Taking Charge of Her Health at 65

I was tired of feeling like crap all the time and I kept seeing the ads on Facebook. Why not give it a try? Cuz my PCP they're just held to a certain and they can't delve into and and a friend that's been kind of doing stuff on her own with substance stuff. So it's like I need to do something. That's why I did it. I'm glad [laughter] I feel so much better since I started the journey. Can you dive more into what some of the challenges were? Well, um based on my age, I'm 65. I've already gone through menopause and I have um some autoimmune diseases. I have Hashimoto's and I'm hypo. I have fibromyalgia. I suffer from severe migraines. I have food allergies. I'm gluten and lactose intolerant. I have medications I'm allergic to. So it's just been hard to navigate through the first set of blood work. Um they put me on hormone replacement therapy and that's been the best thing. I've been telling all my friends is like I just saw a friend the other day and cuz she's been feeling like crap and she's gone through menopause. I says Paula, you it's the best thing to do. She's going to see her PCP and talk to him about it. But if not, I told her about this place. That's awesome. And it's been great. And some of the supplements I'm taking have helped. The anti-inflammatory shot cuz I my two of my antibodies of my Hashimoto's is very extremely high and then there's another one and I think it's called ANA is very high. So it's showing that it's inflammation in my gut. That's helping and I feel like I'm starting to eat better too cuz got to eat more protein. So not so much and I'm not really eating the junk food. That's gluten free or lactose free. You don't crave it. That's awesome. No. So it's like I have to remember to eat. I used to love my coffee. That's fine. I can [laughter] can we can have that. but I've been doing more fruit smoothies. So it's another way to get fruit and I found some protein drinks that I can have that have protein and fiber in them also. So I just add blueberries, strawberries or cherries, bananas to it and I've got a fruit smoothie that tastes good. [laughter] So what about your first interaction with us post that ad at Discovery call? Do you remember much about it? I felt like they listened to me with how I was feeling and I've been able to ask questions. I've sent messages through the portal and they've answered me back on things because I have another friend she's been doing some type of other like protein powder stuff and I questioned it before I take cuz I have so many allergies and they until they know what's really in it they didn't recommend it and I was fine with that. I want something that that they know and trust cuz there's so much out there it keeps popping up in my Facebook and everything. Oh, here's this for supplement or like creatine or berberine or whatever is like it just helps me to navigate. So this has been a nice journey and I'm hoping to continue. Funny enough we actually have a webinar happening today on routine for women. Really? Like muscle and menopause and the brain. Cuz that's kind of the next supplement I was going to ask them about that I'm interested. can it's at 4:45 if you can't join they we record it. Yeah, cuz I've been able to hit or miss catch some of the webinars so they've been yeah, they're really interesting so and I've been telling other people I says they're free and at least you could start learning about it and then figure out what you want do. That's our only goal. [laughter] Yeah. Um so what about that first visit with our team where you got your labs drawn and They were great. Okay, awesome. And that in-body scan, have you done one before? I hadn't until I did it here. That was interesting. Very cool. Yeah, I like that. It just gives a nice easy way to see what's going on in the body. Yeah. I didn't know I was so hydrated. I felt like I drank a lot of water. It's crazy how it shows. So what about that first visit with your provider? How was that? It was good. He listened. Yeah. So do you mind if I ask who you see? I don't know if I pronounce his last name right, Dr. Yeah. Oh, that's awesome. He's usually on [clears throat] a lot of the podcasts. Yeah. No, it's I like listening to them. And and they like sound off each other, which is nice. Which is great, yeah. Yeah. And what about your plan now? You said that you're eating differently, you're kind of doing different things. Um I want to continue it. I don't want to fall back on old habits. I want to keep monitoring my progress. Um cuz they're monitoring my hormones cuz they started me on a low dose and with a second set of blood work I had done, they doubled it. Yeah. And it's been much better, I think. So be cuz I was very low on this spectrum with that. Yeah. My vitamin D cuz you live in New England, you don't really get [laughter] a lot of sun. Yeah. So I originally misread the instructions to I thought it said take one, it was to take two pills. So got that corrected. So I'm curious to see how it's doing now. That's awesome. But I have been out in the sun. You do have a nice glow. [laughter] I cannot say the same. I do tan tan very, but I'm also careful for skin cancer and stuff. So many people. So I try not to burn. Although I was on a boat with my oldest son in for the boat races in down my way and I brought sun tan lotion, but I didn't [laughter] So, what about um functional medicine? How do you describe functional medicine to somebody who doesn't really know? It's not as difficult as I thought it was going to be. It's like supplements. You see supplements in the store, but they're a better grade, I think, of supplements is what I feel. Cuz I'm I mean, they have me take selenium, zinc, the vitamin D3 and K. What's the other one? Oh, and with the hormone the estrogen cream, I also take progesterone. Uh it's it's been great. And what about somebody who's on the fence doing functional medicine? What would you say to them? I would recommend it. Just give it a try. Yeah. Just give it a try and you'll be surprised. Because to me, the medical professions, the the doctors that have the big pharmaceutical companies, their hands are tied. And I also wanted to take charge of my health because back in my mind, I'm coming up to the age I'm getting ready to turn 66 and my mother died from a massive heart attack at 66. And that's always been there. Yeah. So, I want to be in better health. Didn't They didn't know her arteries She went in for back surgery and didn't know that her arteries were like 96 to 97% closed or her doctor never would have done her surgery. Yeah. Cuz for the most part, look at my mother, ate healthy, but what you eat as a child and into your 20s affects you later in life, I believe. For sure. So, I want to do better. That's all my questions. Do you have anything unless you want to add? Don't sit on the fence. Just jump on it. [laughter] I love that. Yeah, [snorts and clears throat] and I've already talked to all my PC. I've told her what I'm doing to show her my paperwork. She I wrote her a message and she actually reached back to me cuz I haven't had a chance to get into see her for quite a while. They've had chances but I haven't been able to get in on the days cuz I don't where I work, I didn't see the messages. And she told me to if I couldn't get those that information upload she said just bring it in and drop it off at the office. So she's willing to to review it. So to me that was positive too that my sounds like my PC is willing to work with me. As I told her, I'm taking charge of my health. I'm sure she loves that. A lot of the times it's just there are a lot of insurance constraints, pharmaceutical constraints, you know, patients that they have to see like it really does tie their I mean, I couldn't get them to do the full thyroid panel that they did here for me. Yeah, it really does tie their hands which is really unfortunate because you know, it's not their fault. No, and then I was reading back in my charts and realized she wanted me to take calcium pills cuz I had the bone density [laughter] So now I've started taking you knows cuz I was trying to watch what I was eating to see how much calcium was in it to get that. Sometimes you just need like a few different like vitamins to direct the calcium to your bones, you know, which is really interesting. I didn't know that too. And then I needed it. It's like cuz I took a full script, sent it to my mom. [laughter] So she's doing that. Good, that's good. Yeah, but I'm waiting to see what a friend does to see how she makes out and if not I'll give her the I'm going to give her the information to come here cuz I've got two other friends that are watching what I'm going through.