In today’s episode I'm thrilled to be joined by Crystal Felice, a former Pharmacist who's now a functional practitioner. Today, we're delving into a crucial topic: birth control. So many of us are introduced to the pill at a young age as a solution to our hormonal issues, and we aren’t told what it is actually doing to our bodies. We both feel very passionate that we should be educated about the medication we use daily.
In this episode, you’ll hear:
-Birth control isn't a hormone replacement—it's designed to prevent pregnancy by halting your regular cycle, and your period while on the pill is a pill-induced bleed, not a natural cycle.
-The difference between bioidentical hormones versus synthetic hormones, and how that affects your body.
-The side effects, like depleting your body of nutrients, and this can lead to other issues, such as depression and anxiety, often resulting in the need for additional medications.
-How birth control is often prescribed to address problems like acne or period pain, but it's more of a quick fix than a long-term solution; when you stop taking it, those issues tend to come right back.
-Ways to support your body when you are on and getting off birth control, and how quitting cold turkey is not the best way to go about it; you need to focus on supporting your detox pathways, nurturing your gut, and replenishing your nutrients.
-Women deserve to understand the effects of birth control before starting it, and informed consent is essential for the medications we take.
-It's important to include your partner in decisions about birth control; whether you're stopping or continuing, keep them informed about what's happening in your body.
Education about birth control is key for women to feel confident discussing their symptoms with their doctors and advocating for themselves. Remember, there's no one-size-fits-all solution when it comes to your health. It's all about informed consent!
Resources:
Ep. 9: Holistic Healing vs. Western Medicine
Connect w/ Crystal:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/functionalhealthpharmd/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/phunctional.health/
Website: https://www.phunctional-health.com/
Subscribe to The Endo Belly Girl Podcast:
Apple | Spotify
Connect w/ Alyssa:
Work w/ Alyssa:
Learn more about Alyssa
Disclaimer: This podcast is for educational purposes only. This may not be the best fit for you and your personal situation. It shall not be construed as medical advice. The information and education provided here is not intended or implied to supplement or replace professional medical treatment, advice, and/or diagnosis. Always check with your own physician or medical professional before trying or implementing any information read here.
In today’s episode I'm thrilled to be joined by Crystal Felice, a former Pharmacist who's now a functional practitioner. Today, we're delving into a crucial topic: birth control. So many of us are introduced to the pill at a young age as a solution to our hormonal issues, and we aren’t told what it is actually doing to our bodies. We both feel very passionate that we should be educated about the medication we use daily.
In this episode, you’ll hear:
-Birth control isn't a hormone replacement—it's designed to prevent pregnancy by halting your regular cycle, and your period while on the pill is a pill-induced bleed, not a natural cycle.
-The difference between bioidentical hormones versus synthetic hormones, and how that affects your body.
-The side effects, like depleting your body of nutrients, and this can lead to other issues, such as depression and anxiety, often resulting in the need for additional medications.
-How birth control is often prescribed to address problems like acne or period pain, but it's more of a quick fix than a long-term solution; when you stop taking it, those issues tend to come right back.
-Ways to support your body when you are on and getting off birth control, and how quitting cold turkey is not the best way to go about it; you need to focus on supporting your detox pathways, nurturing your gut, and replenishing your nutrients.
-Women deserve to understand the effects of birth control before starting it, and informed consent is essential for the medications we take.
-It's important to include your partner in decisions about birth control; whether you're stopping or continuing, keep them informed about what's happening in your body.
Education about birth control is key for women to feel confident discussing their symptoms with their doctors and advocating for themselves. Remember, there's no one-size-fits-all solution when it comes to your health. It's all about informed consent!
Resources:
Ep. 9: Holistic Healing vs. Western Medicine
Connect w/ Crystal:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/functionalhealthpharmd/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/phunctional.health/
Website: https://www.phunctional-health.com/
Subscribe to The Endo Belly Girl Podcast:
Apple | Spotify
Connect w/ Alyssa:
Work w/ Alyssa:
Learn more about Alyssa
Disclaimer: This podcast is for educational purposes only. This may not be the best fit for you and your personal situation. It shall not be construed as medical advice. The information and education provided here is not intended or implied to supplement or replace professional medical treatment, advice, and/or diagnosis. Always check with your own physician or medical professional before trying or implementing any information read here.
Alyssa Chavez [00:00:01]:
Hello and welcome back to the Endo Belly Girl podcast. We are going to be talking about a topic today that I'm super passionate about. I've been wanting to do an episode on this topic for a while, and I kind of plan on just doing a solo episode because I have a lot to say about it. Just myself. I've done a lot of research and reading and learning along the way about this topic. But then I bumped into a colleague of mine, crystal, and absolutely loved the information that she was sharing on this topic.
Alyssa Chavez [00:00:34]:
I could tell we were very much.
Alyssa Chavez [00:00:35]:
On the same page and had some similar thoughts and ideas that we feel is very important to share with people. And so I decided to bring her on as a guest so that we can have a little conversation to share with all of you, which I think is just so much more powerful because two heads are always better than one. So today I have for you Crystal Felice, who is a licensed pharmacist and an AFMC certified functional medicine practitioner who specializes in perimenopause and gut health. And she's had a lot of struggles herself with hormones, gut health, anxiety, acne, chronic fatigue, and has really learned that working through all of that naturally was life changing for her and even caused her to pivot her career from being a pharmacist into this functional medicine practice that she has now. And she now has her own program called Revive and Thrive, which helps women to get to the root causes of their symptoms so that they can actually feel energized, focused, and empowered to thrive again and feel comfortable in their own body, which is fantastic. So if you know anybody who's in that perimenopausal phase and maybe struggling with gut health, I absolutely recommend reaching out to crystal. She's phenomenal. We are here, though, today to talk all about birth control.
Alyssa Chavez [00:02:02]:
And I know this is a hot topic, particularly in the world of endometriosis, because it is a very common tool that doctors use. And I know that people have a lot of opinions on birth control now. I am certainly not here. Neither is crystal to tell anybody whether to take birth control or not. Really, what this conversation is about is going into any decision that you make for your body with informed consent, meaning you have all of the facts and knowledge at your disposal before you jump into something like putting a medication in your body. And then if it ends up being something that you weigh the benefits and the cons and you decide that that's something that's best for you and your body and your unique situation. Awesome. More power to you, absolutely not a speck of judgment.
Alyssa Chavez [00:03:01]:
And if you hear all of this information and think to yourself, wow, that's really not something that is worth all of the side effects and nutrient deficiencies and things that we're going to talk about today.
Alyssa Chavez [00:03:13]:
Great.
Alyssa Chavez [00:03:14]:
Then you've made a decision based on the full knowledge of what's out there. Because I think a lot of what we're going to talk about today is just things that should be common knowledge but aren't, especially given that birth control is probably one of the most prescribed medications out there. And I know I was on birth control for about seven years myself and just realized after coming off of it how little I really knew about the impacts that it had on my body. So we're going to dive into all of that today. I hope that you all get something out of this that you at least walk out of this conversation knowing a little bit more so that you can feel empowered to take your health into your own hands, because that's what I am here to help you do. Enjoy.
Alyssa Chavez [00:04:03]:
All right. Hello, Crystal. Welcome to the show. I can't tell you how excited I am to have you on here today and have the conversation we're about to have so much to dive into. So thank you so much for being here.
Crystal Felice [00:04:17]:
Yes, thank you so much for having me. This is going to be awesome. I'm excited.
Alyssa Chavez [00:04:21]:
Yeah, I'm excited that we get to connect as. So I know Crystal and I are colleagues and have connected in many ways along the way, kind of gotten to know each other through some groups that we're in and social media and whatnot. But this is the first time we get to really dive in and have a conversation like this. And I know you have so much to share.
Crystal Felice [00:04:43]:
So much.
Alyssa Chavez [00:04:44]:
So it's going to be great.
Crystal Felice [00:04:46]:
Yes.
Alyssa Chavez [00:04:47]:
All right, well, I would love if you can start off just by letting us get to know you a little bit. Can you tell us a little bit about who you are, where you came from, a little bit of your story and journey that led you to where you are today?
Crystal Felice [00:05:01]:
Sure. So definitely been a journey. That was a great word for it. So born and raised in New York, I have a completely different degree in fashion buying and merchandising. So I have really pivoted my career several times. So wanted to go and be a, you know, seven years of that training. I became a pharmacist and really got to understand how, a, how burnt out I was getting really fast. It was really taking a toll on my own health, and then, b, I wasn't able to really help people one on one as much as I really wanted.
Crystal Felice [00:05:33]:
There was just no time to really speak with people, tell them about these side effects, these nutrient deficiencies that are happening from their medications. And then people would be like, oh, I've been on this for decades. I know everything about it. I'm moving on my own personal health journey with hormones and gut health. I had hired a functional medicine practitioner. I saw the power in being able to heal things naturally. Within six weeks of dedication, I was feeling light years better, and I was like, whoa, more women need this help. They need to know that this is a possibility, that you're not crazy, that you don't need a medication for every symptom.
Crystal Felice [00:06:11]:
And I went back to school and got certified in functional medicine and just started practicing in kind of less pharmacy.
Alyssa Chavez [00:06:19]:
Nice. Now, I know that one thing that you are very passionate about, that we ended up really connecting on, and what we're going to be talking about, really today is education. I know you're talking about just medications in general and how they can cause side effects and depletions and things like that. But I know in particular that you are passionate, very passionate about birth control. So why is that something that is so important to you?
Crystal Felice [00:06:47]:
Yeah. So that's something that I was personally on for 20 years. So that was really what spawned a lot of my side effects. And I wasn't putting two and two together, that it was the birth control. So I started seeing some information on Instagram about side effects, and I was, okay, no stuff that I didn't learn as a pharmacist and actually quite embarrassed that I was like, I didn't even know any of these things. So I started reading books. My favorites were the period repair manual from Laura Brighton and beyond the pill from Jolene Brighton. So those really opened my eyes to what's going on.
Crystal Felice [00:07:25]:
Know, I didn't need to be on the antidepressant and the anxiety med and the pain med, and I wasn't crazy, and that these were real symptoms that were happening from this. You know, I had started seeing so many young girls getting put on the pill earlier just from their symptoms as a pharmacist. And I was trying to kind of tell them to be aware, educate yourself, because you don't want to be on it for 20 years like me, and not know how to support your body through it. So that's when I became super passionate, realizing that all of these symptoms can really cause some issues down the line.
Alyssa Chavez [00:08:01]:
Yeah, love it. And especially this is really? Why I'm so excited to have you on here today, because I feel like you can really kind of give us some perspective from both sides. Right? Because as a former pharmacist and now a functional medicine practitioner, I feel like you really have a unique perspective that other people might not be as aware of. You can kind of see it from all the angles. So I was wondering if you can start off by talking a little bit about what actually is in birth control, because I think most people I know, I wasn't aware of that for the years that I was on birth control, how it actually works, and even if you can dig in a little bit to the difference between synthetic and our real natural hormones. Okay.
Crystal Felice [00:08:51]:
So, yeah, I would turn around, there'd be so many different brands of birth control, and it was kind of hard to keep track of them all. But when it comes down to it, they typically will either be progestin only or have some sort of combination in there. So there will be some form of estrogen and progesterone, and then some of them are progestin only. So with these birth controls, it's important to know that it isn't helping your hormones. It's not hormone replacement by any means. It is entirely stopping your cycle. And when your period arrives, it's a pill induced bleed. So these are making sure that you're not ovulating, that there's changes in the cervical mucus so that it inhibits sperm penetration.
Crystal Felice [00:09:33]:
So it's really just doing its job to make sure you don't get pregnant. So I'm speaking more with these side effects to oral birth control versus an IUD or implant. So I will be forward about that. But all of these are going to have synthetic hormones in them. So these are not to be used as hormone replacement therapy. I've seen some women post menopause on combo birth control, and that is not what they should be on. This is specifically just to prevent pregnancy. So for the estrogen, you'll typically see something like ethanol estradiol, and that's going to be a synthetic form versus estradiol, which our body makes.
Crystal Felice [00:10:14]:
And for progesterone, you may see more like norethendrone or a levonogestril. Those are going to be progestins. And my problem with that is that progesterone is amazing. Natural progesterone has great effects on calming for sleep, helps lower our blood pressure, helps lower our cholesterol. We have great hair, same with estrogen. It helps keep our skin just plump and everything going great. But these progestins can actually have an opposite effect. They can cause headaches.
Crystal Felice [00:10:48]:
They can cause the bloating, the breast tenderness, insomnia, depression, irritability. And these things that they just list as side effects of a birth control pill really is coming because of these synthetic hormones. So when you see more things labeled as bioidentical, it's going to be more just estradiol or progesterone, and it's going to coincide with the same form that our body makes sure. They may be made synthetically as a capsule, but progesterone is the form that our body makes, so it's more bioidentical.
Alyssa Chavez [00:11:24]:
Yeah. And I'm so glad you're talking about that, because I know I was on birth control for years. I spent about seven years on birth control myself, which is relatively short in the grand scheme of things, because I know so many people like you who are on it for 20 years or more somewhere in that vicinity. But even that is a decent length of time. And through all of that time, nobody ever told me that I was taking synthetic hormones, which I think is nuts. And I think, even more importantly, the fact that it actually stops you from having a natural menstrual cycle. And while that may sound great on the surface, like, yay, I don't have to have a real period anymore, especially if you're having a lot of symptoms like is common with endometriosis, in particular, having the really painful periods and all the symptoms that come along with that sounds great, but you're also shutting down one of your body's natural systems. That is very important to our health.
Alyssa Chavez [00:12:26]:
And if you're experiencing symptoms like period pain, what's really important is figuring out why. Right. What's actually going on in your body.
Crystal Felice [00:12:35]:
Rather than they're even considering it. Like, not another vital sign. So it's so important to understand what's going on. When. When I first learned about, oh, my body's ovulating, this is cool. I was shocked. The first time that, you know, you're ovulating is just wild. And I'm like, this is rad.
Crystal Felice [00:12:53]:
You can follow your cycle now and know, okay, these symptoms are happening because, okay, estrogen is higher at this point in my cycle, and you can put two and two together. So it's so important to track and understand and be more in tune with your body.
Alyssa Chavez [00:13:07]:
Yeah, I totally agree. I've learned so much about my body coming off birth control and obviously digging into the world of health and all the things in general. But your body tells you so much about what's going on, it's very intuitive when we just learn to listen.
Crystal Felice [00:13:25]:
Exactly. So true.
Alyssa Chavez [00:13:27]:
Now, one of the things that I know you talk about a lot and has huge impacts on so many people is just the side effects and the nutrient depletions that can come along with birth control. I know you've mentioned a couple of things already, but can you kind of take a little dive and unpack that a little bit and talk to us about what that really entails, what some of those common side effects and nutrient depletions can look like?
Crystal Felice [00:13:54]:
Yeah. So a lot of those side effects are the synthetic hormones. But then other people don't realize that it's also doing a big job with depleting our nutrients in our body. So it takes a lot for our body to actually help prevent the pregnancy, to help these hormones along. Our body is still metabolizing things. It's still going through the liver, it's still breaking down in our body. And with that, all of these processes require nutrients to help get through them. So a lot of times, especially B six is a big one.
Crystal Felice [00:14:28]:
And a lot of our B vitamins are depleted with birth control. And we can see a lot of anxiety and depression, which is what I personally was going through. So you often see women down the line look for an antidepressant, look for an anxiety med to help them along, not putting two and two together. Another one that I had was heart palpitations and an irregular heartbeat. I did not put two and two together. That was from any sort of thing with my birth control. And sure enough, magnesium and coq ten. Coq ten is a great antioxidant for us.
Crystal Felice [00:15:00]:
And magnesium is needed for every single process in the body. And it was being depleted. So then you have things like zinc. Zinc is great for our immune system, it's great for our skin. So you can see weak nails, you can see acne, insomnia, thyroid issues. You can even see the beginnings of insulin resistance. When you're depleted in zinc, magnesium, you can also get some muscle cramps, fatigue, restless leg constipation. So I'd often see women come in and be put on sleep meds just to help sleep, not putting two and two together, because with this process, it does take a toll on the gut.
Crystal Felice [00:15:40]:
And we make most of our serotonin in our gut, so it needs a lot of B vitamins, and that's being depleted from the birth control. We don't have it to make that serotonin. And then we make melatonin from our serotonin. So it's just a downstream effect that. Okay, now I'm getting depressed. Okay. Now I can't sleep. And lo and behold, it's a medication that's causing these depletions.
Alyssa Chavez [00:16:07]:
Yeah, there's so many. Right? I love all those different little connections you're making. And this is where I think that the nutrition side of things, we think of nutrients as being like, oh, I don't know, it's great to have the protein in your brain. I think a lot of us have kind of this. I know this was me before I got into this whole world that I'm in now. We have a vague sense of understanding that we need nutrients, but when you hear it that way of kind of that domino effect. Right. If you're missing this one nutrient, then your body can't do this.
Alyssa Chavez [00:16:47]:
And if your body can't do this, then you can't do that, and you can't produce the hormones that we need and the processes that our body goes through each and every day. And so you realize the widespread effects that it has, because, gosh, it's so interesting things like heart palpitations. I would have never thought to relate that to the birth control pill. That just seems like such a crazy connection to make you think it's related to your stress or exactly. Something wrong with your heart or something weird like that, when it can just be related to the nutrients that are being depleted. It's so interesting.
Crystal Felice [00:17:27]:
Yeah. It's so wild.
Alyssa Chavez [00:17:29]:
It is. Well, thank you for sharing all of that. Now, of course, at the end of the day, we're not here to tell anybody whether you should or shouldn't be on birth control, right? That's a decision that should be made by each individual, along with you and your doctor. But I know there is a certain percentage of the population, and I know this is something that I hear a lot from clients that I work with and just people I have conversations with who maybe want to come off birth control but have been afraid to. I know I've talked to people before who have maybe come off birth control in the past and had a really horrible experience with it. Maybe their symptoms just flared up and they couldn't handle that influx of crazy symptoms happening in their body from going off birth control. But I know, and you can certainly speak even a lot more to this, that there's a lot that we can do to help to support our bodies, both before you stop taking birth control cold turkey. Right? And even along the way, after you stop taking birth control to help to support your body in that process, to help to avoid feeling worse.
Crystal Felice [00:18:40]:
Yeah, absolutely.
Alyssa Chavez [00:18:42]:
Share a little bit about that.
Crystal Felice [00:18:44]:
Yeah. It's so important to know that when you're put on birth control, if it's for something that's besides preventing pregnancy, it's really just a band aid. Our bodies are so smart, and they will remember why you were put on that pill. So for me, I was put on it in middle school because I had acne. And sure enough, I come off of it, I'm feeling great. Three months later, I have cystic acne over the bottom portion and my chin and my jawline. And I was like, what is happening? This cannot happen in my 30s. So I came off of it cold turkey, because I was just like, I'm done with this.
Crystal Felice [00:19:23]:
But I do not recommend people coming off of it cold turkey. Our bodies need that support, especially because many women are coming off of birth control because they want to get pregnant. So they need to realize that the body needs at least three months of solid support before trying. You need to get these nutrient levels back up. So I think it's really important to educate yourself. First and foremost, don't put yourself down for being put on the pill. That's something that I did. I was like, I can't believe I did this to myself for all those years.
Crystal Felice [00:19:56]:
But you know what? It got me through, what I needed to get through. It got me through school without being pregnant. So getting that education and it empowers you, too. So that education is going to allow you to go to your doctor, give them what you've learned, and say, I want to start coming off of this pill so that you can work on supporting your body. So what's going to be really important is supporting the detox pathways. So that's going to be things like sweating. Really good, making sure you're working out, exercising, sauna, get that sweat out, make sure you're pooping. Well, people don't realize that if they're pooping once a week, they think, that's great.
Crystal Felice [00:20:34]:
No, we need to at least be pooping once a day. This is how you're going to get rid of excess hormones. We need to take care of our gut. So for me personally, it had led to leaky gut, and then that caused a whole bunch of downstream issues. I had the beginnings of fatty liver, and I was like, how I take care of myself. I don't drink. Are you kidding me? So, learned about nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. So I had all these issues and our body definitely needs that support.
Crystal Felice [00:21:03]:
So we want to support our natural antioxidant, which is called glutathione. So this guy is amazing. It's going to help everything. And it's reliant on selenium and zinc, which unfortunately is depleted from the pill. So I always love to start with food as medicine. So you can have some avocados, asparagus, spinach, broccoli. Sprouts are amazing for hormones. Turmeric is great and then you want to have some magnesium rich foods.
Crystal Felice [00:21:32]:
So green leafy veggies, cruciferous veggies, also great for thyroid, bananas, sweet potatoes. Just getting those healthy fats in there too, like avocado and salmon. If you do want to support magnesium, even more. Magnesium glycinate is a great form to just get all body help with zinc rich foods like pumpkin seeds, beef cashews, chickpeas, chicken, spinach, all of these are going to really support the body just getting some of these whole foods in there. Magnesium is always a great supplement, but people also need to realize that if this did take a toll on the gut, you can have issues with absorption of supplements. So while supplements are great, they are a supplement, and I've heard you say that too. So it is just to supplement your life and your diet and your lifestyle. So sometimes going more with a powder form.
Crystal Felice [00:22:25]:
So I have a magnesium glycinate powder form I'll use that can help with getting the absorption in. If you do suspect that there's some gut issues going on and you might not be absorbing the vitamins that you're taking when people are put on birth control for the first time, I will recommend like a good quality multivitamin, at least to help, and then mention that it's so important to be supporting the body with natural whole foods. And then I love to support the liver with castor oil packs. That's really what helped me once I came off of the pill in helping to kind of help my liver with detox pathways and processes and kind of getting all the gunk out and making sure that it can further process things. Because if it's already getting bogged down, putting more supplements and stuff in there is not going to help things because it's going to take more of a toll on the liver. So I love doing the casserole packs or some milk thistle, dandelion root. Herb teas are another great way to just naturally support the liver.
Alyssa Chavez [00:23:29]:
Nice. Yeah. And personally, I find it very empowering to know that there is so much that we can do to support our bodies in replenishing. There's the word I'm looking for. Replenishing those nutrients that may have been depleted, supporting the detoxification pathways. Just knowing that there's things that we can do to avoid those symptoms. Coming back with a vengeance, which I know that was my experience too. Right? Going on birth control, feeling like, oh, yeah, breezing through for those years and then coming off and going, what is happening in my body that's so common? And I think really plays into the fear that a lot of people have in coming off of birth control, which I completely understand.
Alyssa Chavez [00:24:18]:
Right. And I think, especially with endometriosis, this is where it's not my place to tell anyone to come off birth control anyway. But even if it were, it wouldn't be my go to thing to tell everybody, you need to come off birth control because there's a lot that factors into that decision. Right. First of all, is your body able to support not being off birth control? That may take some time to be able to even support that naturally, looking at the pros and cons of everything, absolutely. What your symptoms are looking like when you're not on it compared to when you are. I mean, there's so many things to factor in. But for me, and I know that this is something that's really important for you as well, is just going into it with that informed consent.
Alyssa Chavez [00:25:13]:
And that's something that I'm very passionate about as well, because that's, in my opinion, a large part of the issue with birth control is that so many of us are just given birth control, telling us that it's going to solve all of our problems.
Crystal Felice [00:25:27]:
Yes, seriously.
Alyssa Chavez [00:25:29]:
Not really knowing or understanding what that medication is doing. Not understanding that there are synthetic hormones involved, that our natural cycles are being shut down completely, that our bodies are being depleted from these essential nutrients that we need. I mean, there's so many things that we're just not told when we're in the doctor's office. So thank you for sharing all of that.
Crystal Felice [00:25:51]:
Yeah. And as a pharmacist, we were trained also, you can get extra training to prescribe birth control. So I was like, yeah, I want to do this for women. And then I learned more and more, and I was like, oh, I don't really feel comfortable doing this now because you're not allowed to tell people diet and nutrition things as a pharmacist, which is just ridiculous, but that's besides the point. But I was just like, a lot of girls were going on it because they were in pain. And I was just like, oh, that's really. I'm all for people getting some rapid relief, but I also think that education needs to be there in what this is doing to your body in the meantime.
Alyssa Chavez [00:26:30]:
Yeah, I totally agree. Now, we've talked about a lot of things today, from just what birth control actually is to all the side effects and nutrient depletions and how to support your body in coming off of birth control. Is there anything else that you feel like we missed that is just really important for people to know to go into these decisions, feeling well informed about how this works in your body or just anything that you feel like you want to share on that topic?
Crystal Felice [00:27:02]:
Yeah, definitely want to reiterate that I'm not against birth control at all. It did help me greatly, and I know it helps many women out there, but the education part is just really what I want to get out there, just so they know what's going on, what's happening to their body. And as you spoke on the episode with your husband, just involving your partner is so important, too, because they may not know that you are going through all of these things and you may feel crazy, they may think you're crazy and just hormonal when it could just be these nutrient deficiencies. So I had doctors just telling me, oh, you're on the pill. Your hormones are fine. It can't be your hormones. You're on the pill. So everything is fine.
Crystal Felice [00:27:46]:
Here's some ibuprofen. You must just be really stressed out. So women are just often very dismissed with these things. And that's why this education really needs to get out there. And just educating yourself is so important. So I love that you're putting this podcast out there, getting this information out so that people can feel empowered to talk to their doctor and say, hey, no, I read these studies, I read this book. I know that this can deplete all of these nutrients. And I feel like this is happening to me.
Crystal Felice [00:28:17]:
I want to get off of it. I want to learn when I'm ovulating and start tracking what's going on in my body and learn about my own body's hormones, which I think is so powerful, just knowing what's going on in your body, just to be able to tell your partner, hey, my period is coming. Things might get a little crazy in the next week, just letting you know. And then it was really funny because my period had ended, and the next day I was like, I feel so great. And my boyfriend's like, oh, what happened was different. And I was like, my period is over.
Alyssa Chavez [00:28:52]:
It's done.
Crystal Felice [00:28:54]:
So it's just letting them know what's going on. Maybe you're a little moody and just be like, I just don't feel right. And I'm educating myself on the birth control pill, and this might be something I want to come off of and get them on board, too. Let them know. Educate them as well. A lot of people think partners don't need to be involved, especially if it's man, and they don't need to be involved. They don't want to know any of this stuff, and that's not true. They care about us, so they're with you for a reason.
Crystal Felice [00:29:22]:
They care about you. They love you. They want to know what you're going through as well. So it's just really important to get them on board and get that education for both of you.
Alyssa Chavez [00:29:33]:
Yeah, I totally agree with that. And it's so funny because I remember my husband and I have been together a long time now. We've been in a relationship for about 14, going on 15 years. That's amazing. I don't feel old enough to have been in a relationship that long. But anyway, I remember early on in our relationship, he was talking about, because he'd been in some longer term relationships before, but none of them had any major things going on with their cycles, like, was starting to. And anyway, I remember him talking about when he was younger because he grew up mostly with brothers. He has five brothers and one sister with a single mom.
Alyssa Chavez [00:30:21]:
So it was just his sister and his mom were the only women in the household. And he goes, yeah. He goes, I never knew when anyone was on their period. They didn't talk about it, like, just culturally, family was something that was ever discussed or talked about. So even though he grew up with women in his household, he knew next to nothing about menstrual cycles or birth control or any of that. And now he knows probably way more than he ever wanted to. But honestly, at least what he tells me is that he likes, I don't know, feeling included in the conversation, feeling like he's understanding at least a little better what's going on in my body. Of course, he's never had a uterus before.
Alyssa Chavez [00:31:06]:
He can't really understand what this feels like because you and I know that the hormonal fluctuations that men go through are vastly different from the crazy hormonal fluctuations that women go through. I mean, their testosterone changes throughout the course of the day, and that's about it.
Crystal Felice [00:31:25]:
They can wake up the next day and be totally fine, right?
Alyssa Chavez [00:31:27]:
Totally. Whereas, like you said, we have hormonal fluctuations all throughout the month. I've seen somewhere out there, I saw a meme that it was like Cinderella in all. All sad looking. And it was like me on my period. And then it had the Cinderella transforming into the ball gown, and it was me the day after my period. I think so many of us can relate to that.
Crystal Felice [00:31:56]:
Birds are chirping, right?
Alyssa Chavez [00:31:58]:
Exactly. And it totally feels that way.
Crystal Felice [00:32:00]:
Right when you're coming out of that.
Alyssa Chavez [00:32:01]:
It'S like, oh, the birds are singing again. The sun is out. It's a total transformation that happens in our bodies. It's so fascinating. But I really was loving what you were saying about learning about our own bodies and being intuitive because I think culturally, we're almost taught to kind of squash that down. And I know some of that can come from doctors visits where maybe we're dismissed, there's some gaslighting going on. And I think a lot of it comes just from cultural norms too. Right? The whole, like, oh, you shouldn't have to miss work or school because of your period, when actually, it's very common that that happens.
Alyssa Chavez [00:32:44]:
I remember feeling a lot of kind of shame and guilt around that. Previously. Previously. Sometimes I still do if things like that come up, because it's just so the way it's talked about in our society is like, well, kind of just suck it up, buttercup, and get on with your life. But the more that we're able to really tune in and understand our bodies, and like you said, just how to understand when your body's ovulating and what that feels like and how your body's changing during that time and when you're leading into the days coming up onto your period and during your period, I mean, there's so many things that go on in our bodies. And the more that we can have understanding of that, I think the more that we can have compassion for ourselves can be a huge thing. We can help those around us to be able to understand and have some compassion or empathy to what we're going through. And just that can make a huge difference in the quality of our lives.
Alyssa Chavez [00:33:44]:
It's so much more than just walking into a doctor's office, walking out with a prescription of some kind or another and not really understanding the ins and outs of what's happening in our bodies.
Crystal Felice [00:33:55]:
Yeah. And many women, they confide in their gynecologist, thinking, this is somebody who helps women all the time. They should know everything about hormones. And honestly, unfortunately, not all of these doctors are trained really well in hormones and in knowing the differences and how if you're in perimenopause, your progesterone is starting to decline, your estrogen is going wonky. They might not know these things. And for me, I had three day migraines consistently before my period every month. And they were like, oh, you're okay. Here's just some ibuprofen.
Crystal Felice [00:34:28]:
I'm like, no, something's wrong. I shouldn't have debilitating migraines for three days, and then it stops, and I feel fine after. So it's really important to also be aware of your symptoms. I was on the pill and getting those, so be aware that something's wrong, something's not right, and I want to get this checked out. And just being your own advocate is what I tried to help teach everybody, because doctors are not out there, unfortunately, to be your best friend and help you figure out what's going on. Many of them are so bogged down, they're trying to see as many patients as they can and help as many people, but they just don't have the time, unfortunately. So I'm thankful to see practitioners like us coming out there and supporting people, giving them that time, giving them that hour long consult that they need or whatever is needed, just to have them speak about their symptoms and let them know that there is help. You're not crazy.
Crystal Felice [00:35:28]:
And that we're here to help in conjunction with your doctor, of course. But they don't have the time or some of the education that we've been able to kind of put in when it comes to hormones.
Alyssa Chavez [00:35:40]:
Yeah, agreed. It's just a different way of working, a different way of thinking. Right. And I'm a big advocate for everything has its time in its place. There are definitely aspects of western medicine that I can't offer, don't want to offer. Like when it comes to endometriosis, for example, your surgery.
Crystal Felice [00:36:02]:
Yeah, very common.
Alyssa Chavez [00:36:03]:
I would never want to attempt that, honestly, even if I had the training, the many years of training that goes into that. Just not something that interests me at all, going into a room with surgery. And so there's a lot that you can take from both worlds. It's just a matter of figuring out where your body needs support, what type of support you need, how to find the best balance between the two. I actually even did an episode on that a while back. Maybe I can link to that in the show notes definitely on just finding the balance between western medicine and finding a holistic approach, because I definitely think that the two can be blended. It's not a one or the other type of decision, honestly, I think these days, certainly not in every case, but I found that a lot of doctors these days are very open to their patients also getting some sort of holistic support or another. I've been seeing more and more of fertility doctors, for example, working with acupuncturists and Obgyns, working with nutritionists.
Alyssa Chavez [00:37:10]:
There's been a lot of more crossover happening, which I think is really cool because.
Crystal Felice [00:37:14]:
Awesome.
Alyssa Chavez [00:37:15]:
Everybody has something to offer. I really believe that most doctors, I'm sure there are exceptions to everything, but I think that most doctors went into their field because they wanted to help people. It's just that the way that they're trained and the amount of patients that they're seeing, it creates some limitations along the way. And I think that's where the holistic support can come in as well, like you said, because you and I, we do, we sit down with clients for like, my initial consults are 90 minutes, follow ups are 30 minutes to an hour. We're spending a lot of time with people and spending time in between doing research and building out protocols and all the things that that's entailed. But we have the luxury of having the time to be able to do that.
Crystal Felice [00:38:06]:
Yes.
Alyssa Chavez [00:38:06]:
Anyway. Absolutely. Yeah. Just a lot of considerations to be had. But yes, definitely, I hope that everybody was able to get some wonderful little nuggets. At the very least, being able to have more information at hand when you're considering whether or not birth control is the right option for you to either start or continue or go back to in the future or wherever you are along your journey. I hope that this episode is helpful for you in making the best decisions possible for your own body and having all of the information at hand to help you with that decision. That's really what I want people to get out of this episode, more than.
Crystal Felice [00:38:49]:
Absolutely.
Alyssa Chavez [00:38:50]:
All right, Crystal, is there anything else that you wanted to add?
Crystal Felice [00:38:55]:
We. I think we touched upon a. I think. I think we got it. I think we got it. I just really wanted to get that education out there, especially since there's a lot more information now with people are seeing bioidentical hormones and they're like, what is bioidentical? I'm already on the pill, so getting that information out there is really going to help people kind of decipher what's going on and learning as they go forward that they need to switch to maybe some bioidentical hormone replacement and not be on the pill. For their hormonal needs.
Alyssa Chavez [00:39:29]:
Yeah, agreed. All right, well, I'm sure that after hearing this episode, people are going to want to learn more about you, connect with you, find you in some fashion or another. So can you tell us where we can do that? Where we can find you?
Crystal Felice [00:39:45]:
Yeah. So I am on Instagram. I post a lot on there, so I'm functional health, and I spell functional phunctional to just lump in the pharmacy there. And my website's linked on there. They can book a consult, call. My consults are free, and we can just chat about what's going on and how I can help you and if you're a good fit for my program. And I'm also on Facebook and TikTok, but just not too often. But I'm always open to DMs for questions and consults if they want to sign on with me.
Crystal Felice [00:40:20]:
Perfect.
Alyssa Chavez [00:40:21]:
Well, I will be sure to link to all of that in the show notes. So if you're like me and you're always multitasking while you listen to podcasts, don't worry about trying to find a scrap of paper to scribble that down. You can find that in the show notes and go and connect with Crystal.
Crystal Felice [00:40:35]:
Awesome.
Alyssa Chavez [00:40:36]:
All right, well, thank you so much for being here and joining me today. I absolutely love this conversation and everything about it. I've been wanting to do an episode like this for quite some time, and it just was, like, serendipitous that we ended up connecting on this and being able to get this out to the world. So thank you so much.
Crystal Felice [00:40:53]:
Oh, thank you so much for having me. This was awesome.
Alyssa Chavez [00:40:56]:
All right, well, everybody have a wonderful day, and we'll talk soon. Bye.