Rosanne AustinDiscovery Hub
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Caryn Johnson

CEO of BOND

Former CMO of Vital Proteins. CEO of BOND supplements. Specializes in autoimmune fertility and root causes of unexplained infertility.

Specialty: Fertility supplementation and autoimmune infertilityTopic: Root causes of unexplained infertility and immune dysfunction

Key Insights

  • Unexplained infertility is not a diagnosis but indicates doctors haven't looked beyond reproductive organs
  • Most unexplained infertility involves immune dysfunction and inflammation
  • Week 7-8 pregnancy losses often occur during placentification when immune system is most challenged
  • Reproductive doctors don't practice full-system health and miss immune, metabolic, and gut issues

Actionable Advice

  • Ask for recurrent miscarriage panels even if insurance won't cover them
  • Build a committee of practitioners including reproductive immunologist and functional medicine
  • Address gut health and food intolerances as signs of immune dysfunction
  • Test for vitamin deficiencies, especially B and D vitamins

From This Conversation

Teachings 8

  • Unexplained infertility is not actually a diagnosis - it's doctors throwing their hands up instead of looking for root causes

    Caryn Johnson experienced 'unexplained infertility' for years until she discovered she had some of the highest antibody levels her reproductive immunologist had ever seen, leading to successful pregnancies after immune protocol treatment.

  • Most women with unexplained infertility have underlying immune dysfunction and inflammation that prevents implantation and causes early pregnancy loss

    Caryn Johnson discovered she had Hashimoto's-related antibody issues causing her body to reject pregnancies. After immune protocol including IVIG treatments, she successfully carried her son Elijah. She now has 17 documented pregnancies in women who addressed immune issues through BOND supplements.

  • Week 7-8 of pregnancy is placentification - the hardest part to get through if you have immune issues, which is why many losses happen then

    Caryn Johnson lost multiple pregnancies around weeks 7-8, and explains this timing correlates with placentification when the immune system is most challenged. Her daughter's heart rate slowed at 7 weeks due to immune dysfunction.

  • OB-GYNs and reproductive endocrinologists only know reproductive organs - they don't practice full system health or understand immune, metabolic, or gut issues

    Caryn Johnson explains that after years of failed treatments, she had to seek out reproductive immunologist Dr. Joanne Kwak Kim to address her immune issues. She had over 200 food intolerances indicating gut dysbiosis that no reproductive doctor identified.

  • You have to stop looking at doctors as your only source of truth and build a committee of many different practitioners

    Caryn Johnson found success only after working with a reproductive immunologist, naturopath, and building her own research database of over 200 clinical studies on nutrients and immune function - not from her original reproductive team.

  • Most women with unexplained infertility are deficient in vitamin B and D, but doctors focusing only on reproductive organs won't test for this

    Caryn Johnson discovered through her research database of over 200 clinical studies that vitamin deficiencies are common in unexplained infertility cases. Her BOND supplements address these foundational nutritional gaps that reproductive doctors miss.

  • High inflammation breaks your water early - your body has to go through an inflammatory flow during pregnancy and if it doesn't regulate down in second trimester, things like water breaking happen

    Caryn Johnson's water broke at 35 weeks with her son due to inflammation, and again at 13 weeks with her daughter, causing pregnancy loss. Both instances were caused by her immune system creating too much inflammation.

  • You can be a successful professional and pursue motherhood simultaneously - your brain is your brain and it doesn't change when you go through infertility

    Caryn Johnson balanced being CMO of Vital Proteins, writing the Jennifer Aniston campaign script during her miscarriage, and ultimately selling the company to Nestle while navigating multiple pregnancy losses and raising her son Elijah.

Episode

A Fearlessly Fertile Special: Unexplained Infertility Isn’t A Diagnosis: Getting to the Root Cause of Fertility Issues and Recurrent Miscarriage, A Conversation with Caryn Johnson, CEO of BOND

2024-12-12 · 79 min