The Menopause Method

Welcome to the Balanced Body Podcast, where Sherri Griggs, owner of Balanced Body Health and Wellness in Omaha, talks to us about health, wellness, and balancing hormones.

Broadcasting From the business capital of the world, this is the Podcast Business News Network. Welcome back to the show. We are so excited to have Sherri Griggs with us. Yeah, from Omaha, Nebraska. It's all about balancedbodymedical.com. That's right, that's the website as well. We're going to talk to her today more about the work she's doing and of course how she can help heal you. And again, the only provider to offer the Menopause Method in Nebraska and so much more. We have a lot to talk about, all the work that she can do to really help you all, whether it's incontinence, heart disease, osteoporosis, dementia. There's so many things that she could do here. So welcome back. How are you today?

I'm doing great. How are you today, Jill?

I'm doing well, thanks so much. Excited to have you back here and to talk more about all that you offer. So let's start off by telling us a little bit about yourself.

Okay, well, I am an advanced practice registered nurse, so a nurse practitioner. I have been taking the time to study a specialty and that is hormone imbalance and metabolic imbalance. So it really is a specialty. It's very, very complicated. It's not just as simple as, well, here, we'll just give you some hormones and you'll be well. So I've taken a lot of time in addition to the training that I received from my nurse practitioner. So that I can help people out who have found that their regular provider just doesn't seem to be helping them with what they need.

Amazing. And by the way, just a little bit of your background for those new-time listeners, would you mind just sharing a little bit about what brought you into this? And I know we, you know, you have a journey of your own that you've overcome if you want to share.

Yeah, so actually I had a hysterectomy at a young age. I was 36, and I made them take my ovaries. Now they don't like to take the ovaries. They want to leave them, but I had read 50% of the time they stop working, and I had a friend that was 20 years older than me who had not taken— they did not take the ovaries, and she worried a lot about ovarian deopter. I was able to convince my doctor to do it with a threat. If he wouldn't, I'd find someone who would. And from there, I— you know, I can't quite tell you why, but I started doing a lot of research and I myself found a practitioner in 2005 that did bioidentical hormones. Now, that was unheard of in Omaha, Nebraska. She was the only practitioner that did it. We actually had to get our compounds out of Texas because nobody here compounded. Now we have several compounding pharmacies here, but back then we didn't. And I was very happy with the results. I felt great. I can honestly tell you I never had any symptoms. I never had hot flashes, night sweats, any issues with— With vaginal dryness, painful sex, incontinence. It was all wonderful. And as we started to learn more, and I actually taught my gynecologist about it, I was then able— I switched over myself to pellets and found that that was a very easy thing to do, and I didn't have to work with it a lot. And I was a very easy patient because without ovaries, There was no fluctuation of my own natural hormones, but I felt great. My weight was not a considerable— I had a little bit of a gain like most women do after a hysterectomy and they don't have any more hormones, but once I got everything optimized, I didn't have an issue. So I have actually been Although not providing, I've actually been studying and learning about bioidentical hormones since 2005.

Amazing work that you do and really so super insightful. And again, it's balancedbodymedical.com. Just want to point out that's your website. Is that the best way people can get a hold of you?

Absolutely. They can go to the website, they can get on there, schedule a 15-minute free phone consultation, and we'll just— I'll tell you how I work, what I'm doing. You can tell Tell me a little bit about yourself. And then, you don't have to do that. You can go ahead and schedule an appointment, a 60-minute in-person consultation that is $150. And you'll leave with nuggets even during that consultation. We'll do an InBody, look at your muscle-fat ratio. At least gives us a baseline. I'll talk about the packages that I have. What I do is I do packages. So the 6-month package, it's one fee, covers all your visits, all your labs, all of your hormones, even credit for some supplements because we will want to do some supplementation, not just throw some hormones in your body. And then after your 6 months is up, obviously by then you should be feeling amazing— well before that time, but much better than we do a monthly membership. And that monthly membership will cover a couple visits a year, follow-up lab work, and your hormones.

Beautiful. All right, well, what else did you want to kind of dive down the path today?

Well, you know, lately I've talked to a lot of people, and I knew at some point this would happen, but people with autoimmunity, and that's a— that's a Yeah. Big, big deal. We— there is so much we can do for people with autoimmunity that's preventative, that's getting that inflammation or putting that fire out, as it's called. One gal I talked to, she was going someplace else. She was referred to me from another medical provider, and she's autoimmune, and all they did for her was give her A little thyroid medicine and a testosterone shot every 2 weeks. Well, it's supposed to be every week. I'm not sure why every 2 weeks. He had his theory on that. But we weren't addressing what else was going on with her. Is her body still fighting— you know, autoimmunity is when our own immune system attacks something in our body. Hers is it attacks the thyroid organ. So is it still attacking that thyroid? Is that inflammation high? Because if it is, we need to get that down. Because I've made the comment, I don't want to put hormones in a toxic body. So she's coming to me because she doesn't feel any better and she doesn't feel any different. And that's what happens if you don't address the other things that are going on in the body.

Right?

We need to look at what else is going on with you as a person, what your symptoms are, where you're at, and prevent you from getting worse or, in this case, another autoimmune disease.

Yeah. Can I just ask you, you mentioned, you know, autoimmunity. How do you get diagnosed with an autoimmune disease? Is there a certain Is there a specialist we see? Is there certain tests that you could run or how does it work? How do you know if you have an autoimmune disorder? Just curious.

Yes. Well, generally your provider will diagnose you with this gal, low thyroid, right? But there's a test. That's fine, you have low thyroid, but what are your thyroid antibodies? Is this— and the majority of the time it's caused by something called Hashimoto's thyroiditis. And that's diagnosed by checking the antibodies. The other lady I talked to today has celiac. Celiac is an autoimmune disease. But what we tend to do in our medical profession is treat the symptom. So the symptom is what we treat, but we don't treat the root cause.

Uh-huh.

And that is, again, so autoimmunity You'll be diagnosed. Your doctor will diagnose you, but whether they help you out with the root cause or they just treat the symptom is up in the air. It depends on the provider. Both of these gals, they were only treating the symptoms, but not the cause. And if we don't treat that cause, then we're in line for another autoimmune disease. Autoimmune diseases happen because we have the genetics for it, we are exposed to some type of toxin, and we're exposed to some type of stressor. So think of it like a weak link in a chain. So for instance, my grandmother had rheumatoid arthritis. That's an autoimmune disease. That means I have the genetics. That doesn't mean I will get rheumatoid.

Right.

That may not be the link that is weak in my chain. One of my weak links, I got Hashimoto's thyroiditis. I don't have rheumatoid. We checked for that.

And how do you check for that? Is it a blood test or— Yeah.

Okay.

Interesting.

So some of them are blood tests.

Okay.

Such as rheumatoid arthritis, for Hashimoto's. The list is huge of the autoimmune diseases. It will shock you how many things out there are autoimmune. And if we don't take care of the cause— again, we can't do anything with the genetics. And I will tell people, just because you have the genetics doesn't mean you have to get an autoimmune disease. It's not a guarantee. I, in fact, can tell you every single stressor that caused every single one of my autoimmune diseases. Some of those people have names. I won't name them, but it was something that happened in my life. My Hashimoto's was something as simple as I did a workout challenge with other people in the office. And the trainer When I told them I hurt, I was sore, they said, drink more water. So I drank more water. They said, get more sleep. So I got more sleep and I just hurt so bad. What was happening is I wasn't getting enough calories. I was getting thin and I was getting fit very quickly, but not enough calories.

Yup.

And so my body was eating itself and it was a stressor and shortly after that, I had the Hashimoto's.

My goodness.

Wow.

Well, thank you for sharing that journey. I know it's not an easy one, and it just can help people also empathize the fact that you're here helping people and you can really empathize with them because you've been through your own pain, your own share of this, you know, of having these symptoms and the pain of it. So I just, just want to bring that up. So I commend you on your story, and thank you for sharing that with us. Thank you.

You're welcome. So some of these, like I said, are simple blood tests.

Mm-hmm.

And others are— for instance, one of them is Crohn's disease. Crohn's disease, you have symptoms and then they do a colonoscopy and they see that you have Crohn's disease. Vasculitis, temporal arteritis, celiac I brought up. Lupus, type 1 diabetes. Type 1 diabetes, the one that most people associate with children, is an autoimmune disease. People can get that as adults.

Really?

A lot of people, as they get older, are misdiagnosed as a type 2, which is the type of diabetes that you think of adults. You're overweight, you don't eat right, you don't exercise, and you get diabetes. But what happens when you go to the doctor And you do exercise and you eat good and your weight is good and the doctor says, you have diabetes.

Mm-hmm.

And they say, you'll take this medication because this is what everybody your age gets. But that's not necessarily true. We have so many people misdiagnosed as a Type 2 when they are a Type 1 that You can go to JDRF and go online and they have a very inexpensive test you can check— have checked. Your doctor can check your insulin level. If it's low, then other tests to see if that's really what you have. And again, it's antibodies, checking for the antibodies and another thing they call a glucose tolerance test.

Um.

There's another company out there that I met through one of the programs I went to that'll do it for free. Because it's such an issue of people being misdiagnosed. So in my practice, I will check everyone that comes in. You will get a hemoglobin A1c, which looks at the average of your blood sugar over the last 3 months. You'll get an insulin— you'll get your insulin level checked. So if you're low, we'll know that you might be On the verge of becoming a type 1, because it's autoimmune. It doesn't just happen overnight. All of these autoimmune things take time, and if we catch them early enough, sometimes we can prevent them. Type 1 diabetes, they actually have a new medication that can prevent you from needing insulin for up to 3 years, and a lot can happen in 3 years and be discovered in 3 years.

Yeah.

Oh, well, we have to take a quick commercial break here if you don't mind. Would you mind sharing best form, all forms of contact, please?

Yes, you can email me at info@balancedbodymedical.com. You may also call me at 402-807-5333.

Beautiful. All right, everyone, stay tuned. We'll take that quick break and when we return, we'll obviously You talk more about the work you're doing and how you're here to help. Ladies, listen up, we'll be right back. Welcome back to the show. We are so excited to have Balanced Body Health and Wellness here joining us. That's right, the only provider to offer the Menopause Method in Nebraska in conjunction with Bright. But we're talking about natural hormone replacements, functional medicine, preventative medicine, and so much more. We're here with the owner, Sherri Griggs, who's an Omaha native. She has a Master of Science in Adult Primary Care and really is passionate about helping her patients achieve their health and wellness goals all through natural and approachable strategies. So welcome back to the show, Darlene. How's it going?

Thank you. It's going great.

All right. Well, there's so much here. Again, we urge everyone to the website balancedbodymedical.com. And, you know, looking at one of your articles during the break, I was reading something you wrote a few months ago, I guess, about genetics and menopause and those symptoms. So is it true that menopause, you know, is affected by your genetics?

Absolutely. Yes. One of the things that you'll find a provider asking you, how old was your mom when she went through menopause? Do you know? Do you have any older sisters? Right? Because so much, it is genetics. And how was her trip through it? Right? So, yeah. If you have a mom that went through menopause early, odds are you probably will as well. If she was later, if she had a lot of symptoms— but that's why you come to see me, so you don't have to suffer through the symptoms that your mother did.

Mm-hmm.

And by doing that, by replacing those hormones, studies have shown that you can They have a protective mechanism against osteoporosis, heart disease, that, you know, the vaginal dryness and incontinence from losing some of our muscles there in the pelvic region. So there are things that prevent you from having outside of the discomfort by replacing your hormones.

Interesting. And regular doctors, how come they don't bring this up to you? Like, you know, my gynecologist tests for hormones and, oh, this is low, that's low, but no one offers you a solution. I've never— they've never told me, oh, you know, anything about replacing hormones. Why is that?

Well, I'll tell you. I, I, you know, I found out— I asked one of my preceptor It's very frustrating because she would tell people, you know what, it's just a natural part of aging, you'll get through it and you'll be fine later. And I said to her, but so is hypertension. That's a natural part of aging as our vessels harden, they don't have the elasticity, but we treat that. So why don't we— why aren't you treating— why aren't you doing anything? And she said, Sherri, I don't have time to learn another specialty. So, Jill, your gynecologist, you know, probably also an obstetrician, doesn't have time to go out there and learn another specialty because, as I mentioned earlier, it's not just a simple, here are some hormones, right? Because everybody metabolizes them differently. Everybody has a different level. They have different symptoms. You know, our fat cells make estrogen. So somebody that's a little heavier might be what we call estrogen dominant and they don't need that replaced. We just need to balance it out with some progesterone.

Hmm.

Somebody else might be low on estrogen. So it's very complicated. Anything with the human body is complicated, right? It's not simple. So that's— What she told me, and it really opened my eyes and allowed me to feel a little grace towards some of the primary care, our regular providers that don't offer anything.

It's a shame. It's amazing. And I just want to think that's important to stress to our listeners out there. That story is just fascinating. It resonates with me when you originally told me that because it's like, wow, my own provider doesn't have time to get, you know, for that. It's, it's fascinating, but I guess everyone has their specialty. That's why we need someone like you in our lives. And do you work— just curious, what states do you work in?

So I'm in Nebraska. Now, if you wanted to travel and come see me, I do need to see you personally in Nebraska in order to treat you. Now, I You can come to Nebraska. We can, you know, obviously one visit, we can do the rest of it telemedicine. I do need to see you every year personally. If we do pellets, that's another story. I need to see you more often. If we do topicals and orals, some of them can be given orally safely, such as your progesterone and your DHEA. The other 2, no, because we have to worry about first passed through the liver and what it does. I would be able to see you once a year and we can tweak your hormones and your tests can be done locally. I have my friend coming from New Jersey. She will do all of her blood work locally before she comes to see me and then we will do some other testing, some urine testing, some saliva testing, and those kits can be sent directly to her and she will send them directly back to the lab.

Mm-hmm.

So I can help you. You have to come to Omaha, Nebraska. Beautiful.

I love it. I love it. And then people also say, well, is it affordable too? Is that something you discuss a little bit about the pricing? I know I'm sure it varies for everyone, but give us an idea.

So the pricing can be anywhere from, depending on what you need, $2,500 for the first 6 months. Right? Again, that covers everything. You're not even paying for your prescription hormones. A lot of places will have that fee. In fact, I know a friend went to a different functional provider and she told her $3,000, and it did cover her labs, but it didn't cover any prescriptions. So— and this covers you for 6 months.

Mm-hmm.

And then if you're somebody that needs— Or you're local and you want to do some weight loss. I do collaborate with a physician that uses the— it's the semaglutide, and that is the— I talked to somebody about it yesterday and he had, I don't understand what you're saying. That's the medication that they said all the people were using. There wasn't enough for the diabetics because they were using it for weight loss. So, she does that, and depending on what your dose is, that can be as much as $6,500. Right. And that again covers everything.

Amazing. It is so worth it.

So anyway, from, from there.

Yeah.

And then it's a monthly after that.

Okay. Interesting. Good to know. Thank you so much. We still got 3 minutes left in the show. I don't want to ever cut you short. So what else did you want us to know, sweetheart, before we go today?

Well, I really want to just touch on metabolic conditions real quick. And, and, and I have a really easy way I say this is If you are somebody that is— you work out, your weight is great, you eat well— again, these things that happen— but your sugar levels are high and your cholesterol is bad, okay? If you're a male, you might just need some testosterone.

Mm-hmm.

But maybe somebody gives you testosterone and you still have these issues, and you find out that so did your parents, or one of your parents did. So that might be— you're getting set up for a metabolic syndrome. You're getting set up for the high blood pressure, the high blood sugar that can lead to diabetes, the cholesterol that can lead to heart disease. So we can work to prevent that when we catch it early.

Yeah.

And that's— And so I like to touch on that.

Yeah. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. All right. Yeah, please go. We still got a few minutes left. Go for it.

Okay. And it isn't always that. Now, sometimes it can be diet and exercise, but I, I talked to an athlete, a young lady who was an athlete, and she's been active her whole life, and she said, I've gained this weight and I can't get rid of it. And she was the one I said they did the testosterone injections every 2 weeks, but that's, that's all. That's all. So she might, she might have some metabolic conditions that we need to look at. She might have the Hashimoto's because she's had some low thyroid. So there are a number of things, but instead she's gone someplace else and all they're doing is giving her testosterone and not even properly, not even dosing it the way it's recommended. So you really have to look at the whole person. You just really have to look at everything. And, and she's very frustrated, so I'm excited to see her changes. And she'll be getting started next week.

Beautiful.

I love that and hearing positive stories and, you know, how you're helping people. That, that says— it speaks volumes. Any other client stories you want to share?

I'm sorry, what was that?

Oh, is there any more client stories that you want to share before we go?

Um, not at this time, but I am sure next week I will have a few more to tell you about.

Well, thank you so much. Well, you have a fantastic day. Pleasure having you here and excited. Ladies and gentlemen, reach out right now. I know it's mostly for women, but men need help too, right?

Absolutely. In fact, I have a patient next week that is a male. He'll be coming in.

Perfect. All right, great. And one more time, remind us how we can contact you.

Yes, info@balancedbodymedical.com, and that's Balanced, E-D. You can also call me, 402-807-5333, as well as go to the website, www.balancedbodymedical.com, where you can schedule a free 15-minute phone consultation or an in-person 60-minute consultation right there on the website.

Okay, well, thank you so much. Pleasure having you back here. And Sherri Griggs, we'll do this again soon. Always a pleasure, okay?

Sounds great. Thank you, Donna. Have a great week.

You too. Thank you so much. And to all of our listeners, stay tuned. We'll be right back.

This has been the Balanced Body Medical Podcast with Sherri Griggs, owner of Balanced Body Health and Wellness. If you're looking to find Sherri, go ahead and look for the website balancedbodymedical.com. If you're looking for the business and you want to find Sherri at her office, you can find her at 10815 Elm Street in Rockbrook Plaza.

Thank you.