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YHM 070 - Cycle Harmony: Navigating the Menstrual Cycle with Dr. Sasha
53 Plays2 years ago
In this episode, we delve into Cycle Harmony: Navigating the Menstrual Cycle with our special guest, Dr. Sasha Monteiro, ND. Join us as we explore the intricacies of the menstrual cycle and its profound impact on overall well-being.
Dr. Sasha guides us through an enlightening discussion, beginning with an Overview of the Menstrual Cycle. From defining its phases to understanding the role of hormones, we uncover the mysteries behind this natural phenomenon.
Delving deeper, we tackle Menstrual Health and Common Menstrual Disorders, shedding light on PMS, PMDD, and PCOS. Learn how lifestyle factors and self-care strategies can mitigate discomfort and promote wellness.
For further guidance, reach out to naturosashhealth@gmail.com. Let's prioritize menstrual health together!
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Transcript
Introduction of Hosts and Guest
00:00:12
Speaker
Hello, everyone. Welcome to another episode of Your Health Minute, brought to you by Aqua Omega. I am your host, Max Marion, and with me, as always, is my co-host and moderator, Calvin Moro. Hello. And today, we also have Alana joining us. Welcome to the show, Alana. And we are going to be discussing
00:00:33
Speaker
the cycle harmony, navigating the menstrual cycle today, which is something Calvin and I know very little about, but we look forward to being educated on.
Dr. Sasha's Background and Motivation
00:00:44
Speaker
And with us to do that is our special guest, Dr. Sasha. Dr. Sasha, welcome to the show. Hello, thank you so much for having me. Yeah, thanks for being on the show. Pleasure to have you here. I think this is going to be very insightful for both of us. I feel like we're going to learn a lot. Elena, we're hoping that you're able to
00:01:01
Speaker
contribute to my experience to the show as well today. I think that's gonna be very good. But before we dive into this interesting health topic, Dr. Sash, I'd love for you to introduce yourself to our listeners. Give us a little background on yourself. And I always love to hear, and I always think it's very interesting on how you got into the health industry.
00:01:27
Speaker
Yeah, so thank you so much for having me. My name is Dr. Sasha and I'm a naturopathic doctor. So I practice both in downtown Toronto as well as Mississauga. And I'm extremely passionate about women's health and wellness. I would say I was led into kind of this world because I was constantly told that what I was experiencing was normal. And then I finally had an experience with one doctor
00:01:50
Speaker
who heard what I felt. And I said, OK, I really want other people to feel that same feeling. And so with menstrual health specifically, I was told time and time again, family and friends love to give their advice. And I mean, again, sometimes helpful that you're OK. It's normal. We all went through this. Health care providers would say take something over the counter. Maybe they would give me something that was a little bit more strong and then they would send me out the door.
00:02:16
Speaker
But there was always that one week every month where I was dreading my cycle. Like there were days that I couldn't get out of bed. I felt so bloated, didn't want to go to school, didn't want to go to work. And I realized that this wasn't quote unquote normal. So I'm really excited to be here with you today and really unpack such an important topic. Yeah, absolutely.
Societal Attitudes Toward Women's Health
00:02:36
Speaker
What was it that you were going through? Was it just really heavy periods or terrible pain? What was the actual diagnosis that you were dealing with that you were told was normal?
00:02:52
Speaker
Yeah. So funny enough, never got a diagnosis. Um, it was just a dream bloating that I would have. I was also anemic. So I then in those weeks where I would be losing more blood, I would feel more dizzy. And again, it was just like, Oh, that's fine. Everyone's gone through this. You know, my mom, I love her would say, I had really bad periods too. And so that's what you're kind of told. Um, and you're kind of sent out into the world. Lots of anemia. Wasn't true.
00:03:23
Speaker
Looking back, no, I think that there's certain things that I could have been eating, I could have done differently to really have myself feeling better, but I just didn't have that knowledge at the time.
00:03:35
Speaker
fair. Okay. Yeah. It's interesting because it's like, were they just gaslighting you? You know, like it was way worse for you than it was for a lot of others. And you're just told like, Hey, we all go through it. You just got to deal with it. You're like, okay. You hear that so much, especially,
Overview of the Menstrual Cycle
00:03:49
Speaker
especially when we talk about women's health, we hear that all the time. It's like, Oh, we did the, the menopause episode and like the Perry menopause and, and
00:03:58
Speaker
It was just like, just deal with it. And it sounds like that's like, I hear that. It's like a recurring trend. Like when we talk about women's health, it's like, oh, you're just expected to deal with whatever symptoms you're throwing your way. Whereas if it was, I think, at least.
00:04:11
Speaker
from my perspective and what I've seen, if it's men's health, it's blown up and it's like, we need to find a solution for this. This is a big deal. It's like, this is a big problem. We cannot go on living this way. It's crazy. I look at it and sometimes I see the discomfort that comes from it and things like that.
00:04:31
Speaker
You're tough, like women are tough, you know, like going through, like, you know, every 28 days you're going through this cycle like that, that is tough. Childbirth, I've experienced that twice. That is intense. Like that is some like, I think if men had to do that, we would go extinct. Like we just are not good for that shit. You know, it's like,
00:04:51
Speaker
a hundred percent there's zero percent chance that if we had to go through all this it'd be like no that's it or they would find some type of drug that would prevent you from ever getting a period again and we'd just be extinct it'd be like no we're just not dealing with that every 28 days that's crazy what do you mean you know it's like
00:05:06
Speaker
Just like the man cold, it's always, you know, it's funny because if I get sick, I am out. Boom. I'm out of commission. If my wife gets sick, she can still do everything. I'm like, you're like superhuman. It's unbelievable. Like how, how are we built so differently that you can handle all this? It's wild.
00:05:24
Speaker
It's funny, you mentioned anemia too, because I think that goes underdiagnosed quite a bit as well, right? Like with periods and so I guess, especially if you're dealing with a heavy period and you end up anemic and it just goes undiagnosed or they just put you on an iron supplement or some type of generic iron supplement. And they're really hard to like break down and digest and cause a lot of digestive issues and health issues overall too. So looking forward to diving all that. But before we do, maybe give us just a general overview of the menstrual cycle.
Menstrual Cycle Irregularities and Health Implications
00:05:52
Speaker
Yeah, for sure. When we talk about the menstrual cycle, I always like to look at it as something that's crucial, and it's a natural biological process that occurs in the bodies of people that have a uterus. Now, it often happens monthly, but there are some exceptions. For example, if someone is on birth control measures, if they have certain health conditions, but it's just a time where the uterus is going to shed its lining, and then there's going to be some changes with your hormones, and your body's really doing this to prepare you for pregnancy.
00:06:20
Speaker
when someone comes in and we're talking about menstrual health i kind of like to look at it as a mark on your report card because that's really what it is right it's an indicator of that reproductive health. Now when we talk about the length you mentioned 28 days and so that's what we kind of like to look at as the textbook cycle that's what many of us have learned this perfect like.
00:06:40
Speaker
day one to 14 and then day 14 to 28. And so we look at how regular it is, what's the duration, the symptoms. And again, that's going to give us some insight onto someone's overall health. And then when we talk about irregularities, that could signal some underlying health issues. So is there inflammation in the body, right? Is there changes in hormones? Is there a thyroid problem? Could it be something like polycystic ovarian syndrome? The list really goes on. But again,
00:07:06
Speaker
What type of symptoms would you see? Very short periods, very long periods. And how long could a period last? Could someone have a period for months at a time?
00:07:20
Speaker
So that is, it's not uncommon. I mean, I've definitely heard of people that have bled for three months, four months. With that being said again, the flow is very different. So it may not be you're having heavy flow for three months, but you just have consistent spotting. Um, people can go with missing a period too. And I think it's really important because when we talk about cycles, we just talk about.
00:07:42
Speaker
Um, like the bleed, cause that's what most people know about, but the cycle is really the whole thing. Like we're looking at, okay, what's the menstrual phase, but then there's different phases too. Right.
00:07:53
Speaker
Could we get into those phases? I'm curious, what's happening when it's very short or it's very long? What are the types of issues that you're seeing or skipping a period? We'll talk about phases I guess first. When we talk about the first phase, it's the menstrual phase. That's when the period is triggered.
00:08:13
Speaker
that is going to happen when we see a bleed. So there's a drop in all your hormones to cause the bleed to happen, and then that's when you have the shedding of the uterine lining. So that's usually about three to seven days. So when people talk about, okay, my period was like much shorter, that may be two days, right? Or it may be that they were bleeding for 10 days. I always like to say if it happens one time, it's not necessarily something of concern, right? But then once it continues to happen, that's when we want to start to see, okay, what may be going on
00:08:41
Speaker
Let's look at blood work. Let's look at other symptoms. Let's look at stress. Stress is a big thing to cause people to miss their period. And then when we look at the next phase, that's the follicular phase. So it kind of overlaps the menstrual phase. So again, textbook, it's day one to 14. That's when we have FSH that is going to be released from the brain. So that's going to tell the brain to then travel to the ovaries
00:09:04
Speaker
And it's going to stimulate the development of that ovarian follicle. And then that's eventually going to mature and become an egg. And then that's also when estrogen levels are going to start to rise. And then you have the brief period that a lot of people probably know about. So that's ovulation. That's usually around halfway through, so day 14. And that's triggered by a rise in what we know as luteinizing hormones, so LH. That's usually also people who are thinking about fertility are noticing a change in their body temperature.
00:09:33
Speaker
And then lastly, we have the luteal phase. So that's day 15 to about 28. So that's again, once the egg is released, it's going to transform into what's called the corpus luteum. And then that's going to cause progesterone to increase to really prepare the uterine lining for pregnancy. And then if pregnancy doesn't occur, everything drops and you have menstruation again. Okay.
00:09:57
Speaker
interesting a lot more than just kind of like the the bleed that happens so much is so much going on i'm sure it's so much more intricate exactly yep you feel so like what your hormones are are different depending on which cycle you're in
Do Men Experience Cycles Too?
00:10:12
Speaker
Yeah. Oh, yeah. So when I talked about like estrogen rising, that's when you usually feel your best, right? Like if you talk about the kind of like historic days, that's when women were walking around and like you're ready to meet, you're ready to have a child. When everything drops, you definitely don't feel that great. Like your skin's looking different. You're probably feeling more bloated. There's just, yeah, there's a lot of changes there.
00:10:37
Speaker
So if someone has like a really long cycle, which like, you know, which part of the cycle is the longest for them or is it different depending on?
00:10:46
Speaker
Yeah. So it's really different. And then that's where we lean on blood work, um, to understand kind of where they are in their cycle. Cause some people can miss ovulation. So that's when we have to look at numbers and see, okay, where is FSH? Where is LH to really determine where things are? Cause for a lot of people, it's just like, Oh, well you may ovulate around day 14, but if you're not having a 28 day cycle every month, you're either ovulating or missing ovulation completely.
00:11:13
Speaker
It seems like a fairly complicated thing to keep balance. Like as someone who doesn't go through this, I'm just like, man, I can't imagine, I can't, I can barely, you know, manage my own life, let alone balance all my hormones and these cycles and like, and just knowing that everything, I don't know. Do guys go through cycles? No, not in the same manner, not in the same way, I would say. Those are some times in the month, you're like, I'm feeling pretty good. You know, it's like, you know, I'm feeling strong, my test is up.
00:11:43
Speaker
I heard men have 24-hour cycles. I'm not sure if that's entirely true. I would love to learn more about that, so I'm definitely going to research it more. But yeah, I heard it was 24-hour cycles and different hormone dropping and raising and stuff like that. I was going to say, maybe my follicular cycle is right in the morning, I feel like, right when I wake up. That's when you feel terrible? Yeah, that's because you ate a box of pizza pockets the night before and you look all inflamed the next morning.
00:12:19
Speaker
So what are the types of issues that can happen with a period?
Period-related Conditions and Natural Treatments
00:12:26
Speaker
What type of conditions or what throws the period off and what can be done to help correct that or what's being done to treat those types of conditions?
00:12:36
Speaker
Yeah, so I would say the ones that come into practice predominantly are PMS, PMDD, and PCOS. So PMS stands for premenstrual syndrome, and up to 80% of individuals with periods will experience PMS. So that's a combination of physical, emotional, and psychological symptoms that's going to lead up to the days before menstruation. And then we typically see improvement with those symptoms once the bleed begins.
00:13:03
Speaker
So that includes mood swings, like irritability, fatigue, bloating, breast tenderness. And then for some people, it can also impact the way they sleep. And there's a number of different causes that are associated that then will dictate treatment. So it could be high estrogen. It could be high estrogen in relation to progesterone. Progesterone could be low. For a lot of people, it could be inflammation. So those are kind of the key things.
00:13:29
Speaker
With PMDD, so that's premenstrual dysphoric disorder, it's less common. So it actually is quite underdiagnosed, but it's very severe. So there's intense mood shifts. There's irritability that's extreme, severe depression, anxiety. So those symptoms are really going to impact your daily life and they can affect your relationships, your work, your overall wellbeing.
00:13:51
Speaker
And so with PMS, a lot of those causes can be similar, but now we're also looking at thyroid imbalance. We're looking at changes in serotonin signaling. And then lastly, PCOS, which is polycystic ovarian syndrome. So that's gotten a lot of light lately. So that is where individuals hormones levels are affected as well as their metabolism and then the reproductive system.
00:14:12
Speaker
So when we think about the formal diagnosis, we usually are looking at two of three. So someone should have irregular periods, polycystic ovaries on a transvaginal ultrasound, and then elevated levels of androgen. So symptoms like acne, weight gain, excessive hair growth.
00:14:28
Speaker
With PCOS, there's really no one cause that we look at. We know that genetics play a factor. We know that there's diet, gut health. But what I always like to tell people is it's not a death sentence. So just because you have PCOS that runs in your family or even diabetes, that doesn't mean that you have to struggle with it because there's so many natural treatment options that have been well researched.
00:14:52
Speaker
birth control is really not a treatment. I always like to look at birth control for PCOS as something like you're turning down the volume on your body. That's kind of screaming for help. So those are just like top three. But again, there's other conditions like endometriosis, which is probably a whole nother podcast by itself. I feel like my mom had that where she has that. I mean, and that's something else that again, extremely underdiagnosed. And for some people it can take up to seven years to receive a formal diagnosis.
00:15:23
Speaker
You mentioned thyroid issues. What type of symptoms would you get from a thyroid issue?
00:15:31
Speaker
Yeah. So with the thyroid, it's such a small gland in your body, but it plays such a big role. So if your thyroid is slowing down, it's slowing down everything in your body. Right. And so when we talk about the signaling between FSH and LH, which is our brain trying to, you know, tell our ovaries that it's time to menstruate. If your thyroid is slower, that means that your brain is not going to be working as quickly. Um, cause we're trying to kind of take nutrients and put it elsewhere.
00:15:58
Speaker
So if you have an autoimmune condition, if you have something like hypothyroidism, that can impact your menstrual cycle. So what would that, like, what would you look, would that be like a really short period or really long period or is there like other physical aspects that you would be able to see?
00:16:17
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, I don't think you would be able to look at one or the other. It really depends on the individual. Like again, I've seen people with shorter cycles. I've seen people with longer cycles and a lot of people who just miss cycles completely when there's thyroid imbalance. So it really depends on the individual.
00:16:35
Speaker
How much truth is there in period sinking? Is that a real thing? Girls that live together, does that happen? For personal experience, it does. I remember being in university and there were like... Is there any science behind that? It just happens.
00:16:56
Speaker
I don't know if there's I've never looked into the science. I think it was just like, something that we looked at each other. And we knew that if we were going through it that week, we were probably you know, just already synced up because it had been a couple months of us living together. So it does happen. I've never
00:17:15
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. I'm like, I've got two daughters, you know, and like we talked pre-show like nine to 12. I'm like, there's going to be one week a month. I feel like I'm going to have to travel. Or we just find out what we can do to help, right? Like surely there's got to be teams we can help.
00:17:32
Speaker
You know, what are some tips that you can give to us so that we can better manage the women in our lives, you know, like depending on what phase they're in, like what are foods we should be recommending or exercises. I'd love to hear, you know, you mentioned stress too being a factor. Or I travel. Yes. Or we travel. Yeah.
00:17:51
Speaker
I would say stress is a big one, so high levels of stress can actually delay a cycle. Some people may skip their cycle completely, so looking at things like mindfulness or even seeking support. Nutrition, so making sure that your body has the fuel it needs to be able to make these hormones.
00:18:10
Speaker
Looking at your healthy fats, omega-3s, iron, calcium, vitamin B6, magnesium, that's going to support overall hormonal balance because you really want to fuel yourself, right? And then lifestyle, I would say regular exercise, maintaining a healthy weight. With that being said,
00:18:28
Speaker
excessive exercise or even changes that are sudden in weight gain or weight loss can disrupt hormone levels. I've heard that. High-end athletes sometimes don't get periods.
Tracking Menstrual Symptoms
00:18:41
Speaker
What's causing that? What causes that? Number one, it would be the stress response. If your body's constantly in the sense of fight or flight, the last thing it's going to do is going to say, okay, let me think about
00:18:54
Speaker
potentially preparing your body for pregnancy to then support another, uh, like a growing body, right? Um, the other thing would be the way that you eat. So if you're not getting the right amount of nutrients, if you're eating in a certain way, skipping meals. So there's a lot that kind of goes into that, um, that has an impact.
00:19:15
Speaker
There's so much complexity to it, right? Like is there any benefit to like tracking your symptoms or tracking your period or like the length of your period overall or like even like how you felt during your period and then kind of measuring that? You have enough? Is that the thing?
00:19:38
Speaker
I love that. I love when people come in and tell me that they have apps because I feel like, again, they've become really popular. And so some of my favorites are Flow and Clue. At the end of the day, I really don't care what app someone has as long as they're using something to track their cycle.
00:19:53
Speaker
I find that when I'm talking to people, there's this preconceived notion that the only reason they would track their cycle is because they're thinking about getting pregnant and that's so far from true. It is a convenient way to monitor your cycles, but you can also track symptoms and let's face it, most of us don't even remember what we ate for breakfast.
00:20:14
Speaker
So when you're sitting in your doctor's office and they're like, okay, when was your last cycle? I can't remember. So I don't really expect the person in front of me to remember. And that's when they pull out the app. So you have the ability to anticipate your cycle date. Nowadays, a lot of apps can also let you input information like, did you have a bowel movement? Did you have pain? What was your stress level like? Was there alcohol intake that day? So there's a lot more. If you are on any type of birth control methods, you can also put in reminders into the app directly.
00:20:43
Speaker
And then the other issues with your period everybody should do that if you're having like if you get and you're because what a great source of information when you're going to see your naturopathic doctor to say well I don't know and it's like no here's all this data like a ring to
00:21:02
Speaker
You have your temperature and sleep and could give you insights about all that stuff relating to your period? I have. The Oura Ring was really popular a couple of years ago. And I found that it was really helpful. If you love data and you love patterns, it's great. It is quite expensive though. So now I know that there's a daily subscription that people have to pay. So if finances are maybe a little bit tight and you don't have money to put into that,
00:21:32
Speaker
then the app is free and you can use it and it tells you, okay, your period's coming and so you can plan accordingly because the last thing someone wants is you're sitting in a meeting and all of a sudden you're thinking, oh my gosh, did I just get my period and I have a whole day to go? What am I going to do?
00:21:49
Speaker
The app is also really nice too because it has a section, at least my app does, that everyone can ask questions and it's kind of like a community almost. If you're experiencing something, you're like, I don't know. I don't have my naturopathic appointment anytime soon. I need a quick answer. You can kind of look on it and see what other people are experiencing, which is really nice. Yeah. Yeah. I love that.
00:22:11
Speaker
it goes based on your patterns, right? So I noticed if I put in that I'm bloated or that I maybe skipped a bowel movement, it gives you a piece of education to say, okay, learn more. Why did that happen? And a lot of times it is clinicians that are contributing to that community. So it really can aid in that discussion of when you go in to see your naturopathic doctor, it's leading to more informed care.
00:22:37
Speaker
I like the informed carry. It really is empowering people to like take charge of their own health, you know, understand what's going on. My biggest takeaway is if you think there's something going on that that doesn't feel right, track what's going on and go go go see someone that can help.
The Importance of Personalized Care and Naturopathy
00:22:54
Speaker
I think that that's like, you know, if you're feeling a way that you don't think you should, even if people are telling you it's normal, don't don't take that at face value to track, you know,
00:23:05
Speaker
track the symptoms, track what's going on, track what you're eating, which how you're sleeping and and go see somebody that can help because there is help out there and you can feel better. I mean, you might not be able to avoid having a period, but you can make it more comfortable. At least I don't know. That's at least the way I'm seeing it, the way I would approach it, you know, with my my daughters, if something like this happens, it's like, OK, well, let's let's try to take charge of this. Right. Like, let's try to figure this thing out. I don't want to see you suffering. That's the last thing I want to see.
00:23:35
Speaker
Yeah. Don't just sweep it under the rug and be like, well, just deal with it. You know, cause who knows? I imagine if things go, you know, if things don't get checked out, they'll only get worse. Right. So yeah, it's all about advocating for yourself. And it could probably compound other health issues, right? Like it's gotta, if something like, like you mentioned anemia, that one stood out to me right away, but like what other complications can come from not taking care of your period?
00:24:03
Speaker
So I mean, the anemia is a big one for sure. Um, again, when we look at numbers and the range that we see on lab work, it's so broad. So with that being said, if someone is losing a significant amount of blood, um, and it's not necessarily flagged, it may not be flagged because. Right.
00:24:22
Speaker
the numbers that we're looking at are so broad. You probably are then looking at more so fertility concerns. So again, if you are thinking about getting pregnant, that is going to potentially impact if you're not ovulating, if you're not always ovulating. So those are the two big ones that come to mind.
00:24:41
Speaker
Okay. That's cool. So I feel like for a lot of our listeners who are listening, who maybe have some issues, there's things they can do on their own, whether it's managing their stress, cleaning up their diet, exercising, but not too hard, apparently, right? Because we don't want to put your body in a constant state of stress. And if that still doesn't work for some people and they want to like reach out to you or have a conversation, what would be the best way for them to kind of get in touch with you and start that conversation?
00:25:07
Speaker
Yeah, so I am currently accepting new patients. I'm always available to chat on Instagram. People can book a complimentary meet and greet with me. But like you said, I think it's understanding and listening to your body. If your body's telling you that something's wrong, it's probably right and don't take no for an answer.
00:25:28
Speaker
As much as it's not that fun to hear that and then have to start the groundwork again to find another practitioner, there is going to be someone that's going to listen to you. And when it comes to naturopathic medicine, we're really looking at the whole.
Conclusion and Contact Information
00:25:41
Speaker
So yes, you may have problems. We love that. We love that. We love the naturopathic medicine. There's other things going on. We love that. Get to the root cause. Yeah, that's amazing. Exactly. Don't put a bandit on it.
00:25:53
Speaker
No. And with that being said, hey, you can come in, we can look at different modalities, we can look at lifestyle, we can look at stress, but we can also do things like acupuncture, which can really help the cycle, really help with bringing on ovulation. So I always say- My wife did that. My wife did that. And it was like, she had like really, you know, a painful period, I guess painful periods, but she got, she's a traditional Chinese acupuncturist.
00:26:16
Speaker
And it, it helped a ton. I don't know. She gives her this drink to drink as well, like in between, like right before. I don't know. I'm like, if it helps, keep going. Like, you know, I love the amount of personalized care you get with an ND. Honestly, it's so good. Take the time to get to know you and your cycle and offer you like unique solutions to, to your situation, which is so nice. Um, so what is your Instagram exactly? I'll have it in the description, but just for anyone who's just listening. Yeah. So it's just Dr. Sasha Montero. Perfect.
00:26:45
Speaker
So nice and easy. And again, I always say what works for one person may not work for someone else. So taking advice from, you know, your local TikTok influencer could be doing more harm than good. Don't just turn, do not just turn to Google. Dr. Google is not always your friend. Yeah, get your individualized care. I think it'll go along. It's not a one size fits all type thing. No, it's not.
00:27:11
Speaker
And for everyone who made it this far, I'd like to encourage you all again to like the podcast. If you like the podcast and be sure to share it with your friends and family. Thank you again, Dr. Sasha. It was such a pleasure having you on our show. Thank you. Take care.