May 29, 2025 • 49 mins
Message me with comments or questions
In this must-listen episode, I sit down with my own hormone replacement therapy doctor, Dr. Peter Castillo, to uncover the truth about hormone changes and how they impact women’s health—starting as early as our 30s.
Dr. Castillo is a board-certified urogynecologist and founder of Swan Medical, with practices in Danville and Los Gatos, CA. After years of treating pelvic floor issues, he realized that many of his patients’ symptoms stemmed from hormone insufficiencies—and that sparked his mission to educate and empower women to reclaim their vitality.
We talk candidly about:
- Why hormone shifts often begin in your 30s—not just at menopause
- The silent suffering many women endure due to lack of education and support
- How hormone replacement therapy (HRT) can transform energy, mood, cognition, sleep, and libido
- Common misconceptions about menopause and aging
- The importance of comprehensive lab testing and personalized treatment
- The barriers women face—like medical gaslighting and insurance limitations—and how to advocate for yourself
- Why hormone optimization is about more than symptom relief—it's about your brain, heart, and quality of life
If you’ve ever felt dismissed, depleted, or in the dark about your hormone health, this episode will arm you with clarity, confidence, and actionable steps.
🎧 Tune in now and start advocating for you.
Resources on sexual health recommended by Dr. Castillo:
App: Rosy App Women’s Sexual Health
Book: Come As You Are by Emily Nagosky
Podcast and book: Shameless Sex Podcast and Book by Amy Baldwin and April Lampert
Menopause and HRT:
Estrogen Matters by Avrum Blooming
How to Menopause by Tamsen Fadal
Longevity:
Outlive by Peter Attia
Swan Medical
Instagram: @swanmed
Website: https://swanmd.com/
Connect with me online:
1. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kristinjonescoaching/
2. You Tube channel, Kristin Jones Coaching: https://www.youtube.com/@KristinJonesCoaching44
3. You Tube channel, Breakthrough Emotional Eating Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@breakthroughpodcast-44
3 . Website: https://www.kristinjonescoaching.com
If you want to learn more about how to stop overeating at meals and lose weight easily, get my How To Stop Overeating At Meals Guide: https://go.kristinjonescoaching.com/stop-overeating
Needing more specific and direct support for your emotional eating and overeating? Check out my online course, Stop Dieting Start Feeling, and my personalized coaching program, Breakthrough To You.
If you found this episode helpful, don't forget to leave a review on the platform you used to listen and share it with your friends on your Instagram stories. Also, be sure to follow me on Instagram...
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Kristin Jones (00:02):
Do you want to lose weight but struggle to stay
committed to a meal planbecause you constantly feel
hungry?
Does food provide you comfortwhen you're bored, angry, lonely
or sad?
If so, you are in the rightplace.
My name is Kristin Jones andI'm a life coach specializing in
emotional eating and weightloss, and I'm also a lifelong
(00:24):
emotional eater.
I want to provide you withinformation, motivation and
support so you, too, can learnto manage your issues with food
and develop a healthyrelationship with yourself.
Welcome to the BreakthroughEmotional Eating Podcast.
(00:59):
My name is Kristin Jones andthank you so much for joining me
this week.
Now I've been talking about this, for it's going on five months
now, so if you've been listeningto the podcast, you know that I
, back in January, I startedhormone replacement therapy and
(01:19):
I didn't know anything.
I didn't really, honestly,didn't even know what it was.
I didn't know how it would helpme.
I had no clue about any of thatstuff.
I just knew that there wasn'tsomething sitting right with me.
I just didn't feel right in mybody.
There were a lot of things thatwere not working for me.
I'm going to say 15 years ofnot getting a full night's sleep
(01:41):
Y'all it's a long time I had along stretch of insomnia, very,
very dry skin, vaginal drynessall the things that come along
with being in your mid to late50s and didn't really even think
that there was anything that Icould do about it because, in
(02:02):
all honesty, my mom didn't doanything about it, so I didn't
even know that this was anoption.
And whenever I talked to mydoctors at Kaiser not throwing
Kaiser under the bus, but mydoctor at Kaiser they just gave
me estrogen cream and that wasit, and so I didn't have any
other point of reference.
(02:22):
And the reason I have thisamazing gentleman on my show
today is because, essentially,whether he knows it or not, he
has ultimately changed my lifeand my life is better since he
has come into my life.
So I am so honored to have onthe podcast my hormone doctor,
(02:46):
dr Peter Castillo, and he isfrom Swan Medical Offices and he
works out of NorthernCalifornia, in the Bay Area, and
they have two offices one inDanville, in my hometown, and
another in Los Gatos.
Both of them are in NorthernCalifornia and the work that
he's doing is just amazing, andI'm going to let him explain
(03:07):
what he does.
But the reason I felt it was soimportant to have him on the
podcast is because I have areally strong suspicion that
there are tens of thousands ofwomen like myself who got
through menopause didn't seemlike it was that.
It wasn't that I want to sayearth shattering, I didn't have
(03:30):
hot flashes or anything likethat, but I just didn't like how
I was feeling and I kind ofbecame resolved that this was
just the way my life was goingto go for the rest of my life.
And I think it's so importantand Dr Castillo and I have had
conversations about this, abouthow important it is to let women
and men know that they haveoptions and that it's not just
(03:54):
you just have to put up withthis, you just have to settle
for this.
There's so much more andthere's so many more things that
you can do, and so that's themain reason why I wanted to have
him on is so we could talkabout these things that a lot of
times nobody talks about, andthat it really is for everyone's
(04:15):
benefit to really give you asmuch information as I can and
inform you with as many optionsand give you all the options
that you have out there, andthen let you make the decision
about what you want in your lifeand the direction that you want
your life to go in.
So, without further ado, please, I would love to introduce all
(04:36):
of you to my hormone doctor andmy friend, dr Peter Castillo.
So, peter, thank you so muchfor being a guest on the podcast
.
We're so happy that you're here.
Thank you so much, Kristin.
It's truly an honor.
And likewise, I think you'vehad an impact on my life because
, since we've met, you'veconvinced me that I need to do
(04:56):
more yoga.
You convinced me that I need totake better care of myself, and
it's not uncommon to hearphysicians you know, don't
always practice what they preachbecause we're so busy thinking
about how to take care of othersbut that's not really an excuse
.
So, yes, I will see you thisweek in your yoga class.
(05:17):
Okay, that sounds good.
Dr. Peter Castillo (05:21):
You're gonna have to hold me to that.
Kristin Jones (05:22):
I'll hold you to it, exactly, exactly.
So if you could tell, I wouldlove for you to tell my
listeners about kind of how you,how you got into um, what you
do, and actually explain to themwhat you do, what kind of, what
kind of a doctor you are andwhat kind of practice um you run
and the things that you thatyou do for women?
Dr. Peter Castillo (05:47):
Sure, sure.
Well, I think have to start itby saying that a lot of your
story that you describe just notfeeling right in your body, not
having solutions being offeredand being told that well, that's
sort of normal.
These are kind of the commonthings that I see as a
urogynecologist, becauseeverything that I treat is a
quality of life issue.
It's not a life-threateningissue, it's not a cancer, it's
(06:09):
not an illness, it's not adisease state, it's aging and
it's life events and childbirthand the consequences of such.
But yet menopause is neverdiscussed, and the one common
theme that a lot of my patientshave is that they're in the
demographic that are mostexperiencing hormonal changes.
So my patient demographic istypically, though, it ranges
(06:33):
from 18 to 98, the median rangeis 40 to 55.
And these are the patients thatare perimenopausal, entering
into menopause, that have notbeen informed of what's coming,
and so they have to figure itout on themselves.
(06:54):
And the misconception is that ifthere's no symptoms, then
you're okay, and 80% of womenwill have hot flashes, night
sweats, what we considervasomotor symptoms.
Those are withdrawal symptoms.
They're not just a passingfancy, it's truly a problem.
That is a signal for what'scoming.
(07:15):
The withdrawal of estrogenleads to a whole host of
symptoms, so 80% of women willhave that.
However, 20% won't, though Icall them the blessed, because
they're the ones who enter intomenopause, stop having periods
and didn't suffer like others do.
The misconception is thatthey're not going to suffer as a
result.
The only difference is one hada parachute when they went into
(07:38):
menopause and the other one didnot, and those withdrawal
symptoms are a hallmark to knowwhat's coming.
Those that didn't have thosesymptoms may not be aware of
what's coming, and thedownstream effects of those are
things just aren't working.
They don't feel right andbecause of the mantra of the
lowest dose for the shortestduration of time is how we would
(07:59):
administer hormone replacementtherapy.
Only if a patient is severelysymptomatic really leaves a
whole host of patients untreatedand unaddressed.
Kristin Jones (08:10):
Right, Well, and so I think the thing and you and
I talked about this in my firstappointment that and I'm going
to let you explain it because Iknow I did a podcast on it, If
you all look back, and I talkedabout in my podcast probably it.
So if you, if y'all look back,and you and I talked about um in
in my podcast, in podcast,probably three or four months
ago the M, I had no idea thewhole impact of the impact on my
(08:35):
body of the, the, the reductionand the reduction of the
production of estrogen andtestosterone in my body, and and
, and how it was impacting likemajor organs, and so to me, I
was just blown away by that.
So could you explain to that inthe way you explained it to me?
Dr. Peter Castillo (08:52):
It made so much sense, so let you do that
Sure, sure, and I have atendency to go to get
professorial when I startexplaining this, but I'm just
going to kind of explain it in asimple way, because I think one
of the things that I reallylike to do for patients is
explain things in a way thatthey understand, because it's
(09:12):
not always so obvious.
So you know, plants need water,they need sunlight, they need
nutrients.
The body needs the same thing,just different nutrients.
And you know, as long as thosenutrients are around, you can
live a long life.
However, we were never designedto live as long as we are, and
(09:33):
proof of that is the ovariancycle.
Ovaries have a finite lifespan,meaning you're born, women are
born with all the ova eggs.
You will have your entire lifeand every month you will cycle
and sacrifice tens of thousandsof eggs to generate one ova,
that is, that is worthy toovulate and potentially get
(09:55):
pregnant.
Well, in the course of those 30years first 30 years you lose
the vast majority over 80, 90percent of thoseva, which case
what's left are the ones thatmay or may not work.
So the process of menopause iswhen you stop ovulating because
there's no more viable ova.
So that means, by average ageof 51, hormonal support goes to
(10:20):
almost a net zero.
Very, very quickly Stopovulating.
Your estrogen production goesdown to near zero and it's not
going to come back.
Can't jumpstart the ovaries.
There's all kinds of ideas ofusing regenerative therapy to
restart ovaries, but that hasnot been demonstrated.
And so, just like plant life,if you don't get the nutrients
(10:44):
or support, you will wither.
And women's bodies, just likemen's, have receptors for both
sex hormones estrogen,testosterone and estrogen.
Just to focus on that first, iswhat supports all of your
connective tissue your skin,your bones, your blood vessels,
your heart.
And wherever estrogen goes, itbrings blood flow.
(11:05):
So, as long as there's estrogenand there's receptors to
receive it, blood flowangiogenesis gets attracted to
those areas and sustains tissues.
However, when you lose estrogen, those receptors are not being
stimulated.
Blood flow decreases.
Blood vessels are not attractedto the area you lose blood flow
.
So all of the areas that aremost dependent on blood flow
decreases.
Blood vessels are not attractedto the area you lose blood flow
.
So all of the areas that aremost dependent on blood flow,
(11:27):
like the brain, like the skin,like the vagina and the bladder
and nerve endings without bloodflow, there's no oxygen, there's
no support for the nerveendings.
Things change very quickly,Right.
Kristin Jones (11:41):
Y'all.
He said your heart, your heart,your heart is impacted by that.
And that's the part that justblew me away when you said you
know, the heart and the brainboth were being impacted by the
reduction and and.
And it wasn't something I wasdoing wrong, it was just a
process of my aging.
And I remember the thing I saidto you was why doesn't anybody
know this?
Like why, why don't I know that?
(12:09):
Just because of this agingprocess, that it's not just the
glamour stuff, this is like myheart, this is my actual heart,
and my brain is actuallydeteriorating because of that
reduction in those hormones thatI didn't know I had any control
over.
Dr. Peter Castillo (12:22):
It's.
You know, it's reallyunfortunate that we don't do
enough education on this, andprobably one of the reasons and
I think you asked this questionearlier is one of the reasons
why did I get into this field,why did I become focused on
hormones, is because there'sjust not enough education,
particularly in women's health,on what's to come.
It's always wait until the shoefalls off and then address it,
put a bandaid on it, fix it andthen move on, but never an
(12:45):
explanation of why it happenedin the first place, what can be
done to prevent it, and if youcan't prevent it, how do you
address it and manage it movingforward, unfortunately, we've
all fallen into this era of ablack hole of information about
hormone management for the last22 years, and it's not until now
that the buzzwords of menopauseand perimenopause and HRT and
(13:10):
all these things are nowfloating around through social
media, because so much attentionis now addressed is bringing
this.
But a lot of women suffered asa result, because of the lack of
information, and then to makeit worse and because of the lack
of information, and then tomake it worse.
Practitioners, physicians,we're human, we learn and we
apply.
(13:30):
After years of doing the samething.
Over time you stop learning.
All of us have a tendency to dothat unless you strive and push
yourself to stay abreast ofthings.
But most of us, including mygeneration, were trained in an
era where menopause was anoptional thing to treat.
It is something that is part ofaging.
You just let it go because wehad this misconception that
(13:52):
hormone replacement therapy wasa bad thing because of
misinformation.
It took 22 years to undo badnews and that bad news was wrong
.
So now all the attention is outbecause finally all the
societies and everybody's onboard, all the medical colleges
are all on board.
Menopause is an endocrine or ahormone insufficiency, no
(14:16):
different than if it was yourthyroid or adrenals or anything.
Having an insufficiency has tobe addressed, otherwise you
cannot survive, right?
So now that the colleges areall on board, now everybody is
talking about it, but it's stilldisorganized and all those that
are in my generation oftraining still think that
estrogen causes cancer and badthings.
Right?
(14:37):
So dogma continues.
Patients keep still gettingdismissed or telling them that
that's normal, it's part ofaging.
Oh, I can't give you estrogenbecause you're going to cause
cancer or you're too old, it'stoo late.
All these myths, theseincorrect statements every
single day is what I face whenmy patients come to see me for
the, you know, after seeingthree or four other providers
(15:00):
and finally coming to see usRight.
But so I digress.
But a lot of the challenges andI think it all it's always
going to come back to my why.
My why has to do with how do Iundo the past, how do I help
people moving forward?
Right, whether througheducation, through lectures,
through just one on one teaching, because your success is going
(15:22):
to help others.
Right, right, right.
Kristin Jones (15:25):
Exactly.
Well, and the funny thing is so, um gosh, it was like four or
five years ago.
Um, so this is funny, y'all,cause I was.
I was I teach in.
I teach at a yoga studio in onetown not the town where I live
in, but five years ago I was ina locker room and a woman was
talking about hormones and shewas, and I was kind of like just
(15:48):
kind of listening, not reallypaying much attention to what
she was saying.
But she said she mentioned DrCastillo's name.
I had no idea who he was, but Iwas like huh, so I looked him
up and I got on the computer,looked him up and I see he has
an office.
Well, his office had justclosed in the neighborhood in
the area where I was, and hejust had his office down in the
(16:11):
South Bay, which is probablyabout an hour and a half away
from where I live, and I waslike, oh, that's too bad, and I
kind of put it, just kind oflike blew it off, didn't think
about it.
So then, when I reconnect, thereason we came together, as Dr
Castillo made mention, is he isa member at the club where I
teach yoga and his wife took myclass and wanted me to meet him
(16:39):
and we kind of all got togetherand talked about what I do and
what they do, and in the process, when it was like, oh, what's
the doctor you know?
Oh, what's your husband's name?
And she says, oh, dr PeterCastillo.
And I said, oh, my God, I'veheard of him.
So I mean he has a stellarreputation and I think the thing
(16:59):
that I think is so importantand this is something that I
would want everyone, whether youlive in my area or not, whether
you could come and see him ornot the bedside manner that his
office does for their patientsis so far superior to any
(17:25):
interactions I've ever had inany kind of doctor-patient
setting that I've everexperienced.
Their office one.
It's absolutely beautiful, butit's the people who work there
are so caring.
And when you call and you have aquestion or you have a concern
or there's something you're notfeeling right or we're not sure
(17:47):
what, I don't because there isan adjustment.
I mean there is an adjustment.
When you and and he and Italked very honestly about my
numbers were so low.
I mean when he says, likeestrogen stops and you have none
, that was me, I had none, Iwasn't even measuring.
It wasn't even measuring on theblood test that we did.
I knew there was going to besome adjustments that we were
(18:09):
going to have to do, and so theone thing he told me was here's
what could happen, here's apossible side effect If this
happens.
Not once was I told, you're justgoing to have to ride that out,
it'll go away eventually.
He always told me call theoffice, let me know what's
happening and we can make someadjustments.
(18:31):
And every time that I've calledwith a question or with some
sort of concern, it's either I'mput directly through to him or
I'm put through to somebody else, but I'm responded to and never
am I told it's okay, you'rejust going to have to go with
that, you're just going to haveto go with that, you're just
going to have to ride that out.
Because that was the one thing Ididn't want to ever hear was I
was going to have to ridesomething out, because that's
(18:53):
what I've been told before.
And so I think that to me issomething that I would want to
tell anyone.
If you're looking for someonewhen it comes to this type of
thing, when it comes to HRT andit comes to hormones, there is
going to be adjustments, but youneed an office, you need to
(19:16):
find somebody who will listenand who will just hear you out
and will actually empathize andand and work with you, and
that's really what I just feelso blessed that I have this with
you and with your office, andit seems like that's just the
culture that you created in youroffice.
Dr. Peter Castillo (19:36):
Thank you so much for saying that, kristen.
That really means a lot to me.
It is something we strive tocreate.
These are intimate concerns.
Every aspect of this journeythrough midlife and menopause
impacts your life in an intimateway, whether it's with intimacy
or intimate concerns that youhave trouble speaking about
(19:58):
because they're considered tabooor normal or because grandma
had it.
That's supposed to be normal.
There's a lot of things thatjust are not discussed.
So the reason why our practiceis called intimate wellness is
because it's all the intimateconcerns that people hold tight
to their chest 30% of women willnever bring up to their
(20:18):
physician.
Most don't even know, theirpartners may not know or their
families or members don't know,and they go through that
silently.
And to take that burden off ofthem, to give them a safe place
to share their concerns, to feelheard, to have options and for
them to make their own decisionson how they want to choose
their health and healthcarethat's really what we want to
(20:39):
create.
So it makes me so happy to hearwhat you just said.
Kristin Jones (20:43):
Oh yeah, absolutely.
I mean I have.
I have so many friends who whoare getting services other
places.
I have one person in particularwho says, yeah, you know, I'm,
it's, it's okay.
I mean I don't really like mydoctor, but I mean I'm going
anyway and I'm like, no, that'snot okay, that's, that's not,
(21:05):
it's not okay not to be heard.
And I think that that'ssomething, as women, we have to,
really we have to work on is wehave to be okay, we have to be
okay with advocating and we haveto find people that will, that
will listen live in my area ornot, there are doctors out there
(21:27):
, there are people out therethat are doing this kind of work
and that it will.
It is something that you can.
You can, you know you can findsomebody who really will, who
will listen and who will, youknow, empathize and and actually
be able to give you some reallyconcrete, you know next steps
that you can take, reallyconcrete, you know next steps
(21:50):
that you can take.
So so what would you say ifsomeone is listening and they're
like I, I everything thatyou're talking about, you know
the, the, the hot flashes, orthe dryness, or you know vaginal
dryness, or just I'm notsleeping well, I don't feel
right in my body, I've gained 20pounds.
All those things.
I just don't know what to do.
What would you say?
What would be your first stepfor somebody?
(22:12):
What would be somebody's firststep to do?
Dr. Peter Castillo (22:16):
Well, the thing is, life is challenging,
right, and we're very quick toassign explanation for things,
and we're human nature.
We look for explanations forthings so we can move past them
and move on, whether it's theright answer or not.
We just need something to holdon to, just so we can keep
moving, because life doesn'twait for us and, unfortunately,
(22:39):
the misconception of menopauseonly happening at 51 is part of
the problem, and the way wedefine it is part of the problem
and the way we define it.
So, before I explain what to do, I want to explain why.
So menopause is really atwo-phase problem, or a spectrum
of a problem, if you will,because remember you talked
(23:01):
about how your ovaries have afinite lifespan.
They're responsible forproducing 85% of your sex
hormones.
That means your testosteroneand your estrogen 85% comes from
the ovary, and they're madedifferently.
Your ovaries have follicles andyou ovulate every month.
That creates your estrogencycle, which is why it's a cycle
(23:23):
.
It goes up and it comes down,it goes up and it comes down,
and it's very rhythmic 28-daycycle for most women.
Testosterone, however, is notproduced in a cycle.
It's produced on demand.
You have baseline productionfrom your adrenal glands that
make up 15% of it.
And that just keeps yourperformance hormone there, keeps
(23:43):
your receptors alive and keepthings working.
But on command whether you'rebeing chased by lions, racing a
marathon or you're being aroused, will cause your ovaries to
produce, on demand, a massivespike in testosterone, very
similar to what your adrenalglands do under fight or flight
(24:06):
right.
So epinephrine and adrenalinego through the roof when you're
under stress or underperformance.
Your testosterone does too, butfrom your ovaries.
The ability to do that isdependent on the body of the
ovary and how much of it is left.
So as over the years yourovaries are decreasing in size
and capacity, the ability toproduce testosterone decreases
(24:26):
by 50% between 30 and 40 yearsold.
Kristin Jones (24:29):
See, that's what people don't understand.
I mean, I think people thinkthey're too young, like, oh, I'm
in my 30s, I don't need toworry about this.
Dr. Peter Castillo (24:37):
That's exactly right, and that's what I
mean by the misconception abouthow menopause is defined as
incorrect.
It starts between 30 and 40,you lose 50% of your production
Between 40 and 50, you're inthat perimenopausal transition,
which is why menopausal symptomslast eight to 10 years.
It's not just becauseestrogen's changed.
(24:58):
You may not even hadfluctuations yet.
Everything could be workingfine with your obligation.
Kristin Jones (25:03):
So you could still be having a regular period
, all those things.
Dr. Peter Castillo (25:11):
That's right .
Yet because if you go to thedoctor and say I'm feeling this,
I'm gaining weight, I've lostmy memory and I can't my libido
shot, I have no stamina, andthey say, oh, you're fine, I'm
not going to check your labsbecause you're not menopausal
yet.
The point is you lost half ofyour support hormone, your
performance hormone, which istestosterone, and testosterone
behaves predominantly on thebrain through performance,
(25:31):
meaning memory, sleep, libido,drive, motivation, muscle mass,
weight management, breast cancerprotection.
Testosterone has an enormousrole in the body and when you
lose 50% of it, the 40s becomeshard and we're quick to say,
well, of course it's hard,finances are hard, work is
terrible, my kids are driving mecrazy, my parents are getting
(25:54):
older, so all the things startto build up, but suddenly life
didn't get harder.
It's that we're getting weaker.
So that's the challenge.
So why is it that we lose 50%of our testosterone at the age
between 30 and 40?
And I always found thisinteresting.
Evolutionarily, we were nevermeant to live this long.
If you think from prehistorictimes.
(26:16):
What is it that prehistoricpeople needed to do?
Procreate forage for food,defend your tribe.
You need testosterone, adequateamount of testosterone, your
ability to do that on command by30, you're no longer that
person.
You're not the procreator, notthe provider.
You're the grandparent passingon information and history to
(26:39):
your grandchildren.
You're not that person and thenthat's it.
But now we're living to 85.
That means our performancehormone is gone from starting at
40 by 50%.
Your ability to make therespond in the right way is
lackluster.
So that's why, on average, ourpatient average for our sexual
dysfunction patients that cometo see us is age 44.
(27:01):
They don't even think they'remenopausal.
They just wonder where did myorgasms go?
Why don't things feel the same?
Why am I feeling dryness?
Where did I leave my keys?
It's a whole host of symptomsthat fall under that one problem
, and this is so predictable.
Yeah so that's sort of thechallenge is that we've
(27:25):
misdefined it, we'vemisexplained it or we lacked we
didn't explain it, and patientscontinue to suffer in vain until
they realize, like you, I don'tknow what's going on, but I've
got a long life to live and I'vegot a lot of stuff to do.
I can't be performing this wayand I, you know it's I've got to
do something.
I've got to do something.
So unfortunately, it takessomebody to not accept dogma and
(27:49):
question why the doctor saidthere's nothing that can be done
.
Suck it up.
You really have to be aself-advocate, and that's what
we try to do is empower ourpatients through education so
they can self-advocate forthemselves, and we're here to
give options.
Kristin Jones (28:02):
Yeah, exactly, well, and it's.
And gosh, when you were talking, I was thinking about I
couldn't make it through theafternoon without like needing a
nap.
I mean I was so tired all thetime and I thought I mean part
of that was because I wasn'tsleeping, but also I just my
energy was so low and I, just I,I again, I just thought it was,
(28:24):
this was just how, this wasjust how things were, this is
just how it was going to be.
And it's so different now andand things are.
You know, it's, it's just, it'sso it's so much better.
And but that performance pieceand again I think that's the
most that's such an importantthing is that people in their
thirties and forties, especiallywomen in their early 40s, they
(28:46):
think, well, I'm too young, I'mtoo young to start going through
this.
I still have a period.
And again, I think it's alsobecause if you go to your
general practitioner, that'susually what you're told is if
you have a period, you're stillokay and there's nothing wrong
and that's and you know, andthere's nothing and there's
(29:07):
nothing wrong.
So I think that that is againit's.
It's not.
It's people not, and womenespecially not accepting not
accepting that and knowing thatthere are other options and I
think that I think feel likehealthcare has moved in that
direction in the in the lastprobably 10 years, that that
doctors have to, they don't justget assigned people anymore.
(29:29):
I think doctors have to, theyhave to show up, and that's
really what you and your officeis doing is you are showing up
and showing up and being therefor people, the way all doctors
should, and I think it's justpeople knowing that they can
advocate for themselves and thatthey can get actually what they
need.
(29:50):
What do you feel like is therole of fitness?
You know, activity, nutritionin hormone, in, in, in, when you
start to see these changes,because most people are like oh
my gosh, I'm so tired, I don'thave any energy, I, I, I, just,
I can't do any, I, I, I couldn't, I couldn't start exercising
now, I don't.
You know, all I want to do iseat carbs all the time, or all I
(30:12):
want to do is eat sugar.
Um, what?
How does that impact?
How does fitness and nutritionimpact a person's hormones and
their response to them?
Dr. Peter Castillo (30:24):
Sure, sure.
So, like I mentioned, 15% ofyour testosterone and estrogen
will come from your adrenalglands, and you have some
control over that, meaningtrying your best to have a low
stress life, having time tomeditate and exercise, having
time to really be you and takecare of you.
That's very important, but inour hectic life living in the
(30:48):
Bay Area or in any metropolitanarea these days, you have to be
burning the candle at both ends,otherwise you're not a
productive member of the society.
It's unfortunate that that'sthe life we live.
Well, you will sacrificesomething in exchange for that,
so that 15% goes down veryquickly to very small numbers.
So taking care of yourself isfirst.
(31:10):
Proper nutrition, properexercise, proper rest are
necessary for everything to workwell.
You still got to do the hardwork, though, and you remind me
all the time.
Kristin Jones (31:21):
You got to do the hard work.
Dr. Peter Castillo (31:22):
It's not just about going to the gym and
lifting weights, not just aboutgetting on the treadmill, but
also, you know, maintainingflexibility.
Maintaining those small musclegroups are key.
Now you can increase baselineproduction through exercise,
through weight training, propernutrition.
But to what degree?
(31:43):
When our production, naturalproduction, is declining?
Right, so continue doing them.
Oftentimes it's not enough toreplace what's been lost.
Kristin Jones (31:52):
Right right.
Dr. Peter Castillo (31:54):
And then the challenge becomes is that, well
, if you don't have the interest, how do you get out of the
house?
If you don't have the interest,how do you get out of the house
if you don't have themotivation to do it right, which
is where the testosterone partbecomes a big, big uh impact.
Um, you know the um.
It's truly a motivating hormonethat stabilizes moods and has a
(32:15):
and you have by, by default, apositive outlook on anything you
want to do.
You know mood is a big part ofthe testosterone purpose, so
it's a mood stabilizer and youknow the challenges that come at
us every day when we're weakseem overwhelming.
(32:38):
I guess overwhelmed is probablythe best word that many people
will feel because they can'tkeep up with all the things that
are coming at them and theydon't have the energy to
overcome them.
Imagine if you could slow theworld down and all of a sudden,
all these millions of thingsthat are coming at you, you can
actually see calmly and see themin a logical sense.
(32:59):
You can address them.
That's sort of what happenswhen you optimize your
testosterone levels to stabilizeyour mood and the world becomes
more manageable.
It's no longer overwhelming andnow you can be so much more
productive when the lights arebrighter and everything's
clearer.
Kristin Jones (33:17):
Right, and so, and I think that that again is
something that that you know, if, if you are, if you're
listening to this, and that isyou, or you think gosh, I feel
like there's so many things thatare coming at me and I just, I
just don't, I just don't knowhow to, I don't know able to
deal with stuff, but now I feellike I can't.
(33:39):
It's not that, I think, and Ithink we, as women especially,
we just turn the blame onourselves.
Well, there must be something.
I'm not trying hard enough, I'mnot doing enough, and there is
and can be a legitimate reason.
And if you're in your 30s and40s, that legitimate reason
could be, and probably is, yourtestosterone levels, and so,
(34:02):
knowing that we have to stopturning on ourselves and blaming
ourselves and realizing that,oh, there could be a medical
reason for this happening, and Ineed to investigate that, I
need to figure out.
And, yes, you can go and askyour general practitioner, but
(34:23):
that probably won't get youanywhere.
So you may need to find someonelike Dr Castillo who does these
things.
And it's unfortunate that.
And I don't necessarily want tohave to put you on the spot
about insurance, but we havetalked about that, that that
every, every, essentially, and,as you and I talked about,
(34:45):
everyone needs this.
Everyone, everyone is going togo through this and, in my mind,
that's why insurance, that'swhy our, our major carriers
don't cover this, becauseeverybody needs it and it's
going to be expensive for them.
Dr. Peter Castillo (35:01):
So there's, you know, there's something I
always like to remind myself of.
Everybody needs it and it'sgoing to be expensive for them.
So there's something I alwayslike to remind myself of and
patients about their ownproviders.
Their providers truly do careabout them.
They actually want the best forthem.
It's because they don't knowwhat they don't know, and it's
by no fault of their own unlessthey actually make the time to
go out of their way to learnsomething that is so novel and
(35:21):
unique to them.
And once you're established inpractice, it's harder and harder
to do that.
But it's truly their bestintention.
So it's never my intention toget in between the patient and
their doctor.
In fact, I would rather meet,speak with or educate the
physician on the why, and someare very open, some are not, and
that's okay.
But at least I've shown thepatient, or at least I've
(35:45):
educated the patient enough thatthey can at least speak to them
and they can advocate forthemselves about what they want.
Kristin Jones (35:50):
Yeah, absolutely Absolutely.
Oh, go ahead.
Dr. Peter Castillo (35:55):
The other challenge is how and you know
how the FDA oversees allproduction of commercially
available medications.
It's a very hard job and it'swhat they do, and I do want to
give them credit, because whatthey do is their intent is to
protect the public from justnilly-willy medications showing
up on the market and then peoplegetting sick or hurt so,
(36:17):
without proof of evidence oranything.
So that's their primary role,their role.
However, because they are rulefollowers, they can only do
things in the order that theywere done.
So, for example, whenmedications become FDA approved,
the manufacturer, the pharma,has to submit a protocol that
identifies a demographic.
A protocol that identifies ademographic, a narrow range, a
(36:42):
fixed dose or series of dosesand strict guidelines in which
to follow, which means that alot of medications become
focused on a particulardemographic or a particular
gender and sex.
Hormones like testosterone andestrogen are genderized because
testosterone, when it came tomarket, was studied in men,
(37:04):
because that's where they wantedit to be, because that's the
deficiency they were trying toaddress, without understanding
that women have that deficiencyalso.
Men need estrogen just as well,but there's no estrogen
replacement for men, becausethey will make their own if you
replace their testosterone.
However, the contrary is notthe same for women, because
there is no FDA approvedtestosterone for women in this
(37:25):
country and that's because theFDA is very strict and they just
they've shoot down things foryou know, unknown reason.
Anyway, other countries haveFDA approved versions of, or not
FDA approved in their countries, but they have commercially
available testosterone for womenand I predicted that within the
next 10 to 15 years we shouldhave a female commercially
(37:49):
available testosterone.
The FDA is like a massive shipthat takes a long time to turn.
It takes a while before thatbecomes available.
So unfortunately it becomes anoff-label medication.
I mean, there's no FDAindication for it.
Anything that wasn't studied inthat population or for a
condition becomes off-label,which means insurances are not
(38:11):
in a rush to cover it, right.
So that's why, unfortunately,if you manage to get your
insurance to cover it, it'sgoing to be a sort of a generic
approach, a minimalist approachto replacement.
They'll say, well, let's take amale's prescription, divide it
(38:32):
by tenths, and you're going totake that tenth of a pea-sized
amount and you're going to applythat to you.
How much are you really getting?
Who knows how much got absorbed?
Who knows and how much is?
How much are you really getting?
Who knows how much got absorbed?
Who knows and how much isactually doing work in your body
?
Who knows?
Because they're not checkinglabs beforehand or afterwards
because they don't know what todo with the information.
But there are ways of gettingyour doctor to prescribe that.
(38:52):
Sometimes insurance will coverit.
Many times they won't, becausethere's no indication for women
to have testosterone, accordingto insurance companies.
The way they see it, it's wild,that is just wild, but I think
it's again.
Kristin Jones (39:07):
I think it's really.
It's fortunate that there arepeople, there are practitioners
like yourself who are, who havebecome, who are educated in this
area, and that and the word,you know, the word is spreading.
I know that one of my clientsfrom Pennsylvania reached out to
speak to your office and andshe ended up finding someone in
(39:27):
her area.
You know, immediately in herarea that she didn't even know
that person existed, but becauseshe learned, because I had
talked to her about it, and shecalled your office and she
talked to some you know shetalked to I think it was Jessica
.
She talked to, you know,somebody at your office and got
the information and then wasable to find somebody in her
area.
So they're, they are out thereand it's just, you know, we, we
(39:49):
get to, we get to know that wehave options and and that's
really what you know, I justwant people to know is that the
options are out there and thatwe don't have to settle.
I think you said I believe, ifI say this correctly I don't
think I'm going to, but I thinkyou were saying that something
about it's not enough just tonot be in disease, that that's
(40:15):
not a quality of life.
Just because you're not sick,that's not living.
Dr. Peter Castillo (40:22):
It's true.
It's true we measure health bywhether you're sick or not, and
it's not enough to not be sickis really the way I look at it,
because there's a lot of healthypeople out there, but they're
vitamin D deficient, their B12sare malabsorbed, their hormones
are deficient, 12s aremalabsorbed, their hormones are
(40:44):
deficient, their cortisolthrough the roof, they can't
sleep, but yet they're healthybecause they don't have a
disease that can be treated by apill.
They have aging, they havehormone deficiencies, but who's
measuring those appropriately?
So you're right, I agree ahundred percent.
I think people nowadays, sinceCOVID, they found that there's
an upswing in the amount ofpeople interested in their
longevity, because I think onething that COVID taught us is we
(41:08):
are not immortal, and itbrought us to face our mortality
.
And so a lot of people startedto take control of their own
health decisions and not justlooking at where insurance sends
you and not just looking withinyour network, but looking for
the right person that fits youRight, Because every
practitioner has their own styleand personality, and so do
(41:29):
patients, and they have to fit,they have to jive, they have to
understand each other Right,right In order to have respect.
Kristin Jones (41:37):
What is?
Can you share what is the mostgratifying part of your job?
Dr. Peter Castillo (41:42):
Oh, there's so many.
So as a urogynecologist, myfocus has always been on quality
of life issues but pelvic floorissues, incontinence, prolapse,
complications from childbirthor congenital malformations To
fix those things was extremelygratifying because not too many
people can do that and they wereoftentimes just told that
(42:04):
they've got to live with it anddeal with it.
But to have somebody get backto their normal activity, be
able to run and jump with theirkids, be able to have the
activities they want to do, thatwas very gratifying.
I thought that was the best itcould be.
Once I realized that the rootcause behind a lot of the things
that I treat as aurogynecologist has to do with
(42:24):
the aging process and loss ofhormonal support and I started
treating hormones.
It first started with sexualdysfunction and then, when I
found the root cause beinghormonal insufficiencies and
normal aging is, and theconsequence of that was
impacting all these things,that's when truly I see joy in
(42:45):
every single patient I see nowBecause they're happy, they're
energetic, they're smiling,their couples, their
relationships are tighter, theirperformance at work is better.
I can't, you know, I don't needkudos, I don't need any of it.
I just know I go home happywith that, yeah, just to know,
(43:06):
and the fact that they will telltheir friend that lives out of
the country.
They'll tell their friend thatlives on the East Coast.
And sometimes they call me andI say, well, you know what?
I happen to know somebodythat's about 100 miles away from
you that I can vouch for andwe'll send them there.
But I don't know.
I think it's hard to say onething.
But just to know that I don'tknow, just to know that I can
(43:30):
improve patients' quality oflife through through really
education and giving them goodoptions.
Kristin Jones (43:37):
Okay, great, what would?
And so it, what would one, whatwould be one thing that you
would like to leave thelisteners with what?
What one?
Either one piece of information, or one piece of guidance, or
or advice that you could give awoman out there who is
experiencing, who isexperiencing these, these, you
(43:59):
know, either in their 30s, their40s, they're experiencing these
symptoms.
What's something that you wouldwant them to know?
What's something you'd wantthem to know.
Dr. Peter Castillo (44:12):
That, because of lack of information
and education for women and forphysicians alike, many of the
patients that are going to enterinto menopause and
perimenopause they're going tofeel unheard.
There's several resources thatI can share with you, that you
can pass along Perfect, okay sothat they can educate themselves
(44:35):
and so that they have theverbiage and the knowledge to be
able to discuss with theirprimary care.
But one of the things that I'velearned to shed is don't accept
no is no for an answer.
Always advocate for yourself.
Don't allow the medicalgaslighting, just because they
(44:59):
don't know what they don't know,to be your solution, because
unfortunately, too many peopledo that.
They just accept it becausethey feel that, well, we know
best.
Well, we don't always know best.
So, advocate for yourself.
Know what it is that you want.
What do you want out of yourlife?
(45:21):
You're 45 years old.
You have career goals, you havefamily goals, you have
financial goals, whatever thosemay be.
This is not the time to justaccept weakness Right, and not
the time to expect to accept youknow that this is as good as
it's going to get.
This is probably what Iconsider.
The 50s and new 30s should bethe peak of many women's careers
(45:44):
and if you think about it justfrom the highest, most
established women in executiveboards and large companies are
in their 50s.
They're probably the mostvaluable person for that company
.
To lose them because there's noaccommodations or because they
can't would be a shame.
(46:06):
So this is always such a hardquestion to answer, but I think
really just advocate foryourself, realize that there can
be better and if you're notgetting the answer, look
elsewhere.
Kristin Jones (46:16):
Okay, awesome.
Well, thank you so much and Ihope I know, I know that the
information that you provided, Iknow has been so valuable for
so many people who are listeningand for anyone who you know.
If you're in that situation,please, you know, I will
(46:37):
absolutely, in the show notes,have the resources that Dr
Castillo will pass on to me thatwill be able to give you some
information and some educationabout the verbiage to use when
you speak to your own primarycare doctor.
But just know that there's helpout there and there are many
(46:58):
other doctors all across thecountry who are doing this kind
of thing and that, again, as hesaid, don't settle for no and
know what you want and don'tstop until you get answers and
you get what you want.
So that's a great piece ofadvice for any woman, for any
person.
I mean, that's just the way weshould all live our lives.
So thank you so much for takingthe time to do this.
(47:22):
I'm so happy that we had thisconversation and I just always I
mean I want to tell everybodyabout you because I'm just like
I say, you've changed my life.
So it just makes me so happy tobe able to share this
information with so many peopleand to allow you to be able to
have the impact on otherpeople's lives that you had on
(47:43):
my life.
So thank you so much Iappreciate it.
Dr. Peter Castillo (47:45):
Thank you so much, Kristen.
I'm honored to be able to help.
Kristin Jones (47:48):
Absolutely.
All right, y'all, we will beback next week.
I will have all of DrCastillo's resources in the show
notes and, again, if you haveany questions about anything,
you can reach out to me.
You can add a comment to thispodcast episode.
If you're watching it onYouTube, you can add a comment.
I will get those, I willrespond to you and if you need
(48:11):
to connect with him, I'll givehis contact information also in
not only in the show notes, butalso in the description on my
YouTube channel as well.
All right, have an amazing,amazing week, everybody, and
remember advocate for yourselfand your life.
Just being sick is not goodenough.
(48:31):
We can be healthy and we canthrive and we can continue to
live amazing lives well past ourwell past menopause.
So again, thank you so much forjoining me this week and
listening to the podcast, andwe'll see you all next week.
All right, take care.
Thank you for listening to thisweek's episode.
If you are interested inlearning more about how I can
(48:55):
help you understand and manageyour emotional eating, including
the use of hypnosis to uncoverthe root cause of your eating,
go to my website,kristinjonescoachingcom.
Thank you.
Do you want to lose weight but struggle to stay
committed to a meal planbecause you constantly feel
hungry?
Does food provide you comfortwhen you're bored, angry, lonely
or sad?
If so, you are in the rightplace.
My name is Kristin Jones andI'm a life coach specializing in
emotional eating and weightloss, and I'm also a lifelong
(00:24):
emotional eater.
I want to provide you withinformation, motivation and
support so you, too, can learnto manage your issues with food
and develop a healthyrelationship with yourself.
Welcome to the BreakthroughEmotional Eating Podcast.
(00:59):
My name is Kristin Jones andthank you so much for joining me
this week.
Now I've been talking about this, for it's going on five months
now, so if you've been listeningto the podcast, you know that I
, back in January, I startedhormone replacement therapy and
(01:19):
I didn't know anything.
I didn't really, honestly,didn't even know what it was.
I didn't know how it would helpme.
I had no clue about any of thatstuff.
I just knew that there wasn'tsomething sitting right with me.
I just didn't feel right in mybody.
There were a lot of things thatwere not working for me.
I'm going to say 15 years ofnot getting a full night's sleep
(01:41):
Y'all it's a long time I had along stretch of insomnia, very,
very dry skin, vaginal drynessall the things that come along
with being in your mid to late50s and didn't really even think
that there was anything that Icould do about it because, in
(02:02):
all honesty, my mom didn't doanything about it, so I didn't
even know that this was anoption.
And whenever I talked to mydoctors at Kaiser not throwing
Kaiser under the bus, but mydoctor at Kaiser they just gave
me estrogen cream and that wasit, and so I didn't have any
other point of reference.
(02:22):
And the reason I have thisamazing gentleman on my show
today is because, essentially,whether he knows it or not, he
has ultimately changed my lifeand my life is better since he
has come into my life.
So I am so honored to have onthe podcast my hormone doctor,
(02:46):
dr Peter Castillo, and he isfrom Swan Medical Offices and he
works out of NorthernCalifornia, in the Bay Area, and
they have two offices one inDanville, in my hometown, and
another in Los Gatos.
Both of them are in NorthernCalifornia and the work that
he's doing is just amazing, andI'm going to let him explain
(03:07):
what he does.
But the reason I felt it was soimportant to have him on the
podcast is because I have areally strong suspicion that
there are tens of thousands ofwomen like myself who got
through menopause didn't seemlike it was that.
It wasn't that I want to sayearth shattering, I didn't have
(03:30):
hot flashes or anything likethat, but I just didn't like how
I was feeling and I kind ofbecame resolved that this was
just the way my life was goingto go for the rest of my life.
And I think it's so importantand Dr Castillo and I have had
conversations about this, abouthow important it is to let women
and men know that they haveoptions and that it's not just
(03:54):
you just have to put up withthis, you just have to settle
for this.
There's so much more andthere's so many more things that
you can do, and so that's themain reason why I wanted to have
him on is so we could talkabout these things that a lot of
times nobody talks about, andthat it really is for everyone's
(04:15):
benefit to really give you asmuch information as I can and
inform you with as many optionsand give you all the options
that you have out there, andthen let you make the decision
about what you want in your lifeand the direction that you want
your life to go in.
So, without further ado, please, I would love to introduce all
(04:36):
of you to my hormone doctor andmy friend, dr Peter Castillo.
So, peter, thank you so muchfor being a guest on the podcast
.
We're so happy that you're here.
Thank you so much, Kristin.
It's truly an honor.
And likewise, I think you'vehad an impact on my life because
, since we've met, you'veconvinced me that I need to do
(04:56):
more yoga.
You convinced me that I need totake better care of myself, and
it's not uncommon to hearphysicians you know, don't
always practice what they preachbecause we're so busy thinking
about how to take care of othersbut that's not really an excuse
.
So, yes, I will see you thisweek in your yoga class.
(05:17):
Okay, that sounds good.
Dr. Peter Castillo (05:21):
You're gonna have to hold me to that.
Kristin Jones (05:22):
I'll hold you to it, exactly, exactly.
So if you could tell, I wouldlove for you to tell my
listeners about kind of how you,how you got into um, what you
do, and actually explain to themwhat you do, what kind of, what
kind of a doctor you are andwhat kind of practice um you run
and the things that you thatyou do for women?
Dr. Peter Castillo (05:47):
Sure, sure.
Well, I think have to start itby saying that a lot of your
story that you describe just notfeeling right in your body, not
having solutions being offeredand being told that well, that's
sort of normal.
These are kind of the commonthings that I see as a
urogynecologist, becauseeverything that I treat is a
quality of life issue.
It's not a life-threateningissue, it's not a cancer, it's
(06:09):
not an illness, it's not adisease state, it's aging and
it's life events and childbirthand the consequences of such.
But yet menopause is neverdiscussed, and the one common
theme that a lot of my patientshave is that they're in the
demographic that are mostexperiencing hormonal changes.
So my patient demographic istypically, though, it ranges
(06:33):
from 18 to 98, the median rangeis 40 to 55.
And these are the patients thatare perimenopausal, entering
into menopause, that have notbeen informed of what's coming,
and so they have to figure itout on themselves.
(06:54):
And the misconception is that ifthere's no symptoms, then
you're okay, and 80% of womenwill have hot flashes, night
sweats, what we considervasomotor symptoms.
Those are withdrawal symptoms.
They're not just a passingfancy, it's truly a problem.
That is a signal for what'scoming.
(07:15):
The withdrawal of estrogenleads to a whole host of
symptoms, so 80% of women willhave that.
However, 20% won't, though Icall them the blessed, because
they're the ones who enter intomenopause, stop having periods
and didn't suffer like others do.
The misconception is thatthey're not going to suffer as a
result.
The only difference is one hada parachute when they went into
(07:38):
menopause and the other one didnot, and those withdrawal
symptoms are a hallmark to knowwhat's coming.
Those that didn't have thosesymptoms may not be aware of
what's coming, and thedownstream effects of those are
things just aren't working.
They don't feel right andbecause of the mantra of the
lowest dose for the shortestduration of time is how we would
(07:59):
administer hormone replacementtherapy.
Only if a patient is severelysymptomatic really leaves a
whole host of patients untreatedand unaddressed.
Kristin Jones (08:10):
Right, Well, and so I think the thing and you and
I talked about this in my firstappointment that and I'm going
to let you explain it because Iknow I did a podcast on it, If
you all look back, and I talkedabout in my podcast probably it.
So if you, if y'all look back,and you and I talked about um in
in my podcast, in podcast,probably three or four months
ago the M, I had no idea thewhole impact of the impact on my
(08:35):
body of the, the, the reductionand the reduction of the
production of estrogen andtestosterone in my body, and and
, and how it was impacting likemajor organs, and so to me, I
was just blown away by that.
So could you explain to that inthe way you explained it to me?
Dr. Peter Castillo (08:52):
It made so much sense, so let you do that
Sure, sure, and I have atendency to go to get
professorial when I startexplaining this, but I'm just
going to kind of explain it in asimple way, because I think one
of the things that I reallylike to do for patients is
explain things in a way thatthey understand, because it's
(09:12):
not always so obvious.
So you know, plants need water,they need sunlight, they need
nutrients.
The body needs the same thing,just different nutrients.
And you know, as long as thosenutrients are around, you can
live a long life.
However, we were never designedto live as long as we are, and
(09:33):
proof of that is the ovariancycle.
Ovaries have a finite lifespan,meaning you're born, women are
born with all the ova eggs.
You will have your entire lifeand every month you will cycle
and sacrifice tens of thousandsof eggs to generate one ova,
that is, that is worthy toovulate and potentially get
(09:55):
pregnant.
Well, in the course of those 30years first 30 years you lose
the vast majority over 80, 90percent of thoseva, which case
what's left are the ones thatmay or may not work.
So the process of menopause iswhen you stop ovulating because
there's no more viable ova.
So that means, by average ageof 51, hormonal support goes to
(10:20):
almost a net zero.
Very, very quickly Stopovulating.
Your estrogen production goesdown to near zero and it's not
going to come back.
Can't jumpstart the ovaries.
There's all kinds of ideas ofusing regenerative therapy to
restart ovaries, but that hasnot been demonstrated.
And so, just like plant life,if you don't get the nutrients
(10:44):
or support, you will wither.
And women's bodies, just likemen's, have receptors for both
sex hormones estrogen,testosterone and estrogen.
Just to focus on that first, iswhat supports all of your
connective tissue your skin,your bones, your blood vessels,
your heart.
And wherever estrogen goes, itbrings blood flow.
(11:05):
So, as long as there's estrogenand there's receptors to
receive it, blood flowangiogenesis gets attracted to
those areas and sustains tissues.
However, when you lose estrogen, those receptors are not being
stimulated.
Blood flow decreases.
Blood vessels are not attractedto the area you lose blood flow
.
So all of the areas that aremost dependent on blood flow
decreases.
Blood vessels are not attractedto the area you lose blood flow
.
So all of the areas that aremost dependent on blood flow,
(11:27):
like the brain, like the skin,like the vagina and the bladder
and nerve endings without bloodflow, there's no oxygen, there's
no support for the nerveendings.
Things change very quickly,Right.
Kristin Jones (11:41):
Y'all.
He said your heart, your heart,your heart is impacted by that.
And that's the part that justblew me away when you said you
know, the heart and the brainboth were being impacted by the
reduction and and.
And it wasn't something I wasdoing wrong, it was just a
process of my aging.
And I remember the thing I saidto you was why doesn't anybody
know this?
Like why, why don't I know that?
(12:09):
Just because of this agingprocess, that it's not just the
glamour stuff, this is like myheart, this is my actual heart,
and my brain is actuallydeteriorating because of that
reduction in those hormones thatI didn't know I had any control
over.
Dr. Peter Castillo (12:22):
It's.
You know, it's reallyunfortunate that we don't do
enough education on this, andprobably one of the reasons and
I think you asked this questionearlier is one of the reasons
why did I get into this field,why did I become focused on
hormones, is because there'sjust not enough education,
particularly in women's health,on what's to come.
It's always wait until the shoefalls off and then address it,
put a bandaid on it, fix it andthen move on, but never an
(12:45):
explanation of why it happenedin the first place, what can be
done to prevent it, and if youcan't prevent it, how do you
address it and manage it movingforward, unfortunately, we've
all fallen into this era of ablack hole of information about
hormone management for the last22 years, and it's not until now
that the buzzwords of menopauseand perimenopause and HRT and
(13:10):
all these things are nowfloating around through social
media, because so much attentionis now addressed is bringing
this.
But a lot of women suffered asa result, because of the lack of
information, and then to makeit worse and because of the lack
of information, and then tomake it worse.
Practitioners, physicians,we're human, we learn and we
apply.
(13:30):
After years of doing the samething.
Over time you stop learning.
All of us have a tendency to dothat unless you strive and push
yourself to stay abreast ofthings.
But most of us, including mygeneration, were trained in an
era where menopause was anoptional thing to treat.
It is something that is part ofaging.
You just let it go because wehad this misconception that
(13:52):
hormone replacement therapy wasa bad thing because of
misinformation.
It took 22 years to undo badnews and that bad news was wrong
.
So now all the attention is outbecause finally all the
societies and everybody's onboard, all the medical colleges
are all on board.
Menopause is an endocrine or ahormone insufficiency, no
(14:16):
different than if it was yourthyroid or adrenals or anything.
Having an insufficiency has tobe addressed, otherwise you
cannot survive, right?
So now that the colleges areall on board, now everybody is
talking about it, but it's stilldisorganized and all those that
are in my generation oftraining still think that
estrogen causes cancer and badthings.
Right?
(14:37):
So dogma continues.
Patients keep still gettingdismissed or telling them that
that's normal, it's part ofaging.
Oh, I can't give you estrogenbecause you're going to cause
cancer or you're too old, it'stoo late.
All these myths, theseincorrect statements every
single day is what I face whenmy patients come to see me for
the, you know, after seeingthree or four other providers
(15:00):
and finally coming to see usRight.
But so I digress.
But a lot of the challenges andI think it all it's always
going to come back to my why.
My why has to do with how do Iundo the past, how do I help
people moving forward?
Right, whether througheducation, through lectures,
through just one on one teaching, because your success is going
(15:22):
to help others.
Right, right, right.
Kristin Jones (15:25):
Exactly.
Well, and the funny thing is so, um gosh, it was like four or
five years ago.
Um, so this is funny, y'all,cause I was.
I was I teach in.
I teach at a yoga studio in onetown not the town where I live
in, but five years ago I was ina locker room and a woman was
talking about hormones and shewas, and I was kind of like just
(15:48):
kind of listening, not reallypaying much attention to what
she was saying.
But she said she mentioned DrCastillo's name.
I had no idea who he was, but Iwas like huh, so I looked him
up and I got on the computer,looked him up and I see he has
an office.
Well, his office had justclosed in the neighborhood in
the area where I was, and hejust had his office down in the
(16:11):
South Bay, which is probablyabout an hour and a half away
from where I live, and I waslike, oh, that's too bad, and I
kind of put it, just kind oflike blew it off, didn't think
about it.
So then, when I reconnect, thereason we came together, as Dr
Castillo made mention, is he isa member at the club where I
teach yoga and his wife took myclass and wanted me to meet him
(16:39):
and we kind of all got togetherand talked about what I do and
what they do, and in the process, when it was like, oh, what's
the doctor you know?
Oh, what's your husband's name?
And she says, oh, dr PeterCastillo.
And I said, oh, my God, I'veheard of him.
So I mean he has a stellarreputation and I think the thing
(16:59):
that I think is so importantand this is something that I
would want everyone, whether youlive in my area or not, whether
you could come and see him ornot the bedside manner that his
office does for their patientsis so far superior to any
(17:25):
interactions I've ever had inany kind of doctor-patient
setting that I've everexperienced.
Their office one.
It's absolutely beautiful, butit's the people who work there
are so caring.
And when you call and you have aquestion or you have a concern
or there's something you're notfeeling right or we're not sure
(17:47):
what, I don't because there isan adjustment.
I mean there is an adjustment.
When you and and he and Italked very honestly about my
numbers were so low.
I mean when he says, likeestrogen stops and you have none
, that was me, I had none, Iwasn't even measuring.
It wasn't even measuring on theblood test that we did.
I knew there was going to besome adjustments that we were
(18:09):
going to have to do, and so theone thing he told me was here's
what could happen, here's apossible side effect If this
happens.
Not once was I told, you're justgoing to have to ride that out,
it'll go away eventually.
He always told me call theoffice, let me know what's
happening and we can make someadjustments.
(18:31):
And every time that I've calledwith a question or with some
sort of concern, it's either I'mput directly through to him or
I'm put through to somebody else, but I'm responded to and never
am I told it's okay, you'rejust going to have to go with
that, you're just going to haveto go with that, you're just
going to have to ride that out.
Because that was the one thing Ididn't want to ever hear was I
was going to have to ridesomething out, because that's
(18:53):
what I've been told before.
And so I think that to me issomething that I would want to
tell anyone.
If you're looking for someonewhen it comes to this type of
thing, when it comes to HRT andit comes to hormones, there is
going to be adjustments, but youneed an office, you need to
(19:16):
find somebody who will listenand who will just hear you out
and will actually empathize andand and work with you, and
that's really what I just feelso blessed that I have this with
you and with your office, andit seems like that's just the
culture that you created in youroffice.
Dr. Peter Castillo (19:36):
Thank you so much for saying that, kristen.
That really means a lot to me.
It is something we strive tocreate.
These are intimate concerns.
Every aspect of this journeythrough midlife and menopause
impacts your life in an intimateway, whether it's with intimacy
or intimate concerns that youhave trouble speaking about
(19:58):
because they're considered tabooor normal or because grandma
had it.
That's supposed to be normal.
There's a lot of things thatjust are not discussed.
So the reason why our practiceis called intimate wellness is
because it's all the intimateconcerns that people hold tight
to their chest 30% of women willnever bring up to their
(20:18):
physician.
Most don't even know, theirpartners may not know or their
families or members don't know,and they go through that
silently.
And to take that burden off ofthem, to give them a safe place
to share their concerns, to feelheard, to have options and for
them to make their own decisionson how they want to choose
their health and healthcarethat's really what we want to
(20:39):
create.
So it makes me so happy to hearwhat you just said.
Kristin Jones (20:43):
Oh yeah, absolutely.
I mean I have.
I have so many friends who whoare getting services other
places.
I have one person in particularwho says, yeah, you know, I'm,
it's, it's okay.
I mean I don't really like mydoctor, but I mean I'm going
anyway and I'm like, no, that'snot okay, that's, that's not,
(21:05):
it's not okay not to be heard.
And I think that that'ssomething, as women, we have to,
really we have to work on is wehave to be okay, we have to be
okay with advocating and we haveto find people that will, that
will listen live in my area ornot, there are doctors out there
(21:27):
, there are people out therethat are doing this kind of work
and that it will.
It is something that you can.
You can, you know you can findsomebody who really will, who
will listen and who will, youknow, empathize and and actually
be able to give you some reallyconcrete, you know next steps
that you can take, reallyconcrete, you know next steps
(21:50):
that you can take.
So so what would you say ifsomeone is listening and they're
like I, I everything thatyou're talking about, you know
the, the, the hot flashes, orthe dryness, or you know vaginal
dryness, or just I'm notsleeping well, I don't feel
right in my body, I've gained 20pounds.
All those things.
I just don't know what to do.
What would you say?
What would be your first stepfor somebody?
(22:12):
What would be somebody's firststep to do?
Dr. Peter Castillo (22:16):
Well, the thing is, life is challenging,
right, and we're very quick toassign explanation for things,
and we're human nature.
We look for explanations forthings so we can move past them
and move on, whether it's theright answer or not.
We just need something to holdon to, just so we can keep
moving, because life doesn'twait for us and, unfortunately,
(22:39):
the misconception of menopauseonly happening at 51 is part of
the problem, and the way wedefine it is part of the problem
and the way we define it.
So, before I explain what to do, I want to explain why.
So menopause is really atwo-phase problem, or a spectrum
of a problem, if you will,because remember you talked
(23:01):
about how your ovaries have afinite lifespan.
They're responsible forproducing 85% of your sex
hormones.
That means your testosteroneand your estrogen 85% comes from
the ovary, and they're madedifferently.
Your ovaries have follicles andyou ovulate every month.
That creates your estrogencycle, which is why it's a cycle
(23:23):
.
It goes up and it comes down,it goes up and it comes down,
and it's very rhythmic 28-daycycle for most women.
Testosterone, however, is notproduced in a cycle.
It's produced on demand.
You have baseline productionfrom your adrenal glands that
make up 15% of it.
And that just keeps yourperformance hormone there, keeps
(23:43):
your receptors alive and keepthings working.
But on command whether you'rebeing chased by lions, racing a
marathon or you're being aroused, will cause your ovaries to
produce, on demand, a massivespike in testosterone, very
similar to what your adrenalglands do under fight or flight
(24:06):
right.
So epinephrine and adrenalinego through the roof when you're
under stress or underperformance.
Your testosterone does too, butfrom your ovaries.
The ability to do that isdependent on the body of the
ovary and how much of it is left.
So as over the years yourovaries are decreasing in size
and capacity, the ability toproduce testosterone decreases
(24:26):
by 50% between 30 and 40 yearsold.
Kristin Jones (24:29):
See, that's what people don't understand.
I mean, I think people thinkthey're too young, like, oh, I'm
in my 30s, I don't need toworry about this.
Dr. Peter Castillo (24:37):
That's exactly right, and that's what I
mean by the misconception abouthow menopause is defined as
incorrect.
It starts between 30 and 40,you lose 50% of your production
Between 40 and 50, you're inthat perimenopausal transition,
which is why menopausal symptomslast eight to 10 years.
It's not just becauseestrogen's changed.
(24:58):
You may not even hadfluctuations yet.
Everything could be workingfine with your obligation.
Kristin Jones (25:03):
So you could still be having a regular period
, all those things.
Dr. Peter Castillo (25:11):
That's right .
Yet because if you go to thedoctor and say I'm feeling this,
I'm gaining weight, I've lostmy memory and I can't my libido
shot, I have no stamina, andthey say, oh, you're fine, I'm
not going to check your labsbecause you're not menopausal
yet.
The point is you lost half ofyour support hormone, your
performance hormone, which istestosterone, and testosterone
behaves predominantly on thebrain through performance,
(25:31):
meaning memory, sleep, libido,drive, motivation, muscle mass,
weight management, breast cancerprotection.
Testosterone has an enormousrole in the body and when you
lose 50% of it, the 40s becomeshard and we're quick to say,
well, of course it's hard,finances are hard, work is
terrible, my kids are driving mecrazy, my parents are getting
(25:54):
older, so all the things startto build up, but suddenly life
didn't get harder.
It's that we're getting weaker.
So that's the challenge.
So why is it that we lose 50%of our testosterone at the age
between 30 and 40?
And I always found thisinteresting.
Evolutionarily, we were nevermeant to live this long.
If you think from prehistorictimes.
(26:16):
What is it that prehistoricpeople needed to do?
Procreate forage for food,defend your tribe.
You need testosterone, adequateamount of testosterone, your
ability to do that on command by30, you're no longer that
person.
You're not the procreator, notthe provider.
You're the grandparent passingon information and history to
(26:39):
your grandchildren.
You're not that person and thenthat's it.
But now we're living to 85.
That means our performancehormone is gone from starting at
40 by 50%.
Your ability to make therespond in the right way is
lackluster.
So that's why, on average, ourpatient average for our sexual
dysfunction patients that cometo see us is age 44.
(27:01):
They don't even think they'remenopausal.
They just wonder where did myorgasms go?
Why don't things feel the same?
Why am I feeling dryness?
Where did I leave my keys?
It's a whole host of symptomsthat fall under that one problem
, and this is so predictable.
Yeah so that's sort of thechallenge is that we've
(27:25):
misdefined it, we'vemisexplained it or we lacked we
didn't explain it, and patientscontinue to suffer in vain until
they realize, like you, I don'tknow what's going on, but I've
got a long life to live and I'vegot a lot of stuff to do.
I can't be performing this wayand I, you know it's I've got to
do something.
I've got to do something.
So unfortunately, it takessomebody to not accept dogma and
(27:49):
question why the doctor saidthere's nothing that can be done
.
Suck it up.
You really have to be aself-advocate, and that's what
we try to do is empower ourpatients through education so
they can self-advocate forthemselves, and we're here to
give options.
Kristin Jones (28:02):
Yeah, exactly, well, and it's.
And gosh, when you were talking, I was thinking about I
couldn't make it through theafternoon without like needing a
nap.
I mean I was so tired all thetime and I thought I mean part
of that was because I wasn'tsleeping, but also I just my
energy was so low and I, just I,I again, I just thought it was,
(28:24):
this was just how, this wasjust how things were, this is
just how it was going to be.
And it's so different now andand things are.
You know, it's, it's just, it'sso it's so much better.
And but that performance pieceand again I think that's the
most that's such an importantthing is that people in their
thirties and forties, especiallywomen in their early 40s, they
(28:46):
think, well, I'm too young, I'mtoo young to start going through
this.
I still have a period.
And again, I think it's alsobecause if you go to your
general practitioner, that'susually what you're told is if
you have a period, you're stillokay and there's nothing wrong
and that's and you know, andthere's nothing and there's
(29:07):
nothing wrong.
So I think that that is againit's.
It's not.
It's people not, and womenespecially not accepting not
accepting that and knowing thatthere are other options and I
think that I think feel likehealthcare has moved in that
direction in the in the lastprobably 10 years, that that
doctors have to, they don't justget assigned people anymore.
(29:29):
I think doctors have to, theyhave to show up, and that's
really what you and your officeis doing is you are showing up
and showing up and being therefor people, the way all doctors
should, and I think it's justpeople knowing that they can
advocate for themselves and thatthey can get actually what they
need.
(29:50):
What do you feel like is therole of fitness?
You know, activity, nutritionin hormone, in, in, in, when you
start to see these changes,because most people are like oh
my gosh, I'm so tired, I don'thave any energy, I, I, I, just,
I can't do any, I, I, I couldn't, I couldn't start exercising
now, I don't.
You know, all I want to do iseat carbs all the time, or all I
(30:12):
want to do is eat sugar.
Um, what?
How does that impact?
How does fitness and nutritionimpact a person's hormones and
their response to them?
Dr. Peter Castillo (30:24):
Sure, sure.
So, like I mentioned, 15% ofyour testosterone and estrogen
will come from your adrenalglands, and you have some
control over that, meaningtrying your best to have a low
stress life, having time tomeditate and exercise, having
time to really be you and takecare of you.
That's very important, but inour hectic life living in the
(30:48):
Bay Area or in any metropolitanarea these days, you have to be
burning the candle at both ends,otherwise you're not a
productive member of the society.
It's unfortunate that that'sthe life we live.
Well, you will sacrificesomething in exchange for that,
so that 15% goes down veryquickly to very small numbers.
So taking care of yourself isfirst.
(31:10):
Proper nutrition, properexercise, proper rest are
necessary for everything to workwell.
You still got to do the hardwork, though, and you remind me
all the time.
Kristin Jones (31:21):
You got to do the hard work.
Dr. Peter Castillo (31:22):
It's not just about going to the gym and
lifting weights, not just aboutgetting on the treadmill, but
also, you know, maintainingflexibility.
Maintaining those small musclegroups are key.
Now you can increase baselineproduction through exercise,
through weight training, propernutrition.
But to what degree?
(31:43):
When our production, naturalproduction, is declining?
Right, so continue doing them.
Oftentimes it's not enough toreplace what's been lost.
Kristin Jones (31:52):
Right right.
Dr. Peter Castillo (31:54):
And then the challenge becomes is that, well
, if you don't have the interest, how do you get out of the
house?
If you don't have the interest,how do you get out of the house
if you don't have themotivation to do it right, which
is where the testosterone partbecomes a big, big uh impact.
Um, you know the um.
It's truly a motivating hormonethat stabilizes moods and has a
(32:15):
and you have by, by default, apositive outlook on anything you
want to do.
You know mood is a big part ofthe testosterone purpose, so
it's a mood stabilizer and youknow the challenges that come at
us every day when we're weakseem overwhelming.
(32:38):
I guess overwhelmed is probablythe best word that many people
will feel because they can'tkeep up with all the things that
are coming at them and theydon't have the energy to
overcome them.
Imagine if you could slow theworld down and all of a sudden,
all these millions of thingsthat are coming at you, you can
actually see calmly and see themin a logical sense.
(32:59):
You can address them.
That's sort of what happenswhen you optimize your
testosterone levels to stabilizeyour mood and the world becomes
more manageable.
It's no longer overwhelming andnow you can be so much more
productive when the lights arebrighter and everything's
clearer.
Kristin Jones (33:17):
Right, and so, and I think that that again is
something that that you know, if, if you are, if you're
listening to this, and that isyou, or you think gosh, I feel
like there's so many things thatare coming at me and I just, I
just don't, I just don't knowhow to, I don't know able to
deal with stuff, but now I feellike I can't.
(33:39):
It's not that, I think, and Ithink we, as women especially,
we just turn the blame onourselves.
Well, there must be something.
I'm not trying hard enough, I'mnot doing enough, and there is
and can be a legitimate reason.
And if you're in your 30s and40s, that legitimate reason
could be, and probably is, yourtestosterone levels, and so,
(34:02):
knowing that we have to stopturning on ourselves and blaming
ourselves and realizing that,oh, there could be a medical
reason for this happening, and Ineed to investigate that, I
need to figure out.
And, yes, you can go and askyour general practitioner, but
(34:23):
that probably won't get youanywhere.
So you may need to find someonelike Dr Castillo who does these
things.
And it's unfortunate that.
And I don't necessarily want tohave to put you on the spot
about insurance, but we havetalked about that, that that
every, every, essentially, and,as you and I talked about,
(34:45):
everyone needs this.
Everyone, everyone is going togo through this and, in my mind,
that's why insurance, that'swhy our, our major carriers
don't cover this, becauseeverybody needs it and it's
going to be expensive for them.
Dr. Peter Castillo (35:01):
So there's, you know, there's something I
always like to remind myself of.
Everybody needs it and it'sgoing to be expensive for them.
So there's something I alwayslike to remind myself of and
patients about their ownproviders.
Their providers truly do careabout them.
They actually want the best forthem.
It's because they don't knowwhat they don't know, and it's
by no fault of their own unlessthey actually make the time to
go out of their way to learnsomething that is so novel and
(35:21):
unique to them.
And once you're established inpractice, it's harder and harder
to do that.
But it's truly their bestintention.
So it's never my intention toget in between the patient and
their doctor.
In fact, I would rather meet,speak with or educate the
physician on the why, and someare very open, some are not, and
that's okay.
But at least I've shown thepatient, or at least I've
(35:45):
educated the patient enough thatthey can at least speak to them
and they can advocate forthemselves about what they want.
Kristin Jones (35:50):
Yeah, absolutely Absolutely.
Oh, go ahead.
Dr. Peter Castillo (35:55):
The other challenge is how and you know
how the FDA oversees allproduction of commercially
available medications.
It's a very hard job and it'swhat they do, and I do want to
give them credit, because whatthey do is their intent is to
protect the public from justnilly-willy medications showing
up on the market and then peoplegetting sick or hurt so,
(36:17):
without proof of evidence oranything.
So that's their primary role,their role.
However, because they are rulefollowers, they can only do
things in the order that theywere done.
So, for example, whenmedications become FDA approved,
the manufacturer, the pharma,has to submit a protocol that
identifies a demographic.
A protocol that identifies ademographic, a narrow range, a
(36:42):
fixed dose or series of dosesand strict guidelines in which
to follow, which means that alot of medications become
focused on a particulardemographic or a particular
gender and sex.
Hormones like testosterone andestrogen are genderized because
testosterone, when it came tomarket, was studied in men,
(37:04):
because that's where they wantedit to be, because that's the
deficiency they were trying toaddress, without understanding
that women have that deficiencyalso.
Men need estrogen just as well,but there's no estrogen
replacement for men, becausethey will make their own if you
replace their testosterone.
However, the contrary is notthe same for women, because
there is no FDA approvedtestosterone for women in this
(37:25):
country and that's because theFDA is very strict and they just
they've shoot down things foryou know, unknown reason.
Anyway, other countries haveFDA approved versions of, or not
FDA approved in their countries, but they have commercially
available testosterone for womenand I predicted that within the
next 10 to 15 years we shouldhave a female commercially
(37:49):
available testosterone.
The FDA is like a massive shipthat takes a long time to turn.
It takes a while before thatbecomes available.
So unfortunately it becomes anoff-label medication.
I mean, there's no FDAindication for it.
Anything that wasn't studied inthat population or for a
condition becomes off-label,which means insurances are not
(38:11):
in a rush to cover it, right.
So that's why, unfortunately,if you manage to get your
insurance to cover it, it'sgoing to be a sort of a generic
approach, a minimalist approachto replacement.
They'll say, well, let's take amale's prescription, divide it
(38:32):
by tenths, and you're going totake that tenth of a pea-sized
amount and you're going to applythat to you.
How much are you really getting?
Who knows how much got absorbed?
Who knows and how much is?
How much are you really getting?
Who knows how much got absorbed?
Who knows and how much isactually doing work in your body
?
Who knows?
Because they're not checkinglabs beforehand or afterwards
because they don't know what todo with the information.
But there are ways of gettingyour doctor to prescribe that.
(38:52):
Sometimes insurance will coverit.
Many times they won't, becausethere's no indication for women
to have testosterone, accordingto insurance companies.
The way they see it, it's wild,that is just wild, but I think
it's again.
Kristin Jones (39:07):
I think it's really.
It's fortunate that there arepeople, there are practitioners
like yourself who are, who havebecome, who are educated in this
area, and that and the word,you know, the word is spreading.
I know that one of my clientsfrom Pennsylvania reached out to
speak to your office and andshe ended up finding someone in
(39:27):
her area.
You know, immediately in herarea that she didn't even know
that person existed, but becauseshe learned, because I had
talked to her about it, and shecalled your office and she
talked to some you know shetalked to I think it was Jessica
.
She talked to, you know,somebody at your office and got
the information and then wasable to find somebody in her
area.
So they're, they are out thereand it's just, you know, we, we
(39:49):
get to, we get to know that wehave options and and that's
really what you know, I justwant people to know is that the
options are out there and thatwe don't have to settle.
I think you said I believe, ifI say this correctly I don't
think I'm going to, but I thinkyou were saying that something
about it's not enough just tonot be in disease, that that's
(40:15):
not a quality of life.
Just because you're not sick,that's not living.
Dr. Peter Castillo (40:22):
It's true.
It's true we measure health bywhether you're sick or not, and
it's not enough to not be sickis really the way I look at it,
because there's a lot of healthypeople out there, but they're
vitamin D deficient, their B12sare malabsorbed, their hormones
are deficient, 12s aremalabsorbed, their hormones are
(40:44):
deficient, their cortisolthrough the roof, they can't
sleep, but yet they're healthybecause they don't have a
disease that can be treated by apill.
They have aging, they havehormone deficiencies, but who's
measuring those appropriately?
So you're right, I agree ahundred percent.
I think people nowadays, sinceCOVID, they found that there's
an upswing in the amount ofpeople interested in their
longevity, because I think onething that COVID taught us is we
(41:08):
are not immortal, and itbrought us to face our mortality
.
And so a lot of people startedto take control of their own
health decisions and not justlooking at where insurance sends
you and not just looking withinyour network, but looking for
the right person that fits youRight, Because every
practitioner has their own styleand personality, and so do
(41:29):
patients, and they have to fit,they have to jive, they have to
understand each other Right,right In order to have respect.
Kristin Jones (41:37):
What is?
Can you share what is the mostgratifying part of your job?
Dr. Peter Castillo (41:42):
Oh, there's so many.
So as a urogynecologist, myfocus has always been on quality
of life issues but pelvic floorissues, incontinence, prolapse,
complications from childbirthor congenital malformations To
fix those things was extremelygratifying because not too many
people can do that and they wereoftentimes just told that
(42:04):
they've got to live with it anddeal with it.
But to have somebody get backto their normal activity, be
able to run and jump with theirkids, be able to have the
activities they want to do, thatwas very gratifying.
I thought that was the best itcould be.
Once I realized that the rootcause behind a lot of the things
that I treat as aurogynecologist has to do with
(42:24):
the aging process and loss ofhormonal support and I started
treating hormones.
It first started with sexualdysfunction and then, when I
found the root cause beinghormonal insufficiencies and
normal aging is, and theconsequence of that was
impacting all these things,that's when truly I see joy in
(42:45):
every single patient I see nowBecause they're happy, they're
energetic, they're smiling,their couples, their
relationships are tighter, theirperformance at work is better.
I can't, you know, I don't needkudos, I don't need any of it.
I just know I go home happywith that, yeah, just to know,
(43:06):
and the fact that they will telltheir friend that lives out of
the country.
They'll tell their friend thatlives on the East Coast.
And sometimes they call me andI say, well, you know what?
I happen to know somebodythat's about 100 miles away from
you that I can vouch for andwe'll send them there.
But I don't know.
I think it's hard to say onething.
But just to know that I don'tknow, just to know that I can
(43:30):
improve patients' quality oflife through through really
education and giving them goodoptions.
Kristin Jones (43:37):
Okay, great, what would?
And so it, what would one, whatwould be one thing that you
would like to leave thelisteners with what?
What one?
Either one piece of information, or one piece of guidance, or
or advice that you could give awoman out there who is
experiencing, who isexperiencing these, these, you
(43:59):
know, either in their 30s, their40s, they're experiencing these
symptoms.
What's something that you wouldwant them to know?
What's something you'd wantthem to know.
Dr. Peter Castillo (44:12):
That, because of lack of information
and education for women and forphysicians alike, many of the
patients that are going to enterinto menopause and
perimenopause they're going tofeel unheard.
There's several resources thatI can share with you, that you
can pass along Perfect, okay sothat they can educate themselves
(44:35):
and so that they have theverbiage and the knowledge to be
able to discuss with theirprimary care.
But one of the things that I'velearned to shed is don't accept
no is no for an answer.
Always advocate for yourself.
Don't allow the medicalgaslighting, just because they
(44:59):
don't know what they don't know,to be your solution, because
unfortunately, too many peopledo that.
They just accept it becausethey feel that, well, we know
best.
Well, we don't always know best.
So, advocate for yourself.
Know what it is that you want.
What do you want out of yourlife?
(45:21):
You're 45 years old.
You have career goals, you havefamily goals, you have
financial goals, whatever thosemay be.
This is not the time to justaccept weakness Right, and not
the time to expect to accept youknow that this is as good as
it's going to get.
This is probably what Iconsider.
The 50s and new 30s should bethe peak of many women's careers
(45:44):
and if you think about it justfrom the highest, most
established women in executiveboards and large companies are
in their 50s.
They're probably the mostvaluable person for that company
.
To lose them because there's noaccommodations or because they
can't would be a shame.
(46:06):
So this is always such a hardquestion to answer, but I think
really just advocate foryourself, realize that there can
be better and if you're notgetting the answer, look
elsewhere.
Kristin Jones (46:16):
Okay, awesome.
Well, thank you so much and Ihope I know, I know that the
information that you provided, Iknow has been so valuable for
so many people who are listeningand for anyone who you know.
If you're in that situation,please, you know, I will
(46:37):
absolutely, in the show notes,have the resources that Dr
Castillo will pass on to me thatwill be able to give you some
information and some educationabout the verbiage to use when
you speak to your own primarycare doctor.
But just know that there's helpout there and there are many
(46:58):
other doctors all across thecountry who are doing this kind
of thing and that, again, as hesaid, don't settle for no and
know what you want and don'tstop until you get answers and
you get what you want.
So that's a great piece ofadvice for any woman, for any
person.
I mean, that's just the way weshould all live our lives.
So thank you so much for takingthe time to do this.
(47:22):
I'm so happy that we had thisconversation and I just always I
mean I want to tell everybodyabout you because I'm just like
I say, you've changed my life.
So it just makes me so happy tobe able to share this
information with so many peopleand to allow you to be able to
have the impact on otherpeople's lives that you had on
(47:43):
my life.
So thank you so much Iappreciate it.
Dr. Peter Castillo (47:45):
Thank you so much, Kristen.
I'm honored to be able to help.
Kristin Jones (47:48):
Absolutely.
All right, y'all, we will beback next week.
I will have all of DrCastillo's resources in the show
notes and, again, if you haveany questions about anything,
you can reach out to me.
You can add a comment to thispodcast episode.
If you're watching it onYouTube, you can add a comment.
I will get those, I willrespond to you and if you need
(48:11):
to connect with him, I'll givehis contact information also in
not only in the show notes, butalso in the description on my
YouTube channel as well.
All right, have an amazing,amazing week, everybody, and
remember advocate for yourselfand your life.
Just being sick is not goodenough.
(48:31):
We can be healthy and we canthrive and we can continue to
live amazing lives well past ourwell past menopause.
So again, thank you so much forjoining me this week and
listening to the podcast, andwe'll see you all next week.
All right, take care.
Thank you for listening to thisweek's episode.
If you are interested inlearning more about how I can
(48:55):
help you understand and manageyour emotional eating, including
the use of hypnosis to uncoverthe root cause of your eating,
go to my website,kristinjonescoachingcom.
Thank you.
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