Wellness After 40
A podcast that empowers women in their 40s and beyond to embrace aging with vitality and purpose.
Wellness After 40
Migraines in Your 40s: What Your Body Is Trying to Tell You with Kim Heintz
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Are you dealing with migraines in your 40s and wondering what’s really causing them—and how to actually find relief?
In this episode of Wellness After 40, we talk with Kim Heintz, FDN-P, HTMA-E, MATD, about what migraines really are and what may be driving them beneath the surface.
This conversation goes beyond symptom management and into the root causes of migraines, including factors like stress, gut health, mineral imbalances, and overall nervous system load.
If you’ve been looking for a more complete approach to migraine relief, this episode will help you better understand where to start and how to support your body.
💡 In This Episode:
- What migraines actually are (beyond just a headache)
- Common root causes of migraines
- The role of stress, gut health, and mineral balance
- Supplements that may support migraine relief
- Simple, practical steps to start addressing migraines
- How to combine functional and traditional care
🌿 Resources
Connect with Kim Heintz
👉 https://www.kimheintz.com/reclaim
Download the Migraine Guide: https://kim-fclwc5hg.scoreapp.com/
⚠️ Disclaimer: This episode is for informational purposes only and is not intended to replace medical advice. Always talk with your healthcare provider about what’s right for you.
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If this episode helped you, make sure to follow the podcast and share it with someone who might need to hear it!
What if migraines aren't random? But your body is trying to get your attention. In this episode, we're unpacking what could really be going on beneath the surface. So stay with me because this might change the way you think about migraines in midlife. Welcome to Wellness After 40, health, goals, and manifestation for women, the podcast that empowers women in their 40s and beyond to embrace aging with vitality and purpose. I'm your host today, an older millennial navigating women in the artist, doing more better at every stage of life. Well, welcome to the podcast, Wellness After 40. I am your host, Katie, and today I brought on a great guest. Let me introduce you to her. Coming to the podcast today is Kim Heinz. Kim is a functional diagnostic and nutrition practitioner who helps high-performing men and women eliminate migraines, overcome burnout, and heal debilitating gut issues. Her path into functional health was personal. In her 20s, she battled chronic migraines up to five times a week, including one that lasted an entire year. When doctors told her she'd have to live with it forever, she refused. Through functional lab testing, she uncovered the root causes, it resolved her symptoms completely and transformed her health. Today, in her mid-40s, she's a competitive mountain biker in the Midwest and helps others find the same freedom she did. Welcome to the podcast, Kim.
SPEAKER_01Thanks. Good to be here.
SPEAKER_00I am not a migraine sufferer, but I have quite a few few friends that have asked me to do this podcast. So I am very grateful for you to come on today. Um and like find out a little bit more about this. I I don't want to call it an epidemic, but I feel like it is something that is so common in our vernacular that people have and people really struggle with. So thank you again from all of the listeners coming on talking about this subject.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. No, you're right. And I do think I agree with you that it is, it's a real problem. Um, you know, close to 20% of women are dealing with migraines and six-ish percent of men. I mean, it's a pretty big group of people that are struggling with them.
SPEAKER_00Absolutely. So I know you had a lot of your own personal experience with migraines. Is this what led you to go into this specific type of work?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it was one of the big drivers. Uh, so as you shared in my intro, like I dealt with uh migraines. I had more days of migraines than I had not. And that was through my entire 20s and into my early 30s. And um, once I got past that year-long migraine, I was still dealing with them fairly regularly. Um, along with as I got older too, as I got into my later 20s and into my 30s, like more and more issues were popping up, like brain fog and fatigue and anxiety and depression and a dozen other symptoms. And when I'd tried a lot of the conventional methods, I'd done all the testing and taken tons of medications and just really felt like I was not getting any better and maybe getting worse. And so I ended up working with somebody like me, thinking, well, this is doing something different. I needed to try a different strategy. And it was the thing that completely changed my life. And, you know, I'm now I'm eight years migraine free and being able to break free from migraines fairly quickly after struggling with them for so long, like that, along with everything else, like everything else disappeared too. It's I was like, I have to be able to be a uh an avenue, a pathway for somebody else to be able to experience this kind of freedom because it's it's it's such a hard road to travel when you're dealing with those things.
SPEAKER_00Absolutely. And this may be like a little bit of a silly question, but I'm I'm always kind of curious what actually is a migraine? Like how does it differentiate from a headache and like what is causing? Well, maybe not what is causing, but first, what is a migraine?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so it's sure a headache is part of it. Um and migraines show for differently for different people, so it can obviously vary a little bit, but like there's there is a headache component to it, but like also it's usually one-sided, where a lot of times like a tension headache or something might be like your whole head or like the front of your head or something like that. Whereas a lot of times a migraine is going to be on one side or the other. A lot of times people also will have like a lot of locked shoulders. There's nausea and light sensitivity that come with those. So, like people will feel like they have to either go into a dark room or wear sunglasses. Um, I did both. Uh there's it's also sometimes your vision changes too, like things get blurry. And then um, it almost some people feel this way. I did, uh, where you're like your nerves are almost on fire. Like everything just hurts, but it's hard to explain. It's not like a muscle ache or like you, you know, stubbed your toe kind of pain. It's like your whole everything just feels like on fire. And so um, you know, that goes way beyond just like the headache. The headache is a piece of it, but there's so much more to it.
SPEAKER_00Wow. So it's like a whole body issue, not just within the brain. Okay, because when I think of migraines, I always just think of a headache. And so that's that's that's good information to know. It's like it's actually in could be multiple systems of the body experiencing it. So that may be one of the reasons why it's so hard to diagnose because it's really not really sure where it's kind of landing. But if we could dive a little bit deeper into like, well, what are some of the causes of migraines that you generally see in people? Like, I know that you kind of mentioned some things that feel hormone related, like brain fog and fatigue. Like, you know, we are experiencing this as women in our 40s. So can you tell us a little bit about like maybe what are some of the precursors to migraines? What are what could be causing them?
SPEAKER_01Yeah. And you know, it's a couple couple of things I want to touch on too is like, you know, a lot of people will say like there's like a it's like a it's a neurological condition, like that's how it's classified medically speaking. I'm coming at it from like more of like a functional optimal health standpoint. Like, what is the underlying cause of these things? What's triggering them? A lot of people will, a big management side of migraines is identifying things that are triggering your migraines, like food or scents or stressors or things like that, and then eliminating those. But those aren't truly the root cause of the migraines. When we're looking at, I like to look at the body as like a bucket, um, where you know, you aren't dealing with a migraine if it's it's if it's not spilling over. But the more things that you put into the bucket, the more stressors you put into the bucket, uh, which are the root causes, that's when the more things you have in there, eventually it's gonna spill over. And that's like the true trigger of the migraine. And so if we look deeper than triggers and we look at those stressors that are going into this bucket, you're looking at things like hormones. You know, you mentioned hormones, so hormonal imbalances can definitely be a really big trigger. And I do believe that is one of the reasons why women deal with migraines more than men. I wouldn't say that is the only reason. I think there's um, you know, toxin exposure and uh women tend to struggle with detox more than than than men do as well. Maybe there's a whole hormonal component to that too, but in general, we tend to struggle with toxins um and being able to eliminate those a little bit more difficultly. Um so when we talk about toxins, I'm talking about things like heavy metals or mold or things like that. Uh nutrient imbalances are a huge thing because nutrients feed our cells and our mitochondria. And if you I run the hair test on all of my clients looking at the cellular content of their of the their nutrient or the nutrient content of their cells, and the a lot of people have major deficiencies and imbalances. And when you have deficiencies or you have too much built up inside the cells, you can deal with a lot of of different symptoms and migraines. If the cells, you know, the cells are not nourished, you're going to experience um the triggers more. And so, you know, people will I talk to a lot of people who tend to feel like they're really thirsty, who struggle with migraines, or like I drink so much water, or so I drink a gallon of water a day and I'm still so thirsty. Well, there's a there's a nutrient component there because you're missing key electrolytes. And so um a lot of times fixing nutrient deficiencies can reduce the frequency of the migraines as well. Um, we look at food sensitivities that can add an inflammatory factor as well. Gut health is huge. Like certain bacterias are known to be linked to migraines. Uh, if you have leaky gut, which means like toxins are getting into your bloodstream because your gut lining isn't as solid as it should be. That can cause a lot of inflammation as well. What's driving that? Well, bacteria, parasites, candida, things like that. Um, and so there's a lot of different things that can be driving that we'd be putting into this bucket and it can look different for different people too.
SPEAKER_00Oh, wow. Okay. And so it with these lists, with this list alone, it seems like this can kind of happen to someone at any point in their life, but do you think this is happening more or less for women in their 40s? Or is it something that you think usually if you're going to have migraines, you probably had them at a younger age?
SPEAKER_01Not necessarily. I talked to women who really struggle early on in life and they get better as they get closer to menopause. And then I talk to others who never really struggled with migraines at all until they got to their late 30s or into their 40s, and they started noticing the frequency increasing. And I think a big part of that really comes down to, you know, we've been, we've we've been living life for decades at this point, and you know, we're dealing with a lot of different stressors in our lives. We're raising families, you know, there's, you know, a big stress there, um, with just like taking on more responsibility and managing a home and managing a career in in some cases as well. I think uh especially I notice a lot of us, we just take on more than probably we should handle because we just can power through and kind of push ourselves beyond where we should and not maybe allow ourselves as much rest, or maybe because we just don't have the time and we live in a world that kind of puts a badge of honor on being busy. And so, like, I think that is just a societal issue that a lot of us, myself included, have have come to deal with as well. And so I think that like women who are dealing with this more, it's just more your body's starting to get more bogged down because the more children you have or the more stressors you have, the more nutrient deficiencies are possible because we're burning through those nutrients. Um, you know, our hormones definitely change. There's a real big shift that happens as we hit our 40s as well. And then um just, you know, years and years of toxin exposure too in in our daily lives can have an impact.
SPEAKER_00Okay. So you mentioned hormone imbalances, toxins, nutrient deficiencies, food sensitivities, gut issues from different types of bacteria, and then stress. So this sounds like any of these things can lead to a migraine. So if someone is experiencing headaches, how do we differentiate that from the migraine? You said it's because it was like a whole body symptom. Um, but if someone is like, okay, I I feel like I do I have a migraine, like where should they start to know if this is like a migraine versus something else?
SPEAKER_01Well, I mean, migraines are really more diagnosed by your doctor. So I think that that's a conversation that you do have with your doctor, especially if you are noticing that it's beyond, like it's not just the headache, because some people will even have a migraine without the headache component too. But if you're noticing some of the other issues, like the nausea and the light sensitivity and dizziness, vision issues, um, that burning sensation, I would say like that's a good opportunity to talk to your doctor to see if you want to get a diagnosis around that. Um, and and just so that they, you know, can also be part of your care team.
SPEAKER_00So the the first step would be going to your doctor, presenting them with your symptoms, and then they can diagnose you with a migraine or not. And then the next step would be from working with them, you could go into your care. So I wanted to talk a little bit more about like what you do to to help a client and kind of where you start with trying to find out these root causes. Because you said it's more than just a trigger. You're like, what is the underlying root cause of causing this? And this can actually heal you from the migraine. So I I I really love that. Can you talk a little bit more about these this type of process? Like, where do you usually start?
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Um, so I think, and it really depends how deep people want to go. But you know, if you're somebody who's been struggling with migraines and you're like, I just the medical route is just not working for me, or I want to try a different approach. Um, I come at things from a very holistic or it's a very like it's it's it can work alongside the work that you're doing with your doctor. So really what we're doing is we're identifying these stressors. And so nutrient deficiencies is one place I always look first because if you're depleted, you can't really heal any of the any other things because nutrients are like the gasoline that fuels the engine of the body. So if your nutrients are out of whack, like trying to do anything else, including big detox detoxes that you see pushed online or anything like that, like that, it's gonna be a lot harder on your body. So making sure that that is supported. I like looking at blood work too, like looking at blood sugar. Um, I didn't mention that earlier as like an underlying root cause, but like I do see that in a lot of women, especially in our 40s, I think we're noticeing I'm noticing more and more blood sugar dysregulation. And I look at blood work a little bit differently than doctors do as well, and notice that there's things we can do before it becomes like a you know pre-diabetes or diabetes issue. Um, but this just blood sugar dysregulation and hormonal imbalances go hand in hand a lot of the times. And so addressing those can really be powerful. So I do like to look at blood work too. And then depending on like the other types of symptoms somebody has, I'll run like a gut screen, which is a stool test, um, and looking at, you know, are those gut infections there? They're driving inflammation, how's the immune system? Um, how's your digestion doing? Things like that. And or looking at hormones, I think that both of those can be beneficial pieces of data. And it kind of depends on what the symptoms are with somebody. Um, so those are kind of the some of the areas that I do start with. I mean, obviously there's other testing we can do, but sometimes starting with like the foundations is crucial because if we can like identify the foundational pieces that are missing, get those supported, we get some wins by reducing the frequency of migraines. And it's like, okay, cool, we've unpacked some of these underlying causes. Where else can we go at this point? What's the body telling us? Because the body's always giving us feedback through the symptoms and you know, listening to those and saying, okay, this is where we should go next.
SPEAKER_00And so can you tell me a little bit about the difference of your care and then when a doctor? Because you said you usually want to start start with your medical professional, start with them to get the diagnosis, and then they can start to run some lab tests. But what would be the difference of going to a functional diagnostic nutrition practitioner? Is that just all in tandem with a doctor, or or what is the what's the differentiator with working someone like with someone like you?
SPEAKER_01Sure. Yeah. So a doctor is in a diagnose and treat model. So they're the ones who are going to diagnose you. As an FDN, I'm not going to diagnose you. What I'm looking for is what's causing what we call metabolic chaos in the body, what's driving these symptoms. And we treat the body non-specifically, whereas doctors are treating the body very specifically. You go in, they diagnose you with a migraine condition, and then they're giving you medications. They might send you to a neurologist for additional testing. Um, they might do some of their own testing, you know, in in-house as well, but they're looking for anything that they can treat. And so a lot of times that's just to the medications are to stop the migraine uh once it comes on. So it helps reduce the duration and the severity of that. There are some preventatives out there as well that people will take, but a lot of it's more of like diagnose and treat. Whereas I'm not diagnosing anything and I'm treating the body non-specifically, meaning I'm looking for the the those underlying root causes, those those stressors that are filling the bucket. And we are addressing those. And so we're looking at different systems of the body. I'm not saying I understand your migraines are very frustrating, but I'm not treating the migraine. You already, most, most of the time, by the time people get to me, they already have like a whole strategy of how they're supporting themselves and managing their migraines. Whereas, like, I want to get to the the what's going on beneath the surface so that you don't even have to use your management strategy anymore. And so, you know, that's where we do the testing. And again, the testing is more of like functional testing. Where is the body not running at an optimal level? How do we address the dysfunction so that the body isn't dealing with these migraines or any of the other symptoms on a regular basis?
SPEAKER_00Wow. So it sounds like this is a really great and tandem thing to do. Like you are going to address where these came from, the root issues, the root cause, and going to the doctor to get the first diagnosis, maybe to get a little relief. And then it can also work with you to actually be like, well, what what caused the foundation to crumble? Um, and all of the things that you listed sound like things that are just good for your body in general, for your overall health system. So it sounds like a win-win to go and work with with someone like someone that works in in your capacity.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah. And I mean, that's the types of things that I do to keep myself healthy. It's a lot of questions, a lot of times I'll get questions from folks who are starting to work with me. They're like, Well, what happens after I'm done working with you? Like, what if this all comes back? And it's like, we're setting you up with a solid foundation to build off of so that you never, your your current baseline is you never reach that current low baseline. We're raising the baseline up so that like going forward, you just keep yourself feeling this way too. We give you a whole toolbox of strategies that are just kind of part of your life.
SPEAKER_00Okay. So maybe you could tell me a little bit more about that. So if someone is listening right now and they are dealing with frequent migraines, what are what are maybe some like low-hanging fruit type of changes that they could start to make now to notice a difference?
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Um, you know, we always uh my approach is always through like natural methods. And so we're looking at things like diet, lifestyle, and in and supplements. Now, supplements, we can over we're we live in a world where we're over-supplementing, and there every expert on the internet is sharing their top tips for for different supplements. But I would say that there are probably some key areas that can be supportive without testing, and then I think the testing is really what drives like the specific specificity around that. So, from like some some low-hanging natural methods, I mean I think I, you know, diet is huge. And so I would I think starting with diet is is is crucial. And I see a lot of videos on the internet like making fun of like, you know, I'm in my 40s now and I need to go start my eight-hour, you know, morning routine to you know keep myself healthy. And it's like, you know, eat the protein and get my 10,000 steps in and all this. And like it's it, they're making fun of some of the tips that are shared on the internet, but at the same time, like there is some merit to some of those things. And so, like, for example, like I talked about blood sugar earlier. If you are struggling with migraine, I think one of the best things you can do is make sure that you're eating within an hour of waking up and you're eating something that has at least 25, 30 grams of protein in it, not not something sweet, like skip, skip the cinnamon rolls and and the bagels and things like that, but actually have like, you know, something with protein, things like eggs or cottage cheese or um. With cut it, you know, with some fruit and things like that. And do that before you have caffeine because and I was I was guilty of this myself, but a lot of us are waking up and we're going straight to the coffee. And if you have caffeine on an empty stomach first thing in the morning, it's going to spike your blood sugar and your cortisol for up to 18 hours. So it's and cortisol is our stress hormone. So if you are spiking that and it's that's spiked all day long, you can be setting yourself up for, you know, setting yourself up for a migraine later that day because your cortisol is high, your blood sugar is out of whack. And so starting the day strong with a protein forward breakfast, again, it doesn't have to be huge. You don't have to sit down to a five-course meal. But if you have a, you know, uh an egg and a couple egg whites and or some cottage cheese, or maybe both with some fruit, like that can really help keep you stable all day long. So that's where I would start. I would say the next thing would be don't skip meals. Uh, again, blood sugar related, because blood sugar and migraines can be very strongly linked. And so I would eat every three to four hours. If you're skipping meals, it's such a big stressor on the body. And that can really set us up for crashes later on, which can be a trigger for migraines. And so those are a couple of things. I think another thing that I would say is starting your day with a pinch of sea salt and lemon in a glass of either room temperature or slightly warm water. Um, gets your water consumption up because a lot of people are dehydrated. Talk to a lot of people who are only drinking about 40 ounces a day. Uh, so if you can have even just like I said, a pinch of sea salt, if you can tolerate lemon, if you can't tolerate lemon, because I know some folks can't, then just skip it and do the sea salt in the water. And that actually starts your digestion, it supports your liver, it also nourishes your adrenals, which is one of the regulators of your body. And so it's an easy thing to do. And a lot of people notice they have just some natural energy in the morning when they do that. So those are a few very simple low-hanging fruit type of things. I would say the other thing from like a supplement standpoint would be magnesium. Um, a lot of people are taking magnesium capsules, but I really want to uh stress the importance too of topical. So getting like a magnesium spray or a cream and putting that on at night before bed. Um, magnesium is 10 times more absorbable through the skin than a capsule is. So if you're if you're taking a capsule and and and maybe you're like, I don't know if this magnesium is doing anything, try the try the creams or the sprays because that can really help increase your absorption level. Just know that if you do get a little itchy with it, it means you do have a magnesium deficiency. So uh it kind of feels weird when it's itchy, but it's like, okay, I guess my body really needed this. And so you can either wipe it off after 20 minutes or just um mix it with some coconut oil.
SPEAKER_00Wow, this was so fascinating. First of all, I was like, oh no, these are all the habits that I do in the morning caffeine on an empty stomach, definitely waiting till I don't know, 3:30 to drink some water. I don't like water. I do do a magnesium supplement and I also have a cream. Oh, but I that was just kind of coincidental. I did not know about the the skin absorption. Um, as well as like it makes sense when something has to be broken down by your stomach. Yeah. It seems like it's harder to get into the bloodstream as quickly as a topical. So that's really interesting. And having protein first thing in the morning, along with water, a pinch of sea salt, a little lemon if you can tolerate it. That's just great advice in general, and things that I yeah. I'm like, oh wow, I'm I'm gonna jinx myself at this point. I need to start listening to the powers that be and taking care of myself in the morning time. That that was that's great information. I'm sure you've always gotten a million different types of crazy stories about how people handle their migraines. Um, my aunt is a um a chronic migraine sufferer, and she's been maintaining it with medication for many, many years until she went on a trip. And this was probably about 15 years ago. She went on a trip, she forgot her medication, and she had a migraine coming on. And so she swears by this method, and I thought it would just be kind of funny to share it with you because you could probably debunk it. But you know, she thinks that this is uh heals her migraine. So she landed in the airport, rushed to her hotel, was worried that she was going to be getting a migraine, was getting all of her symptoms. So the woman at the front desk told her to go into a room and brew a cup of coffee and gave her a fresh orange and told her to open the orange, pour the caffeine onto the fresh orange, and then put a towel over your head and inhalate the smell of the caffeine and the orange and the citrus. And that is what she still takes medication, but she thinks that that is the solve to stopping her migraine. Do you have any funny stories like that that you're like, uh-uh, please don't do this. This is not gonna help your migraine.
SPEAKER_01You know, I think I I think whatever works for anybody, if you feel like a migraine's coming out and you have little, we all have these little strategies that we feel like are routines that we've set up for ourselves to stop the migraine or reduce the severity of it. I mean, it uh there, I would, I don't think I'd ever say like, don't do something just because if it's working for you to help you manage the migraine, because we really have to clarify classify that as like a management tool, right? And so if it if it's helping you in the moment, I would say, hey, like more power to you. I mean, that is definitely up there on the list of like uh new strategies that I have heard before. But like I used to pinch uh between my finger and my thumb, like that little fleshy part there. And supposedly it would like it made me feel like the migraine was lessening. Well, only if I held it there. So I remember being out with friends and a migraine was coming on, and my friend just held my hand there like that, so I could like she was like holding, pinching that area to like try to help me reduce this the migraine from coming on too strong. Did it work? I think a little bit maybe. Um, but you know, did it did it fix my migraines for good? No. Um, so I mean, I think there's uh there's all sorts of like routines and habits and kind of things that people have come up with that they swear by, and maybe it works sometimes and maybe it doesn't others, but like from a management side, it's like as long as it's safe, you know, there's nothing like not safe about what your aunt's doing. I say like is whatever you need to do to manage the migraine in the meantime while you're looking after like what's really causing the migraines. I think that you know, I don't want to tell anybody I haven't heard anything that has been like, gosh, I would never do that. Please stop doing that immediately.
SPEAKER_00Okay. Well, it sounds like if it's not earth-shattering, keep doing it. But obviously, we can also go into the science and look at what are some root causes. But let's talk a little bit about medication because where does medication actually fit into this conversation? Can someone combine, you know, more traditional and functional approaches efficiently?
SPEAKER_01Absolutely. And I I think that that is the way to do it. If you're struggling, and you know, like you said in the intro, I work with people who are also dealing with like debilitating gut issues. Um, and so I've worked with people who have had autoimmune diseases as well, like um, who are on multiple medications. And like I would never tell someone not to take a medication that's outside the scope of what I would ever do. Like, that's a conversation between you and your doctor, and there's a reason why you've been prescribed that medication. What I do, one thing we need to think about when we're taking medications is that they do have an impact on a lot of times nutrient status. And so some of them will deplete certain nutrients or raise certain nutrients too. Like there's certain medications that will like cause um elevated blood potassium, for example. So um, one of the things that I do when someone comes to me and they're taking one, two, three, eight medications is I research all of them and I say, okay, what is what are the contraindications? Like, what should this medication not be taken with? And then also like, what are the nutrient impacts on this medication? Because this person might need more of X nutrient because their medication is depleting it. And sometimes that medication, that nutrient that it's being depleted is also supportive for what you need. And so, like, absolutely, like, we want to make sure that we're supporting the body of anything that might be getting depleted by the medication you're taking. And then beyond that, it's just making sure that we're timing, you know, if we're taking supplements, for example, and this is a big thing a lot of people don't know, is like make sure you're taking your supplements away from your medication so that the medication can get fully absorbed and so that the supplements can get fully absorbed. Otherwise, they're competing for absorption. And so we talk about timing. What time of day should you take your meds? What or what time of day are you currently taking your meds, and then what time of day should we take any supplements that we might be implementing based on your testing? So, yeah, medication is is always a part of the conversation, and uh, we just support the body the best way possible.
SPEAKER_00And it sounds like you always handle it from a very personal supported practice. So it's every person is very different, and it sounds like you customize everything to that actual patient or client.
SPEAKER_01Absolutely. I mean, there is no one size fits all to health. Uh, if there was, we would not be dealing with so many chronic health issues today. And so it's every every person that I work with in my practice, we are uh we're doing a full evaluation of symptoms, diet, lifestyle, you know, preferences, because everyone pref deser uh prefers to do things differently as well, and making sure that once we have lab data to go with it, we're we're matching all that up appropriately. And no two journeys. I've worked with with partners before, like husband and wife, I've worked with uh mothers and daughters before, and no two journeys is ever the same, even when you're talking about you know, people in the same household.
SPEAKER_00Hmm. Fascinating. This is very interesting. And so when it comes to migraines, they don't discriminate, do they? Is there a certain pattern that you see in in traditional or in patients that you have that these patterns will lead to a migraine, or is it just a combination of different types of factors?
SPEAKER_01I think it's a combination of different factors. I mean, there's certain people who are more predisposed to getting them, right? The po the percentage is about 20%, at least in North America, of people who deal with with chronic migraines, or so it's the one big thing that I have seen, and I, you know, I I don't know if there's any like you know, research studies or anything to back this up. But the one thing I have noticed a lot is people who struggle to detox, like their body like just needs more. I'm one of those people, my I have my my body just struggles to detox. I have to make sure I'm supporting it with their various tools. Um they tend to deal with migraines more frequently. And if we talk about those root causes that we talked about, like that makes sense because if you're if you have a lot of toxins or you've got like an overgrowth of bacteria or hormonal like excess estrogen, for example, and your body can't clear it, then those things get recirculated and can cause inflammation. And so to me, there's a a big connection with that, that there's just that we see, and I think this isn't just standalone to migraines. I think that people who struggle with with chronic health conditions in general, like their body needs extra support.
SPEAKER_00Okay. And so if someone is struggling with migraines now, what what would you tell them? Maybe one or two things of advice that you could give them to help mitigate some of their issues today.
SPEAKER_01Um, I mean, I think that the big the first thing I would say is like look, do an evaluation, take stock of your day-to-day. And is there anywhere where maybe some foundational things could be implemented to um, you know, keep keep your body stable? Um, like the blood sugar, like we talked about with those examples and those tips I gave earlier. Um because routine is I find is also really important for folks who have migraines, is like making sure that you've got like a good routine. Cause I know when I would get out of routine, that was like I was almost like guaranteed to have a migraine that sometime that day at the end of the day, perhaps. So um I think that that is like the first place I would start is just like, is there any, is there any opportunity where you know you can you can optimize the foundational things, diet and lifestyle? I would say as far as like the other thing I would say for somebody who's struggling with migraines, just know that like, you know, there there are options other than the conventional medicine route. And if you feel like you've exhausted that route, or and you're just, you know, right now you're just in a management phase, like there could be other opportunities to optimize things and greatly reduce the frequency of the migraines that you do have. And so just know that like there are other options out there. I remember personally laying in bed, you know, researching as is before Facebook groups and stuff like that really were big, but like I was looking at online forums and like just I just I was like, there has to be a different answer out there, there has to be like a solution for this. And like at the time, that's when I was dealing with like really frequent migraines, uh, might have been around the time I had the year-long migraine, and it was just like there, they're just and I just I was like, I don't want to give up. Like, I would, I there has to be something else out there. And it was harder for me to find, and it took me many more years until I found that. But like there are other options out there for you, and so like it can feel kind of sometimes like a lost, like, you know, you're told like this once you're diagnosed, like this is what you're dealing with forever. And it's like, you know, here I am, eight years migraine free when I was dealing with them so consistently. Like, I even had a doctor tell me, like, and he was well-meaning. He was just like, I just like this is just gonna be your life. You're gonna have cycles where you're just gonna really struggle with migraines. And I could have accepted that, but I didn't because I don't like taking no for an answer. If I feel like there's a I want to look for the all the solutions and exhaust. And and I I ultimately did find this solution for myself. And so just know that there are other ways, there are other avenues out there for you.
SPEAKER_00Ah, one here, here, and you decided to take that and and pay it forward. So that's amazing. What an amazing story.
SPEAKER_01Thank you.
SPEAKER_00So if someone is listening and they want to go a little deeper, how can they work with you? Are there resources that you have or something else uh starting what you'd recommend?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, um, so I do have like a uh a PDF, um, a resource called um it's just like the underlying root causes of migraines or doctors haven't explored. It talks, it gets into some of the things we talked about today. So I can share that with you to share with um the listeners. And then um, if you want to just reach out, like you can shoot me an email, Kim at kimhines.com is my email, or you can go to my website, kimhines.com, um, and either book a consultation or look through my program um and reach out there as well. So there's options.
SPEAKER_00And do you work virtually with clients?
SPEAKER_01Yep, I'm 100% virtual. I work with people across the US, Canada, the UK, and Europe. If you're outside those regions, um, unfortunately, just due to limitations with ordering labs, it's just I just haven't been able to do that. But um, yeah, I'm 100% virtual.
SPEAKER_00Well, great, fantastic. I'll definitely put all in the show notes the link to that PDF as well as all the ways to connect with you. So if someone's on the go right now, you could just look at the show notes and and grab all that information so you can connect with Kim.
SPEAKER_01Awesome.
SPEAKER_00Well, to wrap up today, I kind of had a fun question. I already threw you for a loop with my coffee orange story, but I love that story actually.
SPEAKER_01So I'm glad you shared that.
SPEAKER_00I know. I think you should make like a little funny like. And then today's migraine, fun story. Uh, but maybe Dirabo, just a fun question. So I know you mentioned that you're a mountain biker. What is your favorite mountain biking event or story that you have to share?
SPEAKER_01I've won, I've I I've I have won quite a few races on the Margie Jessic, which is a pretty uh it's known as one of the toughest mountain bike races in the country, and that's in Market, Michigan. I've gotten third place there three times. I've tried to go get higher up on the podium, but I have not been able to achieve that. But I will say, this actually reminds me um one of my friends passed away, and um, I I she was a mountain biker too. And at that race, the Margie, like I got the chance to carry her bib. They had retired her bib. Um, this is the number plate that we put on our bikes to try to try and to track us. And um, a couple weeks before the race, they were asking if anyone wanted to carry anyone's bibs that had been retired. And I contacted them and said, Hey, I'd love to carry her number plate. And so I did. I had it on the back of my number plate, and so I could see her number the entire time I was racing because mine was forward-facing. And it was probably, and I've done a lot of like long, long races. My races tend to be like six to 12 hours. Um it was probably, yeah. Um, I'm training for a 20-plus hour race right now.
SPEAKER_00So um, that's a story for sure.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. But it honestly, like that day was probably the most fun day I've had on the bike in a really long time because like I was honoring her. Um, and I just it was like she was with me all day. It was like we were riding and it was cool because they were timing her too. So her name showed up with mine the entire time that like I'd crossed any of the timing mats. And so it was, I it was uh the most fun I'd had on a bike in a long time, uh especially during a race because races are always like so intense and stressful. And we finished, we got third place. Um, so I got to get her on the podium because she had always didn't even want to, she was like scared of that race. And so I got to hold her number plate up on the podium well as well and be able to celebrate her.
SPEAKER_00Oh, that's amazing. Thank you for sharing that story with us. That's awesome.
SPEAKER_01Thanks for bringing I I I forgot I hadn't forgotten about it, but it's been a while since I thought about that and it just kind of made me made me reconnect with that. So thank you.
SPEAKER_00Well, Kim, again, it was a true honor having you on today. Thank you so much for the like the amazing tidbits on supplementation and testing and medicine. I mean, this was a very fascinating, even if you don't have a migraine, this was a great, great episode to listen to just for your tidbits. And of course, for anyone that's suffering with migraines, please connect with Kim. She is amazing, and she will definitely get you into a better place. So thank you so much, Kim, for coming on today.
SPEAKER_01Thanks for having me. I appreciate it.
SPEAKER_00Today's conversation with Kim really opened up a bigger picture around migraines in midlife. What we talked about isn't just headaches, it's how the body is responding to stress, hormones, nutrient status, and overall load. We talked about how migraines can shift in your 40s, the role hormones do play, but also why they're not the whole story. What it actually means to look at root causes instead of just managing symptoms. Things like gut health, mineral imbalance, and nervous system regulation all play a role. And one of the biggest takeaways for me is that migraines aren't random. They're often your body's signal that something deeper needs support. We also touched on some simple starting points, those low-hanging fruit changes that can make a real difference, and how conventional medicine and functional approaches can work together. This conversation is absolutely important to start with your doctor, because this can't replace medical advice. So if you're dealing with migraines, working with your doctor is always the first step. If this episode resonated with you and you want to go deeper, you can connect with Kim. Check the show notes for her website, KimHeinz.com. We'll also include ways that you can work with her in the show notes. Thank you so much to Kim for coming on the podcast and sharing her experience with all of us, especially her great, great advice. And thank you for listening. If you found this episode helpful, make sure to follow the podcast and share it with someone who might need to hear it. Until next time, this is wellness after 40.