Full Transcript for Tired, Bloated, Gaining Weight? It Might Not Be Just Perimenopause | Women's Health: Decoded 5/8

it was a lot. then I graduated, started a business two months later, and then a month after that found out I was pregnant with my third. And I did not have easy pregnancies. I have a weird uterus, I'll say I have Kori Rae Kovacs: Mm. Dr. Beth Westie: a uterine abnormality where I have two. So it's Kori Rae Kovacs: okay. Dr. Beth Westie: a I've it's split down the middle. So I'm a high risk pregnancy person too. So there's a whole other layer of stress added on. And going through this whole process and everything and knowing that it there's another risk added, et cetera. I'm thinking, okay, I'm just gonna make this through. We're gonna have this baby, And she ended up coming early, almost two months early. So I had a placental abruption. So they had to do an early emergency C section. Like thankfully, thankfully, she was fine and I was fine. Like that was that's the win. Is that neither one of us, you know, yeah. didn't make it, Kori Rae Kovacs: Yeah. Dr. Beth Westie: right? But that severe trauma was also, I wanna say, probably the last straw for my whole system. And it was after that that I started developing ovarian cysts. Kori Rae Kovacs: Mm. Dr. Beth Westie: And I could not understand why this was happening to me. Every single month I got a cyst, it would burst and it would put me on the floor because it was so incredibly painful and awful and terrible. And for anybody who's had a cyst, how awful it is, right? And then when it bursts and that searing pain. It's like a hot poker inside that you there's no nothing that can relieve it. No relief comes. You just have to ride it out. And the assistance I was trying to get was I'm gonna clean up my diet more. I'm gluten free and dairy free and I cut out sugars and all this stuff. I was taking all these supplements because I'm a natural health provider, so I'm gonna do all the things. And I was asking all my friends Kori Rae Kovacs: Right. Dr. Beth Westie: and colleagues, what else should I do? I keep getting cysts, what's happening? And then finally my husband, put me in the car, took me to the ER after one really bad one. And they were like, Yeah, you have a burst cyst. I was like, right, I know, but why is this happening? And they were like, your hormones are imbalanced. Okay, and like, Kori Rae Kovacs: Mm-hmm. Dr. Beth Westie: thank you, Captain Obvious. I think it's pretty clear that there's a problem Kori Rae Kovacs: Right. Dr. Beth Westie: here, but Their only solution was birth control and Vicodin. That was it. Kori Rae Kovacs: Mm. Dr. Beth Westie: And when I wasn't open to just starting on that because I there was other side effects or other concerns I had with those things, this old white guy who was an ER doc. he was like, Well, if you're not gonna take it, then I guess we can't help you. And I was like, I Kori Rae Kovacs: Yeah. Dr. Beth Westie: guess not, sir. Like Kori Rae Kovacs: Mm-hmm. Wow. How many women go through that? where we have these challenges that are completely disruptive

in our lives. And then we go to the doctor and we say, what do we do? They give us an option and we're like, yeah, that doesn't sit right with me. What else? And they're like, sorry about ya. Dr. Beth Westie: Yeah. wanna say way more women than should. my thought process on this is probably skewed because this is, of course, the women that I work with. That's who comes into my world as women who have similar issues or stories like that, where they're like something's wrong. They go in and they're not given any help, right? Kori Rae Kovacs: I'm curious, what what what were you feeling emotionally when you had, a trusted provider give you a solution that did not fit for you and your values and which way you wanted to go? What did that feel like at that point? Dr. Beth Westie: Okay, I have to say this about just chatting with you. I've never had anybody ask me that. I have talked about this and like what got me started in the work I do in the ovarian cysts. I've never had anybody ask me how it felt to go through that. Kori Rae Kovacs: well I just got goosebumps. That's cool. Okay. Well, yeah. What did it feel like? Dr. Beth Westie: Yeah. Yeah. So so that's amazing because I know a lot of people can imagine, like, yes, I was frustrated and then disappointed and then almost feeling frantic of okay, well, I've done all these things. And of course I wanted to run down the list of things that I was doing. I'm taking this supplement, that supplement, I'm doing this Kori Rae Kovacs: Yeah. Dr. Beth Westie: nutritionally, I've changed this with my workouts, I've done X, Y, Z, right? And all of this stuff, all of this time, energy, effort, research. And the doc literally was like, Yeah. Well, n none of that matters, does it? Because if it worked, it would have worked for you. And clearly you're here with another cyst. And Kori Rae Kovacs: Wow. Dr. Beth Westie: you know what? And then and then and then the cherry on top of all of this. So sorry. So to answer your question, I went into, I'll call it a blinding rage. Not externally, but internally, where I was like, holy bananas. I am going to figure this out. Yeah. A blinding rage because then his solution because I had turned down the birth control and Vicodin and I was like, I'm doing all of this stuff. Here's my diet, here's my exercise, here's my lifestyle. I'm trying to get more sleep. I'm trying to XYZ. Here's all my supplements. What am I missing? What else do I need to do? And he said, Well, you know, yeah, if you're not gonna take the birth control or whatever. He said, the only other solution then is if you get pregnant again. If you get pregnant, then you're not gonna have cysts. And I was like Kori Rae Kovacs: Interesting. Dr. Beth Westie: You've gotta be FN yoking me right now. That I sorry, I'm gonna try and keep it PG because like I'm I still get I still get mad about it. It's so again, with what I shared, Kori Rae Kovacs: no, you could you can swear here you're good. Yeah. Dr. Beth Westie: and this is why I shared, like my youngest was born two months early with a placental abruption. That's also my second. Like I'm lucky to have children at all. I'm very, very blessed Kori Rae Kovacs: No. Dr. Beth Westie: to be able to have three children. My first, Kori Rae Kovacs: Mm-hmm. Dr. Beth Westie: there was very little complication with him, but my second I went into labor and she was an emergency C section via placental abruption. She was full term, but that was still a very ri like she was blue when she was born. She almost Kori Rae Kovacs: Mm. Dr. Beth Westie: like they had to revive her, right? And so I knew going in that this was also a risk going into my third pregnancy, and we knew it was probably going to be our last because of the risk it carried for me and the baby. Kori Rae Kovacs: Right. Dr. Beth Westie: And I had been scheduled for a c section, and so they were gonna tie my tubes in a planned Kori Rae Kovacs: Mm-hmm. Dr. Beth Westie: C section, As they were wheeling Kori Rae Kovacs: Right. Dr. Beth Westie: me into the ER for that last emergency C section, one of the nurses said, Hey. We I see that you're down for tying your tubes, but because this is early, we're gonna recommend that you don't because the chances of the baby making it are not great right now. So in case you want to try again. That was yes. So all of this is the the weight of everything going into me getting pregnant, having babies, and me surviving, the baby surviving, all this stuff. And to, you know, months later be told by a doctor, well, if you just don't want your cysts just get pregnant again, like sir, do you have any idea? It's it should say it in my chart that we both almost didn't make it. That when I say blinding rage, that was the blinding rage where was like, holy, that's your so that's your solution. Because I won't take birth control and vicodin. You're just gonna say get pregnant again. Which is Kori Rae Kovacs: Okay. Dr. Beth Westie: it's not untrue that that is the case. If you're pregnant, you don't produce, you know, you don't ovulate then. Okay. But but that was it. Kori Rae Kovacs: Right. That's not a real solution. And certainly not in your case either. That's not fixing Dr. Beth Westie: That's not a real solution. No. Kori Rae Kovacs: anything. If if anything, that could be creating more complications. And you knew that. You knew that it intuitively and from a professional perspective. You understood that. So you went through this and now Dr. Beth Westie: Yeah. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Kori Rae Kovacs: you were fueled by this rage. And I feel like if there's anything that anger can do, it lights a fire under our ass. And that is when you started looking for other answers, yeah? Dr. Beth Westie: Yes, yeah. I in working through this, and the background that I had at the time I'd gone to massage therapy school, then started chiropractic school, and then also got licensed in acupuncture and Chinese medicine. And then this sort of coincided with the time

being in practice and needing continuing education hours and everything else. And there was a seminar to get certified in specialty work in women's hormones fertility all the way through, including menopause. And I was like, this is for me. I think they put this out for me specifically because of the issues I'm having and diving into the entire Eastern medicine aspect of women's hormones I was up in the middle of the night, 2 a.m. furiously researching, getting different books on Eastern medicine and anything I could get my hands on, studying Ayurveda in my free time to learn more about this and to understand how did we get here as a like as a health model I am an educated, I'll say privileged educated person who can understand on a very different level walking into this, and I have no problem advocating for myself. But then to have the crap outcome that I had, I was like, there's there's gotta be women who have been treated much worse. Going through a very similar experience. And I was like, I can't I can't stand the thought of that. So I started learning more about women's hormones through the Eastern Medicine lens, started applying it to the patients that I had in practice at the time. And, as I was changing things for myself, I saw improvements with my hormonal regulation. within a few months I stopped having cysts and I'll be told I haven't had one since. so it's been fifteen years almost now. I haven't had an ovarian cyst and that that's amazing. And then to work with now at this point thousands of women who have also had positive experiences with their hormones because of that. Kori Rae Kovacs: beautiful, and this is this is the golden goose egg here, is the fact that you walked through that experience, the very challenging experience, and it gave birth to a passion in you that resulted in helping thousands of women improve their health and their lives. And that, sister, like that is the fee. That's why I was pointing to the Phoenix. That's like the whole point of her. Is that we go through these challenges, these, us like being the Phoenix women, that we go through these were so hard things. And it ends up giving birth to something so magnificent that we couldn't even imagine before. I'd love to dig in a little bit about functional medicine and root cause practice, because I feel like these are terms that we kind of hear tossed around on social media. But let's start at the beginning. What is what is functional medicine and how is it different from conventional healthcare, like when we go to the doctor? Dr. Beth Westie: Yeah. I feel like this is a term that people have a concept of, but maybe not understand in detail what it can actually provide you. And in my my personal opinion here, personal slash professional Kori Rae Kovacs: Mm-hmm. Dr. Beth Westie: opinion, functional medicine is actually true. Human biology, physiology, health medicine. It Kori Rae Kovacs: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Dr. Beth Westie: is looking at how your body should optimally function and then how we get it there. We're not Trying to do a pill for every ill. We're not just saying, look, this level is okay, you're fine, you know, buck up their cupcake, you know, it it whatever. It's really listening and understanding to what your symptoms are, how you're feeling, running the right in-depth labs to take a deep dive look at your whole system and then going through a step-by-step process to get your function back. And that's Kori Rae Kovacs: Mm. Dr. Beth Westie: one of the other things I think a lot of people miss because people are learning more about labs. Now I am seeing that change that they're understanding. I should get a ferritin run instead of just my hemoglobin or iron. Kori Rae Kovacs: Mm-hmm. Dr. Beth Westie: I should do a more in-depth gut test to see if I have leaky gut versus just trying different probiotics. Mm-hmm. Yep. And once we have that information, understanding this is where your dysfunction lies and this is our step-by-step process. back to optimal function for you. Right. So a great example of this is this week I just went over labs with someone. She had seen a lot of other providers in the last I'll say five ish years, five, six years. and she's like, I know I can trace it back to this apartment I lived in. there was mold there. And then when COVID happened, I was work from home. So I didn't go anywhere. But I was stuck in this and she goes, so I had had some gut issues, some skin issues, some rashes and some eczema stuff and some headaches. But she goes, as soon as I started working from home, everything amplified. And she's like, I maybe it was stress, maybe it was this and that. And then she started seeing someone and they identified that it was mold. So she went through this mold process and she's did say, okay, some of that did get better. I moved, it did get better. But she's like, I still have skin issues, headaches, and gut issues, and my hormones are off now. Hormones weren't as much of a part of the picture before as they are now. And so when we did testing for her, I made sure that we ran a full GI map, did a Dutch test for her hormones, and then also ran a histamine clearance for that. And what showed up was of course histamine, which ties the some of the gut and the skin issues in there. And then I said the histamine is actually going to drive that estrogen up. So the fact that that histamine response started happening kicks in that estrogen excess or estrogen dominance issue. So your hormones start to get worse month by month, year by year, which is why they've been worse in the last couple of years than they were previously. But then that excess is estrogen also then drives histamine more, which is now why your skin seems to be getting worse too. But it all stems from what showed up on her GI map, too, We have to start with a lot of the gut stuff. Take care of that, get that histamine down, and then we can work on your hormonal balance to get that to improve. Otherwise,

we could try all these hormone supplements, all this other stuff all day long. It's not gonna make an impact because your gut is a wreck right now. So understanding that process is is. a like what I think is a great example of functional medicine. Doing the deep dive, really looking in your health history, This is not just a surface level of what brings you in today? you have headaches? Mm-mm. you have a skin issue? I can't talk to you about that. You should see a dermatologist. Make a separate appointment for that. your tummy hurts. okay. Go see a gastroenterologist. Right? Did you try probiotic? Maybe try some Tums. you've tried those, that doesn't work. the probiotic makes it worse? Hmm, that's weird. I don't know, maybe you're taking a bad one. Try a different one. Yeah, go see somebody else, right? It's looking at the body as a whole for functional medicine, understanding how everything is connected. And then the body never does anything without a reason. So Kori Rae Kovacs: Right. Dr. Beth Westie: doing the right testing and then applying things along the way so that you get the right result. Yeah. Kori Rae Kovacs: Yeah. It's getting curious about a body and a person that's living in the body with their experience. And then you just become like this kind of detective It's coming from a different angle, and that is. why your patients are seeing the results that they are is because you're getting that curiosity This conversation has been incredible. And if you're a woman in your forties who's been feeling a little off lately, then I have a special invitation for you. Have you found yourself looking in the mirror recently and thinking, I just don't feel like myself anymore? Maybe your body doesn't look the way that you used to, you're feeling unseen in your relationships, or perhaps you're even questioning what you actually want in this next chapter of your life. If any of that sounds familiar, I want to invite you to the Embodied Woman Summit. The Embodied Women Summit is a free seven-day online experience happening November 9th through the 15th, 2026. Women from around the world are coming together to explore midlife health, personal growth, spirituality, and ways to connect to your feminine nature. I'll be speaking alongside other soulful women, including Robin Stokes, who will be helping you to find your true voice, and Corinne Sunshine, who will be teaching you how to interact with your inner child through shadow, light, and play. All week you'll connect online with other women like you who are on a path of curiosity and authenticity as you learn new ways to create more joy, rest, and presence in your life. If you're ready to start feeling like yourself again, this free event is for you. Register today for the Embodied Woman's Summit. You can find the link in the episode description. It's there waiting for you. I hope that I get to see you there. Now let's get back to our conversation. Sometimes we can get into a situation where it feels

like functional medicine practitioners and allopathic doctors can bust heads and see like they're fighting. How how does a woman bring all of that together so that way she gets a healthcare team that actually supports her rather than everybody's just fighting Dr. Beth Westie: that's a really good question. I would love for all providers to be open to Feedback, other information, everything else. but it can be difficult to add on to your health team. People who will play nice with others, work well with your other teammates. And that's how I like to have people think of their own health team. Like when someone decides to work with me or the other providers on my team, like we become part of your health team. Right? You hired us to be part of your health team. And we should be helping as as much as we can. And when within the scope that we can, but then also understanding other things. So my favorite is actually referring out for. I do this a lot with just about every person referring out for other hands-on services because we work virtually, I will say this all the time. I say, my gosh, you have this and this going on. with your stress levels and everything, I think right now you should be getting a massage once a week. Let's work on some lymph lymphatic drainage. Or you should be getting adjusted. You should be getting some acupuncture. And it's incredible the shift and change that people have when they have those additional modalities brought in to their health team and the change that can happen. That's the type of health team I think is so helpful for women. And also embodies and encompasses real functional medicine. Right. It's not saying that this is gonna be the end all, be all, cure all or anything for all of this stuff, but to bring in these other modalities of health and have that help help you move forward overall. Kori Rae Kovacs: there are many options for a healthcare team. And you are the person who creates the healthcare team. It doesn't just have to be your family doctor, it doesn't just have to be your OBGYN. There's other modalities that can be included in your healthcare team to be able to support you in your goals and help you get the health that you want to achieve. Every single doctor or healthcare provider have their limitations for what they can or cannot do. That's why it's important to have a variety of people, and including allopathic doctors, including OBGYNs and gastroenterologists. So I think the important thing is to see is that. You are the person who is making those decisions. Dr. Beth Westie: love how you said that too. understanding who you're seeing and what they really do and can help with. like I am so grateful for my OBGYN, right? Who delivered my children and everything. But to go to my OB and to say, you know, I'm having these cysts. Of course, they're gonna only give me birth control. They don't have other options. They're not gonna talk about estrogen pathways or the fact that my stress levels were maxed

out so much that it was disrupting how I process my hormones, so therefore I developed cysts. that's not what they do. Kori Rae Kovacs: Right. They're surgeons. Yeah. And it's Dr. Beth Westie: They hand yeah. And they hand out birth control like candy or IUDs or things like whatever the case may be. Which again, there is a time and place for all of that stuff. I'm not saying it's bad Kori Rae Kovacs: Yeah, exactly. Dr. Beth Westie: or anything, it's not good or bad. It's really analyzing where are you at? What are your goals as an individual? And then are you Kori Rae Kovacs: Mm-hmm. Dr. Beth Westie: hiring the right health team to help get you there? That's Kori Rae Kovacs: Yeah. Dr. Beth Westie: yeah. Kori Rae Kovacs: Yes. Yeah. And that's that's what I I want, you know, as a nurse. I'm I've seen it from that allopathic side, but personally have seen it on the other side from a functional perspective but the thing is is that I see a world where women Feel empowered to get the care that they need, get the people on their team, understand the tools that these doctors have, and then be able to create a healthcare team that actually gets them where they want to go. And sometimes you have to look outside of Western medicine. So I'd love to talk about the woman who has gone through a really, really hard season in her life. I know you had shared a story about a woman who had gone through a really long and difficult Can you tell us about a little bit about her experience and what was happening with her health at that time? Dr. Beth Westie: Yeah, yes, yes. this is a story that I hear slightly different versions of the same storyline, right? So this gal specifically, she was married to a guy, which I think how she phrased it was for somebody who obviously acted like he didn't like her. For some reason, wouldn't actually let the divorce go through. Kori Rae Kovacs: Mm. Dr. Beth Westie: She's like, I wasn't married that long. She was married for like three years or something. And she said it took her 10 years to get divorced because of all of his shenanigans and everything. And in that meantime, she had obviously like moved on, had her own successful career, you know, did other things, traveled, etc., met another person, started another relationship, But he wouldn't let her get divorced. But she was on edge all the time. She would get served with different lawsuits when she would be out and about. She'd get emails from her lawyer with crazy accusation things. Finally she gets divorced. And then she gets married within a year, remarried, and Now it's five years later and we're working together because she said, I'm remarried. I've got a wonderful husband, a wonderful life. She's like, I don't really have that much stress. I'm good. My life is fantastic, especially compared to that decade of hell I went through. I just don't understand why my body is doing this. I'm not sleeping. I'm waking up in the middle of the night. I'm exhausted all day. I've got brain

fog and I've put on weight and I can't take it off no matter what. What the heck is wrong with me? nothing is changing my body. And then she had gone through paramenopause around that time as well, nearing the end of the actual divorce and then her starting new relationship. She's like, maybe it's just my hormones. Maybe it's just this or that. And I've got these hot flashes now and pile on the hormone issues to this too. Okay. But she said, I'm I'm not willing to live the rest of my life like this. I have worked so hard to set up a great life for myself. I love my life. I love every day. I love the work I do. I love the relationship I'm in. I love my friends. Everything is great except for how I feel. And I'm not gonna keep putting up with this. I need, I need answers. And I was like, let's get you answers. And of course, one of the crazy things that popped up for her in her testing results was her cortisol. They were through the roof. And she was thinking that her cortisol were going to be flatlined, really, really low. She was shocked. Kori Rae Kovacs: Interesting. Dr. Beth Westie: She's like, wait, why? Why is my cortisol so high? I'm not stressed. And as we were talking about things, I was like, you might not currently be feeling stressed, but your body is for sure acting like it's very, very stressed all the time. it looks like you're just in anxiety in fight or flight mode all day, every day. It is so elevated. Your adrenals are working so hard. That's taking so much nutrient and that's going to throw off your gut bacteria. Specific gut bacteria that's supposed to be helpful for your metabolism. So we have to work with your gut now too because of your cortisol levels. But she was like, I my it no, it can't that can't be that can't be it. I'm not stressed right now. We ended that call and we chatted again just a couple weeks later and she said, I've been thinking about what you had said about my cortisol. And I talked to some other people And they were like, but you are stressed. Kori Rae Kovacs: Yeah. Dr. Beth Westie: And so she said she really analyzed her day and how she was going through her days. And she said that she is prepared for a fight at every single moment. She said she'd be sitting in the in the grocery store parking lot in her car. And before going in to get just grab some groceries, she'd be running through different scenarios in her head in case somebody got in her way at the grocery store or tried to take something out of her cart or whatever. She would literally make up scenarios in her head about events happening that she'd have to fight with somebody or argue with somebody and she'd have responses ready to go and all this stuff. And so I asked her, I was like, Kori Rae Kovacs: Wow. Dr. Beth Westie: does that happen? I was like, do people fight with you at the grocery store? Cause I was like, to me, I was like, what kind of grocery store are you going to? This is like a Jerry Springer grocery store. Kori Rae Kovacs: Yeah. Dr. Beth Westie: my God. Kori Rae Kovacs: Yeah. wow. Dr. Beth Westie: This is a reality show waiting to happen. my god. And she was like, No, no. The this stuff actually never happens. But I just realized I do this. This is how I walk through all day, every day. From the second her eyes open in the morning until she falls asleep at night, she's ready to fight. She's Kori Rae Kovacs: Mm. Dr. Beth Westie: ready to fight. She these scenarios and things like that. I said, that's the stress. It is a carryover. So even Kori Rae Kovacs: That's the body. Mm-hmm. Dr. Beth Westie: though you're not in this fight with your ex-husband anymore. Even though that's done and dusted and you are divorced and it's been five years, etc. Your body doesn't know it. Your brain doesn't know it, and you're still moving forward like this. And so when we look at working with the body, and especially for women, our capacity to handle stress is immense. It's like this huge, huge, huge bucket, right? Men have a tiny little beach pail, like a Barbie beach pail. Kori Rae Kovacs: Mm-hmm. Dr. Beth Westie: But they once their bucket gets full, they dump it and they start over again. They dump it and start over again. When our bucket Kori Rae Kovacs: Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Dr. Beth Westie: gets full, it is a lot heavier and a lot harder to dump and start over. So it just keeps Kori Rae Kovacs: Mm, yeah. Dr. Beth Westie: getting piled on and piled on and piled on. And so I said, listen, your your levels are at a point where you can't just like meditate this away. Right? Like that that's not a bad thing to do. Meditation, deep breathing, relaxation, stimulating vagus nerve, all of those things. Somatic work, yes. Great grand, wonderful. Yes, yes, yes. A hundred times, yes. But if your internal nervous system is still reacting all day, every day, that stuff can't even, touch down, let alone make any traction for you. So Kori Rae Kovacs: Mm-hmm. Dr. Beth Westie: we have to start with the internal and getting your adrenals to calm down and getting things to wind down. And that's where the Eastern medicine herbs come in. And nourishing your body differently to help support this whole different process so that you can start to do some deep breathing. Cause she said, I can't meditate, I can't do any of that. I like, Of course you can't You Kori Rae Kovacs: Yeah. Yeah. Dr. Beth Westie: your brain d it's not it was never safe. It it went years of over a decade without it being safe to calm down. it was a couple of months later where she said she had done some deep breathing and she was like, I never realized what deep breathing actually was and how it was supposed to make you feel different. She goes, I think I actually did it. I did it right. I was like, No, it you've been doing it right. It just finally landed with your body. It finally was able to take hold. and it's a process and it takes time and it's it's not a race, it's a the it's not a race across the finish line here. your finish

line is to get the change to happen. So when she felt that difference, she was like, my gosh, this is incredible. I can't wait to do it again. I can't Kori Rae Kovacs: Right. Dr. Beth Westie: wait to do deep breathing again and feel different afterwards because I've never felt that. Kori Rae Kovacs: this is so important for those of us that have gone through really, really big changes like that, really big challenges, is realizing that our bodies are still holding on to that state, whether we think our lives are causing it, right? It's an internal thing. And you cannot meditate your way out of prolonged levels of cortisol. which by the way, I'd I'd love to know, what happens? what what what would have happened if this woman didn't come to your practice and she just continued? those high levels of cortisol, what is that gonna do to her body in the long run? Dr. Beth Westie: That's such a great question. and I I encounter women who are at I'll call it all stages of this journey. Some women know right away something's been off and it's been only a year. For some women, it's been 10 or 15 years, or sometimes longer, two, three decades of their life. When we say things like, if you need to de-stress, just take a weekend. Take a weekend away and de-stress. That is that works great for men. Men who can dump their little bucket. They just need a weekend to refresh. A weekend away. Go fishing for the weekend. Or if you're like, have a weekend with your girls or go hiking for the week. That's great. It's a start. But for women to make a deeper impact, you have to change your lifestyle. And that sometimes means not doing the extra things, not hosting people for the holidays, if that's really stressful, not being the volunteer person on your kids' sports team that drives or makes or does whatever, right? Stop adding more to your plate. Take things off of your plate unless it absolutely has to be on there. And I have a great example of this of somebody, but I'll answer, I'll answer your other question in terms of what can happen. Some of it depends on how long it's been going on. Right? immediately you're gonna have issues with your digestion, heart rate, recovery, it's gonna change your appetite, all of that stuff. Long-term use, or long-term use, long-term stress use, when you're using the stress for too long. It really impacts your collagen production. You will look different. Your skin doesn't rebound. Your healing time slows down. Muscle repair doesn't happen as quickly or as efficiently as it used to. And a lot of people can think of it, I'm just getting older. I'm old now. I'm old, right? You'll have aches and pains that you didn't used to have. That's the that's the impact of your body still going through the trauma again and again and again. It impacts your brain and how it wires itself. it literally changes everything from head to toe for you on a cellular level, on all your systems and cellular level. But the cool thing about the amazing human body

is that once it gets the opportunity, it can change that and reverse it. Your gut can function better. Your skin can produce more collagen. Right. It's not just about eating collagen, dry brushing, things like that produce collagen in your skin naturally. Your hair can regrow. I have had women, I had a gal, this was several years ago now. She had gone through a very stressful time in her life and chemo at the same time. And she lost a bunch of hair. And when her hair would came back, it was straight and she had like curly, curly, curly hair before. Like big, thick curly hair, like when we would do Zoom calls She had this picture up. And it was like this massive head of curls that was just gorgeous, right? I'm like in my head, it's almost like glamour shots, you know, you know, Kori Rae Kovacs: Mm. Dr. Beth Westie: big curls. And on the like her in person, it was sort of wavy, but it looked thin and flat. And it was about four-ish months of working together. She noticed that at her roots. Her hair, it started to get curly. Which then she said, I looked really awkward because it started to grow in and it was curly, curly, curly again and the lower part of the hair was flatter. But she's like, I can't believe this. My hair my hair is curly. My hair is curly again. I was like, Yeah. Yeah. Because your body went through something incredibly difficult. You were nutrient deficient, all these other things. And the body can come back in an amazing way as long as it gets the opportunity. So we just Kori Rae Kovacs: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Dr. Beth Westie: have to figure out what that is and give it that opportunity. Kori Rae Kovacs: It needs the environment, the Dr. Beth Westie: Yeah. Yes. Kori Rae Kovacs: internal environment, the external environment. And that's really what Dr. Beth Westie: Yes. Kori Rae Kovacs: you're pointing to in this lifestyle thing is it's not just Dr. Beth Westie: Yeah. Kori Rae Kovacs: it it it it has to be kind of catered to you. You know, if keep throwing all of these tick tock hacks at it. it's it's not gonna touch it. And so that's why it's really important to to work with somebody who's looking at your body from a whole system and understand that it's a it's a it's a big picture and what you have been through plays a part of that. There's one more piece Dr. Beth Westie: Yes. Kori Rae Kovacs: I wanted I wanted to say about the cortisol aspect, Dr. Beth Westie: Yeah. Kori Rae Kovacs: and I think this is really important for women. And something that I talk about a lot is cardiovascular risks. Dr. Beth Westie: Okay, yes. Kori Rae Kovacs: I surprise women a lot of times when I tell them is like, you know, cardiovascular events are the number one killer of women in the United States. And we don't think about that connection between prolonged stress, high levels Dr. Beth Westie: Yeah. Kori Rae Kovacs: of cortisol, and what it is doing to a body. and and Dr. Beth Westie: Mm. Kori Rae Kovacs: we might not even realize it. our lives are inherently full of challenges. and that's why we get curious about these things and start investigating them because it can have long-term effects on your health. And you want to have a long life, you want to live a full life. And in order to do that, you've got to have a body that is cared for. Dr. Beth Westie: Yes. Kori Rae Kovacs: For for the woman's listening, how would she know that maybe stress or a prolonged stress is affecting her? Like what are some signs that that points to that problem? Dr. Beth Westie: Yes, one of the first ones that I'm I'm gonna talk about here is like the weight gain, weight loss resistance. Because a healthy body is gonna be at a healthy weight. This is not just on the scale, this is your body doesn't respond, etc., no matter what you do. This is a huge piece for women as well, because it's not about calories in, calories out. So many people love to comment on stuff that I have on social media. It's Kori Rae Kovacs: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Dr. Beth Westie: all about the calories, blah, blah, blah. If it was as simple as the math equation, I'm pretty sure we would all be at the exact weight that we wanted to be at. Mm-hmm. Yes. Kori Rae Kovacs: Mm-hmm. Dr. Beth Westie: But it's it's that it's the stress response. And for women, our bodies are designed to store. We have a different natural body fat percentage. To even like, you know, we all know this that if your body fat percentage gets too low, you don't have a period. Your body doesn't prioritize producing any of those hormones to have an actual menstrual cycle. So we are meant to have a higher body fat percentage, and our bodies are designed to be in a storage mode, especially under any type of stress. Any type of stress response, prolonged stress response, store, store, store, store, store. Super easy to store, right? You eat a piece of celery, your body's gonna figure out a way to store it. Because that's what it thinks needs to happen. Brain fog is another big one that people think, I just need to, whatever. And there's also so many women I feel like In our in today's world, I want to say our ish generation, right? Women who are in their 30s and 40s and 50s. So we've got some Gen X, millennials, etc., right? Women who the wave of you know, feminism and things that women can do anything that men can do, and da-da-da-da-da. But our bodies were designed differently. So to express expect us to put up with that same stress load without A repercussion. And it's not that we can't do anything that they do, but why would we want to? Or why would we want to design our day like that? And I see this a lot from like men who run, I'm a business coach, blah, blah, blah, wake up at 4 a.m. and do XYZ. And I remember being like, Sir, I've been up since 4 a.m. nursing a baby. I'm so sorry. I don't have time to fill out a journal and do a workout at 4 30 because I I've got a baby attached to my boob. I can't, you know, this is Yes, but yes, I was up at 4 a.m., thank you. What? Our lives

are very different. So the the expectation of what we're supposed to do and hold and have. And I feel like, again, sorry, the reference of like the feminism of, you know, women's empowerment and all these things, I think is a wonderful thing, but I feel like sometimes we took it too far to Kori Rae Kovacs: Mm-hmm. Dr. Beth Westie: to do to never say, I can't cut back. I have to be and do everything. I have to carry a full-time job and take care of my family and Also be available for XYZ other places. babes, you're doing five full time jobs. No wonder you're exhausted, right? we don't realize it, I feel like, that this is how we get stuck there and that the brain fog we have, we don't push, don't push through that. Do you know what I mean? I see this all the time with women working out. I wanna be strong, I wanna build strong muscles and have strong bones, et cetera. Yes, yes, yes. So they'll do these really tough workouts and then be sore for four or five days. And I'm like, well, then you're not the workout isn't helping you at that point. You're tearing your muscle down and your body can't rebuild it. Stress. Stress has a huge impact on that. So I'm like, stop working out like that right now. I'm not saying you can't ever work out like that, but your body's not at a point where that's gonna be helpful. You're working against, you're making it harder instead of making things better. Kori Rae Kovacs: Mm-hmm. Dr. Beth Westie: So we have to shift your workouts and adjust the lifestyle around this. Kori Rae Kovacs: You know those oracle card readings I do at the end of each of my episodes? Well, what if we took that experience a little deeper and made it all about you? Whether you're navigating a relationship, considering a career change, or looking for clarity on your wellness journey, I offer personalized Oracle card readings to help you explore life's questions with greater clarity, confidence, and self-trust. And these aren't just quick card pulls either. Each reading includes a personalized video recording just for you that you can revisit anytime, plus a beautiful digital companion guidebook with your cards. Intuitive insights, journal reflections, and spirit guided action steps. Because insight is wonderful, but it's what we do with that insight that creates meaningful and lasting change in our lives. If you've enjoyed the card readings on the podcast, I would love to create a personal reading just for you. Explore my readings and book yours at sacred phoenixwellness.com slash book dash online. Now let's get back to the show. So what about our Dr. Beth Westie: yeah. Kori Rae Kovacs: what about our reproductive hormones. What about our Dr. Beth Westie: Uh-huh. Kori Rae Kovacs: periods? How does cortisol and prolonged Dr. Beth Westie: Yeah. Kori Rae Kovacs: stress impact our cycles and our experience of estrogen and progesterone? Dr. Beth Westie: Yes. Well, the f one of the first things, especially with acute stress, is a lot of times women will experience a skipped period or a late period. Very, very common, right? they call it the progesterone steel, cortisol steals, I'm using air quotes, steals progesterone. It's just an easy way to kind of describe how cortisol is prioritized over creating progesterone, meaning you're not ovulating that. And without that ovulation, you don't have progesterone to counteract estrogen. So then long term, you get estrogen. That it doesn't happen overnight. It doesn't happen in one month or two months or sometimes even three months. This is months of time, years of time that you'll get this estrogen built up. But if you're only say you ovulate every month for years, but then all of a sudden you only go to ovulating every other month. And then every third month, because of stress. So over the course of two years, your cycle is going to become not just irregular. But you're gonna start to have more hormonal symptoms of it. Estrogen dominance or excess estrogen symptoms. So heavier cycles, more clots, pain, you can have headaches. they can be longer cycles, all the all the other things. And then again, there's so many other other impacts of it, right? There's weight gain with that too, mood swings, irritability. sleep issues related to your hormones that occur. Kori Rae Kovacs: Fists? Dr. Beth Westie: Yeah, cysts, yes, endometriosis, fibroids, adenomiosis, all of that stuff. Which aga it's, I wouldn't say it necessarily starts the cyst, there can be a genetic factor or other factors that are there, but then the stress lights that Kori Rae Kovacs: Feeds them. Dr. Beth Westie: fire, right? The coals were there, right? But the stress lit the fire for sure. And and then you develop these hormonal issues that just continually get worse and without really making a huge change. And again, it's not just a, I'm I'm eating cleaner. Great. You know, it can be a bigger impact, like really changing your your life in a big way that actually works with your body. And that's one of the things I love to talk to women about. Working with a lifestyle that works with your hormonal cycle, with your body, not fighting against it. not expecting your system to be able to work out at max level at a ten out of ten every single day of the month. That's not how our bodies are designed. So we're just, you know, I want to say making it harder for ourselves or then being disappointed. Right. And I was an athlete in high school and college. So I vividly remember this, feeling like I'd walk up to a squat rack and, you know, blast out, two fifty easy and be able to walk away feeling really good. And then literally the next week, same squat rack, same weight, same everything. I ate the same thing. I slept the same, all the things. And it would be the heaviest thing ever. I wouldn't even do be able to do my regular set. What the heck? What did I do different? And I'm picking apart myself when really I bought a I brought a different body to the gym that day hormonally, Kori Rae Kovacs:

Yes. Uh-huh. Dr. Beth Westie: And it's not understanding that. So that pressure we put on ourselves to perform at a 10 out 10 every single day when really it's not it's not a good or bad thing. It's just it's a different body you're living in. So moving with that and that in and of itself is gonna decrease the stress that you're under. Not expecting Kori Rae Kovacs: Uh-huh. Dr. Beth Westie: your body to be able to push that weight or run that time or you know, all of those Kori Rae Kovacs: Mm-hmm. Dr. Beth Westie: things every single day. Say, you know what, I'm a little luteal today. Kori Rae Kovacs: Yeah, mm-hmm. Dr. Beth Westie: I'm I need I need more sleep. You do need more sleep. You need more sleep. Thirty Kori Rae Kovacs: Yep. Yep. Dr. Beth Westie: minutes, sixty minutes, more sleep in the luteal phase. You also need more calories. You need Kori Rae Kovacs: Yep. Yep. Dr. Beth Westie: three hundred to five hundred more calories a day. You need more protein, more minerals, more fats. That Kori Rae Kovacs: Mm-hmm. Dr. Beth Westie: is so key to layer in. Those are little things that make a huge impact on how you feel and function during different points of your cycle, which is again, it's not a bad thing that you need more food, but us thinking that we have to eat the same thing every day, very regimented, well, you're bringing a different body to the kitchen table every day. You know what I mean? Kori Rae Kovacs: The women who l like my listener here is probably getting excited like I I am because I talk about mental cycle awareness all the time. Is just how important tracking your cycle is in the awareness. And I love that you pointed that out, that it it reduces the stress because we're no longer attacking ourselves for showing up as a different person, as a different parent, as a different Partner as a different person at work. we're showing up as different people because we are hormonally and energetically, we're different people. And when you start to understand that, now you're not criticizing yourself. You're like, I'm just on day 27 of my cycle, It's the feedback. And when we get to understand them, Then now we can figure out how to care for ourselves. And that is such an important piece. I I'm really curious where where does the gut and the liver play in all of this? You've mentioned it so many times. So what Dr. Beth Westie: Yes. Kori Rae Kovacs: is with the gut Dr. Beth Westie: Yeah. What is with the gut? Yes. a majority of your hormones are processed out through the liver gut pathway. That's the fat-soluble pathway. So, just for quick info, there's two major pathways that your body processes everything out of: water-soluble and fat-soluble. So the water-soluble pathways are, sweat and your kidneys and urine, right? Lymphatic pathways, great. Liver gut pathway is the fat-soluble pathway. And liver produces the bile, gallbladder stores it, and then the entire gut also has a huge role in your detox process. And your liver does so much for you on a you know 24-7 basis that we don't even think about. helping break down foods, helping regulate blood sugars, converting thyroid hormones, the list is almost endless here for liver, but liver is also in charge of processing through those hormones. when we look at estrogen metabolism, estrogen goes through three phases of metabolism. Phase one and two are in the liver alone. Phase three is the gut. So those pathways, those three steps have to be working. In order for you to actually process out hormones. So when I talk about the hormone piece of it, I always say the three pieces of hormones, what's produced, how it's processed, and then the pathways out. And all three of those are important. A lot of times when people are getting, I'm getting my hormones tested, it's just a blood test. All you're seeing is potentially what would be produced. You're missing the other two pieces completely, which is why we do that functional testing, because we get to see the full scope of it. What's produced, the process, and the pathways. And then we can understand where the breakdown is happening. So liver gut does a majority of it, right? It's hard to exactly say, the specific amount, but I always estimate it like it's about 80% of that hormone processing. estrogens, progesterones, your androgens, like just testosterones, and it plays a huge role too in processing your cortisols out as well. So if you're struggling with gut issues, if you're bloated, if you have heartburn. If you feel like you're not digesting your food well, if you feel like food sits in festers, if you're gassy, not going to the bathroom regularly, you've gut issues and it's gonna impact how well your hormones are being processed. Yeah. It's vital. Kori Rae Kovacs: we think estrogen, we just think it's our ovaries, or we just think it's our uterus, but our bodies are so connected everywhere. And the pathways piece that you're speaking to here is it's it's vital and essential to understand. You don't have to, you don't have to understand the whole anatomy, physiology, but just understand that your reproductive hormones are going to be impacted by those things because that is how they are cleared out of the body. When you have pathways that are blocked. You're not gonna be able to get that estrogen out. understand that your body is a whole piece. And that's what we keep coming back to. And you had brought up the functional testing, and there's a specific test that I think. has also been circulating around on social media and that's the Dutch test. What is what is that? And when should a woman get a Dutch test or what is it used for? Dr. Beth Westie: Yeah. so Dutch stands for D U T C H Dried Urine Test for Comprehensive Hormones. So that's what the that's what they call the test, Dutch test. And it's so incredibly helpful to understand how your body's processing hormones and some of the pathways. So it's a urine test, it gets sent to your house, you take the test at home, send it

into the lab, and then we get results, you know, a week or so later. And it is taken optimally at a certain window of time of the cycle, so about five days post-ovulation, so we can see the production of progesterone. If you don't have a cycle or you're in menopause or whatnot, you can take the test at any time. It's not timed. But it also does a 24-hour cortisol. We get to see the full androgen picture as well. And then it also tests some nutrients and neurotransmitters like B12, B6, biotin, glutathione, your dopamine levels, oxidative stress response. All things that are vitally important to help support your hormones. Right. So I I just had this the other day with someone where she was complaining about her energy and all these other things. And we looked at her report, I was like, Yeah, no wonder you're so exhausted. Not only are your cortisols totally flat, but you are really deficient in B12. And that's right. How how are you gonna have the right production of hormone levels and energy if you don't have enough B12? Right. So these are are little things that make a huge difference in the understanding that we have about each person's body and how it's functioning and what needs attention. Right. The biggest fires to put out first. Yeah. Kori Rae Kovacs: What's the difference between her getting a Dutch test and her getting a blood test? You mentioned that, but you know, if she's gonna go to her doctor and say, Hey, I need to test my hormones, they're gonna do a blood test. They're not going to be doing a Dutch test, just Dr. Beth Westie: Yeah. Kori Rae Kovacs: FYI. If you ask for a Dutch test from your family doctor, they're gonna either not know what that is or be like, I don't do those probably. so what Dr. Beth Westie: Yeah. Yeah. Or be told, that doesn't help you learn anything. Kori Rae Kovacs: Mm-hmm. So what's the difference and and how can she know if that's something that she needs to get done? Dr. Beth Westie: when you do a blood test and hormone blood test, and this is true for any hormone blood test, you're really looking at both free and bound hormone in the body. So free hormone is hormone that's bioavailable that can be used. If it's already bound, it's already used. So your body can't do anything with that. But they look at those numbers together. They're looking at the total of them, free and bound. So if you are told, your hormone levels look great, everything looks great, but you're thinking, I feel like garbage. It's because they're taking a big measurement of somebody, of something that's not helpful. Of a well, somebody had described it you know, those padlocks, you know, for like gym class and middle school or whatever. only the ones that are open, those are the the f like that would be your free hormone that are open, that's what you have available to use, right? If it's closed. Then you can't use it already. So imagine going to, gym class and you forgot your lock or whatever for and the teacher's like, there's a box

of locks, that you can use in the office. Go in and you, there's this box and there's all these locks in there, but they're all closed. Yes, there's locks there. Yes, they're available, but you can't use any of them because they're already closed, they're already bound. That's getting information from a blood test, and your gym teacher's saying, There's a ton of locks there. I don't know why you're complaining. What's your deal? I've got so many. There's 30 locks in here. God, what do you what do you expect? Right. Yeah, you can't use any of them though. That's a blood test. A urine test. We are looking at the free hormone and then the pathways for it. So what is actually available for your system to use? What can your system process? That's the biggest difference, versus somebody saying, hey, look, I have a lock for you. That's open and available that you can use today, right now. That's helpful information. Kori Rae Kovacs: Yes, I feel like you've given us so many great nuggets here. And if there's a woman who's like identifying herself in this conversation, she's like, yeah, all of these things, what what can she do? What's the first step she can take to start getting better health and start feeling better? Dr. Beth Westie: Yeah. So I always love to start with your own data and own information. And sometimes it can be hard, especially if you've had brain fog or you've been gaslit or you're doubting yourself or any of these other things, right? Write it down. Write down your own timeline. You know, look at this. Say I've been through this and my gosh, I didn't realize this actually started way earlier. I've been struggling with this symptom for way longer. Write stuff down. Get your own biodata. So if you don't sleep well, if you can have a wearable or some type of watch or something or ring or whatever it is to track some of your sleep, get that data and information. That's super helpful. So when I start working with someone and they come to the table with, you know, even if it's basic blood labs, I can see what they've had run, what they've not had run, but they also have other biometric information. It is a great place to start off and say, okay, that's more information about how your body's functioning that we can layer into. What you're doing. That's a great first step right there. Yeah. Kori Rae Kovacs: Start tracking and paying attention. Awareness is the first step. It Dr. Beth Westie: Yes. Kori Rae Kovacs: is the first step to any any endeavor and especially in your health. Dr. Beth, I know there's going to be so many women who are gonna want to connect with you. so what's the best place for them to find you? And is there anything that you're currently working on that you'd love to share with us? Dr. Beth Westie: Sure, yeah. I'm on the interwebs. I mean, I have a a website and then I'm on Instagram and Facebook and TikTok and YouTube and everything at Dr. Beth Westie. so there that's a great place to connect. I do have if someone has questions, they can always email me, right? Or get on a discovery call with my team if you're very if you're like, hey, I have questions on this specifically, what what can I do about this? That's really the best place to start. Is that discovery call just to learn where your best starting place would be? yeah. And then I do have, you know, some some workshops coming up. I I've been doing some workshops that we talk about and deep dive into some different subjects. I do have one that's coming up where we're kind of breaking down the hormone cascade. how hormones are all connected and and what to do about how to do a hormone reset details on that. I've got one coming up. towards the new year where we're talking more about histamine, the histamine impact on the body. So yeah. if you're following me, you will get notified of the fun workshops that we have coming up. Yeah. Kori Rae Kovacs: Yeah. And you have a couple books, yes? Dr. Beth Westie: I do. Yes. I forget. Kori Rae Kovacs: Yes. And the books. Great resources. Dr. Beth Westie: I have the female fat solution and then the female menopause solution. So and they talk about the hormones, the cycle and everything else, and then then hor how hormones change in menopause. Yeah. Kori Rae Kovacs: by the way, those will be listed in the in the in the show notes. So make sure you check those out if you're interested in finding the the books. Well, before we wrap up, I have a gift for you. So you have shared some Yay presents, right? Dr. Beth Westie: It's my birthday next week, so this can be a birthday present. Kori Rae Kovacs: Free birthday. Okay, well, I love that. you really did share so many beautiful stories and insights. And I just want to give something back to you. because you're out here serving women, and I I would love to, if you're open to it, to pull a card for you today. Dr. Beth Westie: Yes, that'd be so fun, yes. Kori Rae Kovacs: Okay, good. Good, good, good. Okay. So I am using Rebecca Campbell's Work Your Light deck. I absolutely love this deck. It's a beautiful deck. Dr. Beth Westie: that's pretty. Kori Rae Kovacs: It's so beautiful. it's all about spreading your light and your message out in the world and letting yourself be seen and just embracing all the beauty that is in life. So let's see, what is a beautiful message for Beth today? Speaking of not being seen this card is a beautiful card. It says don't dim to fit in. This is a reminder. It's the question is asking is how are you dimming your light in order to fit in? Ooh, okay. So this is a beautiful reflection question. And you have already gone through so many different levels of visibility. This is asking, what is the next step for you? There's perhaps something that you can get curious about of maybe there's something that you've either not realize that you've been hesitant to share, or there's something that's wanting to come out of you. And there's these little voices inside that say, Mm, what have what will they think of you if you say this? Or what will they what will happen if that happens? And so this is a reminder that there's a whole nother level that is available for you, a a level of influence, a level, a level of service that is wanting to be called from you and is connected to your deeper purpose. And if you follow that thread and let your this thing, this light that is so beautiful inside of you, if you let that come out, you will find a whole nother level of expansion that you never even knew could come. So keep following it. Let your light shine because it is beautiful and the world really needs it right now. Dr. Beth Westie: I love that. Okay. Okay. Okay. Yeah. Kori Rae Kovacs: Okay. Yeah. so Dr. Beth, thank you so much for being here today. I think you've given us so many reminders about how important it is to take care of our bodies, to understand our bodies, and that there are answers out there. And if we just get curious enough to look for them, then we will find them. So it's been a pleasure having you here. the show and I really appreciate you being here. Dr. Beth Westie: Yay. Well, thank you for having me. This is just such a fun conversation and again I love like I love your artwork in the background and everything, yeah, you ask you ask really great questions and yeah. So this has been this has been a pleasure on my end. Thank you. Kori Rae Kovacs: Thank you so much and really, really glad you've been here. And thank you, listeners, for listening and staying tuned to Women's Healthy Coded. We have another amazing episode next week on the moon phase. So make sure you tune in and remember you are so worthy of your beautiful, vibrant life.