Video Testimonial today regarding bio-identical hormones

Welcome back to my blog.
Today one of my long standing Hormone patients told me she felt so "Phenomenal" that she was willing to give me a quick video testimonial

Here is the link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UC3QAD1vRaQ

Enjoy! thank you for helping others Joyce!

Roses don't put weight on you :)

Happy Valentines! Its so hard that Valentine's day comes right after all those New Year's resolutions to lose weight :(
The good news is that receiving roses doesn't put weight on you so the whole day doesn't have to be a bust.
Still, its nice to be able to navigate the other traditions of the day without gaining 5 pounds.

When did 'love' get so caught up in 'sweets'? So long as it is heart shaped you can feel loved and cared for by consuming it. ....But then there's tomorrow.

A lot of people ask me how I maintain my weight and I tell them honestly, my first rule of thumb is not to gain weight in the first place. That sounds a little trite but it is so much harder to lose weight than to gain it. Therefore, we have to take that into consideration in the first place.

I may not do all the things I preach but once I see the scale go up by 5 pounds I don't make any excuses, I adjust my activities to make sure it comes off and I can return to baseline.

I think it is easy to allow your weight to keep creeping up with a variety of excuses "it's the holidays", "It's cold outside", "when I retire/start my new job/join the gym, I will start working on my weight " and then you look around and your weight has crept up 15 pounds.

Sometimes when your weight reaches a certain level you get discouraged and think "what's the point I'm always going to be overweight!" Now, you have an excuse for not even trying. But remember rule number one is NOT to put the weight on in the first place.

 A patient of mine the other day who was 199 pounds said she just didn't know what to do, so she would just do nothing. I told her that if she continued to gain when she hit 220, all of a sudden 199 would look mighty good to her!

Whatever your weight is, it is worth starting where you are.  Even if you don't lose weight but have not gained you are still ahead of where you would have been if you didn't try. So its always worth it to make the effort even when it doesn't seem like it.
Keep rule number one rolling around in your head as you take a pinch of those Valentine candies or better yet just smell the roses!
have a happy and healthy Valentines Day!

Are you tired?

A lot of people assume that they are tired because they work too hard.  It is true this may be a cause if they don’t get enough sleep but there are often other things  that are ignored because work or stress is assumed to be the culprit.

It is not normal to feel tired all the time and genuine fatigue almost always has a ‘real’ cause.  It may be due to a vitamin deficiency. I had a patient once who was so tired she couldn’t get out of bed in the morning plus she had convinced herself that she had early Alzheimer’s.  She came into the office crying because she didn’t want to have to tell her children.  Vitamin testing showed her to be extremely deficient in 3 vitamins, once we replaced those she was back working in the garden that she loved.  Another cause of fatigue is adrenal gland dysfunction. Once again this can be so severe that patients cannot stay out of bed for more than a few hours and have to nap all the time.  Bottom line: tiredness and feeling exhausted is not normal and can usually be corrected. Sometimes patients have read on line that being tired comes from a lack of thyroid hormone or low iron and once those two tests are normal they assume nothing more can be done. Others go to the local health food store and start taking all kinds of supplements and stimulants, this is like playing roulette, if you get lucky it may help. Some supplements make you feel like you have more energy for a short while but then you rebound and crash, or cant do without them. It is always best to figure out the cause of the problem and then treat it appropriately. If you have cancer or a connective tissue disease or even depression all the supplements in the world will not fix it. The sooner you get to the root of the problem the better.  If on the other hand the problem is just lack of sleep then that can be worked on too (see my blog on sleep from earlier this year).  Sleep prolongs life.

If you have a problem of tiredness, malaise or fatigue make an appointment now.

HOW TO GET MORE SLEEP

Getting more sleep

Here are some tips on how to get better sleep: #1 Make it a priority Allow time for 7 to 9 hours of sleep Exercise regularly (no less than 4 hours before bedtime) Avoid caffeine in the PM and alcohol within 2 hours of sleep Warm bath before bed Sleepytime and other teas Manage stress Watch diet Make your bedroom quiet both noise wise and activity wise Only use the bed for sex and sleep: don’t use it for eating, reading, watching television, studying, work, hobbies Remove clutter Sleep alone, no pets, children, other Try Yoga and Acupuncture TRY HERBAL SUPPLEMENTS: Clinical Sleep, Melatonin, Holy basil, Passion Flower Lower lights change the bulbs outside the door if necessary Keep a regular sleep schedule • Go to bed and get up around the same time • Limit naps Limit stimulating behaviors before bedtime • Limit caffeine after 2 pm • Limit alcohol after dinner • Limit large or spicy meals • Limit vigorous exercise 4-6 hours before bed – De-stress, learn relaxation techniques – Physical and mental – Maintain a regular physical activity routine – Physical activity helps with stress – Do not go to bed hungry or full – Light snack of carbohydrates and foods with tryptophan – Practice stimulus control: – Go to bed when you are drowsy – If you don’t fall asleep within 10-15 minutes • Get up, leave the bedroom • Read or watch something dull • Make your room and bed comfortable • No pets on/in the bed • Temperature Cool • Lighting low, expose yourself to bright lights during day • Bed, sheets, PJ’s comfortable and not binding • – Treat the underlying problem, with menopause that is the hormonal imbalance (estrogen deficiency) Treat medical conditions like restless legs, sleep apnea and obesity • Obstructive Sleep Apnea treatment options include: – Mouth appliance – Surgery-tonsils and/or adenoids – Weight reduction if obese – CPAP-Continuous positive airway pressure

Originally Published by Dr. Tuakli April 25th 2016

Lack of sleep can kill you!

Lack of sleep can kill you!

I gave a talk on Sex, Sanity and Sleep yesterday and wanted to share some of the amazing information I found out about sleep. Sleep is one of those wonderful things that we take for granted but it can increase not just the quality of your life but the QUANTITY of it too! One extra hour of sleep a day can decrease your mortality by 50%. Do you forgo leisure and sexual activities and sacrifice exercise because you are "too tired", gulping down caffeine to keep up. Stop! Besides making you tired,lack of sleep severely impacts your health. One in five auto accidents involves drowsy driving. Lack of sleep increases your blood pressure, your tendency to diabetes, arthritis, weight gain,heart disease and premature aging.When you are sleep deprived you are cranky and your decision making skills are reduced which affects your social relationships among other things.Improved sleep improves your thyroid function and immunity which controls your ability to fight off infections and cancer. So insomnia is no joke! Make sleep a priority. As I mentioned in yesterday's blog: It takes great sleep to make a great life. Check out that blog for tips on how to get better sleep and if that's not working, seek help.