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Dr Nicole Robinson
How to Treat Infertility Naturally and Holistically with Dr Nicole Robinson on The Healers Café with Manon Bolliger
In this episode of The Healers Café, Manon Bolliger (facilitator and retired naturopath with 30+ years of practice) speaks to Dr Nicole Robinson about Functional Medicine.
Highlights from today’s episode include:
Dr Nicole Robinson 09:24
I mean, and I feel like to with medications, a lot of times, you know, I would see people get started with one, and then they end up adding more to counteract the side effects of the first one, and it just, it doesn’t make logical sense, you know. Start with the body and support it so that it can heal. That makes sense.
Dr Nicole Robinson there are a lot, there’s a lot of research and studies around reproductive health to that for women that have very heavy, painful periods or irregular cycles, a lot of that can be traced back to poor gut health as well. Poor, you know, bladder function can be connected to the gut, then, you know, thyroid issues, too, there’s a lot to say that there are parasites and bacterial infections that can affect the thyroid. So, I do try to tell them that, you know, even if you’re not having symptoms in your digestive area, per se, it still could be causing problems elsewhere in the body.
– – – – –
Dr Nicole Robinson I would just tell them that if they are frustrated, and this is their last resort, to not lose hope, and to keep an open mind, especially about holistic healing in how we start from supporting the body so that it can heal itself.
ABOUT DR NICOLE ROBINSON:
Dr. Nicole Robinson is a licensed pharmacist, Functional Medicine Practitioner and certified Mercier Therapist. She began her career in 2011 as an Army Pharmacist, working in several hospitals and clinics around the United States. After 6 years of service, she transitioned back into civilian life and continued her pharmacy career at a community CVS pharmacy. She enjoyed being a pharmacist, but wondered if there was a more holistic approach to health she could incorporate to better serve people. This curiosity led her to achieve certification as a Functional Medicine Practitioner in 2020 and go on to partner with a chiropractor to bring Functional Medicine to her local community. Her focus has been Women’s Health at all stages, specifically preparation for conception using Mercier Therapy but also hormone imbalances and menopausal support.
Core purpose/passion: My mission is to inspire, educate and coach women to the healthiest version of themselves using Functional Medicine. I want to give women the knowledge and tools to maintain health and pass this on to future generations. I am most passionate about helping women going through infertility. Experiencing infertility personally was what fueled me to want to get healthy using a natural approach. I believe that personal experience has helped me better understand what these women are going through and will allow me to care for them from a truly genuine, authentic place.
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About Manon Bolliger
As a recently De-Registered board-certified naturopathic physician & in practice since 1992, I’ve seen an average of 150 patients per week and have helped people ranging from rural farmers in Nova Scotia to stressed out CEOs in Toronto to tri-athletes here in Vancouver.
My resolve to educate, empower and engage people to take charge of their own health is evident in my best-selling books: ‘What Patients Don’t Say if Doctors Don’t Ask: The Mindful Patient-Doctor Relationship’ and ‘A Healer in Every Household: Simple Solutions for Stress’. I also teach BowenFirst™ Therapy through Bowen College and hold transformational workshops to achieve these goals.
So, when I share with you that LISTENING to Your body is a game changer in the healing process, I am speaking from expertise and direct experience”.
Mission: A Healer in Every Household!
For more great information to go to her weekly blog: http://bowencollege.com/blog.
For tips on health & healing go to: https://www.drmanonbolliger.com/tips
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About The Healers Café:
Manon’s show is the #1 show for medical practitioners and holistic healers to have heart to heart conversations about their day to day lives.
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TRANSCRIPT
Welcome to the Healers Café. Conversations on health and healing with Manon Bolliger. A retired and deregistered naturopathic physician with 30 plus years of experience. Here, you will discover engaging and informative conversations between experienced healers, covering all aspects of healing, the personal journey, the journey of the practitioner, and the amazing possibilities for our own body, and spirit.
Manon Bolliger 00:41
So welcome to the Healers Cafe. And today I have with me Dr. Nicole Robinson. And she’s a licensed pharmacist, a functional medicine practitioner, and also a certified Mercia therapist. And she began basically her career in 2011 as an army pharmacist. And long story short, I think you ended up more going with functional medicine, and also with Mercia therapy. Well, welcome number one. And why don’t you tell us a little bit what…well, first, what is Mercia therapy because I’m not familiar with it?
Dr Nicole Robinson 01:28
Yeah, well, thank you so much for having me on the podcast today. And Mercia therapy is a deep tissue manipulation on the organs of the pelvis, so the uterus and the ovaries. And there’s some work on the lower back as well to help relieve restrictions and tension in the area, and to really optimize blood flow. Because with a lot of our everyday lives, we’re so stressed and we’re not eating healthy, we’re exposed to all of these endocrine disrupting chemicals, that takes a toll on all of the systems of our body, including our reproductive organs. So, to have a Mercia therapist get in there and kind of increase that mobility and that blood flow, we can see …
Read more...
increased function.
Manon Bolliger 02:16
That makes sense. And your focus is fertility, right, women and fertility, is that correct?
Dr Nicole Robinson 02:23
So right now, I see anybody that comes into my office, but mostly that ends up being women who are looking for help with, you know, any issues having to do with their health, specifically hormones. I would say my passion, though, is women that are dealing with infertility, because I’ve gone through it myself. And it really opened up a lot of doors to personal healing for me, and I realized that in order to get my body ready to create another life, I had to be healthy myself. So, I really love helping women on that journey.
Manon Bolliger 03:02
So, does that have anything to do with you moving away from pharmacy to more holistic ways of looking at the body?
Dr Nicole Robinson 03:11
100% Yes!
Manon Bolliger 03:17
Because I was gonna say it’s not, I mean, actually, it’s not shocking at all, you know, as more people are sort of realizing that, you know, quick fixes and band aids don’t get to the root of what’s wrong. You know, I think there’s a big shift now, for people, you know, wanting to know more about, what can my body actually do? And what can help it do what it can do, rather than so called fix it which doesn’t really help. So, tell us a little bit, how did you end up going into pharmacy in the first place? And what was your…because in a sense, it’s still the calling to help people, right?
Dr Nicole Robinson 03:59
Sure. So, I think it really started when I was a kid, I was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease, when I was about nine years old, and I went through a lot of pain and suffering with that, and, you know, was using the conventional medicine model and that ended up being a year of high dose steroids. That helped with the symptoms short term, like you were just saying, but then I ended up with a lot of long-term things going on gut issues, you know, sinus issues. I’m pretty sure infertility is part of that. And I think it took a toll on you know, my reproductive health as well. And so, I really just going through all that had me wanting to help people, and I wanted to, you know, help people feel better. And so, when I was in high school, I was trying to figure out, you know, where in the healthcare field do I see myself, and I ended up with pharmacy. And I think that was mostly just because I was like, I don’t like dealing with blood and all of those things. So, I’ll just stick with being a pharmacist. And so, you know, I went through school and got my degree. And I mean, I sort of felt like I was helping people, I guess, but you know, it’s just, it’s so busy, that you kind of get caught up in the amount that you’re doing, the numbers. And it’s easy to lose sight of the fact that these are people in front of you. And, you know, I practice traditional pharmacy for almost 10 years, before I started to really expand my horizons, if you will. And I just started noticing that people weren’t getting better. Everything was about treating symptoms, and maintaining what little healthiest people might have had, nobody ever got better. And I think it was a series of, you know, personally looking for other answers and talking to different people that had tried holistic methods to get their health back. And I, you know, stumbled across stories of people healing from autoimmune disease, and diabetes, and high blood pressure and cancer. And I was just like, is this even real? In school, it was nobody got better from any of those things. And so, I was super intrigued. And once I started kind of really diving into functional medicine, I could not unsee it. And I knew that I was going to have to make a change, I could not do this for the rest of my life. And so, I started doing a course to get certified. And I talked to my uncle who’s actually a chiropractor, he owns his own practice. And I was just trying to get some ideas of as a pharmacist, how can I make this work? And with him owning his own practice, he said, well, why don’t you just get certified and come work for me? I said, okay. So, for about the last year and a half, I have been working, I have an office in his chiropractic clinic. And we work as a team to see patients for functional medicine. And it’s just, it doesn’t even feel like work. Like I really feel like we’re…I’m where I’m supposed to be. And the transformations are just, they’re so amazing. I just I love it.
Manon Bolliger 07:39
Yeah, well, that’s, it’s great. I always find that. It’s also really great for people to hear this, you know, because, I mean, myself, I’m a naturopathic physician for 30 years. I was because I am no longer practicing here in Canada. And, yeah, it’s amazing people come as a last resort as they’ve tried everything, and then it’s like, okay, okay, prove it, prove it. And it’s like, what are we proving, you know, it’s your body. It’s your health, your life, you know, it’s like, either we honor that, and we really work with, you know, understanding it fully, you know, or we just throw a bunch of drugs at it. You know, it’s like, it’s, you know, it’s really, it’s shocking how long it’s taken, for people to shift, you know, into…and I know many doctors that ended up in my practice, too. They’re like, they’re saying, Oh, you’re so lucky. You actually get to help people. Yeah, you know, it must be very depressing, you know, I don’t mean an emergency and there’s, you know, there’s a place for everyone in this plant, and, you know, but for chronic diseases, and for chronic conditions and autoimmune diseases, you know, and I would say infertility to, it’s not like drug fixable
Dr Nicole Robinson 09:24
Right. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, and I feel like to with medications, a lot of times, you know, I would see people get started with one, and then they end up adding more to counteract the side effects of the first one, and it just, it doesn’t make logical sense, you know. Start with the body and support it so that it can heal. That makes sense.
Manon Bolliger 09:53
Right. Yeah. I hear you. You no longer have a fertility issue as I hear children the background.
Dr Nicole Robinson 10:00
Yes, yes, I do have children in the background.
Manon Bolliger 10:04
I’m saying that lovingly, don’t worry. In the context of all of this, it’s perfect. And happy kids.
Dr Nicole Robinson 10:13
Yeah. Yes.
Manon Bolliger 10:15
Have you noticed in the past, you know, year and a half or so an increase of infertility or miscarriages or anything like that, from these latest pharmaceutical endeavors?
Dr Nicole Robinson 10:35
Oh, definitely. And I don’t even think we need to wait for the studies and the research to come out on this. Like, we know people in our own families and in our circles of friends, I know, women that are now having issues with infertility. Women that, you know, have kind of bought into, you know, certain things that have been coming down the pipeline, and who…some even pregnant at the time and ended up, you know, having very difficult pregnancies or, you know, premature deliveries and things and the infertility numbers are, I feel like, just through the roof, I feel like I know, so many women that are having issues.
Manon Bolliger 11:20
Yeah, well, it’s, I mean, now we have access to the Pfizer report, which was going to be put off for 75 years, so that we would never know what was happening, you know. And even the study itself, but you know, has 28 out of 29 of the women who happened to be pregnant, miscarried, you know, and then they didn’t mother continuing to study this. And then suddenly, it’s safe and effective for pregnant woman, and we have all these, you know, obstetricians saying this, when we’re in a trial, you know. I just, I found this…I found this so…I means not just corrupt. It’s sad. These are human lives, you know, that have well-meaning people who think they’re doing the right thing, because they, like you say they bought into that narrative. And yeah, it’s just in Canada, we’re so censored that, yeah, we can’t really speak about it at all. Like, there’s nothing. There’s not even like, so called Fox News where you could get a little bit.
Dr Nicole Robinson 12:37
And I think it just goes back to, like you said, the narrative and really buying into, you know, everything that the medical community comes out with seeing them as dogma, versus people thinking for themselves. Like, I don’t even think…I mean, as far as vaccines in school, it was, like, in a weekend, we learned about the vaccine schedule, and here’s your certification, you know, go start administering these and I knew very little about it. And, I mean, I didn’t know very many other pharmacists that did, it was just like, okay, well go through this training, and now you can do immunizations. And like, I just, I didn’t…I didn’t know. And I, it was almost like an ignorance is bliss type thing, like, I just had no idea what I was doing. And once I started to, you know, do some research and look into what’s in the vaccines, and some of the studies that are still available, some of the studies, you know, around them and side effects and things, I definitely took a step back. And I, you know, I have a very different stance on vaccines now than I did before. And it just really seems like a shame to not have had more information, like there was so much information, you know, that we had to memorize like about drugs, and, you know, and what to treat for what, but with vaccines, there was just not a lot. And that’s still something that we’re literally injecting into somebody’s body. And yeah, I just, it’s kind of wild to me that people don’t take that more seriously.
Manon Bolliger 14:38
Yeah. Well, I mean, it’s kind of it’s a strange thing, just because one can inject in the right place, doesn’t mean that it makes the content of what you’re injecting safe, right? It’s like, yeah, and it’s…yeah I’ve interviewed quite a few people about this. It’s like, well, you know, We were told, this is what we do. Right? So, it’s like, but have you read the ingredients is? Oh, actually, we didn’t really get the ingredients, or well, then How’s informed consent even possible?
Dr Nicole Robinson 15:13
Right.
Manon Bolliger 15:14
Right. And, you know, and then patients to our clients whatever, though, you know, they don’t necessarily ask, they’ll ask a few things, you know, like, does it hurt? That’s barely that issue, you know? It’s like, and then it’s like, oh, yeah, you’ll have a little bit of pain in the arm, and, you know, it’s gonna stay there, which we know is absolutely not true. It’s not even possible. Biologically, you know, it doesn’t make any sense. You know, and, and so many people…you know, doctors and pharmacists and nurses have fallen for this. And then a lot of them were afraid to speak, then that’s still happening here. Because the moment you do, it’s over.
Commercial Break 16:01
Manon Bolliger here. And I want to thank you for taking actionable steps towards engaging your healing journey, and helping others discover their path by watching, sharing, subscribing, and reviewing these podcasts. Every review and share helps spread the word these different perspectives and choices and options for healing. And to thank you, I’d like to invite you to sign up to my free seven sequence email tips on health and healing for everyday life. You can go to healerscafe.com tips, thanks so much.
Manon Bolliger 16:43
You know, I wrote a article, you know, just saying, you know, well, let’s let people choose, but let’s not forget that we actually have an immune system. Well, that was it? Yeah, that was it. It’s like common sense proof but that just that was the nail in the coffin. And so, it is shocking, you know, so good for you from making a shift. You know, there’s always something that wakes people up and go, whoa. But so, have you found now that you’re able to help people that have received this new infertility verdict? Like, are there things that make a change, or with the other method that increases the circulation to the area that, have you found that there’s something to do for these people, these women?
Dr Nicole Robinson 16:56
You were marked after that weren’t you? So, I think it’s a little bit too early to tell, because I’ve been doing this therapy for almost a year now. So, I don’t have a huge population that I’ve used it on. And honestly, most of the women that come to see me, are already very holistically minded. So, most of them have not bought in, so to say. Um, but I feel like if I did have a woman that came to me that had gotten the vaccine, I mean, I would treat her the same as my other women knowing that she probably needs to detox from that, along with, you know, working on gut health and managing stress and those things, but knowing that, yeah, I mean, there’s a certain element of detox that probably would need to be done to hopefully be successful in conception. Yeah. Like, I mean, it seems it’s still provided people don’t continue taking this. It still seems manageable, like people can get help. You know, that’s, I guess what I’m looking for a confirmation on that level. But yeah, if you see mostly people who are already looking after their bodies, then then yeah, it’s not the right crowd. I don’t think it’s game over if they’ve had it.
Manon Bolliger 19:15
No. Exactly, exactly. But I think that’s the point. I think it’s, I mean, on the cardiovascular level, it seems to be fast, if those are the types that…if it got you on that wave, but it seems to have so many ways of disturbing, you know, our physiology and metabolism.
Dr Nicole Robinson 19:38
Right. Right. And I do think to going along with the infertility piece, you know, some women that have gotten it, they say that they’re, they lose their periods for a certain amount of months, but then they do end up getting it back. So, to me, if you’re going back to cycling, your body is detoxing, you’re getting back to that normal rhythm. So, I definitely do think there’s hope, you know, looking at that piece of it.
Manon Bolliger 20:04
Yeah. And I wonder, too, you know, whether it affects the…I mean, I’ve seen now there’s a few articles affecting the breast milk, you know, and therefore the importance of detoxing, you know, because we don’t know, I mean, that’s the whole thing. We’re still in the experiment, right? It’s not over.
Dr Nicole Robinson 20:24
We’re still figuring it out.
Manon Bolliger 20:25
What is it January or February 2023? You know, that’s like, anyway, crazy stuff. So, what have you found super exciting in, you know, in your practice, let’s say from a condition that you would have been prescribed the drug or given out a drug, that now knowing what you know, now you’re able to do or change or help.
Dr Nicole Robinson 20:53
So, a lot of things, but the most exciting one for me is the infertility, the women that are dealing with that, because you’re going through conventional medicine to get help in that area, you might get a few labs done. And a lot of women have infertility that’s unexplained. And so, if nothing turns up in the labs, there’s nothing to fix, so to speak. And so, they’re pushed straight to a fertility specialist for IVF and IUI, which, you know, in some women, granted they very, might well be their only option of getting pregnant. But they’re very harsh and aggressive treatments, it’s a big investment, it takes such a toll on women’s bodies, to go through all of that, and you’re on the schedule of the clinic, and you’re trying to, you know, fit your body into their mold by pumping your body with all of these different medications. And then, you know, you have the hormones and all of the emotions into it. And it’s…it’s a very stressful, aggressive way to try to create a life. And so, I feel like I can kind of be, you know, working on gentle natural conception, is really a whole nother option that most women don’t even know about, but it might be exactly what they’re looking for. And so, I just love to kind of help them and to tell them that it’s okay, like, we’re not rushed. Let’s get your body healthy first, so that it feels safe to create another life. And then we see what happens. So, I just I love it. It’s so exciting.
Manon Bolliger 22:48
Yeah. And have you found like, this allows you to generalize, because I know there’s no one exact same case. But have you found that there’s particular presentations, or things you must address for these women who have infertility issues? You know like for example, their liver not functioning or like Have you noticed any trends or?
Dr Nicole Robinson 23:18
Trends? Poor gut health. I do not have one eye or one woman that comes in to see me that has optimized gut health. And, you know, I feel like in the functional medicine world, there’s a lot of talk about gut health and its importance. But if you’re not in that you have no idea and that gut is so huge for everything, it’s connected to the brain, the reproductive organs, our liver, our thyroid, everything, it’s our most of our immune system. And if that’s not optimized, how can anything else be optimized? So that is really where I start with everybody.
Manon Bolliger 23:56
Yeah, and like to people listening here who are saying well, you know, I go every day I’m good. What would be some of the common signs you see that would alert you that they don’t have…sorry, well thanks I hope that hasn’t stopped her recording. No, it hasn’t. I’ll have to deal with that. Sorry.
Dr Nicole Robinson 23:56
That’s okay, no problem.
Manon Bolliger 23:59
Let me just see if I can take that off. Let’s say I had in on airplane mode obviously not this was gonna be a highly edited half an hour. Okay, well, the problem I don’t know how to stop it from my iPad, even if I put this so hopefully that they will feel that I nicely rudely shut them down. And looks like. Okay, what was I asking you here? Hang on a second? Oh, yes. So, yeah, my question was people who go, you know, feel they go every day, and they go, Oh, my gut health is fine, you know, I don’t have any pain or whatever. What are signs that would alert you that they have gut issues that they may not be thinking about?
Dr Nicole Robinson 25:27
So, I do have some people like that, that they think everything’s fine. You know, they don’t have any pain or nausea. But then I asked them, well, how is your skin? Do you have…oh, well, you know, I have eczema sometimes, and I have oily skin, and I get acne every month. And I go, well, the skin is very much connected to the gut. So, there’s that. And there are a lot, there’s a lot of research and studies around reproductive health to that for women that have very heavy, painful periods or irregular cycles, a lot of that can be traced back to poor gut health as well. Poor, you know, bladder function can be connected to the gut, then, you know, thyroid issues, too, there’s a lot to say that there are parasites and bacterial infections that can affect the thyroid. So, I do try to tell them that, you know, even if you’re not having symptoms in your digestive area, per se, it still could be causing problems elsewhere in the body.
Manon Bolliger 26:34
Hmm, yeah. So, I think it’s, I think the misnomer here is people think gut health. So, it’s their, the quality of their excrement is the sign. Sure, you know, does it float does it sink? And, you know, and does it come out with? Yeah. Yes, well, you know, like you said, there’s also the neurotransmitters, there’s, you know, all of the stuff that is created literally in the gut that, you know, it’s really like, it connects all our organs, right. So, in that sense, we have to think larger than just what’s coming out.
Dr Nicole Robinson 27:15
Right.
Manon Bolliger 27:19
So, anything else you want to share specifically, about what you’ve discovered in this transition over and, you know, maybe tips to having a good healthy pregnancy or, you know, being fertile?
Dr Nicole Robinson 27:44
So, you know, I think having the knowledge kind of from both sides is very helpful, because I know we’re, you know, women that are not necessarily open to Holistic Health yet, I know where they’re at. Because I remember I used to be, that used to be me. And so, I would just tell them that if they are frustrated, and this is their last resort, to not lose hope, and to keep an open mind, especially about holistic healing in how we start from supporting the body so that it can heal itself. And really learn how to be an advocate for yourself to find a practitioner out there that will listen to you and care about you. Because that is something that I hear a lot that makes me so sad is there is such a distrust for healthcare professionals and women feel like they, you know, their practitioner or their provider, doesn’t listen to them, and doesn’t have time for them. So, take the time to, you know, look and see who’s in your area and, and call them and talk to them and interview them and look them up, look them up on Facebook, and see what they’re all about, find somebody that’s going to help you and care about you. Because even though you might have a distrust, there are so many of us out here that are so passionate about helping you. And that’s all we want to do. And you know, I’m not a perfect fit for everybody. And you’re not a perfect fit for everybody either. But find that person that is going to be that perfect fit. Because I promise you, we’re out there.
Manon Bolliger 29:36
Great. I think I’ll leave it right with that and so much for your time Nicole, and yeah, it’s a great, great to learn about your history in this transition. I think it’s very hopeful for many people who are listening as well. Yeah, you know, to have both sides a little bit in that sense because you live in a world where it’s like, it’s like sides and it really shouldn’t be. It should be working kind of altogether, right? But there’s some paradigm narratives let’s call it that. The narrative to right.
Dr Nicole Robinson 30:15
Yes.
Manon Bolliger 30:17
So very good. Okay. Well, thanks so much.
Dr Nicole Robinson 30:20
Thank you also.
ENDING: 41:33
Thank you for joining us at the Healers Café with Manon Bolliger. Continue your healing journey by visiting TheHealersCafe.com and her website and discover how to listen to your body and reboot optimal health or DrManonBolliger.com/tips.
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