Experience Is What You Need! Dr. Sonja O'Bryan's BIO

Sonja O’Bryan, Pharm.D., received her Bachelor’s degree from St. Louis College of Pharmacy and her Doctorate from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.  She also is a Board Certified Healthcare Diplomate, with the American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine and uses natural, complimentary, pharmaceutical, and integrative approaches in her expertise with patients and their personal needs.  Use natural when possible and pharmaceutical ONLY when necessary is a position statement that she follows in her approach to patient care.  The American Board of Anti-Aging Health Practitioners was founded in 1999 to provide advanced education, representation, and specialty recognition of scientific and healthcare professionals. The long-term objective of ABAAHP is to achieve formal sub-specialty recognition and a new status for Anti-Aging medicine and for those practicing it as qualified clinicians. Together, the A4M and ABAAHP represent over 26,000 physicians, scientific and healthcare practitioners from 120+ nations. The process involves a written examination, which demonstrates proficiency in several key areas of Anti-Aging medicine. Along with proved competency by examination, the candidate must also provide documentation of 150 hours over 8 years of applicable continuing education to the field of anti-aging medicine, medical licenses and obtained degrees, and curriculum vitae showing professional experiences in customized, integrative, complimentary, and regenerative clinical care. After passing the written exam and completion of certification criteria, a certificate is issued to the healthcare practitioner confirming their status as a Diplomate of Anti-Aging Medicine.

“Dr. Sonja” has a broad range of experience including administration, hospital, retail, long term care and geriatrics, consulting, oncology, and in academia as a university professor and student preceptor.  She has a tremendous passion to help people become healthy in all areas of their life and meshes the spiritual, physical, mental, and emotional sides of care in her approach to better living.  Dr. Sonja currently does a great deal of teaching to community, church, and medical groups across the U.S., and in the past, she has collaborated with several major pharmaceutical companies as an Advisory Board member for medicines coming to the U.S. market.  

She offers health and wellness testing of many kinds to help people live better.  These include: hormone testing, thyroid testing, general wellness testing, neurotransmitter testing, adrenal testing, heavy metal toxicity testing, food allergy testing, and MORE.   In her book, “Living Hormoniously: A Hormone Handbook for the Everyday Women”, Dr. Sonja exposes the real life issues of the day with stories of women going through the changes of “The Change.”  Every woman, no matter her stage of aging, can find useful information in her book.  

Dr. O’Bryan also consults with patients on customized therapies for a host of other conditions such as psoriasis, Alzheimer’s disease, wounds, fatigue, stress, pain, gastrointestinal issues (Crohn’s, IBS, diverticulitis), rashes, anxiety and depression, and conditions associated with cancer.  She works closely and directly with physicians, nurse practitioners, chiropractors, and naturopathic physicians using her knowledge and experiences of the past 25 years+ to formulate customized therapies for specific needs.  To her colleagues, she is known as a practical, ‘go-to’ resource with out of the box ideas and options for health and healing. This while maintaining integrity and high standards in the regulatory scope of her professional practice as a consultant and medicine designer.  ~Catch Dr. Sonja O’Bryan’s Facebook page to stay tuned to updates and information in the Anti-Aging and Hormonal Imbalance World under 'Sonja Pinnell O’Bryan'.  

Personally, Dr. Sonja O’Bryan has been married to her husband Dean O’Bryan for 30 years.  She will tell you that her family is the greatest joy in life.  Rev. Dean and Rev./Dr. Sonja are both licensed ministers with the Assemblies of God and can be found on weekends traveling and ministering in churches locally and across the United States in their position and role as Missionary Associates with Convoy of Hope/Rural Compassion.  The O'Bryan's also own their own small business, The White River Coffee Co., in Rockaway Beach MO along with other entrepreneurial business endeavors.  On any given day, they truly enjoy meeting the needs of others, whether at home, at the office, or on the field of ministry or missions.

To book Dr. Sonja for your next event, email drsonjaobryan@gmail.com or thehormonemaven@gmail.com

 

Personal Healthcare

There's no doubt that healthcare is changing.  The internet has opened up so much information and accessibility to people wanting to take charge of their own health, and fortunately, personal research has opened the door to more educated and informed decisions about healthcare.  The high cost to enter the Western medicine machine is a moving monetary target when it comes to doctors visits, lab work, and suggested treatments to make one feel better.  For instance, do you cringe when your physician wants to order labwork?  Do you wonder, what it's going to cost?  Is it covered by your insurance?  Or maybe you're not insured at all??   We can all agree that there's nothing quite like the shock and surprise of a big bill in the mail for something that's supposed to make you feel better. That's no way to feel better at all.   In fact, research is showing that people are not going to the doctor simply because of the expense to do so these days. 

Did you know that I can offer a private consultation for hormone testing, adrenal testing, thyroid testing, food allergy testing, and comprehensive blood testing for other general wellness and nutritional needs?  The cost will be very clear and definite right up front so that you won't feel the shock of an unexpected expense to take better care of yourself.  Then, with your involvement, we can discuss a personal plan to match your testing profiles, your symptoms, and your goals.  It's very customized and individualized and something that is growing at a very rapid pace as people search for better and more affordable options to manage their personal healthcare.    Being healthy doesn't have to be expensive.

So how can you get started?

Appointments can be set up by calling 417-334-4032 Lakeland Wellness inside Providence Medical Spa.  If you haven't seen inside the new medical spa location, you're missing out.  WOW!! WOW!! WOW!!  So beautiful.....

If you live away from Branson MO or possibly in another state, we can set up an internet connection to do a remote consultation.  Don't let distance be a barrier.


This is a list of some of the most common services, treatments, and testing options that I am asked to provide:

Hormone Testing and Evaluation
Adrenal Testing and Evaluation
Thyroid Testing and Evaluation
Iodine Testing
Neurotransmitter Testing and Evaluation (anxiety, A.D.D., insomnia, depression)

Personalized Supplement Regimens

Blood profiles (cholesterol, nutrition, MTHFR, women's health, men's health, hormones, thyroid, glucose, insulin, vitamin D, etc.)

Food Allergy Testing and Evaluation


Customized Bio-Identical Hormone Replacement Therapy

Multi-ingredient Pain Creams
Adrenal Fatigue Testing and Treatment Protocols
High Quality Supplements and Nutraceuticals
Weight Loss
Autoimmune Disease Protocols and Treatments
Dermatology/Skin therapies
Anti-Aging Regimens
Hemorrhoid and Fissure Treatments
Gastrointestinal disease
Fertility Testing and Evaluation
Erectile Dysfunction
Mens Health and Hormone Therapies
Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome
Diaper Rash Remedies


Thank you for stopping by this BLOG and I do hope that you will reach out soon to take the best possible care of yourself.

All the Best!
 Dr. Sonja O'Bryan

Declining Hormones and Escalating Symptoms

Estrogen.
We've heard Dr. Zava call it the "angel of life, and the angel of death." Too much can be hazardous. Too little can be problematic also.
Not many people realize this, but estrogen plays a role in more bodily functions than just reproduction. In fact, estrogen has many important functions in the brain.
Studies show that decreasing levels of estrogen can cause two of the most common perimenopause symptoms – hot flashes and mood fluctuations. Curious how this happens? Read on to learn the details of this biochemistry.

Horsing Around With Your Hormones

The hormone replacement pill that many physicians prescribe for menopausal and premenopausal women is a pill known as Premarin.  However, I want to interject at this point that I have a growing number of physicians (especially OB/GYN's) who are referring their patients to me like never before to get them converted to bio-identicals.  It's been amazing to watch the shift in their treatment approach with their patients.  Yay!
 
Let me break this down for you so that you understand the title of my blog a little better.  The root, "pre"gnant-mare-urine is where the medicine name Premarin comes from.  (I think I heard your gasp from here).  I'm not horsing around with you on this little known fact, so please take the time to research it for yourself.  The truth is that Premarin is literally a way to horse around with your hormones by using a non-human source and placing it into the human body as an FDA approved treatment option for menopausal symptoms.  How can that be good right? The production process involves putting horses into stalls, collecting estrogens from their urine, and giving the final product to you in a pill form.  That is likely going to make you feel a mess.  Common horse sense right?!?! Blah!!!

Now don't get me wrong, some women will benefit from this "synthetic" version of hormone replacement therapy, but many will complain that they feel "unnatural" on Premarin.  Maybe it's because women weren't born with four hooves, I don't know. 

I just received results on a patient this morning who wants to convert from synthetic hormone replacement therapy (Premarin) to bio-identical hormone therapy.  Her hormone values are a mess due to the foreign chemicals her body is trying to process.


Seriously though, these are side effects listed from the package insert on a stock bottle of Premarin:

vaginal bleeding
breast changes
abdominal bloating
nausea/vomiting
headache/migraine
fluid retention
BP elevated
mood changes
yeast overgrowth
glucose intolerance
hair growth on the face (not cool in women)
acne

For the last hundreds of years, the human female system has been running quite well on three separate estrogens: estriol, estrone, and estradiol which occur in a particular ratio, with estriol being the most abundant.  Pregnant-mare-urine (sorry I couldn't help myself) consists mostly of estrone, equilin (a nice name for horse estrogen), and estradiol.  Where is the Estriol?  Not there.  Notta.  Nill. Zilch. 

So what's the big deal about that?

Estriol plays an important role and has been used in European countries for decades.  In general, studies from Europe show that menopausal women who use natural estriol to replace their natural "human" estrogen have a reduction in typical menopausal symptoms like hot flashes and thinning of the vaginal tissue (vaginal atrophy). Estriol is also considered as an estrogen with built in cancer protection.  It tends to bind to the receptors in the uterine lining and the breast to bump off cancer producing estrogens and therefore sends them through the process of elimination from the body.  It's not just available in Europe though, we carry and use Estriol is the majority of our menopausal patients.  It's simple good medicine.

Now that you know this, what should you do?  Get to a provider that understands the physiology of a female and leave the horse work to the veterinarians.  After reading this, you should understand why more and more women are seeking the bio-identical hormone replacement route for their menopausal needs.  Who in the world wants to take a pill made out of horse urine? 

So, what should you do?
Read about hormone replacement therapy options and especially bio-identical hormones. 

Check out a few books at the library before making your move.  I enjoy when women (and men) come to my office asking questions from their own research.  Remember hormone replacement therapy is now showing benefit in cardiovascular health, cognition, osteoporosis, alzheimers, along with many other things.  And, it simply helps patients look younger and feel better. 

Hormone levels should be tested in every female before considering treatment, and an individualized therapy can be formulated to meet each individuals needs.  A family history is also of critical importance when determining how best to treat symptoms.  Using the mildest dose and a customized approach is where it's at as far as I'm concerned.  I have been providing this care for hundreds of women for over 20 years now and our services are spreading across the country to those women wanting a better option in addressing their hormonal imbalances.  This treatment option is not new.  It's been around for many years.  Oh, and it's not just celebrity (Robin McGraw, Oprah, Linda Evans, Dr. Oz) medicine, or a treatment that you have to fly to California or Florida for which could cost you hundreds of dollars.   In fact, the average cost is about $50 per month for a customized treatment. Wow!!!  A small price to pay to feel better.   Very affordable and personalized to your needs.

Call my office if I can answer your questions and don't put testing off any longer.  I can offer saliva testing or blood testing to get your levels evaluated and from there develop an action plan with you.

drsonjaobryan@gmail.com

To your good health,
Dr. Sonja

An Estrogen Drought: 1 in 2 Women May Experience This....

Vaginal burning, itching, dryness, and discomfort are usually the ways that women describe the pain they feel with deficient hormones.  Hot flashes are certainly the most talked about aging symptom, but almost 50% of post-menopausal women experience what's called atrophic vaginitis.    This can also happen in in women who have had a hysterectomy with ovaries removed. 

The decline in estrogen with aging or hysterectomy basically causes thinning and inflammation of the vaginal walls. Over time and left untreated, this nuisance can lead to other things like discomfort during sexual intercourse, recurrent urinary tract infections, and incontinence. Ooooh....Ouch!  So how is this atrophy condition treated? Often, Estrogen therapy applied vaginally 2-3 times weekly can give resolution to this uncomfortable problem.  Non-hormonal solutions should always be tried first though and would include things like vitamin E, coconut oil, or vaginal lubricating products. 


What an honor it is to provide personalized medicine unique to the individual.  Very real stuff but also very treatable. When I visit with patients one on one, it's amazing to hear the 'hidden' problems they are experiencing.   If this is something that you are struggling with, reach out! (thehormonemaven@gmail.com) 
A simple phone consultation and possibly hormone testing could bring a positive change for you in this area of health and wellness. 

Best,
~DrSonja

What Testing Can You Provide Dr. O'Bryan?

In the last 20 years I've been asked this question A LOT! 

It doesn't have to be complicated OR COSTLY to test some of the most important things in your quest for better health and wellness. In fact, because of high insurance copays and costly doctors visits, many people are flooding through our doors because they know, in the end, it will save a considerable amount of money. 

There are so many options in testing that I have available today and I thought I would give you a running list that I offer to clients in case you too might have this same question.  They say knowledge is power and when it comes to living, looking, and feeling better, it all comes down to a knowledge of where you stand with your personal and metabolic profile.  Or what about your strong family history of certain diseases?  It's important to get started in preventative care and testing key markers can be very important in helping you to ward off those same conditions.  That's Anti-Aging Medicine! Plainly stated, there's power in knowing the facts so that you can work more strategically on your personal goals.


Here is a current list of TESTING OPTIONS that I can provide to a person: 

Testing Kits _Dr. OBryan

Hormone Profile Testing (male and female)
Adrenal Stress Profile Testing
Nutrient Testing
Heavy Metal Exposure Testing
Neurotransmitter Testing 
Weight Management Testing
Infertility Testing
Thyroid Testing (including common markers for Hashimoto's)
Cardio-metabolic Testing
Vitamin D
B12 Levels
CRP and Homocysteine
Blood Glucose/Insulin Testing
Men's Wellness Testing (comprehensive lab profile)
Women's Wellness Testing (comprehensive lab profile)
Food Allergy Testing (your response to the top 95 most commonly eaten foods)
Iodine Testing
MTHFR Testing



These services are ALSO available:

~Custom Designed Creative Medicine. That's right! Specific and hand designed for the individual.

~Private Consultations-office located inside Providence Medical Spa Branson MO. $65 fee applies

~Custom Vitamin/Supplement regimens
~Autoimmune Disease protocols and treatments
~High Potency Nutraceuticals
~Laboratory Blood Work
~General Wellness Assessment and Regimens
~Customized Respiratory Allergen Toothpaste.  Why get allergy shots every week? (labwork and appointment required)

~Pain Management Therapies
~Insomnia, Fatigue, Headaches, Anxiety, Depression, ADHD tailored regimens
~Anti-Aging and Longevity Protocols
~Weight Loss/Management strategies and protocols.
~Bio-Identical Hormones

My strongest advice to a person is to TEST and ADDRESS.  If there's something on this list that you have been curious about in your own care, please send a message to drsonjaobryan@gmail.com. 

Live Well,
Dr. Sonja O'Bryan,, Pharm.D., ABAAHP

One Destination-Endless Possibilities! Meet The Professional Team Inside Providence Medical Spa

There's ONE place located in the beautiful Ozark Mountains of Branson MO where you will find the most intentional and caring professionals in Healthcare, Anti-Aging, and Wellness.  It's true!! 

Often referred to as the "Dream Team of the Midwest", these providers are experts in their field and have come alongside each other in a collaborative network to now hold offices inside ONE place offering ENDLESS possibilities in mind, body, spirit, WHOLE PERSON, care.  It's no wonder this place is becoming a favorite by not only the locals of Branson Missouri, but also by all of the vacationing guests that make their way to Branson each year.  If you have not visited this beautiful place of Rest, and Relaxation, and Rejuvenation, then you are missing out.  We want you to know more about Providence Medical Spa and this team so that you can make plans to enjoy some of the services that are offered inside.  Here's a sneak peek at all of the client services that you will find at this special place. Wow!

Providence Aesthetics and Medical Spa: Co-Owners Jana Kueck, RN, and Dr. Robin Talley MD

Cornerstone Christian Counseling:  Owner Pam Hazell, Licensed Professional Counselor
(Individual, Family, and Marriage Counseling)

Lakeland Wellness: Dr. Sonja O'Bryan, Pharm.D., ABAAHP, Diplomate-American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine
(Hormone Testing, Thyroid, Adrenal, Weight Management, Cancer Screening, Stress, Fatigue, Neurotransmitters, Heavy Metal Testing, Food Allergy Testing, General Labs-cholesterol, glucose, insulin, vitamin D, nutrients, personalized medicine)

Enhanced Health:Christi Crosson FNP, and Kate Crosson

(Functional medicine, hair restoration, sexual health, medical weight loss, health and wellness diagnostics, essential oils)

Where Peace Still Blooms Massage Therapy: Owner Jolie Jacobsmeyer, LMT

Douthard Physical Therapy: Dr. Tracy Douthard, PT, D.Min

COMING SOON!!!!  As if it could get any better......CHECK BACK WITH US AUGUST 2018 FOR THESE ADDED SERVICES 

Joining the  Professional Networking Team will be a Micropigmentation Specialist!! 

(Permanent Cosmetics, Microblading, 3D Aerola and Nipple Restoration.  

*We will announce more as the time gets closer and cannot wait to add these highly unique and specialized options to our client service menu. 

We hope to see YOU inside Providence Medical Spa very SOON.  Make sure to mention this BLOG when you call (417-334-4032) to get connected and to hear about current featured services and specials.

All the Best!