Self-Improvement | America Out Loud News · Self-Improvement | America Out Loud News

Reclaiming energy and hormone balance through root cause healing

·58 min·3 clips

Melissa says Ashley's mother was diagnosed with stage four endometrial cancer after months of dismissal and delay.

1. America Out Loud News’ Nurses Report focuses on reclaiming energy and hormone balance through root-cause healing with Melissa Schreibfetter and Ashley Caputo. 2. Melissa Schreibfetter hosts the show and names Ashley Caputo as a Functional Nurse Academy graduate, registered nurse, functional medicine practitioner, and founder of Rooted Wellness Functional Health. 3. The episode asks how women can move from “normal labs” and symptom management to testing, nutrition, and lifestyle changes that address the drivers of fatigue and hormone symptoms. 4. Ashley says that after her second baby she lost weight at first, then gained weight, felt depressed, felt anxious, and had no energy. 5. She says her doctor ran labs, told her everything was normal, and advised her to “eat less and move more.” 6. Ashley says she asked for a full thyroid panel and hormone testing, but the doctor told her he could not do that and that she would need a specialist. 7. She later had fasting insulin checked at 7, which was described as normal, and then spoke with a dietician who focused on insulin resistance, stress, adrenal fatigue, and nutrient deficiencies. 8. Ashley says additional testing showed low vitamin D, low vitamin B, and cortisol levels that were low when they should have been high and high when they should have been low. 9. Melissa uses that story to argue that symptom-based treatment misses the underlying causes of chronic illness and metabolic dysfunction. 10. Ashley says her mother had back pain and bleeding after menopause, went to the ER, was told she had sciatica, and was told to return for a Pap smear when she was not bleeding. 11. She says her mother was eventually diagnosed with stage four endometrial cancer that had spread to her spine and “basically every organ in her body.” 12. Ashley says the bleeding began in September 2023 and the diagnosis did not come until January, which she describes as a painful example of delayed evaluation. 13. Melissa says women often receive outdated advice such as “just eat less” and “move more,” even when postpartum hormones, nutrient stores, and breastfeeding change energy needs. 14. Ashley says she improved energy quickly after adding vitamin B, adrenal support, sunlight, less over-exercise, yoga, meditation, prayer, water, and more food. 15. She says the weight loss came later, and that starting to eat more helped her lose weight even though the advice she had received pointed the opposite direction. 16. Ashley says her business now focuses on metabolic health, perimenopause, and menopause, and that she started in May of last year after overcoming self-doubt. 17. The interview style is conversational and supportive, with Melissa frequently affirming Ashley’s experiences and linking them to nursing practice and functional medicine. 18. The tone stays practical and instructional, with repeated references to labs, cortisol, vitamin levels, Dutch testing, strength training, gut health, sleep, and protein. 19. Nurses, women in perimenopause, and listeners seeking root-cause hormone care would likely find this useful. 20. Listeners wanting a highly technical endocrine lecture without patient stories may skip it.

As heard by us

A practical look at sleep, gut health, and the habits that quietly wear people down.

This episode makes a practical case for looking beyond symptom management and paying attention to sleep, blood sugar, gut health, nutrient deficiencies, and basic day-to-day care.

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Why you'd press play

If you keep waking up exhausted, this one starts where the usual advice stops.

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