Episode 48: Stop The Menopause Madness! with Dr. Kyrin Dunston

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 Functional Gynecologist. I'm a 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. 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. I want to be your functional gynecologist, so welcome. Hello ladies, welcome back to the Functional Gynecologist Welcome back to the podcast. I'm super excited today because I have Dr. Kiran Dunstan back with me again. She is one of my gynae sisters. She's a traditionally trained OB-GYN who found the world of functional medicine. She healed herself and she's never looked back. So now she— it's her mission to help other women with all the new tools in her toolbox that she has gained from becoming functionally trained and having a completely different outlook and mindset on health and well-being. So she is like me. She got out of the sick health system and actually is healing women and helping them reclaim their health. So it's amazing. But she's doing an even more amazing thing. So she has created something called the Stop the Menopause Madness Summit. It's an amazing 4 days of highly educated, informed women who have had their eyes opened, who know the truth, who want to help you reclaim your health from the inside out, the root cause, not just give you another pill for an ill or surgery for a symptom. Like, we're gonna really help you feel better. You're gonna get your energy back. You're gonna get rid of those pesky symptoms. You're gonna feel the way that you should feel. It was your birthright to feel beautiful and have brilliant health. That's what Dr. Kiran says. So I love her mission. And she and I are going to talk about why this summit is so important. She's going to tell you, like, Everything that it covers. You're going to learn so many golden nuggets today about how to reclaim your health. And I will warn you, like, our conversation gets truthful, it gets real. Like, we are woke, right? We see the truth. We've left conventional medicine. We know how to actually help women reclaim their health. And it's a hard conversation. We do things differently. The healthcare system is actually a sick care system and it's broken. And Dr. Kiran explains it beautifully. And we have some raw discussions and that's needed, right? The truth needs to come out. Things need to change because you need to get well. The way That doctors take care of women does not get you well. It is not helpful. So this is the real honest truth here. So please stick with me. Please listen all the way through and then click the link and sign up for this summer. It is free, like free information, amazing information, literal tools to tell you how to reclaim your health. Oh, like this is worth thousands of dollars right here. So I'm really glad you're here today. So sit back and enjoy my good friend, Dr. Kiran. And all right, bye, guys. Welcome back, Dr. Kiran, to the Functional Gynecologist Podcast.

Hey, Dr. Tab.

So great to be here.

I am so excited. You've been cooking up something great for the ladies. You've been working so hard. And today we're going to talk about that, right? We're going to talk about your summit.

Yes!

So excited about it.

Yeah. So I love the short story that you shared, what made you do this summit. I would love for you to tell my listeners how this all came about. You were at some party, you couldn't handle the ladies complaining anymore, and you're like, I'm taking action.

Yeah.

So, I mean, menopause blowing up my life and my health was a part of my story, and I kind of got through it. But I had gone to this social distance party, birthday party for a friend, and I just was so over them making fun of us at midlife that we're overweight and, you know, we have to be medicated with our wine and our chocolate and, well, it's all downhill and, well, you know, because I'm that age, so I'm tired. And it was just going on and on. And then I was so disgusted. And shortly after that, I had a conversation with a friend who's in this field. And she said, yeah, did you see The Menopause: The Musical? And I said, no, why? She said, Karen, she said, first off, they hand you a fan when you walk in. And then the entire show is making fun of menopause, making fun of our hot flashes and how we're tired and overweight and don't want to have sex. And we just need to be medicated with wine and chocolate and carbs. She said everyone was hysterically laughing and I was sitting there and tears were rolling down my face.

Oh.

And I just said, you know what? That's it. That is just it. This is madness and we need to stop this because menopause really should be the best time of your life. And if it's not, there's a reason why that needs to be addressed. And, you know, I know the problem is that women are not getting what they need in doctors' offices because, you know, I'm board-certified OB-GYN like you are and have been for over 2 decades, and we're not trained in how to manage this properly. So I have women all the time complaining to me that they leave the doctor's office with a fistful of prescriptions. Standard issue is birth control pill or some type of synthetic harmful hormone, Sleeping pill, antidepressant, and then various you know NSAIDs for pain or GERD medicines, whatever. And they they say I never really achieve health, and it never lets me makes me lose weight or regain energy, and I never get my sex drive back. And they just tell me it's normal for my age, and that is insanity. It is not normal for your age. I don't care if you're 50, 60, 70, 80. It's not normal. There are reasons why you have this. It's common. And so it seems like it's normal because there are a lot of people suffering with it. But that's just because in doctors' offices they're not getting the answers they need. And I just said, this is insanity and that's enough. Enough is enough. So I decided to do the summit so that we could educate some women and let them know what is possible. In menopause and at midlife.

Amen. You hit on so many important things. Like, it just breaks my heart to think how I used to practice, right? I mean, now that we know better, we do better. But honestly, conventional medicine fails women. And the important point you hit on is this: just because it's common doesn't mean it's normal. Just because everybody feels this way doesn't mean you have to, right? And It's a normal, beautiful transition that can be smooth and with just a few hiccups. It doesn't have to be a rollercoaster of misery and drama. I mean, it really is something that you can get control of. So I love that you have laid out this summit. You're going to talk about all things like, what is menopause and why are we having so many more symptoms than our grandmas did and our great-grandmas. You know, I mean, we didn't have these problems until this modern day and age. So lay out for me what you see are the most common things that women are struggling with during this perimenopausal and menopausal time.

Yeah, so number one is weight.

So 2/3 of us, once we hit 50, are overweight or obese, and after we hit 60, it's 3/4 of us. That's the majority of us. So we have weight problems.

And the weight loss industry is a multibillion-dollar industry that fails.

I mean, witness every diet program I ever did that basically treats the body like it's a bank account, that calories in minus calories out equals your weight, right? If you were taught that, guess what? It's a lie. So weight would be number one. Fatigue is number two. And weight and fatigue are intricately linked together.

And, you know, women, we think that—

well, we're taught this— that all these symptoms that we have are not related. But the truth is they're all related. They all come from the same root causes. So fatigue, and then coupled with that is difficulty sleeping. That's huge. And then there's the low sex drive. I would hear women all the time say, I don't care if I ever have sex again. And that was my story When I was 47 and perimenopause and I discovered functional medicine, that was my story. I literally didn't care. And all my patients were saying the same thing. And I was just saying, yeah, I understand.

Because we didn't—

we weren't taught any solutions for that. Not in medical school, not in residency. We just weren't taught it. So, um, we really didn't have a lot.

Um, you know, along with that can be vaginal dryness.

Difficulty with orgasm. Gastrointestinal problems are a less known symptom of menopause. So I had started in perimenopause having horrible irritable bowel and gastritis and GERD. I even— they even did an endoscopy on me. So all kinds of just bloating and gassy and just everything I ate, I'm like, what did I eat? I didn't eat any beans. I didn't eat anything crazy, anything spicy. The skin changes, you know, strange rashes that just show up out of nowhere. Brittle nails, dry skin, hair loss, or hair changing like to a straw-like quality. You know, migraines can start, brain fog. And then there's a mood problem. So irritability, depression, anxiety can go through the roof because as those hormones shift, You get a significant reduction in the progesterone anti-anxiety feel good sleep well happy hormone.

So the symptoms really run the gamut, all systems because it affects all systems.

And I know it was part of my story, and I see women all the time just say I don't feel like myself anymore. I don't feel comfortable in my own skin. I don't like the way I look in the mirror. Who is that looking at me in the mirror? I used to think like, who are you and what did you do with my Kiran? Yeah. So it's all over the place.

Oh my gosh. You're describing like every patient I see in the office all day long. It's just, it's so frustrating that this is what we've created with modern society. I mean, we've done so much good. You know, we can have full-time jobs and be at the top of the profession and vote And do all these amazing things that we should be allowed to do as humans, right? But then we're expected to take care of the family and run the household and do everything else on top of it. And then when we can't juggle it all anymore, it all comes crashing down, and it's just like, why can't I do what I used to do? What is happening? And I love that you have taken this. topic, and you've broken it down into every step and figured out the root cause because you hit on something super important— the gut. You know, I have so many women on heart acid blockers, like, for 10 years before they come see me. It's heartbreaking. The scopes, like you said, they're getting the scope on the top and through the bottom. They're just, you know, living in the bathroom. And really, it all is interconnected, like you said. That's the cool thing is when you start treating it, it all gets better, right? So even treating the gut can balance the hormones. So tell me a little bit about what exactly your summit talks about. Well, tell the ladies.

Yeah.

So we're covering All topics in menopause and midlife. So you perimenopausal women, there's plenty there for you too. And, you know, let's start with gut health. We have 2 people talking about gut health and, you know, what gut health is, why it's so key for your hormone balance, whether you have symptoms or not. Uh, you know, if you've been on a PPI, proton pump inhibitor, for 10 years, that's insanity. I bet your doctor never told you it's only approved for use, I think, for 2 weeks. And then when you cut off your stomach acid, you know, I get all passionate, want to get into the topic, right? But you'll hear even more on the summit. But you cut off your stomach acid, well, that's the 3rd stop in digestion, which you'll learn about on the summit. Um, and then your food's not being broken down, particularly your proteins. Well, then you're not getting enough protein to make your amino acids, to make your neurotransmitters, and make your So, you know, mainstream doctors aren't taught how these things interact. And so, you know, I don't blame them. They don't know better because I did the same thing for years. I didn't know better.

Yeah.

So anyway, we are covering gut health, why it's so central to your overall health and hormone balance, why it's the key to inflammation. If you have any inflammatory disorders like arthritis or autoimmune disease, you've got to get your gut Right. We have every hormone covered and then some. So I think we have someone talking about— we have, I think, 2 or 3 people talking about estrogen, but they each are adding something that's very important. Dr. Tabatha is talking about estrogen and why, you know, it's the Goldilocks hormone. You just need to hit the sweet spot with the right kind at the right amount. And so we really cover that. And then I have Dr. Lindsay Berkson, who's kind of a matron of functional medicine, who's written so many bestselling books. She's talking about why you shouldn't be afraid of estrogen. In fact, why you must have it even if you have breast cancer. And she cites some amazing studies. She's very involved with research around that. And we have Bioidentical hormone covered. A lot of people are confused. Well, what is it and how do you do it? We've got Dr. Felice Gersh talking about testosterone. She gives a master class. Literally, if your doctor doesn't know how to prescribe testosterone or what to do, all you need to do is take the transcript of this, talk to your doctor, and they will have a how-to. She teaches, you know, so she knows— she teaches other doctors. We have got someone talking about progesterone. We got somebody talking about cortisol, and many people talking about cortisol actually, because that's your stress hormone that mainstream medicine totally ignores. I know anyone listening, your doctor never talked to you about cortisol because I didn't know about it, and I didn't even know to check it in myself. And when I weighed 243 pounds and slept all the time and had no sex drive, anxiety, depression, irritable bowel. I was like a hot mess at 47. I didn't know to check my cortisol, but when I did, oh, surprise, surprise, it's like a flat line. Well, no wonder you feel like you're almost dead, 'cause you really almost are. You know, but so these are the kinds of things that women need to know that they're not gonna get in their doctor's office. We've got Elle Russ talking about thyroid, and you, I mean, we've got 34 doctors on the summit. 53 total speakers. And all of these doctors are trained in both conventional and holistic medicine, whether it's integrative or functional, something— they have some dual training. And, but I'm telling you, some of the people who are the most knowledgeable about how to heal the body are people who had health problems like Elle Russ and Palmer Coppola, who couldn't get the answers in their doctor's office. And they didn't know about functional medicine, so they just went about trying to figure it out themselves and became literally experts. El Russ knows more about thyroid. I would put her up against any functional medicine doctor. It's amazing. She taught me some things. So she's in it with talking about thyroid. We have someone talking about insulin and why it's really the Sneaky thing. Oh yeah, that's Rita Marie Loscalzo, Dr. Rita Marie. She goes— runs down on insulin and why it's kind of the silent thing that you don't know. Like, if you have diabetes, you know you got an insulin problem, but everybody else, clueless.

Yes.

So she tells you the tests to get and what to do if they're abnormal and what diet to eat. Speaking of diet, we have Dr. Mindy Pelz, and she's talking about various dietary choices that you could make that really can improve your health. Intermittent fasting, keto, she really runs it down. And then we have Cynthia Thurlow, whose TED Talk I think now has 7 million views on intermittent fasting. And she talks intermittent fasting too. She talks the science and what's behind it and how it's now used in various prescriptive capacities, or should be. Let me tell you, your mainstream doctor is not going to write you a prescription for intermittent fasting. But if you do it wrong, you can cause a lot of damage and it's not right for everyone. So like, I have a patient I was talking to earlier who came to me and she's like, I'm doing intermittent fasting, but I feel like crap and I don't know what I'm doing wrong. And, you know, she had a lot of issues, reasons why it was not right for her. So you need to do this in the right way at the right time. We have Rachel Varga, who's an advanced aesthetic nurse who knows all about skin beauty, and she is going to tell you how to get that. Her skin is gorgeous. Oh my gosh, isn't it?

Yeah.

And she tells you how to get her skin. We have Rachel Pontillo. She's an esthetician who has worked to educate people on holistic treatments, like what's healthy in skincare products, what's not. She teaches people natural things they can make at home for their skin, and her skin's beautiful too. We have the spa doctor, Dr. Trevor Cates, going in more about what your skin problems mean about what's going on in the inside. We have Dr. Tracy Thomas talking about— oh my gosh, this woman, she's a psychologist. And she's like next-level psychologist, really helping you drill down to what's keeping you stuck. Because we are giving you like so much tools at the summit that this is a literal how to make midlife fabulous. And, uh, but there's some people who aren't gonna show up, Dr. Tabatha, right?

No.

And there's some people gonna show up and they're not gonna make any changes. Dr. Tracy's there to save the day and help you understand that and move forward with that. So, um, oh my gosh.

That's incredible.

It is a smorgasbord of information, inspiration, tools. There's so many ahas. I mean, I've been in medicine over 20 years and I learned so much from doing this summit. Like, I thought I knew everything about that. No. And just things I was surprised about, things I thought that I was reeducated on. And so in plain English that you can understand it, ladies.

Yes.

So important. So not doctor-ese. And if they did start with the doctor-ese, I was like, excuse me. I know people are wondering right now, what do you mean? Well, explain that in plain English. So it's very easy. And then, you know, we've got You can watch the videos online, but we also have an audiobook and transcripts and we have summary notes. We've got all kinds of things to support everybody in getting optimally healthy.

You know, that is such a beautiful gift that you have created for this world. Oh my gosh. Like every woman honestly needs to have this, right? You're either in it currently or you're going to be going through it. And if you're already menopausal, it's never too late. There's always time to make changes and reclaim your health. That's what I try to get through to people, you know? It's like, it's never too late. So you are literally giving them all of the tools. It's so impressive. Like, I— and I think we need to keep learning and keep looking for answers, right? Oh, that's so beautiful. So you hit on some good things. I love that we're going to deal With like the mental aspect of it, the things that get in our way, the false beliefs we have in our head, you know, and get back to loving ourselves. I think it's so important to, you know, set some boundaries, love ourselves, and then give ourselves permission to make these changes because I think so many women, like you said, they've tried the diets and they didn't work. So why should I try another one? And I just want women to know, like, we weren't made to have complaints and be miserable. We were made to thrive and feel beautiful, right? So there is a diet that's made for you. You have to figure it out. And it's not about restriction or, you know, counting calories, like you said. It's going to be somewhere in between of being intuitive. Maybe you have food sensitivities. I know you're passionate about that. Like, what is upsetting your gut? Let's figure this out because it affects so much.

Right.

When you were talking about the gut imbalances and being on the acid blockers messing up your hormones, like, I was on an antidepressant because my gut was so messed up. I was not making the serotonin I needed to feel good and function. And, you know, it's sad that now we gynecologists are told to prescribe antidepressants for menopausal symptoms. I mean, that's a clear indicator right there that it's all connected, and they're still not connecting the dots, right? Like, hello, ding ding ding.

You know, I got— I was really upset too because I forget what I was looking for online, but I I think I heard about some website that sold some products that help menopausal women, so I wanted to check it out. So I went to their website and it's all these female OB-GYNs. I was like, awesome. And then they're talking about these supplements you can buy and these pretty bottles, and their copy was on point. And then I look, well, what's in it? That's what I wanted to see. It was Prozac. My gosh, in a pretty bottle to look like a natural supplement. So they had gotten together and marketed it with make it look all holistic and green, right? And it was freaking Prozac antidepressant SSRI in this bottle. I that was another thing, and and you know these things would happen, and I'd just be like that's insanity. So now we don't really want to take the time to figure out what's really wrong or with you or go get the education to understand. How these hormones work together, how to properly test them, and how to properly treat them. So we're just going to give you some drugs, but we're going to make you think you're getting something natural because most women aren't honestly going to read the ingredient list, and they're going to think they're just taking that. And it had some cute name; I don't remember, like Ruby or something like that. You know, so they're oh, I'm going to take this supplement from Ruby, and it's Prozac. Angry!

Oh my goodness!

It makes me angry too, Dr. Tab. I am so angry, and that's why I just said, you know, stop this madness. And you know, there was something else. So mood disorders are very common. We have Dr. Romy Mushtaq talking about preserving your memory, and we've got people talking about depression and holistic. stick treatment of that. And, you know, women need to know that you're just not getting the answers. You're not going to see a commercial on when you're watching the 6 PM news. I don't even know what time the news comes on because I don't watch it.

Me neither.

So I was about to go like, what time does the news come on? 5, 7, I don't know, 6 PM news. Let's say that you're not going to be sitting there and see an ad for someone who comes on and says, Did you know that you could heal your anxiety naturally by balancing your hormones and healing your gut? Here's all the information you need, or sign up for this course. Like all of us who teach this, you're not going to see that on the 5 o'clock news. What you're going to see is this medication, right? And there's going to be a lady out in the park on a Saturday playing Frisbee with her dog, and they're going to tell you how, you know, 5 out of 10 people had marked improvement in their resistant depression and may cause death, disability, right? It's going— it could kill you. And then you're going to go ask your doctor about it and your doctor is not going to say, hey, did you know that this antidepressant is actually in the end going to deplete your serotonin and make you more depressed? And that in clinical trials before it was approved by the FDA, It was shown to perform no better than placebo. Your doctor's not gonna tell you that. Would you? And your doctor's not gonna say, hey, why don't we look at the root causes of why you have this gut dysfunction? Maybe let's do a functional stool test, not the kind he has in his office, but a functional one. Hey, maybe let's look at your food sensitivities. If you ask him about it, he's gonna say, I don't believe in that, as if it were a religion. When it's science. It's not going to say, oh, did you know that you start losing your stomach acid at the age of 30, and by the time you're 70, you have none? So that means you're not breaking your food down properly, and that's the reason you have reflux and GERD. Not that you have too much acid, it's that you have too little. And we'll explain more about that on the summit. You know, they're not going to say that. So you go to your doctor, they give you SSRI, you take it for a while, Placebo effect is at work, and maybe it helps you, maybe it doesn't. And then you come back and you go, "Yeah, maybe it's helped me a little." I don't really think. Okay, let's let's increase the dose, and then another few months. Let's try a different one. Another few months. Let's add a different one. Oh, you know, are you not sleeping well? Let's give you a sleeping. It's guess medicine. It's guess. It's oh, what's your symptom? What do I need to give you? Do do do do do do do do do do. Can't sleep? Ambien. It's only approved for short-term use. I have a friend— I don't treat my friends— so her doctor's had her on Ambien for years. And do you know how she takes it every night before she goes to bed? With her glass of white wine.

Right, which is super dangerous.

Super dangerous.

Oh my gosh.

But I'm not the medical police, and I know I'm getting on a rant, but It is. It's infuriating. It's maddening because with all my very expensive, very long medical education and all my years in OB-GYN, I couldn't figure out what was wrong with me. I was obese. I had chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, depression, anxiety, no sex drive. All I was like a hot mess on two legs, and I didn't know what to do. And so what makes me angry is that. I feel like I was sold a bill of goods. And, you know, it's funny because I grew up in Manhattan and my mom was— my sister and I used to call her— her name is Gerri. We used to call her Granola Gerri because she was the one who would make her own yogurt and make veggie burgers. And when we were sick, she wouldn't take us to the doctor. She would give us goldenseal and echinacea and make us sweat it out. And we thought she was crazy. And, you know, she was best friends with Gary Null, who's kind of this famous naturopath. I don't know if he's a naturopath, what his credentialing is, but he owned a health food store not far from our house. So we were all— she was dragging us there and talking to Gary about the latest supplement and this, that, the other. So then I decided to go to medical school, and then I came back and I told her, Mother, we heal with deal. Like, I totally poo-pooed what she did, right? And I was like, I know better, I've been to medical school. And then I go through all these years, and, and I loved it, and I delivered babies and did hysterectomies, and I was really good at it. And then my own health started failing, and I tried to apply all tools I had learned, and I just had a, like, a medicine chest in my bathroom closet Oh, this is bothering me. Take this pill. That's bothering me. Oh, I have this. I mean, literally, I had a whole pharmacy, but nothing I did ever made me pop out of bed and go, I feel great.

Exactly. You're just adding more symptoms. Every time you add a pill, you add a new symptom. That's the frustrating part. And these are keeping you From dying. They're keeping you from, you know, being completely miserable per se, but they're not getting you well. They're not getting you where you need to be. So, oh my gosh, such an amazing story. And so did you like eat crow and go back to your mom and tell her she was right?

You know, she never said to me, I told you so. God bless her. You know, she never said that, but I just knew that, you know, what she had initially tried to instill in me was the truth. That's finally what I came back to. But, you know, as a parent, you lose authority at some point. You know, I think when your kids turn 16, you know, when I turned 16, my mom didn't know anything. There's nothing really she could tell me.

Mm-hmm.

And, and so it took me many years and my own health problems to realize, wow, she She was right. And, um, and so is Gary Null, and so is all these other people who have been saying this for years, for decades.

Yes. And I— so it kills me that they're still looked at like it's some woo-woo thing, you know? I mean, it is all science-based. It is physiology. It's the chemistry in our body. It's like so simple. I don't understand why it's not accepted. Well, I mean, I do. That's a whole nother discussion, but it's very frustrating. I mean, I was honestly just sharing my story recently about how 3 or 4 years ago I was having crazy periods. They were so heavy. You know, I tried to go back on a birth control pill, but I got horrible migraines. So, you know, I'm a gynecologist in a gynecologist's office. Everybody's like, oh, you just need an IUD. Okay, I get the IUD. I wanted to jump out of the window, I was so depressed. I was like, this IUD has to come out. And no one believed me. Like, my partners thought I was crazy. I was like, no, you guys, like, it's really the IUD. I took it out myself. Like, honestly, I was that desperate. And I felt better 2 days later. So I tried the lower dose IUD, same effect. So I go, I find a gynecologist, and I discuss ablation, right? Because that's the next step. And I've had 2 C-sections. She's like, well, I think your uterus is too thin on the front side. I might have to do a laparoscopy. I'm like, no, you're not going in my belly to make my periods better. Thank God that happened because I didn't have it done. And she's like, well, you can have a vaginal Hyst if it doesn't work. And I was like, timeout. I'm over this right now. Like, That was a huge clarifying moment that everywhere I turned, people were just like, cover up the symptoms, cut it out, burn it, you know? And here I was doing the same thing without thinking, what is the root cause of why my periods got so heavy and crazy? Like, I've never had period issues. What's going on? And at this time, I'm studying functional medicine and I'm like, duh. I am an obstetrician working 100 hours a week. I'm sleep deprived. I'm stressed to the max. I'm worried about babies living and dying and moms having seizures and, you know, like running a family, the whole bit. So I did functional medicine on myself and I stopped hemorrhaging. It was amazing.

Amazing. Yeah, it was me too at 47. I had had the, the Norplant, the Depo shots, like you name it.

I, I— the Depo is like cruel. I cannot believe we talk women into this. And I will tell you something sad. I did residency in Lansing, Michigan, which is, you know, has a high Black population. I had an attending told me that all Black women should get the Depo shot, and I was like Why?

What?

And they gain weight, they get depressed. I mean, it's awful. You know, I worked at the health department. We were serving low-income people, and that was their solution, was that's their least chance of getting pregnant, give them. And I just thought, there's so many things wrong with this situation right now. Like, I don't even know how to unpack it. The race issue, the The lack of consent and information. So I just want women to know, like, just because your doctor says something's good or recommends it doesn't mean you should take that advice, right, Dr. Kiran? Like, it's sad. I don't want to bash on my colleagues. I have respect, but there's more out there than conventional medicine is offering. And If they're hurting women, in a lot of cases, I hurt women. I can honestly say that, and I pray for forgiveness because I didn't know better.

Yeah, I I said on I think one of the pod summit interviews, I made an apology to every uterus I ever took out. Oh, I feel the same way.

Right?

A lot of them needed to come out. Okay, there were some right.

20-centimeter fibroids, right?

No, it's no fast to the bowel. You know, some of them did, but a lot of them, they were just responding to the imbalanced hormones. They're an innocent bystander. When you take the uterus out, sure, you stop the symptom of the bleeding, but you don't fix the hormone imbalance. So guess what? It's screwing up all your other cells. You just don't know it yet until you get breast cancer.

Right.

Or, you know, you get an autoimmune disease, or you get another type of cancer, or you get some other horrible thing. So it's really taking away your 5th vital sign, which is your period. And, you know, my next summit's going to be Stop the Hysterectomy Madness.

Perfect.

I'm all over that because we have got to stop removing organs when they don't— we don't like what they're doing. We do the same thing to gallbladders too. These women You're in your 40s and all of a sudden your gallbladder is not functioning anymore. Ding, ding, ding. We need to clean up your gut and your liver through your diet. It's not your gallbladder. He's trying, right? The poor bastard.

Nobody's helping him. And it's so true. It's just— but I agree with the gallbladders, but more, I'm so passionate about what I think is somewhat of a corporate assault on our bodies. C-section and hysterectomy are the most common surgeries performed. I don't have the exact numbers in my head right now.

Right.

But it's big medicine, it's big money, and it's not helping us. It's hurting our babies because when they're delivered by C-section, they don't get inoculated in the microbiome. And the hysterectomy is aren't fixing the problem. But we've been conditioned to believe that a C-section is better and safer.

It's not.

And that a hysterectomy is what we need. I used to have women come in and say, it's time for my hysterectomy. And I'm like, what are you talking about? What do you— what time is that on your clock? I don't have that time. And now I really don't have that time on my clock. Why is it your time? Well, my mother had one when she was my age, so—

Mm-hmm.

And my sister had one, so I need one.

Yep.

I had a heavy period last month. I had to use a pad and a tampon. It's time for a hysterectomy. When did that become the solution? So, you know, it's, it's really a distorted way that we've started thinking about our health and our bodies because, you know, you and I both were at this conference this weekend where it was actually beautifully laid out by one of the presenters that All of this started, the medicalization of the pharmaceutical industry, with I think it was Rockefeller, who was the oil magnate, and how he could take petroleum products to make medications and they could sell them, the byproducts. And so that's how the pharmaceutical industry started. It wasn't out of a need for healthcare, and it just kind of progressed and became the way. And then there became corporate medicine attached to your job and insurance that paid for it. And so basically. Basically, you have this whole system that evolved out of capitalism. It didn't evolve out of your health. And so everybody listening, please pay attention. It's kind of your health or your life. And so you need to listen and realize and wake up. I love doctors. I am one. We are all very well-intentioned people. We're pretty smart people, and we go into this field for the right reasons. But, um, we then are systematically, in my opinion, brainwashed, and in other people's opinions, into a culture of pill for every ill and a surgery for every symptom. And you can choose something better for your life. You don't have to get old. Like Dr. Tabatha said, 60% of us are overweight or That makes it, quote unquote, normal to be overweight or obese. Do you want that normal? I don't want that normal.

No.

So, you can choose optimal instead and say, no, I want optimal health. I don't wanna be overweight or obese. I don't wanna be tired. I don't wanna have to medicate myself at the end of every day with a glass of red wine 'cause I'm so stressed out and my nerves feel like a raw nerve sticking out. And I'm, you know, I don't want that. You can choose something different, but it does require you to take action and get informed and like attend the summit. Even if you're not in menopause, like you're perimenopause, I think you're gonna learn something from here. If you have PCOS, if you have heavy painful periods, like whatever your situation, there's so much education here, knowledge, tools, and support. So it's really amazing. Yeah.

Or if you feel fine and you never want to feel that way because it's a lifestyle, right? Like, you cannot go wrong. Doing these things will not put you on a bad path.

It can only improve your life and your health.

So I'm so excited for this summit. I just can't even wait. So everyone listening has got to watch this summit.

It is November 2 through the 6th, correct?

Yep.

Yes, I will have the links in my show notes because you are gonna change women's lives, Dr. Kiran. This is such important work that you're doing, and I just want to thank you for speaking your truth and my truth.

Like, we can't get it out there enough. I just want to go to a hilltop and scream it, right?

We are. This is our hilltop. The Stop the Menopause Madness Summit, and we're doing it together. Um, I need to count up the OB-GYNs in the summit. There are a lot of— there might be 10 of us, um, which is really powerful. And I'm really on a mission to reeducate all OB-GYNs.

And I think there's something to it because we go into medicine to care for women. We do want to make a difference and actually improve women's lives. And not just keep them in the sick care system, right? We want women to thrive and be healthy.

And then, like you said, we get brainwashed into this other system.

And so we have to free our sisters.

Free the uterus and free, free our sisters.

Absolutely.

You know, you deserve to have brilliant health. It really is your birthright, and you just need to get on the right path To find it. And the greatest thing about the summit is that it's free.

Okay, so where can other people find you and watch you as well?

On the summit. I'm telling you, this is like, uh, the masterpiece. This is really where you're gonna get the best of me, the best of Dr. Tabatha, and the best of all these people. That's where I would direct everyone.

Yeah.

No point going to my website. I don't have all this on my website. You know, this is where you want to be. It's so— it's, it's really, it's tremendous.

Yes, don't miss it. So I will have those links on my social media. You guys follow me at Dr. Tabatha. Follow Dr. Kieran Dunston. She says don't bother, but she's amazing. She has a, a podcast, Her Brilliant Health, and We need to get the word out, so definitely check her out. Thank you so much, Dr. Kiran.

Thank you, Dr. Tabatha. It's been such a pleasure to be here. Take care.