92. What Is Restorative Reproductive Medicine? A Better Way to Treat Your Cycle, Hormones & Fertility

Have you ever felt like your symptoms were dismissed or your fertility struggles minimized? In this episode, Dr. Monica Minjeur shares what Restorative Reproductive Medicine (RRM) really is—and why it’s the missing piece for so many women facing cycle issues, hormone imbalances, and infertility. Through Patricia’s story, you'll hear how RRM transformed her journey from frustration and confusion to empowerment and healing. You'll learn how RRM treats root causes instead of masking symptoms, how it compares to conventional options like IVF, and why it deserves to be a first-line approach—not a last resort.

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Transcript

Monica: 0:14

Maybe you've tried birth control through your period pain, or you've been told to just keep trying when it comes to fertility, or maybe you've had labs done only to be told everything looks normal even though you're suspicious that your hormones are a hot mess. For years during my medical training, I watched patients fall through the cracks of a system that only offered bandaid solutions or extreme measures, but there is another way. One that actually listens to your body and works to restore your health. Today we're diving into what restorative reproductive medicine really is, what it isn't, and most importantly, how it is transforming menstrual and fertility care for couples across the world. If you've been searching for answers, restorative reproductive medicine might be the name for what you've been looking for all along. So let's start off with Patricia's story. Patricia was 34 years old and she worked a busy job as an accountant. She was married for three years and had been trying to conceive for about 18 months. Patricia's cycles were irregular after stopping birth control and her OB doctor ran basic labs, told her everything was normal and she just needed to relax, come back and see me. After about 12 months of trying, I. Eventually, Patricia was started on the medication Clomid, which is supposed to help with ovulation, but that did not provide any success. She was then referred on to intrauterine insemination without any subsequent pregnancy, and eventually after about another year, was sent on for an IVF consultation in order to try and conceive. Throughout this entire time, Patricia's diagnosis was unexplained infertility without any real idea of what was going on. Patricia found Radiant Clinic through a friend and heard the term restorative reproductive medicine for the first time. Her initial reaction was anger. Why has nobody told me about this before? Eventually we were able to take all of those feelings of frustration and work together to get a plan forward that made sense for her. We discussed how we look at charting patterns of her cycle, how we time the lab work, and working together to restore menstrual cycles to get things back on track. By treating the root cause of the concerns that were creating medical issues for Patricia, we discussed that we would be able to restore her cycles back to optimal health and hopefully allow her to conceive naturally through her charting. We learned that Patricia was ovulating later than expected, and she had a really low progesterone and estrogen levels in her luteal phase after she had ovulated. Using targeted restorative reproductive medicine approach. We discussed lifestyle changes that needed to be made, like changing up her diet, making sure she got plenty of sleep at night, and working on optimal exercise habits. We also started Patricia on some specific supplements based on what her body needs. Treated with prescription strength medications, again timed to her cycle and adjusting the dosage to optimize every cycle that they were trying to conceive. After about seven months of working with our clinic, Patricia got her positive pregnancy test. She says, I didn't just get pregnant. I finally understood what was going on with my body, and most importantly, Patricia now knows how to track her cycles after her pregnancy and will be able to monitor for any changes in the future that may signify if something is not right with her again. This will help her to understand her hormones through detailed monitoring of her cycles rather than just trying to mask the symptoms that her body was trying to tell her all along. So why haven't I heard about restorative reproductive medicine before? That's one of the most common questions we get at our office, and honestly, it's a fair one. Restorative reproductive medicine is not new, but it is underrepresented in the mainstream medical system. Most OB doctors and primary care physicians don't receive comprehensive training in fertility awareness based methods or root cause reproductive diagnostics during medical school or residency training. In fact, many of the tools that we use in restorative reproductive medicine, like detailed cycle tracking, hormonal timing evaluations, or hormone support protocols require additional training that healthcare professionals must seek out on their own. Almost always outside of conventional continuing education and certainly beyond what we get in our normal medical school or residency curriculum. Right now, the medical system is generally built around two main tools when it comes to women's health. The first is either suppressing symptoms with birth control, and the second is bypassing problems with things like IUI or IVF. Now, both of these approaches may be helpful in certain cases, but they never ask the deeper question, why is this happening? And if we aren't solving those root causes, we never get to that understanding. Restorative reproductive medicine sits in a different space. We slow down the process rather than just jumping to starting on birth control. We want to dig deeper and find that more personalized care plan. And because of this, it makes it much more effective at truly helping people to heal. However, since this isn't the standard path that most conventional doctors utilize, most patients never hear about it unless they go looking for something different. Or if they find a healthcare professional who is trained in restorative reproductive medicine, I. The good news is you found it now, and once you understand what restorative reproductive medicine offers, it opens up a whole new way of looking at your health, your fertility, and your body's natural design. So what is restorative reproductive medicine? First of all, it is a root cause approach to reproductive and menstrual cycle health. It treats the whole person and seeks to diagnose and treat the root causes of the underlying dysfunction. I. Restorative reproductive medicine has a focus on hormonal health, regulating the cycle quality of ovulation, and dealing with bigger health issues. Things like inflammation or thyroid dysfunction, or adrenal insufficiency. We emphasize restoring natural function rather than just overriding it with bandaid fixes like birth control or IVF. Restorative reproductive medicine is grounded in evidence-based medicine, not just guesswork or band-aids. We integrate trained physicians, fertility awareness instructors, health coaches, dieticians, and other healthcare professionals when needed for a more collaborative evidence-based model. We utilize objective biomarkers from your cycle charting in order to time your labs, as well as time treatments with precision and common issues that we address can include things like irregular cycles, PMS or PMDD, polycystic ovarian syndrome, endometriosis, perimenopause, recurrent miscarriage, and infertility. The way we do this is proactive, and in fact, oftentimes restorative reproductive medicine people think is just about fertility. The reality is that we help women all across the menstrual cycle span from teens with irregular cycles to women with chronic pelvic pain or those dealing with menstrual or hormonal symptoms. Anyone who wants to avoid hormonal birth control or get off of it or not have to go that way at all, could be supported throughout their entire reproductive lifespan, from puberty to pregnancy, postpartum to perimenopause. Most conventional options focused just on suppressing your symptoms, whereas restorative reproductive medicine focuses instead on healing the system. Most importantly, restorative reproductive medicine honors your natural cycle. Every targeted intervention is aiming to restore natural ovulation, healthy hormone production, and optimal fertility. The methods we utilize try to work with your body's biology not against it. And as we've talked about so often on this podcast, we involve careful tracking of your cervical mucus, basal body temperature, hormone levels, and other biomarkers to give you a better understanding as to what's going on from day to day. We utilize these natural cycle observations in addition to modern labs and imaging in order to understand where you're at in your cycle and be able to optimize things regardless of what your intentions are. When it comes to treatment, we apply targeted interventions, things like the lifestyle changes, targeted supplements, bioidentical hormone therapy when necessary, ovulation support when needed, and in some cases minor surgery to help restore function. So let's talk about what RRM is not. It is not just natural family planning or religious medicine. Now, many women discover this through faith-based communities, but restorative reproductive medicine is scientifically grounded and it benefits all women. We utilize charting as a diagnostic tool, not just a method for avoiding pregnancy. And the reality is this is a full spectrum medical approach. This is one of the biggest misconceptions and oftentimes why natural family planning gets a bad name. In fact, in my own medical school training, this was taught to me as natural family planning, and the pharmacologists that taught the lecture on natural family planning and birth control told us this is natural family planning. It doesn't work. Don't recommend it for your patients unless they wanna have a bunch of kids. The reality is that natural family planning methods have gone a long way since they're originally created, and the newer, more modern methods that we utilize are much more effective at not only identifying when a woman is fertile, but also at being able to understand and tie that together with what's going on from a medical standpoint, to use this as a really powerful tool, to have a deeper understanding of what's going on inside from a hormone standpoint. Restorative reproductive medicine is not just watch and wait. It is proactive. It is data-driven. It involves thorough evaluation, lab testing, time to the cycle, real-time treatment adjustments, and individualized care. Many women are told that's gonna take forever to get this figured out. Why don't you just try birth control instead? The reality is with restorative reproductive medicine, that many of our patients see meaningful changes not only in their cycles, but in their mood, in their symptoms, in how they interact with other people in as short as a few months. There are very high success rates when we are using that personalized treatment and when we can identify what's going on each cycle, checking the labs for follow up and making those fine tuning adjustments in order to be able to help you feel your best. Restorative reproductive medicine is not a last resort. In some cases, couples come to us after they've failed IUI or IVF, and the reality is, is that restorative reproductive medicine is a first line option for many couples who want whole person comprehensive care. This is structured, it's intentional, and it's rooted in data and observation, and so it should not be seen as a last stitch option. I would advocate that restorative reproductive medicine should be the first line approach for any menstrual cycle concern. Restorative reproductive medicine also is focused on decades of research, modern lab testing and rigorous charting methods. We utilize high quality imaging, detailed hormone panels and tracking apps, things like Chart, Neo and others that frequently monitor our guide to care. This helps us utilize the most up-to-date data, and we are constantly expanding and changing and growing and understanding new data and new research to make those changes that are going to provide the best outcomes for our patients. So how successful is it? Let's talk just a little bit about how restorative reproductive medicine compares to one of the most common treatments that's utilized right now for infertility, and that is IVF. On average, IVF success rates per cycle are anywhere from 25 to 30%, depending on someone's age. Now, under the age of 35, those success rates are a bit better, but over the age of 35, that's approximately the success rate, and it drops rapidly by the time you get into your late thirties and early forties. Compare that to restorative reproductive medicine, and we have documented live birth rates. Well over 50 to 60% for many common conditions when you follow over time. Now, as we've discussed, restorative reproductive medicine is not just a quick fix. It does take some time to identify, treat, and heal the root cause of the problem. But IVF doesn't solve any underlying issue. And the reality is we want healthier moms, healthier dads, healthier babies throughout this process over the course of time. Restorative reproductive medicine is much more affordable when compared to artificial reproductive technologies. In some cases, it's even half the cost or less of a cycle of IVF. Most importantly, restorative reproductive medicine provides that ongoing support, hope, and a partnership not only in your care plan, but in your long-term health, and being able to monitor your cycles throughout your entire reproductive days. If you've been struggling with your cycles, your hormones, or your fertility, and you felt unheard, dismissed, or told to just relax, restorative reproductive medicine offers a better way forward. It is not a one size fits all approach. It's not just try harder or just try less or just do IVF. It is personalized evidence-based care that looks at your whole body, your goals, and your story. At Radiant Clinic, our medical or fertility packages include full lab evaluation, ongoing monitoring, and a team who actually listens. We believe that you deserve answers and a path forward that makes sense for your body. Imagine if your care team actually worked to understand your cycle. Imagine if you had real answers for your symptoms and a plan forward that gives you hope and healing, not just quick fix options. Visit radiant clinic.com to learn more and book a free discovery call. We are here to listen. To guide you and to walk with you towards restoring your optimal health. If you're ready to work with our elite team of healthcare professionals, go to our website, radiant clinic.com to schedule a free discovery call with me and learn more about our package based pricing for comprehensive care. We are currently able to see people for in-person appointments in our Cedar Rapids, Iowa Clinic, or can arrange for a telehealth visit if you live in many different states across the us. Check out our website for current states that we can serve medical clients and let us know if your state is not listed to see if we can still cover you there as we are constantly expanding our reach. Thank you so much for listening to this episode. Please share this podcast with someone in your life who would benefit from our services. Remember to subscribe to this podcast for more empowering content that I look forward to sharing with you on our next episode of Cycle Wisdom.