Have you ever felt like you're always tired and have no energy?
Midlife women are more prone to feeling exhausted and fatigued, but the new episode of The Hormone Prescription Podcast is here with all the answers. Tune in to hear our special guest, Dr. Evan Hirsch, discuss the one thing that could revolutionize your life and get you back on track when it comes to energy levels!
Evan H. Hirsch, MD, is a world-renowned fatigue & Long Haulers expert and is the Founder & CEO of the International Center for Fatigue. Through his best-selling book, podcast, and international online programs (that can be accessed from everywhere), he has helped thousands of people around the world resolve their chronic fatigue & Long Haulers symptoms naturally, and is on a mission to help 1 million more. He has been featured on television, podcasts, and summits, and when he's not at the office, you can find him singing musicals, dancing hip-hop, and playing basketball with his family.
In this episode, you'll learn:
- What is the “one thing” that can help you finally get back on track with your energy levels
- How to recognize fatigue and be proactive in addressing it
- Tips for managing stress, getting adequate rest, and leading a balanced lifestyle
- And more!
Don't miss out on this exclusive episode of The Hormone Prescription Podcast with Dr. Evan Hirsch, and finally get the answers you've been looking for to resolve your fatigue once and for all! Tune in today and take back control of your energy levels.
(00:00): If you wanna learn how to play the piano, you hire a piano coach. If you wanna learn how to increase your energy, you hire an energy coach. Whatever you want to do in life, hire a coach to guide you there faster and safer. Dr. Evan Hirsch this and more in this episode. How to Get rid of Your Fatigue.
(00:22): So the big question is, how do women over 40 like us keep weight off, have great energy, balance our hormones and our moods, feel sexy and confident, and master midlife? If you're like most of us, you are not getting the answers you need and remain confused and pretty hopeless to ever feel like yourself again. As an O B G gyn, I had to discover for myself the truth about what creates a rock solid metabolism, lasting weight loss, and supercharged energy after 40 in order to lose a hundred pounds and fix my fatigue, now I'm on a mission. This podcast is designed to share the natural tools you need for impactful results and to give you clarity on the answers to your midlife metabolism challenges. Join me for tangible, natural strategies to crush the hormone imbalances you are facing and help you get unstuck from the sidelines of life. My name is Dr. Kyrin Dunston. Welcome to the Hormone Prescription Podcast.
(01:15): Hi everybody. Welcome back to another episode of the Hormone Prescription with Dr. Kiran. I'm so glad that you decided to join me. Today we're talking about fatigue and some of you still haven't solved your fatigue problems from last year that you had because you don't know what to do. I get it. So this is why I wanted to have my gift on today because fatigue is universal. The majority of people actually will go through periods of time in their lives where they are more tired than they think they should be and they don't have their energy restored from rest. It's very common. It's actually more common among women over 40. So that's why we're gonna talk about it. It's usually an often associated with weight problems, weight and fatigue. Problems go hand in hand because of the way the body functions. And if you stick with me long enough, I will teach you about that interaction.
(02:08): And my guest today really has drilled down on fatigue and has helped so many people to fix their fatigue. You know, fatigue was such a big part of my life before I got on my healing journey over a decade ago, that there were times where all I had the energy to do was work and sleep. So even though I was a, a mom and a wife and had, you know, so many other roles in my world, I really only had energy for two things. And I was sleeping and working. So all my relationships suffered and my self-esteem suffered. My relationship with myself suffered. It was really a hard time. And maybe you can relate, maybe it's not that severe for you, maybe it's more subtle. But if you take a look at your energy level compared to when you were 20, I think that's a great gauge.
(03:00): You really should be able to have the same level of energy at 60, 70, 80 that you did at 20. There's no reason that you can't have that. But you gotta know what to do to avoid the deterioration that the majority of people succumb to cuz they don't know and they think it's quote unquote normal for them to get tired as they age. So they just accept it. They don't know what to do about it. Unfortunately, mainstream doctors aren't taught this either. So Dr. Evan and I are gonna dive into it nitty gritty, what do you need to look at? What do you need to start working on with your fatigue? I will say it's simple and straightforward, the steps you need to take. And most people do best with a guide, a learned guide to do this process because there are some intricacies. So I'll say it's simple, not necessarily easy.
(03:53): But for those of you who are like, I'm sick and tired of feeling this way, we've got the steps. So I'll tell you a little bit about Dr. Evan and then we'll get started. Evan Hirsch is an md, he's world renowned fatigue and long hauler's expert. He's the founder and c e o of the International Center for Fatigue. Through his bestselling book podcast and international online programs that can be accessed from everywhere, he has helped thousands of people around the world resolve their chronic fatigue and long hauler symptoms. Naturally she is on a mission to help 1 million more. He's been featured on television podcast summits and when he is not at the office you could find him singing musicals cause he has the energy to do that, dancing, hip pop, and playing basketball with his family. Welcome Dr. Evan Hirsch to the podcast. Thanks
(04:38): So much for having me on. Dr. Kyrin,
(04:40): Really happy to talk about fatigue again because this is something that people are really struggling with now more than ever. I think we've come out of lockdown. People might have been a little hesitant at first, but now it seems like everyone's on full tilt trying to make up for lost time. And a lot of people are hitting a wall, especially if they got covid, they're really hitting a wall. I have some colleagues and friends who are in that situation. So I think it's very timely. Why is this such a big issue for us in this new year? More than it has been before?
(05:16): Yeah, so my perspective as a functional medicine and environmental medicine physician is really one about the total body burden. And as we go through life, we accumulate things. Sometimes it's physical things like heavy metals or chemicals or molds or infections. Sometimes it's mental. Maybe we get, you know, a lot of news, a lot of negative things coming into our minds. Maybe we've had trauma. So that kind of bleeds over into the emotional, maybe it's spiritual, like we're not living our path. And when you get all of those things together, like the the instability that we've seen over the last few years, whether it's financial, whether it's physical or health wise, it all accumulates and then it makes it harder for people to manage their daily lives. And all of this going on with the difference between what happened when we were growing up where you could have a one income household now where you need two income households, right? So then there's more stress at home and there's more challenges raise raising children. And people are wondering why is it harder now? And it's just this accumulation of things over time. And so that's why it's so important to have practices and to take time for making sure that you're being as intentional as possible with your life.
(06:33): It is so important to make sure you're being intentional and taking time. Everybody knows you probably need to change your diet, you might need to take some supplements, you probably need to change what you're eating. But I would just wanna highlight what you're saying because I think that that's the piece that everybody misses. Like nobody's willing to slow down and sit their butt down and actually meditate, right? Nobody's willing to, you know, start saying, no, I can't host that pta, you know, committee no to this start saying no and really change the way they live their lives. So maybe we even start with that because I think it's the simplest thing that you listening you could start doing making changes to that today and it would start to impact your energy level. So can we talk a little bit more about that? What are some key factors in that lifestyle component?
(07:32): Absolutely. And you know, I just got so excited what I heard you say no because this is one of the really big things that I love to chat about. You know, Warren Buffet said that people who say no a lot are really successful and people who say no all the time are the most successful. And the reason why this is, is because when you're saying no to something, you're saying yes to something else, right? And so if you're saying no to that p t a meeting, you're saying yes to spending more time with your family potentially, right? And so that's one thing that we have to balance. And I was actually talking with a couple of colleagues this morning about values and figuring out what your values are. And for me, a major value that I have is fun. But guess what happens when I chart out what I'm doing during my day, I'm working from this time to this time I am doing helping out at home with this and this whatever. It's like where is the fun If, if one of my top priorities is fun and I don't have fun for like a half an hour every single day, guess what? I'm not gonna be fulfilled. Right? So it's just really important to take a look at that and say and realize that, okay, what do you wanna say yes to? And if you're saying yes to that thing, what do you have to say no to in order to make sure that you're saying yes to that thing?
(08:50): I think that's so important. Everybody listening knows that I went on this four month trip to Africa and I have to tell you it was one of the most beautiful things ever because number one, people knew I was outta the country. So they didn't ask me to do stuff . And especially at the holidays when it can be so time consuming. It was so refreshing to not have a Christmas tree, not have to do all the things around the holidays that you do in the US And I just had the most relaxing time. And I think that I've brought that back with me so that next year I have a like neurologic memory of what it feels like to do the holidays calmly and insanely and mindfully. And I'm gonna do it the same. So yes, saying no is huge. I think it's one of the hardest things for women to do.
(09:39): I know it has been hard for me, but it's hard one over the years that now. And I love, oh gosh, who was it I heard say, was it Marie Forlio who says, she says, my automatic response now is no. And then she says, but I always reserve the right to come back later and change it after I think about it. But it's so much harder to think in the moment, do I wanna do that? Do I not wanna do that? And so if you just say, no, I'm sorry I can't, if that changes, I'll get back to you. Bingo. You, you've given yourself time to think about it, right? Yeah.
(10:11): I had Cassie Bjork on my podcast a couple months ago and she used a similar phrase. It was, I'm unavailable for that right now.
(10:20): Yes, right. Which
(10:22): Is so good. It's just like I'm unavailable for that right now.
(10:26): Yes. And I'm available for my epso salt bath and you know, cuddling with my kitty cat. So I challenge everyone listening to just say no to a few things today. Just try it out and see what happens. And let's dive a little bit deeper though, cause Covid has come and I had it. I don't Did you have it? I haven't had it, yeah. Lucky you. I got it. I did think I was gonna die and then I did recover, but for a few weeks I was extremely tired. I have a very good friend who has had chronic fatigue for over a year now. Ever since she had it, her hair has fallen out and she's really struggling. So let's maybe talk to the people who have legitimate medical things. Not that the things we were talking about aren't legitimate medical cause they do affect your hormones, everybody listening, your cortisol, your progesterone, everything, thyroid, insulin. But let's get into a little bit talking about covid.
(11:26): Absolutely. So unfortunately what we're seeing right now is very high percentage of people who get covid and get five or so symptoms when they have covid, even if they're very mild, about a third of those people can potentially move on to having persistent symptoms or long covid or long haulers, whatever you want to call it. And so that's a tremendous amount. You know, if you're looking at a a billion people, which is about the number of people, people who've had covid, you know, it's, if you're looking at 10% of that, that's a hundred million. It's just, and so we're talking about like the size of the United States. 300 million is really what's projected once everybody has covid. So I don't think a billion people have had it, but that's like the projection of where it's going. So that's like the size of United States of people who would have persistent symptoms.
(12:14): Now there's over 200 different symptoms that people can end up having that will persist. So pretty much any new symptom that you have after a cold could potentially be long covid. And we actually have a long covid quiz on our website for those who are interested. But it's a big problem. And some of the reasons why people are, are not getting the help that they need is because you go to your local covid clinic and you've got a GI doctor to help you with your diarrhea and you've got a pulmonologist there to help you out with your shortness of breath and you've got a cardiac doctor there, cardiologist to help you out with your heart palpitations. But the reality is, is that it's all from a persistent infection. So the virus gets inside your body and coupled with a number of these other causes that we're gonna talk about ends up causing problems, bypassing the immune system and ends up causing inflammation. Depending on where it is in the body, it'll cause different symptoms. And so if you're looking at getting at the root cause, you have to make sure that you're actually addressing the virus that is persisting in the body.