Speaker 1: Hello Sunshine, Hey fam Today on the bright Side, we're
Speaker 1: talking women's health with guynecologists and CEO of Sanctum med
Speaker 1: and Wellness. It's doctor Jessica Shephard. Doctor Shepherd weighs in
Speaker 1: on the growing debate online about birth control and its
Speaker 1: side effects, her holistic approach to medicine, and she also
Speaker 1: shares how we can all be better advocates for our
Speaker 1: health and well being.
Speaker 2: It's Friday, April nineteenth, and Danielle Robe and.
Speaker 1: I'm Simone Voice and this is the bright Side from
Speaker 1: Hello Sunshine.
Speaker 2: Okay, first things first, Taylor Swift's new album is officially
Speaker 2: here the Tortured Poets Department. Here's a primer to get
Speaker 2: you all hyped up if you haven't listened yet. It's
Speaker 2: her eleventh album, Borrow. I can't believe that I've lived
Speaker 2: through eleven Taylor Swift albums.
Speaker 1: Can you know that number is staggering?
Speaker 2: I just remember listening to Taylor Swift in high school
Speaker 2: because teardrops on my guitar would come on and I
Speaker 2: would like cry along with hers about right. So I
Speaker 2: can't believe we're on number eleven. But people online are excited.
Speaker 2: There's some really Dope features Florence and the Machine post Malone,
Speaker 2: and Taylor is always really creative with her marketing. One
Speaker 2: of the fun things that I saw her do is
Speaker 2: she offered a limited run of autographed LPs for fifty dollars.
Speaker 2: LP's meaning like the vinyl version of her album, and
Speaker 2: some fans on social obviously got them and they vanished
Speaker 2: in twenty minutes. I'm surprised they lasted. That long swifties
Speaker 2: are for real. I kind of compare it to like Beatlemania.
Speaker 2: I know that's a crazy comparison, but that's the hysteria
Speaker 2: that goes on.
Speaker 1: I don't think it's that crazy. I mean, there's no
Speaker 1: fandom like the Taylor Swift fandom.
Speaker 2: I feel like Justin Bieber at one moment had like
Speaker 2: a huge fandom like that. Obviously Michael Jackson did, but
Speaker 2: I can't think of many other artists who get people
Speaker 2: this hype.
Speaker 1: But I think Taylor Swift is almost in a league
Speaker 1: of her own because of the lore and the methodology
Speaker 1: that she generates in the easter eggs that she buries
Speaker 1: in any of her public appearances or her wardrobe, and
Speaker 1: then she follows back up on that in the album
Speaker 1: so she really does create a narrative quite unlike most
Speaker 1: artists out there.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think Taylor and Beyonce are really meticulous about
Speaker 2: how they launch albums or collections or anything they do.
Speaker 2: So it's fun to see people that are that dedicated
Speaker 2: to their work.
Speaker 1: Okay, we have some news that is making my millennial
Speaker 1: heart flutter. Nelly and Ashanti are expecting their first baby together. Danielle,
Speaker 1: can we name it?
Speaker 3: Is it the shan Is it the Chantelly Baby?
Speaker 1: I'm really hoping they come up with something better than that.
Speaker 1: So just a little recap on their dating history. I mean,
Speaker 1: they were such a fixture in my childhood in the
Speaker 1: early two thousands, but they dated for nearly a decade
Speaker 1: back then, and then they also broke up for about
Speaker 1: ten years, but reunited in twenty twenty three and they've
Speaker 1: been together ever since. When I saw that they were
Speaker 1: back together, I was just like so overjoyed for them.
Speaker 1: This is Ashanti's first baby at forty three, which I
Speaker 1: love that for her. I love that she's creating a
Speaker 1: family later in life. Such an inspiration. Nelly, who's almost fifty,
Speaker 1: has four kids. He has two from a previous relationship
Speaker 1: along with his late sister's children, whom he adopted in
Speaker 1: two thousand and five after she died of cancer. I
Speaker 1: just learned that these two coming back together starting a
Speaker 1: family together. I mean, this is up there with like
Speaker 1: Jada and Will for me, Freddie Pince Junior and Sia.
Speaker 1: Michelle Geller, what do you mean?
Speaker 2: No, the Jada and Will love Ashanti and Nelly are
Speaker 2: not in that category.
Speaker 3: No, that's crazy, top.
Speaker 1: I completely disagree.
Speaker 2: Maybe Ben and Jed I feel like they're making people
Speaker 2: want to contemplate getting back together with an X.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I could see that. I love their music from
Speaker 1: back in the day, so agree to disagree.
Speaker 2: I keep thinking, like, does the baby come out and
Speaker 2: they put like a little band aid under the eye
Speaker 2: for Nelly.
Speaker 1: If it's a boy, there might be some band aid insignia,
Speaker 1: like sewn into a onesie or something. We'll have to
Speaker 1: wait and see.
Speaker 2: They're definitely gonna have a fresh pair of Air Force
Speaker 2: ones Okay, I'm gonna stop making Nelly puns, but anyways,
Speaker 2: this is.
Speaker 1: Gonna be the freshest little baby out there.
Speaker 2: Okay, this next story is something I'm having a hard
Speaker 2: time talking about it.
Speaker 3: It's straight out of my nightmares. Quite honestly.
Speaker 2: Emma Roberts recently took to Architectural Digest for a home tour.
Speaker 2: I love those videos that they do. I can't believe
Speaker 2: celebrities let us into their houses like that.
Speaker 3: Do you watch these?
Speaker 1: I love this series. I'm obsessed with interiors, So this
Speaker 1: scratches that itch for me.
Speaker 2: Okay, So Emma Roberts did hers and there's an entire
Speaker 2: wall of dolls. I'm talking Barbies, Babies, action figures.
Speaker 3: She says that she.
Speaker 2: Hopes that every night they're gonna come awake and it
Speaker 2: would be so thrilling, truly out of my mine. Do
Speaker 2: you have any dolls in your house? I know you
Speaker 2: have two boys, like, do they like any of those?
Speaker 1: I don't have any dolls.
Speaker 2: No.
Speaker 1: I collect antiques though, I collect vintage furniture.
Speaker 3: Okay, but that's cool, Thank you.
Speaker 1: I appreciate it. You know. I've seen the response online
Speaker 1: to this, and I have to go off for a
Speaker 1: second on a little rant because it bothers me that
Speaker 1: people are making fun of Emma for collecting dolls. Especially
Speaker 1: I've seen some female empowerment accounts who are making fun
Speaker 1: of her for this, and I don't think that that's
Speaker 1: necessarily fair because men collect a ton of stuff too,
Speaker 1: like pocket knives, fighter jet models, cars, action figures, aka
Speaker 1: man dolls.
Speaker 3: I mean it's the same thing so Christmas ornaments.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Like I if she enjoys this and this brings
Speaker 1: her joy, like, let her have her little doll collection.
Speaker 2: So it's hard for me to even imagine collections. I
Speaker 2: grew up in a family that said collections are for museums.
Speaker 2: Everything was like about essentialism. My parents were like anti
Speaker 2: stuff because my dad always said, if you collect stuff,
Speaker 2: then you have to spend money to store it and
Speaker 2: take care of it. And I think my grandfather was
Speaker 2: a depression baby, so it was just like no stuff.
Speaker 2: So I can't personally imagine, like I collect books. Maybe
Speaker 2: that's like the only thing that I have that even
Speaker 2: rivals her doll collection. But I'm with you in terms
Speaker 2: of happiness. I mean, if that's what gives her joy,
Speaker 2: then all power to her.
Speaker 1: There's this meme that's been going around for a little while,
Speaker 1: and it says that your thirties are all about reconnecting
Speaker 1: with the things that you loved in your teenage years.
Speaker 1: And I've been looking for ways to do that intentionally
Speaker 1: in my own life over the past year or so,
Speaker 1: and it has been so fulfilling. It's been so much
Speaker 1: fun to just tap into that childlike mentality and do
Speaker 1: the things that my teenage self loved, Like what like
Speaker 1: going to theme parks with my friends.
Speaker 3: Also a thing of my nightmares, but keep going.
Speaker 1: Like getting ready with my friends again, that's something that
Speaker 1: I feel like you lose in your thirties when you
Speaker 1: grow up, Like that time when you're getting ready in
Speaker 1: the bathroom with your girlfriends. That's such a sacred time
Speaker 1: and it's such a coming of age institution. So I've
Speaker 1: been trying to do that more. That's really fun.
Speaker 3: That's so fun.
Speaker 2: We used to sit on the floor in front of
Speaker 2: like those mirrors that you get at Target for twenty
Speaker 2: bucks and do our makeup and listen to music and
Speaker 2: talk about who we were going to see that.
Speaker 1: Night exactly, talk about your crushes. It's fun.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I agree with you.
Speaker 2: Up next, we're talking women's health and wellness with doctor
Speaker 2: Jessica Shephard.
Speaker 1: We'll be right back, y'all.
Speaker 2: Welcome back, Simone and I are so grateful that our
Speaker 2: next guest is here with us today because you and
Speaker 2: I both have a lot of questions. For weeks, we've
Speaker 2: been seeing people post on Instagram and TikTok that document
Speaker 2: them getting off the pill because of the negative side
Speaker 2: effects that they say that they experience. And this is
Speaker 2: a big part of both of our algorithms now and
Speaker 2: we've been talking about doing this segment like for months.
Speaker 1: It's really hard to watch this discourse take place online,
Speaker 1: not just because you know, of course, we don't like
Speaker 1: to see people in pain, but it's also clear that
Speaker 1: a lot of women don't have the information they need
Speaker 1: before they decide on contraception. And also it feels like
Speaker 1: they're getting gas lit whenever they do complain about their
Speaker 1: issues with contraception. But fortunately we have called in an expert, Danielle,
Speaker 1: We've got Obgin and CEO of sanctum Med. It's doctor
Speaker 1: Jessica Shephard. Welcome to the bright Side. Hi everybody.
Speaker 4: I'm so excited to be here on the bright Side,
Speaker 4: especially with you two amazing women.
Speaker 2: Doctor Shepherd, it is so great to have you here.
Speaker 2: We've been talking about the growing number of social media
Speaker 2: posts on birth control and women are really questioning if
Speaker 2: they want to be on it or not. Where do
Speaker 2: you think this is all coming from and are you
Speaker 2: seeing it in your practice?
Speaker 4: Yeah, you know, I think that there has been a
Speaker 4: lot that we've seen in the last maybe six months
Speaker 4: to a year when it comes to birth control, and
Speaker 4: I think that's because we're just more aware, we're more informed.
Speaker 4: I think the ability for us to have this information
Speaker 4: allows us to say, hey, I actually have a choice.
Speaker 2: Now.
Speaker 4: The backlash of that is that there usually is going
Speaker 4: to be a bad versus good right. That's usually where
Speaker 4: we see everything go with, Well, if you're on it,
Speaker 4: it's bad, and if you're off it, it's good. I
Speaker 4: don't think there's ever perfectly right answer, and so I
Speaker 4: think that's where that comes with the information which we'll
Speaker 4: get in our discussion, for people to actually have a
Speaker 4: choice and be okay with where they fall into if
Speaker 4: they're on or off.
Speaker 1: As a physician an obgyn, I mean, you really are
Speaker 1: the ideal line of defense between information and misinformation. And
Speaker 1: I'm sure a lot of patients are bringing those questions
Speaker 1: into your office. So how do you help patients select
Speaker 1: their birth control in the first place. Yeah, that's a
Speaker 1: great question.
Speaker 4: So going back to just a quick history of like
Speaker 4: when birth control came on the scene in the nineteen forties.
Speaker 4: It was the birth control pill, right, and so it
Speaker 4: wasn't perfect, but it was a great way for women
Speaker 4: to have the choice to prevent pregnancy. So fast forward
Speaker 4: to where we are here in twenty twenty four. Think
Speaker 4: about where we are right now through productive justice and
Speaker 4: how important birth control now is for some people in
Speaker 4: certain states where they live. We're kind of back into
Speaker 4: place almost to like where we were in the nineteen
Speaker 4: forties as far as access and the ability for women
Speaker 4: to make decisions for themselves. The fact is that we
Speaker 4: have so many different varieties types ways that women can
Speaker 4: use birth control, and that's the beauty of it. So
Speaker 4: I usually counsel them on all forms of birth control,
Speaker 4: like literally everything that's out there. People will usually say, oh,
Speaker 4: I'm not taking that, and I dig deeper. I'm like,
Speaker 4: oh well why, and what do you think about it?
Speaker 4: And a lot of times they'll be like, oh, well,
Speaker 4: I didn't really realize that that the information. Now I
Speaker 4: can kind of clear that off the slate and make
Speaker 4: a better decision for myself.
Speaker 1: I can tell you why I haven't been on birth
Speaker 1: control for probably ten years. I mean, when I was
Speaker 1: first taking the pill, I struggled with depression. I did
Speaker 1: not feel like myself. I had suicidal thoughts. It got
Speaker 1: very severe for me. I also tried the neeuver ring
Speaker 1: on my freakin' honeymoon. I got migrains, which I think
Speaker 1: were connected to the neeuverring, And I think this is
Speaker 1: what women are struggling with. It's like, Okay, wait a minute,
Speaker 1: I've had adverse experiences with birth control. I can point
Speaker 1: to three to six other girlfriends of mine who've had
Speaker 1: adverse experiences. How do I sort through the anecdotal evidence
Speaker 1: versus what we really know definitively about birth control.
Speaker 4: I think that's a great place to for many women
Speaker 4: who were listening to being like that was me, Like
Speaker 4: I had something that happened, or I didn't feel like myself.
Speaker 4: Because everyone's feel physiology is so different, so it's very
Speaker 4: hard for me to predict how someone's going to respond
Speaker 4: to a certain form of birth control. So now let's
Speaker 4: go back to the fundamental of are you trying to
Speaker 4: prevent pregnancy or not? And if someone is, I'm like, okay,
Speaker 4: let's go through all the different varieties and let's figure
Speaker 4: out let's tweak something for the birth control pill, say,
Speaker 4: we have so many different varieties in whether it has
Speaker 4: a different amount of estrogen in it, whether it's a monophasic,
Speaker 4: a triphasic, whether it's only progesterone. You know, maybe you're
Speaker 4: responsive to estrogen in a way that is not good
Speaker 4: for you. And I'm like, well, let's try a progesterone
Speaker 4: only pill. And then I would say, even though it's
Speaker 4: a limited list, there are some birth controls that don't
Speaker 4: have hormones. But I do have a lot of patients
Speaker 4: who are like, I hear you, doctor Shepherd. I know
Speaker 4: you have other options. I'm not open to them. I
Speaker 4: just want to be off. And I'm like, great, yeah,
Speaker 4: that's patient autonomy, that's your choice.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: What I'm hearing is that it's not a one size
Speaker 2: fits all approach or solution. I think what's so great
Speaker 2: about the Internet is that men are getting to share
Speaker 2: their stories. But what I'm recognizing is not everybody's body
Speaker 2: is the same.
Speaker 1: One of the reservations that I have about birth control
Speaker 1: is how it manipulates the cycle. And I just feel
Speaker 1: like the cycle is an indicator of overall health for
Speaker 1: the female body, and so can you explain how does
Speaker 1: the pill change the cycle.
Speaker 4: Yeah, so when you look at the phases of your
Speaker 4: menstrual cycle, you have the actual bleed, which is your menstruation, right,
Speaker 4: So that's kind of how we dictate what is day
Speaker 4: one of your cycle is your first day of a bleed,
Speaker 4: and that can last anywhere from five to seven days,
Speaker 4: and then you go to the follicular phase, right, so
Speaker 4: you don't get pregnant. It's like Groundhog's Day. Every month,
Speaker 4: your body is in default to get pregnant, so it's like,
Speaker 4: let's get pregnant, and then it doesn't, and it's like, oh,
Speaker 4: and then every month it's like, let's get pregnant. So
Speaker 4: in birth control, what it's trying to do is prevent
Speaker 4: that actual follicle from releasing during the ovulatory portion, which
Speaker 4: is that just that short timeframe and when you release
Speaker 4: an egg. And so in order for it to do that,
Speaker 4: the way that it does is it the lock up
Speaker 4: a better term, overrides the system, right, and so it's
Speaker 4: overriding what your body is continuing to do where it's
Speaker 4: saying I'm going to decrease, whether it's the lhed surge
Speaker 4: which comes right before ovulation, so that it's not a surge,
Speaker 4: and then the body will be like, oh, well, if
Speaker 4: the LH is not going up, then I'm not going
Speaker 4: to ovulate, And just putting in these subtle points throughout
Speaker 4: the menstrual cycle in order for it to suppress either
Speaker 4: ovulation or not have the endometrial lining which is getting
Speaker 4: ready for that deposited fertilized egg to have the development
Speaker 4: that it usually does.
Speaker 2: In terms of specific side effects for birth control, can
Speaker 2: we go through a few of them and bust some myths?
Speaker 1: Yeah? Do it? Okay?
Speaker 2: Does the pill increase risk of cancer?
Speaker 4: That is a good question. So when we look at cancers, right,
Speaker 4: because it's never just one cancer. It decreases your risk
Speaker 4: of ovarian cancer, it reduces your risk of endometrial cancer.
Speaker 4: Does it increase your risk of breast cancer? Yes, with
Speaker 4: that caveat answer, I always say from a scientist's respective,
Speaker 4: when that answer is yes, you always have to add
Speaker 4: to that. But with what risk, right, because it can
Speaker 4: never just be a yes, it increases your risk or
Speaker 4: breast cancer, which I believe is what we see going
Speaker 4: through kind of like social media. It's like a very
Speaker 4: simple kind of statement, birth control increases breast cancer? When
Speaker 4: we actually look at like the relative risk or the
Speaker 4: absolute risk of what it's going to increase it by,
Speaker 4: it actually is a very small risk of what it's
Speaker 4: going to increase it by. So let me even break
Speaker 4: that down further for you. If you were to take
Speaker 4: all the reproductive organs, including breast, including that into the
Speaker 4: reproductive organs, the most deadly form of reproductive cancers is
Speaker 4: ovarian right. And so when you look at it from
Speaker 4: more of a broad perspective of everything that I do
Speaker 4: in my life, whether it's from a medication perspective, whether
Speaker 4: it's a lifestyle, whether it's walking down the street, is
Speaker 4: a risk. How do I want to kind of prioritize
Speaker 4: that risk in what I'm looking for as an outcome.
Speaker 4: What's important for my health, what's important for my lifestyle.
Speaker 4: That's what I believe is more of the important question.
Speaker 2: And like your family, I'm not good at science, but
Speaker 2: I can imagine family history comes into play. You really
Speaker 2: kind of have to be the CEO of your own.
Speaker 4: Health, absolutely, and family history is an important part.
Speaker 2: Okay, I have two more for you, birth control and infertility.
Speaker 2: Is there a link there?
Speaker 4: We have a lot of studies looking at infertility and
Speaker 4: actual birth control, and it does not increase your risk
Speaker 4: of infertility. And the reason I'll even expound on that
Speaker 4: more is that infertility is caused by multiple factors and
Speaker 4: a lot of times it can be due to the tubes,
Speaker 4: it can be due to the ovary, can be due
Speaker 4: to the uterus, it can be due to the sperm
Speaker 4: right and so there can be a male factor of infertility.
Speaker 4: So when you lump those all together, there has been
Speaker 4: no direct link between birth control causing one of those
Speaker 4: causes of infertility significantly. And the other thing that I
Speaker 4: would say is when we look at actual reasons for
Speaker 4: infertility nowadays, most of that will be two things such
Speaker 4: as pcos endometriosis. And then also we do have a
Speaker 4: higher age at which most women will have children now
Speaker 4: and that significantly increase your risk of infertility.
Speaker 1: Can I ask one follow up question about the infertility?
Speaker 1: Does birth control cause temporary infertility? Not long term, but
Speaker 1: temporary as the cycle is getting back to normal. Is
Speaker 1: there any risk of temporary infertility?
Speaker 4: Depends what kind of birth control you are on, because
Speaker 4: so if it say the IUD, the IUD is what
Speaker 4: we would consider a local form of birth control. So
Speaker 4: once you remove it, it's not there, and so fertility
Speaker 4: is resumed. Birth control pills the one that is in
Speaker 4: you arm, the implanted one. Those ones because they're systemic
Speaker 4: and depending on how long they were used, once you
Speaker 4: come off, it does take some time for it to
Speaker 4: somewhat come out of your system completely, for your system
Speaker 4: to start doing the natural course of the ovulation and
Speaker 4: the menstrual and ludial and follicular phase, for it to
Speaker 4: now say, okay, we're doing full frontal of a cycle
Speaker 4: and I'm ready to get pregnant. So that timeframe is
Speaker 4: different for everyone, So I don't know if I would
Speaker 4: term it like an infertile time. I would say it's
Speaker 4: more of like a resolution time that maybe some people
Speaker 4: are not getting pregnant. But I've had plenty of patients
Speaker 4: who come off and then the next month they get pregnant.
Speaker 4: But I do always make a disclaimer. I'll say, hey,
Speaker 4: coming off birth control, depending on how long they've been on,
Speaker 4: can take up to a year where you might become
Speaker 4: pregnant because of it coming out of your system, which
Speaker 4: I can never dictate how long it would be for someone.
Speaker 2: Okay, the last one that I hear that's very common
Speaker 2: online is weight gain.
Speaker 4: This is where I will personally say I have seen
Speaker 4: people have slight weight gains depending on which one. I
Speaker 4: will say that for people who are on the injectable,
Speaker 4: I do see a significant increase in weight for those patients.
Speaker 4: I would say with birth control pills, it's like a
Speaker 4: five to seven pound difference that I would see in patients.
Speaker 4: That's been validated in studies. But I also think a
Speaker 4: lot of that weight gain too, has to be this
Speaker 4: difference in water retention. I will say that even I
Speaker 4: go through that now, you know, being on the IUD,
Speaker 4: at certain parts of my cycle, I'm like, oh, I'm
Speaker 4: definitely in that phase because I just look different me
Speaker 4: my hand's a bit different.
Speaker 3: In my face also.
Speaker 4: But then it's like the next week you're like, oh
Speaker 4: I am cut this week, and you're like, oh, well,
Speaker 4: I just didn't retain all that water. So the weight
Speaker 4: gain is I think is a very valid point. When
Speaker 4: patients bring that up to me, I do take that
Speaker 4: seriously because they know their body.
Speaker 3: Doctor Shepherd.
Speaker 2: We're going to take a quick break, but when we
Speaker 2: come back, we're talking more specifically about IUDs and the
Speaker 2: videos on social media. Of people recording their IUD procedures.
Speaker 1: We're back, doctor Shepherd. I'd love to have you a
Speaker 1: in on the discussion around IUDs and the pain involved
Speaker 1: with these procedures, because this conversation is popping off on
Speaker 1: Instagram and TikTok right now. Patients are filming themselves getting
Speaker 1: an IUD inserted and removed. But from your perspective, is
Speaker 1: there any reason to believe that the IUD is any
Speaker 1: more problematic or risky than other forms of birth control.
Speaker 4: I will say as a procedure, right, it's a procedure
Speaker 4: that's needed to take it in and also remove it. Granted,
Speaker 4: putting it in is much harder than taking it out.
Speaker 4: Is that it is. I like to put it in
Speaker 4: the category of uncomfortable. There are some people. I mean,
Speaker 4: I've put in thousands because I love IUDs, and so
Speaker 4: I would say, over the course of my fifteen plus
Speaker 4: years of putting it in, I do deposit with this
Speaker 4: is an uncomfortable procedure. If at any moment it goes
Speaker 4: to exquisite or severe pain, I need you to let
Speaker 4: me know. And I think that's where as providers we fault.
Speaker 4: I have heard too many stories from patients where they
Speaker 4: get some type of procedure, whether it's an endometrial biopsy
Speaker 4: an IUD insertion, where there is no conversation about it,
Speaker 4: like we're going to do this, and your legs are
Speaker 4: up and then all of a sudden, there's instruments going
Speaker 4: into your vagina and there is no word about what's happening.
Speaker 4: And so I've heard that, and I think that's where
Speaker 4: it becomes very painful, because there's no conversation about it.
Speaker 1: Well, that's one of the questions that people are raising
Speaker 1: right now online. Should there be more anesthesia around this procedure?
Speaker 1: What do you think?
Speaker 4: I think that if patients pain tolerance, okay, is very subjective,
Speaker 4: and that's why I'm talking about pain in this category
Speaker 4: of where between the two of you, you guys could
Speaker 4: have the same experience of an uncomfortable or painful situation
Speaker 4: and report it completely different. Right.
Speaker 1: And so there are.
Speaker 4: People who know I don't have a good pain tolerance,
Speaker 4: and I'm like, great, thank you for letting me know.
Speaker 4: I may give you an injection of lytocine into your
Speaker 4: cervix to help with the insertion.
Speaker 1: Okay.
Speaker 4: There are some people who are like, you know what
Speaker 4: I'm okay, let's try to let's go. I walk them
Speaker 4: through it. I tell them when the most uncomfortable portion
Speaker 4: is coming up. I also let them know at any
Speaker 4: time during this procedure, if you feel it's getting to
Speaker 4: a level where this is now really intolerable pain, you
Speaker 4: have to let me know.
Speaker 1: I think that we.
Speaker 4: Do need to take a step back as healthcare providers
Speaker 4: to give a voice to patients, to allow them to
Speaker 4: express what they may be feeling, what they're going through,
Speaker 4: to be heard, especially women. One thing that we have
Speaker 4: not brought up in that conversation is again going to
Speaker 4: the intimacy of that actual kind of interaction, and for
Speaker 4: women who have maybe had some issues or maybe some
Speaker 4: exchanges or even assaults or trauma in their previous life
Speaker 4: and now something going on down there where there's not
Speaker 4: a lot of conversation that can trigger a lot of anxiety,
Speaker 4: which can heighten pain. It can trigger a lot of
Speaker 4: tense moments in the body that can trigger much more
Speaker 4: pain that's felt. So I think again bringing it back
Speaker 4: from the patient perspective, am I okay? And then for
Speaker 4: providers to be a little bit more astute to saying
Speaker 4: are you okay? Is this something that is outside of
Speaker 4: this experience that maybe needs to be attended to before
Speaker 4: we actually go through with this procedure.
Speaker 2: I took a college course about women's health that revolutionized
Speaker 2: my life, and one of the things that I learned
Speaker 2: that I realized a lot of women don't know is
Speaker 2: that during any procedure that you're having, your obgin should
Speaker 2: be talking you through it and saying, I'm inserting this,
Speaker 2: this is going to be cold.
Speaker 3: And that actually cold ever warning about HL, but talking
Speaker 3: you through it really helps.
Speaker 2: And I think that's something that people should know to
Speaker 2: expect and if you're not getting it, you should ask
Speaker 2: for it.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 4: I think that patients can stop us.
Speaker 1: What are you doing?
Speaker 4: What's going on?
Speaker 3: Yeah?
Speaker 1: And sometimes we're not heard because we don't know what
Speaker 1: questions we should be asking. So, doctor Shepherd, what questions
Speaker 1: should patients be asking their doctor when they're considering changing
Speaker 1: to a new type of birth control or experimenting with
Speaker 1: one in the first place.
Speaker 4: I think they should know what does it do? I
Speaker 4: think the questions that you asked previously on like how
Speaker 4: does it actually work? Because think about it's such an
Speaker 4: umbrella term birth control, right yet there's like what seven
Speaker 4: to ten different types of birth control? What are the
Speaker 4: different types, how do they work? And do you think
Speaker 4: this is a good fit for me?
Speaker 2: Right?
Speaker 4: I think those are valid questions to ask. I always
Speaker 4: say to patients, you know, if you feel that you
Speaker 4: get to the end of your appointment, which again is
Speaker 4: all short, and you know, cut off, that you didn't
Speaker 4: get all your questions answered, then don't make a decision
Speaker 4: in that time. Were the CEO of our health? Being
Speaker 4: the CEO requires doing research and saying for me as
Speaker 4: a person in the journey that I am in the
Speaker 4: time and space where I am and why I'm wanting
Speaker 4: to get this certain thing at the doctor's office, I
Speaker 4: have to do the work as well. I have to
Speaker 4: do the work.
Speaker 1: Well, that's where I'm really enjoying learning more about functional medicine.
Speaker 1: For anyone who doesn't know, functional medicine is a form
Speaker 1: of alternative medicine that focuses on identifying the root causes
Speaker 1: of disease and pain and doctor Shepherd, you studied at
Speaker 1: the Institute for Functional Medicine. So what is it that
Speaker 1: appeals to you about functional medicine and where do you
Speaker 1: see it offering an alternative to traditional Western approaches.
Speaker 4: Yeah, that is, you know, a great way to segue
Speaker 4: into how I practice Now. You know, I started a
Speaker 4: very evidence based academic medicine and just over the years,
Speaker 4: I've really allowed myself to step back and say, how
Speaker 4: can I serve my page in another way where they're
Speaker 4: more a part of the actual diagnosis and management of
Speaker 4: their body. And that's where functional medicine comes in, because
Speaker 4: it's behavioral change. Yep, it's lifestyle changes, which to me
Speaker 4: has been the hardest part of practicing medicine is because
Speaker 4: I will say, I know why this is happening from
Speaker 4: a functional standpoint, and here's how we can do this together.
Speaker 4: But you're going to have to do some of this
Speaker 4: work because it requires a lot of different changes.
Speaker 1: Can you give us an example of some of those
Speaker 1: lifestyle changes? If a patient came to you seeking out
Speaker 1: a functional medicine approach, what kind of lifestyle changes would
Speaker 1: you prescribe in order to minimize painful periods or regulate hormones?
Speaker 4: Absolutely, so, when we look at that actual cycle that
Speaker 4: we went through earlier in the different phases, is being
Speaker 4: very in tune with your body. So knowing when you're
Speaker 4: going through those different phases, and then in that is
Speaker 4: adjusting whether it's sleep, whether it's the type of exercise
Speaker 4: that you do, whether it's the type of food that
Speaker 4: you eat. So I do believe that nutrition is one
Speaker 4: of the most important pillars of health, but in a
Speaker 4: conjunction with now how your body regulates and how your
Speaker 4: body changes the intake that you get through food according
Speaker 4: to your cycle. That's like a revolutionary science that really
Speaker 4: requires you to listen to your body, to understand your body,
Speaker 4: and to pushing through those hard times initially when you
Speaker 4: start to make those behavioral changes, because your body is
Speaker 4: always going to want to revert back to what it
Speaker 4: does naturally or what it's been doing forever, and so
Speaker 4: that push through really is where you're going to get
Speaker 4: the benefit. I've noticed for patients who have endometriosis, when
Speaker 4: we're actually able to restrict some things from their diet,
Speaker 4: they do see some changes in how they have pain
Speaker 4: or The best thing also is what we're able to
Speaker 4: do with our mind. I'm very big on mindfulness and
Speaker 4: the ability to mitigate and get through pain through our minds.
Speaker 4: But again that's a lot of work and a lot
Speaker 4: of what we see in Eastern medicine. But the ability
Speaker 4: to do that is there, and I firmly believe that.
Speaker 2: I have one last question before you leave. I want
Speaker 2: you to talk about your philosophy as a physician.
Speaker 4: Yeah. My philosophy really is I want people to be
Speaker 4: their best advocate and really tune into what do I
Speaker 4: want as the best outcome for myself in health because
Speaker 4: I do believe that health is your best currency. You
Speaker 4: are the one who gets to decide what you want
Speaker 4: to show up with in twenty thirty years from now,
Speaker 4: and so having a team on your side from a
Speaker 4: medical perspective, from health advocacy perspective, and from who you
Speaker 4: surround yourself with and how they believe in health truly
Speaker 4: is going to form and weave this lifestyle for you
Speaker 4: in health and wellness and to give you the best
Speaker 4: outcome and to help build a legacy in health because
Speaker 4: we have nothing butter health in the end, and you
Speaker 4: have to be willing to do the work in order
Speaker 4: to get that amazing outcome of impeccable quality of life.
Speaker 2: Yes, well said, thank you for your time and for
Speaker 2: your great work.
Speaker 1: Also, doctor Shepherd, I have to mention obgu I N's
Speaker 1: are heroes in my eyes, but specifically black obg I n's.
Speaker 1: I chose a black O BG in to deliver both
Speaker 1: of my babies because I felt scared and unsafe about
Speaker 1: the conditions that exist for black women in the medical system,
Speaker 1: especially as they're giving birth. Makes me emotional to talk
Speaker 1: about it. But thank you for pursuing this work and
Speaker 1: answering the call.
Speaker 4: Thank you, I really appreciate that because it's rough out
Speaker 4: here in these streets. You know, it's not many of us,
Speaker 4: and the calling is like so intense because we see
Speaker 4: it and then we look at the force that we
Speaker 4: have and we're like, there's only so many of us.
Speaker 4: How do we actually like accommodate this great need?
Speaker 1: Yea?
Speaker 4: And it sometimes it's heartbreaking because you're like, I can't
Speaker 4: get to everybody and I want to, and how do
Speaker 4: we do this? So thank you for those words, because
Speaker 4: you know, we have little groups of like obgyn's and
Speaker 4: we talk and you know, we go through some of
Speaker 4: the times that we hear of tragedies and we're just like,
Speaker 4: I don't understand why it keeps happening, you know. So
Speaker 4: it's very heartbreaking and from a standpoint of people who
Speaker 4: do it as their work, but we can't fix it. Yeah,
Speaker 4: sometimes it's hard, but.
Speaker 1: You are fixing it just by existing. Like just knowing
Speaker 1: that I can seek out a black obgyn and I
Speaker 1: can feel safe with her, feel safe with someone like you.
Speaker 1: That is part of the solution.
Speaker 4: I appreciate that.
Speaker 1: Doctor Shepherd. Thank you so much for coming here and
Speaker 1: bringing honesty. I actually love that you were like, listen,
Speaker 1: there's not always going to be a clear answer to
Speaker 1: this question. There is nuance here, and that's so important.
Speaker 1: I'm someone who exists in the nuance. I seek it out.
Speaker 1: I appreciate it, and I'm so happy that you brought
Speaker 1: that to our show. So thank you for having me.
Speaker 4: I love this conversation.
Speaker 1: Jessica Shepherd is an obgin and the founder and CEO
Speaker 1: of Sanctum med and Wellness.
Speaker 2: Okay, before we wrap today's show, I just want to
Speaker 2: say that doctor jess is a.
Speaker 3: Unicorn to me.
Speaker 1: What do you mean by that?
Speaker 2: I find her to be one of the most smart,
Speaker 2: thoughtful doctors that I've ever interviewed, and I've interviewed it
Speaker 2: done and she just I love her holistic approach to
Speaker 2: medicine and to science and to our bodies. The functional
Speaker 2: medicine approach is something I think we both love.
Speaker 1: I really appreciate a doctor who refuses to stay stale
Speaker 1: in the past. She is constantly growing and evolving and learning.
Speaker 1: I mean, she studied at the Institute for Functional Medicine,
Speaker 1: so she is constantly seeking out new approaches to her
Speaker 1: field and what she does and looking for ways to
Speaker 1: better serve our patients. For me, the biggest takeaway from
Speaker 1: that conversation is to be your own best advocate, and
Speaker 1: that is the cornerstone of her philosophy as a physician.
Speaker 1: And I just think that that's so important whatever kind
Speaker 1: of medical treatment you are seeking, you know, whether you're
Speaker 1: looking for birth control, whether you are you know, recovering
Speaker 1: from some sort of trauma, whether you're giving birth.
Speaker 2: Yeah, And I also think that our lives are so cluttered,
Speaker 2: we're consuming so much. There's so much information that it's
Speaker 2: really hard to take the time to be the CEO
Speaker 2: of your own health, Like our health is like number one.
Speaker 2: So I like that reframe. I like taking responsibility for
Speaker 2: your own health. And I love what you said at
Speaker 2: the end of that interview in terms of seeking out
Speaker 2: a black OBGYN. Doctor Shepherd has been so committed to
Speaker 2: creating safe spaces for patients and for women. She even
Speaker 2: started her own practice, Sanctum Met and Wellness. I'm just
Speaker 2: grateful for people like her.
Speaker 1: Anyone who is her patient. So lucky, yests Danielle. I
Speaker 1: am so stoked to report that we are going to
Speaker 1: be making this a regular thing. We're going to have
Speaker 1: on a women's health expert about once a month to
Speaker 1: answer our health questions and take care of some very
Speaker 1: crucial myth busting for us. So send us an email
Speaker 1: or a voice note with your questions to Hello at
Speaker 1: the bright sidepodcast dot com.
Speaker 3: On Monday.
Speaker 2: We are manifesting big love. I'm not just talking about me,
Speaker 2: I said, we on purpose. We have the privilege of
Speaker 2: speaking to Catherine Woodward Thomas, author of the New York
Speaker 2: Times bestselling book Calling in the One seven Weeks to Attract.
Speaker 3: The love of your life. It is a must listen.
Speaker 3: The bright Side is a production of Hello.
Speaker 2: Sunshine, and iHeart Podcasts and as executive produced by Recons Witherspoon.
Speaker 1: Production by Arcana Audio. Courtney Gilbert is our associate producer.
Speaker 1: Our producers are Stephanie Brown and Jessica Wank. Our engineer
Speaker 1: is PJ. Shahamat and our senior producer is itsy Qinthenia Our.
Speaker 2: Conna's executive producers are Francis Harlowe and Abby Ruzka.
Speaker 3: Arcana's head of production is Matt Schultz.
Speaker 1: Natalie Tulluck and Maureen Polo are the executive producers for
Speaker 1: Hello Sunshine.
Speaker 2: Julia Weaver is the supervising producer, and Ali Perry is
Speaker 2: the executive producer for iHeart Podcasts. This week's episodes were
Speaker 2: recorded by Graham Gibson.
Speaker 1: Our theme song is by Anna Stump and Hamilton lighthauser.
Speaker 2: Special thanks to Connell Byrne and Will Pearson.
Speaker 1: That's it for today's show. I'm Simone Boyce. You can
Speaker 1: find me at Simone Voice on Instagram and TikTok.
Speaker 2: I'm Danielle Robe on Instagram and TikTok. That's ro b
Speaker 2: a y See you Monday, fam, See you later.