What to Ask When Your Doctor Dismisses Your Period Problems | Ep. 133

The 100-Day Blueprint to Becoming Fertility-Ready, Bloat-Free & Period-Perfect (9/23, 5pm PT)
👉 Save your seat at www.imhormonal.com/training or CLICK HERE
👉 The first 20 podcast listeners to register will receive personalized feedback from me using the same assessment tools I use with my 1:1 clients. You must join the training live to be eligible for this bonus.

I'm Bridget Walton, a Women's Hormone Coach helping ambitious women ages 25-40 naturally restore hormone balance, fix irregular periods, feel confident in their fertility, and resolve gut health issues without restrictive dieting.

If you struggle with missing periods, PCOS symptoms, bloating, or unpredictable cycles, this women's health podcast will teach you how to support your hormones through strategic nutrition and lifestyle changes that actually fit your busy life.

On I'm Hormonal, you'll discover natural solutions for period problems, learn how gut health impacts your hormones, and get practical hormone balance tips from a functional nutrition perspective - no more guessing what your body needs.

This mini episode gives you concrete ways to advocate for yourself when doctors dismiss your period or gut problems. Learn the specific questions to ask for comprehensive hormone testing (including progesterone timing), what tests can rule out underlying conditions, and how to request specialist referrals. Plus actionable tips for tracking your cycle and symptoms to come prepared with data that gets you taken seriously.

👉 DM us on Instagram @im_hormonal - we want to hear your biggest takeaway
👉 Ready to fix your hormones for good? Start at imhormonal.com/goals
👉 See real client transformations and results at imhormonal.com

The 100-Day Blueprint to Becoming Fertility-Ready, Bloat-Free & Period-Perfect (9/23, 5pm PT)
👉 Save your seat at www.imhormonal.com/training or CLICK HERE
👉 The first 20 podcast listeners to register will receive personalized feedback from me using the same assessment tools I use with my 1:1 clients. You must join the training live to be eligible for this bonus.

Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction to Mini Episode Format
• 1:26 Doctor Dismissal: Your Instincts Are Valid
• 2:30 Tracking Your Cycle Data
• 3:55 Key Questions to Ask Your Doctor
• 7:20 Alternative Practitioners for Root Causes
• 10:03 Exclusive Training Invitation and Closing

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:48

Hello, hello, you are listening to. I'm Hormonal. I'm your host, bridget Walton. This is episode number 133, a mini episode. If you're new to the podcast. I do a kind of full-length episode earlier in the week and then we follow it up with a cute, sweet, tiny mini little bite-sized version later in the week, because you know, we're adults and sometimes we need to hear the same idea twice or in a slightly different way. So that's a little bit about the podcast here this month. We are two years old. We're like are two-year-olds potty training? They probably are right, so we're potty training right now. I think that's where we're at.

Speaker 1: 1:26

But more relevant and more important than that is what we're going to be talking about today, which is what you want to ask your doctor. I mean, I hope that your doctor doesn't dismiss your period problems, but it happens too often. So what to ask when your doctor dismisses your period problems or your gut health problems? This is something that is just yeah, unfortunately. This is something that is just yeah, unfortunately, all too common of an experience. But let me reiterate for you that your instincts about your body are valid. You know, when something feels off, it is really frustrating to be dismissed, but there are ways that you can advocate for yourself. So my hope for you is that, from this episode, you have a couple of specific actions you can take, or questions that you can ask, to do just that and advocate for yourself and get closer to your optimal health, your optimal fertility, your optimal gut health whatever it is that is in the near future than you think for you.

Speaker 1: 2:30

So where I want to start with this is talking about the data. I would really encourage you to track your cycle. So, whether you want to use an app, personally I use Flow. It works great for me. I love the data, the graphs that it can pull up for me with all of the data. So, track your cycle data or track your gut data, whatever is there for you. Do this for probably two to three months or two to three menstrual cycles at least, so that you can see what are some of the trends and patterns. That's the first thing that is going to be helpful, because and check out a previous episode, I think last week's episodes, or two weeks ago I talked about what different cycle lengths kind of mean. Is your cycle really short, is it longer, and what information that can help you glean. So, along with this, make a note of any potential food reactions. Or if you have bloating, what time of day do you feel bloated by? Is there anything that makes it worse or that makes it better? That will be helpful information to go into that conversation with your provider with, or just for you to have, so you can observe what helps and what doesn't help.

Speaker 1: 3:48

Okay, so, data aside, here are a couple of questions that may be well-suited for you to ask. If you're talking with your doctor about hormones and you're talking about doing a hormone panel, I want you to ask them this specifically say, hey, can we run a comprehensive hormone panel that includes progesterone on cycle day 21 or 22? The reason why I'm calling this out specifically is because sometimes your provider may not specify what day of your cycle you need to go to the lab on, and if you want to test progesterone, which is the hormone that's released after you ovulate ie this is a good indicator of whether or not you ovulated and how kind of strong was that ovulation you're going to need to do that at a certain point in your cycle, which is approximately seven days after you ovulate. So there's a little bit of variability there, depending on how long your cycle is? At what point in your cycle you ovulate? But for the most part that would be around cycle day 21. So again, that question would be hey, can we run a comprehensive hormone panel that includes progesterone on or around cycle day 21.

Speaker 1: 5:17

Something else that you could ask is okay, so what could be causing insert specific symptom, what could be causing really heavy periods and what tests can rule out underlying conditions? So, because we know that whether or not you ovulate can impact how heavy your cycle is, let's continue with this example. Well, maybe you want to rule out there being something unusual with your thyroid hormone. Actually, probably a good idea to check your iron if you have really heavy periods too. But that aside, the question here is around what can we do to rule out other underlying conditions or anything that might contribute to this? I would say too another honorable mention, prolactin. If you have irregular or unpredictable cycles, prolactin is one that, when elevated, it's going to throw a wrench in your cycles regularity. So that's the second question I have for you. The third one would potentially be could you refer me to a reproductive endocrinologist or gastroenterologist, somebody who can get more specific and clear on your hormones and your gut health.

Speaker 1: 6:29

Now, all of this being said, too, is that a lot of people out there, right here in these United States, want to use insurance. So if you are somebody who falls within that majority, who wants to use insurance and get the most bang for your buck out of your plan, like that's where these questions, these prompts, might be most bang for your buck out of your plan, like that's where these questions, these prompts, might be most helpful for you, and, believe me, I totally get it. Like, if you're paying for your insurance plan and they can help you to, or you can use your HSA, like, yes, that makes a lot of sense. Now, at the same time, I do like to mention from time to time here on the pod, like I don't use insurance in my practice. Well, because I'm not a licensed medical provider, so that would not be suitable, but that's all to say.

Speaker 1: 7:20

I know that a lot of you out there want to take advantage of that, want to, of course, still learn about your cycle, and so that's kind of where I'm gearing this episode, because these strategies can help you to maximize that relationship. All of that being said, if you have tried these approaches and you still feel unheard, you're not getting the answers that you need, then that could be a point where you would want to consider working with a practitioner who focuses in root causes, right, that's when it's going to become really valuable, so that again you're not focusing on just the symptoms and listen to this week's earlier episode where I talked about this at a bit more length but you're going to really want to focus on the root cause of your imbalance. Is it with your gut health? Is it with your stress? Is it, you know, are you under eating, under nourishing, and that's contributing to it? Is there something else, maybe with your blood sugar, that you can focus on that one cause, foundational area and see so much progress, so much change in the other areas, because it's that one block that knocks all the other blocks down, if you're following me so that's all to say if you are in that situation, then working with, like a naturopathic doctor or a functional medicine practitioner or a hormone coach and holistic nutritionist like myself, who can dig deeper into the why behind your symptoms, that might be what is going to best serve you in the next phase of your hormone balancing or your gut balancing journey. So I hope that was helpful. I hope that gave you a couple of good recommendations. If you put any of these into action and they like worked out really well for you, or if you have questions, then send me a DM on Instagram. You can find me at.

Speaker 1: 9:19

I'm underscore hormonal, and that actually reminded me I had one other thing for you, because there's a resource that I want you to keep in mind, if you're like. Okay, bridget, you gave me three questions to ask. I have a million more questions. Check out Laura Bryden's book, the Period Repair Manual At the end of her book there. Maybe it's available at your local library. Check that out, but she has a ton of pages of questions that you can use as a framework to ask your doctor about whatever it is that you are up against or challenged by. So I think that is a really excellent resource to look into if you want to get a layer deeper than what I've gone through in the last. What nine minutes here.

Speaker 1: 10:05

With all of that being said, my last kind of note for you. Today I have an upcoming exclusive training that I want to invite you to, especially if this resonated with you, especially especially if you are interested in getting to the root cause of your imbalance. One of the things that I'm going to be covering during this training are some of the hormone panels that I use with my clients, which are different, for the most part, from what is going to be available to you through your conventional doctor or through your insurance, and so, if that's something that you have interest in learning about, too, this is going to be a great training for you to attend it. You can go ahead right now. Click the link in the show notes. That'll be either for the wait list or for registration. Registration opens on Saturday, september 13th, and I would love for you to join me If you have been a longtime listener of the podcast and you want some Q&A time with me.

Speaker 1: 11:03

There will be live Q&A time. Even if you're new to the podcast. I would love to hear your questions too, and I have a special offer for those of you, specifically those of you who are listeners of the podcast. This isn't something that's going out on my email list or anywhere else, but if you are one of the first 20 people to hop on the wait list or register for the event, if registration is open, then you will have the opportunity to get personalized feedback from me. What I'm going to do is send you the nutritional assessment, the tool that I use with all of my one-on-one clients, so I can get some context on what is going on with you, and I will send you that personalized feedback so you can have that to have a more like root cause focus and say, okay, what are these foundational aspects that will move the needle the most? So go to the link in the show notes for that, or you can hop on over to my Instagram, which is again at I'm underscore hormonal, to learn more, and again, I would love to see you there.

Speaker 1: 12:10

All right, that's it for today. Again, I'm Bridget Walton, and thank you for listening. If you loved today's episode and got something good out of it, make sure you subscribe so that these episodes show up automatically in your feed. No work needed on your side, let's put it on autopilot. As always, I need to give you my reminder that the information I share with you here is for educational purposes only, and it should not be used as a replacement for medical advice or diagnosis. Now, if you are, on the other hand, in the market for some one-on-one support, then I would love for you to take me up on my offer for a free strategy call. You can find these links and more in the show notes. All right, we'll see you on the next one.