers. And they say, your labs look normal.,good news. Right? And yet you still feel like trash. Hmm.
Adina:you know, um, the meme. We should post that. Have we posted that one? The one where it's like the the wake and it's like the person's lying in the coffin and the doctor comes over to them and says, your labs look normal
Diane:Yeah, I have seen that. I know I've collected some good ones somewhere.
Adina:That one gets me real good.
Diane:Yeah. Um, so yeah, let us know if this resonates. Have you had your labs? Some kind of labs run and they tell you that they're normal and then send you on your way, like they're normal. Goodbye. And you're like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Wait. That's it.
Adina:Yeah, that one's so incredibly frustrating because, I mean, you've heard us talk about this before, but the labs that they're looking at, oftentimes the ranges or the markers themselves are just not giving us all the information that we need about your body
Diane:They're very wide ranges and we're going for
Adina:exactly. Like we don't just care if they're in range. We care if they're optimal. Not to mention that those ranges often make no sense, but they can tell you something's in range. But if you still feel like gut Abu, like progesterone is a classic example of this, or testosterone, honestly, like peop women, a lot of women don't realize how important testosterone is too.
Diane:Mm-hmm. It's not just for mom.
Adina:yeah, like many of our clients who have like extremely low libido, really low energy, low mood, but like their progesterone is in range it's like how much of this stuff we really making, because we need way more than you are led to believe, you know? Um, you know, things like thyroid, same kind of thing. Like you can be in range for t s h, but like we just mentioned, that's like so not the whole picture. And so,
Diane:so
Adina:yeah. And we both have the capacity to run many labs for our clients. And we've said it before, we'll say it again. We don't always turn to that because the most important thing in the world is that you feel good. So we are always going to care way more about user experience and about like
Diane:and pre client presentation, like that's, that's where we need to start, not just looking at paper and telling someone they're good. So, We wanna give you some practical, tippy, some phrases that you can use in that appointment. So first of all, it is frustrating. We wanna honor that and validate that it's frustrating when they tell you that you feel off. So let's say they say that to you, right? Here's some things you can say, I'm hearing that they are normal according to these ranges, but my presentation is X, y, Z. Like tell them, oh, this is what's concerning me. I know my body and this is not normal for me. How can we explore this further? So ending with the question like that, how can we explore this further so that it's not just a yes no, like a definitive answer, like they have to engage with you. Um, also, this one's a bit spicier. as we were making this outline, I thought let's give them like a, a mild, spicy and red hot, depending on how bad they wanna fight that day, I guess. So a bit more spicy. That's great and I wish that was reflective of my experience, but I still feel like trash. what can we do about that? Um, but if you can provide succinct summary of symptoms and the timeline, maybe you already did this too in the course of that appointment, but another example I could say you are suspecting that there's something going on with your thyroid. That's a common, um, scenario. We hear from people. So maybe it's, I've been experiencing low body temperatures, constipation, thin hair, cold hands and feet. I understand those are common signs of hypothyroidism. How can we rule that out?
Adina:Yes. And
Diane:there.
Adina:say something very important here. Doctors, most doctors that I have encountered, that many of our clients have encountered, they will feel very challenged and like they will be ready to fight. If you mention that you learned something from TikTok or Instagram or a podcast
Diane:in TikTok that. these are signs of metal hypo,
Adina:Don't lead with that. Yeah. If you wanna tell them that you've done your research, maybe head over to PubMed or find some books written by other doctors. like. Don't lead with. Yes, we are amazing. But don't be like I heard on the Get Your Shit Together podcast that you're a dumb, dumb,
Diane:yeah. If you listen to episode 80, how to Fight with Your Dumb Doctor Yeah, don't do that. But, um, I think too, if you're, this is a book that a business coach recommended to me, but it has been very helpful in personal relationships and with fighting with doctors. not in the scenario I shared with you in this episode, but, um, yeah, well that, that, that was, I'm sharing because it was funny to me now but also, um, I love a dramatic firing story anyway. Yeah. So non-violent communication. I can't remember the author, the author's name offhand, but great book. So things like, I understand that asking questions, so I understand that these are common signs of hypothyroidism. How can we rule that out? What can we do about this instead of coming in their swinging? And maybe they'll be more receptive to that if they are a decent doc, you know? And if they are rude, maybe borrow my line depending on how you feel that way. Or at least say something like, I don't appreciate you belittling me or Okay. This one is probably more professional and reasonable. Reasonable. And that is, I'm noticing that there's a breakdown in communication, which is the professional way of saying, you're a rude fucking bitch. I'm noticing there's a breakdown in communication here.
Adina:Oh man. I'm noticing,
Diane:of, first of all, I'm noticing that you're being a fucking bitch.
Adina:I'm noticing that you suck at your job.
Diane:I imagine that you're just an idiot. Like that's where you can make non-violent communication principles violent again. And that's our, that's our mini training on that. Uh, so yeah, be careful on telling them that you learned something in ig. A podcast less is more. So if you have to like hype yourself up, do a tapping session, look yourself up in the mirror and be like, I, I can get through this appointment. Practice some of it before you go in. It might sound silly, but it really can make you feel emotionally more prepared for that appointment.
Adina:Yeah. Maybe we'll, uh, we'll open our dms up for that. Also, like, if you wanna shoot us a DM before a scary doctor's appointment, we'll be your
Diane:I'll hype you up or put me on speaker and I'll fight with em. for a fee, um, a small, a small fee. Um, also too, someone in my dms was saying that her doctor was concerned about her high blood pressure at her doctor's appointment. And she said, listen, I know that it's, I check it at home. I know that it's usually in range. Um, and she was resistant to the intervention that they were suggesting to her and white coat anxiety or his doctor's appointment anxiety in general is a thing. So, uh, she shared that what she and her doctor agreed on was that she was going to take her blood pressure at home, um, for a few days or something and then bring it back, uh, to show that Yeah, I mean I'm, this, this appointment is kind of revving me up a little bit or maybe you don't have a bunch of coffee before an appointment, cuz I can also amp you up perhaps in a way that you don't want.
Adina:Yeah. There's a lot. That's the crazy thing too, right? Like how much of our body is impacted by the environment and the experience, which we talk about all the time. But those kind of things are really cool to see. Like blood sugar being impacted by stress. Like if you go into a doctor for that stupid Glu Cola test when you're pregnant, like consider all the other things that are impacting your blood sugar or like,
Diane:Or when you went to go give birth and you things were progressing and then you like clenched your butt hole in your front
Adina:Yep. And it all just shut down from that hospital.
Diane:front hole, it's a medical
Adina:yeah. the front pocket. Um, I had a family member who had an experience of like, she was getting her oxygen measured and this was like covid times and the office made her wear a mask and her oxygen was like super low. And she was like, can we try that again without the mask on? And like, the marker was completely different. So like, you just have to be, yeah. Weird. You just have to consider the environment that these tests are being run in as well. So that's like, just, you know, advocate for yourself if you think things don't add up.
Diane:Yeah. And if you know where you're at in your cycle, like, I don't know what w why I, I schedule these far out like several months out and didn't consult my cycle tracking app. But if you are more in tune with your natural cycle, perhaps schedule that earlier in your follicular phase or when you're in your ovulation station and you might be feeling nicer and just emotionally equipped. Yeah, I mean, initially my, my cycle's pretty, pretty even keeled. But, um, yeah, Lu yo Lucy was not playing. Now how to fire your doctor, let's say that you've tried all the things, but it's just really, y'all are really not aligning. So I mean, you could go my route of this is a huge waste of my time, um, and I wanna leave like I did, or you could say something like this. I'm noticing that we are in disagreement about, X, X, Y, Z, whatever that is. I think it would be best if we end this appointment now so I can find a provider who better suits my needs. Boom.
Adina:they're gonna be mad, but they'll let you walk out the door.
Diane:They might not, I mean, I think that's a really fair and profe fair and profesh,
Adina:Mm-hmm. No, that
Diane:try it out. Let's not, yeah, yeah. Some see like, I can write this down on paper, but we're human. But yeah, something like that. So something to that effect. That's I'm, you know, this is not, we're not agreeing here. I would like to end this and find someone that would better suit my needs. I think that is totally prop.
Adina:and that's fine. Like not, every doctor is right for every patient.
Diane:Yeah. It's like dating and someone in my dms was saying like, I wish that we could have a screening or like a clarity call, which is something that a lot of people do. I've done that before for premium, like one-on-one coaching. Like it's a long, it's kind of like a longer term package and I want everybody to feel good about that relationship and it is so personal. So it would be cool if that was done in the conventional medicine space. I know for some concierge medicine environments, they might do something like that or something more integrative. Maybe they do like a free call. Um, word of mouth is, seems to be the best way to find a provider in the traditional space. So ask your friends if you have that kind of relationship. Like who do you go to, um, and what was your experience like?
Adina:Yeah.
Diane:start.
Adina:Maybe we should put up a post after this episode and open the comments section for people to share if they have a great doctor. and tell us where they live so that if any of our Listen. Yeah, like if no, not where the doctor lives. I mean like
Diane:so I can show up at their house and demand the care that I
Adina:No, I mean like, let us know if in your city there's a really cool doctor who makes you feel seen and heard, and maybe some of our other shitheads can find a great doctor that way.
Diane:Yeah. A few local girlies were in my dms recommending the same practice, which I might explore for, um, GYN stuff. Check, check things out under the hood as they say. Uh, so that brings us to
Adina:Did you see that meme about, Uh, vets?
Diane:No. was someone trying to get spayed? Because I remember I asked my dogs vet once when I was like, And they're like, can we, can I get get spayed too? And he's like, you don't, you don't want that.
Adina:I don't know I don't know if I sent this to you. It was like, I love how the vet knocks on the door to Are they trying to see if my dog is wearing their pants? Like
Diane:do do that. Oh my God, I never, hello
Adina:Are you decent?
Diane:Oh my gosh. That's amazing. So what if conventional medicine just isn't working for you? How do you build your care team? What, what's a gal to do? So maybe, maybe your friends can point you in the right direction. I know that I've, um, had a lot of amazing clients refer friends and family to me too, and for that I am so grateful. Um, but first I think we need to spend a minute talking about mindset around this. If, when exploring functional medicine and options outside the traditional model, like. Might feel so foreign and intimidating at first. Um, remember that your health is your wealth and no matter what your budget is, like, where can you prioritize that health in that? Um, for me, per I can ju I'll just share from personal experience. Like if it came down to, I don't know, say regular hair color or target trips, target spirals, I'm gonna go with something like, it's like physical therapy instead. If that was something that I needed out of pocket or seeing a, a trainer to work on something to help me get out of pain or see a functional medicine doctor, order those labs. Because I know that I can't give my clients my business, my family, my best if I feel like trash. Like especially if you're someone who's dealt with chronic illness or symptoms for a long amount of time. You know, like it's so hard to do all the things when you just do not feel well, so it
Adina:that meme, but I think it's so important to revisit all the time. Like
Diane:Oh, yes.
Adina:if you do not invest in your health, you will pay for your sickness later. Like it's so important to, again, like Diane said, reimagine your budget. There's certainly things that we spend on that we don't need to prioritize if we are really looking to prioritize our health. And unfortunately, because of the way the system is set up, many of the great practitioners, no matter what area of health, you know, like nutritional therapy, strength training, physical therapy, like many of the great practitioners no longer accept insurance because it doesn't allow them to practice and to care for their patients in the way that they really want to.
Diane:I know someone here locally who used to be in the conventional medicine space and she had enough and left and went the functional medicine route for sure. But I think it's also worth noting too that people who have a health spending account, a flexible saving account, they may be able to use. Those accounts towards things like lab testing, towards supplements. I get a question a lot from people, uh, considering root cause reset my, um, my course and my program. Like can I use it on that or on one-on-one with you? And I say, you'll have to check with your provider because insurance coverage varies. But I have had women ask me for a receipt for their program and they're able to submit that for, I think it qualified as nutrition coaching, or they were able to pay for supplements or some lab testing if we're one-on-one. So that's definitely worth checking
Adina:Yeah, I've had clients be able to use HSA for like lab supplements. Like you said. I once had a client whose company gave them like flex spending for health and they were actually able to use that for, for strength training with me, which was awesome. But like
Diane:Yeah.
Adina:again, if you want to really care for people and listen and provide long-term care, oftentimes you do need to be outside of the insurance system. Like whenever people in the dms or it's usually the comments section. Let's be real, when people in the comments section come for us about pricing services and things like that. I think we all need to be honest about our budgets, you know, because when you're sitting on your iPhone 10 and you're, what are we up to now? Is 10 an old one
Diane:is it 14? I don't even know which. I got the new one. It's. But I don't even know something Pro Max, the latest.
Adina:And you're being a keyboard warrior about what people can spend on their health. Like are we spending all of our money on alcohol on the weekends and then complaining that we feel like all the time and we don't know what to do about her health?
Diane:Yeah. some co, I mean, in some places one cocktail is like 20 bucks
Adina:Yeah. Can we
Diane:you don't have just.
Adina:to really taking care of ourselves instead of just like, because yes, it sucks that the system is set up this way, but are we just gonna like mope around and bitch and moan about our horrible doctor experiences and how they keep telling us our labs look normal and like we're not getting any better. We still feel like garbage. Or are we gonna do something about it and find someone who's gonna listen to us and who's gonna really help us map out a protocol and a plan to get us back to feeling like ourselves?
Diane:Mm-hmm. Yeah, completely. I mean, I just, if I don't have my health, I cannot show up in my business and I ju that's expensive to me, that's restrictive to me to feel like I'm laid out or otherwise unwell. So like money will come and go for me, but, I can't like regain that time and if I'm spending a lot of time exhausted or when I had the buies in my tum leaves, like that was keeping me from enjoying travel. Like, I mean, I'm thinking of the recent trip to visit you. There were so many things that I enjoyed that time around that years ago, I would be afraid to eat or what I would've avoided or I would've been worried about where's the closest bathroom in case like something happens. And like that Robs robbed me of so much joy that I remember when I was in the thick of it, I was like, I'll do anything to not feel like this anymore. Like if I could just paint something and then being on the other side of it thinking like, I wish I did this sooner or other, so many things just didn't, little things didn't matter. Like, yeah, fuck all the, the Starbucks runs or the target sprees. Like I would
Adina:the weekly manicures. When I mentioned that I used to get weekly manicures, Diane was like, what? I don't think I've ever seen you with manicured nails.
Diane:maybe once, like early
Adina:Yeah. I literally like, if my nail chipped, it was like okay, we gotta go back and get this fixed for years. like that's how I was raised. My mom gets manicures every week and it was just like that's how I was raised. And now I'm
Diane:I do love good nail art,
Adina:it's so fun. But now I'm just like, that money I could be spending on responsibly raised meat, you know?
Diane:let's be real. I want it all. I want responsibly raised meat, and I want nice nails. Um, I do like, I can admire and respect like long nails, but I can't. I could just never, anytime mine get too long, I'm immediately gotta chop'em off. Cause I, I have so many questions. When people have the real long ones, I'm like, first of all, how do you wipe your butt? How do you get a mens, how do you get a menstrual cup out? Like so many questions.
Adina:many questions. Did you see that? The Shark Tank car seat thing? I feel like you probably didn't.
Diane:No
Adina:Okay. There's this woman that invented this like special thing for unbuckling car seats, and she thought it was like she was making this invention for people with arthritis. It was like, if grandparents are watching their kids, and she didn't realize how popular it would be in the long nail community.
Diane:Yeah, that makes sense. gotta have some special dons and tools and that kind of stuff. Whew, man. The clock was flying as we, we said it would before we pushed record here. So we have a. long and growing list of listener questions that we're going to bump into a part two because we wanna give each of them the time and attention that they all deserve. So make sure that you cue that up. So some stuff to noodle on while you wait for the next episode, if you haven't already share with us, you are funny, you're unhinged, your, uh, best stories about firing doctors. If you have any stories that you want to share with us, if this episode hit home for you, let us know in our dms, and if you found it helpful, we would love for you to leave us a little review
Adina:we just, I know it can be frustrating out there. We want you to know that we are in your corner. We have been there too. we love you so very much. We want you to feel empowered inside of your body and to feel like no one can bully you about your body, your blood. No one can push you around. It's your blood. Those are your labs, okay?
Diane:it's your blood and it does matter. And let me know if I need to yell at someone for you.
Adina:yes. Most importantly, it's your blood
Diane:We love you.
Adina:See you. next week.
Diane:Bye.