Hashimoto’s, Infertility & How the Autoimmune Paleo Diet {AIP} is Only One Piece of the Puzzle 🦩 [Podcast Discovery Call]

“When it comes to gut health, the first thing is elimination; you have to eliminate the food and the toxins that are creating the inflammation.”

Topics Discussed:

🦩 Amplifying healing with targeted supplementation for prolonged gut problems.

🦩 Figure out what foods work for you even with the Autoimmune Paleo Diet.

🦩 Fix your infertility by tapping into your mental, emotional, and physical aspects.  

Did you know that Hashimoto’s disease or any other autoimmune issue could be the reason you have unexplained infertility?

In this episode of the Finding Fertility podcast, we talk about how inflammation and autoimmune issues lead to unexplained infertility. We also talk about the Autoimmune Paleo Diet and how it can give you dramatic results since it reduces inflammation.

Listen in to understand how inflammation contributes to infertility and how food elimination diets like AIP can help improve your health. You will also learn how your mental, emotional, and physical aspects are the real causes of your infertility and how to release that trauma.   

“Your fertility will fall into place when you tackle those mental, emotional, and physical aspects within your brain, thyroid, and gut.”

Episode Highlights:

• [9:58] Our guest shares her fertility journey from when she started trying in 2018.
• [18:16] How our failed fertility experiences are needed sometimes to get us to the right place.
• [22:02] She explains her progress with Hashimoto’s and her food elimination process.
• [31:07] How to approach the Autoimmune Paleo Diet in a way that works for you.
• [37:09] Why the many events that occur in your body are the ones that lead to a miscarriage.
• [46:24] How to tap into the mental, emotional, and physical trauma that’s trapped in your body.
• [51:23] Learning how to manage your job and invest time to take care of your health.

Listen here: Hashimoto’s, Infertility & How the Autoimmune Paleo Diet {AIP} is Only One Piece of the Puzzle

🌺 Download your FREE Guide: Top 3 Steps to Maximise Your Fertility That Your Doctor Isn't Talking About

🦩 Get Steps Closer to Getting & Staying Pregnant with EIGHT FREE DAYS within the Fertility Formula

Full Transcript: 

Unknown Speaker 0:01
Hello beautiful and welcome to finding fertility. I'm your host, Monica Cox from finding fertility.co And I created this podcast to help get you to start thinking outside of the box and realise that your infertility might have nothing to do with your lady bits rooted in functional medicine and personal experience. Finding fertility is all about looking at the whole body and finding the root cause of your infertility. Finding fertility does not diagnose, prescribe or treat any issues of infertility. But what we do is take a holistic approach and improve your diet and your lifestyle to get you steps closer to creating your dream family. Just by being here with me listening to this podcast, you're already going down the right path to making your dreams come true. Let's do this together. Happy Friday, all welcome back to another episode of finding fertility. I'm your host, Monica Cox. And I am completely honoured that you are here embracing the woowoo and the crazy and ready to dive into taking control and becoming the conscious mama bear you were born to be. Today we have another podcast discovery episode. I was like, Yeah, I was like really excited to tap into this because as you guys know, I offer free podcasts discovery calls. And I had one of my old course subscribers wanting a podcast discovery calls. So we dived into why she left the course early thinking that she had it all she knew it. But yet she was left with some questions and questioning herself and where she should go. And of course, we found some missing pieces. And I think it's just a true testament. I'm not sure if I say it enough, but the one on one coaching, not the one on one coaching package. But even the one the one you get with me in the community, whether it be on the live group coaching calls, or asking your questions through email, if you can't make the group coaching calls, or even asking your questions in the community, where you can just type away and I type back to you sometimes I even make videos specifically for you guys. If it's like a long winded answer. It's just where the magic lies just where it is. You know, the course information is amazing. And I'm not gonna lie, you can find it on the internet like i i not? I mean, I am saying there's some stuff that I'm saying that probably not a lot of people are saying, but the way I put it together and the information that you get is designed from start to finish. And yeah, you just got to be patient. I think this was like an obvious thing that was an issue for this beautiful person. And even when you think like, Okay, I've got the answer that I need, you might need another two or three answers. And that's what I'm here to help you guys do. I'm really here to help you guys figure out where those missing pieces are. Because like I said, like you can find all this information on the internet. It's just putting it together. And that's what the online group coaching does for you at a fraction of the cost of the one to one. So yeah, I'm gonna stop tooting my own horn. And I know there's so much valuable information in this podcast episode and I know it's going to help so many people go beyond their diagnosis and really start tapping into their intuition. And I'm super excited for this to be aired finally. So without further to do, let's get to today's episode. Like that's where the magic lies, right? The course is amazing if I do say so myself.

Unknown Speaker 4:23
I agree. I totally agree.

Unknown Speaker 4:27
But getting that one to one, like coaching and asking your personal questions is where like things progress. So I'm just wondering like how to get people more involved in that group coaching, is it Are they standoffish because they don't want to ask like personal questions in front of people or tiny

Unknown Speaker 4:46
Well, that was it was timing to because I think that it was at five la time or you know Pacific Standard Time. And I three days a week I'm commuting from Korea Town and so I I was like, I don't want to be in the car when this happens. But I definitely don't want to take this to the office because I want to ask personal intimate questions. I don't have my own office. So anyway, that it was definitely that was part of the factoring, but yeah, yeah, I think if it was maybe late, like 7pm I know it's gonna be different for everybody, though. So how can you possibly

Unknown Speaker 5:22
accomplish Yeah, yeah, I mean, I tried to like, switch them up in like, have some, like, early morning, Hawaii, and then late in the evening, and just try to like, hit the magic sweet spot. But yeah, I'm like, Yeah, everyone's all over the world. So I'm just never gonna get a good time.

Unknown Speaker 5:38
But I'm, I'm definitely open to because I do. Um, I would love to get some more women. That's why I'm here to is to get some more. I have so many burning questions. And yeah, so but yeah, so I'm definitely open to that. I'll yeah, I'll do that in the future. Yeah, no,

Unknown Speaker 5:55
I just I'm always trying to like, what can I do to like write because I can say it as much like, it's the coaching is where the magic happens. And I'm trying to, yeah, definitely make it affordable for people because not everyone can do the one to one coaching. And I don't I don't have all the time in the world, either. But, um, but yeah, the group coaching is like a unique aspect. because not a lot of like, courses online offer that. But it's definitely something that like, once people understand, like, like, at the moment, there's just like, one girl that shows up and it's just like, you get this free code and like, like, away as you are question. Yeah, like, she's getting the deal of the century, which is great. I love you. And that's what I'm here for. But yeah, I'm glad that you, you know, like, didn't sometimes like we get proud, right? And like, whoa, I've done it. And I'm not going to ask for any more help. So like, I'm excited that you know, you didn't like put that mental block up and that you're here.

Unknown Speaker 6:57
Oh, no, it's the these are the questions that keep me up at night. Like during the day, I'm very confident. I'm like, I'm totally on the right path. I'm on the right journey. And then at night, and I'm like, Look, what if I have like a parasite? Or what if, and all these like, things that I see on you, I follow a bunch of fertility dieticians now. And I'm like, God, is that meat? Do I have that issue

Unknown Speaker 7:17
too? I know. And that's the problem when you're doing it alone, too. Is that like, you just, like see all this information. And I think hopefully, for the most part, we're all trying to say the same thing. But I know that there there can be some conflicting speak out there. And I was just saying that was just live on Tik Tok. And I was just saying this because this one girl said that she had two doctors and one told them this and the other said, the complete opposite. And I said, well, for everyone out there, right, no matter what your training is, a lot of it comes down to your opinion, the way you read the scientific studies, the way you feel about supplementation, you know, and I try not to do that, because I know my experience was like, it was the opinions of those doctors, and it's whether or not I took those opinions that made the difference in my journey. Right. Yeah. Yeah. Um, just give us a little like brief overview of like your fertility journey so far.

Unknown Speaker 8:26
I made a timeline today because, like what has happened, so we started trying in November of 2018. I went to Chile to get pregnant. I went, but I was on birth control. From the time I started my period. I was a late bloomer, and it because I did ballet. And I think I got my period when I was like 15. And it was horrible. I had horrible cramps. I had huge clots, and I was tiny. And my mom thought I had a miscarriage. I was like, I'm not even having sex yet. And that's when my aunt is also my doctor. She's an OB GYN. She's a do she's fantastic at delivering babies. Maybe, you know, she's very much still a Western doctor. So she was like, we're going on birth control. And, and of course it put a put a patch on all those symptoms. And then I was on birth control until I went off in 2018. And I was doing ovulation test kits which were coming up positive. So I was like, Okay, I'm definitely, definitely ovulating. But having very weak periods, like almost no fresh blood whatsoever, and that's maybe few months after we started trying. We weren't getting results. I started to listen to like my first fertility podcast, which was was saying how horrible birth control is for your body and that, you know, there's you can actually see ovaries that have withered and I was like, That's it, I have withered ovaries, they are they have shrivelled up and that's why I have like no period right now. And that podcast actually made me that was like 2019 I started cleaning up all my household products, my skincare, basically detoxing my, my life. And I think my periods may have started coming back a little bit, but still, we're like just very light, very faint. To that degree, February 2019, I started acupuncture for fertility because that was recommended to me. And she started me on a supplement and herbs regimen, we started tracking my BBT, which was consistent. It was showing ovulation, like on the 17th every month. She was also the first person that made me realise like you have anxiety that you need to deal with or like what I'm like this is I went to law school, I'm an attorney. And I was like, I thrive in this environment. I don't know what you're talking about. She's like, you're, you're clearly stressed out, because I would go in there. And I would be like sweating, sweating on the entire bed, like the sheets that she laid out for me because I was so nervous from the needles because she was putting them in my fingers. And it was very painful. She's like, well, it's not supposed to be painful, but it's because you're so stressed and like well, okay, so it, it ended up being more anxious for me to go get the fertility, acupuncture, so I after like, maybe six or seven months, I stopped but I do feel like she, I mean, she sent me up on probiotics Tumeric B complex, a bunch of things for anxiety, magnesium, which I still take to this day. And vitamin D, three plus k two. And then let's see what else was happening. I started doing Orangetheory my workouts got more intense, because I was like, Oh, this is gonna this is physical exhaustion really helps me fall asleep at night. That was probably a bad idea. 2020 took a break, because I was just over it at that point and pretty, pretty burnt out. But we're still having like sex two to three times a week, just not really wasn't doing BBT or taking urine tests or anything like that. And then COVID happened and I started like an intense regimen of like making sure I was burning 500 calories a day since I was at home and running seven to 10 miles on the weekends. And I also am a huge Wine Oh, like it's my it's my passion. We travel for wine, I study wine. It's not necessarily about like being drunk. It's more about like the artistry of at least that's what I like to say. And then let's see end of 2020. I started therapy for anxiety.

Unknown Speaker 13:04
Last year, after I had done therapy for a few months, because I was like I have to get my head straight before I go into IUI. Because I'm not going to have a doctor tell me that my IUI failed because I'm an anxious person. Like, I will manage my anxiety first. Then we started IUI I got pregnant on the second time, which I was like, This is amazing. The statistics were right. He was like this doctor was like one in four. And or I think it's I think it's like yeah, one in four is your odds. And so I got pregnant on the second time. And I was like yes. And the I miscarried at seven and a half weeks. So that was terrible. But I was like, I am not going to deal with this. I am will power on and he said you can start again as soon as you get your period. So that's what I did. And I think I did like one or two. Yeah. Well, one or two more I was when I started to feel like I was just throwing money away. And I asked this doctor specifically because I was having not only was I not dealing with my trauma, but I was having a particularly rough time at work. And I asked this doctor, how much of this is a mental game? He was like, No, it's not. It's not at all. It's just about it's just about timing and getting you're gonna be fine. And as he was like doing the IUI I was like, this is not gonna work. I just knew I was like, my heart is not here. I'm so sad. And yeah, so that happened. Yeah, so and then I was like, I gotta take a break. And that's when I found this amazing therapist who has helped me. She helped me deal with my trauma and she's also doing energy healing. She's like a bit fufu some people might feel like it's, you know, crazy stuff, but it really has worked for me and I've gotten into crystal healing. And then I saw some ads that you were posting or not ads, but it was like hooks or something like, Hey, has some Western doctor told you you have unexplained infertility? And I was like, yes, absolutely. And I think you had recommended, like, have you thought about your thyroid? How's your gut health? And I've had gut health issues since I was, you know, born. And it's like, okay, yeah, that sounds about right. And then I, I asked you specifically, I would like to do a thyroid panel, because my mom has Hashimotos. And her mom has Hashimotos and her sister as a Hashimotos. And sure enough, I got diagnosed with Hashimotos. And no doctor had ever luck in tested me for that. So I had to go in there with what you told me to test and request that panel. And that's how I found out that I actually motos and here I am, and I'm on the AIP diet, and I feel better than ever, like my anxiety has almost completely resolved itself with this diet, which is just mind blowing. I mean, it's just crazy. So but um, you know, just hoping that I'm still on this, that I'm on the right path. And because I feel like I've wasted so much goddamn time getting here. It's like, if I could have just known you existed five years ago, you know, and I'm sure people tell you that all the time. That's like, I've fucking years of going through this timeline today, like Jesus. That is just, that's like, what happened to 2020 is just just gone, you know? So that's Sorry, that was not brief.

Unknown Speaker 16:42
That's okay. Here I am. No, it's, it's a huge journey. Right. And I don't think there's enough space for people who are going through this journey. Enough space and support. To say, Stop, right to say that if you just stop, and let's recalibrate everything, you're actually going to save yourself more time, heartache and money, because we're not jumping into these things. And that's where the western medicine is so wrong. Yeah. Like, it's great that that we have that support. But you know, there's a another podcast episode, a similar discovery call. And it was back to back to back to back to back. And these doctors are like, just keep going, just keep going. Right. And the heartbreaking thing is that it's the mental and emotional toll that your body is taking because of this advice. Yeah. And no one's recognising that. And we're just getting, you know, push through these things.

Unknown Speaker 17:59
Yeah, and I was doing the medically induced ovulation, which is terrible for for Hashimotos. You know, so it's like, every time I was doing that, it was probably progressively making things worse for my body. And I just want to go back to that doctor, who was very nice and be like, That was terrible advice.

Unknown Speaker 18:18
Yeah. And I think more women should write, like, just please like, this is my information. I might just be you're not the only person, that's a shitty thing. They'd be like, well, that's just us, like, no, no, we're hearing these stories over and over and over again. So one, I want to, I want you to know that your time is not wasted. Right? Whether you believe that everything happens for a reason, or we have to go through these things. I know that when we're probably saying that if someone told me the stuff at the beginning of my journey, I wouldn't have listened anyways.

Unknown Speaker 18:58
That's right.

Unknown Speaker 19:01
So sometimes we have to go through these things, because it's just in our genetic genetic makeup that we have to experience it. And because we've experienced it, then we're like, okay, I get it. You know, so your time is not wasted. You know, my journey was really long to before holding my first baby, you know, eight years before I got pregnant naturally. So I know that it is a huge chunk of time. And I always say if I had me, you know, I would have saved myself minimum six years, if not more. But I know that I had to go through everything to get to where I am and start reconnecting with myself. Right. So trusting myself that was how I felt during those moments. And even though the professional or the expert was saying, No, that's not true. Have you knew your body was telling me like, No, this isn't, this isn't my truth. It might be true for the next woman that's coming into the room. But right now, this is not me. And we've been so disconnected from that. And this, these are just ways for you to validate your knowing your intuition. So where are you with your Hashimotos diagnosis right now?

Unknown Speaker 20:29
So I was actually kind of hoping to chat with you about that, because I was thinking about going back into to test again, let's see, I think it's actually really weird because I started the AIP diet, I think, June June 1. And I think I had my diagnosis like a week or two later. Okay. And I was like, well, that's great, because I'm already doing this AIP diet. So I don't know how long it takes to reduce my antibodies. But I have, you know, cut back on my workout. So I'm really just doing like, very mellow stuff now. Yeah. Strength training, and walking and yoga. And I'm doing red light. Therapy. So yeah, I just was thinking is two months enough, like to go test to make sure that the numbers are, are going down?

Unknown Speaker 21:29
Yeah, I mean, you could test whenever really, there's no time allotment for enough. Right? Yeah. Like you're on your own journey. There's no comparison. The AIP diet, as you've already felt, will give you dramatic results very quickly, because it's such a limited diet, that the inflammation is is going to be a huge factor. Other than your so with your gut health, what improvements have you seen? And do you feel like you still have any issues even if they're like minute?

Unknown Speaker 22:11
Sure. So I believe they are working because I am able to fall asleep pretty quickly now. I mean, I'm still having to do my like, do this like sleeping meditation thing at night. But now I'm not like staying awake to the end of it, which is amazing. And as one fertility dietitian said, I'm shitting like a champ. So regularity happening. That's great. And I do still like so last week. I don't know why I thought that I could have a reintroduce seeds. So I was trying to do flax because I did it so much before, like I was having a smoothie like during quarantine. I had a smoothie every day with flax, because I know it's supposed to be so good for fertility. And it is just not working for me does not work for my body. But unfortunately, you know, when you talk about or anybody talks about reintroduction after ARP, it's like Oh, check for you know, 45 minutes or you should see some sort of reaction and it wasn't immediate excite put it in these like spinach muffins. And I had to have it for like three mornings in a row to realise that my stomach was bloating. Yeah. And that's the only thing that could have been it. Honestly, it was the only thing that I had done differently. So it's like, okay, that's out but it felt like it took a long time for my body to stabilise like, today's the first day where I feel like the that bloating has gone away, gone away, which, which I like now, I have anxiety about that because like okay, I'm, I'm bloated, so I just ruined my chances.

Unknown Speaker 24:03
So, so you, you've done the formula, you only did the first eight weeks of it. I don't know if you were you were paying monthly. So I don't know if that is doing monthly. Yeah, the end would open up for you. So there's two more weeks. And I, I'm pretty sure the supplement is in the ninth week. So my question would be, have you done a targeted gut lining? Like three months supplementation regime? No. Okay. So that's probably a missing piece for you. Okay, so when it comes to gut health, the first step is elimination. Right? We have to eliminate the food and the toxins that are create creating the inflammation. But because you've been dealing with gut health issues since the moment you were born, you are going to need targeted so supplementation to amplify that healing face. And so that's all within the course as well. There's like a whole section if you're having gut health issues of what supplementation you should take to target that gut heal that lining. Because like, just in my own journey, for example, like I went paleo, and saw like crazy improvements, right? Like, you can almost not follow my gut health. But in hindsight, looking back, I noticed, I see a little few things, but I wasn't thinking they were a big issue because I made all these improvements. But when I after that second failed IVF, and I did the immune testing, and that's when I expose I had a nap high natural killer cells, I was on paleo for a whole year, and still had natural killer cells. One because I was still eating foods that I was highly intolerant to like the tomatoes, paprika, and all that. But to because my gut health lining hadn't gotten to the point where the junctions closed up, they got back to their natural state, and was keeping the food particles inside my body. So that's what's happening with leaky gut is that the food that's going to even if you're on the perfect diet, and you still have this leaky gut, the food particles are going into your bloodstream, your blood, like your immune systems, like Attack Attack, this isn't supposed to be here. And it's causing that inflammation, and especially attacking your thyroid. Now, with a little information that I have here, usually, I mean, it's, it's obvious to see but you're probably a case of thyroid with three, three wax when you're genetically prone. Your gut health, and your mental and emotional health. So that is just like a shitstorm for flushing motos, right. So, depending on where you are with your Hashimotos, it's all completely reversible. But you now have to maintain a certain diet and lifestyle to not have Hashimotos, come back, right. And those antibodies have my eldest is going to be seven at the end of December. So I've been AIP. for over eight years, I still have to eat AIP. Right, the moment I go, I dive into especially tomatoes and preco, which is like heartbreaking. But if I drink too much wine, if I drink too much alcohol, and this is like talking not I'm not a drinker, like Oh, I haven't drunk since April 1 now. But before that, I couldn't even drink the way I used to drink and I didn't want to. But even just one or two affects your gut microbiome. So when you're in the healing stage, it's, it's it's not going to derail you like it's not going to be like, Oh, you're not going to get pregnant this round. But it just keeps you from maximising your situation, right in that healing phase. And then like in my instance, and for most people with autoimmune issues.

Unknown Speaker 28:17
They have to maintain that certain lifestyle, your periods, your PMS, and your gut health and your brain fog. They will be your first warning signs that You've overdone it. Right. Yeah. Because like, after your healing, like my gut health, after my first pregnancy was like, and that's how I got pregnant actually. Right. Like I had reverse the whole thing. You tap into two years after my second kid was born, the stress started drinking again. I moved back to America. So Mexican food was more ready to be available. And it was hard not to eat corn and tomatoes and stuff. All of a sudden, here I am back with the same issues normal and common health issues that I was having when I was trying to get pregnant. So in your case, you have some pieces of the puzzle. But that gut healing line, like healing the gut lining is like crucial for you right now. Okay, and that's why you're here and seeing like having one thing of flaxseed is going to you'll notice it because your gut health is still low.

Unknown Speaker 29:24
So you think it could be resolved with supplementation? I don't need to do like, there's I don't know what it's called the poor test. That's, you know, I'm talking about

Unknown Speaker 29:34
Yeah, so yeah, within the course you have access to a gut microbiome test that you just ordered online. You do it at home. That test is hands down one of the best tests that you can take, because it not only will help you rule out any parasites because we can't guess about those right. But what it does is it shows you Wait, you're actually your, your species, your microbiome species, what you're actually low in. So taking this is a problem a lot of people get they're like, Well, I'm on a probiotic. And it's like, well, have you been on the same probiotic for six months, because you're literally taking the same strands. Maybe you don't need those strands, maybe you need a different strand. And that's why in the course, I give you three different types. And especially if you're having gut issues, we're we're really going in with three different types of probiotics to maximise. Because what else that gut health does is it shows you where you're deficient in different gut functions. And it gives you a list of specific foods to help increase that. So you're not relying so when we do supplementation, we want to target for three months, right? We just want to like give this huge boost, we want to go in hard. But after that three months, like, it's expensive to stay on those supplements, and it's really it shouldn't be needed. So we want to maintain that health with the right support with our food. And then after that phase is when you want to start reintroducing, because if you don't have to say like, so I eat a eggs, I eat nuts, you know, I've figured out like what works for me and what doesn't work for me and an autoimmune paleo diet. Because you don't want to be restricted on that stuff for the whole your rest of your life because it is limited. If you don't have to some people have to some people don't.

Unknown Speaker 31:36
I wanted to ask you about this too, that I did the I think you're not a proponent of the everlywell food testing. But I had done that before. Before any of this right I did several months ago. And it said that I obviously was intolerant to cow's milk, and no surprise there. But then it also said mildly reactive to chicken and that was it. But then after I had started, I don't I don't know, I was reading something of yours. And you were like you have you have to be eating those things for her to show up. So that's why I was like, Okay, well, that's why soy didn't show up, or legumes or lentils, those kinds of crazy things that I just have avoided. And so because I had done that test when I eat almonds and eggs every single day, I never cut those out. Okay, so and I felt pretty confident that yeah, like I said, because I had been eating those every single day. It's just part of my, my regimen that I was okay, not eliminating those. Yeah, hoping for you to say that's okay.

Unknown Speaker 32:44
Well, I mean, it's okay, if you feel good on them. Right? Um, you know, so for me, I never got a food sensitivity test the MRT wasn't available in the UK when I was going on in my journey. So when I went AIP I don't know if I put it in the course I thought I did about the aches. I know there's a leak somewhere. But obviously, I talk a lot about the Paleo mom, you she was doing a blog, she, you know, she radically changed my life with her knowledge. And she talks about a eggs, the egg white is actually what people are more intolerant to in the AIP diet than the yolk. And so the egg white is the protein and then the yolk is like it's got all the good stuff. So I used to actually boil my eggs and cutaway the egg white and not eat the egg white and then just have the yolk in my vegetables, you know, to dry, right? Like, yeah, get a little. So there's that you could play around with that if you're and just that you can even just see, like, doesn't make a difference for two weeks. Can I notice anything? The other thing that I will say about that too, which is this is where the frustrating thing comes with healing is that when you dramatically reduce a lot of the foods you're intolerant to and say like a pig is an intolerance, whether it be a moderate, obviously, it's not a high reactive, I think you would know if it was it's, it's like getting a little like It's like picking your scab, right? It's like your scabs always gonna heal. No matter how much you pick your scab, it will eventually heal, it's just going to take longer for it to heal. So if you are eating moderately inflammatory foods, just consciously know that it's just might take a little bit longer for that healing phase. And that's why when I run the MRT test for anyone in the course of the one to one clients, it shows you moderate or highly reactive and Sometimes the highly reactive, they're just like, I didn't even know that, like I eat that all the time. And I didn't know I was intolerant to that. And it's, it's really because you reduce so much inflammation going on your body can kind of handle that like one slap in the face right where before you like getting punched, you know, like you're in the boxing ring. So, um, but I know you kind of mentioned, like, some, some, maybe some mental and emotional issues around food. And so were like, just talk a little bit about that.

Unknown Speaker 35:38
I guess just now having this knowledge that the goal is to reduce inflammation. That, you know, before all this started, I was just so used to, I mean, I would literally eat flax and like, get bloated, and I was just like, that's just just just me. And now, um, I know that I'm supposed to be avoiding that. So when it does happen, it's more of like a like, like I was saying, like, dammit, that means, you know, I've just ruined my chances of getting pregnant this month, or I'm just prolonging this, this whole healing journey. So and I like I have not touched beans, like I'm very sure that a Mexican bean dip ruined my pregnancy last time because they had cheese and beans. And I don't know what I was thinking. And I had like a bean and cheese burrito. And I had severe cramps that night. And looking back on and like, Why did I think like I was such a healthy eater. But when I got pregnant, I was like, Oh, you get more latitude when you're pregnant, which is so silly. That is so silly. Like you should be optimising your nutrition when you're pregnant. And that's not that I was eating terribly. It was just like, Oh, I'm out at a Mexican restaurant. So I'm going to have a bean being cheese. So it's beans that are bad cheese. That's bad for me. And wrapped in gluten. I like I don't know what I was thinking. But so so now it's just I just really have no interest in touching legumes. And yeah, I guess I'm just a little I'm just afraid of certain foods, and they're triggering responses.

Unknown Speaker 37:21
Yeah, so this is really, really important. And I know I dealt with the same issue. I was over the three month mark with my IVF baby that I use the immune suppressing drugs, and I still would need them right. I had not healed my gut at that stage. And I went to a restaurant, it was like, it's so hard to order out on AIP. And there's this burger and I didn't realise it didn't say it had paprika in the burger mix. So the more like Paprika is so easy to see. Right? And because I was out with friends and her family was like her dad was paying and I was just embarrassed about my ordering anyways, like a bun and like a lettuce came out right? Like I couldn't have the french fries, the tomatoes, the or not the bunda the patty. I didn't want to make a big deal out of it. So I ate it. And literally for like the next two days, I thought it was gonna have a miscarriage. Because I didn't have that support that that's not how the body works. Right? When something like a miscarriage happens. It's not one event that that sends it for the most part. Right? Yeah, especially when you're dealing with an autoimmune issue. It's the the many, many, many events that has happened over the decades that contributes to that. So when you either choose to have something that you know you're not, or you accidentally have it, and maybe something that you don't want to happen happens, just know that it wasn't that one event. Right, it was just still your body was just still not at the point to maintain. So if you are now diagnosed with Hashimotos, we know your antibodies are super elevated. So probably what happened with the IUI twofold is one that a quality might have not been where it needed to be because of all the inflammation and oxidative stress. But also you might have an immune issue where it rejected that pregnancy. Right. So I don't know if you know this, but embryo is deemed a foreign agent in your body, but the way the universe made us Your body knows that that's okay, that foreign entity is okay. Don't attack it. So when your body's on overdrive, your immune system starts attacking your thyroid. It knows innately not to do that. But when it's so elevated, it's just like we got to do something. So that's what we're going to do, and it's the same with embryos. And that's why it's the 12 week mark has become such a thing is because that's when you're planning to take over. And so your, your body's not actually taking care of it, the placenta is now. And so your chances are much lower that your body's going to reject the foetus. Yeah.

Unknown Speaker 40:23
But yeah, doing a lot a lot of therapy when I get pregnant those first 12 weeks. Yeah.

Unknown Speaker 40:29
It's, yeah, it's no joke. I mean, I know you're joking about it. But it, this is why you This is why you have the time now to get mentally and emotionally prepared for that. Okay, because you're going to have tools in your tool belt, that because they're not those issues aren't going to go away, those anxieties Do not leave you, but you have tools to deal with them in. I don't want to say a quicker manner, but like, say, you know, if you weren't practising this, it would like constant be constant 12 weeks of just as crazy as stress, right? Which, if you've read, origins, you she has a study in there that stress levels absolutely can impact the baby's health. So instead of that, you're just going to have like, once or twice a week, these elevated like, you know, flurries, and then you can bring yourself down. So you're going to keep your stress levels way lower, with all the things that you know, you're putting into place now. And we won't get into it, obviously, because it's a it's a podcast discovery call. And also, when I do these privately, I always say you don't have to say what you don't want to say. But being a ballerina is no joke, the mental and emotional on that. Especially when they say you're a late bloomer and get your period at 15, that was absolutely not late blooming, that was the pressures of your body, just not being able to express it. And then, you know, the years of masking it with the birth control, and then probably how your mind formed and performing at, you know, a certain level has absolutely like your acupuncturist probably didn't put it in the nicest way. But absolutely right, you moved on. And because you thought that was normal your whole life and you didn't know any other way. You wouldn't have solved it yourself. Right? So sure, I know, you've mentioned you're tapping into those things. And that's where you have to go. Right? Like, your fertility will fall into place, when you tackle those mental and emotional and those physical aspects within your brain, within your thyroid and within your gut. And even when like you say like, oh, I want to get my thyroid tested, that's really important information to know. But a thyroid is a snapshot in time. And it's of your past, not of your future. And so with the thyroid tests, like great, we know that information, but I still got to figure out from a coach side, well, where's that inflammation coming from? Because the thyroid just doesn't do that on its own. It's a mental, emotional issue, or it's a gut health issue, or both. And then obviously, the genetically prone. But it's really looking back. And I know you saw that in the course there's a whole, you know, class on traumatic events, whether you think they're traumatic, deemed to society telling you well, these are traumatic, and this isn't, well, no, like, everyone experiences trauma in their own way. And like that was something that I got really hung up on too, is that I didn't have these big life traumatic events that are deemed to mess up your brain and all that kind of stuff. But when you get into it, I was just like, wow, there was events in my life that really changed the way my brain was functioning. The way my parents brought me up the food I was eating like this all contributed to me like literally being infertile at 17 Like I'm convinced of it. And yeah, just keep tapping into that stuff because that's where you're going to fix things. Right? You can't hyper focus on your eight quality because your eight quality is due to the inflammation and the oxidative stress.

Unknown Speaker 44:49
Right. Yeah, the a quality thing just trips me up too because it's like, I keep going back to like, my doctor. I've been to my aunt and I had a different doctor when I lived in Long Beach and they would just like show me my eggs because they would do an ultrasound be like have your eggs are just so beautiful and fluffy and like just so round and large. And so I just kept thinking like, the egg equalities there. But where the hell is the disconnect is just,

Unknown Speaker 45:19
it's just well, then looking at that, that can't say that you're a coffee is good. Like even embryologist like. I mean, maybe the technology is a little bit better now. But without going in and testing those embryos is really hard. They can grade them and they can see bad too good, right? But even like the good ones that are sent off to testing, you don't know you. You can't look at it that way. Yeah, that's yeah. And to my knowledge, maybe they can but that's a new one to me. I don't think they can do an ultrasound and be like, Oh, you're a quality is good. Get your follicles might look good. You might have a eggs there. But to my knowledge, the only way you can really truly test a quality is getting them outside of the uterus and putting them together with sperm and seeing what the embryo quality is like.

Unknown Speaker 46:14
I could be wrong. Yeah, well, I mean, I just now have like, lost all my faith in western medicine. Every time I go to a party now like, Hey, let me talk to you about gut health.

Unknown Speaker 46:26
Yes, I know that all too well. And, and just know that this is your own journey. Right? Like, you don't have to prove anything to anyone. Is that me? Or you? I think that I think that was me. That was really loud. Um, and, and try not to compare yourself to anyone as well. Right now, I think that's the hard part. Because you look really faint. You You sound like you've, you know, you've always been athletic, and, and all those things. And it's, we've deemed our outside appearance more important than our inside appearance. Right? So unfortunately, we can't go in there and have a look at everything we can do the testing and things like that. That's our best guess. But yeah, and that's why so many doctors get hung up. People like me, and you walk in and are fine. And yet, there's so many issues inside that are contributing to our issue. But yeah, so. So just keep going with that mental and emotional health release the trauma. I don't know how long ago you left the course. But I know I've introduced some like body exercises to help release trauma, like in the hips, and like screaming it out and like different modalities than just talk therapy. And like, it sounds like you've got one that's on the woowoo side, too. So that energy healings really good. But um, yeah, really tap into like breath work, movement, and vocal. So I'll, I'll actually send you the link I've done it's not going to a lot of my podcasts are recorded very early, or well in advance. And so I talk with a vocal cord coach about the importance of the vocal cords and how I mean, she doesn't, you know, she doesn't have medical study about how it's related to the physical ailments that we're getting. But I think for a lot of us women who grew up in the 80s and 90s, we were just suppressed. You know, we were told to be tough. We were told not to have an opinion. We didn't get to use our voice. And we were just you know, people pleasers and you know, overachievers and I think a lot of this like manifests in in our throat area and can contribute to the thyroid issues. So definitely keep going with that. Do you find your job still pretty stressful?

Unknown Speaker 49:12
Um, it it just it kind of ebbs and flows in I work for a developer so it's construction related. So it ebbs and flows with where we are on the project. But right now it's it's it's fine. I commute to Koreatown, which is like an hour and a half, sometimes to two hours. So I think the commute is definitely worse but that's all part of my anxiety management too. It's just you know, come come home and I have to like journal sometimes let that shit go and because, unfortunately need the job.

Unknown Speaker 49:50
Yeah, yeah, it's when you can't quit your job. It's all about managing it and finding those tools that you can tap into. For sure. And then yeah, it's just a targeted approach with healing the lining. I mean, that's definitely super key for your journey. And in regards of using the gut health tests, it really just depends on how much time you want to invest. Like, if you're over it, I would test tomorrow. Yeah, if you're like, Okay, I can, I can do this supplementation and see how it works for three months. And then if I'm still not seeing the results that I want, then I'll dig a little bit deeper. You know, it's really just how you want to play it out. And obviously, like financial commitments, and stuff like that, so it's all doable. But yeah, I mean, I see the most kind of success for people who have the testing, and have that kind of backing for things that I can't No one can guess, right? Like, sometimes you, you just need the testing. And then just getting on that right path, filling in those little holes. And guy using it, like, you know, you're part of the course, like I never got to like, you know, really connect with you. And as you can see, this is where the magic lies, right. Having your your questions answered and just going okay, well, you haven't done that that's crucial to your journey. Yeah, it's really important and can just save you a lot of time.

Unknown Speaker 51:21
Definitely. Do you know if I, like, hit or like renew or something? Will it just start me off? where I left off? Do you have any idea how that works?

Unknown Speaker 51:33
Um, you could try. And just let me know what happens. If it doesn't. I can give you a discount code. The only thing is is like, when you pay the monthly fee, it opens it slowly. But I kind of have a feeling that if you open it again, it will, it will start you from

Unknown Speaker 51:54
where you

Unknown Speaker 51:56
were. Yeah. But just have a Go have a play with it. And then obviously, just reach out, we'll work something out and get you back in. Obviously, with these discovery calls that I do, I give you as much information that I can that won't. Me be guessing, right, like sometimes like I can, I'm so limited, but I've got a lot of good information. And then yeah, it's just coming back in and utilising. For me utilising the community. And just like, you know, I maybe I should send out an email and just be like, for all who wants a joy, what time and date works for you.

Unknown Speaker 52:38
Hopefully that doesn't backfire.

Unknown Speaker 52:41
Yeah. But yeah, I mean, that's the mission is just to really get everyone because it doesn't have to be complicated. Right? You just need that extra set of eyes that has the experience to go this this and this or Oh, you're missing that. Or your doctor said that? Don't believe it? Right, do what he says, but you don't have to believe it. Yeah.

Unknown Speaker 53:07
I also heard recently on some podcasts this this, I think it was a fertility dietitian. And she said, I usually recommend that women go off of our over the counter allergy medication because it dries up cervical mucus. And I was just like, like, I've been on Zyrtec since it was invented. And, like, what is another thing that no doctor would ever know? Or tell you? And I just, I don't know, if you you found that and that's something that you recommend too, but that just absolutely blew my mind.

Unknown Speaker 53:40
Yeah, I mean, any over the counter medication, even like ibuprofen, or like baby aspirin? You know, if you're long term using those? Absolutely. They're having an impact somewhere. Yeah, they're, they're meant. Drugs Don't just target one area. Right? So when you take a headache medicine, it doesn't just go to your head, your whole body gets that effect. Right? When you're taking, you know, like for me when I was on the steroids, right, like, yeah, that was suppressing my immune system, but it was actually also fucking my gut. Right? So there's ying and yang with these medicines, like yes, it's going to relieve symptoms, but at what costs what else was impacting? So if it's not something, I mean, obviously, if it's doctor prescribed, you need to talk to your doctor about it. And actually, I just saw a tick tock you guys know I love what tick tock and this woman was talking about how she was on allergy medication. It was doctor prescribed for a really long time. And then she started getting all these issues and then they prescribed antidepressants. And then she like gone through this whole thing for like, five years. And then she started researching herself what the side effects were. And now she's actually there's an actual symptom where you have withdrawals.

Unknown Speaker 55:22
Five out of view, withdrawals. I had, I had Bernie itchy skin.

Unknown Speaker 55:29
Yeah, she was saying the same thing that her skin was insane. And that's withdrawals. I

Unknown Speaker 55:34
thought I was going to and I was like itching, like, like a like person who in withdrawals from crazy drugs. And I was just like, This is This is so crazy that this has affected my system so drastically. And I thought I was gonna have to check myself and I am not okay, right now. Yeah,

Unknown Speaker 55:52
yeah. So yeah, I mean, all those things that are deemed normal, right? I'm not saying don't use them. I'm not saying that they are the reason. But when you're having big issues like this, it's not it's usually just not one thing. And you got to be I, one of the girls, when I did the course live. She was on she had a diagnosed medical condition that she needed. baby aspirin, she had a blood clot issue. And we did an MRT test. And the MRT does some of the chemicals as well. So she's not just food, and she was allergic to aspirin. Oh my god. So even though she needed this drug to support her in ways, so I just said to her, like, during your healing phase during when you're not trying to get pregnant. Don't take it. Even though I know it's so hard in the back of your mind, especially when you're trying naturally like, well, I'll never get pregnant naturally, if I don't take this. So if I don't take it, it's just like, Look, you have to take a breath step back. Let's, you know, reverse all these things first, then use the medication that you need that can be very damaging. I mean, that the big thing with the immune suppressing drugs when people use them alongside IVF. And I get people all the time going, like, oh, what drugs did you use, I'm just trying to get my doctor to prescribe them so I can use them. I'm like, Look, a lot of a lot of doctors one don't believe this, which is messed up. But also don't want to use those immune suppressing drugs because there's zero research to side effects to the foetus and to the mother, and you have to use them for over three months, you got to use them, you got to prepare your body before implantation. And then you have to use them up to 12 weeks. So and they mess you up, like big time. So it is that ying yang thing. And the only thing you can do when you're using medication is support your system to the best of your ability by lowering the inflammation and oxidative stress that you can control. Right? Yeah. Yeah.

Unknown Speaker 58:06
That's a big thing. Yeah. Like there's such a focus. Control.

Unknown Speaker 58:11
Yeah, and it's hard. I mean, the diet side, especially for Type A people like easy, right? Like there's a little bit of niggly gets annoying sometimes, but like you're in control, right? You're in control of those supplements, those diet easy. Is the mental and emotional. That is the hardest part to sit with yourself and get real. And, and face that face those uncomfortable times. And sometimes you don't even you didn't even realise they were there. Like suck that did, right. That's my shit. I didn't think that was a thing. Okay. So it's just having grace with yourself. And know that it's doable, right?

Unknown Speaker 58:56
Yep, it is doable. Just gotta be patient. That is not my, not my virtues. Yeah.

Unknown Speaker 59:03
Yeah. Patience, surrendering. I think, like I said, I don't know, when you left the course there's a whole I always in improving the course. And I was like, Oh, I gotta get this. Gotta get that. But there's a whole thing now on surrender. And, you know, it's, it's incredibly important. And receiving, right? Like a lot of us have been givers and givers. And we give and give and give and give. And it's hard for us to ask for that help and that support. And that's a big thing, too. Because I'm telling you right now and motherhood, you're, you're going to need it. Right, right. So learning all these things before your children come along, is going to impact your pregnancy in a positive way, your birth in a positive way, your postpartum in a positive way, and you're going to be a better mom. Right? You're not going to be so uptight and control Leaving and pass on those generational traumas that your parents didn't know they were passing on to you. And, you know, you could just, you know, be the mom that you were actually born to be, instead of just like repeating the cycle. Yeah, I like that. Yeah, for sure. Is there anything else that you wanted to ask me before we go?

Unknown Speaker 1:00:22
Um, I don't think so. I think we. Yeah, so I am. I guess just, I have the I'm going to definitely start taking that course again, and targeted supplementation for my gut health. I guess maybe I can retest my thyroid panel next month, just to see if they're going down. See if they're headed in the right direction?

Unknown Speaker 1:00:52
Yeah, yeah, definitely. Yeah. And just remember, before you take your thyroid test, make sure you're just like Zen. Like, because I've seen thyroid tests that were worse than when they first started. I'm like, Well, what was your week like? And they're like, oh, super stressful, like, it's a snap shot in time. Like, this is what we have to get through our heads with these blood tests. It's that moment that is showing you probably like four or five days it because it goes like this, your body doesn't stay the same. So if you want a true representation, try to like book it on a week where you're, you're not like you're not like on holiday, but you're not like having your worst week ever.

Unknown Speaker 1:01:36
Okay, that's good. That's good to know.

Unknown Speaker 1:01:38
Yeah. Yeah. All right. Well, I'm so so glad that you reached out and we got to do this discovery to thank you so much for your time. And I know this is going to help so many people listening, and I'm excited for you. I don't I don't think you're far off. I think you're you're totally on the right track and you just need those little holes filled and, and patients. Yes so much.

Unknown Speaker 1:02:02
Thank you. Bye. If you feel called to discover what you personally need to do, and are ready to have an intimate conversation, please go down to the show notes. There's a link there that you can book your own personal discovery call. Also, for your chance to book your own podcast discovery call. I do send out email to my email subscribers every two months looking for new guests. So if you're not already on the email list, I highly suggest you sign up today. Thank you once again for tuning in to the finding fertility podcast. If you're loving this podcast, please leave us a rating and review and let us know how this podcast is supporting you to get steps closer to creating your dream family. I hope you have a beautiful weekend and we will see you next Friday for another episode of the finding fertility podcast.

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Monica

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Anything written or said about health and diet are my opinions, that I have formed over the years, through trial and error, study, reading, listening and observing. What worked for me may not work for you. I am not a doctor, nutritionist or dietician and all medical advice should be gotten from a qualified professional. Product recommendations are based on what I used during my infertility journey or wish I had.