Beth’s BioTe: I Want Whatever She’s Having

Eva Sheie (00:08): This is Before and After Stories. I'm Eva Sheie and on this podcast, we talk to people just like you and me to find the real beauty of plastic surgery and elective treatments. Thanks for listening to Before and After Stories. On this podcast, we talk with people having cosmetic surgery, doing elective treatments or procedures, and we cover the before, the after, and everything in between. I am your host, Eva Sheie, and my co-host, Queenie Dahlin, is here today too. Say hey, Queenie.

Queenie Dahlin (00:39): Hey.

Eva Sheie (00:40): And we're back for our third conversation in a short series about bioidentical hormone replacement. And so we're excited to have our guest today, Beth Moore, and hear about what she has been through with BioTE hormone replacement. Hi, Beth.

Beth Moore (00:57): Hi Eva. Hi Queenie.

Queenie Dahlin (00:59): Thank you for joining us.

Beth Moore (01:01): Thanks for having me.

Eva Sheie (01:02): It's good to have you here. Tell us about yourself a little bit.

Beth Moore (01:07): Thank you. I'm 56 years old. About 10 years ago, I remember I was exercising and I just started having all these unusual symptoms, muscle weakness, fatigue, joint pain. I really thought I had MS just by the way I was feeling. Some of these symptoms were accompanied by like just weight gain and then anxiety, boy insomnia. So it was kind of just a perfect storm of symptoms going on, but I think it's been front and center for the last 10 years as you're trying to navigate through life. When you have something in the background that's preventing you from getting there, it's kind of overwhelming. So that's where I'm at or was at, I should say.

Eva Sheie (01:52): 10 years is a long time to not feel so good.

Beth Moore (01:56): You know what, and it was a progressive thing. And so when it's progressive, you're shooting darts at symptoms and getting shuffled from doctor, to doctor, to doctor. No one's getting the big picture and we're treating symptoms and not the whole kit and caboodle as they say. So I'm so thankful to have been introduced to BioTE by the clinic as a game changer. It's really a catalyst for change on so many fronts.

Eva Sheie (02:28): How did you even stumble across hormone replacement in the first place? What introduced that idea to you that that might actually make a change?

Beth Moore (02:39): Well, I was a patient at the clinic and just over the years, getting to know staff, and I was mentioning some of these things to them and had brought it up with my GP and whatnot, and they were kind of just shoving me under the rug. I kept asking for natural pig desiccated thyroid. "Oh, no," they would just give me a prescription for Synthroid and would send me packing. But no one was listening to all the symptoms and kind of coming to one conclusion. So when I was at the clinic, I just heard about it and from there was just so interested.

Queenie Dahlin (03:16): Beth, in those 10 years that you were feeling more and more decline, what kind of physicians were you seeing and how were they trying to help you?

Beth Moore (03:26): Well, I'm trying to think, in a chronological order, I ended up seeing an endocrinologist. They diagnosed me with Hashimoto's disease, standard protocol was Synthroid. Did I feel a little bit better? Not so much, okay. As I've done research, I realized that there's more to it than just the straight TSH level. Then I went to a rheumatologist. They convinced me that I had psoriatic arthritis, so I started taking injections of methotrexate, which is a heavy duty drug, very hard on your body. Another one called Cimzia, which is a biologic. Once again, huge needles, injecting, very stressful, along with prednisone, which is nobody's best friend.

Beth Moore (04:16): So there, I was just getting puffier. I don't know what it was. It was like this cosmic storm in my body of just gaining more weight, getting puffier, just the symptoms were increasing. From there, an orthopedic surgeon actually told me I needed foot surgery. Lastly, I ended up with a neurologist when they diagnosed, it's a variant of Lou Gehrig's disease, and it causes you to have the same symptoms as people who have ALS; however, the progression takes 10 to 20 years, they think. So I was walking with a cane and taking a bunch of drugs. Yeah, I had a cane. It was bad. So it's really, like I said, BioTE has been a game changer. I'm not using my cane. I have so much energy.

Eva Sheie (05:06): I think, Beth, when I met you and we were talking several months ago, you were expressing that you were just at your wits' end, that you had been trying so many things and at that point, really no reprieve and really just kind of gaining, and the symptoms. And like you say, taking prednisone and feeling like I'm not really making any progress and if anything, it's regression. And so I felt that you, in the conversation initially about BioTE, you said I am desperate to find anything that really could offer me some true help, and the more natural, the better. So I know we had that conversation. I'm very grateful that you were able to get started. But maybe this is a perfect time to even just share what you started to experience shortly after you started your first treatment.

Beth Moore (05:58): Oh boy, the biggest changes I've noticed is I feel like I'm 35 again. I really... I've got energy. I'm sleeping excellent, and this is after being on Ambien, all these things. I no longer need any of these things. My pain level is, I'd say it's a third of what it used to be. Well, my sex drive is through the roof and that's always good. Like I said, I feel like I'm 35. I think really what attracted me in coming to the clinic, it was watching the transformation of all of you there that. Maybe you guys see each other every day, but just to see your energy and your spunkiness and everything, that was really a big part of the formula. I was seeing you guys were just glowing and I'm like, "What is going on? I need whatever..." You know what I mean?

Eva Sheie (06:54): Yeah.

Beth Moore (06:55): I had even started seeing an Indian healer. I don't know if I'd ever told you about this, but I was taking all kinds of potions that were... They thought I had Lyme disease, which chronic Lyme disease can cause all these things, so I started taking all these tonics and things that I was purchasing from somebody in Spooner, Wisconsin and it was all herbal. That didn't even... Well, it helped some, but not like this. This is... Yeah.

Eva Sheie (07:22): So that was the closest thing to a naturopathic route in all of the trial and error of the last decade.

Beth Moore (07:29): Yes. In fact, I gave it a good year and then life has events that happened and with the passing of my sister, I kind of got off my protocol, and sometimes life is real. All I can say is when I started the BioTE protocol, the results were so much quicker and so much better.

Eva Sheie (07:52): Back to the point where you said, "I'm going to try BioTE" I know the first step is the blood work. What showed up in that blood work that was surprising or unusual?

Beth Moore (08:05): I'm going off my memory, as I don't have my paperwork in front of me, but everything was either low, for instance, my testosterone. Mine was at a level eight and I think the baseline or the norm was about 150. So it showed I had low T as a woman and I think my inflammation markers were high. Queenie, do you have any records there that you could divulge what I had... You know?

Queenie Dahlin (08:32): You know what I did take a look and I certainly, what I would say, is that it was confirming of Hashimoto's, you know with your TPO and your T3's and T4's weren't where we would like to see them. I think deficient in vitamin D and I think some of those obvious markers, for sure. Honestly, I think what we saw in your lab work was really consistent with what we see for a lot of patients with, obviously variations, but every single check mark that we would want to make as far as acknowledging and assessing a patient. I'm not the medical care provider here, but I certainly know it's obviously based on your history and your assessment of your own symptoms, and then with that blood work being all telling, we could have checked off every single box that you were a perfect candidate for bio-identical hormone therapy to at least get you balanced.

Queenie Dahlin (09:29): But I feel that what you found within that first few weeks was really shocking and remarkable as far as how well your body responded to this.

Beth Moore (09:40): Yes, the benefits were so noticeable that I find myself afraid of not having it now. So I'm like, "Geez, is the clock, are we getting close?" Because I don't want to experience any of my old symptoms. I got to make sure we get stuff right back in so that there's no delays. There are so many people, I think, who are struggling with this, but they're getting the run around from their doctors or they're only being treated for the one problem and I think this is so comprehensive.

Eva Sheie (10:12): It's hard for me to not almost get angry. And I wonder if you have figured out how to not be angry at all these doctors who didn't help you figure this out sooner.

Beth Moore (10:25): No. You know, in fact, I've been doing medical research. I have a son who has a very rare connective-tissue disease. I worked in business. I'm a CPA, but I've been staying home for 22 years now doing a lot of medical research for him, and battled even to get his diagnosis. He's had 30 surgeries. We've been through the medical process. It's funny, for him, when we were denied an open heart surgery, we couldn't find a doctor in the country that would do it because of his complex medical history. We were waiting for nine months to get someone to take a chance and operate on him, okay? It was hard not to get angry, but no, I'm not angry at all. I'm just grateful for how I feel now because holding on to that, I can't get those 10 years back, but I feel like I've got 20.

Beth Moore (11:18): It's a catalyst for change on so many fronts. I'm back to exercising. I'm up to two and a half miles a day. This is going from having a cane just months ago.

Eva Sheie (11:29): What other things do you not have to do anymore?

Beth Moore (11:32): Take a bunch of medications. They always want to plop you on an SSRI and there's nothing wrong with that, but for me, I realized it wasn't necessary. Once I started this, I was feeling so much better. Just the list of drugs. I've been on, let's see here, Cymbalta, I've been on Gabapentin, which is for muscular, a neural relaxer, Xanax, now those are fun, but let's face it, unhealthy. Boy, the Trazodone, which is another sleep one. Let's see here, Ambien. Prior to starting, I don't know if I told you this Queenie, I was hospitalized. I had gotten so bad. This was in October and I started in November.

Queenie Dahlin (12:16): Yes.

Beth Moore (12:17): I don't know if I shared with you the detail.

Queenie Dahlin (12:19): No.

Beth Moore (12:19): My disease had gotten so bad. My hands were swollen up like baseball gloves. My CRP levels were only at 11 at that time, so something that was going on. I ended up there for a week. That's how I got a new neurologist and found out that I don't have ALS, that I do have PLS which was a [crosstalk 00:12:40]. And then we pelleted me in November and all of a sudden, bingo, here we are January. I'm a new person.

Queenie Dahlin (12:48): Yes, you are.

Beth Moore (12:50): And really getting off of all these meds. Now with the exception of, I was using medical marijuana for pain. I was smoking so much weed it was ridiculous. And then vaping it. Oh my gosh. So I mean I feel like I was chronically high just to deal with the pain, okay? This is when I was using the cane. I've totally quit that and now I just do it for recreation sometimes because... But you know what, I don't need it anymore, but I pretend I do because hey, it's fun. You know, it's getting better. I've started lifting a few weights while I'm walking on the treadmill, just five pounds, or two and a half pounds, and doing reps and reps just to kind of put some tone back in the body.

Eva Sheie (13:36): I was just going to ask, because you used an acronym that I didn't know, which was the PLS. What is PLS?

Beth Moore (13:42): Oh, I'm sorry. That's primary lateral sclerosis. Yeah, it affects, they say, one to 4% of the population. Very unknown. So you get the same symptoms as Lou Gehrig's ALS. The only difference is the time span over which the symptoms occur and the rate of decline. So here's the question for me as I sit here and look forward to this journey. They keep saying, "Well, we don't know exactly when it started, so we don't know when it's going to end." For me, it doesn't matter. I'm going to take it as we've got it from today, maybe it's 10, maybe it's 20. And I think people can beat the odds. My son has beat the odds. They said, he'd never walk, talk, or sit up, as doctors shuffled me all around, and I think that if I could say one thing to everyone is just keep an open mind.

Beth Moore (14:40): I sat at one of my former neurologist's offices and he was Googling my symptoms as I sat there trying to figure out what was wrong with me.

Eva Sheie (14:48): He was Googling?

Beth Moore (14:49): Yes, in front of me. He's like, "Well, it could be this heredity spastic paraplegia." All of these things. At this point, the symptoms are at bay. I'm not focusing even on that diagnosis and I'm just moving forward with this protocol. Do not feel the need to see my specialists when I'm getting labs that are showing such awesome... I think my second lab draw, Queenie correct me if I'm wrong, but you noted it was such a dramatic change.

Queenie Dahlin (15:24): Yes. Completely dramatic. And I do know, with patients who have Hashimoto's and higher levels of TPO levels, that can oftentimes take quite some time to correct or improve.

Beth Moore (15:42): Sure.

Queenie Dahlin (15:42): And I can remember that our provider noted that you had already made a 50% decline in your TPO at a five-week mark, which is truthfully remarkable. And not to mention that every other marker that they're watching to look for you to be right in that optimal range ultimately was there. I think she made a slight adjustment to some part of your treatment at that time, but this is so exciting. The combination of that proof and your feedback and your own self-assessment of symptoms and the improvement.

Beth Moore (16:21): I think testimonials and seeing things happen and the change in people is phenomenal. I mean, it can't help but just make you smile.

Queenie Dahlin (16:31): Yeah.

Beth Moore (16:32): Yeah and it's fun to now feel where you want to go back out again, go clothes shopping just because you're feeling better. I mean, there were times I'd lay in bed for a week. It was not good. I mean, to feel so helpless.

Eva Sheie (16:48): Hearing all of this, I get the impression that for a decade this was kind of all consuming, like trying to figure out what was wrong and how do I make myself better. It was probably like a full-time job in a way and now that I know you're taking care of your son too, that you had two full-time jobs taking care of yourself and him. I have to wonder, if you kind of step outside your body in your mind, what has it been like to shift to having probably a lot more time and I'm guessing more money too because...

Beth Moore (17:25): Yes.

Eva Sheie (17:26): You were able to eliminate all this stuff you didn't have to do. Take us outside your body and your mind and talk about how that's different.

Beth Moore (17:37): Wow. On a daily basis, I'm able to get up early in the morning. You're thinking like the physical symptoms of how it's changed my daily living perhaps?

Eva Sheie (17:47): You had to take a ton of time before and so what do you do with your time now?

Beth Moore (17:53): Oh my gosh, what do I do now? I recently became... Well, along with this health journey, I'm gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free you name it pretty much. And because of chronic inflammation in my body, I thought this might be helpful. So I'm learning a whole new way of cooking and it's so exciting. I've always been a cook. So I'm focusing my time on other... As I was saying, change begets more change. It's giving me time to explore and do new things. I can stay up later. I get up earlier. I've started exercising again. I was a 5:00 AM exerciser, I mean, for 30 years. I'm doing it again. Now, it's not at 5:00 AM, trust me, it's more like seven or eight, but the point is it's getting done. And I think when you start one good habit, the other ones just start to fall in line.

Beth Moore (18:47): Start eating a little better, sleeping a little better, your outlook, your happiness, your mood. And with this whole hormone therapy, I finally said yes. And I think it helped my life by putting boundaries and saying, "Hey, I matter. I'm feeling better because I'm doing this." Trying to set healthy boundaries and focus on yourself, kind of taking back your... As you feel better, you realize you can take back more of your life.

Queenie Dahlin (19:14): Yeah. Your confidence, your esteem, all of it.

Beth Moore (19:18): Yes. And that just, I think, is so transformative and people start to notice and it's also contagious. Yes, it is.

Queenie Dahlin (19:29): How has your family noticed, or have they seen the changes?

Beth Moore (19:34): They have because, guess what? Before there was, I think, a lot of animosity on their part. They think I'm capable of more, so it would cause them to be angry with me at times because I think over the last 10 years, as I was declining, they didn't understand it. Now that I'm better, they're like, "Wow, mom, you were a mess." And I think now they feel kind of bad that they've treated me with... And I think they were frustrated with me. So now they're like, "Wow, rock on mom."

Beth Moore (20:09): Our family, we're all just a little more, I don't know. Everyone's calmer. I guess I'm kind of the hub of the house here and they say when mama bear's not right, everything... You know what I mean? Like, whoa. So that's really helped our family, including my son.

Eva Sheie (20:29): I think it's a remarkable story. I can never believe how shocked I am by some of these things. And I shouldn't be anymore, but I still am.

Queenie Dahlin (20:40): I have been in love with this story about Beth because I've watched her and I've had lots of opportunity to get to know her. And nothing could please all of us here more than to see that this was the result and that we were able to at least attempt something. And it's so rewarding for you and it makes us so happy.

Beth Moore (21:01): I appreciate that you guys were willing to treat me, take a chance on me with my medical history and whatnot. All I can say is thank you and Eva, thank you for your time today and just sharing your information.

Eva Sheie (21:18): You're welcome. So to wrap us up, Beth, give us the three best things about this experience and to try to do it in three words too.

Beth Moore (21:31): In three words, oh God.

Eva Sheie (21:33): Can she do it?

Beth Moore (21:35): Three words? Oh, it's... Well, I can't say that. That's way too... I'm trying to censor myself here. Just do it is all I can say is just do it. There you go. It'll change your life. It really will. Today, I just want to go out, get out, and just start something new. Get your energy back. Get your life back.

Queenie Dahlin (22:06): Thank you.

Beth Moore (22:07): Thank you both.

Eva Sheie (22:09): Thank you Beth. If you're listening today and you want to keep up with the show, you can follow us on Instagram at Before and After Stories podcast. If you want to find a BioTE provider near you, the doctor finder on their website is very helpful. And if you do end up seeing someone and moving forward, tell them that you heard about it on our show. Before and After Stories is a production of the Axis. And if you have a story you want to tell, I want to hear from you at hello@theaxis.io, which is spelled T-H-E-A-X-I-S, like Axis of Eva.

Eva Sheie (22:48): If you'd like to tell your story on this show, or if you're a medical professional who would like to submit someone else's story for consideration, send us a message at beforeandafterstories.com, or follow and message us on Instagram at Before and After Stories Podcast. I'm Eva Sheie, the host and producer of Before and After Stories, and my co-host is Queenie Dahlin. Our engineer is Daniel Croeser. Before and After Stories is a production of The Axis. theaxis.io. That's Axis like Axis of Eva.