Meet Beverly Meyer

SPEAKER_00 0:03

Welcome to Hormone Rose, 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 a very special guest. Her name is Beverly Meyer. She is a certified clinical nutritionist and a functional medicine practitioner for many, many years. She's been in business since 1985. So welcome, Beverly.

SPEAKER_01 1:02

Oh, thank you so much for letting me come on. I'm happy to share anything that I can share to help people live a happier and more comfortable life. That's kind of been the goal for me with my own life and health search. So I'm eager to help others achieve that.

SPEAKER_00 1:19

Yeah. And you are located in San Antonio, Texas. I am. And you you still have a brick and mortar practice, right?

SPEAKER_01 1:28

I do. I have a practice here in San Antonio, but then of course I work with clients virtually all over the world, really. So uh-huh.

SPEAKER_00 1:36

That's fantastic. And you are a pet lover, is that right?

Animals Teach Ancestral Eating

SPEAKER_01 1:42

Yes, I have two cats. I've always had two cats so that they can have a friend, you know. And I used to have a pony and a donkey with me for many years. I grew up riding horses and ended up with a rescue pony and kept her for 18 years, even though the vet told me she probably wouldn't live a year. So, you know, the power of passion and research. It's like, okay, I know nothing about taking care of horses. Let's get on the internet and start reading and learning. What do I need to do with this pony's various problems and issues? And that is part of how I got involved in helping to co-found what we now call the paleo diet, the paleolithic diet or primal, ancestral, biological, is that it became apparent that any living creature, a horse, a cricket, whatever it is, has a diet that they evolved with and a method of eating that food that they evolved with. And that just like with cats, they get so sick from eating dried food. This is basically what kills cats is kidney failure. But with horses, it's that they get thrown a wad of hay and they're and then they gobble it up and then they're hungry all day. And that is not wild horses' pattern. So that pattern of how you eat, when you eat, what you eat led me to understand, yes, this is a biological premise about who eats what and when and how.

SPEAKER_00 3:14

I'm interested. So, how did you cure your pony?

SPEAKER_01 3:18

Well, horses graze, walk, graze, walk, graze, take a nap. Uh-huh. Graze, walk, graze, take a nap. Repeat. That's what they do 24-7. And their food is best consumed in small quantities over a period of time. And of course, walking and getting that exercise to locate and forage for their food. So there's all kinds of tricks you can do about hiding the food all over the property. And you know, it's but mostly smaller feedings more frequently rather than just tossing a bale of hay over the rail. So, and they actually get a disease that's basically very similar to human diabetes because their blood sugar rises when they eat all that concentrated hay, and that causes foot problems and all these other problems. So it was very interesting and fascinating. And as I learned about that and began to address it and treat it with supplements and nutrition and this and that, the pony just thrived. The vets were like, My God, how old is this pony? She's doing amazing.

Why Paleo Starts With No Grains

SPEAKER_00 4:23

You might get some phone calls about people's pets after this podcast. So before we jump in, we're going to talk about sleep apnea here in a little bit. But before we jump into that, talk to us about how you co-founded the Paleolithic diet.

SPEAKER_01 4:39

Well, I've discovered for myself, I was a person raised on high-quality food, meats and two vegetables and maybe some potato or something, but I was never raised as a fast food, processed food kid. And I'm in my 70s, so many of us were raised with proper food. And I've always eaten that way. And I have celiac, I have irritable bowel, all these things. So over time I learned that the more I managed my diet, the better I would feel. And loved off and on to keep journals of, okay, let's see what happens when I take a month off of avocado. All right, let's try eating avocado again for two weeks, or whatever it is, I came through trial and experience to learn things. And it was very apparent to me that coming off of gluten and wheat was only the beginning, that it's all the grains. And the fundamental number one premise of all the biological ancestral paleopermal diets is no grains. Wheat, rice, corn, oats, rye, barley, because what they are is grass seed. That's grass seed. And humans are hunters and gatherers. We don't bend over like a horse or a deer and forage for grasses and grass seeds. Our digestive enzymes are not adapted to it, and the high carb nature of it makes us overweight and gives us blood sugar and metabolic problems and all of this. So the more I learned about that from myself and my clients, the more I kept experimenting with call it basically, you know, a meat and two veg, some tuber on the side, and everything else is basically a condiment, like a small amount of fruit or this or that, rather than basing your food on carbohydrate. And the more I began to teach that and so on, and then suddenly here start coming the books about it with an unfortunate name of the paleo diet or the primal diet. And so, you know, there we have it. I was one of the first people in there working with that diet before it even had a name. So yeah, it's pretty amazing. And I still teach that way today. And you know what's interesting is that when people, when I explain to them what a carbohydrate, which is sugar-based diet, is doing to them, and that what I want them to eat is animal proteins and cooked vegetables and some tubers and lots of fats, and that this is a way we evolve to eat. And most people, especially women, are thrilled. They're like, you mean, you mean it's okay to eat? And you know, it's like, well, uh the uh because the people never make it to my contact for help page if they live on, you know, bread and pista and cinnamon rolls and sugar smoothies. They're they're not making it to me anyway. So people who don't do come to me are are usually thrilled. It's like, wow, okay, I can eat real food and plenty of it. Yes, you can.

How Beverly Works With Clients

SPEAKER_00 7:43

Yeah, it's what our bodies need, isn't it? It is. So talk to us about how someone can come to work with you, Beverly. Your website is on dietandhealth.com, o n dietandhealth.com. And I'm sure you would love to see anyone in person that could make it to San Antonio. But if someone was to work with you virtually, what would that look like?

SPEAKER_01 8:10

Well, it's the same process, whether they're sitting in the room or we're we're on the phone or whatever, that I'm gonna ask them to fill out a week's food diary and fill in some good history forms and have the most basic labs available, which I walk them through how to get if they don't already have them. And then we start. And I spend a lot of time with people. So this we go, this goes on over a couple of sessions for hours because here's the thing, and you know this in your practice too. When someone comes and says, Okay, I I need help with migraines, and that may be the contact reason. But as we get into it, very quickly, it's like, well, and I have Epstein Bar and I only have one kidney, and I have scars that won't heal, and I have dental problems and kidney disease, you know, it's like whatever it every person has their list of stuff. And here's what I tell them what you're asking me is to help change your entire chemistry. And I don't do what I do just to quote help your migraines. Everything is so connected. I have to know what you eat, how do you sleep? What do you think about? Where do you work? What's your history? You know, are you are you ill? Or, you know, I mean, what's going on with you? Because they're, you know, do you drink water or do you just drink electrolyte drinks, or you know, all of this is important. And as we work on changing their chemistry with food and what you eat, what you drink, what you smell, these are the biggest ways to impact chemistry the fastest. And when we do that, the body can work on many things at one time. So it's not about throwing supplements at people. That I'm I'm the anti-supplement person. I want people to understand how their body's working. And and oh, I did sleep better. Just before we got on the air, I got an email from a client two weeks ago said, Oh my gosh, such and such is is so much better. I can't believe I'm seeing improvements already. I'm like, it's been two weeks. Of course, you're gonna see improvements in in changing that piece of their diet. And, you know, so things happen quickly when you address the big picture and not just throw a handful of pills at people. But that to me, that's just all wrong.

Simple Labs And Saliva Hormones

SPEAKER_00 10:39

I like what you said about everything is connected. And that was a really major statement that you said when you said, I'm not just fixing migraines. You know, if you give everyone the big picture and increase their health, overall, so many aspects of life get so much better. Relationships, sleep, energy levels to be a good human, all those things just get so much better when you address the basic issues. So you mentioned testing. Are we talking about blood work? Uh kind of walk us through what kind of testing you like to see.

SPEAKER_01 11:16

Well, many people in my profession and in functional health, I'm not an MD, so it's you know, functional health, not functional medicine, but meaning let's look for the cause of what is going on, not just treat a symptom, right? That's what allopathic traditional medicine is all about. And thank goodness for that. If I break my arm, I I want us a surgeon and x-rays and things happening. But otherwise, for the things that are happening day to day, the herpes virus or the maldigestion or the whatever it is, the most basic labs, blood work, just a comprehensive metabolic panel. That's the basic lab that every doctor should be running on you every year. It's like a page and a half of printed numbers and vitamin D. So I insist on a basic CMP and vitamin D for our first appointment. And if people don't have that, they many of them don't know about consumer labs, which are labs all over the United States except the five states up in the north that don't allow consumer testing, but where you can just order your own labs and pay for them, and you don't need anybody's permission to do that. And so I use, I recommend people use lifeextension.com, and it's very affordable, and you can order all kinds of stuff there, and you just you just pay for it, and then they send you a requisition form for a local Quest lab. It's just you know, simple as could be, but it may be half what other consumer labs charge, and then you don't have to hassle your doctor six times to try to run a vitamin D or a thyroid. Right. So yeah, that you can we can get started with basic stuff. I some of my peers, the ones who charge$600 an hour, even though they don't have a medical degree, and that's that's a whole other thing, is you know, they're like, okay, I need$2,500 worth of genetics and DNA and stool tests and all this other stuff before they'll even talk to you. And I very, very much am against that. It's fishing for profit, is what it is. It's like, I'm gonna make thousands of dollars on you just to see if anything shows up anywhere in any lab, and then we'll just fix that.

SPEAKER_00 13:34

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 13:34

I'm like, no, that it's you know, and the only other lab I use on everyone is salivary hormone testing. I don't use what's called Dutch, a dried urine hormone testing, although I could use it, I just don't because it's so complicated to read their reports. Um, so I use salivary testing for male and female hormones, adrenals, some gluten antibodies, insulin resistance, secretory immune globulins. There's all kinds of things we can test very affordably with salivary testing. And the lab I use is reports are really easy to read. And salivary tests free hormones, uh-huh. Blood work tests total hormones, and that's a whole other topic that you know we don't have time to get into, but that's why I like salivary testing so much. It's that it tests free hormones, which is what you want to know. How much available progesterone do I have? Yeah. Yeah, and at what day of your monthly cycle, which is critical. If you're a menstruating female and you just take a random blood test for progesterone, you have no data from that at all because the proper way to test progesterone is basically day 21 of the cycle when your progesterone should be at its highest. And your estrogen should be at its lowest or tending to its lowest. And this is how I see in probably 70% of my salivary panels that people's progesterone is just too low and it's not in balance with their estrogens and testosterone and so on. So anyway, that's a whole other topic.

SPEAKER_00 15:15

What lab do you like for your salivary testing? I use diagnostics.

SPEAKER_01 15:21

Okay. Like diagnostics, but it's text, T E C H S. Diagnostics. It's a I've used them for 25 years, and yeah, reports are easy for you and me, both of us, to read and look at and say, oh, and you know, the Dutch test is fine, but it's, you know, a nine pages of circles and arrows and graphs and numbers and ratios. I'm like, I don't have any idea what these people are talking about. I do because I pay attention and really work for it, but you know, it's just too complex.

Food First Plans And Follow-Ups

SPEAKER_00 15:53

Yes, yeah. Okay. So after you've gotten all the health history, lifestyle history, all these things, and you've done some testing, then you work with someone to remove certain things or foods that are getting in their way. Talk us through the next step.

SPEAKER_01 16:11

Yeah. So the first appointment, I've got your forms, your diet, your labs. Now we have our first appointment, hour and a half. So the first thing, I mean, I'm looking at everything they send me because they may have already been somewhat eating paleo and primal for years. On the other hand, they may be just not eating enough food and not eating proper food, you know, just milkshakes or whatever. And so, yes, I'm going right for the food because uh food first is my podcast motto. My my podcast, primal diet, modern health. And I've been podcasting 14 years, and food first is my podcast motto. So I'm going right for the diet, but then of course, with these other intake forms, you know, not sleeping well and and anxious for no apparent reason, and you know, whatever. So I make big graphs and charts on all this that I can look at while we're talking. And uh it's it's kind of fun how I do things, a little bit different. Um, I have a big bulletin board in front of me, and so I don't do face-to-face like Zoom talks with people. I'm on the phone because what I'm looking at is a big bulletin board in front of my face with all of their forms and their labs and my notes and things are pinned up there. So I can literally look at this person without having to look at them in the face and and you know, like, no, you you'll just see me looking at the board. But anyway, so it's a little bit different. And so we go through the diet. I I may I'll have a lot of questions like, well, when did you get diagnosed with Epstein Barr? And what treatment are you doing? And how is it responding? And are you aware that that's a member of the herpes virus family? So let me give you the diet that I use for the paleo diet adapted for herpes and start with that. And you have headaches during the night. Oh, okay, let's talk about sleep apnea. So, whatever. So we we talk and I go through things that they've circled and try to draw the dots, connect the dots of what's happening with this person. And then people need to be educated about fats, as you know. We're all been told, you know, fats are bad, just don't eat them, you know. And this is completely false. Humans are fat burners, we have become sugar burners, carb burners, but we evolved as fat burners. And so we've got to get the food rearranged and help people understand that what types of saturated fats are essential. And if you're going to eat fruit and nut fats like avocado or olive oil, which are less important, we didn't eat them in evolution. How to find the ones that aren't basically cut with canola oil. And so there's a lot of education that has to go on. I can't just tell people, oh, stop eating, you know, cereal for breakfast and try some steak and eggs and this is broccoli or whatever. Right. So people leave with a lot of homework to do and then we'll meet again in about 10 days for another food diary and you know to see, oh, what worked? Where did you get stuck? Did you notice anything? And then we'll start a salivary hormone test. So there's a process, and then long-term clients. I've got clients that have worked with me 25 years, so then I can do a very sophisticated form of what we call muscle testing.

SPEAKER_00 19:49

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_01 19:49

There are many types of muscle testing out there, but there are a very, very few of us that do extremely comprehensive muscle testing. And I can do that with people in person or with samples. They mail me a little saliva and whatever. So, but that's in the future when people want to continue working and now actually really start getting to work on what's going on with their chemistry. How do I know if they need zinc or not? Some people it's obvious, other people it's not.

Why Sleep Apnea Gets Missed

SPEAKER_00 20:19

Uh-huh. Well, I'm just thinking about the years of experience that you have had. And it says on your website that you own the largest natural health center in San Antonio, and you have an MBA in finance and a BA in economics. So I think the what people really need to understand is the level of experience and knowledge that you have that and you bring all this to your clinical practice. I know that sleep apnea is one of your favorite topics, and it's something that we have not highlighted, especially on this podcast. So let's dive into sleep apnea. Where do we start?

SPEAKER_01 21:00

Oh, goody. I'm so happy to talk about this because I was recently diagnosed with sleep apnea in the fall of a year last year, and so, you know, seven months ago or something, and it was a complete surprise to me, and which it doesn't happen very often because I'm so chronically attuned to and researching myself and testing myself with various labs and so on. But I asked for an at-home sleep test. My doctor was happy to give me one, and because I was waking up with headaches in the morning, and this has been going on for 10 years. Wow. And I had seen so many doctors, you know, neurologists and orthodontics and chiropractors and osteopaths and and physical therapy and myofascial release therapy, and and I mean, on and on and on, and rofing, and you know, for 10 years trying to understand these nighttime headaches, and not a single one of those professionals said. You know, that's one of the top five symptoms of sleep apnea.

SPEAKER_00 22:05

Sure. And you weren't aware that you had sleep apnea, correct? No, correct.

Sleep Apnea Symptoms And Risks

SPEAKER_01 22:10

I had no, in fact, I told my doctor, I said, I know I don't have sleep apnea, but I'd like to run a sleep study at home because I want to track my blood sugar, excuse me, my blood pressure over the night. Maybe the hormones are low blood pressure. It's 10 years and I'm still fighting to try to get answers. And I thought, all right, let me see what my blood pressure is doing all night or you know, whatever. And then shockingly, I come back with sleep apnea. So let's define what sleep apnea is. So, first of all, let's say what it's not, because most of us have a picture in our minds. If you ask somebody who has sleep apnea, or think of somebody who might have sleep apnea, what many of us will have a picture of is an overweight white male who snores and is a little older. And that's the classic picture that the doctors, as well as we and all of the websites, they all show an overweight older white male as, you know, let's get on your CPAP needs. So, first of all, that is completely and utterly false. So children can have sleep apnea. Anyone of any age or height or race can have sleep apnea. And what it is is basically uh obstruction in your airway so that when you're sleeping, maybe you've tucked your chin and have cut off part of your airway. But mostly when we lie down, and I've tried sleeping almost upright, I have an expensive electric bed to try to sleep partly upright, and that didn't help, but helped other things, helped my back. Um, but what happens basically is the tongue and all the muscles and everything that hold it up relax, and the tongue, the base of the tongue slides back and blocks your airway. And we are not aware of this, it's completely invisible to us because we're asleep. All right.

SPEAKER_00 24:20

And you don't necessarily snore when that happens.

SPEAKER_01 24:22

Well, that's a very good point. Many people absolutely snore, and if you snore, you should get tested for sleep apnea because it's a common concomitant. There it is also one of the top. Oh, I forgot one of the other top symptoms. Waking up startled at the in the night, like waking up and coughing if you sleep by yourself, which I'm like, yeah, I I I have woken up coughing. I don't know why. Or if you have a sleep partner, they're like, honey, you're you're waking up and coughing. Or I got up to roll over and you know, you weren't breathing for 30 seconds. These are classic things of what's happening is basically your airways shut off, you can't breathe. So you just stop breathing. So frightening. Sometimes a really long time. So eventually, as your oxygen plummets from the lack of breathing and your pulse oximeter can record, whoa, oxygen levels going down. Your body will squirt you with a blast of adrenaline and some other neurotransmitters and hormones to micro arouse you, micro, just enough so that you snap your tongue back up. And this is completely, completely invisible. You do not know this in any way that this may be happening hundreds of times a night. Okay, that's really serious. Yeah. So we stop breathing hundreds of times a night with no particular clues other than headaches during the night or on awaking, snoring, waking up coughing, jerking awake to breathe suddenly, a sleep partner that says, you know, honey, are you okay? You're not breathing, and having to get up for nighttime urinations, it strangely is a symptom. Since I started with a CPEP, I don't have to get up at night. It's totally amazing the chemistry that's going on with your kidneys. That, you know, who knew? There are other reasons for nighttime urinations, but that is one of the things that can change. So, anyway, that's a little bit about what it is and why it is to be aware of. And so sleep apnea, this undiagnosed halting of breath, perhaps hundreds of times a night. Oh, and the other key symptom, excessive daytime fatigue and you know, whatever you want to call it, brain fog, you know, it's like I call it when I'm like that, I'm like mildly stupid today. You know, it's just not. I'm just a little bit out of it. But the daytime fatigue is, you know, we all can get a have a little slump if we've been living on carbs, we're gonna have a sugar crash. But the daytime fatigue can get excessive, which means likely to have car wrecks, bad at your job, you know, whatever. So that too. So what we have is tens of millions of undiagnosed people in the United States, or they've been diagnosed and just can't hassle using CPAP equipment because nobody has trained them or shown them how to work through it and make it more tolerable and make it more comfortable. And what are your statistics? And did this mask work better or did that mask work better? And the doctors are no help. They are just like, here, use this mask, here's this machine, have a nice life. And it's up to us to get online and start trying to find, well, can somebody help me?

Home Sleep Testing That Works

SPEAKER_00 28:11

So, what are your favorite ways to test? Obviously, it seems like if you could test at home, who's gonna sleep. Yeah, who's gonna sleep well in a sleep apnea clinic? So tell us how you would prefer people get tested.

SPEAKER_01 28:28

Well, some people need to be in a clinical environment for whatever reason that's a little more complicated, kind of a medical concerns going on with this person. But for most of us, a home sleep study, your primary, pretty much anybody will prescribe it for you, especially if you tell them some of the symptoms that I was just mentioning. Like, gee, Doc, I snore, I'm really tired in the day. My wife says I wake up coughing and not breathing very well. And I don't know, I just can I do a sleep study. And they they need those symptoms to justify a prescription for the test, right? They have to check the little boxes for your insurance. So be prepared. You can look at my article on diet and health about sleep apnea, how to what to ask for so they can justify. If I just if you just say, Oh, I'd like to run it, that doesn't help. The other option, what I use and what many people use, it's a little box that you strap to your chest with just a little nose cannula, very simple thing. Oh, you wear a pulse oximeter on your finger that's attached to the box, and a couple of little sticky electrodes that stick on your neck and chest. So it's it's quite simple. And then you just sleep. And other doctors use a large ring that's not just it's not like a little aura ring or whatever, it's a big thing that can record all this data over a night because it's huge amounts of data. But I like the box on the chest method because it okay it records as your chest rises and falls, rises and falls, and how much you're rising and falling. So little things like that are not little, they're huge. It it helps the algorithm understand who are you and what is your problem, and how bad is it? So it's simple and it's not a big deal. That's that's the easy part.

SPEAKER_00 30:31

Yeah. Yeah. But before we move on, what brand is that the box on the side? There are multiple ones. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 30:38

The one I use is high row h-i-r-o, but it I don't think it matters. They're all the same thing, basically, just the box that straps to the chest as opposed to the ring.

SPEAKER_00 30:49

Okay. And in some cases, insurance might pay for the test or not?

SPEAKER_01 30:55

It absolutely will pay for the test if you go in with the right. I've got these, you know, three, two, three, four, five symptoms, and I'd like to run a sleep test, please. Your doctor should be happy to write a prescription for it.

SPEAKER_00 31:07

Okay. My husband has used the ring. And I think he also tried one where it was something that wrapped around his wrist, but they both gave him the same information.

SPEAKER_01 31:21

Well, as long as it's not just an oximeter, that it's recording your breathing rate and the volume of your breathing, and when you stop breathing and and all of that. So the ring can do that. I'm just not sure if it has the same amount of data as the little box chest. I'm not, I'm just not sure.

SPEAKER_00 31:41

I bet it just seems like the box on the chest would give you a lot more information.

CPAP Data Help With SleepHQ

SPEAKER_01 31:47

To me, it does, but I I haven't researched it. And there is a sleep lab here that does use the ring. So I don't know if it's just easier or whatever. I don't know. But here's the the real story is once you get diagnosed, and by the way, even if you get diagnosed as mild, it's mild, moderate, severe. Even if you get diagnosed with mild, you should still look at taping your mouth, trying CPAP, all of this. And this is the easy part is the testing. Now it's going to get more difficult and more complicated. And, you know, insurance will give you a machine and a mask, and then bye-bye. And you don't get to pick your machine, you don't get to pick your mask, you don't know what you're doing. And, you know, they just put the general settings like on and off. You know, it's like this is like learning how to drive a car. And you know, there's a lot to understand about what is happening and how to adjust it and take care of it. And most people, let me give you the name before I forget. This is a really important. There are several CPAP forums, but this one, it's not a forum, it's much more than that. It's called SleepHQ, like headquarters, sleephq.com. And this is an Australian little firm, two guys basically, but now it's really blossomed. And you basically can download your data to your account, to your file on their algorithm, and then you can pop in there anytime and compare. Oh, wait, what happened on Friday night when I tried this mask? And what happened on Tuesday night when I tried this mask? Whoa, that was a lot of leaks. Okay, let's try that mask again, but let's see if I can't fit it better or let my mouth tape came off. So that would have been recorded as a leak as well. So, anyway, you've got all this data, and they have so much information and support. And I mean, you just can't even imagine. So, this is used by people all over the world. So, it's an immense group of people, all committed to help me get better. And here's my problem. Who can look at my file and tell me what they see? Anyway, so sleephq.com.

SPEAKER_00 34:05

And I know that you're very aware and you teach people about different methods of CPAP equipment. Kind of walk us through your favorite or what's the most inobtrusive that's going to, you know, not be this gigantic mask, and you can't flip over a lot of.

Minimal CPAP Masks And Fit

SPEAKER_01 34:23

A lot of people, there's a revolution in CPAP. Okay. The last five years, they've been making smaller masks and just little nasal cups that strap one strap around the back of your head. I mean, very, very minimal things, which I I have, and I'll I'll show you mine. So this is one. If your camera can pick it up. Yeah, we see it. So it's strapped for the back of your head, the top of your head, and then this just goes through the nose, up the nose. It just goes the nose, and then the tube attaches to your CPEP hose. So that's an example of one of these minimalist things. And there are many people that still use a traditional mask. It fits them better, they're more comfortable that way. It doesn't move around, you know. They maybe they toss and turn as a person, so it's a little more secure. So there's nothing wrong with the different masks. And then here's the one that I really like, and this one's really a mind blower. All right, this is the mask, this is it. And there are on the end of these little things magnets, uh-huh. And then it's a sticky tape with a steel rim. So you would apply this, just stick it down over the two nostrils, and magnetize it right on there, and that's it. There's nothing on your face, no straps, but there it's somewhat secure because of the magnet. It's completely secure and it has no leaks. And when you get into this, you'll realize that leaking is a a big thing that the mask kind of lifts and the air comes out, and but this thing does not leak. It has its own slight disadvantages too, but but that's what I use. And if for some reason I want to, I'll go and just slip this on. So okay.

SPEAKER_00 36:18

So, what is the brand of the magnet?

SPEAKER_01 36:21

It's only one, and the company is called bleep. Like, what the bleep did you just say? Uh-huh. Bleep sleep. Bleepsleep.com. Love it. And this particular system, he has two, is called the eclipse, like a solar eclipse. I don't know why, but that's what it is. Okay. So that's the bleep sleep eclipse. Amazon sells it, you know, you can get them anywhere. And once you get going with insurance, if you choose to go with insurance, it will cover this. Now, I the next day after my diagnosis and seeing my report, I went out and bought a machine. I wasn't going to wait around for insurance issues. I could afford to do that. And I also didn't want to be told what machine you will buy. Right. So I bought my own machine. I buy my own masks. And I think this is a common issue with people that can afford it. To okay, well, let's buy this mask and give it a try. Okay, well, that didn't work. In the box, it goes, you know. Right. And you'll see on these forums that commonly we all have the box of stuff we've tried, it just does not work for us, it doesn't fit our face. We can't figure out the settings. And that's when you go to sleep Q and say, Hey, I've got the such and such mask. I'm having trouble with my respiratory setting. Anyone got some tips? There's another feature on Sleep HQ. Anyone can visit it. You don't need an account, and it's free for two weeks once you start to use it, and then there's a small fee. But if you'll search on their website on the left-hand side, there's a whole bunch of categories there, one of which is mask analytics.

SPEAKER_00 38:09

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 38:10

Mask analytics. And you can click that and it'll rate 50 masks on five different qualities and then an overall score. It's really, really cool. And this guy comes in number one. Yay.

SPEAKER_00 38:28

And the you're holding up the uh magnetic one. The the eclipse, yep.

SPEAKER_01 38:32

Oh, so is it bleep sleep eclipse? That's the company. Okay. And that mask is called an eclipse. Okay. They make another one called Dreamport, which nobody buys or uses, but it's still for sale because you may have already bought it and whatever. And then this one that I use, I think it's rated like number 30. So, you know, it's not a highly rated one. But anyway, it'll help you do some shopping and trialing and error of masks to try.

SPEAKER_00 39:01

And I think for anyone that is just listening, uh, when you find our podcast on YouTube, you can visualize all the masks that Beverly has been holding up. And I think you'll be able to see that she's a very thin woman. And so it's not always people that are overweight, like she mentioned before, that end up with sleep apnea.

SPEAKER_01 39:23

If you have a child who is a bedwetter, there is a possibility that child has sleep apnea. And I mean, it's ADHD. It's a possibility that's sleep apnea. So it, you know, the potentials for sleep apnea are huge. And of course, with children, they often have swollen tonsils and you know, sinus infections and all this from eating dairy, which will usually take care of it when you stop. But anyway, I just want to throw that out. It's all ages, all sexes, all races can have sleep apnea.

SPEAKER_00 39:54

And there are just so many directions we could go today, Beverly. Yeah, but I'm gonna have to cut us off.

Mouth Taping And Tongue Posture

SPEAKER_01 39:59

But can I mention one more thing? Yes, absolutely. I want to mention mouth tape. Okay, I've been taping my mouth for 15 years. And this is the brand I use, SomniFix, Somni like Insomnia, SomniFix. And now that I'm on CPAP, I've actually switched to a different mouth tape. But I think the first step for everybody is to tape your mouth when you sleep. Children as well. I don't mean babies, obviously, yeah. Um, or people with you know sinus problems that can't breathe, but taping your mouth is essential, and learning to keep your tongue pressed to the roof of your mouth is essential. That is something, a habit you have to develop is day and night when you're not speaking or eating, your tongue should be laying against the roof of your mouth, and that will keep your airway open. So, but taping your mouth is essential. And I have three articles and podcasts on it. And no, it's not masking tape or duct tape. There are special tapes that do this that are comfortable and come off your face. So I just wanted to mention that.

SPEAKER_00 41:06

Well, thank you, Beverly. And uh the podcast is hormone hero. So I do believe you are a hormone hero on so many levels. But is there any last statement you'd like to make for our listeners?

SPEAKER_01 41:19

Well, on the topic of CPAP, I want to say, remember how we started out, and I'm saying we want the big pieces of chemistry. That's where we're going to help change your two, five, 10, 12 health and comfort issues is with big chemistry, not with a handful of supplements. And clearly breathing and you know, eight hours of sleep and bad breathing is a huge, large piece of your chemistry that's affecting every cell of your body. And like I say, the the first week I started using a CPAP, I didn't have to get up to use the restroom at night. I've been doing that for 20 years. So, yes, and my brain is working again, oxygen is thriving, and yes, so anything that can help ward off dementia, of course, as well, is useful. So looking for the biggest pieces of your chemistry, getting that herpes virus under control is a huge part of my practice, and that's why, because it's a big piece of chemistry, and and diet will change it. So that's the goal is change your chemistry in big ways, and then we can supplement the pieces that have not yet responded to the food or the CPAP or whatever.

SPEAKER_00 42:34

That's awesome. And Beverly, tell us again how to find you.

SPEAKER_01 42:38

The website, it's a huge website. There's hundreds of articles and podcasts there. And the online store has 150 supplements right from my clinic shelf. It's on diet and health on dietandhealth.com and the podcast, Primal Diet Modern Health. Yes, eat paleo and look for the best of modern health care, which can be anything, but how do we find the best? How do we run the best lab tests? How do we find the best solution for each problem that we can?

SPEAKER_00 43:12

And what's your phone number in San Antonio?

SPEAKER_01 43:15

Well, there's a contact on the website. So that's how I encourage people to just hit that contact and it'll send you an email. I'm old-fashioned this way. I use email for a lot of my work. I don't do texting and so on. So um, yeah, just hit that contact button and tell me what you want support with. Or go and look up. Oh, also, I'm really big on Pinterest. I have an extremely large Pinterest page on diet and health. That's an excellent way to search for things too, in addition to the website.

SPEAKER_00 43:45

That's fantastic. And I encourage all of our listeners to search out Beverly. She is a mountain of experience, and her knowledge is so vast that we probably just barely scratched the surface today. But thank you so much for your time today, Beverly. We appreciate you.

SPEAKER_01 44:04

Yes, thanks for the opportunity to share about sleep apnea. I'm very passionate about it, as you can hear from having just found out about all of this myself. So let's spread the word.

Subscribe Review And Listener Email

SPEAKER_00 44:14

Okay. Thanks, Beverly. Bye-bye. 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 by leaving a rating and a review. If you would like to share your bioidentical hormone story or need help finding a physician in your area, please email us at drkelly at hormoneheroes.org. That's D-R-K-E-L-L-Y at H O R M O N E H E R O E S dot org. We want you to be a hormone hero.