Jonathan: Nurse Gains Lean Muscle + More Energy on TRT

So what led you to our practice? Uh essentially I just wanted to I made a commitment to start lifting and I did and I was I was meeting part of my commitment or actually I was meeting that part of the commitment but I thought I could do better. I started out I I started reading I think it's called peptides and that led me I didn't want to do it on my own. I didn't just read about peptides and say well I'll order this from an an internet doctor who will send me stuff and and I'll inject it sub subq. Like I'm not even I'm not intimidated by um injections. I'm a nurse so I understand how that part works. But the part that did bother me was I was doing it on my own. I didn't have any referrals. There was no human face behind it. I understood the concept was generally called functional medicine and read about med matrix and it got good reviews from others. So that's what led me to the practice was um just seeking I don't know more wellness, better wellness. I I want to improve my wellness. So, you know, I get wellness, keep it, and make it better. So, that's what came there. That's what is it? It's the normal labs does not mean well, you know. No. Well, that you know what that's actually how she explained it to me that a lot of times um like your GP or you know your your family doctor uh is looking really at a very small uh subset of markers like and and so the labs did for me are much enhanced. And she was explaining to me about the different markers and what they mean and why you should be testing for it. So I really like that that was yeah okay give me more of this wellness like what else cuz I didn't know this and I'd been a nurse for 10 years and I I just I had no idea. So let's talk about how before you came to this practice you were feeling dayto-day actually a little lethargic. I was waking up tired and um my my overall health habits were okay. Like um non-drinker, I don't smoke. Um but despite that, I was um often like fueled by coffee. Um and so uh like crashing at like 2:00 in the 2 3:00 in the afternoon and I I thought there there must be more to it than this. Like you know I I I'm looking at other people do the same thing. I'm like no, we all I bet we're all making the same mistake. we're not uh this I can't just be getting seven or eight hours of sleep a night waking up tired and then um about 1:00 having to pound coffee to just get through the remainder of the shift. So I I would say fatigue was generally how I was feeling initially and out of that she identified that I was like low in D was low in iron. My tea was lower and I wanted to raise that. So got me on it. It didn't it was pretty easy program. It was just prescribed based on these blood tests like deal with your thyroid, deal with your feritin, deal with your iron. um get more D which apparently affects like everybody in Maine just cuz Maine but and I started doing a testosterone replacement much better. It's not you know it's not like oh it's a miracle or anything but it's way like I am far more focused at work and my gym regimen is good. It was good before, but I improved my eating. And between that and the TRT, up 6 lbs of muscle, I am down like the numbers didn't change that much on the scale, but the body composition has changed. I'm not where I want to be, but I'm in the right I know in the right direction and that's really all we can do is keep heading in that right direction. I'm impatient by nature, so you know, like I don't have all day to start feeling better, but um it's working for me. I'm happy. I'm very happy with it. So, I don't know. That's the overriding thing in the beginning was fatigue like like excessive fatigue. Not like that seemed unrelated to the amount of um like my job isn't it's I'm not ditching. I'm a nurse. I walk three or four miles a day just cuz I'm pushing a med cart. I'm around but I thought this should not should not be this. That first initial visit. Let's talk about the you coming in for the labs. How was that experience? Uh that was easy. that was um they basically set you up with uh blood tests because they have to have it's very it's clearly very data driven. So you'll do blood work and then you'll come in, you'll have an inerson consultation and they'll go over every value and what it means and they'll explain it to you in terms that you can understand and give you opportunity to answer questions and kind of just create a pathway for you to follow, you know. So that's that was my initial visit was reviewing my blood work, doing a body composition, the in body scan. Yeah, body scan. Yeah, that was very Yeah, that was very interesting. I like that. So for the initial visit, it's mostly informational uh about like like where you are, where you're starting, and what your goals are. And then the initial visit with Dr. Rose, can you speak on that? Yeah, very cordial. You're very relaxed. There's no uh like her her demeanor, she comes across as very intelligent, but very accessible. speaking with her was very easy. Uh, do you have any questions was not do you have any questions was not a rhetorical question. She really meant do you have any questions and she took the time to answer them. So, I was very happy. I ask her a lot of the same questions over and over. [laughter] Yeah, she's very patient. So do I. So would I cuz like you know some of this information is new to me like uh asking her to explain like what like if why are your total testosterone and why is your bioavailable testosterone two different numbers? because some of it is bound up in in a globulant in a globulant protein. So you which keeps it from being available. Um she's able to break stuff like that down and she's able to recommend like certain readings. If you want to go uh farther with something you can and so I liked that cuz I'm I like to know why behind what I'm doing. And she's very patient with me. So the uh and I'm sure I pestered her with a lot of questions that she's probably been asked by a million other people who are in there. And so but she made she broke it down and she seems genuinely interested in who you are and what that you succeed. So you I was I was happy with it. So your the next time let's say you did cuz you were mentioned that your body composition changed the next time that you did that inbody scan and you came in for that followup. Can you I guess speak on how you felt in that moment? Yeah. Great. Because I knew I was I mean I I knew like cuz I had been on like between supplements and TRT. I'd been on that for about like I don't know 10 weeks maybe 15 weeks something like that. That's not long. And uh you know and it's like wow your overall body fat has dropped by like two and a half two and a half%. But you put on almost 5 lbs of muscle like yeah okay good. I was very happy with that. I knew I was expecting some like success in that area because clearly like I was a relatively experienced lifter like but I was inconsistent like I would do it and then like for four or five months and then quit for four or five months and come back. So I was always often starting from scratch or starting from beginnerhood. But like I said when I what led me to this place was that I had maintained like close to 3 months of regular lifting and I really decided I was going to make the commitment. I was writing things down. I was committing it putting it in writing. So part of that is how I ended up here. Then because I had a program in place for for resistance training, I actually got it actually paid off between the supplements and the TRT going hitting the gym three times a week and then seeing the like I could see the evidence in front of me like, oh, more muscle here and less fat. Oh, I really like that. Um, so yeah, it's actually very satisfying. Um, and tends to inspire you to keep working. Um, so I like I said, I'm not where I want to be at all, but I'm confident that I will, you know, it's I'm having a really good time with it. I feel much better. I'm really I'm very happy with that. Like that's so that the the at least the trip is fun. And what about um I guess how your dayto-day experience has changed? Like how are you living dayto-day now in comparison to how you were living day before? What what I like is the a you know it's not like you're not tired or at least like by the time I clock out I've had like I'm good. I'm ready to go. I've had enough. I'm done. Um I work [snorts] my make my living as a nurse. So that tends to be um you're well you're dealing with sick people. So at the end of the day you have generally been around a lot of other people's discomfort. So that can be that can really test you because you you have to be empathetic but you also have to stand off a little bit so you can be objective and you will deal with multiple people with different issues all of whom are in various varying degrees of discomfort up to outright pain. This is very taxing. It's also kind of psychologically taxing. What I do notice is I'm I'm more resilient. I am less fatigued. I don't that's and you know what those two things I'm fine a vet that's worth the price of admission alone I am less fatigued I am more resilient and my I am not getting quite nearly as beaten up and by the job as it as it often does and I'd also say that dayto-day during the job I am feel like I have more focus and I'm far less reliant on caffeine or monster or red bowl or what you know just getting through the day done that in a year almost so it's not it's not a miracle this isn't snake oil. I'm putting in hard work, but I'm very happy with how it has changed the dayto-day. So, I am more focused and um less tired and I like that. And you we spoke about peptides before. You said I would want to do this, but I would like guidance. One of the things that we talked a lot about is, you know, guidance through these these peptides and hormones and things like that. Um at the at the moment, I am sticking with I was going to I did a Wolverine pack. I liked it. Um, I'm at the moment I'm focusing on nutrition and TRT. So, I might go and do I might might continue with that or add that. Um, I don't feel like I've really ex I haven't finished with this part yet. Um, but the more you know, so that's where I'm at with that. I like the TRT. I I know people that actually I know people that I work who started peptides, but for me, I'm good with this right now. Between the supplements and blood work, I like data. So quarterly coming in and seeing like this is going up or this is going down. We're going to adjust this or that. And it clearly is is to me at least is paying off on how I feel, how my dayto-day is. So um so I can't speak too deeply about peptides cuz I I was doing it for a while but I don't think I really did it long enough to say this made a big difference. The test the TRT made the biggest difference. So, what about I guess the flexibility of being able to like choose when if you want to do a peptide and get that guidance on when you would do it, if it would benefit you within your the treatments that you think Oh, yeah. Um, she's very available and you could do uh email consults or uh Zoom. I like face to face just because I sometimes I'll think of things in the moment. I see I might actually not might I will at some point in the future incorporate them. I just haven't made that. I haven't elected to do that yet. Um, but you know, it's it's not because I'm not comfortable doing them here or through her. Like I have complete confidence that I get good guidance. I just I'm good right now. It's also interesting that you you said, "Okay, this is something I'm interested in." And then you ended up finding a treatment that works better for you. Yeah. What do they say? Uh, insanity is doing the same thing repeatedly, but expecting different results. You know, I decided to do something. I decided to do something different as opposed to, oh, I'm just going to go back to the gym and lift more weights. Are you going to That's it. How how many times have you done that? Uh a couple times a year since like I don't know 1985. Why not just try this? It's different parture from what I had been doing. And to me it's paid off. And can we speak about I guess functional medicine as a whole? How would you describe functional medicine to somebody? What I'm experiencing is a functional medicine treats you holistically how you move about in your environment and seeks to improve how you move about in your environment. Um it is not seeing you as a collection of symptoms but how your particular symptoms impact how you live and if you treat these symptoms how it improves how you live which is I didn't know I had a philosophy but apparently I do have one which is I would prefer to move through life improving myself not just like I imagine from the doctor's point of view it's an approach like we see you as this um we you as a whole person. So functional medicine treats the whole person, does address your symptoms, but addresses them in the context of improving your day-to-day experience like how you live. So that's to me is functional medicine cuz that's my experience with it. And how would you describe I guess Medatrix or your experience here or just functional medicine to a loved one? They're they're very easy. Emails are answered promptly. Phone calls are answered, you know, questions are answered promptly. Emails are answered properly. uh questions you you get a response quickly. Um so I have no issue with the I guess with the business end of it like with with the uh with the administrative end of it. It's very easy as a I mean it is a business. I have a customer and they and they treat you well. Like if you you send them a question you you get a response and and even if it's not it's like oh I need something reordered no problem. You get an explanation of what's being reordered what the cost is. To me that that makes me feel good. It's also it just promotes trust or feeling of trust like uh I that uh once you uh I don't know some businesses I guess you uh once a bargain is struck once money changes hands you're always wondering okay so now what they have they have like I've just given them money what am I going to get will I get value in return yeah I have and part of that value is communication with a front office that responds that's my how I would explain working with med matrix to somebody I know and is there anything else that you would want to I guess address. No, I'm just responding to your questions. All right. Okay. Thank you. I'm very happy with the folks. So, I'm, you know, I'm going to continue the relationship. Done. You good? Yeah.