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
From Fatigue to Freedom: Lana's Wellness Journey
Imagine battling relentless fatigue and health issues for years, only to discover the key to revitalization through personalized care. Join us for an inspiring conversation with Lana Beck, a vibrant 63-year-old from Bella Vista, Arkansas, who transformed her life with bioidentical hormone therapy. Lana shares her story of enduring years of fatigue, thyroid problems, and food sensitivities that impacted her daily life. When traditional medicine fell short, she turned to alternative therapies and, through comprehensive testing, uncovered dietary triggers like gluten, dairy, and red meat that hindered her thyroid medication's effectiveness. Her journey is a testament to the power of understanding one's body and the profound impact of functional medicine.
In this episode, we express our gratitude to Lana for sharing her journey and highlight the significance of taking proactive steps in one's health journey. We invite our local audience to become part of our supportive community by visiting our clinics and subscribing to Hormone Heroes. By embracing personalized care and community support, you too can find the guidance needed to improve your well-being. Don't forget to leave a review and spread the word; for those seeking guidance in finding a practitioner, we are here to assist. Tune in to discover the importance of community and personalized care in transforming your health.
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. Welcome to the podcast. Today we have Lana Beck. She is a 63-year-old female from Bella Vista, arkansas. She has retired from being an administrative assistant in a school district in Missouri and she was also a stay-at-home mom. So welcome Lana. Hello Kelly, thank you for joining us. We're so excited to have you. Lana is actually one of our special patients and she's been referring like crazy, so we appreciate you so much. But just tell us a little bit more about your personal history.
Speaker 2:I am a mother of five children and nine grandchildren. Back in 1999, I lost a husband and a child due to a car accident. I spent the next few years just raising my kids and on survival, and I married the man of my dreams almost five years ago. Wow, we moved to Bella Vista and living life.
Speaker 1:That's fantastic. What a special story that you've gotten another chance at true love. That's great. So, Lana, just tell us a little bit about when you started to notice hormone deficiency symptoms when you started to notice hormone deficiency symptoms.
Speaker 2:Back in about 1981, I started noticing that I was not feeling well. Found out I had a thyroid condition. Okay, in 1988, they had found a gorder and so I had radioactive iodine to have that gorder taken off. And through all this I was having children and tired, and I don't think I realized I wasn't feeling good. It all came to a head back in 2022. I noticed I wasn't feeling good at all. I would go to my endocrinologist and every three months he was putting me on a new medicine. New medicine Wouldn't check anything but my thyroid levels. I got so sick by the time we moved here. I couldn't hardly move, I hurt, I cried. I didn't know what to do. My husband had decided we were going to Bayo. We needed answers because throwing a pill at it every three months was not working. Yes, my daughter had suggested that I look for alternative answers because it was just more than a thyroid issue at that point.
Speaker 1:Let me interrupt one second. What were you taking? Synthroid? Yeah, your endocrinologist was just trying different doses of Synthroid.
Speaker 2:It would change the different doses. Yes, okay, and it was like a roller coaster and so my daughter suggested I do another outlet and so I went with her to talk to a doctor in Tulsa about my hormones and maybe that was affecting my thyroid medicine. And so once I went on one appointment, loved it, and she said I feel like this is further away for you. I would like for you to find someone closer. I feel like there's more than just the thyroid. Yes, I came home, I Googled and found Dr Kelly.
Speaker 1:Oh, that's fantastic. We're so glad you did.
Speaker 2:So I'm so glad I did.
Speaker 1:So we have two functional medicine clinics in Arkansas and they're called Restoration Health Care, one in Bentonville, arkansas, and one in Hot Springs, arkansas. So we're so glad you found us Arkansas, and one in Hot Springs, arkansas. So we're so glad you found us. So, other than you know, you mentioned not feeling well, some fatigue. Did you have any other symptoms?
Speaker 2:Every time I would eat, I would just, I would get really bloated. I was not happy, I didn't want to do anything but lay on the couch.
Speaker 1:I had no energy, nothing, okay. So when you went to Tulsa, did they start therapy of any sort on you?
Speaker 2:They had just taken the blood and found out that, you know, something was not right. And that's when she said I feel like this is going to be a process. I really, you know, I would love for you to come here, but if you can find someone closer that can help you with this process because at that point I was so sick I knew it was going to be a process yes, so we came home. That's when we decided OK, this is something we want to do, and so that's what we did. We started the process.
Speaker 1:Wonderful. So can you describe for our audience what kind of testing we did on you?
Speaker 2:You did blood work First. You checked my thyroid levels and of course they were not right. You then tested for food sensitive and when that came back, that's when we knew what was the cause that my thyroid medicine would not absorb. Because of all the stuff I was eating, I was literally allergic to everything that everything I liked, that I was eating, did not like me.
Speaker 1:And that's just the way it goes. What we did for Lana was we did IgG, food sensitivity testing, and IgG testing is a delayed sensitivity of 48 to 72 hours after ingesting a type of food. It can cause leaky gut, which can then cause an immune response that attacks different parts of your body. So it can be psoriasis or Hashimoto's on the thyroid, achy joints, arthritis, that kind of stuff. So we got to the bottom of what you were sensitive to. What were your worst food sensitivities?
Speaker 2:Gluten, dairy, red meat those are my three were and lettuce, which was. I would eat a lot of salads, yeah, and cabbage, something you wouldn't even. I mean that didn't even cross my mind that I would be. You know, gluten, you hear about, dairy, you hear about, but you don't hear about lettuce and cabbage. And yeah.
Speaker 1:Right, and a lot of times, if we eat something every single day, it can create a sensitivity. So it's a really good idea to eat things in rotation. So after you, instantly, once you took those inflammatory foods away, you lost some weight right away, didn't you?
Speaker 2:Yes, within the process so far today, I've lost 32 pounds.
Speaker 1:That's fantastic In just a few months, right? Yes, so, and then what we also did with the thyroid was you were on Synthroid, which is T4 only, throid, which is T4 only, and what we did was we added some T3 to that as well, because you weren't converting that T4 to T3. And T4 is a pro-hormone, or the storage form of thyroid, and T3 is what your body actually uses for metabolism and all those processes. So that was a definite help immediately. And then, what type of hormone therapy did you try?
Speaker 2:I decided because, when we got to checking, my hormones were bad, just like we suspected, and I chose to go with the pellets.
Speaker 1:And so we put estrogen and testosterone in your pellets.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:And then we added some progesterone that you take orally. Yes, yeah, and do you take your progesterone at night or in the morning? I take it at night. Okay, and have you noticed any benefits to taking the progesterone at night? Do you sleep good, sleep better? I do sleep good. Yes, awesome. So how did you like your pellets? Tell us about how you felt after you got pellets.
Speaker 2:Amazing. I may be 63, but I have energy. I can't even tell you how good I feel. I am driving everyone crazy. That I know, because I just want to tell people. You're going to feel so much better if you can just get to the bottom of it. Everyone I talk to, they don't feel good and I'm like we're retired. We should be feeling good. I mean we need to be living life and enjoying it and not feeling like you can't get off the couch. I mean my message is you know, come on, let's all feel good. When you realize you haven't felt good for years and then all of a sudden you do, you have a whole new outlook on life.
Speaker 1:Oh yes.
Speaker 2:It just is, it's so different, it's so different.
Speaker 1:Now tell our audience. Have you had a hysterectomy or had you just been in menopause for a while?
Speaker 2:I had been in menopause since my 40s.
Speaker 1:So you'd had 20 years or so without a lot of hormones. I had never taken anything. Did you suffer from anything like osteoporosis or achy joints, any of those type of issues?
Speaker 2:Yes, I had achy joints, but I just contributed that to. You know my thyroid, you know, if I didn't feel good, I just I went back because I didn't growing up, I didn't know that much about hormones. I mean, it really wasn't talked about my doctor, just well, maybe you might need it. He might never was, I don't ever remember being tested for it. Yeah, after I had kids. So I just you know it's I'm getting older, I'm tired kids, so I just you know it's, I'm getting older.
Speaker 2:I'm tired, you know I blend everything on my thyroid. I can be feeling this good A lot sooner.
Speaker 1:A lot sooner. Right, a lot of people say they wish they had started sooner, but you just do your best when you know what you know. We also tested some vitamin levels on Lana, and I can't remember did we have to supplement any vitamins for you? No, okay, you were doing a good job with that yourself. So I know that you have an upcoming knee surgery. Yes, correct, okay, that's a knee replacement, right, yeah, so I think what you'll benefit from having your hormones balanced, your thyroid optimized, your inflammatory foods taken away is that your recovery from that knee surgery will go pretty quick.
Speaker 2:And that's one of the reasons why I've needed it done for a long time, but I honestly did not feel like getting it done. Yeah, I did not feel like it.
Speaker 1:It takes energy to recover from surgery.
Speaker 2:Yes, and not that I can go out and run a race or anything, but I mean compared to a year ago when I couldn't even. I don't even know how we made the move down here. I don't know how I packed, even moved down here, because once I got down here I got on the couch and did not leave until I got to see you.
Speaker 1:Wow, so have you noticed any side effects?
Speaker 2:I have not noticed any side effects.
Speaker 1:Okay good, sometimes people will complain of an extra chin hair or something like that. Not yet, not yet You're doing good. So, lana, how would you say hormone therapy has changed your life.
Speaker 2:It has totally changed my life. I have more energy. I want to get out and do. I feel good. Before I would be long with changing the way I eat. I would be so bloated and my fingers would just be so stiff from swelling and my skin feels better. And my skin feels better. My nails have got long. I mean, that hadn't happened since I had kids. Wow. So I feel amazing and my husband will contest to how much energy and how much happier I am.
Speaker 1:That's great. I was about to ask if your husband or family members have noticed a change.
Speaker 2:Even with my eating that I do. I mean I don't cheat, because it's just not. It's not worth going back to feeling that way again, right, and I mean you've got to want to feel good, you know, you've got to want it first. And if you, you got to make a commitment, because it isn't a commitment to feel better.
Speaker 1:And you. Really, what we've done for you is just a third of what it takes. You've done the hard work. You know you're with yourself every day, choosing what you eat and your activity level and all that good stuff. So, as a hormone hero, Lana, which you certainly are, what would you like our audience to know?
Speaker 2:I would like them to know there is hope. If you feel like you have something that you're not being addressed from someone that you're seeing as a physician, there are other places to go Get help. Don't continue to feel like you have to feel bad, you don't? I mean, you might have to change your lifestyle, and that's okay. It's okay. You're going to feel so much better If you have to eat chicken every day. It's okay.
Speaker 1:Yes, it's worth doing, for sure.
Speaker 2:Oh, so worth doing. And everybody in the very beginning they were like, oh, this is going to be so hard, but it wasn't. When you start feeling better, it's like, oh, I'm not going to eat that because I know how I'm going to feel tomorrow.
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 2:It's a choice. Yes, you've got to make a choice, and I would say, make that choice today. I mean, yeah, feeling better, fantastic.
Speaker 1:Well, lana, you certainly are a blessing to us and our practice, and I think that you speak very well for the possibilities that people could experience if they just move forward and step out and seek out good treatment. So is there anything else you'd like to?
Speaker 2:add I just call today and make an appointment. It is never too late.
Speaker 1:It is never too late, that's right. And because Lana is our patient, I will give our clinic a shout out. Our phone number is 501-547-9475. And our website is restorehealtharkcom. So if you're local to us, we would love to see you. But most of all, we just want Lana to know how much we appreciate it.
Speaker 2:So, thank you so much, thank you you so much.
Speaker 1:Thank you. Thanks for listening to Hormone Heroes. Take a moment to subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts so that you don't miss the next episode. While you're there, help us spread the word by leaving a rating and a review. If you need help finding a practitioner in your area, just email us at 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.
