The Functional Nurse Academy Podcast

How a Functional Nurse Approaches the Gut–Hormone Connection: Meghan's Story

• Melissa Schreibfeder • Episode 17

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This episode is brought to you by Functional Nurse Academy

In this episode, Melissa is joined by functional nurse Meghan Cosgrove, founder of Steadfast Functional Health. Together, they unpack the powerful connection between gut health and hormonal balance. They explore how imbalances in one system often show up in the other—and how to heal both.

Book a free discovery call with Meghan: https://my.practicebetter.io/#/5e89eb5e2a982306d08ba297/bookings?r=66f6cd1b9f0681c93e1238de&step=services

 Meghan’s practice: https://steadfastfunctionalhealth.

Functional medicine training for all other healthcare specialties and health and wellness coaches:

This show is also syndicated every Tuesday at 10am EST on The Nurses Report on America Out Loud Talk Radio 


SPEAKER_01

Hello, and welcome to the Functional Nurse Academy podcast. This is your host, Melissa Schreibfetter, owner and founder of the Functional Nurse Academy. I love to spotlight the incredible journey of nurses who have transformed the way that they practice and also their mindset through the lens of functional medicine. In today's episode, I'm going to be sitting down with one of our amazing graduates and hear how she is using functional medicine and using her own independent business to change lives and redefine what it means to be a nurse in today's world. She is a registered nurse and a board-certified functional medicine practitioner. She has a deep passion for women's health and is a mother of three living in Missouri. She has experience with labor and delivery and has witnessed firsthand the strength and resilience of the human body while helping women through childbirth and caring for newborns. Through her experience with multiple different healing paths, she discovered the profound need to reconnect with her spiritual health by prioritizing her relationship with God and addressing the root causes of her symptoms. And she experienced so many improvements with her own health. And through this transformation, she went through the Functional Nurse Academy, became board certified, started steadfast functional health. And now she is helping women uncover the root causes of their health struggles. And something we're going to be focusing on today is hormonal chaos to digestive discomfort because it is all connected, guys. And you know, we were talking about a, you know, potential topic for today, and gut issues impact almost everyone. And there's one too many people suffering with hormonal distress and are not receiving proper care for that. Welcome, Megan. It's great to have you back. That was such a nice intro, Melissa. Thanks for having me. Yeah, that's well. I'm so excited to have you on again. Um, so Megan does one of my favorite niches in functional medicine, which is women's health. And I'm always telling my students, I'm like, because guys, prenatal care, well, prenatal care, postnatal care, this epidemic of fertility issues and hormonal issues, and there's not, there's not enough good resources and care for these individuals. So I was so excited when I saw that you launched your practice. And I did want to ask you, and I do encourage our listeners, um, we did two shows together in the past, I think it was probably last year. So check those out. But as a refresher, you know, going from being a nurse in the conventional system, a conventionally trained nurse, what were some indicators that maybe conventional medicine isn't serving people that well?

SPEAKER_00

Oh man, and working in LD, um, you just see a lot of times where I feel like um we we swoop in to save the day, but we really kind of started the problem anyway. You know, we'll start an induction at 39 weeks. Sometimes even I would have providers who would try and squeeze women in around 38 weeks, and they'll say, like, oh, they've got um, so we always say poly, so they've got too much fluid in their belly, but they didn't really have a lot of like supporting evidence for it. And so, you know, we would start the Pitocin, we would, you know, patient would get an epidural, and then the baby would go into distress because they've had Pitocin for 24 hours, and then um we would go to a C-section, you know, an emergency section. And so that's just one like situation that comes to mind, but I feel like so often we don't take into account too about how impactful labor is and birth is and the impact that's gonna have once a mother goes home too. And I always wonder kind of what happened to a lot of those moms whose births didn't go as planned. Not that everyone's births go as planned, but you know, just that impact and the stress.

SPEAKER_01

So my first birth story, that is what just kind of exploded my interest in functional medicine. And that is why I do not work in that god-awful system anymore. But to tell, I think we talked about this in our last show, but anyway, for our listeners, um, I had what I believed to be an unnecessary C-section. My OB like was not even there at the hospital. She was advising the nurse over the phone and literally did like a drive-by C-section. Like they like perhaps me major surgery without a physician even seeing me. But anyway, when I got there, and I was this like super trusting, conventionally trained nurse, and I was all like, oh, whatever, the doctor has ordered. Because I just for some reason trusted everything that they said. But when I got there, like I had no idea that they were going to augment my labor, which is when you give pitocin, which speeds up labor. And I was like, oh, why are you guys giving me that? And they said, Well, we give this to everyone. This is the protocol. So I was like, okay, you know, and anyway, guys, pitocin is known to cause fetal heart rate abnormalities. And they did not tell me that. And one of the reasons why they were like, oh, we think you need a C-section is because his heart rate was going up. Did you see that a lot? And um, I know that you were mentioning that you felt like they're in a way kind of causing these issues, and then they run in to save the day. And that's one of the things you noticed. How long did it take for you to realize that as a nurse?

SPEAKER_00

Gosh, I would say it was, I was always kind of like hippie, not I wouldn't say like functional medicine, you know. I did all the vaccines and did everything I was supposed to back then, but I was still kind of like hippie crunchy when it came to birth and just like, oh, like we've been birthing babies forever. That's how we're here, and that's what we were created for. And so it didn't sit right, but I wouldn't say that I was finally kind of like fed up with it. And I was about only about a year into nursing, but I would I went to so I we started in Tennessee at a small hospital that was very conventional, and then moved to Arizona where it was and it was a big teaching hospital, so it was a little more open-minded. So I had a little more hope, you know, in in how things were. But um then I moved to Georgia, well, we moved to Germany, but then I moved to Georgia and worked again after that. And that just kind of like solidified my I'm I'm really kind of done with this and how we I almost feel like bully women sometimes. Um, it's not really informed consent, you know, whenever we're not telling people really the risks of Pytosin. Even with like um cytotech is a really big medication we use, and that's an off-label use, how we use it to induce labor. And so, you know, like with ivermectin, you couldn't use that because it was off-label for certain things. But, you know, we can use these other things and that are known to cause like uterine ruptures and stuff. So that, you know, kind of just got me. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

When I look at all these different specialties of healthcare, I'm like, well, I can't, I I I just can't decide which one is the worst because there's so many ridiculous things going on. And and one thing I hear skeptics of functional medicine that are going on, you know, Wikipedia, and Wikipedia says that somehow finding the root cause of illness is quackery. But anyway, one so many skeptics are like, well, that's not evidence-based. And I'm like, do you realize how much goes on in the hospital that is absolutely not evidence-based and is just based on rhetoric or pharmaceutical propaganda like the hepatitis B vaccine? But I will not make this whole show about a vaccine. Um, because I know that we were talking about hormonal chaos and gut issues. So, you know, and I know that you're working with a lot of these cases now, which I think is so amazing because, guys, it is it is needed. I mean, who does not know someone who like isn't suffering with some type of hormonal issue? So um can you describe a little bit like with the clients that you're seeing? Um, are you seeing like a like a significant link between issues that they may be having in the gut versus what's going on with their hormones?

SPEAKER_00

Yes, definitely. Um I I guess I didn't realize until I got into functional health how many um, I say women because I work mainly with women, but how many women's like their bowel movements aren't um optimal? And you know, you can't just ask someone, is every bowel movement's normal? Because they'll say, Yeah, they're normal, but that doesn't mean that they're optimal. Um, a lot of times I have women who have a really deal with constipation. And sometimes it's something as simple as, you know, let's really kick in how much water you're drinking, you're not drinking enough water, blah, blah, blah, to help to detox that estrogen, you know, and to flush out the bad bacteria, not reabsorb all the toxins and whatnot. Um, but also I've noticed too, um, like insomnia, anxiety being linked to gut health also, and those going along with, you know, out of whack hormones and just how much the gut brain access is too. And um helping women to not just like decrease their stress levels and stuff, but finding like, oh, I work in a, they don't think anything about like working in a moldy building or something, and how much those sorts of things also impact the gut, which then impact your hormones. And it's all kind of a vicious, it's kind of fun, you know, to kind of like puzzle piece things together, but it's also like a vicious cycle for some women.

SPEAKER_01

Well, it is, and it's it's so interconnected. And one thing that does give me hope, and sometimes the nurses I'm training, they're seeing their first clients and they're like, my head is thinning because they have this issue, this issue, this issue. But it is all connected. So just like when our gut health is off, we can see a domino effect of other bodily systems. Once we start supporting the body and giving it what it needs, the body can really work to clean up house and start to heal on its own. But again, it it needs some help. And one thing that um of course made my ears perk up is of well, whenever we're talking about poop, is nurses because it is so important, guys. And a lot of people are not comfortable talking to the doctor about their bowel habits, but they will tell the nurse. But I always, like I, you know, when I'm working with someone, and that's why it's so important that you're personable and you build like a rapport with them, because if you're not friendly, they're not gonna want to tell you about their stool patterns, but it is so important. And people are kind of embarrassed about it. And also when I um started doing this type of work, and even when I was in conventional medicine, I remember I worked on a geriatric unit and they were like, oh, you know, if they don't have a bowel movement every three days, then you give them a littlexative. So it was just normal for them just to like not be not be having bowel movements every day. But there are some people that may be having a bowel movement maybe once or twice a week. And and again, like that is one of when we talk about detoxification and things like that, that is one of our primary drainage pathways. So it's like, what do we think is happening when all that stool is just, you know, sorry, you guys are getting like a lesson today on food. But when all that stool is just sitting in the colon, all of that junk is just going back into recirculation. And so many women have hormonal issues. And through your bowel movements is how you are detoxifying, excreting a lot of that excess estrogen. So now, and again, like I've also noticed, you know, in conventional medicine, and they'll put people on their relax or elactive or whatever before even telling them to drink more water or eat more fiber. I'm just like, I just, I just can't. But um, what do you see are like when you're working with people to get their guts um balanced, what do you see are some things that are easy for people to do that have a lot of benefits?

SPEAKER_00

So drinking enough water is a big one. Um I didn't, especially like nurses, teachers, like it sounds I don't mean for this to sound sexist, but like more women professions, they're not having the time in the day to drink water or to stop and go to the bathroom. So they, you know, don't want to drink water for that reason too. Um, but drinking enough water is a big one. Also just getting your body moving. I think a lot of times whenever we encourage people to work out, they're thinking like, oh, I need to go to the gym and I need to be lifting weights. But really, like getting in like a 30-minute walk and kind of helping get stuff going, even doing yoga and like the bending, you know, like the um the bending over emotions and stuff that yoga causes, you know, all that helps to stimulate your bowels. It's like a little massage. Um, but then other things would be um, so some people have a really hard time, I feel like with fiber, and I'm sure you've seen it too, like getting in vegetables, fruits tend to be a little easier. So um encouraging them to use like uh psyllium husk is one that I feel like a lot of people instead of Murillax, if they are gonna go to something, obviously I feel like the lifestyle stuff is a much better way to go versus jumping to that. Um, chia seeds are another easy one that kind of help with constipation and um loose stools. Um so really lifestyle. I mean, so much of it's lifestyle. And some people too, I feel like once you start to get their stress lower, and you know, we get in, um, like I'll you have them use the insight timer or um like from the Functional Nurse Academy, if a lot of people like your Olympic training worksheets, um, and using those to kind of help like settle down, you know, start their mornings and to end their days. Um, sometimes even that kind of helps, you know, their body be like, we're not in flight mode all the time. We can, you know, chill for a moment and relax. Um, magnesium's another, I feel like there's so many. Magnesium's another one, you know, the list goes on. But who knows?

SPEAKER_01

And what I love about this is that so many of the things that you mentioned are free or are really inexpensive. I mean, I mean, like free things, like like Lubic system retraining, which for our listeners, if you're not familiar with that, that is basically a really amazing way that you can down-regulate your stress response. Most people, again, especially us moms, are running around all day. I mean, I am like in this like life situation now where I can't even really go to the bathroom without someone like crying by the door, you know. I mean, like, there's so many of us that we're we're so busy taking care of everyone else all the time. And those are things that you have a busy mom and you can be like, okay, I know your life is crazy, but when you are folding laundry or you're doing dishes, or if you're able to like, you know, have a family member or your husband like watch the kids for a little bit so you can get alone time, those are free exercises that you can do. And again, with something as simple as getting, you know, regular bowel movements. If you are in fight or flight, the body is not gonna be like, hmm, let's relax so that we can have a nice bowel movement. Like that is like not like a priority for the body when your nervous system is up-regulated. And another thing um that you that you were mentioning was things like um magnesium and and drinking more water. And I I feel like every single week I'm like, okay, I'm not gonna say, I'm not gonna call doctors stupid and I'm not gonna say something sassy. But it is really disheartening when you see these people that they have this ailment, they have this issue, and they are just prescribed a medication that is just going to kind of suppress their symptoms and not heal anything when these very basic, I mean, drink more water, eat more fiber, take some deep breaths, like when that's not addressed first. Um, I actually had a um pediatric plan I worked with a long time ago, but the mom took her to me because her abdomen was distended. She was embarrassed from it, you know, poor, and she was like five years old and starting kindergarten and she was embarrassed at school. And the doctor had her on Miralax for two years for constipation. And the first thing I did was I looked up the insert, which, guys, for medications, you can look up any medication insert online on the FDA's website, but it clearly said, listed as a serious side effect and discontinue if this happens is distinction of the abdomen. And the pediatrician just didn't know that and was was still prescribing the mirror. Um, but turns out, again, she wasn't drinking enough water, she wasn't having enough fiber, and then she had like a gut infection. But there's sometimes easy things that we can do instead of taking like a lifelong medication. Um, and also I did want to ask you, so um, do you like what what are some other, what are some like common hormonal symptoms that you see in the clients you work with when these people are already dealing with some underlying gut dysfunction?

SPEAKER_00

Oh, so that one, yeah. So sometimes you'll see women and they'll have um they'll have acne. They'll be irritable. Sometimes they almost, I know I you talk about thyroid a lot. Sometimes a lot of them are almost like, is it thyroid or is it going to be like hormonal? Because it'll be um like their hair, you know, thinning hair, um, irritability. Um, they'll have acne. Some women too will get this like like round belly, but then I it's like, and I know you can't really see, but it's just like a round belly, but not really like gaining weight in their arms and stuff. So I get this like midsection weight gain. Um and then what else do I see? I feel like, oh, painful periods, heavy periods. Um, those are big ones. Um, yeah, I feel like those are like the main ones. I've had a couple with PCOS that, you know, that's a whole nother beast.

SPEAKER_01

So, and and when you're talking about both symptoms, I'm like, what woman wants you like have issues with a round belly when they're not pregnant? I mean, I'm pregnant now and I have a round belly, and I'm like, I don't like it, but I know that he has a baby in there and he needs robe, you know. But but anyway, you know, sometimes we when you notice that when someone may have thin arms and legs, but then they're gaining weight primarily in the abdomen, that can be a clue that that could be your cortisol, which is your master stress hormone. And I always say, I'm like, when that is off, it is like a domino of that. But um, but yeah, it's also like interconnected. And and oh, this will be a good question for you that I'm gonna try to like not be sassy about the response. But since you are so well versed in women's health and what we do in conventional medicine in regards to women's health, like say that a woman um, you know, presents to her like regular provider or or her OB with these types of symptoms, what kind of therapies will be offered to them?

SPEAKER_00

So just from what I've experienced, it's usually um hormonal contraceptives. They'll tell them to um work out more and to eat less, which as you know, like can really wreak havoc sometimes on women's body, especially women in childbearing gears. Like they don't know, that's not what they need. They need to calm things down. Um and then also for like acne, I cannot remember the name. Is it accutane? Accutane, yeah. Oh, I hate that one. Yes, they will put you on birth control with it for acne because it will, it's known to cause um harm and defects to babies. So they don't want you to get pregnant on it. So, you know, I'm sure what havoc is that wreaking on your body if that's what it would do to your baby if you were pregnant, you know.

SPEAKER_01

So I remember when I was, and I am so thankful that I have a mom that is like super skeptical of doctors and pharmacists because, you know, I had so many physics. Friends that were on birth control. It would like like it would start out with, you know, maybe they were having acne. So then the doctor would be like, oh, here's some birth control. And then because we've stopped ovulation, then they start having anxiety, because anxiety is a symptom of when you stop ovulation. It's not natural. So then they would get anxiety and depression, and then they would go on an antidepressant. And then they would end up having acne. And then it was like one thing after another. But accutane is also a medication that also kind of behaves like an antibiotic in a way. So it also wrecks the gut, causes other issues. So but again, and I think that we both understand that sometimes in medicine, especially in emergency medicine, if you have an emergency issue, you may need medical treatment. But this whole like silliness of, well, we're just gonna, you know, prescribe you um long-term accutane or your acne. We're not even gonna think about what's causing it. So yeah, just keep, you know, drinking those sugary drinks and you know, taking the rest of your medications. And when you get more symptoms, we'll just give you more drugs. Um, and then also the contraceptives. Um, I let like like like we know that they even increase cancer risk in women. And there's a whole whole society back that I just can't imagine, you know, and again, like I can see if someone is having such painful periods that they like cannot walk and cannot leave the house where you may need to do an intervention like that while you work to figure out what's going on. But I just cannot understand like people that have had so much education, so much medical education, and they're like thinking it's a good thing to just long term stop a woman's ovulation. I mean, what do you what do you think about that?

SPEAKER_00

I I'm I'm with you. I just don't understand how they think that that's going to be a good solution because your body's meant to ovulate. It your body doesn't ovulate just to get pregnant. Like we go through these cycles and so many important things happen, you know, are um the uterus is shedding its lining, and that there's just I feel like there's so many things that our body's doing that then will just shut off. And then it's having a cascade effect on other issues within the body. And um, and I don't, I just like you said, I don't think most people even know. I don't think parents know about the risks or anything because, like you said, everyone just gets put on it and it's it's fine, everybody's on it. There, and like the the implants, you know, that can move around. Who wants that? Or like IUDs, they can, you know, poke through uterus or they can get misplaced. And I actually saw a C-section once and the baby came out holding the mom's IUD. Um, you know, it's just kind of like I I don't get why we're so obsessed with disrupting like normal, healthy bodily processes that honestly show a woman's health, you know, and show that we are healthy.

SPEAKER_01

Well, and again, there's a lot of money in disrupting the natural processes because when we do that, then there's more need for interventions. But but I I don't believe that like most physicians are kind of like, oh, how many people are we gonna hurt today? Like a lot of them genuinely, for some reason, believe what the pharmaceutical reps are telling them, even though I'm like, okay, how many times has pharma um how many times have they deceived us? Do we not remember the opiate epidemic or you know what happened with the COVID vaccine? I do want to pause for a moment to remind our listeners. This show is also syndicated on America Out Loud Talk Radio, on the Nurses Report radio show and podcast. So you can also find me there on any major app. I am joined today with Megan Cothrow, who is a graduate of the Functional Nurse Academy. She is a registered nurse and a board-certified functional medicine practitioner, and she also is the owner of Steadfast Functional Health, where she helps women restore balance to their life and to their realness. Because again, I mean, so many people are suffering unnecessarily with chronic health issues and symptoms and ailments that go on every single day. And we need more functional practitioners like Megan that are available to help them. Welcome back, Megan. Thanks, Melissa. So we were just talking before break about the, and I gosh, gosh, I I've got to like, you know, you were talking about Linux system retaining. And like before I do these shows, I need to downregulate my nervous system because when I start talking about this just like ridiculous use of pharmaceuticals, like birth control. Like I just, and I think that also since I am pregnant, I just get like more agitated easily, you know. So I'm like, I need to go take some deep breaths myself. But anyway, yeah, I know of so many people that have been harmed by just this recklessness that goes on in the system with just over-prescription. And again, I mean, the system is not designed to be healing. And we know that even good, even well-intentioned providers in the system have very limited time, you know, with the clients that they were with. And so I wanted to talk about natural tools that you were using um in your practice to help women kind of calm the hormonal chaos. So I know we talked about like some lifestyle uh measures, but what are some other things that you have found to be helpful when women are um struggling? Um, say, say with things like, you know, um PMS or weight loss resistance and things like that.

SPEAKER_00

So um for for those, besides doing like making sure they're getting enough protein or whatever, um, some other things that can be really helpful are one finding, and I know this is kind of what functional medicine is all about, but like finding where is the disrupt happening. And so um I've actually had a lot of women I'm working with who have mold exposure and that's causing a lot of these issues. Um, I guess I just didn't realize before I started doing this how often, you know, women are like, oh yeah, I know the building I work in is moldy, but you know, I have a they'll have a um air purifier with them. And so they're like, oh, you know, it that's helping. And I'm like, well, if you're having these symptoms and that, we might need to like look further into that. Um, so that's one of them. Some women though, they can do well with using um, like certain I'm not an herbalist, but like using certain herbs and supplements. Um, like Cellcore has one called Estro that I know of. Um I feel like I've used that one with um older women and they tend to like enjoy it. Um there are other herbs that I am blinking on right now because you asked me. But um what about gem? Yeah, that's great to support your liver and um and to help like flush out uh excess estrogen and whatnot, and then um NAC to support your liver. Um let's see, and whenever something I really love about like with with your functional nurse academy too is the Dutch test and like learning about the Dutch test. Because if you ever um if you ever run a Dutch test report and then you get to talk to the Dutch providers, they talk about like um maca is also another great one um for women who are experiencing um, I'm pretty sure it's slow cortisol clearance, isn't it? Maca for slow cortisol clearance rate.

SPEAKER_01

Macha has a it it helps with so many different things. Like it is that type of multifactorial herb. It's one of my favorite ones.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. And um, I because I've I I knew what maca was before, but like then now that I'm doing this, I've feel like I've recommended that one to some some women too. Um but really finding like getting down to the root cause too, because some women, it's even a matter of inflammation within the body just because of like the foods they're eating and whatnot, or like the products they're using, which is I feel like is always um something fun to talk about women with, because most of the time by the time people come to us, they're already kind of um skeptical of the conventional medicine medical model. And so then whenever you tell them, like, hey, these products also aren't the best, um they're not surprised, you know.

SPEAKER_01

So yeah, I get a lot of women coming to me because they don't want to go on the pharma wheel of fun, you know, because they they see what's happened to their friends and family members that go on pharmaceuticals for their symptoms, and then these people just keep getting worse and they end up a lot of times have worsening health outcomes because again, we're giving a band-aid that may be very high risk, and we're not fixing the underlying cause. And I love that you mentioned mold. So I am currently sitting in a home, but I have had uh three mold remediations and I got really, really sick from living in my home. But but thankfully I was aware of mold illness, and we know that this CDC, the CDC recognizes it, but they're really only recognizing this when there's been a natural disaster like Hurricane Katrina and your home has been flooded and you just happen to be immunocompromised. But we know that mold species can uh excrete very toxic spores called mycotoxins, and those can make people really sick. And then some of the mycotoxins are xenoestrogenic, so they act like estrogen in the body and can really alco-regulate and disrupt um our hormonal processes. But um, when you mention that some women, uh people just to people just don't know about it. And I didn't know about this before I went into functional medicine, but I remember I worked in uh a hospital that, and thank God this place has been like shut down. But anyway, it was a really old hospital and employees were getting sick from working there. And, you know, and the administrators were like, well, just wear an N95 because they they were doing construction and it was a super old uh hospital. And I think um one employee had to get like hospitalized with respiratory issues. And I remember I would do my 312s, and then I was starting to have breathing problems. And then after it was always after my work week, I ended up with this like rash all over my neck and like and things that would clear up when I was off of work. And then when I went back, I would start having the issues again. So, but it really is something that needs like recognition. But again, um, there really is not any type of like official medical diagnosis or recognized treatment for those things. But with functional medicine, we have solutions for that and we're aware of it. But I too have had clients I've worked with who like one of the sickest clients I ever had was in well over 90% remission in all of her symptoms within four months because I helped her to recognize she was living in a home that had toxic black mold. And and again, like the body is resilient. So, you know, but it's but it's like we have to look at their environment. And um, what are some you mentioned, like, and I like talking about like cosmetics and stuff like that with women too, but you mentioned the products that they're using. What are some products that you usually see that people are using daily that may be harmful that um the you know average person wouldn't recognize as a red flag?

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. So um for women, usually it's makeups and lotions. Um, sometimes I feel like a lot of women have kind of gone away from perfume, but every once in a while you'll have someone's perfumes too that are made, you know, naturally. Um, makeups, not only does makeup have the chemicals, but I'm I know most people know now um a lot, like especially lipstick, like red lipstick. Lead was a big contaminator of red lipstick. Um, and so whenever you're putting in putting stuff on your face every day, and I don't think people consider too how the eye is also a mucous membrane. So not just your lips, but whenever you're putting makeup around your eyes and it's full of this, you know, of um of all these chemicals and these heavy metals, because some of the heavy metals they use to make the different colors too, uh, or some of the coloring that they use also have heavy metals, um, you know, you're you're absorbing that within your body. And then for your skin, you know, especially with like as a nurse, I feel like a lot of times you see topical like hormone creams. Um, but you know, your skin absorbs things. And so whenever you're slathering on just your cheap Walmart lotions, um, you're slathering on a lot of things that aren't really um safe. And some of them whenever you look at like our band list and then you look at like Europe's band list, um, it's almost it's not comical, but it's just like, come on, like what what the heck? Like they're proving that it's bad. So how are we not proving that it's bad for us?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, yeah. I remember another thing. Um, another hospital I used to work. I'm so glad I don't work in the hospital. I need to work at another hospital I used to work at. I was a case manager, and our office, there were like five of us, and I swear our office, like it used to be a closet, and they just, you know, kind of redesign it, put some laptops in there, but it smelled musty in there. So my coworkers would go in there and they'd be like, oh, it stinks in here, and they would just spray that for breeze everywhere. And I was like, oh, like I'm like dealing with this musty smell, just probably mold. And then they're just spraying a bunch of chemicals on it, and then people are just breathing it in and they don't think anything of it, you know. Um, but again, you know, once you wake up to these types of things, like I've never really heard of anyone that's become aware of because again, and I always say you don't want to live in a bubble, you don't want to be scared of everything, but you know, control what you can in your home and try to make those better choices. But I've never met anyone that has learned about these things and then worked to like live a more natural lifestyle and then went back to using all of the chemicals and like eating the like fast food and and and stuff like that. Because again, once you once you clean it up, you feel the difference, you know? So, but yeah, I'm seeing a lot of, I wonder if you're noticing this on social media. And I try to say off of social media, guys, but um since the whole make America Healthy again movement is going, and there's likely a lot of big industries that don't like this movement because they're gonna have to make a lot of changes, I am seeing so much of what I think is propaganda from like, you know, influencers that are defending things like the food dyes and the other chemicals that are used and product. Are you seeing an uptick of that?

SPEAKER_00

Oh, yeah. Well, and even if you are driving, whenever I drive in um next week's my last week at the hospital, but as you're driving into St. Louis, congratulations. Thank you. There is even a sign, a big billboard right now that says um banning glyphosate will will harm Missouri farmers. And then it's got a little tagline on it. And then um, so it's funny you mentioned that because I have noticed that billboard like every day for two or three months now. Uh yeah. About this entire year is about whenever it went, whenever it got put up for the, you know, make America Healthy movement. And I I really, you know, like with doctors, I don't, I really don't believe that doctors or even like conventionally minded nurse practitioners or TAs that they want people to be sick. I know that there are people who like will argue that. I really don't think that they want to be sick. They want people to be sick. They don't have the time or the energy to like worry about these things, to put, or I guess I should say to put effort into these things because they're having to meet deadlines for insurance companies and yada, yada, yada. So whenever I see like influencers do that, it really like grinds my gears because I'm just like, this this isn't right. Like people for some reason are listening to you and um why why defend it? That's what I just don't get.

SPEAKER_01

Like, yeah, yeah, I was and and and again, I I do think, and I I agree with you, like I don't think it's a conspiracy that like most medical doctors or other providers are in cahoots with pharma and they're like, let's see how sick we can get everyone. You know, I think but but but I do think that they should utilize some more critical thinking, think outside of the box, but also the conditions that they work in are horrible. And the type of conditions that they work in, they don't have extra time for anything. And again, I'm seeing this uptick of what I think is it's propaganda, which I think is very clearly funded by fake industry or by other organizations that are funded by fake industry. But I can see how someone who is like burnt out and exhausted and they don't want to do all of those things to be healthy because it's more expensive, it's more work. And then you listen to this influencer give you this whole on, like, you know, uh this this this whole on talk about how all of this, all these things that we're talking about, getting the chemicals out of our personal care products and our food, about how it's all shenanigans. And yeah, I mean, it's totally fine to, you know, regularly consume um food dyes that we know are petroleum-based. And it's okay to like rub chemicals on your skin every day that we haven't done safety testing. But again, it's like, I think it just goes, it does go back to that common sense. But again, I mean, I know for years none of this was on my radar because I I was busy and like this didn't even come onto my radar until I got really sick, you know? But it's like I I, you know, and if I had to do it all over again when I was much younger and in my like you know, 20s, I would have been making healthier decisions. But but again, like the body's resilient and count and can bounce back. And with the women that you work with, um, do you have any like examples of success stories of say even you know, women that may be dealing with like uh hormonal issues, gut issues, like bloating, or just any chronic ailments that they were living with for a long time, but they've had relief from working with you?

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. So the the gut and the bloating stuff, which like I said earlier, also kind of goes with the hormonal stuff. Um, that is one I feel like I I guess I also before I started doing all this, because I didn't realize how much that impacted women. You know, like everyone kind of complains about bloating every once in a while and blah blah blah, like that's just normal. Um, but actually I worked with a woman who was dealing with some um some mold and then also some gut issues, and um was having kind of like hot flashes and whatnot, and working on um like using biocyden and then rebuilding the gut and all of those sorts of things, and also some lifestyle and dietary changes too, um, helped really helped her calm down her bloating, calm down just her like overall inflammation, like she just kind of felt almost like um like her lymph was, you know, like lymph flow wasn't there and it was like stagnant. Um, and so that was pretty, pretty exciting to have her, you know, feel like she had um, oh sorry, that's my reminder, take my iron. Um, but having her, you know, come back and like feel better. It and it was kind of um it really it didn't take as long as I thought it would take to I remember with her for mold. And um, so that was like exciting for me too, and it kind of boosted my confidence to doing things because you know, switching into something new, um you know how that goes. And then um, and then another lady who had PCOS, we're still like working on things, but um being able to see her like lose weight finally, um, that's that's also really rewarding and having energy and stuff. So those are those are two that stick with me.

SPEAKER_01

Oh, I I just get like giddy taking it back because it because it's really that's why we went into nursing is we want. To help people, you know, so it really is amazing when you help people to heal from these things because again, the body can heal. So um, but yeah, yeah, that's that's so wonderful. And I I like that you mentioned biocyten. And I also tell nurses that I train them like, you are never going to be able to help identify every single little infection in the gut and in the body. But like using something like biocyten, which is an herbal blend that is broad spectrum, antimicrobial, antifungal, antiparasitic. I mean, I mean, how many of us have fur babies? Um, you know, my Ossie Pooh, who I love dearly, I know she eats rabid poop out in the backyard and then she comes inside and tries to lick us, you know. So, I mean, there are so many different ways that we can get exposed to things. But again, it's okay. We can't live in a bubble. There are tools that we can use to, you know, help to clean up the gut. And can you tell us? I wanted to um touch on your experience with functional nurse academy since you're going to be our feature for this month. So can you tell me a little bit about your experience with FNA and how it, you know, prepared you to start your own business?

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. So um with FA, I am a nerd. And so I printed off all the slides and like went through it like lecture style. And so I have all those slides in notebook. Um, and I will periodically, if I'm like having something that's kind of stumping me, usually SIBO ones, I always kind of like re-listen to your little SIBO spiel because that one, um, I don't know why. SIBO, I just always want to be sure before I'm like telling someone, like, hey, we should check out a SIBO test. Um, but being able to go through, I really like self-paced things. Uh, I think it took me about like two, two and a half months to get through it all because I just I loved absorbing all the information. Um, and all of the you've like been adding little things too, where like you'll do little um interviews with people and then you'll like put them in there too. So, like, was it the Dutch test or something? You added one in. And so I like I love listening to those because it gives you so much information that you're not exposed to in the conventional nursing world. And it really helps you to, I feel like, open your mind, even if whenever you already feel a little open-minded of that stuff, but open your mind more to how much things are connected, like um finding candida, you know, there's probably a connection to mold, or um, I've had a couple actually young people who have had um like stealth infections, like EBV. And so having your, once again, having your slides and stuff, I like to kind of flip back through and like see what you're what you kind of discussed. And then also you have a lot of great references um and websites and stuff to go to. And so there's an EBV one that you recommended, and so I've kind of used um information from that. And then um also I really love the monthly mentorship. I think that it's great, even though I know I'm not always on the live calls. You do such a good job at like finding good topics for us and um the QA's usually of what whenever everyone else is asking questions are usually applicable some way to the rest of us.

SPEAKER_01

So glad it helped you because again, I mean, you know, we're always learning, no one is gonna know everything. So we're always learning things along the way, but I think it's important to have like to feel prepared to start seeing clients functionally. And again, like I talk to nurses all the time. And, you know, when you're doing something new, like it's hard doing something new. So it's good to have like additional tools that help with your skill set and your confidence. But I was so excited when I saw you um lots of practice and your website like looks amazing. And can you tell us um a little bit more about like steadfast functional health? And are you um like are you seeing clients um nationally or um mainly just in Missouri?

SPEAKER_00

So I have seen clients who are in other compact states. Um, I've seen them virtually. I mainly do see ones that are in Missouri and in our area. Um, I really COVID a lot, we're in a rural part of Missouri too, and COVID really has opened a lot of people's eyes to um what conventional medicine is. And so if you live in a rural area, like don't fret, there are people out there. You just have to find the connections to others to get the referrals to you. Um and so I see the majority of my people I definitely see in person, but I see a couple online. Yeah. Through videos.

SPEAKER_01

Okay. And now are you, do you have a um, so tell me about your physical location. So are you working out of another clinic? How does that work?

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, I am working out of a chiropractic office. Yeah, one of the little back spare rooms.

SPEAKER_01

Oh, okay, wonderful. Yeah. And I always say to say as well, you know, you can with these types of businesses, you can work virtually, but also it it you can also rent space and an already well-established holistic practice. And then that's another good referral source because they're already having, you know, patients coming in and out. So, and then also if someone wants to work with you, like what would the first steps be?

SPEAKER_00

So if they they can either email me or they can call the friend desk at the office and then they can schedule a free 15-minute consult with me. And that's just over the phone with everybody, no matter where they're located. And then um we chat about that and then we kind of see, you know, next steps. You know, some people come in with a whole bunch of lab work already. Some people I then, you know, send them off for some lab work because um really that comprehensive panel that you recommend through Avexia uh from the Functional Nurse Academy. There's another plug. Um, it's great. It provides a lot of information and the functional health reports are really helpful.

SPEAKER_01

Well, well, yeah, you know, and I am, I was so dead set on like, we don't want to just be ordering the same labs on everyone, but um, that is a base panel that the, I mean, we should be looking at your micronutrients and your inflammatory markers, just like how your primary care provider will do the basic, you know, complete metabolic panel, complete blood count, lipids, but there's so many other things that really truly should be part of an annual physical that are not. So I think it's great to have that like base comprehensive panel. And then based on, you know, their symptoms to potentially add on other things because, you know, I I gripe about this all the time. Um, when I went through functional medicine as a patient, I felt like so many of them were like, okay, um, right off the bat, we're gonna just order, you know, two, three thousand dollars of uh lab testing for everyone. And then everyone gets the same um supplement protocol and the same dietary plan. And I'm like, that's not functional medicine. We need to bioindividualize. So, but I'm so glad that you're seeing success with that. And um, for our listeners, so I will be posting Megan's website um and a link to her free discovery call if anyone is interested in working with her. Because again, like, you know, um breaking up with the conventional medicine system and then going into functional medicine, it is so important that like you find the right practitioner for you. And I love it when practitioners are willing to get on the phone with people for free. I feel like that's how it should be when you're looking to hire any type of healthcare professional that you can meet with them and talk to them first before having to officially enroll. So I love that. And yeah, thank you so much for coming on today. Thanks so much for having me. It was great chatting with you again. Yeah, anytime. I mean these shows always go. There's just so much we could talk about. I mean, I feel like we probably could talk for like another hour, but I know that we both have kids, so that won't work. That is all the time that we have today. Thank you so much for tuning in. And again, if you want to learn more about the Functional Nurse Academy, please feel free to register for our next live webinar. And you will see that link in the show notes. You can also check out Functional Nurse Academy on our social media platforms or on our website at functional nurseacademy.com. Until next time, be safe, be well, and God bless.