Hormone Heroes
Testimonials from real people who have experienced bio-identical hormone therapy. Men and women share the symptoms they have experienced and the difference proper hormone replacement has made. Men discuss the advantages of testosterone and women discuss the benefits of estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone therapy. The roles of thyroid, adrenal health, insulin resistance, intermittent fasting, and micronutrients are also discussed.
Hormone Heroes
Revitalized Living: Nurse Practitioner, Hannah Walker's Journey to Wellness with Hormone Therapy
Ever felt like you've lost touch with your younger, more vibrant self? Meet Hannah Walker, a family nurse practitioner and the driving force behind Square One Aesthetics and Wellness in Tallahassee, Florida. She opens up about her personal battle with fatigue, sleep disruptions, and night sweats, sharing how hormone pellets transformed her life. Through her firsthand experience, Hannah offers hope and insight for anyone facing similar challenges, revealing how testosterone and estrogen pellets, alongside oral progesterone, helped her reclaim that zest for life she thought was slipping away.
Our conversation takes a deeper look at the holistic approach practiced at Square One Aesthetics and Wellness, where hormone therapy is just one piece of the puzzle. We explore the power of combining treatments like IV therapy and medical weight loss to rejuvenate not just the body, but relationships and personal lives too. Listen as we challenge common misconceptions about hormone therapy with a touch of humor and compelling patient stories, illustrating how these treatments can be a game-changer in maintaining vitality and enhancing the quality of life as we age. Whether you're curious about aging gracefully or seeking a boost to your overall well-being, this episode promises to enlighten and inspire.
Welcome to Hormone Heroes, where I share testimonials from real people who have experienced bioidentical hormone therapy. Men and women share the symptoms they have experienced and the difference proper hormone replacement has made. I'm your host, dr Kelly Hopkins, and I have been in the functional medicine space for over 30 years, with a focus on hormones for 20 years. Please keep in mind this podcast is for educational and entertainment purposes only. Please consult with your physician or practitioner for medical advice. Let's get started with today's guest. Hello and welcome to the podcast. Today we have Hannah Walker. She is a family nurse practitioner and the owner of Square One Aesthetics and Wellness in Tallahassee, florida. Welcome, hannah, hello, thank you. Thank you so much for having me, dr Kelly. Yeah, we're so excited to have you. Tell us a little bit more about yourself, your education, your practice, all that good stuff.
Speaker 2:Sure. Well, currently, as we're recording, I'm 51. So this is a very applicable interview for me. My education I'm here in Tallahassee with practicing. I've got my master's in nursing education and then my doctorate as a nurse practitioner here at FSU. So go Knolls, that's a shout out there. Excellent. My experience before opening a medical spa and wellness center is actually emergency room. I was an emergency room nurse for many years and then an ER nurse practitioner, which I absolutely still love because I've determined I'm a fix-it person. So then, segueing into owning this medical practice here, I can see that you know people come to me with all kinds of issues and problems, and so being able to help them with that in this setting has been very rewarding.
Speaker 1:Oh, that's fantastic. So are you born and raised in Florida?
Speaker 2:No, I always joke as anyone. Right, it's such a high retirement state. No, I'm actually from South Texas. I grew up outside San Antonio. I'm very much the crazy Texan at heart and look to stay there for vacation every time.
Speaker 1:Yes, I claim Texas as home as well, oh, even though we're currently in Arkansas. So let's just start by. I'll just ask you about your personal hormone journey. When did you start to notice symptoms of hormone deficiency, and what were they?
Speaker 2:It was about the summer of 2022. Although looking back, it may have been creeping up. I mean, maybe even a year or so before that, the summer of 2022, so it's been a couple of years now. It really seemed to hit me hard and heavy. The biggest things were that it's just extreme fatigue.
Speaker 2:I'm a very active person, I'm always doing something, but I caught myself going home at the end of the day like I don't know, four or five, maybe six o'clock, and all I would do was sit on the sofa with my dog for three hours and then we'd go to bed, and that was just so unlike me, but I just didn't have the energy. And then the next thing that came along was the interruption in sleep and I'm quite a baby when it comes to sleep and I count my hours minimum eight hours every night and so that was wearing heavy on me. And then it was the night sweats more than anything. So those were the three big symptoms that were life changing for me. And then it was no mistake. I'd always ask my GYN before that, you know, do you think I'm going into menopause? And she'd be like no, no, no. But when those three things all came together, I was like okay here we are.
Speaker 1:Yes, so have you had a hysterectomy or you've got-. No, this was all natural, okay.
Speaker 2:And are you still having a menstrual cycle cycle? Cross my fingers. I haven't had one in, I want to say eight or nine months.
Speaker 1:So I'm hoping at the turn of the year I'll finally be past this hurdle. Yes, yeah, that's always a nice thing not to have to worry about. So what type of hormone therapy have you tried? What was your? What's your journey? Been Pellets only?
Speaker 2:Pellets only. So, again, in opening this practice, we opened, you know, spring of 2022 here in Tallahassee and looked into getting bioidentical hormones brought into the practice from the beginning. But then my symptoms hit, you know, a few months after opening. So it took us several months to bring it into practice. But I was my husband's a physician we co-owned the practice so I was his first patient and he was my first patient and I think I got my first pellets in September or October of that year. So I had been dealing with the hardcore symptoms for a good four months by then.
Speaker 1:So what are in your pellets?
Speaker 2:I do testosterone and estrogen, and then I do the pill form of the progesterone.
Speaker 1:And do you take your progesterone every day or I'm one of those every other day.
Speaker 2:I don't do really well with the every two weeks.
Speaker 1:I know that is ideal but yes, yeah, everybody has to kind of figure out what works best for them. For sure, we try to. If you are still cycling as a female, we do try to have you take your progesterone days 14 through 28 of your menstrual cycle and just work with your body instead of changing the rhythm up. But when you're not having a cycle, you know, through menopause, most women just take it every day or every night. It is very calming. So what benefits have you noticed?
Speaker 2:Oh goodness, I feel a lot more myself. Now I wouldn't say that I'm 20-year-old Hannah Right but I definitely feel like the later 30s or 40s. So it's interesting in that respect, because it doesn't matter if I'm doing somebody's filler or Botox or if we're doing their hormones here in our practice I generally tell them hey, I can shave off a decade. So whatever you're feeling or whatever you're experiencing or whatever your concerns are, we can pretty much take off a decade, and that's kind of what I'm experiencing myself.
Speaker 1:You know that's a really good way to put it, I'm sure physically, with the aesthetics that you do, the fillers and Botox and all the good stuff that shaves off years as well, and then you're helping people from the inside out. The collagen and the elastin in the skin really responds well to therapy. You've gotten better hair.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, I've always had healthy hair, but I noticed it and my hairdresser noticed it after I started the hormones too. She always has to plan an extra 30 minutes. It doesn't look like it's thick, but and it's not thick, it's just, it's a lot of it.
Speaker 1:A lot. You have fine hair, but a lot of it. Well, I can see you and you do have beautiful blonde hair. So do you take anything else Any other? Do you do anything else any other? Do you do anything for as?
Speaker 2:far as oh, I do take the dim therapy as well. Okay, I'm kind of a firm believer in that.
Speaker 2:Not all my patients ascribe to that, but I do recommend it I also take a vitamin d supplement, and I'm not the best at optimizing my thyroid, but I do believe in that and I do do it. My problem is I also have to take an antacid every morning, and then it's. Do I get up, also have to take an antacid every morning, and then it's. Do I get up early enough to take the one and then wait, and then take the other and wait because coffee is also calling my name? But it does make a difference.
Speaker 1:Yes, it is important to take your thyroid at least 30 minutes on an empty stomach before you put anything but water in. Can you tell our audience what DIM is, just in case they don't know anything?
Speaker 2:I describe it as a hormone supplement that helps optimize or mitigate the release of the testosterone and the hormones that we are supplementing you with. My personal experience is I didn't sign up for it the first two rounds of pellets and then I crashed one time, really unexplainably, and by crash I mean I just felt like everything had just been metabolized out way too quickly. My husband gave me a booster dose of a little bit more testosterone. I started on DIM and I haven't had any issues since. So I use it to help mitigate the release of the testosterone.
Speaker 1:Yes, and DIM is a very reasonably priced supplement and it's diendylmethane and that comes from cruciferous vegetables, which is broccoli and cauliflower. It's hard to eat enough broccoli and cauliflower to get the same benefits as just taking the DIM. And it does help metabolize your estrogen down a good estrogen pathway versus a bad. So it's very breast protective as well and it helps our men in their prostate and it helps release free testosterone from sex hormone binding globulin. So I digress there on DIM, but it is a very important supplement for anybody on hormone therapy. So, hannah, have you had any side effects in the sense of fairness?
Speaker 2:And you're talking negative side effects. I mean, obviously we've gone over the positive. Okay, yeah. So the first few times I just had my husband slowly dose me up, you know, a little testosterone. They had me started a. Really you know, when we do the whole algorithm to determine what a reasonable starting dose is for a patient, it spit me out a very low dose, which was fine. You know, I was the first one my husband had ever treated, so we were a little naive. A lot of times now I can look at that initial dose and look at the person and be like, yeah, we might need to tweak it this way or that way, but nonetheless. So we were kind of inching myself up on dosing based on how I felt and what the labs looked like, and we did get to a point where my husband was like you know, I'm not going to go any higher, because you're just a little too.
Speaker 2:So I was like, oh, I'm so sorry, at least we have that communication avenue where we can tell each other that. And you know, reflecting back, I didn't see that in myself. So you know, I was maybe just things irritated me a little bit more than probably they should have. The other thing is acne. I've always had the random zit. Okay, I've never had acne as a true problem, but I've always had that random little breakout and I did notice too that.
Speaker 2:Nothing really bad, but you know I'd get three or four pop up here and a random one here or here. I still get those, but now it's just one or two rather than a cluster. So I had that one time or two times, I don't remember. The only other thing that's quote, unquote, unwanted, but you know it's a trade-off, risk versus benefits is going to be what I call those little stray wild hairs. Yes, you do have to get dermaplaning just a little more often, or waxing, or I have like this little cluster of four hairs right here that I have to trim, you know, maybe once a week before, but now it's like two or three times a week now. But that's fine, I would still rather, you know, based on how I feel this is dealable.
Speaker 1:I can work with that Right. I feel the very same way. The benefits far outweigh the little problems you have to deal with and, honestly, I always tell patients that are worried about skin issues. It's like, well, what were you like as a teenager? Did you have a lot of acne or you know? Just occasionally, and that's almost what you can expect when your hormones are youthful again. So how has hormone therapy changed your life, would you say. So how has hormone therapy changed your life, would you say.
Speaker 2:It's given me back the energy and oh my gosh, the ability to sleep better. Sex life is obviously better, just because I wouldn't say it. For me it wasn't like a lightning bolt in the libido, but I have heard that from my patients. But again it just feels more natural and normal again, like maybe 10 years ago. But the sleep, the energy, the hair I just keep coming back. Oh, the night sweats. I couldn't deal with the night sweats. I didn't really have hot flashes so much, but it was. Those night sweats were really awful.
Speaker 2:I look at it and this is how I present it to our patients as well is it's a crutch. You might not be on this forever, that's fine. Let us get you through this. You know eight to 10 year change in hormones and then just see how you do. Everybody's a little bit different and it's nice that we have these things available today and that in today's world we're more open-minded to offering these to women, because if a man had perimenopausal symptoms just once, I reckon we might have these options 20 years ago or 50 years ago. But no, it's just more than anything. I know this is very cliche, but it's giving your life back.
Speaker 1:Yes, yes, I hear that over and over, so tell us a little bit more about Square One. Aesthetics and Wellness. Yes, all right.
Speaker 2:Well, we offer the full gamut, I guess pretty much of both. As far as the aesthetics, all the injectables, we have lasers and a lot of non-surgical options for skin tightening and lifting. And then on the wellness aspect, the hormones is really big. We also offer IV therapy, including glutathione and NAD injections, medical weight loss, which weight loss is huge. I'm so happy that in our culture I'd say pretty much in like the last 10 years, being healthy in all aspects is actually in vogue again. Yeah, again, being in my fifties now, it wasn't in vogue and it's really only been like the last decade, so I'm really happy to see that paradigm shift.
Speaker 2:So, yes, you made mention of the fact that we help people feel good on the outside and inside. If you go to our website that's one of the statements, because I do believe it's a very holistic approach we can't necessarily treat the skin if, number one, you're not putting in good nutrients or we're not addressing any issues that you have on the inside. So if you dig down in our Instagram it's been probably a year and a half now I did post it there before and after just of my skin and that's getting on hormones. That's starting just a good, medical, great skincare product and then drilling down on my nutrition a little bit and you'll just people think you know I spent thousands of dollars, but I just went back to basics.
Speaker 1:Sure, sure, and you know, as humans we need hormones and nutrients, oxygen, water. If you just get back to the basics and get rid of some toxicities, you can really go a long way in correcting chronic disease, and you know the way we look and feel. It's just so wonderful. So do you have any fun hormone therapy stories?
Speaker 2:I do actually I kind of giggled earlier when you said I might ask you this. So I have a patient. She has been with us for quite some time now. We've been renewing her hormones. She actually moved out of the area but she still sees she comes to finds a reason to come to Tallahassee to still get us to renew her hormones. She actually moved out of the area but she still sees she comes to finds a reason to come to Tallahassee to still get us to renew her hormones. But I'm not. I think it was her second time she got.
Speaker 2:I always tell patients, you know, if you're on the fence about it, just give me two times, cause the first time you're going to be sitting around wondering what the heck is about to happen. You know, you, you check in with yourself every day. It's not a lightning bolt. But that second time, yeah, you'll know if it's for you or not. And then, plus that, it gives me that chance to dial in your dose that second time, because again, everybody's just a little different. But anyway, so it was that second time. She was out on a business trip at a conference, happened to be in a very male-dominated conference room and she said all of a sudden, hannah, you wouldn't believe it. It kicked in and I'm like what she goes? I'm looking around at my coworkers and when did you guys get so good looking? Oh, that's awesome. I could not wait to go home and see my husband. We were laughing so hard, yeah, so it was really cute.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I love that. It gives you especially that first time or two when you've gone from no testosterone to a nice youthful level for females. It does kind of wake that part of your person back up. Yeah right, which is fun later in life.
Speaker 2:It is, and then you know, you kind of forgot you had that. But on the flip side of it is, we actually have quite a few couples that do therapy through us, so we can't discount that with the men either. I've heard some similar stories from them too, you know. They're just, you know, happy to have that aspect of their life back as well, because they felt like maybe they were underperforming. But yeah, just thinking about it, we have quite a few couples that see us, so we see both women and her.
Speaker 1:I was going to ask what percentage of women to men do you guys treat?
Speaker 2:Definitely 75 women, 25 men. But then of that 25 men, I want to say all of them were seeing the other half. I can't think of anyone on the top of my head that we're seeing the other half. I can't think of anyone on top of my head that we're not seeing just exclusively the man and not the woman of the relationship.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and it, my husband and I talk about how hormone therapy really can resolve a lot of relationship issues. The longer you've been married, the older you get. You know it really kind of balances the scale back out for people. You know it really kind of balances the scale back out for people. So, hannah, as a hormone hero, what would you like our audience to know?
Speaker 2:If you're considering it all or if you've even thought about it, just speak to somebody in your local area Like. Or even if we're not in your local area, you can go to our website and we have a link where you can go through the symptoms quiz. It's pretty remarkable just looking at the symptoms quiz, because I tell people I'll send it home with them and I'm like, just look at this, Even if you don't fill it out, just look at this, because you know people don't understand that. Mental fogginess or joint pain, back pain, GI bloating, I mean it's not just about the night sweats, the fatigue, the sleep, the libido. There are so many other things that people just don't realize that hormones can positively affect.
Speaker 2:The other thing is to touch on, based about the bioidentical aspect, which is so much safer and better for you than the synthetic aspect, and we've now known this for a couple of decades and the fact that it's actually coming out is really nice. And then the last thing for my what was it about? A year ago I got a link to an article that now it can actually be preventative for things like dementia if we can get them started on therapy earlier, right in that sweet spot of the perimenopausal, rather than waiting Exactly. Yeah, so now there's actually some like neuroprotective aspects to it. We can get rid of all what I call that bad juju. Let's rethink this.
Speaker 1:I love that. And even osteoporosis, you know, can be prevented. Testosterone builds backbone about 8% a year. Estrogen helps build it back about 3% a year, so with none of the bad side effects that those other drugs provide. So, hannah, what is your website? It's squareoneaestheticscom so just the way it's all spelled out, real simple. Yeah, and what's your phone number there?
Speaker 2:It's 850-765-9923.
Speaker 1:Thank you so much, hannah. We'll wrap it up and let you get back to your patients, but I really appreciate you being on the podcast today. Thank, you.
Speaker 2:I really enjoyed speaking with you.
Speaker 1:Thanks for listening to Hormone Heroes. Take a moment to subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts so you don't miss the next episode. While you are there, help us spread the word. Thank you, drkelly. At hormoneheroesorg that's D-R-K-E-L-L-Y. At H-O-R-M-O-N-E-H-E-R-O-E-Sorg, we want you to be a hormone hero.
