How To Get Real Answers When Doctors Dismiss Women’s Symptoms - Guest Danielle Kepics

“Your labs are normal” shouldn’t be the end of the story, especially when you’re exhausted, foggy, moody, dealing with gut issues, losing hair, or watching your libido disappear. We sit down with Danielle Kepics, a board-certified physician assistant who left conventional medicine after watching too many women get minimized, and she gives us a clear, no-fluff playbook for getting answers when your body is waving a red flag.

We get specific about what to ask a clinician, which labs can actually move the needle, and why a single number rarely tells the whole truth. Danielle breaks down full thyroid testing (beyond TSH), early metabolic markers like fasting insulin, and why vitamin D is often overlooked. We also unpack perimenopause as a 10 to 15 year neuroendocrine transition, how to time hormone testing across the cycle, and what to do if you’ve had an ablation or don’t bleed but still need to understand your hormonal patterns.

From there, we talk hormone replacement therapy in a way that’s grounded and practical: symptoms, safety, preferences, and foundations like protein, sleep, and strength training. We don’t dodge the real-life stuff either, including low libido, vaginal dryness, and why “just deal with it” is unacceptable. If you’re tired of being told to wait until things get worse, this conversation will hand you better questions, better language, and a stronger sense of what you deserve. Subscribe, share this with a friend who needs it, and leave a review so more women can find their way to real support.

Find Danielle here:

www.empoweredmindbody.co

https://www.instagram.com/danielle.kepics/?hl=en

https://www.instagram.com/empowered.mind.body/?hl=en

https://www.instagram.com/unconventional.collaborative/?hl=en

Metabolic Health Audit! Discover your metabolic type: https://quiz.tryinteract.com/#/preview/6971446cdf848c61724bd9e6 

Did you know She Ignites has a playlist filled with all the Hype songs of our guests?  Find it here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2NZUkiMFR6BvXfA7dzVakh?si=qM0cmFU8SXO-lSEYX1Js3Q

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Post-production editing by SoulFlow Studios -  https://soulflowstudios.com/

Transcript

Welcome To She Ignites

SPEAKER_02 0:04

Welcome to She Ignites, the podcast where we burn the rule book, ditch the shoulds, and light up the lives we were meant to lead. I'm your host, Carrie Lowe, candlemaker, confidence dealer, and your favorite fire starter. Around here, we speak boldly, dream wildly, and show up messy and magical. If you're done playing small and ready to own your own spark, you're in the right damn place. Now let's get lit.

When “Normal” Still Feels Wrong

SPEAKER_02 0:46

Welcome back to She Ignites, where we don't whisper about the things that are hurting women, we talk about them. Today's episode, it's bold, because we're talking about something so many women have experienced. Being told everything is normal while feeling anything but normal. Exhausted, foggy, hormones all over the place, gut issues, mood swings, low energy, no libido, and somehow being told, well, your labs look just fine. What if the system designed to help you isn't built to fully see you? Today I'm joined by Danielle Kepicks, a conventionally trained physician assistant who saw women being dismissed and minimized inside the system. And instead of staying quiet, she built her own path. This conversation is honest, empowering, and maybe a little disruptive, but in the best fucking way. Welcome, Danielle, to the She Ignites podcast.

Meet Danielle Kepics And Her Work

SPEAKER_02 1:53

I am so excited to have you with me this evening and sharing about you to my Firestarter. So I would love for you to share a little bit about yourself, whatever you would like to talk about in the very beginning before we get started.

SPEAKER_01 2:08

Yeah, so I'll give a little bit of an intro because I know we're going to talk about health stuff. So I'll kind of give some credentials and information so people know that I'm not just someone who like healed my own health. And so therefore I should help other people to do that. So I'm excited to be here. I'm always excited to podcast and reach and connect with new people. But my name's Danielle Keppix. I've been a board certified physician assistant for 12 and a half years now, which I don't know how that's possible, to be honest. Before I was a board certified PA, I was a mental health therapist. Before that, I was a certified personal trainer. And I also have some advanced certifications in nutrition coaching as a functional diagnostic nutrition practitioner and also as a certified fertility educator. Most of these certifications, I say this so that people understand, they were not weekend certifications. They were like six to 12 month-long things. So it wasn't like, oh, just another foo foo piddle diddle thing that I that I did over a weekend, right? I think that's just like important to know. So that's about me. Um from a professional standpoint, personally, I am a total gym rat. I've been lifting weights for 30 years. I'm 42 years old at this point in time. People are like, okay, like the math needs to math here. Um and so I've been lifting weights for a really long time. Um I live in southern Utah with my boyfriend and my two dogs. I love the outdoors. I love being in my hammock and I love romantic uh novels. So um yeah, that's a little bit just about like the the quick the quick bullet points about who I am, what I do. And I left conventional medicine, I think three and a half years ago now to start my own business. So Empowered Mind and Body and Empowered Medicine, um, I offer basically services as to where um when women get told that this is normal, there's nothing wrong with you. I've had women who come to me and tell me that perimenopause is a fad, you're too young for hormone replacement therapy, whilst our other gender counterparts walk into their doctor and complain about a limp dick, and they walk out with TRT and Viagra in five seconds with no problems because God forbid the appendage doesn't work. But women are over here going through a 10 to 15 year neuroendocrine transition, suffering, begging for hormones, and they're told poo-poo, no, no, just wait. So that's that's a little bit about I I'm like, is this a rated G podcast? Because it is not. Okay, it is not.

SPEAKER_02 4:35

You're freaky about anything, you use whatever language you want to use. It's all good here. Great. I love that.

Quick Detour Into Favorite Reads

SPEAKER_02 4:44

So uh first back to your loves. What are you reading right now?

SPEAKER_01 4:50

I am currently reading um the novella of the Octasian Chronicle series. So Lies of Lena, The Sins of Silas, and so now I'm on, I'm almost, I have like 20% left of the memories of Merrick. And prior to that, I read The Will of the Many, which I really, really loved. Um, what else? I'm trying to think what else I've read recently. Unpopular Opinion Alchemized, overrated. I was so bored for 1100 pages, and I can't believe I stuck that out. Um yeah, another Poison Daughter was another really good one that I that hasn't been recent, but it was so underrated. So underrated. Go read that book. It was so good. Okay, I am writing it down right now. If you guys want, you can follow me on Fable and see everything that I read. So perfect, perfect.

SPEAKER_02 5:36

Yeah.

What It Means To Ignite

SPEAKER_02 5:37

Okay, so the first thing I'm gonna ask you is what does she ignites mean to you?

SPEAKER_01 5:43

Oh, I feel like this might not be, I and you probably don't have a direction that you want this to go, but for me as an Aries, it's like all like I am just very, I'm a huge fucking fireball. Um, I'm an like an Aries, and then I'm like a Taurus rising and a Taurus something else. I'm like all fire and bullhead. And so I am full steam ahead for the things that I believe in and the things that I want to fight for. And so for me, it just makes me think about like the fire that has been lit under my ass about all the things that I've wanted to do in my life.

SPEAKER_02 6:13

Yes, I love that. I love that. And that is exactly what we talk about at She Ignites, and you know, I started this because I'm midlife, I'm 52, I was uh um, you know, entering empty nest, my kids are all have moved out, gone to school, have their careers, have families, and I was left like, who am I? And so I had lost the fire within because my identity was wrapped up in them and an old business model that I used to follow. And so I have conversations, you know, nonstop with women about this piece of life, moving into the second chapter. And when um, you know, our paths crossed and I saw what you were um an expert in, I got so excited because I have lived that um pain point for the past 10 years, probably. Yeah. And so I'm just gonna like jump right in and just ask the question about um, you know, what I guess.

Getting Doctors To Actually Listen

SPEAKER_02 7:21

So when you are a woman and you know that something feels wrong and your physicians are not listening to you, first of all, is there a certain type of physician that we should seek? And second, how do we get these people to truly listen to us and know that we know something's wrong?

SPEAKER_01 7:41

Yeah, so people are not gonna like my answer for this, but stop using your insurance. Um, if you find someone with insurance who listens, I'm not saying that these doctors are evil and they have ill intent. However, there is no possible human way that someone can spend like the amount of time that I spend on each of each client case before I even see them for a first appointment. It is more time in a cash-based model than your physician has probably spent thinking about you in 10 years. And again, I'm not here to shit on physicians. I'm not here to shit on Western medicine, although I can shit on it and I can shit on functional medicine just as well. And I'm trained in both, right? And so I just I would like to kind of veer this in more of a direction of what can I say to my physician to see if they respond in the right way? Because I feel like, you know, you can call around and say, like, like, what are you gonna say? Like, do your doctors really care about people that they see? Like, what like what the fuck is the front desk gonna say to that? Well, of course they care. They're doctors, they're they're in a helping profession. Meanwhile, you know, I mean, maybe you can ask them, like, do you have someone there who is um proactive in perimenopause care who is believes in proactive optimization of hormone replacement therapy in in midlife and not none of this bullshit of you have to wait 12 months without a period and other things. So there are some questions that you can ask like that. I'm sticking mainly to the perimenopause and midlife conversation here. Um, so those would be some helpful questions. However, if you are in front of your doctor and you are asking for a certain set of labs, like let's say you're asking for a fasting insulin and a vitamin D and a full thyroid panel, which I believe and I have seen in practice make a difference in how I care for people, right? So fasting insulin, so this is tells us how well your pancreas is responding when you eat food and how much insulin you have to respond, how loud we have to fucking bang on that door to get somebody to answer, right? We want a slight knock, we don't want to fucking bang, right? Um, we don't want like like somebody's deaf inside. And so we know that that marker, if it's above a certain level, which is 10, really above six, but definitely above 10, which the conventional markers go up to 25. Um we know that there are problems with glucose disruption. And that is a signal that we are seeing 10 to 15 years before a fasting glucose or a hemoglobin A1C, which is an average of your glucose measurement over the past three to four months, um, will show us. So we know that it's worthwhile. 94% of Americans are deficient in vitamin D, right? Vitamin, adequate vitamin, optimal vitamin D levels, I should say, uh have been linked with reduction in breast and colon cancer, amongst other things like fibroids and mental health and a boatload of other shit, right? So um full fibroid panels, you know, a lot of physicians check a TSH. That's that's a marker that comes from your pituitary. Like what's the thyroid doing? What's the T3 doing? T3 is your most active form of your thyroid hormone. Most doctors are not checking, right? So, like let's say we let's say as a patient, you go and you add, you're like, you know what, I've read about full thyroid panels and I'd like to have these tested. Um, and a vitamin D level and a fasting insulin, I'm getting into midlife and I understand these metabolic markers can change really rapidly. And your doctor says, there's no point in testing those. First of all, my instinct is to tell someone to run literally as fast as you can, because if you are working with someone with that mentality, you are working with someone who wants to wait for you to have fulminant disease to do anything for you. And that is how conventional medicine is trained. I'm not saying this as a negative, I'm not saying it as a positive, I'm just saying that is the way that the model works. We can't do anything until you have diabetes, you know, et cetera, et cetera. And so what I would say to someone if their doctor says that is I would say, well, I'm I'm really interested in having these levels done. Would would you mind ordering them anyway? Um, I'm willing to pay, like whatever. And if they're still saying no, then I'm asking, you know, do would you mind talking it over with a colleague or coming armed with like research papers, which is so fucked up that we have to do this, right? Absolutely. Yeah. So fucked up, so fucked up. And if there's still, and a lot of the times doctors will get a lot of attitude when patients go in and ask for things or say, like, oh, I've read this thing. And listen, you can patients can be a dick about it. I've had people be dicks about it to be honest. A hundred, like a hundred percent. Like, don't be an asshole. You know, you get more bees with honey than you do with vinegar. But at that point, I say to the person, at that point, you say, I would like you to document that you were unwilling to order labs that I am concerned about for my health. And when you are done with that documentation, I would like you to print it out and have a copy. And I'll tell you what, that'll get attention real fast. Real fast. Never thought of that. I don't and I don't like to resort to things like that, but like it's like what are we doing? You know what I mean? Like, why are it's and and I'm not for people asking for like egregious things either, like, oh my god, I had a headache, give me an MRI. Like, that's misuse and abuse of healthcare dollars, right? But when we're talking about I want to check these things because I want to take better care of myself and I have X, Y, and Z symptom, and your doctor is just wants to say no to you, like, why did you go to med school just to tell people no? Like, I don't understand. And here's the really sad part is we have studies that show that when women go to the doctor with a man, they get better care. I knew you were gonna say that.

SPEAKER_02 13:21

It's gross, it's so disgusting. It's so disgusting. I mean, it makes no sense. It makes no sense.

The Labs That Change Everything

SPEAKER_02 13:27

So let's talk about the thyroid testing for a second, because this is one of my big issues personally, um, as far as me believing that I had an issue and my doctor kept telling me, no, your numbers are fine, your numbers are fine. So, what when you say a thyroid panel, can you share what those tests need to be?

SPEAKER_01 13:51

Sure. So you do need a TSH. This is an important marker. It's part, it's part, I like to say it's part of the puzzle. Um, and you know, if you have a 500-piece puzzle, if you only have 498, like you're still missing two, right? Right. Like no, no other way to skin that cat. So TSH, which is a marker of it's called thyroid stimulating hormone. This is secreted from your pituitary gland. It's in your brain. It communicates to your thyroid. So all hormones are chemical messengers, so they talk over long distances. It's like when you dial your friend long distance, right? Or like when there used to be long distance calling. God. Um aging, aging myself here. So talks to your thyroid, and your thyroid will produce something called free T3 or free T3 or free T4. They're really long names. And so those are your free, whenever you see free in front of a hormone, like free testosterone or free thyroid hormone, that means it's the active hormone that your body can actually use. It's not bound up to something else, right? So think about your friend who married a narcissist who can't ever do anything and she's just like bound up to him because she can't ever leave the house. Like we don't really care. We care about the friend, but like when we're when hormones, I don't know why that's the first thing that came to my mind there. But when when hormones are about, if you're listening, we do care. We care, but Jesus Christ, get out of that relationship. Um so free T3 and free T4, that's the hormone that your body can utilize. And thyroid, when we talk about, when we talk about the free thyroid hormone, it's really the gas pedal for your metabolism for your whole body, right? Like it makes kind of everything go. And so though the free T3 is the most active form of the free thyroid hormone. So most doctors, what they're ordering is a TSH with a reflex T4. So if your TSH is fucked high or low, it'll reflex to run a free T4. And it's like, well, okay, but what's free T3 doing? I have seen so many women with like normal to suboptimal um levels of free T4, and their T3 is in absolutely in the toilet. So those are important to order. Um, reverse T3, this is like an inactive form of your thyroid hormone. Um it gets converted in your liver. Um, and basically like your body can't use it. So we don't want, we don't want it to be that high, right? So it's like having a car, but like putting a key, like you can't drive it anywhere. Um and then the last part are thyroid antibodies, which are really important. So these are the autoimmune markers. So um anti-T anti-TPO and anti-thyroglobian globulin antibodies. Sorry, I difficult time pronunciating always. Um but this is gonna tell you if you have any active autoimmune disease going on in your thyroid, right? And so that's also really important to know because when once you have one autoimmune disease, you're at risk for another also, um, is one of the biggest reasons. And um, it'll destroy your thy your thyroid. It'll just kind of hit the self, it'll continue to hit the self-destruct button if those antibodies stay elevated.

SPEAKER_02 16:52

Okay. Wonderful. So I so I will share, like every time I was requesting from my family doctor, he would order the the T3 and the TSH.

SPEAKER_01 17:05

Now I don't know if T4 and TSH or T3.

SPEAKER_02 17:08

It might have been four. I know it was one of those two, and I know I don't know if it was the free or not. And then I was told, your numbers are fine, there's nothing wrong. You're just you're depressed, you're overweight, you're whatever. And so I found another it she's a nurse practitioner, and I went to her and she ordered, I believe, everything that you just mentioned, and it was my A number off the chart. It was so high it couldn't even be measured. The test didn't go high enough. And so she's like, so I was diagnosed with Hashimoto's, and I was put on she's the treatment that I was started on was um naltrexone from LD pharmacy. LDS.

SPEAKER_01 18:01

So ANA is a general autoimmune marker for like lupus and things, usually. So I'm curious how she diagnosed a thyroid. I like did you have thyroid antibodies elevated? No, I'm just curious.

SPEAKER_02 18:15

Okay. Yes. Okay. Yes, but okay. I we were also she also looked into the lupus because that was another thing that was that was thrown out. Um and Sojourn syndrome is an is that how you pronounce that? Was another one thrown out? Yeah, because of some of my symptoms. And um anyway, I I got started on this treatment and I felt no difference. And then um she she did find some other things that I had going on, like in my spine that I had no idea because I thought I had carpal tunnel, carpal tunnel or something, but it ended, or arthritis, and it ended up actually, I needed a fusion in my neck. Um, and it was pretty bad. And so I also have significant back stuff. But anyway, she closed her practice and moved into like an urgent care type situation. Um big story around that. So I was without her care. However, I will say this how you had mentioned in the beginning about um like the modern medicine and like they want you to get sicker to be able to be helped. I was referred to a rheumatologist. I saw three because I was so unhappy with them. The last one that I went to, I was told, you just aren't sick enough yet. Come back in six months. Yeah, maybe sick enough for me to help you. People think I like make this shit up.

SPEAKER_01 19:39

And I'm like, no, this is where do you think I get where do you think I get these stories from? Because I see women. The average, the average client that comes to me to fix their problems has seen three other three other practitioners before they see me. And they've done nothing for them. And they've been told, you're not sick enough, there's nothing wrong with you, your labs are normal. It's in your head, you're just a mom, you're getting old. Perimenopause is a fad. Run from anyone who tells you that perimetopause is an actual thing. I mean, like, I could go on and on at the ridiculous things that are that are said to women.

SPEAKER_02 20:15

Right. And I have noticed that some of these things, I guess it doesn't surprise me that a lot of that is being said by men, but some of the people are worse. The women are worse.

SPEAKER_01 20:28

And I'm like, And when the women are bad, the women are worse. They think that because I'm suffering through perimenopause and I just use birth control, this should be sufficient for you. And it's like, listen, just because you've completely disconnected from your body from the age of third grade when you were told you have three hall passes to pee all the way through med school and you've had to disconnect from your body to go through fellowship and residency and everything else, doesn't mean I want to. Right, right. Exactly. It's like I like the men are bad, but the women clinicians, when they are when they're cunty, they're fucking cunty. And it's disgusting. I like it, it it appalls me when I hear some of the things that women say to other women. Like I I just I wish I wish that I couldn't sit here and say this, but I I would it wouldn't be fair to say like, oh yeah, it's just the men. It's not. It's absolutely it's done differently. When it comes from a man, it comes from a very like I'm up here and you're down here. Yes, I know better than you. Very much, very much. And when when it's a woman, it's well, this isn't a problem for me, so it shouldn't be a problem for you. And this has been good enough for me, so it should also be good enough for you. Right. Very different, very different. I don't know which one's worse.

SPEAKER_02 21:42

Don't make me choose. Right. And it was a woman that told me I just wasn't sick enough, um, that I needed to come back in six months. And I pretty much said, fuck you, and I walked out of her office, and that was the I did not go back. Um so do you think?

Why Women Get Dismissed

SPEAKER_02 22:01

That why is this happening to women? Is it because the physicians don't want to take the time because it's misunderstood? They don't, you know, they don't understand what we're going through. Or how much time do we have? To keep you coming back.

SPEAKER_01 22:20

Yeah, I mean, so I mean, there's so many different lenses I could look at this through, right? So even if you look at the way the birth control was constructed, I mean, it was women were experimented on without their consent, and they were also Latina women, just to put like the minority, like it's true. Like I'm not one of those, I'm not one of those people who likes to point out like race and creed and color and all this stuff, but that it was what it was that happened in Puerto Rico, I believe. Was it Puerto Rico? It was it was Latina based. And, you know, even still, have you ever seen a study that shows what 30 years on birth control will do to women? It was meant to be short term, right? It was meant to be between pregnancies, and we have people out there just spewing like, oh, it doesn't affect fertility, oh, it doesn't do anything to you, oh, it doesn't do that. And it's like, okay, like that's we don't know because the studies weren't we're still being experimented on. Up until 1993, women were not required to be a part of research studies for anything at the National Institutes of Health until 1993. Like, let's swallow that for a second. Like, I was alive, like I was I was nine years old when that happened. So, you know, there there is this. I don't know what to call that or what that problem is, but that is that is part of said problem, right? And you know, even the cervical checks that are done on women when they're going to give birth, like they're not necessary. You don't need to consent to them, but we do them anyway. Like, why do we do this? I don't know the answer to that. I'm trying to think about the way that you asked this question because I had other points to it too. Like, why is this happening to women, right? I don't, I don't know. Like, I I when it comes down to it, I I don't know. And I I think that to be fair, like men are shit on as well in the conventional medicine system, but we know it's we have studies showing that that it is very different, right? I think, I think also um, you know, maybe there has something to do with like masculinity and and physicality, and like even if you know you know somebody's not gonna get in a fist fight with you in an office, like that maybe there is like a subconscious piece to that. I also think that women will not stick up for themselves. And they just are so much more likely to be, and I'm not blaming women, I'm simply saying like they're so much more likely to be people pleasers and just accept whatever their doctor says and walk out of their office instead of saying, fuck you, you're doing a really shitty job at your job, you know. So I I I I I don't know. And I, you know, I I'm not really one to jump into this like patriarchal, raging feminist wearing a vagina on my head type of person. Like that's just not my personality. And also, I know that women are being treated differently in medicine. It's a fucking bunch of bullshit. So I just talked in a circle and I don't have an answer. It's okay.

SPEAKER_02 25:21

I'm sorry, you know, I was just curious, you know, when you look at it from that perspective. So let's say I've had three children, and every one of my doctors um did a cervical check before they were born. I I, you know, you trust your doctor that what they're telling you is right. Um, I've been on birth control. I'm not now, but I was on birth control from 15 because I had horrible periods, like three weeks or two months. Shut it down. And and that's the only thing that was ever suggested. Rolls ice. And not only that, um, you know, the same things, you know, were said to me about my own children. My youngest just had a set of twins. Um, they're two months old. And I remember a conversation with her because, you know, she's very spirited. And the last um she she was high-risk, so she was seeing two different gynecologists, OBs. And she was at the specialist's office, and the nurse had said gave her a gown and said, you know, put this on, you know, the doctor will check your cervix. And she said, I'm not putting that on. The doctor doesn't need to check my cervix. Number two, I'm having a C-section because I'm high risk, so there's no absolute no need for you to check my cervix. Correct. And number two, it's not needed. And so just like knowing that the younger generation like is reading more and standing up more for themselves. And and I was so proud of her for that. And it's true. I would say you fucking go girl. Yes, yes. She stood up for herself through everything with this. Like, nope, these are my children. That's not the path I'm taking with this. Good for her. So, you know, I love, I love that. So you go ahead and say what you were gonna say.

SPEAKER_01 27:12

Oh, I you know, I was gonna say, you know, the pharmaceutical industries really drive medical school funding and what they learn. And so what what they're being taught is still birth control, shut it down, and some of these things that are just so outdated. And it's not I I have said for a long time that the problems in medicine are at an it's it's an institutional level problem because our doctors are so indoctrinated with like this is what I'm taught in med school. I do not color outside of the light or learn new information. I mean, it's disgusting. It it it it's I mean, and I could go some really controversial routes with this, with like, hmm. Um, but but you know, it's like when you have medicines funding studies, funding medical schools, what do you think is gonna come out of that? Six to seven minute visits with your family doctor who are told, oh, you don't want to take your statin, like have fun dying of a heart attack, bye-bye. And it's I mean, I could go on a whole other thing with statins, which is just the cholesterol conversation is like that's the only number they care about is like what's your cholesterol. You could be in there with like, I'm not sleeping and I have no hormones, but oh my god, but your cholesterol is elevated, like uh. And it's like, okay, well, 70% of people who have heart attacks have normal or low cholesterol levels. So, like, end of discussion. So, um, yeah, I think that that is also a massive part of the way that women are treated and also the funding. Like, we don't have the like I think it's per woman with endometriosis $20. $20. But guess what? One, but be thankful because one of those studies that they did for women with endo was how it affects their emotion the emotional side of their of their partners because they all so like God forbid the men suffer because someone has endometriosis, which for people who don't know is a disease which requires tech I know there's there's some new guidelines out there, but requires surgery for diagnosis and treatment and has an average of seven to ten years for diagnosis, but God forbid let's study how it affects the men and their mental well-being. I just like what are like what I don't under like if you're not mad, you're not awake. Like I just Right, right. I talk about it, it just makes me so mad. And like I get it. I get that having a sick partner impacts people, but when we're talking about like it was either two or twenty dollars per woman with endometriosis, and when we have to slice somebody open and put them under anesthesia, this is what you want to study. Exactly.

SPEAKER_02 29:43

I just have I have no I have no tolerance for it. And it's guessing that's because they're not getting sexually gratified often enough.

SPEAKER_01 29:52

Is that do you think I read it? I saw the title and I was like, I gotta get out of here.

Perimenopause Basics And Hormone Testing

SPEAKER_02 30:03

Okay, so let's let's shift a little bit towards the hormone conversation. So, you know, I hear mixed, mixed, what is so I have patients with experience? Experience? Yeah, like so. Some doctors are like, don't test the hormones. Like, okay, you're fine. And then others are like, okay, let's do the blood test. And then others are like, a blood test doesn't work, you have to do the spit test. So talk a little bit about first of all, so let's just talk about me as far as my symptoms. I'm tired all the time, I have sleep apnea, I do not sleep, I'm overweight, I have significant back issues, um, the thyroid problem. I do have high blood pressure, and so you know, when you I have hair loss, um I had an ablation when um after my last child was born, which was 22 years ago. So I haven't had a cycle since then.

SPEAKER_01 31:06

So that uh you you've you've cycled, you just don't know it.

SPEAKER_02 31:10

Well, I don't know. You don't know when. Yes, yes, yes.

SPEAKER_01 31:13

So, you know, that's a very important distinguishing.

SPEAKER_02 31:18

Well, that's that's great information. Yeah, that's great information to know. So I have been like in conversation with physician, like, how do I know when I'm going into perimenopause or menopause? Because the lat the loss of a period is like your first clue, right? Physically, visually. And so I have had the conversation with multiple physicians about the hormone test. So I'm curious what um your take is on that.

SPEAKER_01 31:49

Yeah. So I I want to start out by talking to like knowing when you're in perimenopause or menopause, and then I'll talk about the testing because this is a really important piece. If women out there have had a partial hysterectomy, which means you still have your ovaries or you've had an ablation and so you don't bleed anymore, you can still track your menstrual cycle. We can use temperature, we can use um uh hormone strips, we can use LH strips, devices like Mira or Anito. And I would urge you, if that is the case for you, to use the use these tools because it is so important to know when these things are changing for you. Is it perfect? No. Um, but it is it is so, so, so important to know. And so just because you're not bleeding doesn't mean you are not having hormonal fluctuations. Okay, so that aside, the average age for some a woman becoming post-menopausal, let's define some terms first. So, perimenopause is a 10 to 15 year neuroendocrine transition where you have all the symptoms leading up to being going through menopause. Um, my friend Dr. Carrie Jones, who is brilliant, says it's like stepping through a door. It happens in one day. You are menopausal for one day, and after that day, you are post-menopausal. The average age to go to go through menopause for a woman in the United States is 51-ish.

unknown 33:05

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 33:05

Depending on depending on what data you use. I think there's been some literature that's closer to 52. Now, the other piece of information for this is that genetics actually do matter here, and I'm not someone who likes to jump quickly to oh it's genetic. Like it's such a shitty conversation. Like, go jump off a cliff. Like you just you just wanna you just wanna be lazy and you want an excuse to not do the work. Like, go jump off a cliff. Those people don't come to work with me. So, anyways, but this does matter. We have a lot of research that says if your mother or older sisters or grandmother, the age that they went through menopause, like you will probably be close to that. So, like if your mom went through menopause at 56, you probably won't go through like barring like surgery, chemo, radiation, you're not gonna go through menopause at like 46, probably. Okay, you know. So that being said, now going going towards more of the testing conversation, you first of all are probably post-menopausal, or you're really close and you don't know it yet. Um, there is a we can test FSH levels, which tell us if they are above, depending on again the literature you read, different people say different things. But if you're above 25 in two consecutive months, you're probably postmenopausal, especially if you're not seeing temperature elevations. Um, when we ovulate and produce progesterone, our temperature rises, and that's how we distinguish our follicular phase from our luteal phase. So you can do that whether you have a uterus or not. This ring that I have on right here, this is called an aura ring. I have no affiliation with aura. I've had one for five years. I don't benefit from them financially, but it will track your temperature and it will also track your menstrual cycle for you. It is the dummy-proofest way, which I realize is poor English to do that. They are expensive. It's a buy-once, it's a buy-once, cry once, and they have about a five-year lifespan. I just replaced my first one. I paid $600 to replace it to be fully transparent. So once, like I said, that FSH level can be tested, getting back to the hormone testing. Now, getting into testing through perimenopause, there are certain specific times in our cycle that we need to test. You cannot just willy-nilly get a lab order and go to the lab. Cycle day three to five, we want to be testing estradiol, FSH, and LH. And we want to be looking really um at the ratio of FSH to LH. And then we want to be looking at how FSH and estradiol are kind of like doing a dance and responding to each other. Um, there are some clues in those that we can see. Like mine recently, like, so like my estradiol level on day four was 96, and um my FSH was like seven or eight. It was relatively normal. Um, but my estradiol was too high. It was too high to be responding to my FSH to say, like, calm down, calm down. So that was that was a lab sign for me that I was starting to kind of enter into perimenopause. I still have regular cycles. My cycle day length has not changed, my periods have not changed, nothing has changed with my periods or my menstrual cycles. However, I started to notice mood changes, I started to notice libido changes, I started to notice um, you know, the rage and my boyfriend chewing makes me want to rip his head off. Like these are all you know, I mean, there are over a hundred symptoms of perimenopause that people I mean, we're talking like burning tongue. Um, it affects it more women get sleep apnea in their 40s because of how the decline in estrogen affects their soft palate. Like, ladies, go have a sleep study. Um, tinnitus, which is ringing in your ears. Um, I said burning tongue already, phantom smells, um, fatigue, fatigue, um, mood changes, depression, anxiety, headaches, um, gastrointestinal changes. We there's something in your gut called your estrobilome, which is literally how your body processes and metabolizes estrogen. So, like that changes. So um getting into the lab testing, like I said, day three to five, estradiol, FSH, LH, and then post-ovulation, we want to really see what your peak progesterone looks like. So five to seven days post-ovulation. Now, most physicians in a conventional medicine setting will not tell you when to test. If you do get instruction, they'll say, oh, just go cycle days 19 to 21, which is okay advice. But for a perimenopausal woman, especially if we're seeing shifts in when we're ovulating, or we're seeing and or we're seeing shifts in cycle length, it's piss poor advice and they don't understand anything about hormone testing, which is why they think that hormone testing is pointless, because they're they they being dummies about it. So um, I don't want to say that they're dumb because like, you know, but whatever. So estradiol, progesterone, and this is usually when I throw in the other hormones, just so we have a consistent time that we're testing them. DHEA, um, free testosterone, total testosterone, bioavailable testosterone, sex hormone binding globulin, um, and DHT, which is dihydrotestosterone, which is a more potent um androgen than testosterone, it's 10 times more potent than um your free testosterone. So sometimes when women have the PCOS, which is now PMOS, um it got a whole whole new name, but that's a discussion for another day that I'm just gonna put over here because we don't have the time nor and I don't have the energy. Um but um you know, if your testosterone is normal, sometimes we will see an elevated DHT in women. So you can test, but you need to you need to be working with someone who understands how to do it and how to guide you through that process. Like I have had women without uteruses who I have gotten very accurate hormone testing on. Like it's not hard. You just need someone that understands it. And I also think when when we tell women like, oh, hormones are too hard to test, we're also telling women you're too dumb to understand it. Along with the same thing with the cycle tracking conversation, which I went and got a certification to teach women how to um prevent pregnancy or achieve it naturally, um, which when done correctly, when you learn from someone who understands it, it's as effective as oral contraceptives. And so when we tell women, oh, it's just too hard, what we're really saying is you're too stupid to understand, or and or I don't know anything about it. And so I'm just gonna continue to tell people that this is the same thing as the rhythm method, which it's not. So um, and as far as testing goes, um, blood testing is still the gold standard. I hate spit testing for hormones unless, unless it's cortisol. It's very good for cortisol testing. Um, I do use Dutch testing, which is dried urine testing for comprehensive hormones, Dutch, um, by Precision Analytical. I have no affiliation with them financially or otherwise, um, but I do use their test. If I'm going to use urine tests, that is the one that I think is the best. And I will use that um when I'm concerned about estrogen metabolism and some more sophisticated things um before going through HRT if I'm really worried about how someone's metabolizing estrogen.

SPEAKER_02 39:56

Okay. So when so I have friends that have, you know, the the the I work with a new nurse practitioner now, and um we're trying to to get to the bottom of things now. I will tell you that I was told by her that the saliva test is most accurate, and so I had that done. Now it was cortisol. Um I am waiting on those results. They should be back soon. Um but now on the backside of that, is that going to to will that share if, hey, I need like hormone replacement therapy? Or no. Okay. So how do you do you so I have friends that have gone to their doctor and they've been like, no, we're not even talking about hormone replacement, nothing. You just need to deal with it. But then there are others that will treat based on symptoms and give you the hormone a patch or you know, some other form of uh hormone replacement therapy. Um what is ideal to know what a woman needs to do if she's considering or feeling as though that might be something she needs?

SPEAKER_01 41:15

Do you like what should we be saying to our doctors, or like when it when does someone know that they're like ready for hormone replacement therapy? Like what criteria do I use to determine like if someone's ready or I would say let's talk about that first of all.

SPEAKER_02 41:30

Okay. Um, you know, yeah, yeah, yeah. No, it's a great question. Yes.

Who Is Ready For HRT

SPEAKER_01 41:34

Yeah. So I'll talk about how I evaluate someone. I think that that's really helpful. I can also use myself as an example. So for everyone out there, first of all, perimenopause can begin as early as 35, and that is without if we have like a premature ovarian failure or uh primary ovarian insufficiency, which is generally we see menopause hit before like 40 in those conditions. Those do happen. However, for most women, we're talking about 35 years old, is really the earliest that we kind of start to see um this 10 to 15 year neuroendocrine transition, right? So like your brain literally remodels when you go through perimenopause. Your brain remodels through pregnancy, it remodels postpartum. Like you literally come out with a different fucking brain in after like when you're postmenopausal. It's so wild, right? Like, like it, it's it's so crazy to me. And so if a woman is 35 and she comes to me and went in the state of Utah, if you're coming to me for hormone replacement therapy, and if you're in Utah, you can see me at the time of this recording. Um everyone has to do a hormone strategy session so that I determine are you safe? Are you appropriate, or is there something else going on? Because I love that perimenopause is having its time to shine and it's all over the internet, and women are talking about it. And um, there's so many of us practitioners and physicians who are advocating for it. And I love that. And also not everything is perimenopause. Are you under eating? Are you overexercising? Is it stress? Do you have functional hypothalamic amenorrhea? Do you have celiac disease? Is it a thyroid problem? Do you have nutrient deficiencies? Like you need a practitioner who understands like all the other potential causes of like whatever it is that you're complaining of. And it's not easy because HRT, like not HRT, perimenopause has, like I said, over a hundred symptoms. So it's like, do you have sleep apnea? Do you have this? Do you have both? Right. And so in that strategy session with people, I am my intake is the most comprehensive thing you will ever, ever fill out about your health. I go from were you breastfed? Have you ever had a tick bite? Do you have breast implants? Um, have you been on prior HRT, family history, genetic history, like literally everything, right? So I get an idea of how you live your life, how much time you spend on social media, all of these things. And I also get the lab numbers in front of me. So I'm doing a full comprehensive. Blood work panel, all the metabolic markers, nutrient markers, um, inflammatory markers, and of course hormone testing. Right. And so I'm looking at your intake. What are you telling me during our session? Are you like, I literally, like every time my husband chews, I want to rip his tongue out just so I don't ever have to listen to it again? Or like subtle sleep shifts are a big sign of perimenopause, especially in the luteal phase, right? So like you're having you're having symptoms, your intake is telling me that you are that are consistent with perimenopause, right? I can't find another reason why you're having them. And your hormones come back suboptimal. Okay, let's talk for I'm always, I'm basics over biohacking, foundations over everything. If you are not eating enough food, there's too many women who have been out there dieting since as long as Oprah's been on fucking Weight Watchers and now she's peddling the GLP shit. Like, I fucking can't. Like, you need to be, you need to be eating enough food. You need to be moving your body, you need to be getting good sleep, right? Like, we can't throw HRT on a metabolic dumpster fire and be like, ooh, it's fixing everything. No, it's not good for you then. Like, we need to be doing all the basics. So I don't want people to think that I just throw HRT at anybody. It's not the case, right? And so if then numbers are suboptimal and we're doing, and I'm not saying that women need to like earn their right to have HRT either, because like I started this conversation, but like I also am addressing all of that simultaneously because maybe that fixes it, especially and especially if a woman is younger, if she's in her late 30s or early 40s, there are a lot of great herbal remedies that we can do. And so I'm presenting women with all of the options. Like, do you want to try this first? Do you want to give it some time? How do you feel about HRT? What questions do you have about it? Making sure they're safe for it, which most women are safe for at least some types of HRT. There are very few people who are a hard no. Like if you have active cancer, you're a no. You have a history of cancer, there's a really good chance you're still a yes, depending on your histology and hormone involvement and other things, but there's still a really good chance, right? And so it's again like I talked about with that thyroid panel. It's a puzzle piece for me. It is not just like uh a one-stop shop. Like it's and and also it's it's patient preference. Like, do they even want HRT? You don't have to have it. You know, I'm not here to shove anything down anyone's throat. Like I am pro-medical freedom first. I don't care if it's a mammogram, a vaccine, hormones, I don't care what it is. I want you to have the information and I want you to make a decision that feels good for you in your body and in your life, right? So that's how I I mean, that's like one one hundredth of like what goes through in my process. And, you know, then where we started is a totally different, you know, other layer. Sure.

SPEAKER_02 46:47

So do you are you only able to work with people in Utah that live in Utah?

How Danielle Works With Clients

SPEAKER_01 46:53

So for hormone replacement therapy, I work uh on a consultation basis. Um, so I like more holistic health, health coaching. Um, my FDNP certification is more of that where I do a lot of really good work with people there though. So for people who are just like, hey, like I I am kind of a dumpster fire and I don't live in Utah, like I can still help you. But yes, great. I'm looking at uh hopefully doing expansion at some point, but I just got this underway. So this is like brand, brand new. Um, the hormone replacement therapy side of things. Yeah, great.

SPEAKER_02 47:27

So let's, you know, what is well, let's talk about how um someone do you work primarily with women or men?

SPEAKER_01 47:36

I work with women only at this point for HRT. Only women for HRT, I'm only doing women. Okay, but I do prescribe testosterone. So like I I I prescribe like full the full gamut, um, but I just haven't ventured into I don't know. I yeah. Anyways, no, yes, but women only at this point.

SPEAKER_02 47:55

Okay, great. So, you know, if there's a woman listening and she's hearing this conversation, and um, you know, obviously you're very passionate and you're very um, you know, you have a lot of information to share. If someone is wanting to work with you that doesn't live in Utah, um, you know, because I'm East Coast, I'm in West Virginia, and yeah, I have listeners all over the world, but you know, a lot of the people primarily are are in my little valley here. So um how what is the uh way that they can work with you? And um, you know, tell us how you can sign up or does it work? Yeah, yeah, yeah. However it is that you work.

SPEAKER_01 48:35

Yeah. So if you live outside of the state of Utah, empoweredmindbody.co, um, you can find all the information on my Instagram at Danielle.kepix, K-E-P-I-C-S. Um, all the information is there to book a consultation. I always um it is a requirement to do a consultation because I want to make sure we're a good fit. I want to make sure you are someone that I can actually help. And I want to understand, make sure that you understand who you're moving forward with, right? Like that's really important to me.

SPEAKER_03 49:03

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 49:03

Um, so all of the links are can really be found through there. But um, my primary offering is a six-month empowered intensive. It's a play on my business name, obviously. And I see women on a monthly basis. Your first appointment is 90 minutes long, follow-ups are 30, and then you have weekly access to chat directly with me through um a HIPAA compliant EHR portal. Um, you don't talk to a medical assistant, you don't talk to an admin, you talk directly to me. Um, and so, and in that package, um, I also I include full comprehensive blood work testing and a functional stool test. I'm very, I'm very transparent about price. Total price for it is $41.99, um, can be paid upfront or over six installments. So that's how you work with me. Um, I will tell you this. Um, my clients see an average of a 50, 50% symptom reduction in 30 to 60 days and damn near complete resolution in six months for my data people. I track it very um, so before every appointment you fall fill out um like a medical symptom questionnaire. And so I track how people feel at our initial consultation and then every month um from there on. And it is there are have been a few extreme cases, or if you don't do what I say, like you're not gonna feel better. So like consistency is a thing, right? Like you gotta do it. You have to be committed, yes, for sure. Yeah, yeah. And and that's definitely a thing. So that that is um that is the main way that I work with people through that business. And for hormone replacement therapy, if you happen to be in Utah listening to that, empoweredmedicine.co. Um, and you can still find all the links through my Instagram. And, you know, if you want to shoot like shoot me a DM, shoot me a message. I'm relatively like I'm responsive. It's not like I just let my DMs build up to like Sure. Yeah, the nth degree. Like I respond to people.

SPEAKER_02 50:52

So Yeah, sorry, that was probably longer than you were expecting. No, no, that's a that's exactly what I wanted. Um, because a lot of you know, people will message and be like, I really, you know, I'm interested in working with them, whether it's a a coach, whatever it might be about, um, spiritual alignment, you know, it anything. All of them, yeah, I love it. They're they're curious about how it works and they want to know a little, you know, snippet of it before they, you know, start that process. So yeah, I do want to ask one question, one follow-up question about that. So you had said that, you know, that you what the fee was, and then that you have the lab work. So is that is that included in that or is that something someone who has insurance?

SPEAKER_01 51:37

No, it it is all included in that fee. Um, I yes. So it's all included. I like to see the lab. I've had people who have said, oh, can I just go to my PCP and ask? And I say no to that now because it's it's just a hot mess. People don't come back with the right labs. They end up with a $4,000 bill. I mean, like the labs alone that I run, if you try to run them through your insurance, you're gonna end up with uh thousands of dollars in in a bill and you're not even like seeing anybody at that point. Right, right.

SPEAKER_03 52:07

Right.

SPEAKER_01 52:08

So yeah, the school test and the blood work is included.

SPEAKER_02 52:11

Okay, so if someone doesn't live there, how how do they get the lab work complete?

SPEAKER_01 52:17

I use I use a third-party platform called Rupa Health. Um, so everything gets sent to your house. I sent they send you a link and says put your zip code in here and you can find a place near you. I haven't I've had one person that I've had to use a different lab company for because they lived so far out um that we had to use a different um service, but I've never besides that, I've never had a problem. Okay, perfect. Yep. That's that's exactly my question. Yeah. Yep. And then the stol the stool test you do at home. It's very I've not there's not been a person I've worked with that's had like an issue or has struggled or like, oh my god, this process is so complicated. It's so easy. Okay, wonderful. I love

Low Libido, Pain, And Vaginal Hormones

SPEAKER_01 52:55

that.

SPEAKER_02 52:55

Um, so I'm you know, we talked a little bit, you know, in the beginning about the limp deck, right? So let's talk just for a minute about um women with low or no libido in this part of life. Yeah. What encouragement or message can you share with women surrounding that?

SPEAKER_01 53:20

It's I you know, I hear this from so many women. It just like they hit midlife and they're just like, I don't even want to be touched. And HRT can help with that. I also encourage people to look at their partner. Um, divorce rates are the highest among um, highest initiation among middle-age women. Um, they just find themselves not wanting to be with their partners for some reason. Um, so I think that that is a really um unpopular conversation, and people don't want to talk about that either. I get it. Um, but I mean HRT can help. The other thing is I have heard about is um Dr. Lindsay Berkson, she is a pioneer in the space. And my friend Carrie just had her on her podcast, and she talked about intranasal oxytocin. Oxytocin is like the love hormone, the feel-good hormone, right? People, if you've breath ever breastfed, you understand an oxytocin letdown and what that feels like. Um, but there have been some interesting research and work done on that in um perimenopausal women as well. So I think too, um, another reason why women struggle with libido is it hurts, it's dry, and they um like their vaginal area is dry and their physicians won't understand how to prescribe. They won't prescribe or they don't think it's important. Um, so vaginal hormones are safe for almost everyone, unless you have had like this one type of rare, I think it's like cervical advanced certain type of histology, like 1% of the one, like 99.8% of women can do vaginal hormones. And so vaginal, vaginal estrogen is really great um for dryness. And then vaginal DHEA can be really helpful for blood flow, which we know is um, you know, really helpful for lubrication and nutrient flow. I mean, there's like a whole host of things. So um, if there's a painful issue, I urge you to talk to your um physician, your practitioner, prescriber, whoever about vaginal hormones. Um, I really need to do some kind of guide about like what to talk to your doctor about. I like there's so many things I want to do and there's so little time. There's so few hours, right? Yeah, but I would say like go, go have your hormones tested. Like work with someone who understands like what's going on and see if see if that's an issue. Cause for so many women, it really is. Like they get their testosterone levels up and they are like reven and ready to go.

SPEAKER_02 55:44

Right. So I know that um, let's just say, you know, I will say if my children are listening, you might not want to listen to this part. So like for me, it's not that none of those are an issue for me, but it is more like I will feel frisky and and tease and playful during the day, but then when I'm home from work and you know, you get your evening things done that have to be done at home, I'm just like, oh, I'm too tired now. Um, so is that if if it's that type of situation, are the same things possibly present with hormones? Like the desire is there, but it's I'm just too tired.

SPEAKER_01 56:29

Could be, I mean, then again, like if if it's energy and like we're unnecessarily tired, like you did say, like, I'm just gonna go with you as the example here. Like, is is your CPAP on the right settings? Like, are you wearing the CPAP? Like, I am very, very airway informed, and there can be major issues with that. Like, if you're not feeling good, it can cause hormone shifts, metabolic shifts, it can make you really tired. Um, what's your iron panel look like? Have you ever had a ferritin level tested? Is your thyroid okay? Like, is there a reason why we're that tired? Right. So, like, I'm gonna look into those things as well. And so, I mean, the other thing too, like, I mean, we could go the route of like, are we too sedentary during during the day? Are we moving enough? Are we moving too much? Are we not eating enough? And so I work with I the the the typical woman that I work with is 30 to 50 years old, highly successful, type A, um, and 80% of you guys work in healthcare. It's so weird how it works out that way. I work with other women, of course, but that's just like the big, the big bulk of my people, right? And it's like, okay, so many of them come to me under eating. Like, under eating is such it's an epidemic, honestly, um, among women. And I would say the women that I work with under eating and over exercising. So we're exhausted. And so, of course, like why would you want to do anything else when you get home? And it's like whatever time. So I think that there are still things that can be looked into with that, but you know, a lot of the same things could still be at play.

SPEAKER_02 58:00

Sure, sure. And I think that's what makes us as women so frustrated because it could be a million and one things, and um, you know, like what is the answer? And so usually multiple things,

When Fatigue Is A Bigger Clue

SPEAKER_02 58:14

to be honest. Yeah, yeah, to lead with that, to you know, wrap things up here a little bit, like I could talk to you for hours because you're just so um full of information and and passionate and spirited and excited about it. Um, but if you know there is a woman listening that has feels dismissed by her doctors, exhausted, confused, like what is wrong with me? I know something is wrong. Yeah like where do you suggest she starts? Um, as far as you know, signs that something deeper is happening than just, you know, day-to-day, you know, I'm just a mom or I'm just you know a woman that is working her ass off, and you know, I'm too tired, I'm not eating enough, whatever that might be. What is, you know, how do we know that it's something deeper that needs to be looked at? And then, you know, how what can we do to Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 59:09

I mean, it depends on what the complaint is. Like, you know, is it GI related, is it hormone related, is it this, is it that? You know, because like is it blood, you know? I mean, bloating can be ovarian cancer. So like if there's something, if something has changed for you, if something is different, it matters and it's important enough to be looked at. And if someone isn't taking you seriously, make someone take you seriously. Um like if I'm not like I I promise to take you seriously, you know what I mean? Like that's like that's the that's the bare minimum for me. Like, I just um you know, if that's in your budget and it's something that you feel strongly enough, come please it's schedule. I've consultations are $39. They're so cheap. Like, come talk to me and see if there's something that we can do. Like, that's always the first step. Like, listen, if you want to purchase right right away, I'm I'm not a shit business person, give me your money. But I also want people to feel you know what I mean? But like, please come do a consultation with me if you're uncertain. Um, getting the right labs is so important. Um, I have a labs freebie. People can go to empoweredmindbody.co backslash labs, um, and they can see the labs that I run on all of my one-on-one clients and patients um and what they are and why they matter. I think that that could be really important. Follow me on Instagram. I talk about this stuff all of the time. Yes. Um, but if if you have something scratching your neck, like I even say this as a practitioner, I'm like something is scratching my neck that I think something more is wrong with this person, right? Like if something is just scratching at your neck that you're thinking something's not right with me, something is changing. I know that this is not how I feel. I haven't changed anything, and like all of a sudden I'm I'm moody and I'm tired all the time, or I have this bloating, or my bowel movements have changed. I'm getting headaches that are new. Um, I'm having new symptoms with my menstrual cycle. My menstrual cycle is changing. Like, you deserve to have information about your body. And that is why I started doing what I'm doing because women were being so underserved and dismissed. And I'm like, you deserve to have answers. And I don't, I really don't care where people get them, but I hope you get them. If you are that person who is listening right now, and like maybe, maybe you can't afford to work with me, or maybe you can. Like, I don't know what everybody's situation is listening to this podcast, but I would love to talk with people and and see if if if we can work something out if you are that person. Because like I said, the average person who comes to me has seen three physicians or other practitioners and they have had no results. Um, and it's just it it shouldn't be that way.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:41

It shouldn't. It shouldn't, absolutely.

Stop Accepting Midlife Misery

SPEAKER_02 1:01:44

So I think you know, uh as women entering this this stage of life, um is it I know, and I know normal is not really a good word to use, but is it is there some expectation that naturally we are moving into a different space in life and our energy level and all of that is just going to be different because we're getting older. Or you know what, do you know what I mean? Like, okay, I do just I'm just ex I'm just experiencing normal symptoms because of my age.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:21

It's so funny. I was talking with a girlfriend who's a lot younger than me about this. Um, and then I was talking to a girlfriend who's my age, and they both had similar things to say because they're both clinicians and they're brilliant. Um, and I think that there is a conversation around mid-age and perimenopause that allows women to be what was I'm trying to find the word that my friend used because she said it better. Hold on, I'm gonna look. Like placated or to um perimenopause is an excuse to be content. Like there's just this expectation that things are gonna be shitty and I I can't avoid the weight gain, and it's just perimenopause. It's the same thing as this is a genetic conversation for me, right? Like, oh, it's just genetics. Like I am getting ready to share in a couple of weeks. Like I went for a year or two where I was still hitting the gym and eating well, but like I wasn't really dialed in. And I one day was like, my genes are getting a little tighter. I, you know what I didn't do? I didn't say, oh, this is perimenopause and it's all my hormones' fault. Like, no, I was like, okay, let's take a look, let's track the food for a couple of days. Let's see where the fuck we are. What have we been doing with movement? How's my sleep? How's my stress management? Like, I took a step back and I looked, right? And so I think that women also need to prepare for this. Like your 20s and 30s will determine your 40s and your 40s and 50s are going to determine your 60s. So, like, what do you want that to look like? And I'm not saying if you're in your 40s and you've had a shit lifestyle and you wake up in the morning and you have a Snickers bar and coffee for breakfast that you're fucked, right? Like you, you can always make change. But I will tell you the I just took composition pictures this morning and like it's been 14 weeks and it's like a whole different I look like a whole different person, my body. And it's like I didn't do anything extreme. I'm not on any fucking peptides. God the the whole peptide conversation is like another conversation. Yeah. I I I can't like the vanity anorexia that is out there, I just it's really, it's really disturbing. You know, I'm on low reasonable doses of some HRT that I'm cycling through in timing, but nothing that's gonna make me jacked or crazy. I'm not doing like a a freaking anabolic cycle, you know? Um so I I just think that don't expect to go go into your 40s and be like, well, this is just the way it is. Women gain weight and they feel miserable. Like, you don't have to accept that. Your lifestyle determines so much of your health. And listen, like, I'm not gonna be out here raw dogging perimenopause because I'm up on some high horse. Like, I was literally like, why am I, I'm like, why am I doing this? Like, I don't have to do this and I'm not going to. And I got on testosterone cream and I started a low dose estrogen patch to support my follicular phase and a very low dose of compounded progesterone the last couple of days of my cycle because I started to notice sleep disturbances. I'm like, I don't have to do this. I'm not going to. And I'm not going to send that message to women either. If you don't want to use hormones, that's also okay. Like, I know whatever. Um, but I'm not gonna out be out here and continue the conversation of like, oh, if it's not that bad, just just wait. Like, no, and I'm not gonna be that example for people either because I believe in hormone therapy and I think I feel better with it, right? And so I think that don't be a victim. Don't have a victim mentality, and like you don't have to feel like one when you go through perimenopause. Great.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:49

I love that because I think that you know, we have well, we know like when we start puberty, okay, right? We're told, you know, these things are gonna change about your body and have this expectation your Breasts are gonna hurt, you're gonna cramp, you know. So you have that in your mind that these are things that are going to be happening to me. But I believe that those same same seeds are planted about perimenopause, but I firmly believe that they don't have to be that way. Um, I just um need you to help me with that because I haven't had the success anywhere else. So um I'm thankful that you said that, you know, that we don't have to use that as an excuse to feel, you know, like fucking shit all day long. Um and give us the, you know, the ability to overcome that. Um, you know, or at least have a version of life where we're still feeling good. And, you know, of course I'm never gonna feel like I did when I was 19 years old running every day, right? Um, but unless I do that again, which I've got to fix my back and my knee, right? Um, but I I just love the fact that you're sharing positive messages to women that they can have a quote unquote normal life of totally, you know, of happiness and you know, satisfaction and um fulfillment, even in midlife, because a lot of us are totally that's when we start going downhill, right?

SPEAKER_01 1:07:14

And it's not true, it's not true. It's it's absolutely not. And I mean, it just I don't know. I also really strongly believe in the power of the mind and like if you feed if you talk to yourself that way, you're probably gonna have that experience. And so that is not the message that I send to myself. I mean, I mean, I s I still get asked if I'm in like my early 30s.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:38

Well, when I would have never known, I would have never guessed that you were the age that you were when you said at the beginning that you were.

SPEAKER_01 1:07:45

Yeah, I mean and listen, like you ladies, you have to take care of yourself. Like, put down the booze, unpopular opinion. Like, stop it. The week, the weekly, the nightly, the monthly wine, like just put it down. It's not helping any of your symptoms, it's not helping you sleep. Like, stop going to Zumba, stop going to the group classes, pick up some heavy weights. Like, you you cannot you cannot cardio your way through through perimenopause. I will tell you that that is one of the things I I will be highlighting in my body composition changes. I quit doing cardio. I am lifting only.

unknown 1:08:20

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:21

Only. And I have I've ran a marathon, I've done triathlon, I have done maybe uh like at least a dozen half marathons in my life. I haven't done that stuff in in in quite some time, but I was a very competitive CrossFit athlete. Um, I mean, not like games level, but I mean I finished in the top, I think in the top 60 or no top 100 in my region one year. So, like, you know, I I'm not someone who likes to sit back and just chill out, right? But we have gotta stop this high intensity exercise. It's not helping you, it's not giving you the body you want, it's not doing anything for you. And so, you know, that is one of the things that I'm really excited to highlight is like, look what happened when I stopped doing cardio.

SPEAKER_02 1:09:03

Yes. Well, and I like you saying that is so encouraging for me because those are the things I can't do because of my like my spine, right? Don't need it. And to hear that, you know, because I can do weights, you know, and to hear you say that, that gives me hope that, hey, you know, I don't have to listen to what some of these other people are saying, and I don't have to, you know, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:28

If people are pushing all of that, if people are pushing cardio for body composition changes, I with disrespectfully they don't know what they're talking about. It is you're just you're just gonna look skinny fat. And uh and muscle, I mean, like, I mean, this is a Dr. Gabrielle Lyon term, but like muscle is the the organ of longevity. I fully believe that. Um, there are only two places in your body where blood sugar is stored and your muscle is one of them. The more you have, the more it'll soak up, right? So, and then when we talk about like sarcopenia and osteoporosis, same thing that builds muscle, builds bone. So if you're not building muscle, your bone is being torn down. And and um this is I do want to make this point very, very quickly. Sorry, I know we're like coming up on time here, but um one in if you suffer a hip fracture over the age of 65, you have a 25% one in four chance of death from a complication, death, like being unalived. So, like if you think it's really if you're you know, all these women that who think it's really cute to be on a GLP one and they're fucking sarcopenic right now, like best of luck with your osteoporosis. Like, disrespectfully stop it. Like, and listen, I there's a time and a place for these drugs to be very clear. Like, I know I'm not talking to my audience, my audience knows how I feel about that. Um, however, they are being over-prescribed and under-supported. There's no dietitian, there's no talk about trauma history, there's no talk about dieting history, eating disorder screening, prior eating disorder, you know, any any of this stuff. We're just we're just throwing a band-aid again. We're throwing a band-aid at a situation that needs surgery. Not actual surgery, metaphorical surgery. Right, right, right.

SPEAKER_03 1:11:00

Just to be just to be clear there.

SPEAKER_02 1:11:02

I I have my own feelings on that.

GLP-1s, Peptides, And Informed Consent

SPEAKER_02 1:11:06

Um and I used a GOP one for four months. And it was one of the worst decisions that I've ever made. I um was in the hospital four times, one of which um was an ambulance ride to a hospital two hours away from me. Um, we don't have a GI specialist where I am.

SPEAKER_01 1:11:30

I was gonna say you had you had you had you had stomach paralysis.

SPEAKER_02 1:11:34

Yes. And well, um, I was diagnosed.

SPEAKER_01 1:11:36

I'm like, you're talking two hours away, like, oh wow.

SPEAKER_02 1:11:40

And um then I had two surgeries while I was there, one of them which removed my gallbladder, um, which started um, you know, a whole plethora of other issues for me. And so I, you know, again, this is a another big conversation. And I get very spirited when I have conversations with a ton of my friends that use these because, you know, it's it's your decision. Totally. Every 100% the the right to make that free will. I'm I'm totally here for it. I simply want to share my experience so that I can hopefully prevent a friend of mine from dealing with the same thing when you're only using it for weight loss, because you feel like all of your options have been eliminated because things don't work. And even if you love your physician, you maybe want to ask a lot more questions or do a lot more research on your own before you jump to you know, being with that needle. Um, and now, you know, I know that we said we were gonna wrap this up, but now I'm seeing a lot of people just pushing peptides. So is there a huge difference? You know, of course, I have no medical background, and but I'm like, oh, you know, this this scares me.

SPEAKER_01 1:13:05

So have you seen some of my recent internet content? Do you know what I'm gonna do like on your Instagram? Yeah. Yes. So I have a lot of thoughts. First of all, I don't think that anyone on the internet, including people with medical degrees, should be selling medications or getting kickback for medications. Hello. No, and when I see former CrossFit athletes who are four months postpartum and they're like, I'm just doing this to feel like me again. Come at Stack to get my list. I want to strangle that person because first of all, you're preying on postpartum women and you're not doing it to feel like yourself. You're doing it because you want your fucking 12-pack back. No one wants to sit here and watch you inject your eight pack so you can get a 12-pack. Get the fuck off the internet. I feel so strongly about that. Like, absolutely not. These people who are making commissions and my like, no, no, and I'm very pro-capitalism. I own multiple businesses at this point, and I'm very pro-capitalism. That has nothing to do with it. It is unsafe. These people have no idea what they're doing. They don't know they have no most of them have no medical background or training. And even if they do, it's like I just I I really feel strongly against that. And here's the other problem basics over biohacking are always over here. Like, these are the people who want to just inject something into their bodies, which again they have the right to do, um, but they want to skip the basics. They don't want to sleep, they want to keep drinking alcohol, they want to eat like shit, skip the gym, and they still want to have the results. And it's like I d there's so many benefits from being someone who does all the other things. Like and now it's just you walk around and you're like, okay, like, is that person do they look like that because this? And so, like, I I you know, I want to make a shirt that's a certified GLP free. Um, because I want people to know that like this was built from hard work. Like, this was not built because and again, free will if you want it, but I I don't think I don't think anywhere in medicine are enough informed consent conversations happening. Um, again, whether it's a mammogram, a vaccine, hormone replacement therapy, I don't care what it is. And especially with these GLP ones, because the way that doctors are reimbursed, when people are seeing improvements in their A1C and their cholesterol and some of this other shit, they are getting bigger bonuses. Don't tell me they're not. I know how that fucking structure works because I worked in family practice and I've seen it. Yeah, doctors don't get kickbacks for statins, but guess what? When their diabetics are on statins and they reach a certain percent, they get they get they get more money at their at their annual bonus. Don't tell me it's not like that because I've seen it and I never gave a shit about it because I was like, I will not, I will not be, my integrity will not be influenced this way. Uh get out of here. And so, you know, these peptides, there's so many different peptides, right? BPC157, this, that, the third, the copper stuff for your face, the XYZ 123, whatever. Um, you know, and and the GLPs are are the most common, right? And once Redit Retta trutide, or however you pronounce it, RETTA, it's a GLP3 agonist. So it were, I think it's a GLP3 agonist. It works in like multiple different ways. It's gonna be like Ozempic on steroids. Um, it's gonna be really ugly. And we're gonna see a lot of sarcopenia, we're gonna see a lot of osteoporosis, we're gonna see a lot of fractures. I see women at the gym, and I'm just like, you know, I I don't want to think bad about other women's bodies, but it's really difficult not to notice when you walk around in a fucking tube top and like a bikini bottom, basically. Like when I can see things that I shouldn't be able to see on your body, I'm like, that's not healthy. And women need to understand that that is like that you don't want to look like that for your health. Like, that is not healthy. If I can see the striations, if I can see all of your veins, like it's not a healthy body fat percentage. And it's really, really scary. And you know, I see a lot too of this seems like a hard turn, but you know, endurance athletes who are on the internet and they're like, oh my god, I suffered a sacral fracture and I have no idea why. I don't know, maybe it's because you ran a hundred-mile race, you're three months postpartum, you're still fucking breastfeeding and you won't sit the fuck down. Like, right. You know, the things that the things that women see and they uphold this idea of the expectation that they need to do or look like or perform or achieve. And it's like women were told they could do it all and they could go to work and they could do all the things, and now they have they did and they have autoimmune disease. That's what happened. And it it just, you know, I mean, that's a whole other bigger conversation. I'm not saying that women shouldn't have careers and children's and children, children's, and and do the things, but so many women went off to do that, and then their husband nothing changed with their husband. And not all men. I know some wonderful fathers and husbands who equally share the load, and they they're very, but there are a segment of women doesn't happen, and now they have autoimmune disease, and gee, I fucking wonder why. And so yeah, the peptides are a no for me. And also, like, you know, just to be very blunt, I'm not about experimental things in my body. I'm disinterested. I no thank you. I don't want to put things in my body that I don't have to. Um, I feel very, very strongly about it. I don't like taking medication in general, and like we don't have human studies, we have rat studies. Right, for sure, for sure.

unknown 1:18:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:18:35

So I just and and you know, when it when you just you and this is such a a touchy subject, especially with me and and my friends that use this, and you know, every person that I know that has used it, they stop taking it and the weight starts coming back.

SPEAKER_01 1:18:53

Um yeah, people who had their fucking stomach stapled also gain the weight back and they underwent surgery. You know why? No one talked to these people about how to eat and how to exercise and the importance of stress management and all this fucking shit that we're sitting here talking about, right? And so it's like, yeah, if you revert to the same behaviors, you're gonna get the same result. I don't care what you did to your body. Sorry, I didn't mean to I no 100%.

SPEAKER_02 1:19:16

I agree. And again, I know that that when people, you know, whether they have the weight loss surgery or they they're using the the GLP one injection. So, you know, they're like, but that it wasn't easy. I didn't take the easy way, the easy way out. Well, number one, I was one of those people, I would never do the surgery ever, because when the GLP one did that to me, the first thing that my doctor was like, well, you now that you don't have your gallbladder, you can, you know, you can go back on them. And I'm like, fuck no. Number one, I can at least live without my gallbladder. I don't want my pancreas to be. It's not ideal for people to know that's not ideal.

SPEAKER_01 1:19:52

No, but yes, you can live with you can't live without a pancreas. I don't think no.

SPEAKER_02 1:19:58

And so I'm like, absolutely not. And then she was like, well, would you be interested in the surgery? No, no, I don't want the surgery.

SPEAKER_01 1:20:04

And so to be, I just want to be clear. Did you were you ever offered a referral to a dietitian?

SPEAKER_02 1:20:11

Um, so I had worked with there is a medical, oh, what was the name of the practice? A medical, I'm going to say no because it's a medical weight loss practice that's extreme diet. A little bit about that, yes, but they also the people that are in that group are all like pissed off because now they can't get their shot because their insurance isn't allowing it anymore in our state. So no dietitian.

SPEAKER_01 1:20:43

Were you were you asked about your dieting history or any type of eating disorder, disordered eating, binge eating, anything? No. No. Were you talked to about the importance of strength training, getting enough protein in so that you don't lose muscle while you were on this medication? The protein piece, yes. What did they tell you? Like 60 grams a day? How much did they tell you?

SPEAKER_02 1:21:01

No, I was to have um 90 to 100 grams a day.

SPEAKER_01 1:21:08

I mean, that's shit. That's that's not shitty shitty, but it's not great, great. So um no strength. Is that too low? Oh, way too low, in my opinion. My opinion. I mean, I I listen, not medical or nutrition advice. I personally eat between 130 and 150 grams a day and I weigh 139 pounds. So um it depends like if you're if you're strength training in any capacity, you're never gonna build muscle with that. It's you're it's gonna be real hard. So I mean, this is this is the perfect example of like, listen, I, you know, and I I I know people who have used this medication, and I've heard really great stories of um uh like one of my favorite podcasts, they had a caller on, and they brought him on to tell his story on the podcast. He was like over 600 pounds, and he really, I mean, listen, you want to talk about saving somebody's life and that being incredible, an incredible tool for him, but he stresses so hard, he's like, I do all the things. Like, I am now someone who works out four days a week. I am someone who gets 10,000 steps a day, I am someone who gets sleep. Like, he leaned into all the things. He didn't just say, like, I'm just gonna like continue to sit on my couch and eat pizza. Right. Right. Right. And so, like, I do I want to make this clear for people who think like I'm just being an asshole. Like, I do believe there is a time and a place for these medications. That is a very good example. But for the person who is not willing to lean into those things, I I really think you're gonna find yourself in not a good spot and in for one reason or another. And, you know, I if I had it my way, like Burger King, have it your way. Right. Um every person who let's say they really need the they really need to lose weight. This is someone who, I don't know, they're 200 pounds and they really would be much better off for health reasons and how they would feel and energy at 150 pounds. I'm just using easy math here, people. I'm not like calling anybody out, right? Let's just let let's say uh, you know, they they they would there would be a better health situation if they lost 50 pounds. That person would also have a strength, like be on a quality strength program. Um, they would be working with a dietitian, they would be working with a mental health uh counselor, for sure, LCSW therapist, um, because we don't even want to touch how unhealed trauma is fucking people up and their bodies and their weight and their health and everything else. Like we don't even want to touch that conversation, okay? Um and also those things, those three things insurance would have to pay for for six months before someone goes on that medication. Unless it's so extreme that there is like an immediate health risk, right? Like think about the guy who's 600 pounds. Like immediately. Immediately, yes. Immediately, yes, right. But someone who's got like 30 to 50 pounds to lose, like they're not like their blood work looks pretty good, but like we know that if they continue down this route, it's not gonna be good. Like people will say, like, oh, well, I haven't had a heart attack yet, and it's like the body positivity crowd. Well, well, great. Like, I haven't either, but like everyone can say that until they've set their first heart attack. You know what I mean? Exactly. Like, I just I I just want to make that clear that I do think there is a time and a place, but I think the time and place is like 80% less frequent than it's being prescribed. Yes, absolutely. And I and I also blame I blame practitioners too. Like, I I hold, you know, I have a girlfriend who works as a PA for a concierge medical service, and she works with a couple of physicians there. And while the physician was away, she got a refill request for a GLP one. The woman is 90 pounds. Her goal weight is 88, though. So my friend said, Oh my god, hell fucking, hell, hell fucking no. Guess who filled it though? The physician. Listen, if we can see your collarbones, you don't need this medication, you need therapy. Period. The end. Absolutely. Like your body dysmorphia is screaming. And, you know, I just think that physicians and practitioners get afraid because they're like, oh, my press gaining score. The patients are gonna complain. Who fucking cares? You took an oath when you took this job and to do no harm. And when you are prescribing medications to people who have active or a history of eating disorders, you like people don't know this. Eating disorders have the highest death rate of any mental health disorder at 6%. So, like, let's just keep perpetuating pharmaceutical anorexia for people who are 130 pounds and they want to lose those last 10 pounds. Like this whole, the whole vanity aspect of it. Like, if you if you want to do that, like just I I wouldn't prescribe it. I'm so glad I got out of medicine before this became rampant because I would have gotten fired 100%. I have no doubt in my mind. Because I just I would say no. I would say you need to go to the gym. I I would have I love thinking about this. Like I would have been fired so fucking fast. Day one. Put the donut down and go to the gym. I don't know what to tell you.

SPEAKER_02 1:26:07

Oh gosh. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:26:08

So yeah, yeah. Um if if you're asking me to comment stack um on your on Instagram, it's an immediate unfold.

unknown 1:26:17

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 1:26:19

Jump off a cliff. And what's with this like the secretive, what's the word? Secretiveness about all of it. So you're gonna post and post and like be these like little messages, but you have to comment in order to get the information.

SPEAKER_01 1:26:32

Well, it's so it's they're playing the algorithm game at that point, too, for interaction. For sure. Yeah. For sure. It's it's gross. It's so, it's so disgusting.

SPEAKER_02 1:26:41

It is, it is.

SPEAKER_01 1:26:43

I wonder if people are still here. If they've your your friends are not. Your friends are absolutely not still here. They're like, fuck that lady, I'm staying on my GLP. I want to get a snatched waste, and I don't want to go to the gym for it. Anyway. And my follower count goes down.

SPEAKER_02 1:27:01

But that's okay. You know what? It's okay for us to stand for what we believe in. And, you know, I was once that person that was like, okay, I am, I'm tired of struggling. I'm gonna take the easy way out, and I'm gonna, it was not fucking easy because it like for quite some time ruined everything about my day-to-day life. And um, you know, left me with a lot of medical bills in the end. And you know how much weight I lost? 12 fucking pounds. That's it for us. So, anyway.

SPEAKER_01 1:27:32

I mean, that's actually fast. Like, I mean, if you're losing depending on the person, like so I mean, I think this is actually an important point of like what is healthy weight loss look like. Depending on your weight, depending on what you're doing, like a quarter pound to a pound a week, if it's more than that, it's too fast. And that can compromise that I've also said like nobody's gonna have a gallbladder because people are losing weight too fast. When you lose rapid weight, it it fucks with your gallbladder and people end up without them. Right. Unfortunately. Right.

SPEAKER_02 1:28:02

Which sorry to like make me any lighter when I lost my gallbladder. Anyway.

Advocate For Yourself Without Apology

SPEAKER_02 1:28:10

So is there anything, like any final thoughts that you would like to share? Of course, I'm gonna share your links and stuff in the show notes so everyone can find you. But any final thoughts before I ask you my final question?

SPEAKER_01 1:28:24

Um just make sure to advocate for yourself. Like if you feel like something's right, something's not right, and don't settle for that. Like it's every out of everything that I've said here today and we've talked about, like that is the most important thing. Like, no one lives inside your body. And if you feel like something is not right, and like there's a lot of I would say this too, there's a lot of cash put K cash pay places. You can go like there's an MRI place here where like I've had some stuff going on, like with my pelvic floor and I want to go have an abdominal MRI. $399. I understand that that's still a lot of money, but most of the time when you go through insurance, it's gonna be more expensive anyway.

SPEAKER_02 1:29:01

It's gonna be more than that. Yes, for sure.

SPEAKER_01 1:29:03

Look, look, look for cash pay options. Um, I think that that it might not be as expensive as you think. Um and you know, I just feel like insurance is such Russian roulette because it's like, I don't know how much it's gonna cost. You didn't know thousands, ten dollars? We don't know. Um, so yeah, make sure you advocate for yourself and and don't settle for well, everything's normal, so just deal with it. It's the most important thing.

SPEAKER_02 1:29:31

I love it. I didn't even think about the cash, you know, cash the options. I live in West Virginia, and you know, so I know we probably don't have a lot of that like, however, we have like we're close to some pretty large cities, so yeah, that's um that's a great um yeah piece of information for people to be able to look into that. Um, okay, so She Ignites has a um a playlist, and the songs that are on the playlist are all songs that my guests have answered this question with. So I love that I love music, so I love this question. Oh, awesome. And it is such a wide variety of songs, and no one has a song, which I love. Everyone gives a different song. So if you what is your hype song or the um anthem that you play when you need to um you know find your fiercest self? Oh, I mean it changes.

SPEAKER_01 1:30:37

There's so many.

SPEAKER_02 1:30:38

Um can I get multiple? You can. Let's see. I'll let you have three. How's that?

SPEAKER_01 1:30:46

Oh, I'm like looking to see like what's been on repeat on my Spotify account. Um, I would say number number one right now is probably Father Figure by Taylor Swift. Okay. Um that just really like does something to me. Um Labor by Paris Paloma. Um that was a really popular Instagram song. I'm not sure I've heard that one. I bet when you hear it, I will know, but yes. The you make me do too much labor. You make me do too much. Okay, yes. Yeah, that one. Um I'm like you I'm like, everyone knows that song. And God, I would say Taylor Swift again, look what look what you made me do. Okay. I loved that's something people don't expect for me. They don't expect Taylor Swift. I love I love her. So I do too.

SPEAKER_02 1:31:48

And my kids are like, mom. I'm like, no, brilliant. She's an amazing storyteller. She is, she's a big thing. Oh my god. She's brilliant. Yeah. And the branding that she's created, like, oh my god.

SPEAKER_01 1:31:58

I don't care how you feel about her, like when you if you have no right to talk about her business mind if you've never listened to her talk about how she runs her business. Absolutely. Because she's the genius, the things that she does, and yeah. I mean, she's the youngest, she's the youngest person to become a billionaire from music only. Yes.

SPEAKER_02 1:32:19

Yes, she's phenomenal. So and I also love that um her cats are named after longer scene characters because, yes, I am a big fan.

SPEAKER_01 1:32:32

Olivia Benson and like listen, people get so surprised when they find out that I love Taylor Swift. I'm like, can't help it. I grew I grew up with her. Like I grew up with her music and I've loved it always. So right.

SPEAKER_02 1:32:48

Well, I'm I'm in the same club. I love her too. So oh my gosh. I thank you so much for this conversation. It's amazing. And you have lit the fire in me for this evening. And you know, going forward, I don't know if you saw me, but I wrote a ton of notes. And oh great. Um, you know, I'm gonna use these for myself and the conversations I have with women and friends. And I just appreciate the work that you're doing because we as women need more women like you that are, you know, teaching us that we need to listen to ourselves, but not only that, to follow through and give guidance. And so, you know, I so appreciate that our paths crossed so that I can have this conversation and then share that with my listeners. And yeah, I'm just grateful for you. So thank you very much. Oh, thank you so much for hosting me. This was really fun.

Hype Songs And Final Sendoff

SPEAKER_02 1:33:44

If there's one thing I hope you take from today, it's this you are not crazy, you are not dramatic, and you are not weak. If something feels off in your body, it deserves to be explored, not dismissed. Women deserve health care that listens. Women deserve energy, women deserve clarity, and women, we all deserve to blaze our own path, even if it challenges the system. If this episode stirred something in you, share it with another woman who needs permission to advocate for herself. Until next time, stay lit. Well, that's it for today, babe. But your fire is just getting started. If you're feeling lit up, go ahead and hit subscribe, leave a spicy little review, and tag me at sheignites candle co so I can hype you up. Remember, the world doesn't need a quieter version of you. It needs the bold, blazing, fully expressed view. Until next time, keep glowing, keep going, and never, ever dim your damn light.