#203: The Cure for a Busy Brain with Dr. Romie Mushtaq

Hey beautiful, it's Dr. Tabatha. I want to share something with you that I believe God is doing right now in women's health. We're in the middle of a massive movement and most people don't even know it. Every single day, 6,000 women in the U.S. enter menopause. That's over 2 million women a year, and by 2030, that's more than 1.2 billion women worldwide. So here's the thing, most of these women feel exhausted, bloated, anxious, disconnected from themselves, and the medical system is Doctors are handing out prescriptions and quick fixes, and no one is helping women heal from the root cause of their issues. That's where Fast to Faith coaches come in. As a certified coach, you'll be equipped to help midlife women balance their hormones, heal their gut, regain their energy, and reconnect their faith, the foundation that so many of us have been missing. And from a business standpoint, woo, this is one of the most lucrative untapped opportunities in the entire health coaching world. The global health coaching industry is expected to reach over $33 billion by 2023, and midlife women are the fastest-growing, highest-spending demographic in that space. Most importantly, these women stay with their coaches. They invest deeply because they are desperate for lasting transformation— body, mind, and spirit. So if you've been feeling that pull and that whisper that you're meant to do more, This is it. Now is the time to rise, to serve, and build a purpose-driven business that not only changes other women's lives but transforms your own in the process. Because when you help one woman heal, you help her family, her marriage, her faith, and her future. That's the ripple effect that we're creating with Fast to Faith. So join me, click the link to come watch this webinar. It might be the one thing that really moves the needle for you in this Next season. I can't wait to see you in there. Hi, I'm Dr. Tabatha, the Gutsy Gynecologist. I'm a triple board-certified OB-GYN and functional medicine physician. I've embraced the world of functional medicine and wellness through my own personal health journey, and I'm super excited to share my wisdom and unique perspective as it pertains to women's health. After caring for thousands of women, I've come to realize that your gut health determines your gyn health and your overall And it's a super gutsy thing for me to go against conventional gynecology practice to bring you the truth. No more Band-Aid medicine, ladies. We're talking root cause resolution on this show. So if you're struggling with hormone imbalance, weight gain, period issues, anxiety, insomnia, you name it, then you've come to the right place. And I want to be your gutsy gynecologist. So welcome.

Thank you.

Welcome back. This is going to be a really helpful episode because we are talking about anxiety and trouble sleeping and feeling like we can't focus our brains. Those are probably the 3 top complaints that I hear from women every single day in my practice who come to see me for hormones, thyroid, all the things. And I will tell you, it can sometimes be related to perimenopause and your shifting hormones. It can be related to your thyroid or to your gut. But my guest today is going to tie it all together and talk about how it really is stemming from what's going on in the brain, because our brain is our master control center. That is directing our information to all of our systems. She describes it like an air traffic control system. It's really awesome. And she's going to explain how we are developing this neuroinflammation, like inflammation in our nerves, in our brain, and in our spinal cord, in our nervous system. And that is affecting Our health and how we're functioning. So this is a really important conversation, and I really would love for you to stay tuned with us. Some of the words are, are really heavy and medical and long. Try not to worry about all of that. We are making it as digestible as possible for you, but you're going to get some really important information out of this episode today. So please stay with us. Rewind it if you have to. Listen to it a couple times. And share it with a girlfriend. Okay, it's so important that we're lifting each other up and we're helping each other out to get through this crazy thing called life. Because really, at the end of the day, we all have a busy life, and some of us seem to be able to navigate and get through it a little bit easier than other people based on Your physiology and what's happening in your body and your medical history, your health history, right? So many factors involved, but I know this is affecting every woman listening to some degree. And it just depends on what degree. That's the important part that we need to figure out. And my guest today, Dr. Romy Mushtaq, she actually has A busy brain quiz that's going to help you figure out, is this affecting your health and your life, or are these symptoms potentially just related to something else? So I'm excited to dive into this topic. She was on the podcast way back in 2021. I think it was episode 72, talking about this. And since then, Dr. Romy has done a ton more research and Has helped thousands of people and come up with a protocol to actually fix busy brain. So that is really exciting. That's very cool. We're going to talk about all of that. So let me sing her praises. Dr. Romy Mushtaq, I love her. She is a board-certified physician. She's a neurologist with over two decades of neurology, integrative medicine, and mindfulness training. She is an award-winning speaker for Fortune 500 companies, professional athletes, and global. Associations. Her Brain Shift programs improve mental and well-being and help to build a culture of wellness. Dr. Romie serves as the Chief Wellness Officer for Evolution Hospitality, where she has scaled a mindfulness and wellness program to over 7,000 employees. That's pretty amazing. Her expertise is featured in national media such as NPR, NBC, TED Talks, And Forbes. And her book, Busy Brain Cure, is out. It's coming out this week, so I'm really excited. The Busy Brain Cure: The 8-Week Plan to Find Focus, Tame Anxiety, and Sleep Again. So it's not just talking about busy brain, but it's a plan, an 8-week plan to reverse it and fix it. And that's what I'm really excited about. So let's jump in. Welcome back to the Gutsy Gynecologist Show, Dr. Romy.

Oh, Dr. Tabatha, it is great to be back here with you. A true full circle moment since we talked to each other with microphones in front of our faces. We've seen each other in person, but what a full circle moment. And I knew I had to come back and both celebrate with you and your community and thank you as well for being a doctor sister friend in the space that has been watching this mission take form.

Oh, I'm so proud of you, and I'm just so excited for all the work that you're doing for women because you— your heart is in it and you're doing it for all the right reasons, and you're a shining example. You know, so often we hear from these experts, but they really haven't been through it, and you unfortunately have been through it. So you have your pain-to-purpose story, and I really— I would love for you to remind my listeners Why did you get into this work of healing the brain and getting rid of that busy brain?

Yeah, Dr. Tabatha, thank you. You know, it's, it's a humbling moment when I even sit back and pause. I start to say that we all had a success mantra that was given to us somewhere in our lives. And, and it forms as we grow up. And I was raised by— I'm a daughter of immigrants and had one success mantra growing up. We have one daughter, you will become a doctor. And it was this legacy. My dad was a doctor. At that point, none of my mom, my grandmothers, my aunts had gone beyond college, let alone to graduate school. No one was a doctor. And I knew there was something that I was carrying forward for the conscious sisterhood. And I entered neurology at a time where less than 5% of the neurologists or brain doctors in the United States were women. And I was doing cutting-edge, not only seeing patients, but cutting-edge research on Women's hormones, how it affects the brain and epilepsy and migraines. And I wasn't taking care of myself. And I know this story has become almost overtold today, but it is still your story as a listener if you resonate with this. We didn't talk about mental health in the workplace or burnout in those days. I just thought I was in shame and guilt that nobody else seemed to be suffering. What was wrong with me? But Dr. Tabatha, you know, the thing that I remember the most was what a dark and lonely place I was in. And that's why I'm really here today, is you can hear about being burned out from life or your job or not being able to focus and having adult onset attention deficit disorder or anxiety. But the worst thing was, I remember walking through the hospital corridors before I left because I was going into life-saving surgery. And just feeling so alone. And do you know, not a single colleague asked if I was okay? They were gossiping because the nurses were telling me, my patients were. And so I think really the real reason why I researched this book, especially over the last 5 years, because now I'm a chief wellness officer serving over 7,000 employees, and I'm a keynote speaker across every industry that Burnout is real. Nobody wants to be told to eat berries and breathe. And every time I speak, there's somebody that's like, oh, I'm not alone. And that's really why I'm here today.

Wow. Thank you for sharing that. And that's why I connected with you originally when I first met you, because I myself went through that same physician burnout story and I felt inadequate. I felt like, oh my gosh, I just can't do all the things. I can't raise the kids and become a doctor and be a surgeon and be a wife. And I felt like a failure and I felt really alone. But recently, I was talking to my sister and my sister, she manages TGI Fridays. And, you know, she worked her butt off during the pandemic.

Yes.

Keep the restaurant going, trying to manage all of these people who, you know, don't live the same lives that a high professional would live. So my sister would say things like, well, I'm not a doctor. You know, people say, well, I'm not saving lives. It's not that stressful. But it is. When I look at what she was doing to her physiology and how it was affecting her life overall, you know, I could see it. And it wasn't until she reached that breaking point where she finally saw like, oh my gosh, I am burnt out and I need to leave. So, you know, it's so important that we take care of the people running the corporations, and all the work you're doing is so incredible. But this is for the everyday person listening.

Yes.

Isn't it?

Yes. Yeah. So I thank you for letting me say that. It is because we can live in a bubble in the integrative functional medicine world, and our listeners are used to listening to this. And I don't serve the person that has the luxury to work a 4-hour workweek. In the last eight years as a keynote speaker, as a chief wellness officer, I serve people that love their jobs and their families, and they pay a mortgage. And they are not only doctors, but they are restaurant and hotel managers like your sister. They are airline pilots. They are finance executives. They are tech startup employees. You know, everyone teachers and. If one more person was told to eat berries and breathe, they were going to run over you with their wearable tech. Like, literally, right?

And these are the people keeping our lives together.

Yes. And that— and they don't have maybe a luxury to buy hundreds of dollars of supplements every month. Or maybe some of the athletes I worked with were doing all of that. They had the perfect nutrition and fitness program and they were still struggling. So I knew there was something deeper going on, and that's what Sent me into the research because I was seeing this firsthand on the ground with my clients. And, you know, my, my heart goes out to your sister because I serve as a chief wellness officer in hospitality. And for your sister to reach a stage where she's managing a large restaurant like that, like very few women reach general manager leadership positions like that. And it hurts my heart. And that's why we're here to talk today beyond berries and breathing. Like the solutions we had for chronic stress management that we would talk about prior to the pandemic are no longer relevant. There is a new way our brains are wired in this post-pandemic world, and we need to understand what that is and heal it in the workplace. Because here in the United States and Canada, 78% of people work in an employed situation. And so that's who I go serve, the everyday person, whether they're working, you know, some of our hourly waged employees who are dedicated working at front desks of hotels or in a restaurant, all the way to the C-suite. Like, what is the solution?

Yeah. Oh my gosh, I love this. And I want you to explain to my listeners, because this is a really common scenario that I see women come to me and they feel like their hormones are out of whack or their gut is a hot mess and They have a busy brain. They have some major neurological stuff going on that they don't want to admit to. They don't want to hear about. So what is like the most common scenario and what aren't women realizing? Because what I see is you might be able to handle it emotionally, but your physiology is not handling it.

No, no. And, and so let's backtrack to this. It's in chapter 10 of my book, The Busy Brain Cure. I talk about the 3 evil cousins in the brain, denial, denial, projection, and resistance. And those are common defense mechanisms we women have because we are trying to do it all. The caregiving often falls on us, our jobs, everything. So I have nothing like you, Dr. Tabatha. We both come from this place of compassion. So this isn't one of judgment. But here's what my research showed in both men and women is we now wear stress as a badge of honor or just like, who isn't burned out? But there is a chronic pattern of neuroinflammation that happens in the brain. That's not only affecting the acute stress response, which everybody talks about, but also the chronic stress response that now goes from your limbic system to your hypothalamus and your, you know, entire brain and body circuitry. And what that creates is what I call a busy brain. And when chronic stress goes unchecked, we find high-performing people Have these 3 symptoms that they don't realize. They have difficulty focusing throughout the day, maybe even adult onset attention deficit disorder, severe anxiety all the way to panic attacks. So now you're needing caffeine or a stimulant, a prescribed stimulant to cope with your day, and that's just making the low-key anxiety even worse. And then you heard Dr. Tabatha and Dr. Romy on this amazing podcast today, and you're going to stand on self-care tonight and get someone to watch the kids, come clean the house, go to use the spa gift certificate someone gave you for last holidays that you didn't use.

Right.

And you're like, I can't shut down my workday. Let me have a glass of wine or 3. And if that doesn't work, you're using a prescription sleeping pill or Xanax or something like that, right? And then when that doesn't work, you have 72 warring conversations going on in your brain, like me going, oh, why didn't I put on some hair serum with this Florida frizzy hair before I got on the Interview with Dr. Tabatha on video today, right? Is like the most pressing concern robbing you of your sleep, or you wake up somewhere between 2 to 4 and you can't go back to bed. And if you're listening to Dr. Tabatha's podcast, you already have optimized your supplements and you're doing intermittent fasting and you're like, what is going on? And that's why I'm here. That's the busy brain, this triad of I can't focus to adult onset attention deficit disorder, anxiety, and insomnia. And they're all 3 one disease. And we have to stop the traditional neurology psychiatry paradigms that are putting people on stimulants all day long to survive their day and some kind of sedative at night so you can get some semblance of sleep.

Amen. Oh my goodness. I know that my ladies are like, wait, this is me because I hear it all the time. I wake up at 2 or 3. What is wrong with me?

Yes. And, and they're like, oh, yeah, yeah. I needed a venti latte this morning to get going with oat milk. And if the barista used whole milk, I'm like bitter with a capital B all day. And I'm telling you, Dr. Tabatha and Dr. Romy, it was coffee, but also there were 3 energy drinks that went along with it to get through my day. And we're not here judging. I'm just saying there's a better way. That's a sign you have a busy brain. And by the way, if you're like, oh my God, that's me, the busy brain test, a neuropsychology test that we developed and that is in the book. We will put it in the show notes here for Dr. Tabatha's podcast. It is all over my social media. You get to take it for free and get a brain score. So you actually know, do I have a busy brain or not? And how severe is it? And that is the same test we used while I was researching this book in 17,000 adults that took this test. And that's how I understood what is chronic stress doing to our brain in today's world.

Oh, wow. Okay. So that link is in the show notes. You must take the test after the podcast and find out just how Does everybody have a busy brain, or do some people—

No, no. What we, what we see is the test scores. And so if you have above a 30, you have neuroinflammation and a busy brain. Above 40, we know you're starting to have cognitive symptoms. Above 60, you probably have physical symptoms and you're heading towards burnout. Okay. We saw in our research data about 7% of people scored under a 30. So they were doing fine. It didn't mean they don't have stress in their lives. It means they don't have neuroinflammation. They don't have a busy brain. Whatever mechanisms they're doing for their mind, body, and spirit are working. As I go out into corporate America, we give this busy brain test as a part of my keynote lectures. We're finding the number is up to maybe 8% or so. So, and by the way, Dr. Tabatha, this goes along with what the World Health Organization and American Psychological Association is finding out, that 70 to 80% of people in the workplace are burned out. So my data goes along with everything else everyone else is finding.

Yes. And the solution is not to necessarily get a new job or, you know, break up with your boyfriend or your husband or move cities.

Yes. No, no. Because that's a dopamine high that we're seeking, right? Like shopping online for a sale. I'm using that example only because that's me. That gives me a dopamine high. For other people, it may be watching one TikTok after another, laughing, and you think you're Calming yourself down, you're actually doing mind-numbing activity and going on a dopamine high, and you hit a valley and you have to do that again. So when you think the solution is jumping from one hamster wheel to another, that ain't easy to do. I tried it in high-heeled shoes, and that just— that will fuel your burnout. You're on a temporary high of being in a new city or new people, a new job, and then, oh my God, there she is again. Busy brain is coming to haunt you. And you're like, but I thought if I got rid of that man or that woman in my life, everything would be fine. And It really wasn't it. It was, we need to heal the neuroinflammation in your brain that is affecting the rest of your body.

Do you see this eventually leading to depression in people and mood changes?

You know, so we looked at depression versus anxiety. And in this particular pattern of neuroinflammation that I discuss, where you have elevated interleukin-1 levels in the brain. So we know the Walter Cannon theory of acute stress, cortisol levels go up, you'll hear it on my last podcast with you talking. We know when that goes unchecked, your leukine levels raise and you disrupt your circadian rhythm in the brain, we found that this typically is leading to that triad of anxiety, difficulty focusing, attention deficit disorder, and insomnia. The pathology of depression and the brain and the gut slowing down is another entity. Sure, people can be depressed and have gut health issues as a part of burnout. That's not this population that's stuck on stimulants all day and sedatives all night.

Okay. That's a key point. And this goes hand in hand with so many of my perimenopausal women because their hormones are shifting. And I, I think that sometimes we overattribute perimenopause when it actually is neuroinflammation. And so, yes.

Okay. So let's, let's get started on this.

Yes.

Okay. So you read in chapter 1 how my travel boyfriend, Delta Airlines, gave me a behind-the-scenes tour of Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson Airport, and I got to see what it's like to be in the airport traffic control tower. And I use that analogy for your busy brain. Uh, you've listened to enough of Dr. Tabatha's podcast. You know about the mind-body connection. I just want to remind you that this limbic system and hypothalamus has like a global airspace. Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson Airport is connected to multiple continents. So if their airport shuts down, flights are delayed or canceled in Asia, in Europe, in North Africa, like everywhere. Same thing with neuroinflammation in your hypothalamus. It is connected like a global airspace to your memory, to your sleep, to your hormone systems, to your gut health, immune health. Everything gets affected when you're in the state of neuroinflammation. So that's the first thing to do. But here's the thing. That just makes me want to pull my hair out for what our poor female patients are going through in the system and why it was so important for me to come back to your podcast. We can't keep jumping onto PCOS and perimenopause.

Yeah.

We have to get your busy brain score and we have to reset the circadian rhythm and see what happens. But Dr. Tabatha, here's what I found in my research, that step 1 was actually resetting the circadian rhythm and sleep. That's in the solution Brain Shift. That's S. H is hormones. That's actually your thyroid gland.

Yeah.

So that when the circadian rhythm is off and you have a busy brain, it's now negatively impacting thyroid-stimulating hormone released from the pituitary and your thyroid gland. And we know in the latest medical literature that in the United States, 1 in 8 women has a Undiagnosed thyroid condition, either— I hate this term— subclinical hypothyroidism because, girl, they kept missing mine and my hair was falling out in chunks. Don't call it subclinical when I was ready to go bald and I had never had a regular menstrual cycle in my entire life. Yeah. And they missed thyroid by just getting TSH. And if you're a woman like myself with extra melanin in your skin, women of color, it's 1 in 4. And so start with a full thyroid panel. It is in chapter 16 of the book. It is in the resources. We even have a lab partner if your primary care doctor won't listen. But do us a favor, have them listen to this podcast episode and give them a copy of the book or tell them to get a copy of the book. All the medical resources are there. The hormones are broken down in chapters 6 and 7, as well as, you know, we go into the actual protocol and the labs in chapter 16 of the book. We say, you know, so we run this 8-week program, the Brain program in corporate America, Dr. Tabatha. Every single time, my team and I are blown away. Without fail, we save lives and save jobs. People like your sister who are ready to leave their jobs and think, I can't cut it anymore, it was because somebody missed their thyroid gland. Or maybe they've been following you and a lot of the other menopause experts that are out there, and they're like, okay, let me try a little progesterone or whatever the doctor gave me, but something is still off because thyroid got missed.

Absolutely. Oh my gosh. All day long, this is what I see and take care of over and over and over and over again.

This is why I love sending our clients.

Failing women. And not only are we failing them, we're harming them because they are getting missed.

And it is why— I mean, I want to share this story with you. So we opened this podcast, Dr. Tabatha, with me talking about being burned out and ending up in life-saving surgery. But in chapter four, it was really scary for me to share this part. But it is true. I was now divorced, and I was going to, which is unheard of my culture, go through the journey of getting pregnant with the partner I had at the time. And I was like happy to be a single mom. It was back in those days. It was like a bold move, and I was having infertility issues. And I look back now, and. I was doing all this research in women's hormones and epilepsy, and I was like, God, this thyroid thing sounds like me. And I'm a doctor, and I went to these male doctors and they were like, no, your thyroid's fine, because they didn't check for autoimmune.

Hmm.

And I don't look back anymore and say, what if? Because it wasn't until I had my own integrative medicine doctor after I had gone through surgery and started traveling the globe and realized Like, this was a specialty you could go to. And I said, by the way, could you check my thyroid? I've never had a regular menstrual cycle and by now I'm 39 years old. And lo and behold, it's Hashimoto's. We start the treatment with medication. But mind you, I want people to know I'm on thyroid meds.

Oh my.

And for the first time in my life, I had a regular menstrual cycle. And I just look back and I try not to say, what if? Because I realize the mission that I'm on today is Serving something so much bigger than myself. I could not have done it, you know, if I had young children like you do, Dr. Tabatha, right? And, um, that we are failing our women in this country.

Well, I appreciate you sharing your story and being authentic and true to that because there are people who need to hear your story because that's their story. There are women out there who are struggling right now and who That keep getting told, your thyroid is fine, because they check TSH and free T4. And that is not a full panel. That does not give the full picture.

And the second thing I want to say is you may have seen an integrative functional medicine doctor and it cost you a boatload 5, 6 years ago, but if busy brain is true for you today, we need to recheck your thyroid. Just because you were screened 6 years ago doesn't mean today there's not something different. And we actually have a lab partner that we're working with where the tests are more affordable. And in the United States, you can actually go to a LabCorp or a Quest and get these labs drawn. You know, I won't treat you. We will refer you to doctors like Dr. Tabatha, but we wanted to make this panel available so you could go to your doctor and be like, see, I told you so.

Absolutely. And our health is so dynamic. My mom wasn't diagnosed with Hashimoto's until she was in her 60s, you know. God bless mom. Oh, and antibodies aren't always there. Autoimmune conditions are not active when we're born. So they develop over time. So I think it is so important to get that checked because it's such a missing piece. But I love your airport analogy because I'm thinking of the brain and how it is directing all of our endocrine organs and all of our systems. And it is like air traffic control system. And sometimes our brain is telling our thyroid to shift how it's functioning because of the delay from Asia or from our gut.

Yes, exactly.

This idea, this picture of it. Thank you.

Thank you. And the medical term for this is— because, Dr. Tabatha, I have no life, and if I had time, I would go back and get my PhD in psychoneuroendocrine Neuroimmunoendocrinology—that is an actual field. Psycho, our mood and what we're thinking, how it affects neuro, the function and structure of our brain, how it affects endo hormone and immune system immuno. But what I want to know about hormones: this isn't just about perimenopause or your thyroid. There are 50 hormones in the brain and body that control everything: our immune system, our digestion, our hunger, our joint. joints, mobility. So nothing, no organ system in our body functions without these hormones. And that's why when you have a busy brain and you have those initial brain symptoms, some people are like, why do I have this lower back pain? Or my knee pain from a college sport injury got reactivated? Or why do I have indigestion? Or why do I have high blood pressure? That's why.

That's so good. I really want women to understand that. And To see the complexity of hormones. And that is another reason why you're probably not getting your answers from your primary care doc or your conventional OB-GYN. So you do have to be your own health advocate and search and look for, you know, podcasts like this and get educated. So absolutely, we're going to get the book and in it you lay out the Brain Shift Protocol, right? Like, let's talk a little bit about that. What is that?

I wasn't going to do just all science, Dr. Tabatha. I know. And I thank people for staying tuned.

We need a solution.

And I had time in the pandemic. So at the top, you gave me this gracious introduction. I'm back to being a chief wellness officer and traveling now globally for speaking engagements. I try to stay in the United States just for my sanity. But we were shut down in the pandemic, and I was rebuilding this business and doing this research and speaking virtually. And I had time to research. And my goal was, how could I find a protocol that would actually heal— heal, listen to what I'm saying— heal the neuroinflammation in your brain, cure a busy brain so you could find focus, tame anxiety, sleep again without going on a diet? You're welcome. You're welcome, right?

Yeah.

Nobody wants to go on a diet. Diet is a 4-letter curse word in our community and the global Brain Shift community, as well as— I will candidly tell you this, Dr. Tabatha, as a chief wellness or in corporate America, diet plans and cleanses are not inclusive.

No.

You see the top 5 to 10 diets and cleanses that are pushed in our holistic health community. You've had all these amazing experts on your podcast. I've tried every one of them. But I will tell you this, on the ground as a chief wellness officer, is we want to create company cultures where everybody feels like they have a seat at the table, whether you're vegan, paleo, Meat lover, carb lover, chocoholic, the I don't know what to eat camp, the intermittent faster. Like, everybody is welcome, right? And so I did it without a diet. So Brain Shift is an 8-week protocol, and chapters 10 through 17 in the book lay it all out for you step by step, week by week. Every week you have a microhabit known as a brain shift that you're going to do that actually moves the needle, and you retake the busy brain test at the end. And people find not only did their score improve, it's fallen below a 30 for most people, but they find that their brain and belly bloating went down so that they're down 2 to 3 pant and dress sizes, and they are sleeping through the night. And all of a sudden, they're productive and able to leave work at a reasonable hour and not take it home with you.

That sounds lovely. It's so good. And We cannot ignore the importance of sleep on our mental health and overall health. Literally, my sleep deprivation was what was destroying me. And my sister said to me last week, I am dreaming again, because she's finally sleeping. And so to me, that was a really good sign that she was on her way to healing that neuroinflammation. Am I right?

Yes and no. I want to be careful because people who don't remember their dreams, they're panicking right now. And you may be having dreams and you don't realize it until we do a sleep study and we see, yes, in fact, you did go to REM sleep. So if you just heard that part, I will tell you this as a sleep evangelist is go to bed with the intention of I'm going to remember my dreams in the morning and do that for about a week. And then also know from a neuropsychology point of view, your dreams are your immediate and short-term memory being relayed into intermediate memory, i.e., processing your emotions and memories of the day. So don't take them literal. Have me back again and we're going to talk about dreams and intuition and mindfulness of what happens in the last third. But the BrainSHIFT protocol— SHIFT is an acronym that stands for S is sleep, H is hormones, I markers of inflammation, F is how you use food to fuel yourself without going on a diet, and T is technology. So no matter where you are on the spectrum of busy brain, everybody has to start with resetting their circadian rhythm, and that is with sleep. So in chapter 11, we give you the 7-day sleep challenge. We break down using cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia, CBT-I, as well as researched supplements that we give you so that Immediately when people join the Brain Shift program, so step 1 is to take the Busy Brain Test and write down a goal. Step 2 is to do this 7-day sleep challenge and reset sleep. And we can talk about the supplements in a second if you want. We find that within 7 to 10 days, people immediately start feeling better. And the best part is when you're doing with the teams, because all of a sudden I'm hearing from the chief people officer, chief human resource officer, like, what's going on? You know, the people that were in our office complaining the most, they stopped complaining and people are happy. And all I keep hearing is brain shift and everybody is talking about what's underneath their beds. Like, what's happening? That was a brain shift, y'all. So yes, that is how powerful it is. And by the way, we've tested this protocol in over 1,000 executives. So before we went to publication, we tested it and fine-tuned it. So this is a protocol that I didn't just make up. We tested it.

Yeah, I love that so much. And I think once you start getting sleep, then you can feel like you have energy during the day, your memory is working better, like everything else starts to fall into place. It's like this beautiful domino effect, right?

It is. You're right. And that is the long-term effects. You know, short-term, in that first 7 to 14 days of doing the sleep challenge, my most important thing is just to reset your circadian rhythm. What starts to happen, we add Other steps to it that you'll read in the book, but I'm going to give them to you here. You know, we start with that, then we teach you how to do a brain dump and how to do digital detox and take a brain pause throughout the day and before you go to bed. So that is the whole, how do I restore the anxiety and sleep portion of the brain? And to us, that's the most critical part. And do you know what the best part is? By the time people reach week 4 to 5, And we start doing the nutrition biohacks, the stress eating has stopped. That is one of the key things. Your hunger leptin-ghrelin system is restored. So if somebody offers you a cupcake at a child's birthday party, you don't have— I don't know about any of your listeners, but me, in my days of busy brain and extreme stress, I could have sat and eaten 3 to 4 cupcakes.

Oh, yeah, for sure.

Yes. Or if nobody was looking, I really liked the frosting. I would have had the Frosting off.

Like, that's stress eating.

I'll eat a row of Oreos. Yes, right?

Not one or two.

No, no. Like, you opened it, let's be courteous and finish the whole sleeve. That's good manners, right?

Yeah, right.

That's stress eating. And comfort food— we allow and celebrate comfort food in our protocol, and I really want to delineate what the difference is. Comfort food is something that is anchoring you or creating a core memory of joy. So comfort foods are the foods that come from our family traditions. You read about my Nani's lamb biryani in the book, or it is from your state or country of origin, or tied to a religious holiday. Or we use this example, it's your child's birthday party. Like, I don't want you making a face in the corner going, oh, sugar is bad, this is gonna break my ketogenic diet when your child and all your child's friends are eating that birthday cake and having joy? Like, create a core memory of joy and enjoy the cake together, you know, is really my message. And that's comfort food. Stress eating is we are eating to medicate ourselves because our blood sugar has dropped, our salts are off, right? Aldosterone is also high, so we're wasting salt. So those that crave potato chips, or you're craving sweet and salty, whatever it is, there's no judgment. And That's what is magical that happens with sleep.

Yeah, I think it's so important for women to understand that when they are having this stress and this neuroinflammation, it is driving their hunger hormones. It's driving cravings. And the quickest way to get that into check and to really calm it down is to get control of your busy brain.

It is. And here's a fun fact. In your Community that I was researching, it didn't quite make it into the book, But please expand on it. This is your area of expertise. We know if you're getting— taking hormones for premenopause or menopausal symptoms, example, hot flash or disturbed sleep, if you don't calm your busy brain and if you don't restore your circadian rhythm and sleep through the night, those symptoms are going to be worse regardless of you're taking hormones or the new medication that's on the market for hot flashes.

Absolutely. And I say it time and time again, we're just going to keep Keep changing the doses. We're going to keep chasing the lab values, and you're not going to feel better. You know, you really do have to do this more deep root cause work. So important. So, oh my gosh, you are so wonderful. I'm just so excited for this actually tangible solution for women because, yay, look at— there it is. Show me again. The Busy Brain.

Yes. Busy Brain.

Plan to find focus, taming anxiety, sleep again. Thank you. Thank you for being a part of this journey.

It's a full circle moment coming back on the podcast. I had just started the research when I came to you last time. So it is amazing. Yeah. You know, Dr. Tabatha, I would say one thing to close because we talked about being in that place where you feel alone or you're suffering and your guests have found you on the podcast. I wish somebody had told me this when I was sitting in the surgeon's office and in that dark place. I just want you to know your brain is not broken, your mind is not a mess, and your spirit did not depart your soul. You are not alone in this moment. Dr. Tabatha and I are here for you and with you.

Absolutely. And our body wants to heal. It wants to be in homeostasis. We just need to remove the insult. We need to give it what it's asking For. And part— the first step is just to listen to your body and actually admit that, okay, I'm having trouble focusing. I'm feeling super anxious. I'm not able to have conversations and deal with things. I'm not sleeping. Like, get real with how you're feeling and what's going on and stop trying to cover it up with more Band-Aid medicine. I think that is step one. And step 2 is like, start understanding your body. You know, Dr. Romy's giving you the solution right here. It's so beautiful. I love that so much. And I love that you're not telling people to stop doing all the big crazy things in their life. Like, you went and did all the research and wrote a book about busy brain. So you're teaching us that we can still be highly productive and amazing and And fulfill all our dreams.

Be a parent. Yes. Work in your corporate career. Have a side hustle. Do that.

But, like, you don't have to reach burnout to accomplish these things.

Yes. Yes. Yes. Yeah. That we can put an end to the stress-success cycle and that success is sexy. And you can succeed in whatever that looks like for you personally and professionally, but without burning out. We just have to treat our busy brain. You know, from time to time when life changes happen, life stages and changes, a busy brain can return. You just come back to this 8-week protocol.

Yep. Yep. Oh, I love that so much. You're such a shining example. So thank you. I am wishing you all the success in the world. What you're doing is so important. So thank you so much.

Tabatha, thank you. And thank you to your community for listening and tuning in.

Yay! I hope you got some good golden nuggets out of that episode. That was so helpful for me. I was reminded that ADHD for adults is really just neuroinflammation because I'm seeing more and more women coming to me on Adderall or Ritalin or considering going on these medications. Because they're being newly diagnosed with attention deficit disorder. And Dr. Romy is here to tell you that that is neuroinflammation. That is a reversible thing that's happening, which makes total sense because we never had that diagnosis before. It's, you know, a new diagnosis since I've been to medical school. And really, we're just practicing more Band-Aid medicine yet again. We're trying to cover up the symptoms and get you to focus, but we're not really addressing the root cause of why you can't focus in the first place. So I would encourage you to give her 8-week plan a try, or at least take the test and see where you land, right? So, oh, I hope you got something out of that. And I just want want to say thank you for all of your comments and your DMs. They keep me going and it just fills my heart. I had a YouTube comment just yesterday, I think on Christmas or today. It's from Bargate. Thank you for sharing this story. I just started following you last night, Christmas Day. Oh, and I had a mastectomy in June and I'm trying to navigate all the drugs and procedures they've lobbed at me. By God's almighty grace, no chemo or radiation. I opted for mastectomy instead, and that was treatable. You have no idea what watching your videos have done to calm me, and I know that was something about you. Now there's validation! You're a believer too! Exclamation point. May you be richly blessed in all your endeavors. And surrounded by nothing but his love and grace. Oh my gosh, thank you so much. That is such a beautiful comment to leave, and it means so much to me that you're giving me your time and attention and you're finding value in it. That's why I'm doing this, and that's what I want to know, is, is it worth my time? So I'm just going keep pouring into you because that's what God told me to do. Use my wisdom, use my education, use my experience, and help women understand what the heck is going on in their bodies and, more importantly, what to do about it. So let me know if you felt like this episode was helpful for you. I love Dr. Romy, so I'm sure you're going to find it helpful. I know that I sure have. And let me know what else you want to hear about. Okay, I'm here for you. Take care.