Ep 378 Can You Improve Egg Quality After 40? PRP, Peptides & Fertility Breakthroughs with Aimee Raupp
On today’s episode of The Wholesome Fertility Podcast, Michelle sits down with Aimee Raupp (@aimeeraupp) to explore the latest breakthroughs in fertility science and ovarian rejuvenation. From PRP (platelet-rich plasma) therapy and rapamycin to senolytics, peptides, and low-dose naltrexone (LDN), this conversation dives into emerging tools that may support egg quality, ovarian function, and fertility after 35.
They also challenge long-standing scientific dogma around ovarian aging and discuss whether women are truly born with all the eggs they’ll ever have. If you’re navigating diminished ovarian reserve, PCOS, endometriosis, insulin resistance, or age-related fertility concerns, this episode offers cutting-edge insights and practical hope grounded in evolving research.
Key Takeaways:
PRP ovarian rejuvenation may improve ovarian function and support natural conception in some women.
Emerging research questions the belief that women are born with all their eggs, opening new conversations about ovarian aging and regeneration.
Rapamycin and senolytics (like fisetin) are being studied for their potential role in delaying ovarian aging and reducing inflammation.
Peptide therapy may support hormonal balance, egg quality, insulin sensitivity, and conditions like PCOS.
Low Dose Naltrexone (LDN) may help regulate immune function, reduce inflammation, and support fertility outcomes in certain cases.
Disclaimer: The information shared on this podcast is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as medical advice. Please consult with your healthcare provider before making any changes to your health or fertility care.
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Michelle: Welcome back to the podcast, Amy. I'm so excited to have you on.
Aimee: you, Michelle. I think this is what my third time Is it? Yeah.
Michelle: maybe fourth, I feel like.
Aimee: exciting. Thank you.
Michelle: So first of all, congratulations on the new edition of Yes, you Can Get Pregnant, which is so exciting. We had a little pre-talk and I'm very excited to start picking your brain on that.
Aimee: Yeah, it's been an exciting revision. I think, you know, as I was saying to you before we started recording. It was about 10 years. It's really 11 years since I wrote the first version. And it's, it's really awesome to see. I mean, it's not awesome to see the increased rise in, in fertility. Challenges like that, you know, we've gone up like at least another 10 to 20% of women impacted. [00:03:00] And, and now male factor is a huge piece. But what I enjoyed seeing was so much of the content, you know, and the recommendations that I made 11 years ago that you and I have been making since we've, been out of grad school. all about living in accordance with the DAO and getting back in touch with nature and, and doing things like simply.
And like circadian rhythm, which we didn't really even have a term for. I guess we did have a term, but we didn't really use that or nervous system work, all of that. What's, what I found validating I think is, is the amount of research that's come out in the last 10 years. Kind of validating all the things, like validating, no, we do need more natural light.
The blue light is doing damage. You know, sperm health clearly has. Has significantly declined. The environmental toxins are, are really seriously doing damage, you know, ultra processed foods. So there's just this vast volume of research now that backs up much of what we were taught and, and have been, you know, [00:04:00] educating the others on for, for, you know, if we count Chinese medicine for thousands of years, you know, so that part is, is fun, you know, to just.
You know, I was telling you before we went live too, like my, my citations and resources in the book like went up 10 x if not more. Like my editor was like, we have to actually just have its own PDF and people can download for this. There's way too many citations in the book. Like, I can't, I didn't, I didn't account for this. So, you know, that's fun. And then I increased, you know, content around, preparing for IVF, it's has its own chapter now. Improving egg and sperm quality over the age of 35 has its own chapter now. Ovarian rejuvenation. I did a chapter with Dr. Zaha Murphy and talked about ozone and PRP and HBO and laser and peptides and, you know, so lots of, I think, you know, we've really brought all of the newer information to the plate and into the book, and so that's exciting and I really, I hope.
You know, it's [00:05:00] used as, almost like an encyclopedia of resources. Like, just got so much information and, and really, so I think still has that, that deeply empowering message of like, you have a lot of power here and here, you know, here are the ways you can connect the dots for yourself because, you know, again, as we were discussing before we went live, that, we now know, and I think that the, the research really supports this, that most all unexplained fertility challenges.
Have an explanation and, you know, they're rooted in inflammation, immune disorders, you know, maybe structural issues. not just all your eggs are bad because you're over the age of 35, which can't wait for that stigma to just leave the room.
Michelle: A hundred percent. Oh my God. Totally. I feel the same way. And it's exciting. It's, what's exciting is that we're coming on a lot of amazing research and new technology. PRP is exciting. I definitely wanna pick your brain on that. Because I've heard you know, there's, there's obviously, I've had doctors that were like, no, maybe it's [00:06:00] not safe for the ovaries.
I know Dr. Mur, he's had a lot of great success with it. And you work
Aimee: Yeah. And then there was a recent meta analysis that was not, you know, he did not do that research. That was someone looking at all the research that's been going on, right. Meta analysis, obviously. Showing. Yeah, it, it has marked impacts on improving a MH antral follicle count, BLASTY rate IVF outcomes.
You know, and so I still feel, and what I see clinically and feel good about saying is in, I think 50%, five zero of the cases that do the ovarian PRP see positive benefits and 50% just don't see any benefits. But I don't see negatives.
Michelle: Okay. That's amazing. So what are some of the positive benefits you've seen?
Aimee: The A MH going up the antra follicle count. More, you know, if women are doing IVF, you see? Just more get fertilized more. Get blast. Get to
Michelle: Wow, amazing. I've seen, I've seen that [00:07:00] happen. I've seen it where I've talked to people up north that went to see him and they were trying to conceive naturally and, and it wasn't working for years. And then they went to see him and a couple of months later, 'cause it does take, I guess a couple of months for it to really like show up.
And then, and then they would get pregnant like naturally. So I'm like, okay, well, you know, obviously must have done something. Mm-hmm.
Aimee: think it, it, you know, it is your own growth factors and so, so I think for all the listeners, you know, human growth hormone was like kind of the hot ticket for a while. Like add HDH to your protocols. This is your own HDH. That's how I would look at that. You know, these are your own growth factors and that's, I think that's even better than borrowing from, you know, however these, the human growth hormone is being made or, or, or created and where it's coming from. then, you know, it, it is basically like the other thing that we really know now and can confidently say is we don't run out of eggs. Like, yes, the pool is declining, but we now know that even [00:08:00] women in menopause, and this is, you know.
I think, I think there's multiple research studies that show the same thing. At this point, women in menopause still have about a thousand eggs left in their ovaries. And so it's not about running out, it's not about the pool. I mean the pool declines. I'm not, not saying that, but it, you don't just wake up and one day they're all gone.
It's really about they start losing communication. They go dormant. And what the PRP seems to be doing is waking up those dormant follicles.
Michelle: Amazing. And then
Aimee: the game, not creating new ones. Now there are people doing, and not Murphy's one of them, but there's other people as well doing stem cell outside of the US 'cause that's not currently legal.
That theoretically is actually causing you to create new eggs in your ovaries.
Michelle: That's incredible. Let's talk about that a little bit. I know it's not in the US but I'm just really curious. So what is that technology? 'cause that sounds really cool.
Aimee: mean, they're using placental stem cells, so they're buying them from, I think there's a bank in Colorado actually [00:09:00] that is doing it. You can get 'em in different places like Panama, a big place. I think Dubai is another place. And these are so placental sorry. Placental cord blood stem cells. That these are apparently it's the word like omnipotent, like they can become anything and they don't have to be your cord blood stem cells.
They can be anyone's, it's just like a bank of these stem cells. And then you, so you do the PRP, so you draw the blood, do the platelets, you're mixing that in with the stem cells and then injecting that into the ovaries and then. New eggs should be theoretically created. It's hard to know for certain if that's happening because I don't think anyone's done like a test of like staining the old ones to see what happens with the new ones.
You know what I mean? Like, 'cause we're human trials that that's kind of hard to do. Perhaps it's being done on the animal model, but then people would argue, you know, is that the same? So I have seen girls with like POI, [00:10:00] you know, like they're young, they premature ovarian insufficiency, like they got nothing, they're not cycling, that kind of thing.
Or women in menopause and it seems to be kind of bringing them out of that. Again, not working for everyone, and there's really not enough. I haven't seen enough of my clients do it clinically for me to have like a, a solid, like, you know, go and do it. I, and Dr. Murphy would say he likes to like layer it in, you know, first to start with regular PRP.
Then he does the adipose, which is where he's getting stem cells from your own fat cells.
Michelle: Mm-hmm.
Aimee: And that can be done in the us. And then there's the stem cells that's happening, you know, for him in The Bahamas. And there's also people doing mitochondrial replacement therapy. There's like CN Ys doing that in Mexico.
Doc, there's whatever doctor his name is in Albania is doing it. Me, he's doing it. There's a guy in Spain doing it. That's where you're borrowing mitochondria from a donor egg [00:11:00] and taking out your. Older mitochondria or malfunctioning mitochondria and switching that. So it's still your genetics. You still need donor eggs, but you're not borrowing biology and genetics.
You're just borrowing mitochondria
Michelle: Right. Which has a different set of genetics anyway
Aimee: Yeah, exactly.
Michelle: your own body.
Aimee: Yeah, so it's you know, the, the technology is cool. I think it's moving at a rapid pace, like from what I can see. I also there was recently a post Dak Shepherd had said something recently, like, I'll, I told my girls that when they turn 18, I'll, I'll help, I'll pay for them to freeze their eggs and any, you know, that went viral.
And I think you said it like on people.com or something like that. And you know, I, I did a story on it 'cause I was like, I think, I think this is great. Like, I think a, it a, first of all, it's nice that, you know, he has the money that he can do that not everybody has those resources and the ability, but b, by the time his children are 18, that's like another decade or so, if not more.
We might not need eggs. We might be able to generate them just from any of your DNA. So a swab inside the [00:12:00] cheek. And then when I first wrote, yes, you can get pregnant, I had interviewed Dr. Hugh Taylor. He is, I think he still is the head of reproductive medicine at Yale. And he said to me, he's like, yeah, probably in 10 to 15 years I'll actually be out of a job.
He's like, because we'll be able to make e eggs from swabbing the inside of a cheek. Like we'll be able to just generate eggs for, for you at whatever age you are inside a lab and then fertilize that, make an embryo and that is being done. I don't know that it's been done human wise, but it's definitely being done in a lab.
I'm not sure whose eggs they're using, some mammal, but that's.
Michelle: That's fascinating.
Aimee: too. Yeah,
Michelle: Well, they're mammals. I mean, we're mammals, you know, so there's gotta be, if it works, there's gotta be some way to make it work on humans as well.
Aimee: And I think that's part of the research that's going on that I think is also really amazing and I hope, I hope everyone who's listening gets, you know, time to have access to it, but like studying, why are we the only mammals that actually can.
Procreate after a [00:13:00] certain age. Like why do our eggs go dormant? What is that piece? You know, there's a little bit looking to the kisspeptin and that and that peptide, and apparently that, I guess, declines with age and that keeps the ovarian reserve abundant. I've had some patients use the Kisspeptin peptide.
I've not seen. Any success with that. But, but kind of researching why, why do we downregulate our reproduction at a certain time in our life, and why do men not, you know? And so looking at other mammals trying to understand that you know, I think it's, I think it's. Interesting and cool. You know, I, I remember not that long ago getting kind of bullied and attacked on Instagram for saying like, do we run, really run outta eggs?
Like, are we really running out of eggs? And and a couple, you know, doctors came after me for like, spreading misinformation and I was like, but it's not, there's a guy, Jonathan Tilley, he's been studying this for over 20 years now. Out of Northwestern or Northeastern. I always confuse them. But his name is definitely Jonathan [00:14:00] Tilley, and he's the head of biology at one of those universities.
And he's showing like, no, there's ovarian stem cells that we have. You can see people that like, went through chemo or radiation on their ovaries, but then somehow we're still able to produce follicles and have children Like that doesn't make any sense. And so, you know, targeting and like really trying to understand what else is going on, you know, we also know women haven't been a part of research, you know, until very recently.
And so.
Michelle: This is a big deal. Like people don't realize.
Aimee: Yeah, we based that theory of like, eggs are finite. You're running out of eggs on research from the 1960s that looked at Reese's monkeys and rats. It was never repeated in a human model for almost 40 years. They literally, it was a mathematical model looking at rats and Reese's monkeys over time and saying, oh, okay, so the reserve does go down.
So that happens to women. That's it. You run outta eggs. That, that was the theory. No one questioned it. It's, it's an, no one has questioned it until fairly recently, and I think now we're getting a lot more information out there [00:15:00] and, and some of these medical facts are shifting and changing. I, you're still gonna run into the.
Old school docs who were just gonna kind of, you know, dig their heels in. I mean, I think too though, aging does age us, you know, so our mitochondria become less effective and cellular division less effective. So we're more prone to chromosomal or genetic issues the older we are. But I don't think it's definitive just 'cause you're 47, you have X amount of, you know, chances or x amount of chromosomal things that are gonna happen.
No, that's not the case. We can all age differently. So it's like the I, I tell people whenever they like push me on things, I'm like, just start looking into the world of regenerative medicine. Like that's where you should start. Because if it hasn't yet touched fertility yet, you know, I mean it's starting to, I think with doctors like me and things like that, but, that's where it's at. I mean, we're seeing this, we're seeing it with the peptide explosion. We're seeing it with, you know, just the anti-aging, like the mitochondrial, excuse me, the mitochondrial explosion. You know, we're learning more about food and [00:16:00] environment and toxins and, and they're aging us. I think one of the studies that I pulled for the new version of, yes, you can't get pregnant I might not quote it exactly, but it was the exposure to ultra processed foods and a MH levels and that women who ate.
More ultra processed foods than those who did not had much lower A MH. And when you removed the ultra processed foods from their diet, within three months, their A MH on average doubled.
Michelle: Wow, that's so significant. That's like not just like
Aimee: That's insane. But like, yet we're told a MH, you know, that's it. This is your number. You know, like the way they used to talk about FSH they don't, not as much, you know, they don't say that as much of, oh, I can change, you know, or as it used to be, like, this is the gold standard. It never changes.
Michelle: Yeah, it's a snapshot in time. It's so crazy. But you know what's really funny, Amy? I actually had the same question as you about, are we really born with all the exit we'll ever have? And I remember seeing a study that was done on a cancer drug. I don't know, you probably are familiar [00:17:00] with it, where they used it. I think it had to do with the ovaries, but they noticed that the ovaries would have more follicles, and they said,
Aimee: like, and Jonathan Tilly, that's what he's looking at. That's the research. 'cause it started with, that's what triggered the research. It started with this cancer, these cancer patients where they were like, wait, they should, the ovaries should be dead like this. There's no, why are they, how do they have cells?
How, how are they actively making follicles? Because I think it was direct chemo or radiation. Directed at the ovaries, it was like ovarian cancer patients, right? I think that's,
Michelle: Something like that. It was something to do with it, like I think it was ovarian cancer, and then they weren't, of course, expecting that to be a result
Aimee: Yeah. I think I, you know, I think truthfully, there's so much we don't know, and I would much rather everyone say that than to say, no, this is. This is the truth. This is what we function on. This is finite. You know that, that [00:18:00] doesn't show intelligence, right? I think there's, there's some study out there or some quote that's like, you know, the number one way to, to like see a lack of intelligence is, is to see people who just like, are unwilling to see it be another way.
You know, it's just like, okay, you, you are not thinking outside the box. And that's what I always tell our, our patients of like, okay, you're clearly not getting the results you want. We need to find a new team who's willing to think outside the box, who's willing to try different things. Like that's, that's what we need.
We can't keep doing the same thing and expect different results. But then also like, you know, talking about aging, like then how do we define, like you and I both have had women in their late forties do it. Like how, how, how do you define that then? How do you say it? Can they just be these anomalies?
But you and I, you know, if we are talking about the relative population, we have smaller practices, you know what I mean? But like. All of us in the acupuncture world, we all probably are like, yeah, I've had 47 year olds. I've had 48 year olds. You know, I've seen like Murphy's had 50 year olds, 51 year olds with their own eggs.
Michelle: Well, the oldest
Aimee: that possible? It's
Michelle: years old, naturally had a baby, Don Brooks [00:19:00] in England. And and I always compare it to the Roger Banister effect, where the guy wins the seven minute the four minute mile. He breaks the four minute mile, and then like months after that, a bunch of people break it.
Like, why? Why did nobody break it up until somebody broke it?
Aimee: And I think about that too in my practice. I feel like the more, almost like geared in I've gotten, or the more I've seen and the more hope. I used to think like 44, 45 was kind of the cutoff. And now I'm like, Hmm, I, I've had 48 year olds do it, so
Michelle: Mm-hmm.
Aimee: why can't you? And also like.
You know, and I know we're reaching all these different conversations and you and I are both, you know, holistic experts, but I also think perimenopausal support the right way. a woman still trying to conceive, using things like bioidentical, HRT can be extremely beneficial and we maintain the cycle, like we're using estrogen when we're supposed to, progesterone, when we're supposed to, if they need testosterone or DHEA.
Obviously we're testing, we're not guessing. I'm [00:20:00] not saying go out there and start taking bioidentical HRT, but. That. I mean, even for me, I'm 51. My cycle has been wonky this year for the first time, but up until, and I've been playing with Bioidentical HRT for probably three to four years, you know, and I don't have any. My FSH is still in a good range. I don't have any hot flashes, I don't have vaginal dryness. I still have a sex drive, like all these things. So like, I think what I started to do and play around with was like I'm extending things like I'm giving myself and then hopefully I'm kind of missing this like big dip, right?
Which we know is what comes with all the health events, but or negative health events. But I think about for our women with perimenopause, I mean, what we were doing, even from just a natural perspective is like, yeah, we're just nourishing and improving blood flow and circulation. We're, we're preventing things from kind of stopping and slowing down.
We're keeping them going. And then if you wanna add in a little, a little HRT, that's bioidentical.
Michelle: Right.
Aimee: the game
Michelle: It does for sure. A hundred percent. And it's something that we have available. And I do think that [00:21:00] obviously the bioidentical aspect of it makes a difference too. But yeah, why not use what we have and it, and now they're finding that it's not as bad as they originally said,
Aimee: we knew that all
Michelle: is a big deal.
Aimee: at, we're looking at one study based on one
Michelle: this is what happens.
Aimee: they extrapolated it across the board and it's like, God. And that's like, that's what I mean of like, take some responsibility. You know what I mean? Like, that's unfair. That is so unfair what you did.
It's so unfair.
Michelle: it is. But it's like who has the mic? That's really what it is. I mean,
Aimee: loud enough. Yeah. And who's got the deeper pockets? You know, I mean, it's layers and layers. Yeah.
Michelle: Yeah, for sure. So I wanted to talk to you about rep rapamycin. That's another hot topic that's coming out about older women trying to conceive.
Aimee: Yeah, it impacts the mTOR pathways, right? Which yeah, I might not know the entire pathway, but basically helps improve mitochondrial function. And [00:22:00] it's a drug that's been used for organ transplants for many, many, many years. People have started playing around with it for fertility. Think Dr. Amy, the Egg Whisperer, not me started using it in her practice.
I think she's doing something like three to four grams a week.
Michelle: So, yeah, at a much lower dose,
Aimee: lower dose, like almost like a
Michelle: than, than what it
Aimee: kind of, it's considered at this point like a longevity medicine. Right. And so, but then there was a recent study, so there's now two studies that are going on, I think one at Columbia here in New York.
And there was another one going on someplace else, but they published and it. It was still a decent size of women. I think a couple hundred. And they did one milligram of rapamycin per day for 21 to 28 days, kind of depending on the woman. And then they compared 'em to a control group. But what's cool is they also had comparisons to previous IVF cycles for these women.
The women in the rapamycin group had more eggs retrieved, [00:23:00] more blast assist, and I think higher pregnancy rates. So much so like that. The day that study came out, I actually was in the clinic with Mur and he, I ran into him and he was like, that's it, rapamycin for everyone. Like, he was like, I'm sold, like sold.
And you can, you know, I mean, again. I don't think everybody should be treating themselves like this, but you can get that online.
Michelle: get
Aimee: place you
Michelle: Ageless Rx.
Aimee: Yeah, h srx man. You can get it. And I think you, you have to be smart though. You're not supposed to conceive while you're on it.
You do it before a cycle or before, like before an IF cycle or before a natural conception cycle. You're not doing it during, so you have to think about that. You have to take time off. I strongly would recommend though, that someone is managing the case and you're not just doing it on your own. And then, then how many cycles do you repeat it for?
That I don't know. I think this study was just that one clip of the 21 to 28 days, so I'm not sure about like, the way Dr. Amy's doing. It's a little different, right? Where these people, they're just on it.
Michelle: Mm-hmm. [00:24:00] Right?
Aimee: And I can't speak to that, you know. But she's been, you know, she was the first one to use h human growth hormone in California, and then she hopped on the PRP bandwagon like very early on.
And then she's, she's been the first one using rapamycin as well.
Michelle: Amazing. And then there's something else that piqued my interest is ly. So like things like ottin you just take once a month.
Aimee: Oh, the fi satin, is that what you said?
Michelle: Ottin, yeah. You take it once a month, I think for three or five days, depending on the, the product. And it helps get rid of c senescent cells, zombie cells.
Aimee: We just, where we, we just did redid rejuve repair, you know, the, the supplements that I have with me and Mark and we're adding Cetin at like the, the daily, like the regular low level dose to it because it's very promising, you know, or it's interesting, I'll say, you know, but that was, we had a call with our formulator it's gotta be at least six months ago, and he said to us, he was like, Cetin is the next one [00:25:00] you're going to hear the most about.
From a mitochondrial perspective, from like a lytic perspective. And there's a couple of cool sites. What's the one? It's oral peptides oh my God. Health Jevity and it's Health. Jevity G with G. And it's health jev.com. You can put it in the show notes, but they have some really awesome
Michelle: rev Genetics
Aimee: different
Michelle: or Health Gen. Oh, okay.
Aimee: Health, but it's all these really smart PhDs and it's all oral.
Michelle: Oh,
Aimee: they have the BPC 1 57, they have the PEA, they have, they have like a re in, like they have some kind of lytic multi kind of thing.
You know, they're, they're not
Michelle: Amazing.
Aimee: and there's also not a ton of data around for it, but.
Michelle: Mm-hmm.
Aimee: Cool. Interesting. But I agree. It's like these things, you know, like even as astaxanthin, like we've known about that one, but that's another one that I think deserves
Michelle: Antioxidant. Yeah, very, very good one. And also what I saw the studies on Odin was [00:26:00] that in, I think it was rats, it brought back ovulation or delayed menopause or Arian aging. And then there was also studies on endometriosis as well.
Aimee: Oh really? Well, because like also because we know it's like the inflammation is crushing the mitochondria. It's crushing the quality. And so I think that's what it's doing. It's kind of like bringing things back online. It's almost like what we saw with the NMN or the NAD, you know? It's like, okay, it delayed menopausal, right?
And like menopausal rats came, mice came back online and started ovulating again. So, you know, it's also to be argued of like, okay, but does it. Mean much in the context of just taking this one single nutrient. I don't know. That's what we don't know, you know? But it's also, you know, in the book too, that's what I did.
I created these kind of like mitochondrial supplement stacks, you know, so like not taking everything every day, you know, and just kind of how to stack them and, and when, and [00:27:00] based on the current data and the dosing, which. It was cool and fun because it's also a lot, like, I always think about our girls and like how many supplements they're taking or who's doing IVs and injections and things like that.
It's like, oh my gosh, it's a lot. I think the BPC 1 57 is pretty cool. That definitely has like an overall healing capacity,
Michelle: Mm-hmm.
Aimee: you know, and, and kind of like tissue regeneration
Michelle: Mm-hmm.
Aimee: maybe regeneration is too, too promising, but, you know, tissue repair.
Michelle: Mm-hmm.
Aimee: That, that's been around the longest. So it's like, you know, I know some doctors who are using that, like hands down, that's in my practice for any, any gut protocol that I need to do, it's gonna heal the lining.
Michelle: that injected
Aimee: What was that?
Michelle: injection
Aimee: Or even orally, like how I found out about, he was through a, a physician friend who he does anti-aging medicine, and he was the one who told me, he connected me with them and he was like, he's like, I use their BPC 1 5 7. They have one with like PEA in it.
And he was like, I've never seen. [00:28:00] Gut health heal faster.
Michelle: Wow. Wow.
Aimee: and he's been around a very long time. And, and even like Hyman and you know, Tony Robbins has his centers now too. They're, they're all connected to like one of these oral peptide companies, you know, and the second, the peptides are illegal in the us these, these companies will all start making the actual injections.
Like right now, the biggest thing you have to be aware of is the injections that you're taking. If you go to like one of these wellness clinics and they have the BPC 1 5 7, or they have, you know, the Kisspeptin or. The Ella they are importing it from another country. A lot of the times that country is China and then they're reconstituting it in their labs. You wanna make sure that it's not peptides that are for research purposes, but they're peptides that have actually been like tested for endotoxins and things like that. So I think it's called pharmaceutical grade versus research grade. But none of these peptides [00:29:00] are technically legal in the us So they like, if you're getting them, you like, and we're not talking about GLP ones, we're talking about these other ones.
If you're getting them, you really wanna know the source. So that's why I feel safer with my clients saying, go to hge, take their oral stuff. Like is it, is it probably a 10th as effective? Yes. But I don't know. It's still probably doing something. Yeah. And even for us with the, the cetin like sourcing that and, and kind of understanding the dosing and all of that, like sure.
Maybe by the time the new repair product comes out, we'll we'll have it available in injections as well, but not everybody's down for that. And it's also can be really expensive. I don't
Michelle: Yeah, it's, it's a lot more tough to
Aimee: Yeah, I looked into this Ella and I think through Ageless Rx, and it's like I could get a three month supply for like a thousand dollars.
I was like, well, that's expensive, you
Michelle: is, that's nuts. Yeah. Very expensive. Yeah. You have to make it realistic for people to really do consistently. 'Cause otherwise it's just, it's, it's tough.
Aimee: And then also we [00:30:00] just don't honestly have enough data. So we can't say this for certain is gonna be the thing that gets you your baby. We can't, no one can and any, if anybody is,
Michelle: Run for the hills.
Aimee: It is like, I mean, I, before we talked, we, we share some clients and it's like this one client who came to me, like, it's, it's a, it's a colleague or a friend that has this like med spa and literally sent her home with this list of like, these are all the peptides I can inject you with so that you can have a, a better IVF next time.
And she, I'm happy, sent it to me and asked me for my feedback. And I was like, oh, I a how much is this gonna cost you? But b. None that this is guaranteed. Like, it's like I, let's, let's be honest with ourselves, you know? And then so we kind of just picked and choose what we thought would maybe be smart to try.
But we also don't know how everyone is gonna react, you know, just like anything.
Michelle: [00:31:00] Yeah, for sure. And then what else did I wanna ask? I was gonna ask, so talk about peptides. Actually, let's kind of go to that. 'cause we, we brushed upon a couple of different ones and what are peptides for people who are not familiar with what they are and how can they help?
Aimee: technically exist in our body, right? They're proteins and chains of proteins that exist in our body, and then what we're doing is. Taking them in at much higher doses, but they're technically, like, they're synergistic, is how I would look at it with our body and our function. So these were isolated compounds that were like, oh, you know, like rapamycin, oh, this impacts the mTOR pathway.
We know this for a fact, so we're gonna use it here. So it's, you know, it's created based on physiology. And technically should be safe. It's more like the, the sourcing and the dosing and the individual [00:32:00] client.
Michelle: So there's different types that do have different functions.
Aimee: Oh, they all have different functions, right? Like, I mean, the GLP one is the most common, right? So we know it's working on these GLP one receptors, which is helping with insulin regulation in the body. You know, it's a metabolic and it's, I think it's magic for the people who need it, you know? We were talking about that before we went live, and it's like.
Any of my clients, like it's being used more and more. I think infertility because so many of our girls have insulin resistance, which is why we've been working on diet and lifestyle with them for so long, and when to eat and how to eat and how much to eat, right? We're fixing insulin resistance is what we've been doing.
Now. There's this drug that can do it pretty fast, you know, and so. But you really, really wanna know that you need it because if you take it and you don't need it, it could backfire. If you take it and you don't follow the right diet and the right lifestyle, it could backfire. And we know that from a JLP one 'cause it's been out for a very long time.
But this, this is the longest. It's being like the, i I would [00:33:00] say the most amount of people it's being used on in a short period of time. It seems like everyone's taking it. You know, I worry about that long-term repercussions. There's a lot we don't know. You know, I'd liken that to, you know, some, some said vaccines, same thing.
You know, where you're like, oh, I don't, I don't know that I'm playing around with that. Vaccines are different than peptides, but just that same thing where I'm like, I don't have enough longitudinal data. I need to collect more information. But like I think GLP ones are a good example. Like, we're learning the best way to live your life while taking it.
So not just that you inject yourself and that's the quick fix and you never have to do anything else. If you do that, I think you can have negative repercussions for sure.
Michelle: And also the dosage we were talking about that too. In some cases people would benefit from a microdose,
Aimee: Yeah. I,
Michelle: rather than having like a really high dose.
Aimee: I just leave you, I'm sorry. Like a low and slow kind of situation, you know, I think it's much more important. Yeah, and I have girls that, you know, are very insulin resistant. Maybe metformin was what was recommended [00:34:00] to them prior. They're trying, the GLP ones, they're seeing a good difference.
But same thing, you know, we're, we're staying at. Either the, the starting dose or the microdosing. I mean, I'm not a physician. I can't manage that and I can't prescribe that. But I've learned enough and I work with the physician. And then we are also looking at labs, you know, so, like for instance, I just saw a girl's labs today and they were thinking about giving her, gLP one for suspected insulin resistance. Her lectin and her insulin are low. I mean, they're below a three each. Like, she's, she's actually the opposite of the case. Like she, if you give it to her, it's gonna shut her down.
Michelle: Right.
Aimee: gonna go offline because everybody's gonna be like, oh my God.
Like, it's, it's almost like, at least, at least from what I understand and know, that's how I see that it would go down. I, I could be wrong. I haven't seen enough of these cases, but it seems to work really well for the people with. High fasting glucose, their A1C is trending up their insulin, especially fasting insulin is high, like above a 10 above an [00:35:00] 11 is really, you know, you really wanna be in this.
Everybody's different, but I would say. Four to 10 range is a good range for insulin, fasting glucose. You want it below 90. If you see that, that's another, like, here's an interesting story I'll share of like, one of my girls, she, she's actually 47. She has a significant ovarian reserve. Like when they do retrievals, she gets like 30 eggs.
Michelle: Mm-hmm.
Aimee: She's doing IVF to test for genetics and, you know, with that many eggs, she felt really confident. But I meet her by the time she's already through like three retrievals and fertilization. Like she'd get 28 eggs, like two would fertilize and then like one, if it made, it would come back. You know, pl So,
Michelle: have PCOS?
Aimee: but that's the thing.
She didn't, she appeared that way, meaning over ovarian wise and high a MH. She was a very fit, lean woman, like an athlete, a professional athlete. [00:36:00] So she could have had it at a younger age, but her lifestyle has like not shown it. But she could be lean. PCOS too. Her A1C is perfect though. But. So first we changed the medications because they were coming at a really high dose because of how many eggs she had left.
So we first cut the meds in half, same eggs, retrieved fertilization rate, like almost one to 50%, which was amazing, but same thing, still keep coming back. Abnormal. Digging into her labs, you could see her fasting glucose started to trend up over the years and same thing with her. Insulin started to trend up.
We never even checked her. Leptin actually trending up over, over the years. And even like in this last year, quite a bit like I think the IVF meds maybe pushed her kind of over an edge. She tries like a micro dose of a GLP one, not even that long. Two months does another cycle. She had an 80% fertilization rate.
She got two euclids and one low level mosaic.[00:37:00]
Michelle: Wow,
Aimee: I mean, granted, I had all, you know, like she had been working with me maybe for four months at that point. We were on the low STEM protocol, but in my, you know, in, in my opinion and
Michelle: It usually takes a little longer for those kind of things
Aimee: insane. Like, so now we're prepping for a transfer.
I mean, she's psyched, you know? We'll see, obviously like there's all these things, but it's like one example. If you need it, it could be really helpful.
Michelle: That's
Aimee: And women in perimenopause. The thing is, we become less and less insulin sensitive. And so when we're treating these women in their forties perimenopause is gonna kick in different times for different women.
But we're, when we're treating where things are starting to go different or shift a little bit, we should be looking at metabolic health and then thinking about these things. And I still think we could do it ourselves with our herbs and our lifestyle and all our things. We, we have that. But I, I do of respect efficiency, you know.
Michelle: No, we gotta use all the tools that we can [00:38:00] get. One quick question 'cause I know you have to go. LDNI remember you talking about that and that's an exciting new thing. Or it kind of newer, you know, not people are starting to like learn about it. Again, another type of medicine that at full dose does one thing, but then at low dose does another.
Aimee: and it's, it's just basically like, like I just call it like a mini steroid. That's kind of how that's, that's how I see it, of just like, it's just this, it's just. Kind of breaking down this low level chronic inflammation. And you don't necessarily feel like world's different when you take it, but you see the difference.
So for us, and it's been like this, I I'd say at least eight years, I, you know, every endometriosis patient if we know she has it,
Michelle: Mm-hmm.
Aimee: and then any the autoimmune patient. And then now you're starting to see like the fertility doctors are using it. Like I see CNY, it's in every one of their protocols. Now. Every girl is on low dose naltrexone.
And the research is cool. And there's that other guy, he's got a bunch of stuff on YouTube. I'm, I forget his name, but he's [00:39:00] really into it. From a fertility perspective. I can get you his name for show notes if you want. I just can't think of it in this moment.
Michelle: Yeah.
Aimee: yeah, I think, I think all of it layered together.
But I would also just say of like the template that we, we start our clients with, you know, and then obviously always looking at mal factor, looking at uterine, looking at immune stuff like. The template is still really important. I think all these things are like, you know,
Michelle: Add-ons.
Aimee: Yeah. Add-ons. And with the understanding that not everyone is it gonna work for everyone, which is the hard part.
'cause it's like you'd like a guarantee, especially if
Michelle: Of course, but humans don't function like that.
Aimee: But it's still like, what I still see in the data, and I know what we both see clinically is like, it's consistency and frequency. It's like there's not just like one shot you're gonna do and a month later you're gonna, you know, get your boobs.
I mean, I did just kind of tell a story like that, but like, I just think she's, she'd been working at this, like, she had fine tuned her diet. Like she, she had, like, when she came to me I was kinda like, you don't really need me. I'll give you [00:40:00] advice on the IVF and the meds and I'll look at your labs, but like, you kind of have things on lockdown.
But she was stumped. Why? Why is this not happening? Why is this not happening? You know? And, and could have been just that the insulin resistance that was starting to show up was not allowing her body to properly utilize everything she was doing is basically how I'd say. So now all of a sudden you, you help facilitate like proper metabolism and
Michelle: Right.
Aimee: the eggs.
Michelle: Yeah, that makes sense. I mean, it's almost like we were talking about it before, it's almost like a block to your ability to access energy when you're insulin
Aimee: what it is. It's, and it's like right. For us, it'd be like dampness. It's like flemmi sticky stuff, just hanging out in there, not letting things
Michelle: getting in the way.
Aimee: and then it, you put this in and it's like, because even like berberine will be like, kind of essentially, and like, what is that to us, that's like a heat clearing medicine.
You know what I mean? It's we're like, we're getting through like the wreckage in a sense. We're like. Almost zapping it out. It's kind of what these op ones are doing.
Michelle: Amazing. Amy, I can always talk to you and pick your brain for hours. And [00:41:00] of course, Amy's my mentor by the way. I actually do schedule calls with her to get to pick her brain because it helps my practice so much, my ability to help women. So like, I'm so thankful,
Aimee: I'm always like, I got a Miami girl. Yeah. Here we go.
Michelle: thank you. Same. And and of course I can keep talking to you for hours, but I know you have to go.
You, you're a busy woman.
Aimee: Waiting in my reboot group
Michelle: yeah. So thank you so much for coming on. If, okay, so where can people find everything? All the, all
Aimee: Yeah. So, I'll get you the, the link for pre-orders and things like that for the book. But everything's gonna be on my website, amy rep.com. Follow me on Instagram and TikTok. That's where like all the information will be shared. And then obviously the book is available anywhere books are sold. Right now it'll only be in English.
I'm hoping to do an audio book as well. And then last time it was published it did get, it did go into a few languages, so hopefully that will be the case as well.
Michelle: I'm sure it will be 'cause it's such a gift to the world. Thank you so much, Amy. [00:42:00] I always love talking to you. Have a great day.
Aimee: you too. Bye. Okay. I am gonna.