Wellness Check With Lauren
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January 27, 2025
TLDR: Lauren discusses her health journey, including personal experiences with pharmacy issues and anxiety, as well as exploring Eastern medicine options.

In the latest episode of the Good Bodies podcast titled “Wellness Check With Lauren,” hosts Lauren and Emily delve into the health and wellness journey of Lauren, discussing various personal experiences and touching on broader themes in wellness. This episode captures an engaging conversation about mental health, societal pressures, and wellness practices.
Key Takeaways from Lauren's Wellness Journey
1. Personal Struggles and Health Updates
- Health March Update: Lauren provides insight into her ongoing health challenges, revealing that December was particularly taxing for her due to personal stressors, including landlord issues and family matters.
- Therapy Sessions: She discusses a strategic shift to monthly therapy sessions, emphasizing how this change has empowered her to deal with life's stresses more effectively.
- Medication Management: Lauren reports on her experience with Lexapro, asserting its effectiveness during her rough patches. Despite running out of prescriptions due to scheduling oversights, she emphasizes the importance of proactive health management.
2. Food Pickiness and Social Dynamics
- The conversation shifts to social etiquette at dining occasions, particularly regarding food preferences. Lauren notes a recurring frustration with the phenomenon of diners requesting plain pizza, despite its inevitable leftovers.
- Group Dining Etiquette: The hosts explore the psychological tendencies behind choosing plain options while emphasizing the need for group members to be vocal about their preferences to optimize food choices.
3. Challenges with Health Insurance
- Lauren shares her frustrations with the for-profit healthcare system, describing the complications in acquiring necessary medications for her chronic health issues.
- Zolaire and Hives: Her ongoing battle with chronic hives and the corresponding medication is discussed, highlighting the difficulties in insurance coverage and the importance of appropriate treatment for chronic conditions.
4. Exploring Healing Practices
- The episode also features Lauren’s upcoming trial of acupuncture as a means to address her chronic hives, reflecting a curiosity about integrating Eastern medicine practices into her wellness approach.
- Eastern vs. Western Medicine: The discussion reflects on the holistic appeal of acupuncture, contrasting it with Western medicinal approaches while validating the efficacy of both.
Insights and Expert Opinions
- Both hosts engage in a deep exploration of how societal norms impact personal choices in various lifestyle areas, like food selection and wellness practices.
- Lauren candidly speaks to the growing need for individuals to prioritize their wellness journeys uniquely, rather than conforming to generalized standards (e.g., opting for plain pizza).
Practical Applications for Listeners
- Communication in Group Settings: Encourage open communication regarding food and dietary preferences when dining in groups.
- Therapy and Mental Wellness: Consider revising therapy frequency according to personal progress, particularly for those who’ve established a solid foundation in their mental wellness journey.
- Awareness on Health Management: Stay proactive about health care and pharmacy needs to eliminate stress related to medication refills, especially for chronic conditions.
- Openness to Alternative Therapies: Explore alternative treatments, such as acupuncture, as complementary options to traditional medicinal approaches, considering individual health needs and receptiveness to new experiences.
Conclusion
Overall, this episode of Good Bodies presents a nuanced and relatable narrative about personal wellness journeys, stressing the importance of communication, awareness, and alternative health practices. Listeners are encouraged to share their experiences and engage with the topics discussed for a more interactive experience. Don't forget—take your medicine!
Connect with Us
- Follow Emily and Lauren on Instagram at @everythings.fine.
- Have questions or stories to share? Send your emails to goodbodiesatbetches.com.
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Just a reminder that good bodies is a podcast for entertainment purposes only. It is not a medical podcast and does not constitute medical advice. Always seek the advice of a physician or a health professional.
Hello, and welcome to Good Bodies. This is Emily. This is Lauren. How are we doing today? We are doing. Lauren is going to regale us with so many stories today. And I'm very excited because I get to just sit back and hear about your wellness journey. Yeah, we've been saving it. Emily keeps asking me questions about my personal life. And I'm like, just wait, we're going to do it for the listeners.
Yeah, you told me something so concerning before we started recording and we'll circle back to that. But I need to use this opportunity to talk about something that I feel like there has not been enough visibility on this. I haven't seen anybody else talk about it anywhere. And I think like it's just time to break my silence. This is something that I've been noticing for years now.
the orbs and the drones and the skies. Not that, but oh my god, don't get me started on that shit, Lauren. Don't even get me started. No, this is, this is, you know, just as relevant of an issue, at least relevant to me. Um, so.
There are so many pizza restaurants in this city. And I imagine in every city, like it's kind of like such a trendy thing to have, you know, like a brick oven pizza restaurant where you go in the pizzas. They're not like personal pies, like maybe a little bit bigger than a personal pie, but enough that like you go with a group and you get like four or five pies and share them. And they always have, you know,
There's just so many places like this, like that they have their own funky pie recipes or pizza recipes. And they have like weird names. So you say to the waiter, like, Hey, I'll have the bus down thought, Tiana. And it's like pepperoni and hot honey. Yeah, it's always pepperoni. Mella mushroom in South Carolina for any Southerners listening. That's
That's a pizza place? Literally the restaurant you're describing. Yes, and to be clear, I love pizza and I love these restaurants and I love like any kind of funky pizza thing like sign me up. But I always end up being invited to like group dinners at these pizza places and I'm noticing a trend. Okay.
This is the trend. You sit down, you look at the menu, your group, you're all looking at the menu. You're all like, oh, well, if you guys want a vegetarian, we could do that. Or do you like pepperoni? You start strategizing about which pizza pies you're going to order. Very normal. There's always one or two people. And I have noticed this consistently
almost every single time I go out for pizza with a group. There's always one or two people that are like, well, we have to get a plain pie. There's always at least one person who's like, well, my favorite is just a plain pie or not even that's their favorite. Just like, well, we need to, you know, we have to get the standard plain pie and a margarita. We have to get a margarita. Yes, it's either a plain cheese pie or a margarita. Like, well, we have to do that because that's, you know, that's standard.
Yeah. Okay. And then so we say, all right, if you want a plane pie, sure. It never gets eaten at the end of the dinner. Even the person who claimed that they like plain pizza, that that's their go to, that they are a purist.
Yeah, at the end of the dinner, you look at what's left, there's maybe one plain slice that's been eaten, and all of the pizza with toppings, the fun pies, are like completely gone, or maybe there's one slice left. And it's just, it makes me wonder.
Why are these people acting? That's such a no brainer, that we have to order a plane pie. Nobody wants it. Not even the person who thought of it. Not even the person who thought of it. So then it's kind of a double-sided thought experiment that I want to propose. A, why do these people latch on to the idea that we need a plane pie? It's such a waste. Nobody fucking wants it.
The other side of it is, how do we solve this problem? Does that person who claims to be a pizza purest, who needs the plain slice to compare against all the fun pizzas that we've ordered, should they just order their own plain pie and we can order our fun pies that actually are going to get eaten by the group? Listen.
This is obviously a specific person that you know, which I think is hilarious. No, it's not. It's not. It's, it's, this is a type of person. A type of person. And maybe it's a New York specific person that like, because we know it is. It is. We are a city of pizza snobs, I will say. Like there are some people that like are pizza purists. Yeah. Like they're like, I don't like too many toppings on my pizza.
But at this type of pizza place that I'm describing, it's not a slice shop. It's like fancy pizza. I feel like the topping combinations, that's the whole thing. That's the reason why you go. Yeah, nobody's going to a sit down pizza restaurant to have
plain pizza. Nobody wants to send vanilla ice cream for dessert. I'm not even saying that there aren't people out there who prefer plain pizza. I'm sure that there are, but I just am saying it never gets eaten. Well, my solution was going to be to not invite this person, but you're saying it represents. It's there's always one in the room.
that it is. Yes. There's always one or two people in the group that are loud enough that it pressures the other people in the group to feel like, well, okay, we need to order a plane and then the two other ones can have toppings. But then the two other ones are the ones that get obliterated. Those are the ones that everyone wants. And you know what? That happens. That's happened here before at the office where they'll order pizza for us and they'll be like some cheese. I mean, it happens at every office. I'm not coming for batches. Like, yeah, they'll order like two cheese pies and like three pepperonis. And then
Everyone needs the pepperoni because it's better because it's better because it has more flavor and there's more protein like pepperoni pizza so good, you're making me hungry should be gets pizza after this. I don't have to. I can't today. Okay. Personal planning that came into our episode, but.
But I think, so this actually hasn't happened to me, but what will happen is the person who's like, well, we should, we should all get a salad or we should get. Oh, it's always the salad. And then like, I might not be in the well, I'm very particular about my salads. I don't like the.
like cranberries and goat cheese and shit. I don't mind a cranberry and goat cheese. If there is one more fucking restaurant that tries to unload a walnut goat cheese cranberry salad from 2007, fuck all the way off.
But no, I don't, and this isn't, this is another thing where the listeners would be with you and not me, but like, I don't like leafy salads. I like a, like a romaine that's chopped up or something. So it's very rare or like a very specific arugula. It's very rare that a side salad is going that I'm going to enjoy it. So anytime people order that for the table, I'm not eating it. Also,
I'm not like drinking alcohol very often. And then, you know, and they're getting, they're getting wine. Okay. Well, you're bringing up something that also really bugs me, but I, I, sorry, I won't go there. But no, you know, but you can, but here's the thing with the alcohol thing, I just eat the cost. I just, because I'm like, I'm drinking half a drink or whatever. I don't, I just don't want to be that person that's like,
And I know I've talked to people about this and some people say like, can we do the drinks on a separate receipt or like there are ways around it. But I have found like if people are just getting one cocktail and then that's divided by like eight people. Okay, fine. It's or maybe I'll get a soda or something. I actually don't mind if it's a small group and everybody had one drink. I just honestly get bottles. Sometimes like they get like a lot. There was one time I went to
Brighton Beach with some friends and there was this Russian restaurant and it's only relevant because it this was for lunch and they were drinking vodka and schnapps. They were drinking like bottles of vodka and schnapps and I don't drink and at the end of the meal I was kind of like okay like I don't really owe you guys a hundred and twenty dollars then most somebody. Yeah so then I had to I actually think Andy ended up paying because he was like yeah you shouldn't have to pay for that but but because I don't want to.
It's awkward. It's awkward to be like, I don't drink, so can I not? Because I don't know. I don't like to split hairs like that. But that is very real. That's different to me than the pizza thing. Because the pizza thing is more annoying to me. It's not so annoying because it's extra money that I feel like is being wasted. It's more annoying because it's like, I feel like we could have gotten a more interesting pizza that more people would have enjoyed. But you had to be on some kind of high horse about
Wanting a plain pizza and nobody fucking wants it and the proof is in the pudding at the end of the meal when you see that only one slice was eaten. I kind of relate to the person saying the hypothetical person saying like let's get a cheese because I think that person might be the planner of the group.
or the person who's trying to like coordinate, take control. If you have a lot of type B friends and you're like the Virgo of the friend group and they're like, what should we get? Then yeah, you're going to be like, okay, well, let's get a cheese and what else? So it's like people just, I think the solution is like, speak up. If you don't, if you're not going to eat that cheese pizza, say, well, who's actually going to eat the cheese pizza?
And then you know what? You're so right. An offensive question. I'm going to start doing that. I'm going to say show of hands. Who's going to eat more than one bite of the plain cheese pie show of hands and.
if we really want to get military about it, whoever raises their hand are, they're required to eat a slice. Cause I think another thing that's happening is that people think that they want the plain pizza, but then when they see how delicious and you practice, it doesn't work. Yeah, like I think once, once the pizzas are brought to the table and you're like smelling all the different ingredients and the way that they're, you know, interacting with each other and the plain pizza is just not appealing in,
comparison with the others so. I think people really need to stop and think critically yeah all these pieces on the table and let's be real like how many slices can you really eat like. Maybe five slices of pizza you know so how many of each pizza are you really gonna.
eat when push comes to shove, right? Say that. I'm going to say that, and then I'm going to hold people to it because I can't. It really is starting to bug me. You got me there. We get up from the table, and it's always an entire cheese pizza. And by the way, nobody even wants to take it home. That's how you know. That's so sad. That's how you really know that nobody gives a fuck about that pizza.
And nobody even wants to take it home. Nobody will bother because it's just a plain pizza. And it's not even a good plain pizza from like a New York, you know, slice shop. It's a Neapolitan, you know, basic ass cheese pizza. You know, when people would eat that as if if it was rebranded as like garlic bread or like cheese bread.
You know, if that came out first and they chopped it into rectangles and put it in a basket, everyone would eat the cheese pizza. But if you set it up like this is a main course, I don't want that. No, I don't want that. It's a cheesecake. It's boring. No, hot take though. I do really enjoy a cheese cow's own with like some garlic, like some minced garlic, like that shit slaps. But I don't know, just on pizza form when it's sitting right next to the pepperoni with pepperon chinis and hot honey, like absolutely fucking
No, don't make me hungry. I know. My stomach is growling. I eat food now. But that's enough for my pizza, Rand. If you agree with me, disagree with me, please let me know. But I need to know if anybody else is experiencing this phenomenon because it's happened to me over and over and over again. But I see the pizza being wasted and I want to know why. I think people needed it. I needed to hear it because I think
I probably could have been that person where people are like, what should we get? And I'm like, OK, well, let's get a cheese. And if you're with really picky eaters that they really do like, I just feel like people are being polite. I feel like people are like, oh, yeah, sure. That makes sense. I think people are thinking about it.
less from an emotional place and more from a logical place. They're thinking, oh, we're at a pizza place. Sure, let's get the cheese pizza because that's like the standard. That's, you know, if you're trying a new brand of ice cream, I could see you being like, well, I'll try the vanilla ice cream because that's like a blank slate or whatever. But when push comes to shove, I do think most people would like a chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream.
I think let's not act like we're better than toppings because none of us are. We're not. That's the quote for this episode. The last one was, you can't swipe your weight of wellness and this one is, let's not act like we're better than toppings. That's really how I feel.
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With that being said, I need to call Wellness Check on Lauren, because that's what we planned for this episode. So Wellness Check, I need to know all of the things happening in your sphere of wellness. I have so much to share. I remain unwell.
Um, it's an ongoing thing that Lauren, every single time I call wellness check, she says she's on well and I love it. It, uh, it will never get old. So I've been thinking about the best way to talk about my wellness check. Um, and I think the like general theme
to go from is the idea or not the idea, but the fact that like, I had a very difficult December and that affected my health in multiple ways because my body is loud. We almost named this podcast, Loud Bodies, but that was a brand of clothing. So I forgot, we landed on Good Bodies, but I have a Loud Body and Good Bodies is better. I agree.
Okay, the loudness. The loudness. So yeah, lots of stress, difficult situations. I definitely don't want to slash can't get into everything, but like, I'm trying to think of like some safe things I can share. Like our landlord tried to kick us out. Yeah, I would say that's pretty stressful. Yeah, we, I mean, I had some, you know, some family things and the details don't necessarily make the wellness results anymore.
Easy to understand. You were going through a very stressful period in December. Yeah, but just for context, like December, 2024 sucked. Yeah. And December's a hard month. December's really hard. We were actually talking about this the other day. I was like...
Because I suddenly realized that I have a ranking in my head that I've never set out loud of like which months, like the 12 months of the year. Yeah. In order of best to worst. That was fun. So we, Lauren and I, we were just like having girly time. We were texting, but we like ranked
all of the 12 months in order for best to worse. And it was so funny how different they were. But December was your worst. I was like, December is very bad. And once you said that, because I had December like somewhere in the middle, I was like, no, you're right. Yeah. Sucks. Like, I don't know why I romanticize December. Well, I do know why. You know what? Yeah. And you know what?
I'm hot take, nobody likes the holidays and everybody's just lying. That's what my roommate and I have decided, where like, nobody likes, like, I like Christmas. We put up our tree, you know? That stuff is super fun. But like, the holidays brings up trauma. It's when you see your family.
It's when there's pressure to go to somebody else's family or this family or like who's traveling to see who and well and you said it. It's the pressure. Yeah. I think if it was just like a joyous month where like you spend time with your family and your loved ones and you buy gifts for people like yeah and it sounds wonderful. But I think the stress that comes along with it is people feel pressured to do things that they don't want to do all month long.
all month long. And then there's a layer of grief. It's like, who's not around for the holidays? Oh, yeah. I mean, December is rough. And again, for lots of reasons, which I cannot and will not get into, I had a rough December. And one of the, okay, I have three tears here.
I have, uh, she's so organized. I have Virgo Queen. I have, uh, one tier is Lexapro update. Another tier is Hives, an angiodema update. Oh baby. And another one is therapy update. Okay. So where should I start? You can guide me. Okay. So actually I would love to start with therapy because I've been wanting to follow up with you about this. At some point you told the listeners that you were reducing your therapy sessions to once a month. Yeah. And I was like, well, we need to get updates, but that might be hard because it's only once a month.
So how has the therapy once a month been going? I've been doing it for maybe three and a half months now. I love it. I really reckon. And I can say that I love it because again, December tried to kill me, you know?
I highly, again, we're not doctors, but I do highly recommend monthly therapy for specifically people who are deep into their therapy journey because it will show you how strong you are. It will show you that you can take care of yourself. You have all the tools that you need. You can stop and say, okay, what would my therapist say? How am I going to walk myself through this? And I don't want to say therapy was becoming a crutch for me because that's
that feels like a little toxic of me to say. But I did realize that I was maybe not dealing with my shit when I had weekly therapy. Because I was like, oh, I'll talk to, I don't want to say the same. I was like, I'll talk to X on Thursday and I'll figure this out. And I would like compartmentalize and save it until therapy. Like not process things in the moment. That makes sense. Yeah. And
You know, nobody taught me to do that. That's like a toxic thing. I taught myself. Well, but also you like relied on this person to give you some kind of guidance. So it would, it would make sense if something was overwhelming to you in the moment to be like, you know what, I'm just going to shelve that until Thursday or whatever. Like probably that's probably really common actually. I was doing it a lot. And I don't know if there's anything
I guess there is something wrong with it because it's more powerful to kind of move through your emotions and your triggers as they happen. And yeah, I realized through difficult life situations that I'm a lot stronger than I was before. And I was able to use
tools from therapy to to get through it. I just want to cosign something that you said though, like if you're deep into your therapy journey or whatever and you feel like you don't need to go every week or even if you're going like every other week.
And I'm pretty sure I've said this before. I feel like it's so much smarter to reduce to once a month rather than stopping seeing your therapist. Yeah. Purely because if something were to happen down the line and you really need support, you don't want to be stuck.
and not be able to find a therapist or that therapist filled your slot and you can't talk to them anymore and you don't trust another person. Like it's just just to have some safety net, I think is really important. And I'm saying that as somebody who did stop going to my therapist and then they filled my fucking slot. So yeah.
Um, and your therapist might not let you, you know, because they rely on those bi weekly or weekly appointments, like they got to pay their bills too. So yeah, but if they will let you. Yeah. How great. I feel like if you have a good therapist and if you're in the right headspace, cause my therapist in the past has been like, whoa, whoa, whoa, we can't change to just, uh, two times a month, like that's a major change in your care plan and you're going through a life change. Let's talk about this. And so the fact that
That happened before. And then recently, I was like, I want to try monthly. And he was like, yeah, you're ready. Like he knew, like he's not trying to get rich off of me, you know, yeah, he's trying to help me. And I will say that my monthly appointments, I think I've had three since the last time I decided to go monthly. They've all been great.
You know, like, I still learn stuff. It's not like it's just to check in and be like, Hey, still alive. Oh, yeah. Has there been any point that something has happened in your and you thought like, Oh, damn, like, I would really love to talk to him about this, but I'm not going to see him for.
Yes. So this is what I did. This was my one thing that I did is I have been seeing him monthly, but there was, uh, towards the end of December, I was like, I really need to see my therapist. And I asked him if I could see him one week earlier. And so I did. You moved it. I moved it up one week. I moved it. I was so happy doing it once every four weeks, but again, December was like,
awful. And at this point, there'd been like a health scare happening with like a family member. And I was like, I just need to talk to my therapist. So I scooted it up. But generally, I'm still very comfortable with once every four weeks, which this leads me into my Lexa Pro update because
Again, vouch for, I vouch for Lex Pro. I learned still loves Lex Pro and brings it up like in every conversation, even when it's not relevant at all. But you know what? She finally found something that's like altering her, her.
Everything. So I'm, I'm letting her have it. I love Lexapro. I feel like the biggest marker for Lexapro working is the fact that I had the rough December and I only took Xanax once because I have my emergency Xanax for when I'm just like in a panic state and I can't calm down and I'm doing all my things and I just like my brain won't stop. Yeah. I only needed that once. So I know Lexapro is working. Lexapro got me through my hard month.
therapy. Therapy tools got me through my hard month. I did so literally after we record this. I have a virtual doctor's appointment with Tia with my psychiatrist because I did run out of Lexapro. Okay, so time out. Okay.
Why do you keep running out of this shit? Like it's it's so this is like the second or third time that you've told me you've run out of your prescription Why have ADHD because I'm getting all of these memes about like ADHD life and it's like describing my life and I'm like that is actually
You know what that is actually a symptom I don't want to I'm not going to diagnose you but I have ADHD and it is it sometimes that stuff does sneak up on you but the thing is is your doctor not writing you frequent enough prescriptions like aren't they supposed to send it to your pharmacy on time so that you can pick it up on time like what is going on I guess I had lapsed on like
Because I was so stressed, I forgot to set up a follow-up appointment, I guess, with Tia. So you have to have a check-in for them to- You have to have a check-in to re-up your prescription. Maybe it's because I'm newer on the drug. I mean, I can ask her, it's literally right after this, and I can report back. But she did this thing, which was supposed to be helpful, where she called in, I think I can say she did this, doctors do this all the time, where she called in a five milligram and a 10 milligram.
and said my dosage was like 15, but really it's just 10 to just try to get me enough. But what ended up happening is the fives ran out like they expired and the tins. If anybody can follow this. Sorry. This is like very specific.
The tens, I only got 23 pills every 30 days. And I was going crazy. I was like, I need 30 pills every 30 days. And they were like, well, you have to pay full price. I was carrying so hard in my capsule lap. That's my pharmacy.
and in my TIA app being like, I need my drugs. Wow, like none of this makes sense. So I feel bad that I was such an asshole about you running out. If I had 23 pills out of 30 days, I would run out every single month. You're not being an asshole, I should have noticed. Like I was taking my pills. But that makes zero sense disappearing. But when I went to capsule to renew it, they were like, oh, you don't get more until like a week from now. And I was like, well,
I'm just supposed to not take my pills anyways. It's not birth control. I care and very hard in the caps. If anybody ever wants to cancel me, just look at my text history with capsule yelling about my Lexapro. Anyway, someone at capsule did help me and I got my Lexapro and after this episode, I will be meeting with my
a psychiatrist out of pocket out of now. So that's the part. That's the thing that was making me freak out a little bit before we hit record.
You're not covered anymore. So why are you still going to Tia? You just love Tia that much. Well, this is who, this is who my doctor is for my, for my Lexapro. I mean, it's, I have it. Can't you find somebody that takes your insurance after this appointment? I think that's what I'm going to do. But that's so much. You were telling me how much money you have to pay now. It's, it's worth it though.
That's another thing. Yeah, I mean, if it's worth it to you, yeah, this is another thing where I'm like, Emily, what's right for you is not necessarily right for somebody else. Like, if it's worth it to you totally, it's the amount of money that you told me you had to spend now is insane. It's worth it for me to do this one appointment because this is a doctor. I already know.
She's the one who has to send the updated prescription. She's very nice. I love her. She's probably going to be like, oh, this is new information. I'm going to set you up for 12 months supply or something like that. Yeah. Jazz also suggested that she was like, you should tell them that you're not.
I'm not a network anymore. Yeah, like you need to meet less somehow. Yeah. You know, have fewer follow-up appointments somehow. But anyways, the for-profit healthcare system was also not my friend in December. It's nobody's friend, my dear.
You know what I think we should get into your hives now. By the way, every single time that you talk about your hives, I can't believe that you're getting these like this often. I've only ever had hives one time and it was terrifying. I was at, I was working this awful job and
I had just gone to Florida and it was in the middle of the winter. So I didn't know this, but because it was so hot in Florida and it was so cold here, you're susceptible to getting sun poisoning or like either sun poisoning or like a heat rash. Yeah. So that's what I had. When I got back, I'm sitting in this office and there's no ventilation. Like this office was really, it was not above board. It was a very strange company that I worked at, but
I start breaking out in highs, but I don't know what they are. And it was, at the same time, there was a really crazy bed bug scare happening in New York. Like really bad and everybody was terrified. So everybody in my office, I was like, guys, I don't know what's happening. Like they're these little marks on my arm. They're all like.
Stay away from her. She has bed bugs and I felt so stigmatized. Sitting in that office, I made an appointment with a doc in the box and I had to run out and she's like, yeah, you have hives and like explain the whole thing to me. And it was so crazy. Like, I just remember how they kept popping up over my body and how it felt.
like such an emergency. It is an emergency. It's very upsetting. I think for me, what's upsetting with hives is there's something very dysmorphic about it. I've never really had body dysmorphia, but there's something very upsetting to look in a mirror at yourself and to look like you have welts all over you. Yes. And like sores. And I also get angiodema with mine.
Yeah, can you explain what that is? Sure. Actually, let me say what condition I have, because I don't just like get hives if I'm stressed or hives if I eat something. I have a chronic...
It's a disease. It's called chronic eutacharya and angiodema. Eutacharya means hives. Angiodema is when a part of the body is inflamed. The funniest way to get it is in your lips. It looks like you've had injections. I can show you a picture.
Um, I've gotten it in my lips before and they just like blow up. Sexy. Yeah. Lip venom. You'll get it in like your hands. So like, I hate it when I did get it in my hands a lot. I saw, you know, you had it in your hand. Your hand was swollen to the point. You know who, what you reminded me of, you reminded me of professor clump. Yeah. I'm not nutty professor. That's the perfect.
when Eddie Murphy's hand is blowing up. That is angiodema. It's like Eddie Murphy's hand. It's like a Mickey Mouse glove. I'll call it your hand will get huge. And when your hand gets an angiodema, it is very painful. There's, I don't know why. I guess all the little bones in there, whatever. But it hurts. It's hot. It itches. I'll get it in the bottoms of my feet, which basically
It makes me like, so I can't walk. So it's like, I'm functionally temporarily like disabled. Like, I cannot walk because I have family's laughing at me. It's fine. We're friends. It's okay. Everybody calm down. Just like picturing you like, like hobbling around. And that's what I was doing in December. I like, wouldn't walk.
And meanwhile, oh, another thing, the for-profit health care system sucking is I did get a letter from my pharmacy being like your Zolare, which is my prescription for my hives, which I'll get into. They were like, this is denied coverage due to, and the reason was not medically necessary. I cannot walk. Sorry, on what planet is that not medically necessary? This is why
Listen, she's walking around with a club foot. I got a Mickey Mouse club. And it'll expand in your throat. Also, the hives are very itchy. Like obviously some sort of AI bot at like a health care company was just like auto denied it because it's seen as like an allergy, like like a like a girly rich girl allergy shot or something. Yeah. I'm Gwyneth Paltrow over here. It's like making up things.
Zolar lets me live my life non-sponsored, okay? Yeah. It has, Zolar like arguably saved my life. Like I cannot picture myself untreated with this condition because when it first started, by the way, everybody's like, what causes it? The cause is a word, which is idiopathic. And idiopathic means no known cause. Yeah. This started in 2020. It started April 2020. So you do the math like,
I think it's stress induced for me. But again, it's also like, it happens every time you're abnormally stressed. So it's like, abnormally stressed and not treating it. Let me be clear. So in 2020, my body freaked out. I was like, my body's just talking to me. I must be stressed. No, I have like a medical thing. And then,
When it first started, the hives on my legs on the backs of my legs were like, I don't know, trigger warning, I guess, because this is like very painful, literally, in so many ways. They were like bricks on the backs of my legs. They were like hardened, heavy,
like hives. Like they weren't like little dots. They were like giant maps. They weren't cutesy little hives. They were. I know now I get cute ones actually. Do you get like really tiny ones that kind of look like freckles? I get ones that like look like leopard spots on my arms. That is kind
You know, but like when I first got it in 2020 when my body was like, congratulations, you have chronic hives. They were horrible. And I like there was a night where I like thought I couldn't breathe because I had one in my throat. That's scary. It was scary. It's a very scary condition. And my allergist worked very hard to figure out like, okay, take fours or tech a day, do some Ben and drill. It didn't go away. She was like, okay, there's a medication. It's called solar. It's extremely expensive. We try not to do it unless people need it. You obviously need it.
So back in 2020, I came in. She gave me a sample shot. They were gone in less than 24 hours. And this is always by injection. It's a zolare. Yeah, it's like two vials and they hurt their big needles. Oh, yeah. And like they have to like you have to take it out of the fridge like way early. I can always tell when the nurse didn't take it out of the fridge. Oh, because it's cold. It hurts more. Oh, I loved. I'm such a horrible patient. I'm like, did you take that out of the fridge just now? Oh my God.
But anyways, it's so worth it. Okay, fast forward. So fun fact, I don't know if this is a fun fact, but 90% and I can try to find a link to show this, but like this is something I learned from my alloders who's a doctor. 90% of patients who have chronic hives, which is me, do not have chronic hives for longer than five years.
Okay. Oh, okay. So we're coming up on the five year. April this year will be five years. So I'm trying to wean myself off them. I stopped taking them in September, which was right before I kind of transitioned to freelance. I knew it was coming and I was like, you know what, I'm just going to stop taking it, see what, see what happens. It didn't. So Zolare stays in the body for 30 days. So arguably it should have, my hives should have come back 30 days later.
They came back 90 days later, and it was during my stressful time, you know? Right. So I feel like that is what triggers it, but they were cute this time. They weren't bricks on my legs. Okay, so progress, not perfection. She's raggedy and over here with tiny little cute hives. Okay, so that's progress then. Yeah, I'm going to be very curious to see like March of 2025, if they suddenly just stop.
Well that's okay so this is my care plan if anybody's wondering i went i want to see my allergist she she did she i love her we should have around the show by the way she's fabulous and has lots of lots of knowledge to share but she you know i got my shot she gave me a sample of this very expensive medication.
Because again, I'm having trouble, trouble getting at happy ending. We yelled at my insurance enough that it is covered. Yeah. Okay, crazy. So we're going to have some vile ship to the office for my next appointment. But I asked her, I was like, can I please like continue weaning myself off of these? Because I don't want to need these. And she was like, yes, absolutely. She was like, why don't we just like.
See when they come back maybe every two months and then just like slowly taper you off because it is it is time for me to be done with them like my five year mark is approaching.
I also told her that I'm trying acupuncture this week and. Oh, fine. I know I can't wait. You're trying it specifically for the hives. Yeah. Okay. I am such a fan of acupuncture. Yes. I don't know if I've ever talked about this, but never for inflammation or anything like that. I don't know too much about that, but I've done it for
muscle soreness. I've had, at certain points, some back issues, like muscle spasms, mostly, that would leave me unable to move. And I tried acupuncture. This was years ago. I was having an issue with my back.
And that it was the worst it had ever been like, you don't realize until you hurt your back how you're constantly engaging your back, no matter what you're doing. Even sitting up in bed. Even just sitting up in bed, you are always engaging your back. And so I was always in pain. Oh my God. And my doctor actually told me you should try. Yeah, my back issues does actually
Yes, it's amazing and it makes so much sense. Now that I've learned more about it, obviously, blood flow, more blood flow to certain areas, it's essentially getting a deep tissue massage, but even more so, and it helps relax those muscles.
But I don't know anything about it for like allergies or inflammation or anything. There is a connection with inflammation because my allergist calls out if something's bullshit and not to try it. So what did she say exactly? I said I'm scheduling acupuncture and she I mean.
You know, you have like 10 minutes with your doctor. She was like, oh, OK, good. Let me know how that goes. Like she would have told me if she didn't really. She wasn't like you should get acupuncture. She did not refer you. No, you have this idea because a friend told you to try it. I mean, I've always wanted to try it and I'm a little.
I'm a little sad, actually, that my hives in angiodema got so uncomfortable that I did need an emergency zolare shot because I was kind of looking forward to being a woo-woo princess and like seeing the acupuncture made it go away. There is something kind of sexy. And I say this as somebody who is a firm believer in medicine. Yes. And, you know, and Western medicine at that.
But there is something that's always felt so sexy to me about being an Earth mother who, like, to treat, you know, the flu, she's crunching up herbs in a little pestle. She's putting onions in her socks. Yes, a little love. What is it? I have noot. That's a witch.
You know what I mean? Like there's something so cool about these like crunchy, you know, woman of the earth, wood nymph, like I'm going to give you a little herb that looks like a oregano, but it's going to cure your brain. I eat that shut up. That's why I was so excited to try acupuncture and be like,
The acupuncture cured my inflammation, but I'll never know now because I have this all air. I think the reality of it is that you do little things that in combination with each other, they help your symptoms. Yeah. So I think the allergy shot, of course, is going to help your symptoms. Acupuncture can also help your symptoms, but I don't think
You know, I think it's good to diversify and not rely on just one thing. I think it's good to try different things. So, you know, don't feel weird about that. I might not know if it helps the inflammation, but it will be nice to try. I think it might be an incremental thing. Like I think it
It might be that you go to one session and you see improvements, but I think more often, you go to a few sessions and you slowly start to see improvements. It's like you need to make it a habit in the same way that you're not going to see
Like if you have body aches, going to the gym and having one good workout, that's not going to cure that overnight. It's incremental. You know, I got to go. I got to go every month for this. And that's what's so shitty about it. It's like, I always want instant gratification, but it that's rarely the case with anything. Like even facials, you know, like, because I've been getting facials, shout out glow bar. I have to go get mine. I'm the work. Yeah, Lauren has been missing her monthly facials.
I haven't been going. Jazz has been going. And yeah, I've been getting my face derma-plane to the fuck out. I wear makeup for so many things. I can never go. So that's not supposed to wear makeup two days after. That's the one thing you need to give your skin a break.
48 hours. I don't think it's really two days. Yeah. Jazz doesn't think, but it's the same. They also tell you not to work out for 48 hours and I don't pay attention to that. I mean, I'm not like running 20 miles and like getting all red in the face and sweating my ass off, but you know, I'm doing my little workout. Like I'm not.
Yeah, like just for 24 hours, you could not wear makeup. I would just have to schedule the appointment for like, I would have to wait until same day because this comedy club I go at, they book same day. So it's like, I can't, like if I have an appointment, I can't.
I feel like the horror, if they book you last minute, you wouldn't be wearing makeup on stage. Yes, the horror. Couldn't you turn it into a fun thing? I'm a little beauty queen. I like to look pretty on stage. You would look pretty even without makeup. We'll see. You're inventing that in your head that you need the makeup to look put together. Anyways, Pamela Anderson has been going makeup-free on the red carpet. She's Pamela Anderson. You're Lauren Hope Crass. Okay, good point.
period. But anyway, I don't remember what point I was making. You were saying like you have to keep going. You know, you might see some improvement after the first session, but I think you really get the most out of it after a few sessions. How will I know what to look for though? Because I have the drugs in me that stop the point. Like what am I going to, what am I looking for now? That's a really good point, Lauren. Maybe you need to do something that's really fucking stressful.
Just to test it. No. I don't know, man. Can I tell you why I thought of acupuncture? I kind of lied when you were like, and a friend told you. It's like, a friend didn't tell me. Oh. This is why I decided to go to acupuncture was because when my hand was all blown up and read, I don't know why, but I was like, I just want to stick needles in this. Oh, I get that too. And then I was like, oh, well, it's because your hand is acupuncture. It's actually because your hand looked like a pin cushion that you wanted to stick needles in it. Like where are you going to put all my needles? Yeah.
I just, I really, I was like, I need needles in me. And then I was like, oh, that's a thing. And then I was like, oh, I'm gonna be in Eastern medicine, girly. I'm gonna experiment. Oh my God, it's so hot. I don't know, like what about it is making me horny. I don't know. Well, I have my $3,000 Western medicine shot in my arm right now. So, you know, that's kind of fun too. Like you get the Western medicine stuff and then you can attribute it to the Eastern medicine. Right, yeah. I'm actually an acupuncture queen. Yeah, don't listen to me if I come on here. And I'm like, acupuncture saved my life. Don't care save my life.
Yeah, if Lauren comes on here and starts talking like praising acupuncture for curing her, you need to write her and say, bitch, it wasn't those needles. It was the big one that you hate. That's the one that did it. Those are the needles that are helping me really. You know, I'm really.
I'm really glad to hear all of these updates. It sounds like you're on the other side now. That's why I would not have enjoyed giving this wellness update in December. No, it sucks because I think it was my last wellness check. I was like, I'm really not doing that great. And it's not fun to talk about how you're not doing that great on a show that's supposed to be entertainment.
I mean, we have to be relatable, so it's fine. No, that too. And also, I am kind of a negative bitch. I find the humor and negativity a lot, which is like, that's what is funny to me. So there is that. But I also just don't like to stew in negativity, and I feel like anytime you're having a bad month, we all have them, and there's always light at the end of the tunnel. There is. You just got to keep going. You got to keep going. It does get better.
It gets better guys. Is that everything you wanted to share? Less therapy, Lux Pro good, Hives bad, but taking Zolaire good. We need to circle back in March also. Should I do this for the plot? Should I not take my Zolaire?
No, I know. Lauren, follow the advice of your doctor. Well, she wants me to wean off of it, but she was saying wean off of it, not to just stop. But then we'll never know if the acupuncture worked.
I don't have to know. I feel like sometimes I talk and you don't hear me so I'm going to repeat myself. I don't think it's just one thing. I think you do this thing and it's incremental changes and you're trying different things that hopefully will all contribute to your overall well-being. I'm falling. So I think that's the answer. And by the way,
I don't know if people are skeptical of acupuncture. Like, I know people are skeptical of Eastern men. They are, right? Yeah. Same with chiropractors. I'm a little skeptical of chiropractors. But with acupuncture specifically, I'm just going to say this.
My father, who is the biggest skeptic, he's one of these people that thinks that ADHD is something we invented. He's one of the people that says, when I was growing up, nobody had ADHD. You just weren't treated for it. Also, when you were growing up, your parents literally told you, go outside and play and don't come back till dinner time.
I don't think we can compare everything we do now to the way it was when you were growing up because that was a neglected generation. But he has had chronic back issues my entire life. He had a herniated disc. And I mean, the amount of pain that he's been in over the years is insane.
loves acupuncture. Yeah, it's one of the things that he tried when he was younger and he has only good things to say about it. Mr. Lubin seriously likes the acupuncture. And this is somebody who would never admit and he's done other stuff. He's gone to chiropractors. He's taken
pretty, you know, lethal medication for it, because he needed it. But acupuncture, he kept going back. I don't know if he currently does, but I remember him doing that. And this was before anybody was talking about acupuncture. My friend, actually, who does have really bad back issues and has had surgery on her back, she goes and gets acupuncture. And so I'm going to the place she goes. Oh, hell yeah. Yeah. So to try it. Yeah. There's legitimacy to acupuncture, and maybe we should do an episode about it.
Well, I'll definitely circle back. I'll tell you in the listeners how it went.
as I would love for you to do. And that's pretty much it. You guys slide into our DMs, let us know if acupuncture worked for you. This is not sponsored by Big Acupuncture. And that's it for today's episode. Be sure to send your questions to goodbodiesatveges.com to get them answered. Follow us at everything's fine on Instagram. If you like this episode, please write us a review. Rate, review, subscribe to the show and follow me at Lauren Hope Press. Follow me at Lubination. And remember, take your medicine.
Good Bodies is produced by Shannon Sassone and Lauren Hope Crass, editing by Will Maxwell, social media by Lauren Hope Crass, guest booking by Allie Friedlander. Be sure to follow everything's fine on Instagram and send us your emails to goodbodies at betches.com.
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