793. REPLAY: How To Improve Your Cortisol Response

For two weeks a month you feel steady, capable, and grounded, and then somewhere around day 17 a switch flips. A wave of anxiety rolls in that you cannot shake. By day 20 it is a low sense of dread, like a thundercloud parked over you that was not there before. By day 25 your husband slams a cupboard the way he always does, and instead of a mild eye roll you go from zero to a thousand. Then your period starts, the cloud lifts, and you feel like yourself again, until the next month does the exact same thing. In this episode I explain why this pattern repeats, the real difference between PMS and PMDD, and why the luteal phase that is supposed to calm you down can end up doing the opposite. I get honest about why "it's just your hormones" is dismissive and wrong, how progesterone is meant to switch on the calming system in your brain, and why that same system can backfire and leave you feeling the opposite of calm, especially as your hormones get more erratic in your 40s. If your symptoms are timed to your cycle and getting worse year over year, that is your signal that there is a whole system underneath that needs support, not a personality flaw and not something to ride out. When you are ready to find out what is actually driving it and get a step-by-step roadmap built from your own labs, book a free call with my team. 👉 Schedule your free call here: https://calendly.com/dr-beth-westie/program-discovery-call 👉 Download your FREE Hormone Cascade Map here: https://dr-beth-westie.mykajabi.com/hormone-cascade-map

You have eaten the same yogurt bowl every morning for months. Then, one random Tuesday you eat it again, same bowl, same time, and suddenly you're painfully bloated, your face is flushed, your head is pounding, and a wave of anxiety hits. So, you start a food journal. You cut the berries, then the yogurt, then the coffee, and nothing changes. In this episode I explain why this can be a histamine response, and why estrogen and histamine feed off each other in a loop almost no one talks about. This one is personal for me because I live with it. I get into my own history, from being told for years that I was not allergic to anything to reacting so badly to a single mosquito bite that I wake up scratching in the middle of the night. I also cover why a food sensitivity test is not always the right first step, and the simple daily habit I use to help my body clear histamine out. If you are tired of going from specialist to specialist without anyone connecting the dots, grab my FREE Hormone Cascade Map in the show notes to see how it all links together. And when you are ready to find out whether estrogen is driving your histamine, book a call with my team. 👉 Schedule your discovery call here: Discovery Call 👉 Download your FREE Hormone Cascade Map here: Hormone Cascade Map

It's 3AM and you are wide awake, more alert than you have felt all day, your brain racing through tomorrow's to-do list while you count how many minutes of sleep you might still get. In this episode I explain why so many women snap awake in the middle of the night, and why it often traces back to your cortisol rhythm, your melatonin, and the way progesterone and estrogen shift in perimenopause. If you are tired of running in circles and want to understand what your body actually needs, grab my FREE Hormone Cascade Map in the show notes to see how your hormones all connect. And when you are ready for the next step, book a call with my team to talk through where you are at and how to get your system working better for you. Schedule your discovery call here: https://calendly.com/dr-beth-westie/program-discovery-call Download your FREE Hormone Cascade Map here: https://dr-beth-westie.mykajabi.com/hormone-cascade-map

Have you been doing everything right, cutting out the sugar, never missing a workout, counting every calorie, and still watching the scale creep up while your energy and sleep get worse? In this episode, I'm explaining why "eat less, move more" can backfire once your hormones shift in perimenopause and menopause, and what insulin resistance may have to do with the weight that feels stuck around your midsection. If you're tired of being told to just eat less and you're ready to test the right things, book a call with my team to talk through what you've tried, what hasn't worked, and the best next step for your body. And don't forget to grab my FREE Metabolic Testing Guide in the show notes, where I list the exact labs to start with. Books I mention in this episode (I'm not affiliated with any of these authors, I just love the information): 📚 Doing Harm by Maya Dusenbery 📚 Pain and Prejudice by Gabrielle Jackson 📚 Invisible Women by Caroline Criado Perez 👉 Schedule a call with my team here: https://calendly.com/dr-beth-westie/program-discovery-call 👉 Download your FREE Metabolic Testing Guide here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1kYdj9pqO6e9VX9nvXDnL2WxaTkVtBWZO/view?usp=sharing

When you're exhausted, foggy, losing hair, and feeling like something is off, it's easy to hear "your labs are fine" and start doubting yourself. In this episode, I'm walking you through the iron deficiency signs that so often get missed, like chewing ice, restless legs, and air hunger, and why a normal hemoglobin does not always mean your iron is actually fine. I'm also getting honest about my own years of being iron deficient, the wild clinical story that changed how I think about absorption, and why simply taking more iron may not move the needle if something deeper is going on. If you're ready to stop guessing and finally understand what your labs are telling you, join me for my FREE Ferritin Workshop on Tuesday, August 18th at 7PM Central. I'll go deeper into testing, thyroid, and gut absorption, and answer your questions live. Can't make it live? Register anyway and I'll send you the replay. Zero commitment, completely free. 👉 Register for the free Ferritin Workshop here: https://dr-beth-westie.mykajabi.com/the-ferritin-workshop 👉 Schedule your discovery call here: https://calendly.com/dr-beth-westie/program-discovery-call 👉 Download your FREE Hormone Cascade Map here: https://dr-beth-westie.mykajabi.com/hormone-cascade-map

I've read over a thousand labs from women who were told they were "fine"—their numbers looked great, yet they were completely exhausted. The problem? The tests that actually explain chronic fatigue usually aren't the ones being run at your doctor's office. In this episode, I'm sharing the five patterns I see behind exhaustion again and again, the exact labs to test for, and the order I typically see them show up in—from ferritin and thyroid to blood sugar, cortisol, and B12. If you're tired of guessing and want to finally patch the right holes in the right order, head to the show notes to grab my free guide or click the link to schedule a call with my team.   👉 https://calendly.com/dr-beth-westie/program-discovery-call 👉 Download your FREE Hormone Cascade Map here: https://dr-beth-westie.mykajabi.com/hormone-cascade-map  

If I had just 30 days to fix your sleep, I wouldn't hand you a melatonin or tell you to meditate harder. Perimenopause sleep doesn't break in one place—it breaks in a sequence, and that 2 a.m. wide-awake jolt, the racing mind, the 4 a.m. ceiling-staring are each a different mechanism. In this episode, I'm walking you through the exact order I'd fix it in—what I'd address first, second, and third, and why doing it in the right sequence makes all the difference, especially if nothing has worked for you before. If you're tired of throwing things at the wall and hoping something sticks, go to the show notes and click the link to schedule a call with my team. You don't have to stay stuck!   👉 https://calendly.com/dr-beth-westie/program-discovery-call 👉 Download your FREE Hormone Cascade Map here: https://dr-beth-westie.mykajabi.com/hormone-cascade-map

When you're tired, bloated, anxious, losing hair, and gaining weight all at once, it's easy to feel paralyzed—where do you even start? In this episode, I'm walking you through the order I actually fix things in when a woman has everything going wrong at the same time, and why sequence matters so much more than most people realize. I'm also getting honest about my own postpartum health crisis, the questions that changed everything for me, and the surprising ways your health can impact even your marriage. If you're ready to stop guessing and finally target the right things in the right order, click the link to schedule a call with my team and take that first step!  👉 https://calendly.com/dr-beth-westie/program-discovery-call 👉 Download your FREE Hormone Cascade Map here: https://dr-beth-westie.mykajabi.com/hormone-cascade-map

In this episode, we are diving into the importance of my two favorite hormones: Estrogen and Progesterone.  I go over the role each of these hormones place in the female body, what it can look (and feel) like when there is an imbalance, and what we can do to fix it! Ready to get answers? Schedule a free discovery call with one of my team members to get personalized next steps: 👉 https://calendly.com/dr-beth-westie/program-discovery-call 👉 Download your FREE Hormone Cascade Map here: https://dr-beth-westie.mykajabi.com/hormone-cascade-map

Cortisol is the body's main stress hormone and often overlooked, yet so important for hormone balance and physical results. You can be eating the perfect diet and struggle to see results simply because your cortisol response is off. This episode covers a number of things to look out for if you are under stress and signals that your cortisol response needs some help! Ready to get hands on guidance and figure out the right next steps for YOU? Schedule a free strategy call with one of our team members: 👉 https://calendly.com/dr-beth-westie/program-discovery-call   👉 Download your FREE Hormone Cascade Map here: https://dr-beth-westie.mykajabi.com/hormone-cascade-map