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Hormonal Health Matters: Insights From Dr. Roked on Eating Disorders, ADHD, PMDD and PMS

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Hormonal Health Matters

Dr. Roked [00:00:00]:

Sa.

Jenny Tomei [00:00:35]:

Super excited to announce our guest today. So Today we have Dr. Roked on the podcast. So she’s an experienced hormonal doctor with a focus on centred on bioidentical hormone balancing and optimization. So she treats menopause, pro menopause, PMS, fibroids, and testosterone replacement therapy. Dr. Roked’s approach combines her functional holistic approach with her specialism in integrative medicine. I’ve also personally worked with Dr.

Jenny Tomei [00:01:06]:

Roked, and she is absolutely amazing and she’s helped me to get to where I am today. So it’s such a pleasure to have her on. And if you’d like to say hello to everyone.

Dr. Roked [00:01:19]:

Hi, everyone. Thanks for having me today.

Jenny Tomei [00:01:23]:

Yeah, no, it’s great to have you on. And I think that it’ll be really good to maybe describe to everyone listening what bioidentical. So bioidentical hormones, like, what they actually are, so everyone can understand.

Dr. Roked [00:01:37]:

Yeah, of course. So basically I work with bioidentical and body identical hormones, and all that means is that their hormones are the same chemical structure that your own body makes, and therefore your body can metabolise them better. So when you take something like the pill, it’s a synthetic drug with some hormonal properties, it doesn’t have the same chemical structure as the hormones your own body makes. So it ends off shutting off your own hormone production. Whereas these hormones that I like to use can enhance your hormone production. And that’s whether you’re making your own hormones in. You know, you’re having a cycle, but you just need a bit of hormonal balance around your periods or say if you’ve got PCOS or fibroids or if you’re in menopause. Basically, these are the hormones I prefer to work with.

Jenny Tomei [00:02:25]:

Okay, great. Amazing. And I think just to obviously start us off, we’ve got lots of questions to get through, but I’d like to obviously share my journey. So everyone kind of listen to that and understand that. And I’m sort of. I’m ready to kind of do it now. Before I wasn’t. Because I feel in a really good place now to sort of share that.

Jenny Tomei [00:02:43]:

And. Yeah, and I think it’d be just be really good for, like, people listening. Obviously, a lot of people who listen to this struggle with, like, eating disorders. You know, a lot of schools, teachers, parents be listening to this. So I guess it’d be good to sort of start with how I came to you and all the symptoms that I was presenting with and then know where we started and what tests you recommended. And where I am now. So.

Dr. Roked [00:03:08]:

Yeah.

Jenny Tomei [00:03:09]:

Yeah. So I can.

Dr. Roked [00:03:10]:

Your own story.

Jenny Tomei [00:03:12]:

Yeah, Part of me doesn’t want to go into it. No. So I. So basically I came to Dr. Roked with. So I was experiencing a lot of anxiety. There was depression, I wasn’t sleeping, so I definitely had, like, insomnia. And I think I was very burnt out.

Jenny Tomei [00:03:34]:

So I think I was very running off this adrenaline cortisol and I wasn’t really aware of what I was doing. I was just operating on this sort of high anxiety, adrenaline state. Yeah. And it was. It wasn’t good. I was obviously very unwell and I wasn’t having periods. I was underweight at the time when I came to see Dr. Roked.

Jenny Tomei [00:03:57]:

So I just come out of a really bad sort of toxic relationship. So there was a lot of trauma involved as well, and I had to sort of work through that. But when I came to see you, we, you know, we started off with some tests, didn’t we? Do you want to go into that?

Dr. Roked [00:04:12]:

Yeah. So, you know, the thing that sort of, you know, struck me on my sort of Jenny is that, you know, she really wanted to, you know, Jenny really wanted to get better for sure. You know, you’re very, very keen to sort of get things back on an even keel. I think you were a bit hard on yourself as well, you know, sort of. You know, there’s always that element sometimes of, oh, I’ve caused this sort of thing, you know, whereas I’m like, okay, this thing has happened and now we just need to, like, give the body a bit of nourishment to get back into a rhythm and a routine. So we did look at hormone testing, but as well as hormone testing, I like to look at things more holistically. Now, if you’ve had an eating disorder before, there’s a high chance that there’s disruption in your gut, microbiome. So I thought that was a really important thing for us to look at.

Dr. Roked [00:05:02]:

And then just from meeting you and seeing how anxious you were and how much distress this is causing you, I thought, well, I think we better check your adrenal glands as well and sort of see what’s going on there. And it was looking like your cortisol was completely dysregulated, sort of like a bit all over the shop with the sort of stress you’d been under. So probably physically from what had been going on with the eating disorder, but also emotionally, like you said, that been quite a few things going on in your personal life. And there was some things for us to try and restore with your gut as well. There was, you know, a few different irregularities going on there. And then in terms of the hormones, you know, obviously a lot of the time if people go see the gp, they might just put them on the pill. But like I said, that’s just shutting off your own hormonal system anyway. It’s creating a bleed, but it’s not really enhancing your own natural production.

Dr. Roked [00:05:55]:

So I actually use the bio and body identical hormones with Eugenie to create a cycle to try and re sync the brain. So basically, if you’re using hormones of the same chemical structure that your own body makes, it’s going to like, send the signal to the brain, like, oh, maybe these are my hormones. And then the signal from the brain might start producing the hormones naturally as time goes on. So, you know, I think the, you know, in credit to you, you know, there was a lot of different moving parts that we had to look at and you sort of just went into it, like wholeheartedly. You know, you’re really motivated to get well and, and get your body, you know, back, back, back as it should be.

Jenny Tomei [00:06:43]:

Yeah, no, thank you. It wasn’t as Becky know, she was there for me during the hard time, like the. I struggled to deal with, like, the hormones that I had to go on, which was very tough for me.

Dr. Roked [00:06:57]:

Again, I just sort of say again, you know, even though we’re doing this with that sort of scientific background and looking at testing and things like that, nobody knows how they’re going to react when they start something. And again, it’s a credit to you that you, you know, you had support from people like Becky and your family, I know, who are very supportive and you, you move through it. You didn’t just give up and you’re like, oh, I can’t do this. Too difficult. It’s not going to change. Yeah, I’m sure maybe the times you felt like that, but you, you did just keep moving forward, which, you know, I’ve got to give credit to you for because it does take a lot to do that when you’re not feeling well.

Becky [00:07:34]:

And I think for Jane, just being where, like me and Jen have been friends for a long time and being like, I think the courage that Jen has and I don’t want to make you cry, Jen, that when she is struggling and she’s frightened, she has courage to pick up and phone and go.

Dr. Roked [00:07:56]:

Oh, I’m really struggling.

Becky [00:07:58]:

I’m in a really scary space and be able to talk it through and put a structure book in place. And then say, right, you’re going to bed tonight. You’ve never got to live today again, we’re going to get through this. And then give you a little message in the morning. You’re like, oh, my God, I’m in such a better place. And I think the courage to have that support network and be able to talk through the difficult bits and I think the determination to get yourself back on track, I think that hats off to you because it took a little bit of time, but you’re in such better space for it.

Dr. Roked [00:08:26]:

Yeah, for sure, because all these things matter. Like, you know, you might want to get well yourself, you know, talking to your audience, but, you know, it’s good to have your support network in place, your friends, your family, people you can trust. It’s good to have tools to fall back on. And, you know, if you don’t mind me saying it was, you know, you did have to learn a new way of being in many ways. Because I know sometimes you’d come to me and be like, but I’ve always done this. Why can’t I keep doing this? And I’d be like, well, your body’s now saying no, so you have to listen to your body. And dealing with that sort of change is really difficult. So, yeah, I think for everyone, change can be difficult.

Dr. Roked [00:09:05]:

Right. So I think you did really well with that.

Jenny Tomei [00:09:08]:

Yeah. Just to sort of say the new way of being everyone was slowing myself down and learning how to rest, which was something was not in my vocabulary. You know, I didn’t even know what that word meant. So I was someone who always on the go, you know, bit of perfectionist, work hard, play hard sort of person, no time for rest, sort of. And that’s how, you know, that’s my body ended up the way that it ended up. And that didn’t do any good for me, so I didn’t gain anything from doing that. And as you said, like, the hardest thing is learning that and changing that. And, you know, that’s very difficult when that’s embedded in you for, like, many years.

Jenny Tomei [00:09:47]:

Like, it was a way of life for me, so I had to change that way of life. And I’ve noticed that obviously I did struggle with like, and what I. What I liked when I worked. We didn’t. We didn’t name anything, like, the symptoms that I had. We didn’t say, you have this, like. Or, you know, I wasn’t diagnosed with anything. Obviously I did struggle with, like, PMS and various other different types of symptoms, but we just worked together with the symptom and tried to improve it.

Jenny Tomei [00:10:12]:

And I mean, the PMS was very bad, it was quite severe. So. But I just tried to stay sort of made. And as I changed my lifestyle, I got better and then that was worth it for me because I thought, you know, I can’t keep up with this the way that I’m going. So.

Dr. Roked [00:10:28]:

Yeah, yeah. I mean, for me, I don’t know how helpful sort of blanket labels are because I always think things can change. Right. You could have PCOS, but the PCOS can resolve. Right. So I don’t like people identifying too much with their condition. Right. So I think it’s always easier just to talk about symptoms because I think in our minds it seems more symptoms will come and go, whereas if you’ve got a condition, I think it’s somewhere ingrained that you’re always going to have this condition and it’s a problem.

Dr. Roked [00:10:57]:

And obviously, knowing what you’ve been through as well in your past, I didn’t think giving you another label was helpful. So there was just helpful dealing with the symptoms going on.

Jenny Tomei [00:11:06]:

Yeah, no, I really liked that and I think it’s a really good way of working with people who are very anxious and I think too often we put labels on people and it’s. I liked that and it, it worked for me because I just fully believed that, right, I’ll work with it, I’ll get better. So, and, and that really helped me to sort of move forward. So thank you for that. So, yeah, and any questions anyone has about, you know, journey, I’m always quite open about it. You can always reach out to any of us. So. But I think, you know, just going on.

Jenny Tomei [00:11:36]:

So we’ve got a couple of questions, obviously that we want to go for and I think the main one that I do want to ask you is like, how. How do eating disorders, you know, in general affect eating disorders and the cycle in general?

Dr. Roked [00:11:50]:

Yes. In terms of like your menstrual cycle and eating disorders, it, you know, having a very low calorie intake or, you know, over exercising or even if it’s, you know, binge eating, sort of, anything that falls into that category can cause disruption in your hormone balance. And this is because if you’re really under nourishing yourself with a restrictive calorie intake, that then doesn’t give your body the fuel or the tools it needs to make the hormones you need. So very often if people lose a lot of weight very quickly, you know, whether that is through an eating disorder or say if someone’s had an illness and a lot of weights dropped off, then that can cause your ovaries and the signal from the brain to stop producing hormones in the way it was. So periods often stop very quickly in those situations. The other thing is with, say, things like over exercising, it can cause a lot of stress in the body, so it can dysregulate your cortisol. And having very high or very low cortisol is putting a strain on the body. Cortisol is a hormone made by the adrenal glands and we do need it.

Dr. Roked [00:13:00]:

We need adrenaline and cortisol, but we need it. If we’re being chased at night, we need to run away, we need it temporarily. If we’re in the gym, we’re doing a HIIT class, we need a bit of cortisol to sort of get us going. What our body should be able to do is cortisol goes up and then it comes back down to a normal level. A lot of us are constantly living our lives in overdrive. Whether that’s emotional stress or physical stress or, you know, the body doesn’t know the difference between watching a scary film and actually being chased at night. So, you know, giving up, you know, the way we live our lives, we’re just giving our bodies a lot of stress all the time. And I’m someone who’s had very high cortisol as well in the past and I’ve managed to regulate it, but I will say it took years.

Dr. Roked [00:13:44]:

It did take maybe four to five years. So it is sort of that patience game and sometimes things are better and then something stressful happens and the cortisol goes off again. And the way you can feel is quite wired. A lot of the times you’re not sleeping well, you’re wired in the day, you know, you can feel like you’re, you know, you’re walking through treacle a lot of the time because you can’t think clearly and any little stress sort of overwhelms you and you feel panicky and you, you know, you just, oh, no, things aren’t going to plan and it’s all very stressful. So definitely, you know, over exercising. And also the emotional stress of an eating disorder can. Can dysregulate your hormones for sure.

Becky [00:14:26]:

And I was just sitting here thinking, actually, with the ADHD, that’s going to intensify it, like, because both me and Jen, both I’ve had anorexia and both me and Jen have got ADHD, I’m in the process getting diagnosed. So that cortisol I run on Quite a lot of it naturally anyway, had the eating disorder on it. It was like euphoric, it was just, I was buzzing all the time, but I was also so exhausted. It was a really weird, really weird sensation.

Dr. Roked [00:14:55]:

Yeah, yeah. And you know, there is so much ADHD, you know, being diagnosed at the moment. And I think it is also because we’re learning so much more about trauma and those sort of things. And in the old days I think you just accept you’ve got these sort of symptoms. But like I was saying earlier, I think it’s really important not to over identify with the symptoms as well and be like, yes, you do. Obviously you know, you might need a diagnosis to get treatment so that you can, you know, manage the symptoms better. But to know that this is a thing that can be managed, you know. So I never really over identified with my high cortisol.

Dr. Roked [00:15:31]:

I knew that I had high cortisol, I knew that it was affecting me. So sometimes on a day to day basis, other times not as often, but I knew very much it was something I was going to get under control. So I think that’s really empowering to know that these things can be brought under control. And I do think that sort of 360 approach is really important. So you know, looking at, you know, there are, you know, sort of foods triggers that have been proven. I think with ADHD there is trauma triggers as well. There’s can be, you know, you know, helping that sometimes it is chemical imbalance as well and that’s the medication really can change lives as well. But to be looking at all the moving parts and try and sort of bring it in holistically, I think that’s where you’re going to get sort of the best, the best results overall.

Jenny Tomei [00:16:19]:

Yeah, no, definitely. Just to say like, obviously I had a history of over exercising with the high cortisol. When you said that, you know, I was that person of I couldn’t regulate my emotions and anything, any small thing that happened in my life, it was like, oh God, like catastrophic thought straight away because I was always exhausted, not sleeping and that that intensified eating disorder behaviours as well, like for me because I couldn’t balance the emotions. So I would go, oh, I’ll go exercise. That will make it better. So I was, yeah, I was stuck in this cycle and it was very hard to break out of that.

Dr. Roked [00:16:58]:

Yeah, it’s really hard.

Jenny Tomei [00:17:01]:

Yeah.

Dr. Roked [00:17:02]:

So, you know, a lot of people use foods to manage those sort of stress symptoms, whether it’s under eating or overeating. Also things like exercise or things like, you know, where other addictions can come into play as well, because you need something to take away that feeling so you can move through it. Whereas what it’s. It would be looking at like, like you’ve done, Jen, is looking at other things you can do to. To manage those symptoms as well.

Jenny Tomei [00:17:32]:

Yeah, yeah, definitely. Like, I think I’m glad that I’ve learned how to manage the cortisol and like, take the long route and do that, because I do feel better. Obviously I’m sleeping better. Like, less anxiety, less stress. So it’s been worth it to like. And then obviously not, you know, doing tons and tons of cardio, like, more. Less cortisol, like, you know, not all these crazy hit classes, but, you know.

Becky [00:17:56]:

And also just thinking as I’ve known you, Jen, and you going through this is, to anyone that’s listening, this takes time. It’s not a quick fix.

Jenny Tomei [00:18:06]:

Yeah.

Becky [00:18:07]:

I’d say it’s taken a good 18.

Jenny Tomei [00:18:10]:

Months, about more than that, over two years.

Dr. Roked [00:18:15]:

Okay.

Becky [00:18:15]:

Time’s gone by a bit too quick.

Jenny Tomei [00:18:18]:

It’s all right.

Becky [00:18:19]:

It has taken time. For you. It’s been a big learning curve and I think to regulate your hormones as well and to really understand what’s been going on has taken time.

Dr. Roked [00:18:30]:

Yeah. You know, it is that case of sometimes it feels like two steps forward, one step back, which I know has really frustrated you in the past 10. But, you know, I think it’s about, you know, knowing that the trajectory is that you are still moving forward. It’s not maybe as quick as you want to, but we are still moving forward the whole way.

Jenny Tomei [00:18:51]:

Yeah, that’s just because I’m sometimes a bit impatient. But there was that kind of. I like progression. So there’s the kind of I’m progressing and then if I went one week, I had a really bad symptom or I went backwards, I’d be like, oh, God, what did I do? Like, did I do something wrong or. Yeah, so I’ve worked with that. And also improvements in diet and nutrition has helped massively so because obviously, I’m sure everyone knows that obviously when you under eat, it raises your cortisol hormones, stress, it’s like that cycle. So talking about ADHD as well, like, is there a link between ADHD, PMS and PMDD? Is there a link between those two?

Dr. Roked [00:19:34]:

Yeah, yeah. So when people get PMS, it’s generally because the hormones are declining in that second half of the cycle. So to a degree it’s normal. But it’s whether, you know, how severe The PMS and the PMDD is. Right, that’s the difference. It’s okay if you feel maybe a little bit different for a day or so, but if it’s quite disruptive, which PMDD is, it’s, you know, where your quality of life and functioning is really impaired. There are some thoughts that people with the ADHD or, you know, ADHD symptoms do experience that more strongly. And it does seem as well that in perimenopause, where your hormones are really fluctuating before you go into your menopause, which is normally sort of around, you know, your mid to late 40s, into your 50s, but it can be earlier in some women, that seems to be the time where ADHD symptoms are more prevalent as well.

Dr. Roked [00:20:27]:

And I think that’s because hormones give you a lot of resilience. So when your hormones are well balanced, you have a lot of resilience to cope with emotional stress, physical stress, it can boost your immune system and things. So when those hormones decline, you’re more aware of other symptoms. So. So that is really important to be aware of as a woman as well.

Becky [00:20:50]:

That’s really, really interesting because I’m Definitely. I’m nearly 45 in a few weeks, which is tragic, but I started, I think, at 40 with perimenopause and really heightened emotion. It’s like, really weird. Was like, what is wrong with me? Because it was. I was either like, crying my eyes out, like, neurotically, and I was like, what’s going on? Oh, I was that angry and I was like. It’s like I was possessed with two different sets of emotions and I was like. But now I know that I need to rest with the week up to my period, I need to just. It’s okay to cry and maybe work a bit less or being out in nature.

Becky [00:21:33]:

I’ve given up drinking as well because that also was just really dysregulated me massively bit, like Jen eating, focusing more on my gut and nutrition and actually what I needed to do to look after me. But it’s. It’s a scary place. Like, it really took me back thinking, what’s wrong with me? And then I was like, ah, this makes sense. But I reckon a lot of women are going through it and they just don’t. They’re not pinpointing it either. And no one talks about it.

Dr. Roked [00:22:03]:

Yeah, well, more people are talking about it, like you guys. So which is great. But, yeah, to be honest, I do see a lot of women coming in around 40, like you said, just really noticing big changes in their cycle and the way they feel around their cycle and their energy. And you know, I think the good news is you, you know, you don’t have to suffer. You know that there is help out there. You know, exactly like you said, Becky, you know, changing the way you exercise and rest and do things a few days or a week before your period, it’s really important to like honour your body and on a honour and listen to the signals that your body is giving you.

Jenny Tomei [00:22:46]:

Yeah.

Becky [00:22:46]:

Just to this question, I work with a few young ladies who don’t have their periods back because of their eating disorders and they get quite, they really panicked that they have like they’ve recovered from the eating disorder but they, it’s like still a year on and they still haven’t got their period back. Is there anything that you could suggest that like when me and Jen are working with them, what we could actually where we could guide them, where we could sort of offer them some advice and guidance.

Dr. Roked [00:23:18]:

So I’d say if you, you know, the people you work with aren’t able to do sort of thing that Jen did with using the bio body identical hormones to resync the cycle, then the areas to put focus on would be managing the cortisol because that’s probably having a huge impact and just making sure there’s some healthy fat in the diet because all the hormones are made from fat. So that’s the other reason why you often lose your periods when you have an eating disorder. And when I say healthy fat, what you would need is like you don’t have to go crazy because I know it can be quite triggering for people like a spoon or two of olive oil or like a quart of an avocado and maybe you’d go a little bit more at the beginning, you know, to really try and get the body to, you know, create a cycle. So you know my sister Dufrans who was underweight, I’m not saying she had an eating disorder, but she was underweight and she couldn’t get pregnant. And I got her to add in the avocado or the olive oil and she was pregnant within a few months. So it really can, yeah, it really can make a huge difference. These little things. You don’t always have to come and see me.

Dr. Roked [00:24:24]:

Avocados aren’t cheap either though. But yeah, you can maybe invest in that rather first and see how that goes.

Becky [00:24:32]:

Oh, that’s really interesting. I mean that’s, I suppose that’s why on our in the eating disorder training they really sort of, I know I’m not a nutritionist but they really were plugging COD live oil tablets. Yeah, that makes sense. And like avocado, I think you can buy them in Iceland frozen and I, I, because I’m self-employed I can go to bookers and I buy frozen avocado. Works out so much cheaper. And of course then they’re not going black on the side either. So yeah, possibly a really good like cheaper way of getting avocado into your. But it’s really interesting.

Jenny Tomei [00:25:13]:

Thank you for that. It’s, it’s, yeah, it’s saying the diet obviously is so important, right. It’s the, and looking and the cortisol that was the bit that reducing the stress that was the hardest part for me. Like you know, the cortisol. So, but just my life was, was cortisol like, like before I saw you, before I saw you, like that was my life. You know, I was, you know, running cross country runner. Like, you know, push my body, go hard, go home. That was me like, you know, it was just.

Jenny Tomei [00:25:43]:

And anyone listening to this, you, you can change it. But it’s very difficult. But I think for me that was the turning point in regulating that because it has. Although I’ve had a couple of flare outs of my symptoms because I had a really tough work schedule a couple of weeks ago, I know that that was only temporary. But then I know that I’m going to go back just obviously reducing stress, regulating cortisol, not doing, you know, obviously over training, all those sorts of things because that can have a massive. I didn’t think any of these things obviously my twenties I had that attitude of just push hard, go home. Like just kind of, you know, didn’t look after my body at all. So.

Jenny Tomei [00:26:26]:

And it’s just when you hit your 30s, you’ve really got to like think about like I didn’t really appreciate to look after my hormones and I think a lot of young people are listening to this. I want to say like look after your hormones because you know it’s, I think that’s super important message to get across because I think I took that for granted especially in my 20s because I was all right. So I was like, I’m fine, I’ll just keep pushing harder. Didn’t think that where I was so think the message there is to look after them. And I guess following on from that, how does one look after how. What are your tips for like hormone balancing? For anyone listening to this, that would be really good to go and say.

Dr. Roked [00:27:10]:

Yeah, I completely agree with what you’ve just said, Jen, you know, I also didn’t look after my hormones in my 20s, right? When you’re in your 20s, you feel invincible. You think everything’s always going to be, you know, I have really bad cycles, actually. Like really heavy, painful, sort of like in bed for like a couple of days before and things like that. And I just accepted. Well, I just was. The narrative was, oh, that’s just part being a woman and, oh, well, that’s just the way it is, you know, And I’m really glad the narrative shifting from that because there’s so much you can do to improve things. And, you know, I think a really good thing to look into a bit is cycle syncing. And it basically means that you’d maybe do different things on different weeks of your cycle, like you alluded to, you know, Becky, with maybe the week before your periods, you take a bit more rest and, you know, for me, I’m sometimes like, oh, should I say yes to that invitation if I know it’s, you know, right before my period and I’ve got some busy work days and things like that, so I try and manage that.

Dr. Roked [00:28:12]:

And then when I’m more follicular, which is after your period, and then going into ovulation, which is generally mid cycle maybe, then I’m like, okay, I can do a bit more now, I’ve got a bit more energy, you know, I can do different sorts of exercise. So, you know, I, you know, really think looking at cycle syncing is important. And for you as an individual, I think looking at what your own cycle is doing, you can read in a book, right? Oh, you should have more energy mid cycle and you will have less energy before your period. But if you start tracking your period to three, four months, which is so easy to do now because there’s so many apps and things like that, you know, you can, you can actually go. Actually, I’m normally fine in the run up to my period, but it’s more around day three or four of my cycle when my energy is a bit depleted. So I can modify things that way then and really get data on you because, like, say when people come to see me, I’ve just got them for a limited period of time. So I always take really seriously if someone’s been tracking things and monitoring things, because you should always be the expert on you. That’s why I truly believe seeing someone, I can guide you, I can help you, I can sort of give you, you know, the basis on having seen a lot of different patients and expertise and Things, but you should always be the expert on you.

Dr. Roked [00:29:33]:

I think that’s really important.

Jenny Tomei [00:29:35]:

Yeah.

Dr. Roked [00:29:38]:

Yeah.

Becky [00:29:38]:

And I think maybe getting. Getting clients to write their patterns down and their behaviours and just instead of. Because I know that I’m. I’m awful for it. Life goes by and then all of a sudden, why am I feeling like this? I’m so sensitive that I’m thinking some, like, somebody’s upset with me, and I’m like, are you upset with me? And they look at you and go, no.

Dr. Roked [00:29:58]:

Why?

Becky [00:29:58]:

Because I. I’m so hypersensitive around my period. But I haven’t written it down and I haven’t regulated what the hell is.

Dr. Roked [00:30:06]:

Going on with me.

Becky [00:30:06]:

And then I feel like I’m. I’m a weirdo. And then I’m like, I’m not weird.

Dr. Roked [00:30:10]:

I’m a woman.

Jenny Tomei [00:30:12]:

You’re like me, very sensitive to hormones. And that’s been a very hard adjustment, you know, sort of. To kind of get to. To get used to that. And I tried. So when we work, when I worked at Dr. Roked, so we. I.

Jenny Tomei [00:30:24]:

We tracked my symptoms. I had a lot of fatigue, so I was experiencing really bad fatigue. And then obviously we’ve been taking an iron supplement, a slow release, sort of. That’s helped massively with me personally, I don’t get as much fatigue as I used to. So I think tracking symptoms and understanding each individual person is key. Like, that’s why no one’s the same. And I think working with a professional like Dr. Roked is, I think is great because then you can tailor the plan.

Jenny Tomei [00:30:53]:

It’s all personalised, so. Because everyone’s different.

Dr. Roked [00:30:58]:

Yeah, for sure. And I think, like, something that’s really important to me is like, most people come to me for a hormone issue or they think they’ve got a hormone issue. But my big thing is your, you know, your symptoms are your symptoms. So if I’m not seeing it on your hormones, well, you still have those symptoms. So maybe it is low iron or low vitamin D or low B vitamins. Maybe to do with your gut health, maybe to do with your cortisol. So I will always treat the symptom, but it might not always be the cause that you think it is. But I think it’s really important to listen to people when they present with different symptoms.

Jenny Tomei [00:31:37]:

Yeah, definitely. And with. So this is. Just. Comes one with PMDD, there is more awareness around this now. What. I mean, obviously I had those types of symptoms. What.

Jenny Tomei [00:31:47]:

What do you know, what causes that? Or like, is. It would be like High stress or, like, trauma or risk factors are for that.

Dr. Roked [00:31:54]:

Or, you know, PMDD is like a more extreme version of PMS, essentially. So to a degree, everybody has a little bit of changes before their period. Some people, it’s, you know, more disruptive. Other people, they’re like, oh, I’m a bit tired. Oh, I got my period, I understand why now. Oh, I was crying at EastEnders and now I’m not, you know, sort of thing. So, you know, it can be quite mild or it can be really disruptive, or you’re like, think everyone’s against you, you’re really upset, you can’t get out of bed, you know, you know, very weepy, can’t function, can’t do your job. PMDD’s more on that scale.

Dr. Roked [00:32:31]:

And it would be a combination of things. It would be to do with the, you know, maybe extreme hormonal swing. So definitely taking some hormones. What I find particularly is taking some progesterone in that part of the cycle, second part of your cycle can really help. But also managing your cortisol better, you know, something that’s really important is methylation. And methylation is this genetic process, having B vitamins, adding a methyl group onto them. So you could be having B vitamins from your diet, you know, dark leafy greens or red meat. If you can’t add this methyl group to them, which is genetic, you can’t absorb them, basically.

Dr. Roked [00:33:11]:

And methylation is really important for managing your stress hormone, managing your female or your male hormones. If you’re a man producing vitamin D, making antioxidants, your heart health. So, yeah, it’s really important overall. And I do think that sometimes people who can’t regulate their stress hormone or they’ve got extreme hormonal issues, don’t methylate well. And it is something you can test for and then really sort of supporting that methylation process can also be transformative. So I don’t methylate well. Like I said earlier, I used to have terrible periods when I was growing up, really poor at managing my stress at one point in my life. And I really do think learning about methylation and improving that has had huge benefits on my health also.

Jenny Tomei [00:33:59]:

Yeah, great. I take. Yeah, we. Well, I was put on that. I do take methylated B vitamins, so. And you can get those from anywhere? Well, yeah, as long as I say methylated on the bottle.

Dr. Roked [00:34:11]:

So, yeah, so on the bottle, on the front, or if you read the ingredients, you know, will say, like folic acid, like methyl folate or something like that, you know, to know that that is methylated. And again, you know, that’s a really easy thing one can do that can really improve their health. So, you know, you can test for it as well. It’s a cheek swab test. I do that. Other online companies do it as well. And yeah, I think the sort of test you only have to do once because if you don’t methylate well, it’s a genetic process, you’re never going to methylate well, so you always have to support your body with it. So it’s a good investment to make if it’s.

Dr. Roked [00:34:47]:

If it’s possible.

Jenny Tomei [00:34:50]:

Yeah, awesome. No, yeah, it’s. That’s good. No, thank you. I forgot to ask that question, so I’m glad that we covered that. That’s really good. Becky, is there anything that you want to ask?

Becky [00:35:01]:

No, I was just sitting back thinking, just reflecting that because I’ve started taking ferroglobin again because I just was getting really tired and exhausted and I couldn’t work out what was going on. I’m like, ah, low in iron. But I’ve been taking like, fair globin for the last, what, four weeks? No, three weeks. And massive, like my brain fog shifting. And I just think they’re, they’re things that, especially being ADHD, are very good at. All or nothing thinking. So I’m like, oh, I take, take all these vitamins and then I forget and then I’m like, oh, I don’t feel too good. Why do I not feel too good? Because I’ve stopped taking them.

Becky [00:35:37]:

So I think it. Getting tested to make sure what’s working and what’s not is really, really important and just more awareness around it. I think it’s good we’re talking about it.

Dr. Roked [00:35:49]:

Yeah, yeah. For me, you know, I’ve had borderline iron levels as well in the past and, you know, my big one was really, really deficient vitamin D, which again, would go with not methylating. And, you know, I went through a phase of my life. I was, you know, feeling really low and moody. And then my doctor I worked with, like, we need to do your blood. So, like, my hormones are great, but my vitamin D was like super, super deficient, even though I do love a good sun holiday. And again, that’s something else that’s changed my life. So sometimes, you know, you just figure these things out and it can just have a huge, huge impact on your health going forward.

Jenny Tomei [00:36:23]:

Yeah, definitely. And I think just to finish off, I just wanted to kind of go just so it’s clear to everyone we talked A lot about cortisol. How can someone obviously got rest? How can someone. Where can they start if they want to regulate cortisol and anxiety? What, what steps, what’s. What tips could you give someone for that? And I think we’re finished off with that.

Dr. Roked [00:36:43]:

So I always think, like, you can’t say to someone who’s really stressed, like, here are 20 different things to do because it’s like, oh, no, I’m really stressed. That’s not helpful. So I was thinking let’s start with some simple things. So definitely habits are going to have a huge impact, right? So I always say to people, can we maybe carve out 10 minutes in the morning? We can even just start with that. But ideally, 10 minutes in the morning, 10 minutes in the evening to do something that could be listening to a meditation app or on YouTube or something like that, like a guided meditation. And people with high cortisol always say to me, oh, but I can’t meditate because I can’t focus on it. That’s part of the high cortisol. So that’s.

Dr. Roked [00:37:24]:

I think the guided ones could be really helpful because it gives you, like, something to do. I would even say, you know, maybe if that seems too much even then maybe putting on some really nice music you like and trying to, like, you know, do some breathing exercises can be useful. I do find breathing exercises and breath work quite useful for people with high cortisol because you’re doing something, you know, you’re like, following a guided rhythm of breathing. So people with high cortisol tend to find that better. But I’ll even say to people, like, maybe just go for a little walk, but not a walk where you’re on your phone or, like, you know, checking messages or, you know, making calls and doing work where you’re literally immersing yourself in where you are, you know, looking around, people, trees, you know, the nature, if there is some nature where you are really sort of immersing yourself in that. And I always think, you know, where can we use next time? No, no extra time. So it’s like if you’re on a commute, say in the car or on the tube or whatever, you know, train, you know, you could be, like, doing your emails or you could be, you know, doing that sort of stuff. Or, you know, if you’re more on the train, you know, you could be reading something enjoyable.

Dr. Roked [00:38:34]:

If you’re in the car, you could be listening to a, you know, funny podcast as opposed to a political podcast or something like that. So using time as well, to help manage your stress, but something I found really game changing for me personally, and so have a lot of my patients is taking a supplement called Ashwagandha is in the family of adaptogens. So there’s ashwagandha, there’s rhodiola, there’s ginseng, which is a bit more sort of stimulating, so that’s been more energy giving. And these adaptogens are really clever because if you’ve got low cortisol, it will help booster it up a bit. So it’s in a normal range. If you’ve got high cortisol, help you metabolise it better. And there’s lots of good evidence. It also helps with inflammatory markers in your body, so the interleukins and the cytokines, so it helps to manage the inflammation going on in your body too.

Dr. Roked [00:39:26]:

And for me, Ashwagandha has been the game changer in terms of my sleep, in terms of like, you know, if I’ve got a stressful day, take a bit of extra Ashwagandha and it helps me manage that better. So, yeah, also looking at supplements can be a really useful place to start. Magnesium is really good also for the adrenals, vitamin C, the B vitamins that we mentioned. So yeah, there’s lots of different things can help with that.

Jenny Tomei [00:39:50]:

Yeah, no, great. Just to say I do take Ashwagandha, we worked on that. So I take that to help regulate the cortisol. So. And I’ve seen improvements. So I highly rate it by taking that.

Becky [00:40:02]:

Just a question because that sounds quite interesting and because I struggle with high cortisol as well and concentration and for me, I. I can’t do yoga, I really struggle with it. My brain’s busy. So walking out in nature for me is taking the dog out, putting some music on, just beating away, just not high music, but just something distracting that brings my cortisol levels down massively.

Dr. Roked [00:40:26]:

Oh, no.

Becky [00:40:27]:

And I’ve just forgotten what was going to ask. I know what it was. Does it stop the brain fog that comes in with the menopausal side of it?

Dr. Roked [00:40:36]:

I mean, it can help a little bit with it. It’s all about what the cause of the brain fog is. So if it is high cortisol it would help with that. But obviously if there’s another hormonal imbalance that would need looking at as well.

Becky [00:40:48]:

Okay, so it’s all interlinked. It’s really interesting.

Jenny Tomei [00:40:53]:

No, honestly, today’s been awesome. Thank you so much. Like, lots learned and yeah, I just, yeah, I’VE loved working with you and thank you so much for getting to me, well, helping me get to where I am today. So thank you.

Dr. Roked [00:41:09]:

It’s really fulfilling for me as well to see someone who, you know, isn’t where they want to be in life and that, you know, they’re not, you know, getting the results they want. But to work with someone who’s so motivated as well, who’s sort of come through the other side. I know life’s always a little bit of ups and downs, but, you know, basically through to the other side, it’s really rewarding for me as well. So, you know, well done to you. You did most of the hard work day today, so. Yeah, you did most of the hard work.

Jenny Tomei [00:41:35]:

Oh, thank you. I was just. I just determined to get better. I think there was like that determination of, like, I can do this. I just. There’s a. Always a light at the end of the tunnel, I always say.

Becky [00:41:46]:

Sort of didn’t serve any purpose anymore, did it? And I think watching you grow, like, to where you are now, you’re the happiest you’ve ever been. It’s like it’s such a process. But it is well worth it at the end.

Jenny Tomei [00:42:00]:

Definitely recovery is possible and it’s worth everyone.

Becky [00:42:07]:

You want me to wrap up?

Jenny Tomei [00:42:08]:

Yep, I’ll let Becky wrap up.

Becky [00:42:11]:

Thank you so much for listening to Gen up podcast and please subscribe and share to this podcast so others can benefit. You can find us on Facebook and Instagram at Ask JenUp and on Jen’s website at jenup.com. if you visit the website, you’ll find lots of different resources available there. Please, like, subscribe and share.

Jenny Tomei [00:42:33]:

Thanks, guys.

How to get help?

Jenny Tomei is a Nutritional Therapist and Eating Disorder coach. See all her credentials on her About Jen page and then should you need help then make contact with her today. Your road to recovery can start now!

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