Thyroid, Weight Gain, and Fatigue | Why Your Labs Are Normal But You Feel Terrible with Dr. Amie Hornaman

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Welcome to the Cortisol Coach Podcast. If you're exhausted, gaining weight,
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losing your hair, your anxiety is through the roof, or the depression and emotional
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overwhelm have completely consumed your life, or maybe you're not showing up
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as the wife and mom you want to be.
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You've spent years never feeling good enough, taking care of everyone else while
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you quietly fell apart, and your body has been keeping score of every single bit of it.
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The chronic stress, hormonal shifts, perimenopause, menopause,
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whatever season you're in, cortisol is making all of it worse.
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And until you heal the root, nothing changes.
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But this show here is about to change that.
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I'm your host, Christine Marie, Holy Spirit-led Biblical Mindset Coach,
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and I have helped thousands of women heal their hormones and cortisol levels.
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Every week, I bring you leading experts, doctors, and coaches who will help
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you heal your body, mind emotions and your spirit so that you can step into
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every kingdom purpose that god has planned for your life so go grab your cup
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of coffee and let's jump in.
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If you have ever walked out of a doctor's office with a piece of paper that
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says your labs are normal just like i had but you can't get out of bed your hair
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is falling out you've gained maybe 20 pounds maybe it's 30 maybe it's so much
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more and you're doing every single thing right today's episode is specifically for you.
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My guest is Dr. Amy Horniman. She is known as the Thyroid Fixer,
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and she is a doctor of clinical nutrition, a certified functional medicine practitioner,
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and the host of the Thyroid Fixer podcast.
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She founded the Institute for Thyroid and Hormone Optimization.
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She created the Fixer supplement line, and she treats patients all over,
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including the UK and Australia. So I know for our global audience,
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that is going to probably perk your ears up. But here's what I want you to hear.
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She was competing in fitness and figure mid-contest prep when she gained over
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20 pounds and she started feeling really bad.
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Six doctors told her this is normal. The seventh finally said hypothyroidism.
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Handed her a medication and nothing changed.
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So she went and fixed it herself. And that is what makes me so excited to bring her to you.
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She's not going to look at you like you are a number.
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She is going to help you get to the root, which is what we love here on this
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Cortisol Coach podcast.
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Dr. Amy, I am so excited to bring you on the show.
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Oh my goodness. Well, I'm super excited to be here as well because that was a perfect intro.
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Everything that you just said, I was nodding my head. I'm like,
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yeah, yeah, yeah, because I know so many women are going through that.
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It's frustrating. That's the whole intention of this podcast is to help limit
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the coulda, woulda, shouldas and collapse time for our listeners.
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And what makes me most excited is we have not talked about the thyroid yet.
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And so I couldn't be more excited to bring you on today.
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So can you take us back, take us back to what began this journey for you and led you here?
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Well, so just like you said, I was a figure athlete. So what that means just
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for your audience, it means that my diet was super strict for about 12 weeks.
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And I mean chicken, broccoli, asparagus. I was going to the gym twice a day, morning and evening.
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Everything was really regimented to the point where,
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I would pack meals to go to a restaurant because I couldn't risk having anything
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else in the food that might throw off my contest preparation diet.
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So I had about 12 weeks of this really, really strict diet. Now,
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I had done plenty of these before.
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I was a pro at this. I knew how my body would respond. I still hired a coach
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because I believe we all need a coach in all things to guide us through.
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So I still had a coach. I had to get on the scale every week,
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send him progress photos, and then he would adjust my diet and my workout as we went along.
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Well, this particular show that I was getting ready for, I'm getting on the
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scale every single week and it's going up.
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I'm like, wait, that biologically doesn't even make sense. Based on what I'm
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eating, my macros, my calories, my workouts, energy expenditure.
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Yeah, no, the scale shouldn't be going up. This wasn't computing.
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So I kept going and my coach thinks that I'm cheating on my diet or eating too many donuts.
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And I just keep plugging away. So I restrict a little bit more,
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right? Reduce calories a little bit more. Maybe I'll work out a little bit harder.
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I'll add 15 more minutes to that hour long cardio session that I'm already doing.
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And nothing was working. Nothing was working.
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So I started going to my doctor. I mean, that's where we all start.
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You go to your doctor and you say, you know, hey, doc, my body is basically like a runaway train.
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Can we please figure out what's happening?
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And at the time, I would love to go back and see what tests they ran because,
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you know, they didn't do everything completely.
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So at the time they ran some tests. They looked at me. They called me normal.
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Your labs are normal. Everything is fine. Your labs are normal.
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There's nothing going on here.
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So I left that first appointment and, you know, thought, okay,
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well, I don't feel normal, don't feel fine, so I'm going to keep going.
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I'm going to do this second opinion thing.
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And I got a second opinion and a third and a fourth and a fifth and a sixth.
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I went to six different doctors, a mix of PCPs, OBGYNs, and endocrinologists.
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And one of them actually, the name on the building, the name of his practice
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was Metabolic Disease Associates. I'm like, it has the word metabolism in it.
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Of course, he's going to know why my body is gaining weight.
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Now, by that point, I had put on around 25 pounds. I'm 5'2",
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by the way, so that 25 pounds showed up.
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Around 25 pounds. However, I truly believe that the scale went up about 40 pounds
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because after 25, I became so depressed.
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I was hiding my body in big sweatshirts. I wouldn't go out with my friends.
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I stopped having sex with my partner because who wants to get naked and look
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at yourself, let alone let somebody else look at you?
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So it really started affecting every single area of my life.
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So I'm pretty sure the scale went up about 40 pounds in total.
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And during that time of bouncing from doctor to doctor, I mean,
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I had no relief. So my hair started falling out. My energy went in the toilet.
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Honestly, those two symptoms I didn't even pay attention to because my clothes
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were consistently getting tighter and tighter.
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And that consumed every thought that I had throughout the day.
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Doctor number seven finally diagnosed me.
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So she says, you have hypothyroidism, low and slow thyroid function.
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So at that time, I'm like, oh my gosh, this is amazing. I at least have a name
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for what's going on with me. And then she gave me a pill.
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And I left her office thinking this was the magic pill. This is it.
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This is what's going to totally fix me.
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Now, many of your listeners right now are taking this very pill.
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It's called levothyroxine or Synthroid. It's T4.
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It can also fall under Unithroid or Tyrosin or Lavoxel, but it is T4.
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Now, I took this pill religiously every single morning for about five,
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six months, and I didn't lose a pound.
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Didn't feel any better. Didn't grow any more hair. Didn't lose a pound. Scale didn't change.
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So I start doing some doctor Googling, and I find, wait a minute,
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this medication that I'm taking is an inactive thyroid hormone.
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Our body doesn't have a receptor site anywhere on any of our 40 trillion cells
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that we have in our body, there is not a single receptor site for this T4 thyroid hormone.
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It has to convert. It has to become T3, the active thyroid hormone.
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And then it acts like this beautiful lock and key on your cell and it attaches to that receptor site.
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But as T4, it doesn't do anything and it wasn't helping me whatsoever.
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So I go back to this doctor who's in the conventional standard of care sick system that we have.
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And I go back to her and I say, you know, I'm researching here and there's these
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other thyroid hormones out there that are really impactful and I believe will really help me.
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Can we try that? Because there is evidence that T4 and T3 work really well together.
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And she says, no, that's not standard of care. I don't do that.
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So then I said these two very empowering words. I'm going to encourage all of
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your listeners to learn and repeat if necessary.
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You're fired. I said, thank you, but you're fired because I'm going to find
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a doctor who actually wants to help me and who cares about how I feel and who
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cares about the fact that I am losing my life here
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slowly but surely, and I need real help.
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So at the time, I kept hearing the name of this functional medicine provider.
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And back then, Christine, I don't even think we used the term functional,
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and this is 25, 30 years ago.
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It was more integrative, naturopathic, alternative. So I was still in that like
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woo category, but I didn't care. I'm like, that's fine.
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I keep hearing how great this guy is, I'm going to go. And he sat down with
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me. I always joke about this. He sat down with me for 83 more minutes than any other practitioner.
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Meaning, no, it wasn't the five to seven minute visit that I got with all the other doctors.
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He actually spent 90 minutes with me going through my labs, testing everything
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that needed to be tested. I mean, it was like a small book of labs.
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And he explained to me everything that was going on in my body.
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And then he put me on the right thyroid treatment for me based on what he saw
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on my complete lab panel, and I got better, and I started losing the weight,
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and I started feeling better.
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And I was like, wow, it was that simple.
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It was that simple that just took a knowledgeable person to look at me as a
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full human being, to actually spend time with me and not worry about their insurance
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paying for that five-minute visit and getting me out of the office so they can bring in the next one.
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He actually took the time to get to know what my body needed and practice personalized medicine.
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And that was absolutely amazing to me. And at the time, I was also,
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I like saying this because a lot of people think like, well,
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if I just go to Cleveland Clinic, if I just go to the Mayo Clinic,
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you know, those are the best of the best hospitals.
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That's where I'm going to get true thyroid health. No, you're not.
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I was in a major medical system, and I was misdiagnosed six times and mistreated the seventh.
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So it doesn't matter where you are. You could be in podunk nowhere or you could
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be in a major city and go to the best of the best system.
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And if that doctor or those doctors don't understand the thyroid,
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like we're going to talk about today, then they're not going to be able to help you properly.
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So it was really that that changed my career.
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That's why I do what I do now.
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I love it. Well, and it's amazing to me because I saw so many doctors myself.
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And mine is, of course, all yours is thyroid. But ultimately,
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we were failed because they did not address the root cause.
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And one of the stories I haven't really gone into detail with yet is I was over-medicated
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for something I did not have.
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Wow. And when that happened, there were severe consequences to me personally.
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And it was, well, let's just try something else.
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There's no accountability there. And it took a similar journey of going to all
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of these different doctors.
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And I was myself in a really fabulous health care system under a major hospital network. Yep.
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And so I fully trusted I was going to get the best care. Right.
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And unfortunately, there's too many stories like yours and mine.
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What happened next? What did you do for your thyroid?
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So it was actually a little bit of a process. So first, we moved from T4 only, which doesn't work.
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So any of your listeners that are on T4 only that we just went over,
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Synthroid, Levo, Levoxyl, Tearsent, it's not going to work.
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If you remain on T4 only, you will never, ever, ever, ever be optimized or ever, ever feel better.
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So it's going to affect your longevity, your health, your heart,
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your brain, your cancer risk. It's also going to affect your weight,
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your mood, your energy, your hair, your digestion, all the things, and your hormones.
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So T4 only doesn't work. So he first moved me to armor thyroid,
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which is natural desiccated thyroid, NDT.
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So we know that as armor thyroid, NP thyroid.
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So first I moved to that. And in the beginning, I definitely felt better because
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armor thyroid is 80% T4 and it's 20% T3.
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So I was getting a little bit of that T3 active thyroid hormone in the mix,
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which basically woke up my cells. And then it was like, oh, wow,
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this is nice. I feel a little bit better.
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But then over time, because he was on top of things and practiced personalized
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medicine, we began seeing kind of a step backwards where it's like, all of a sudden.
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The hypo symptoms are coming back, the scale's going up again.
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Wait a minute, what's happening?
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So we caught it early. We did all the testing. And we looked at a very,
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very important test I know we're going to talk about called reverse T3.
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This is one of the most important tests that you can get.
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And what that showed is that I don't convert very well. My body doesn't take
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that T4 thyroid hormone and properly convert it into T3.
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And one thing that I say in my book is T4 to T3 conversion is like running 10 Tough Mudders in a row.
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That's how hard it is for the body to do.
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So that's why I say T4 only isn't going to work because your body and the world
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that we live in right now With toxins and stress and EMF exposure and
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insulin resistance out the wazoo in America, 93% of us are insulin resistant,
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estrogen dominance, xenoestrogens, DNA snips.
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I mean, there's all these things that can get in the way. Cortisol can get in
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the way of T4 to T3 conversion.
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So with all of that, we found that I really don't convert.
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So ultimately, as we were moving through that optimization process of me and
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my thyroid, I am T3 only. So now I only take the active thyroid hormone T3.
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Now I will say, it's rare that we see people actually needing T3 only.
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I would say about like maybe 10 to 20 percent of my patients truly are T3 only
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candidates where they are just not going to convert T4. It doesn't matter how
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much or how little you give them.
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Their body is going to go hypo if you give them T4.
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I would say the rest, 80 percent or so, really do well with a T4, T3 combination.
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But then that ratio becomes very individualized and personalized to that particular person.
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So ultimately, that's what optimized me.
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I know for me, when I went in and I was struggling with so many things,
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one of the first things they did was check the thyroid.
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Now, for women who do and are struggling with their thyroid,
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hypo, hyper, what are the first steps that they would need to take?
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Yes, yes, yes, yes. Okay.
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So like you said, Christine, you went in, they checked your thyroid.
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Now, I'm going to get into the minds of a lot of your listeners right now.
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I'm going to call out what's going through their head.
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I asked my doctor to check my thyroid, and my doctor said my thyroid was normal.
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Right. Okay, let's stop there.
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First of all, your doctor said your thyroid was normal because they checked one marker called TSH.
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Maybe they checked two markers. Maybe they threw in a free T4.
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TSH is thyroid stimulating hormone. It is a brain hormone. It's not a thyroid
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hormone. So think about that for a minute. We're checking your brain in order
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to check your thyroid. That's like, again, looking at your tires to see if there's an engine problem.
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So if the tire is flat, the car is not going to go. But if you have an engine
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that that is blown up, you don't know it unless you look under the hood.
00:16:05.909 --> 00:16:10.087
So we have to look a little bit deeper to see what the true function of the
00:16:10.087 --> 00:16:16.648
thyroid gland is by testing, I know this is a novel concept, the thyroid hormones.
00:16:16.851 --> 00:16:20.377
So let's actually go a little bit further and look at the thyroid hormones.
00:16:20.377 --> 00:16:23.004
Like I said, you might get free T4 done.
00:16:23.364 --> 00:16:28.037
Now, T4 is the inactive thyroid hormone. So by testing free T4,
00:16:28.374 --> 00:16:33.471
we're just testing how much of that inactive hormone is just sitting there ready
00:16:33.581 --> 00:16:37.399
to be converted, hopefully, over into T3.
00:16:38.584 --> 00:16:42.427
The two most important markers that you can get on your thyroid test,
00:16:42.847 --> 00:16:44.070
and these are non-negotiable,
00:16:44.801 --> 00:16:49.307
and by the way, if you're working with a practitioner, I don't care if you're
00:16:49.307 --> 00:16:53.671
paying them out of pocket, they're functional, they're integrative, they're naturopathic,
00:16:54.141 --> 00:16:59.859
if they don't test these two markers every single time you get your labs done,
00:17:00.173 --> 00:17:03.998
then that's their way of secretly telling you that they don't know what they're doing with the thyroid.
00:17:04.555 --> 00:17:09.637
First marker is free T3. So that's testing that active, beautiful thyroid hormone
00:17:09.637 --> 00:17:11.945
that's ready to attach to the receptor set on your cells.
00:17:12.328 --> 00:17:16.514
And then the second is reverse T3. Reverse T3 is really interesting.
00:17:16.699 --> 00:17:20.815
Reverse T3 is a hormone that our body produces.
00:17:21.117 --> 00:17:26.237
If we are in a very traumatic experience, if we're in a car accident,
00:17:26.237 --> 00:17:29.581
injured, fighting for our life in the ICU or the ER,
00:17:29.906 --> 00:17:34.487
reverse T3, because our bodies are smart, reverse T3 will go up in order to
00:17:34.487 --> 00:17:36.244
basically tell our bodies, listen, do this.
00:17:36.999 --> 00:17:40.667
You need to just heal right now and survive. You don't need to burn fat.
00:17:40.667 --> 00:17:42.677
You don't need to think. You don't need to balance your checkbook,
00:17:42.677 --> 00:17:47.387
have sex, poop every day. You just need to lie there and all energy needs to
00:17:47.387 --> 00:17:49.346
go to healing and survival.
00:17:50.094 --> 00:17:55.617
That's great when it's used appropriately. The problem is, is that our standard
00:17:55.617 --> 00:18:00.627
of care system in medicine is to give people T4, T4, T4. You have a thyroid
00:18:00.627 --> 00:18:01.778
problem, let's give you T4.
00:18:02.196 --> 00:18:05.290
Oh, you're still symptomatic, let's increase your T4.
00:18:05.621 --> 00:18:11.014
The only hormone that will convert to reverse T3 is T4. So this is a huge issue,
00:18:11.466 --> 00:18:17.277
in the treatment protocols of thyroid right now because that's all people are being given.
00:18:17.829 --> 00:18:22.177
And no one's checking their reverse T3 to see how well they convert.
00:18:22.537 --> 00:18:28.167
If reverse T3 is elevated, your body, you walking around day to day,
00:18:28.167 --> 00:18:30.389
your body thinks that you're dying in the hospital.
00:18:30.813 --> 00:18:32.617
So no, you're not going to lose weight. You're not going to think.
00:18:32.617 --> 00:18:34.727
You're not going to feel good. You're going to be bloated. You're going to be
00:18:34.727 --> 00:18:36.015
constipated, all the things.
00:18:36.194 --> 00:18:39.277
You're going to lose your hair because your body doesn't think that's important.
00:18:39.863 --> 00:18:44.557
So we have to check reverse T3. And then we have to look at TPO and TGA antibodies.
00:18:44.557 --> 00:18:49.007
This tells us whether or not your low and slow thyroid function is actually
00:18:49.007 --> 00:18:50.962
autoimmune. It's Hashimoto's.
00:18:51.514 --> 00:18:57.477
So that's the full thyroid panel. And not testing that full thyroid panel is
00:18:57.477 --> 00:19:00.087
the reason why so many people out there,
00:19:00.587 --> 00:19:07.127
mostly women, are being dismissed, misdiagnosed, and or mistreated.
00:19:07.127 --> 00:19:11.593
Now, we have 60 million people that are diagnosed with hypothyroidism in America.
00:19:12.290 --> 00:19:16.376
We have another 60,000 that are walking around undiagnosed because their doctor
00:19:16.376 --> 00:19:18.588
just tests their TSH and tells them that they're normal.
00:19:19.012 --> 00:19:22.786
Well, and call me crazy, but I am somebody who believes that when you identify
00:19:22.786 --> 00:19:28.916
the root cause, you can find the solution to heal your body and live the best
00:19:28.916 --> 00:19:30.411
life that we're all supposed to live.
00:19:30.765 --> 00:19:36.096
Talk to us about when somebody is saying, maybe I do need to have more testing
00:19:36.096 --> 00:19:39.298
done. What is their next step? So this is my rule of thumb.
00:19:39.548 --> 00:19:44.071
First of all, you go into your doctor with a bulleted list of symptoms.
00:19:44.389 --> 00:19:48.160
Now, for the thyroid, head to toe, it runs the show.
00:19:48.467 --> 00:19:51.156
So if you start at the top of your head, if you're sitting there going like,
00:19:51.156 --> 00:19:54.580
well, what symptoms are actually associated with a thyroid problem?
00:19:54.801 --> 00:19:56.118
Start at the top of your head.
00:19:56.496 --> 00:20:01.196
From hair loss, hair thinning, hair breaking, losing the outer corners of your
00:20:01.196 --> 00:20:04.196
eyebrows, dry skin or aging skin
00:20:04.616 --> 00:20:09.606
on your face, a swollen neck, difficulty swallowing, if you can palpate any
00:20:09.606 --> 00:20:11.653
kind of nodules on your thyroid,
00:20:12.303 --> 00:20:14.836
heart rate low or high.
00:20:14.836 --> 00:20:18.602
People can have tachycardia, AFib, or a low and slow heart rate,
00:20:18.793 --> 00:20:22.406
low body temperature, low blood pressure, low metabolism.
00:20:23.768 --> 00:20:30.176
Low mood, brain fog, memory loss, cognition, frozen shoulder, digestive issues.
00:20:30.425 --> 00:20:33.380
I mean, it literally goes all the way down to your toes.
00:20:33.693 --> 00:20:39.046
And yeah, broken toenails and like nails that rip off or rigid or break easily.
00:20:39.046 --> 00:20:43.190
That's another thyroid symptom. So you bullet list your symptoms first.
00:20:43.520 --> 00:20:47.456
Then you take all of the labs that we just talked about. You can either replay
00:20:47.456 --> 00:20:49.604
this episode. You can grab my book. I have them in there.
00:20:49.837 --> 00:20:53.489
So you put them all down and then And you hand that piece of paper to your doctor
00:20:53.738 --> 00:20:56.414
and you say, hey, doc, because of all these symptoms that I'm having,
00:20:56.658 --> 00:20:59.816
because those symptoms, by the way, give your doctor diagnostic codes for the
00:20:59.816 --> 00:21:04.025
test, all of these symptoms that I'm having over here, I would really like,
00:21:04.535 --> 00:21:09.034
to look deeper into my thyroid health and get all of these tests done.
00:21:09.673 --> 00:21:14.707
Now, if a doctor says no to testing, it's time to get a new doctor.
00:21:15.020 --> 00:21:17.993
You have to use those two words that I taught you earlier. You're fired.
00:21:18.289 --> 00:21:23.489
Because if you truly think that staying with a medical professional.
00:21:24.540 --> 00:21:28.425
Who says no to testing, who doesn't care that you just came in with a list of
00:21:28.425 --> 00:21:35.169
symptoms, who doesn't actually want all of the data about you as the patient,
00:21:35.798 --> 00:21:39.415
they don't want the information to be able to help you.
00:21:39.415 --> 00:21:45.895
They just told you no for labs that are covered by insurance or that are really,
00:21:45.895 --> 00:21:49.615
really cheap to order on your own, even if you don't have insurance.
00:21:49.615 --> 00:21:51.565
And they just said, no, how are they going to help you?
00:21:51.905 --> 00:21:54.505
Why are you wasting your time? That's the definition of insanity.
00:21:54.505 --> 00:21:57.205
You're doing the same thing over and over again, expecting a different result.
00:21:57.205 --> 00:21:58.878
That doctor is not going to be able to help you.
00:21:59.215 --> 00:22:01.717
So that's how you start. That's how you approach it.
00:22:02.379 --> 00:22:05.565
And guess what? You're basically testing your doctor by doing that.
00:22:05.905 --> 00:22:09.645
So good. I wish I would have had this information back then.
00:22:09.645 --> 00:22:16.014
And it's wild how much the thyroid and cortisol high or low symptoms overlap.
00:22:16.311 --> 00:22:20.435
And so that's why it's so important, like Dr. Amy was saying,
00:22:20.435 --> 00:22:26.025
is write down all of the symptoms you are struggling with and then go into your
00:22:26.025 --> 00:22:30.056
doctor and at least get your thyroid, all of these tests done.
00:22:30.619 --> 00:22:33.725
And as somebody who saw multiple doctors, and just as you heard Dr.
00:22:33.725 --> 00:22:38.479
Amy went to six other doctors before she found somebody who would listen,
00:22:39.143 --> 00:22:42.481
it is okay to say you are fired more than once.
00:22:42.754 --> 00:22:46.248
Nobody else is going to advocate for you other than you.
00:22:47.548 --> 00:22:51.995
And truly, as somebody who has done root cause healing with my cortisol,
00:22:52.280 --> 00:22:57.805
and for you, root cause healing with your thyroid, It is life-impacting and
00:22:57.805 --> 00:23:01.143
life-changing to heal a broken body.
00:23:02.688 --> 00:23:06.619
Yeah, absolutely. 100%. Absolutely. Well, and cortisol and thyroid play in the
00:23:06.619 --> 00:23:08.644
same sandbox. It's like they're brothers and sisters.
00:23:09.489 --> 00:23:13.439
You know, they just influence each other all the time. So there's overlap and
00:23:13.439 --> 00:23:14.931
there's influence at the same time.
00:23:16.057 --> 00:23:20.525
So how do you help and work with women at this point?
00:23:21.704 --> 00:23:25.332
So we start with full, full testing.
00:23:25.576 --> 00:23:30.282
And, you know, we go beyond thyroid, of course. We're looking at all of the
00:23:30.282 --> 00:23:33.221
markers. So we start with blood. We start with full blood testing.
00:23:33.639 --> 00:23:37.272
And we're doing full thyroid panel, full hormone panel, because hormones and
00:23:37.272 --> 00:23:39.345
thyroid play in the same sandbox as well.
00:23:39.635 --> 00:23:45.332
We're obviously looking at your insulin and A1C and IGF-1 and liver function
00:23:45.332 --> 00:23:48.256
and kidney function, the whole deal. We love data.
00:23:48.564 --> 00:23:52.582
We want all of that data on you so we can sit there and paint that beautiful
00:23:52.582 --> 00:23:54.787
picture of what's going on with you.
00:23:55.216 --> 00:24:00.282
And then we're going to ask you, these are the four most important words that
00:24:00.282 --> 00:24:03.314
any practitioner can ask you, how do you feel?
00:24:03.883 --> 00:24:08.112
Because that's important. I need to know how you're feeling and what your symptoms
00:24:08.112 --> 00:24:12.683
are in order to overlap what we're seeing in black and white on your labs.
00:24:12.979 --> 00:24:15.522
So then we overlap that.
00:24:15.899 --> 00:24:19.232
And, of course, if we have to go deeper, if we have to do a four-point saliva
00:24:19.232 --> 00:24:22.152
cortisol test, if we have to do a Dutch test, if we have to do a GI map test,
00:24:22.152 --> 00:24:26.522
if we have to do a mold test, then we go down those functional pathways to get
00:24:26.522 --> 00:24:27.832
the full picture as well.
00:24:27.832 --> 00:24:31.432
But let's just start with blood because in black and white, that gives us a
00:24:31.432 --> 00:24:33.272
lot of information right there.
00:24:33.853 --> 00:24:37.882
And then we personalize the treatment to you, whether it's bioidentical hormones,
00:24:37.882 --> 00:24:41.332
whether it's bioidentical thyroid hormones, whether it's adjusting your diet
00:24:41.332 --> 00:24:45.904
and lifestyle, supplementation for foundational support, whatever it is,
00:24:46.322 --> 00:24:51.639
we're going to do it and implement it because ultimately my goal is to get you feeling better.
00:24:52.098 --> 00:24:56.812
Yeah, I want your labs to look better, but I want you to tell me this has improved.
00:24:56.812 --> 00:24:59.942
I'm finally losing weight. My hair is growing back. I have energy.
00:24:59.942 --> 00:25:02.158
My brain fog cleared. Oh my gosh, I'm pooping every day.
00:25:02.413 --> 00:25:07.672
Like all of these beautiful symptom relief things that occur when you're optimized,
00:25:07.974 --> 00:25:10.592
I want that to start happening because exactly what you said,
00:25:10.592 --> 00:25:12.015
and I'm a firm believer as well.
00:25:12.632 --> 00:25:16.152
We deserve to, I would say we deserve to be the badass human we're meant to
00:25:16.152 --> 00:25:22.112
be. We deserve to live these vital, beautiful lives, not schlepping our way
00:25:22.112 --> 00:25:26.039
through the day, through the week, through the month, through the years and wasting precious time.
00:25:26.707 --> 00:25:30.666
100%. Where do you work with clients or patients from?
00:25:30.828 --> 00:25:35.763
So we do all of the U.S., all 50 states we can prescribe to.
00:25:36.291 --> 00:25:41.387
So that's a no-brainer. It doesn't matter where you are. It's telehealth, comfort of your home.
00:25:42.267 --> 00:25:44.987
The only time you have to leave your house is to go get your labs drawn.
00:25:45.367 --> 00:25:47.175
Other than that, you're just sitting there.
00:25:47.616 --> 00:25:51.204
Everything is literally done for you. All the consultations are virtual.
00:25:51.813 --> 00:25:58.396
Now for Canadians, for Australians, for the UK, we will work with you.
00:25:59.070 --> 00:26:03.177
The problem is we can't prescribe there. So the legal prescribing borders are
00:26:03.177 --> 00:26:06.129
very much limited to the United States only.
00:26:06.576 --> 00:26:10.907
But what I have found is when we're working one-on-one with individuals in a
00:26:10.907 --> 00:26:14.907
different country, we can help guide them with their practitioner.
00:26:14.907 --> 00:26:17.266
We can help them self-source the medication.
00:26:17.481 --> 00:26:20.830
I mean, there's a variety of different options based on where they live.
00:26:21.121 --> 00:26:25.857
You know, even people in Mexico, they can walk into the pharmacy and get what
00:26:25.857 --> 00:26:28.522
they need. They don't even need a doctor's prescription.
00:26:28.720 --> 00:26:32.789
So it just really depends on where you're at in the world, but all 50 states in the U.S.
00:26:33.475 --> 00:26:39.814
I love that. And so we will include all of Dr. Amy's information in the show notes.
00:26:40.314 --> 00:26:47.291
I'm really excited to be able to offer her as a resource for all of you because truly.
00:26:48.286 --> 00:26:51.786
For me myself, when I went in and I had my lab testing done,
00:26:51.786 --> 00:26:55.679
especially, and I love that you do the Dutch testing and you have many different,
00:26:56.138 --> 00:26:57.966
ways that you're testing cortisol.
00:26:57.966 --> 00:27:01.258
So even if you're looking for cortisol-specific testing.
00:27:01.595 --> 00:27:07.146
This is a great resource for you because having one moment in a day where they
00:27:07.146 --> 00:27:13.923
are taking your cortisol testing in a lab is not sufficient at all.
00:27:14.213 --> 00:27:18.206
They need to see the curve. They need to see multiple points.
00:27:18.206 --> 00:27:22.933
And so this just makes me so excited because knowledge is power.
00:27:23.234 --> 00:27:24.836
And having this knowledge is
00:27:24.836 --> 00:27:30.235
going to help you step into who you are meant to be and feel incredible.
00:27:30.642 --> 00:27:35.946
And it's wild, probably you the same. Once you actually felt better for the
00:27:35.946 --> 00:27:38.466
first time, I was sitting there
00:27:38.466 --> 00:27:45.128
going, I cannot believe I lived my life that way for as long as I did.
00:27:46.594 --> 00:27:49.752
Yeah, you want to scream it from the rooftops because you want other people,
00:27:50.303 --> 00:27:52.074
to realize that it's possible.
00:27:52.439 --> 00:27:55.642
You know, I think too many, and I say people, but really this affects women
00:27:55.642 --> 00:27:58.465
so much more and affects them harder.
00:27:59.522 --> 00:28:03.522
I think we, as women, we almost get used to a new normal.
00:28:03.934 --> 00:28:09.032
Like, we medically gaslight ourselves. Yes. We go, well, you know,
00:28:09.032 --> 00:28:14.002
I am getting older. Well, you know, I did, you know, eat too much on vacation.
00:28:14.002 --> 00:28:15.938
Well, I'm a little bit stressed out.
00:28:16.582 --> 00:28:18.202
No, stop that.
00:28:19.142 --> 00:28:24.048
Do not drink the Kool-Aid that's already being given to you by the conventional medicine system.
00:28:24.477 --> 00:28:29.012
Listen to your body. Those symptoms that you have, you do not chalk up to just
00:28:29.012 --> 00:28:31.922
getting older, because I can show you an 80-year-old that's skiing down the
00:28:31.922 --> 00:28:34.222
side of a mountain, like, all day long.
00:28:34.222 --> 00:28:38.042
Like, there's no handbook that we received at the age of 40 that went,
00:28:38.042 --> 00:28:41.979
yeah, okay, after the age of 40, just throw in the towel. You're going to gain weight.
00:28:42.365 --> 00:28:45.662
You're you're gonna be really tired, half bald. Like, no, no,
00:28:45.662 --> 00:28:48.677
there's no memo that was given to us as women at the age of 40.
00:28:48.949 --> 00:28:53.646
You can live a vibrant, healthy life. You can literally feel your best, I promise you.
00:28:54.110 --> 00:29:00.890
You can have some treats, a glass of wine, an Oreo cookie, whatever, and not gain weight.
00:29:01.302 --> 00:29:05.702
You can go on vacation and not gain weight from being on vacation.
00:29:06.322 --> 00:29:08.522
You can actually look forward to going out with your friends,
00:29:08.522 --> 00:29:10.717
with your loved ones, with your partner.
00:29:11.412 --> 00:29:18.140
All the things that life gives us, you can experience to the fullest when you are optimized.
00:29:18.738 --> 00:29:21.691
Well, and I feel like there's so many women, especially listening or a part
00:29:21.691 --> 00:29:27.541
of my audience, and maybe yours too, who feel like, well, taking care of me is selfish.
00:29:27.541 --> 00:29:31.601
Like, it's going to take the time that it's going to take to get all of this
00:29:31.601 --> 00:29:34.311
stuff done. You guys, this is telehealth.
00:29:34.791 --> 00:29:38.916
You can get on a video call. You can go out to get your labs done.
00:29:39.392 --> 00:29:46.015
And I promise you, this is impacting so much more than you realize with how I was as a mom.
00:29:46.172 --> 00:29:50.351
And I didn't struggle with thyroid, but I imagine you probably struggle with
00:29:50.351 --> 00:29:54.729
a lot of the same—like, you don't realize how much it's impacting your relationships.
00:29:54.990 --> 00:29:58.166
And you talked about your sexual health.
00:29:58.642 --> 00:30:02.451
I mean, I just thought, well, I'm over 40. This is just a normal decline.
00:30:02.451 --> 00:30:04.031
I'm not interested at all. Right.
00:30:04.822 --> 00:30:13.961
You guys, like there is so many pieces to this that you can feel your absolute
00:30:14.401 --> 00:30:18.175
best, better than you ever have over 40. I know I am.
00:30:18.825 --> 00:30:23.892
Yeah. Yeah. All day. I literally just got a message this morning.
00:30:24.478 --> 00:30:26.801
I could even bring up her picture on my phone, show it to the camera if you
00:30:26.801 --> 00:30:30.022
really want to. I just got a text message from a patient this morning.
00:30:30.475 --> 00:30:35.021
She sent me these jaw-dropping before and after pictures like to where I was
00:30:35.021 --> 00:30:40.301
like I am speechless right now like this is actually incredible and she leaves
00:30:40.301 --> 00:30:42.231
me a voice and she's like Dr.
00:30:42.231 --> 00:30:47.151
Amy I just want you to know like this is how much you've helped me you you totally
00:30:47.151 --> 00:30:50.511
changed my life around I was doing she literally said she's like I was doing
00:30:50.511 --> 00:30:53.021
all the things I was counting the macros I was taking the supplements I was
00:30:53.021 --> 00:30:56.420
doing you know the protocols I was doing hit classes.
00:30:56.884 --> 00:31:01.191
Nothing was working. Nothing was working. And she said, you know,
00:31:01.191 --> 00:31:03.895
you saved my life and you saved my marriage.
00:31:04.377 --> 00:31:09.561
And that just, you know, it was just that reminder about how this affects so much more than just us.
00:31:09.950 --> 00:31:13.011
And it does affect our family. And it does affect being a mom.
00:31:13.011 --> 00:31:17.972
And it does affect being a partner, a spouse, an employer, an employee, a friend.
00:31:18.292 --> 00:31:22.071
Like, this has trickle effects that we don't talk about enough,
00:31:22.599 --> 00:31:26.951
you know we talk about the symptoms and yes those are life-altering and annoying
00:31:26.951 --> 00:31:32.001
and frustrating and depressing and all the things but what about how this affects
00:31:32.001 --> 00:31:35.101
others what about how this affects your job i,
00:31:35.661 --> 00:31:37.301
i remember last year i got a
00:31:37.301 --> 00:31:40.461
message from a patient that said i just want you to know i got a promotion.
00:31:41.115 --> 00:31:47.019
Because she was able to focus and think and she had motivation and drive that she didn't have before.
00:31:48.242 --> 00:31:50.528
This has been such a pleasure to have you on the show today.
00:31:50.528 --> 00:31:55.423
What is the one last piece you would like to leave with the audience today?
00:31:55.875 --> 00:32:01.499
Remember that you are a unique individual. So number one, pay attention to your symptoms.
00:32:02.016 --> 00:32:08.138
Don't ignore them. Those symptoms are GIFs, G-I-F-T-S, GIFs given to you by
00:32:08.138 --> 00:32:12.838
your body to say, hey, you know, there's something going on here that you might
00:32:12.838 --> 00:32:16.946
want to look at a little bit deeper. Don't ignore that gift. Listen to your body.
00:32:17.611 --> 00:32:22.464
I want you to have hope. I want you to keep going until you find the answer.
00:32:23.242 --> 00:32:29.668
And that answer has to be personalized. So treating the thyroid and truly getting
00:32:29.668 --> 00:32:32.778
you as a human optimized is a nuanced art.
00:32:32.778 --> 00:32:37.408
Now, we can do it blindfolded in our sleep, but it's a nuanced art.
00:32:37.408 --> 00:32:42.964
So I want you to get personalized treatment for you, because when that happens,
00:32:43.428 --> 00:32:45.756
that's where everything changes.
00:32:46.064 --> 00:32:49.036
Everything changes. The symptoms fall away.
00:32:49.349 --> 00:32:52.339
You become more resilient. You're more stress resilient.
00:32:53.108 --> 00:32:59.385
You're more protected against diseases of aging. So you have to listen to your body, have hope.
00:32:59.501 --> 00:33:03.002
You keep pursuing. I don't care if it takes six, seven, 10 doctors.
00:33:03.778 --> 00:33:09.028
If you need help, you reach out to us, but you find somebody that will personalize
00:33:09.028 --> 00:33:14.272
your treatment for you and finally get you optimized. I love that.
00:33:14.905 --> 00:33:19.688
Thank you for being on the show today it's been such a pleasure and if you want to connect with Dr.
00:33:19.688 --> 00:33:23.194
Amy personally and find out how you can partner with her,
00:33:23.659 --> 00:33:28.798
to really take control of your personal health as well as take a look at your
00:33:28.798 --> 00:33:33.498
thyroid and or any of the labs that you mentioned you'll find the information
00:33:33.498 --> 00:33:36.600
in our show notes and until next time we'll see you guys later.
00:33:39.711 --> 00:33:44.082
Friend, I am so thankful that you are here today. I pray this episode blessed you big time.
00:33:44.204 --> 00:33:47.993
And if it did, would you do me a favor and leave me a review on Apple Podcasts?
00:33:47.993 --> 00:33:52.083
It helps more women just like you find the show. And it may be the very reason
00:33:52.083 --> 00:33:54.194
that somebody else gets the answers that they need.
00:33:54.328 --> 00:33:56.903
I would also love to connect with you personally on Instagram.
00:33:56.903 --> 00:34:00.533
You can find me by searching cortisol underscore coach. That's where I show
00:34:00.533 --> 00:34:05.101
up every single day. And send me a DM. I would love to connect with you. I'll see you next time.