The Laura Dowling Experience
- Épisodes
- 224
- Parution
- hebdomadaire
- Dernier épisode
- 12 Nov 2026
À propos du podcast
Conversations about health, science, wellness, life, love, sex and everything in-between. Laura is a Pharmacist who loves to talk to interesting people about their unique life and work experiences. See @fabulouspharmacist on instagram for more information.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Épisodes 224
Why a Smaller Body Never Fixed How She Felt with Dr Katriona O'Sullivan #195
Katriona O'Sullivan is a psychologist at Maynooth University and the author of Poor, her memoir of growing up in extreme poverty. She has been at the lowest weight of her life, had a gastric band and tried two …
Notes de l’épisode
Katriona O'Sullivan is a psychologist at Maynooth University and the author of Poor, her memoir of growing up in extreme poverty. She has been at the lowest weight of her life, had a gastric band and tried two GLP-1s. None of it made her like her body.
In this conversation she traces why. Abuse in childhood left her believing, as a little girl, that her body had made it happen, and the world seemed to agree. At sixteen, with a new baby, she joined WeightWatchers, where a woman clapped when she starved herself for a week. Her new book, Hungry: A Biography of My Body, is about that hunger and what it cost her.
She and Laura also talk about GLP-1s and what they are doing to body positivity, meeting Oprah, talking to her sons about porn and consent, 22 years in recovery, dancing at Electric Picnic at 50, and the deaths of both her parents. And why, after all of it, she says the greatest success of her life is the love she has at home.
🔑 Key Points"The trauma met society"
Childhood sexual abuse made Katriona turn on her body and believe it had caused what happened, and a world that values girls for how they look confirmed it.
Clapped for starving herself
At sixteen, with a new baby, she joined WeightWatchers and found the approval she was missing in a room that applauded every half pound lost.
A smaller body didn't fix it
She has been at her ideal weight and had a gastric band, and was still driven to be smaller, because getting thinner does not quiet what goes on inside.
GLP-1s silence the "food noise", and that is not the whole story
She has tried two and calls the quiet a gift, but believes they should go to people whose weight is causing a medical condition, not to anyone unhappy with their size.
Body positivity is going backwards
She has watched influencers who preached acceptance shrink, and says an industry profits from women not liking themselves.
Stay calm when your child says they've seen porn
When one of her sons told her at 13 or 14, she chose to keep the conversation open rather than react and close it down.
22 years in recovery, not recovered
She hasn't drunk or taken drugs in 22 years and says sobriety has never felt like a loss.
Her dad's death showed her she was loved
Watching him die was the hardest thing she has been through, and afterwards she realised her husband would carry her when she couldn't walk.
📚 ResourcesHungry: A Biography of My Body
Katriona's new book on trauma, dieting and learning to like her body
Katriona's memoir of growing up in poverty
Katriona's programme taking students from disadvantaged schools into university STEM
Nikita Hand's book, which Katriona mentions
Free, confidential 24-hour helpline: 1800 77 8888
⏱️ Timestamps00:00 — Welcome to The Laura Dowling Experience
04:56 — Never again without her own orgasm
08:52 — Talking to her sons about porn and consent
11:19 — Meeting Oprah, and the WeightWatchers board
13:55 — GLP-1s and the end of body positivity
21:44 — A gastric band, two GLP-1s, and still not liking her body
24:15 — "The trauma met society"
27:22 — She joined Weight Watchers at 16
41:37 — 22 years in recovery
46:03 — Electric Picnic at 50
51:55 — What her dad's death taught her
58:35 — When her mum died
1:04:54 — Three pieces of advice for young people
1:07:25 — The meaning of life is love
Thanks for listening! You can watch the full episode on YouTube here. Don’t forget to follow The Laura Dowling Experience podcast on Instagram @lauradowlingexperience for updates and more information. You can also follow our host, Laura Dowling, @fabulouspharmacist for more insights and tips. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a review—it really helps us out! Stay tuned for more great conversations.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Bitesize Moment: "You're Not a Bit OCD." — Dr Clare Kambamettu on What OCD Really Is
In this bitesize moment pulled from the Laura Dowling Experience back catalogue, Dr Clare Kambamettu breaks down what OCD really is, tackles the shame around intrusive thoughts, and explains why it develops and …
Notes de l’épisode
In this bitesize moment pulled from the Laura Dowling Experience back catalogue, Dr Clare Kambamettu breaks down what OCD really is, tackles the shame around intrusive thoughts, and explains why it develops and how it's treated.
Ever said I'm a bit OCD? A clinical psychologist explains what the condition actually involves, and why so many people suffer in silence because of the shame around it.
🔑Key Points
• OCD is a diagnosed mental health disorder, not a personality quirk or a love of tidiness
• It works as a cycle: an intrusive thought followed by an urge to carry out a compulsion, whether that's checking, repeating, or a mental ritual
• Saying I'm a bit OCD casually can feel dismissive and hurtful to people who live with the real, distressing condition
• Intrusive thoughts of a violent or sexual nature, including in new parents, are a symptom of OCD, not a sign of intent; what marks it out is the distress it causes
💛 If any of this sounds familiar, talk to your GP. OCD is treatable and there is no shame in asking.
🎧 Listen to the full episode here.
Thanks for listening! You can watch the full episode on YouTube here. Don’t forget to follow The Laura Dowling Experience podcast on Instagram @lauradowlingexperience for updates and more information. You can also follow our host, Laura Dowling, @fabulouspharmacist for more insights and tips. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a review—it really helps us out! Stay tuned for more great conversations.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
His Parkinson's Started With Depression with Ian O'Brien #194
Ian O'Brien was 38 when a neurologist told him, within a couple of minutes, that he had Parkinson's disease. For about a year before that he had been on antidepressants for anxiety and depression, and for two …
Notes de l’épisode
Ian O'Brien was 38 when a neurologist told him, within a couple of minutes, that he had Parkinson's disease. For about a year before that he had been on antidepressants for anxiety and depression, and for two years he had been finishing sentences with his left hand holding his right. His first question was whether Parkinson's could cause the anxiety and depression. When the answer was yes, he says it felt like a weight off his shoulders.
Now 46 and nearly ten years in, Ian, who co-founded EOPD Ireland, tells Laura what early onset Parkinson's is really like: medication that now lasts him about an hour, switching "off" like a light, planning his day around tablets and protein, and the evenings his daughters help him get ready for bed. He talks about telling his eldest with a poem and letting her interview him on camera, and about Parkinson's being one of the factors in his recent separation.
He also explains dopamine in plain language, the gambling and compulsive behaviour dopamine agonists can trigger in some people, deep brain stimulation, why exercise should be the first thing a neurologist mentions, and why talking to other people with Parkinson's has been his best education of all.
🔑 Key PointsDepression came first
His first symptoms were anxiety and depression, and he spent about a year on antidepressants before a physio friend told him to ask his GP for a neurologist.
The movement signs he missed
For around two years his handwriting shrank and stopped mid-sentence, and he would reach across with his left hand for the keys in his right pocket.
A diagnosis can bring relief
Ian says he almost wanted something physically wrong with him to explain how he was feeling, and he walked out of the neurologist's office feeling better.
Medication is a daily balancing act
Levodopa now lasts him about an hour, and eating close to a dose, especially protein, can stop it working, so he plans tablets, meals and work around the times he needs to be on.
Exercise should come first
He says neurologists don't always lead with it, but high-intensity exercise made him feel almost as if he didn't have Parkinson's, and he has got worse since slowing down.
Your whole family gets Parkinson's
He regrets being a bit selfish at the start and sees the condition as one of the factors in his recent separation, though he and his wife still raise their girls together.
Telling his daughter with a poem
Ian read his eldest a poem about Parkinson's, then a week later let her interview him on camera with questions she wrote herself.
Life isn't over
He knows people living well 20 to 30 years after diagnosis, and his advice to anyone newly diagnosed is that you just need to make adjustments.
📚 Resourcesthe charity for people with early onset Parkinson's that Ian co-founded
the national charity supporting people with Parkinson's
the Parkinson's research foundation Ian mentions
free support, any time, if you are struggling
⏱️ Timestamps00:00 — Welcome back to the podcast
02:17 — Anxiety and depression came first
04:16 — "It was like a weight off my shoulders"
06:30 — The movement signs he missed
09:18 — Why exercise should come first
10:22 — Parkinson's and dopamine, explained
12:17 — Levodopa and planning the day
14:40 — Telling his daughter with a poem
17:15 — Dopamine agonists and compulsive behaviour
24:59 — Playing soccer for Ireland
28:15 — The whole family lives with it
33:44 — Deep brain stimulation
37:00 — Setting up EOPD Ireland
38:52 — "Life isn't over"
Thanks for listening! You can watch the full episode on YouTube here. Don’t forget to follow The Laura Dowling Experience podcast on Instagram @lauradowlingexperience for updates and more information. You can also follow our host, Laura Dowling, @fabulouspharmacist for more insights and tips. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a review—it really helps us out! Stay tuned for more great conversations.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Bitesize Moment: "My Sensitivity Was Actually My Power." — Lynn Mac on Empaths and Boundaries
In this bitesize moment pulled from the Laura Dowling Experience back catalogue, Lynn Mac explains how her sensitivity works, how it once left her overwhelmed by other people's emotions, and how healing and …
Notes de l’épisode
In this bitesize moment pulled from the Laura Dowling Experience back catalogue, Lynn Mac explains how her sensitivity works, how it once left her overwhelmed by other people's emotions, and how healing and boundaries let her choose when to switch it on.
Ever been told you're too sensitive? Lynn Mac used to think so too, until she realised it was never a weakness. Here's how she learned to protect her own energy without shutting herself off.
🔑Key Points
• Lynn describes her gift as a heightened version of the sixth sense everyone already has, like a gut feeling
• She used to absorb other people's emotions so heavily it felt overwhelming, especially early on
• She names this as being an empath: soaking in the energy and emotions of everyone around her
• Her people-pleasing meant she gave endless support to others until she couldn't cope anymore
🎧 Listen to the full episode here.
Thanks for listening! You can watch the full episode on YouTube here. Don’t forget to follow The Laura Dowling Experience podcast on Instagram @lauradowlingexperience for updates and more information. You can also follow our host, Laura Dowling, @fabulouspharmacist for more insights and tips. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a review—it really helps us out! Stay tuned for more great conversations.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Why Prescribing HRT Made Her a Target with Dr Louise Newson #193
Dr Louise Newson, GP, menopause specialist and founder of Newson Health and the Balance app, joins Laura Dowling for a frank conversation about hormone replacement therapy (HRT), the barriers women face in …
Notes de l’épisode
Dr Louise Newson, GP, menopause specialist and founder of Newson Health and the Balance app, joins Laura Dowling for a frank conversation about hormone replacement therapy (HRT), the barriers women face in accessing treatment and the criticism she has faced for challenging established approaches to menopause care.
Louise traces her advocacy back to the 2002 Women's Health Initiative (WHI) study and the publication of NICE's first menopause guidance in 2015. She explains why she believes the risks of HRT have been misunderstood, why prescribing remains low, and why the distinction between different types of hormones matters.
Laura and Louise discuss testosterone for women, starting HRT later in life, individual responses to estradiol, and difficult questions around hormone treatment following breast cancer. Louise also explores progesterone, PMS, premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) and postnatal depression, including the influence of Dr Katharina Dalton's work. These are complex areas where treatment decisions require individual medical advice.
Louise speaks openly about professional opposition, BBC Panorama, correspondence involving the British Menopause Society and the scrutiny of her clinic. She reflects on the personal cost of speaking out, why she continues to campaign for better menopause education and what she hopes will change for women's healthcare.
🔑 Key PointsHRT prescribing fell off a cliff after 2002
Louise kept prescribing HRT as a GP for decades and only realised after NICE's 2015 guidance that many colleagues had stopped, while her friends were being given antidepressants instead.
Guidelines are only a guide
She says the NICE guidance mentions risk 22 times more than benefit and groups synthetic and bioidentical hormones together, which leaves busy clinicians confused.
The over-60 risk came from synthetic hormones
The heart attack signal in the Women's Health Initiative study was in women given horse-derived oestrogen and a synthetic progestogen, not the estradiol and progesterone she prescribes.
Testosterone has a long history in women
It was prescribed in the 1940s and '50s for period problems and menopausal symptoms, and she says its reputation comes from the synthetic anabolic steroids of the '60s and '70s.
Some women need more than the licensed dose
Skin varies in how much estradiol it absorbs, and her clinic's published data shows about a fifth of patients need a higher than licensed dose.
Progesterone changed her thinking on PMDD
A colleague's own postnatal illness led Louise to Katharina Dalton's work, and her clinic now prescribes progesterone for PMS, PMDD and postnatal depression.
Ten years of being targeted
Louise says the emails she obtained show people trying to silence her, and the pressure on her and her family brought her close to giving up.
Only 5% of menopausal women get HRT
Every menopause guideline calls HRT first-line treatment for most women, yet she says only 14% of menopausal women in the UK and 5% globally are prescribed it.
📚 ResourcesThe hormone clinic Louise co-founded with Dr Rebecca Lewis
Louise's free app for tracking symptoms and learning about hormone health
The hormone health education programme for doctors and healthcare professionals
⏱️ Timestamps00:00 — Welcome to The Laura Dowling Experience
03:47 — Rereading the WHI study after NICE's 2015 guidance
11:18 — Why HRT is scrutinised like no other medicine
15:43 — Testosterone's forgotten history in women
20:43 — Starting HRT after 60
24:43 — "A body of people trying to take me down"
29:33 — If she were a male gynaecologist
32:07 — Are her doses too high?
35:45 — HRT after breast cancer
39:43 — Progesterone, PMDD and postnatal depression
42:16 — The Care Quality Commission inspection
45:47 — Running a private clinic
48:27 — Has the pendulum swung too far?
53:02 — Advice for young people and the meaning of life
Thanks for listening! You can watch the full episode on YouTube here. Don’t forget to follow The Laura Dowling Experience podcast on Instagram @lauradowlingexperience for updates and more information. You can also follow our host, Laura Dowling, @fabulouspharmacist for more insights and tips. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a review—it really helps us out! Stay tuned for more great conversations.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Bitesize Moment: "Midlife Muscle Matters." — Dr Clare Cromwell on Strength in Midlife
In this bitesize moment pulled from the Laura Dowling Experience back catalogue, Dr Clare Cromwell explains why muscle is just as important as bone in midlife, and lays out a simple twice-weekly strength …
Notes de l’épisode
In this bitesize moment pulled from the Laura Dowling Experience back catalogue, Dr Clare Cromwell explains why muscle is just as important as bone in midlife, and lays out a simple twice-weekly strength routine that protects against falls and fractures.
We talk a lot about protecting our bones in midlife. But what if the real key to staying steady on your feet, and even to your brain health decades from now, is your muscles?
🔑Key Points
• As oestrogen drops, bone density naturally declines, but muscle loss speeds up too, especially after menopause
• Strong muscles improve balance and reaction time, so you're less likely to fall, and better protected if you do
• Aim for at least two strength sessions a week: roughly three exercises for your upper body and three for your lower body, a few sets of moderate reps
• It doesn't need to be heavy lifting or a gym membership; a couple of dumbbells at home can be enough, as long as you feel it
🎧 Listen to the full episode here.
Thanks for listening! You can watch the full episode on YouTube here. Don’t forget to follow The Laura Dowling Experience podcast on Instagram @lauradowlingexperience for updates and more information. You can also follow our host, Laura Dowling, @fabulouspharmacist for more insights and tips. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a review—it really helps us out! Stay tuned for more great conversations.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
What Your Vet Wishes You Knew About Your Pet with Charles Cosgrave #192
Veterinary surgeon and founder of Village Vets, Charles Cosgrave, joins Laura to share what every pet owner should know about keeping their animals healthy, happy and safe — from neutering and pet insurance to …
Notes de l’épisode
Veterinary surgeon and founder of Village Vets, Charles Cosgrave, joins Laura to share what every pet owner should know about keeping their animals healthy, happy and safe — from neutering and pet insurance to behavioural problems, emergency care and the realities of life as a vet.
Growing up on a dairy farm in County Meath, Charles watched his father answer veterinary calls at all hours, even on Christmas Day. After qualifying from UCD and working in the UK, he returned to Ireland and helped build Village Vets, which has grown to 35 locations, including three 24-hour emergency centres.
Charles takes us behind the scenes of veterinary medicine, explaining what happens during overnight emergencies, why children can provide the most useful information about a sick pet and how veterinary care has evolved to include specialist treatment for conditions such as diabetes, epilepsy and cancer.
Laura also asks the questions many dog owners have: Should you neuter your dog? What should you look for in pet insurance? How can you prevent behavioural problems? And what needs to change to tackle puppy farming in Ireland?
They explore the responsibility of pet ownership, the importance of early training and socialisation, the challenges of treating seriously ill animals and the difficult decisions surrounding end-of-life care.
Alongside the practical advice, Charles shares the challenges of growing a family business, the shortage of vets in Ireland and why, despite running 35 practices, he still misses working directly with animals.
🔑 Key PointsNeutering and pet health:
Charles discusses neutering male dogs, potential health concerns and factors owners should consider with their vet.
Pet insurance:
Why Charles recommends insurance, what to check before choosing a policy and how switching providers can affect cover for existing conditions.
Training and behaviour:
The importance of socialising dogs early, establishing routines and helping them adjust to people, noise and unfamiliar environments.
Puppy farming and microchipping:
Charles discusses dog breeding in Ireland, existing microchipping requirements and the challenges of tackling irresponsible breeding.
When pets become seriously ill:
How vets manage chronic conditions including diabetes and epilepsy, treat cancer and approach difficult end-of-life decisions.
Inside veterinary medicine:
From overnight emergencies to specialist care, Charles explains the pressures facing vets and the growing demand for veterinary services.
📚 ResourcesCharles's practice group, 35 clinics across Ireland and three 24-hour emergency centres
UCD School of Veterinary Medicine
where Charles trained, and still the main route into the profession
what's required in Ireland, and the measure Charles says would curb puppy farming
⏱️ Timestamps02:37 – Growing up with a vet for a father
05:36 – How vets treat different animal species
07:30 – Building Village Vets
10:00 – Veterinary education and the shortage of vets
13:44 – Inside 24-hour emergency veterinary care
15:45 – Why children notice changes in sick pets
17:00 – Pet ownership and rehoming
19:20 – Neutering male dogs
21:09 – Puppy farming and microchipping
23:30 – The responsibility of owning a dog
26:30 – Unusual pets and animal stories
29:30 – Cats, dogs and different personalities
31:54 – Dog training and socialisation
33:41 – Pet insurance and switching providers
35:25 – Diabetes, epilepsy and chronic illness
37:20 – End-of-life decisions and cancer treatment
40:20 – Why Charles misses being a practising vet
43:00 – Growing Village Vets while maintaining quality
50:15 – Be bold, be brave and back yourself
Thanks for listening! You can watch the full episode on YouTube here. Don’t forget to follow The Laura Dowling Experience podcast on Instagram @lauradowlingexperience for updates and more information. You can also follow our host, Laura Dowling, @fabulouspharmacist for more insights and tips. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a review—it really helps us out! Stay tuned for more great conversations.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Bitesize Moment: "I Will Not Be Pressured Into Anything." — Meghan O'Neill on Consent and Boundaries
In this bitesize moment pulled from the Laura Dowling Experience back catalogue, Meghan O'Neill, online content creator and mother of two explains how she holds firm boundaries for herself, then how she is …
Notes de l’épisode
In this bitesize moment pulled from the Laura Dowling Experience back catalogue, Meghan O'Neill, online content creator and mother of two explains how she holds firm boundaries for herself, then how she is teaching her young children about consent, from everyday moments like a kiss or a tickle through to the bigger conversations about porn and never being with someone who is drunk.
What if the most important thing you teach your kids about sex has nothing to do with sex, and everything to do with the word no?
🔑Key Points
• Meghan will not be pressured into anything; she can walk away right up to the last moment if something does not feel right
• She wants her kids to know porn is not real, because no one ever told her that
• At home, her kids can say no to a kiss or a tickle, and that no is respected straight away
• She is direct with her son: never sleep with someone who is drunk, because they cannot consent
🎧 Listen to the full episode here.
Thanks for listening! You can watch the full episode on YouTube here. Don’t forget to follow The Laura Dowling Experience podcast on Instagram @lauradowlingexperience for updates and more information. You can also follow our host, Laura Dowling, @fabulouspharmacist for more insights and tips. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a review—it really helps us out! Stay tuned for more great conversations.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
What Advanced Breast Cancer Really Looks Like with Helen Forristal & Dr Tonya Leonard #191
#AD - This episode is sponsored by AstraZenecaDr Tonya Leonard was a GP when she found a lump she was sure was a cyst. By half past nine that morning, she was being told it was breast cancer and asked to decide …
Notes de l’épisode
#AD - This episode is sponsored by AstraZeneca
Dr Tonya Leonard was a GP when she found a lump she was sure was a cyst. By half past nine that morning, she was being told it was breast cancer and asked to decide by the following week whether she had finished her family. Her twin boys were just 18 months old.
Sixteen years, a second primary cancer and a diagnosis of advanced breast cancer later, Tonya joins Laura alongside Helen Forristal, Director of Nursing Services at the Marie Keating Foundation, for an honest conversation about living with advanced breast cancer.
They discuss metastatic or secondary breast cancer, breast cancer recurrence and the signs and symptoms women should be aware of, alongside treatment, scans, scanxiety, cancer fatigue and the difficulty of planning life beyond the next result.
Helen explains why advanced breast cancer remains largely invisible in Ireland, with no official count of how many women are living with it, and discusses the importance of specialist cancer support. Tonya shares the reality of living life in three-month segments, navigating mental health after diagnosis and learning that palliative care does not only mean end-of-life care.
The conversation is part of Living Loudly, Dying to be Heard, a campaign by AstraZeneca and supported by the Marie Keating Foundation, highlighting the experiences of people living with advanced breast cancer.
🔑 Key PointsAdvanced breast cancer means it has spread
The cancer has moved from the breast to another organ; in Tonya's case, to lesions on her lung and under her arm.
Life in three-month segments
With a scan every three months, Tonya finds it hard to plan past the next result, the anxiety Laura calls scanxiety.
Fatigue is not the same as tiredness
Tonya describes cancer fatigue as like an injection of horse tranquilliser: once she feels it rising, she has minutes to lie down.
Women are living longer with it
Helen calls it the long middle, moving through lines of treatment; one woman in her group has lived with advanced breast cancer for 21 years.
Nobody is counting
Recurrences aren't recorded the way first diagnoses are; Helen's estimate is around 30% of women with primary breast cancer, and a University of Limerick project has started counting.
Know the signs of a recurrence
Symptoms depend on where it spreads, from a cough and breathlessness to weight change or bone pain; if something hasn't settled in three weeks, ask your doctor, "Could this be cancer?"
Mental health support needs to be specialist
Tonya waited eight weeks to see a psychologist; psycho-oncology services now run in Ireland's eight cancer centres.
Palliative care is not only for the end of life
Palliative teams help manage symptoms and support families, and the CLIMB programme supports children aged 5 to 12 who have a parent with cancer.
📚 ResourcesLiving Loudly. Dying to be Heard
A campaign by AstraZeneca and supported by the Marie Keating Foundation
The Marie Keating Foundation's support programme for people with advanced cancer
The HSE programme for children aged 5 to 12 affected by a parent's cancer
⏱️ Timestamps00:00 — Welcome
01:52 — Helen Forristal and the Marie Keating Foundation
02:51 — Dr Tonya Leonard’s breast cancer diagnosis
06:21 — Advanced cancer support and Positive Living
09:28 — Scanxiety and living between results
12:08 — Living longer with advanced breast cancer
17:14 — Cancer fatigue
22:58 — Fertility and “Have you finished your family?”
29:17 — How many women are living with advanced breast cancer?
30:41 — Signs and symptoms of recurrence
37:57 — Mental health and psycho-oncology
46:45 — What palliative care really means
51:40 — Family, milestones and living with uncertainty
56:28 — Advice for young people
Thanks for listening! You can watch the full episode on YouTube here. Don’t forget to follow The Laura Dowling Experience podcast on Instagram @lauradowlingexperience for updates and more information. You can also follow our host, Laura Dowling, @fabulouspharmacist for more insights and tips. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a review—it really helps us out! Stay tuned for more great conversations.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Bitesize Moment: "What Can Give?" — Dr Clodagh Campbell on an Overloaded Life
In this bitesize moment pulled from the Laura Dowling Experience back catalogue, Dr Clodagh Campbell shares two client stories about reclaiming time for yourself, then walks through the Four Ds, a simple way to …
Notes de l’épisode
In this bitesize moment pulled from the Laura Dowling Experience back catalogue, Dr Clodagh Campbell shares two client stories about reclaiming time for yourself, then walks through the Four Ds, a simple way to sort an overwhelming to-do list into what to delete, delegate, delay or do.
When your life feels too full, the answer isn't to try harder. It's working out what can give. Psychologist Dr Clodagh Campbell shares two client stories and a simple tool for figuring out what to drop.
🔑Key Points
• When life feels too full, the question isn't how to cope better, it's what can change and what can give
• Alice, a successful business owner, worked herself into the ground out of a deep fear of letting her parents down
• By the end of their work together, Alice had hired a manager, taken a three-month sabbatical and learned that rest could be as simple as walks on the beach
• Nikki, a mother of three, couldn't imagine one hour a week for herself, until a small boundary around one yoga class let her husband step up too
🎧 Listen to the full episode here.
Thanks for listening! You can watch the full episode on YouTube here. Don’t forget to follow The Laura Dowling Experience podcast on Instagram @lauradowlingexperience for updates and more information. You can also follow our host, Laura Dowling, @fabulouspharmacist for more insights and tips. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a review—it really helps us out! Stay tuned for more great conversations.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Half the Population Aren't Getting Enough of These Essential Nutrients with Dr Dan McCartney #190
Dr Dan McCartney, dietitian, lecturer in Human Nutrition and Dietetics and Programme Director of the Human Nutrition and Dietetics programme at TU Dublin and Trinity College Dublin, joins Laura to discuss the …
Notes de l’épisode
Dr Dan McCartney, dietitian, lecturer in Human Nutrition and Dietetics and Programme Director of the Human Nutrition and Dietetics programme at TU Dublin and Trinity College Dublin, joins Laura to discuss the vitamins and minerals many of us simply aren’t getting enough of — and why that matters for our health.
Drawing on Ireland’s national food intake data, Dan reveals striking levels of inadequate intake across essential nutrients including vitamin B6, folate, vitamin C, vitamin A, zinc, magnesium and selenium. At least half of the Irish population have inadequate intakes of magnesium and selenium, while more than 40% have inadequate vitamin C intakes.
Laura and Dan also discuss the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and proposals to lower or restrict the levels of certain vitamins and minerals available through supplements. Dan questions the rationale for reducing these levels when nutrient intakes are already low, discussing proposed levels for vitamin D, as well as restrictions affecting magnesium and the importance of vitamin C. He explains why he believes a restrictive, one-size-fits-all European approach may not meet the nutritional needs of the Irish population.
They also explore whether some recommended daily amounts are focused more on preventing severe deficiency than achieving optimal health, including vitamin C recommendations based around preventing scurvy and vitamin D recommendations historically centred on bone health rather than immune function.
The conversation returns to Dan’s early research into vitamin D and COVID-19, before moving into nutrition and immunity, healthy ageing, dementia, pregnancy and epigenetics — and why the nutritional choices we make today can influence our health decades into the future.
🔑 Key PointsHalf the population are falling short on key nutrients
Dan discusses inadequate intakes of magnesium, selenium, vitamin B6, folate, vitamin C, vitamin A and zinc in Ireland.
Why are nutrient intakes so low?
Poor diet quality, low fruit and vegetable intake, low wholegrain consumption and highly refined diets.
EFSA and proposed supplement restrictions
Laura and Dan discuss EFSA and proposed European changes affecting vitamin and mineral supplements, including vitamin D and magnesium, and why Dan is concerned about further restrictions.
Are recommended intakes actually optimal?
Dan questions whether some guidelines focus on preventing severe deficiency rather than supporting optimal health.
Vitamin D, immunity and COVID-19
Dan revisits the research that led him and Dr Declan Byrne to propose a link between vitamin D deficiency and severe COVID-19 in 2020.
Nutrition across a lifetime
From pregnancy and epigenetics to ageing and cognitive health, Dan explains why nutrition today can affect health decades later.
📚 ResourcesOptimisation of Vitamin D Status for Enhanced Immuno-protection Against Covid-19
Dan and Declan Byrne, Irish Medical Journal, 2020
Vitamin D Deficiency and ARDS after SARS-CoV-2 Infection
Faul et al., Irish Medical Journal, 2020
Autocrine vitamin D signaling switches off pro-inflammatory programs of TH1 cells
Chauss et al., Nature Immunology, 2022
Nutrition, immunity and COVID-19
Philip Calder, BMJ Nutrition, Prevention & Health, 2020
European vitamin D supplementation trials, meta-analysis
Rupprecht et al., Nutrients, 2023
⏱️ Timestamps00:00 — Cold open
02:07 — Meet Dr Dan McCartney
04:03 — Vitamin D and COVID-19
06:10 — The 2020 research
13:49 — Why vitamin D levels run low
19:08 — Vitamin D and immunity
32:00 — Ireland’s nutrient inadequacies
34:02 — Poor diet quality
35:09 — Zinc, magnesium and selenium
37:24 — Are nutrient guidelines out of date?
38:03 — Scurvy vs optimal health
45:48 — EFSA and proposed supplement restrictions
46:24 — Vitamin D supplement levels
50:11 — Magnesium restrictions
51:03 — Nutrition guidelines for Ireland
54:35 — Primates and vitamin D
55:51 — Ageing and dementia
57:39 — Pregnancy and epigenetics
1:02:43 — Why good habits compound
Thanks for listening! You can watch the full episode on YouTube here. Don’t forget to follow The Laura Dowling Experience podcast on Instagram @lauradowlingexperience for updates and more information. You can also follow our host, Laura Dowling, @fabulouspharmacist for more insights and tips. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a review—it really helps us out! Stay tuned for more great conversations.
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Bitesize Moment: "It Has No Boundaries." — Dr Denis O'Driscoll on Addiction and Recovery
In this bitesize moment pulled from the Laura Dowling Experience back catalogue, Dr Denis O'Driscoll, pharmacist working in the HSE addiction services gives a straight, compassionate answer on how hard it is to …
Notes de l’épisode
In this bitesize moment pulled from the Laura Dowling Experience back catalogue, Dr Denis O'Driscoll, pharmacist working in the HSE addiction services gives a straight, compassionate answer on how hard it is to come off drugs and stay off, and why staying stable on treatment counts as success too.
Is staying on treatment for life a failure, or is that thinking part of the problem? Dr Denis O'Driscoll gives an honest answer.
🔑Key Points
• Coming off drugs and staying off is never easy, and that is worth saying out loud
• Recovery is not one straight line; staying stable on treatment is a positive outcome, not something to be ashamed of
• Coming off completely is wonderful when it happens, but it is very challenging, and it is not the only measure of success
• Relapse is part of recovery, not a failure, and the priority afterwards is getting people back into support quickly
💛 If you or someone you love needs support, the HSE Drugs and Alcohol Helpline is there on 1800 459 459.
🎧 Listen to the full episode here.
Thanks for listening! You can watch the full episode on YouTube here. Don’t forget to follow The Laura Dowling Experience podcast on Instagram @lauradowlingexperience for updates and more information. You can also follow our host, Laura Dowling, @fabulouspharmacist for more insights and tips. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a review—it really helps us out! Stay tuned for more great conversations.
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Ireland Has 60 Vegetable Growers Left with Kenneth Keavey #189
Kenneth Keavey has a PhD in chemistry and spent his early career in pharma and biotech. He now grows organic vegetables on twenty-five acres outside Galway, and he's the first to point out the irony: he was an …
Notes de l’épisode
Kenneth Keavey has a PhD in chemistry and spent his early career in pharma and biotech. He now grows organic vegetables on twenty-five acres outside Galway, and he's the first to point out the irony: he was an organic chemist, and now he's an organic farmer.
In this episode he takes Laura through what's actually on the food we eat, and how little of it we're told. Around 95% of conventional fruit and veg has had some treatment or another. Citrus is dipped or sprayed after harvest in waxes containing quite toxic, in some cases carcinogenic, chemicals to stop fungus growing on the skin. Most of it is legal, disclosed somewhere, and almost never read.
Then comes the detail that stops the conversation. In the EU you're allowed 10mg of glyphosate per kilogram of wheat and 20mg per kilogram of oats — twice as much of a probable carcinogen in your porridge as in your toast. Kenneth and Darina Allen went to the Department of Agriculture to ask why. They were told that people eat less porridge than they do toast.
It isn't all alarm. Kenneth refuses to scaremonger and is as clear about what isn't known as what is. He's also quietly hopeful: his own land is full of insects and birdsong, and he has watched how fast nature comes back when you let it.
🔑 Key PointsHe was an organic chemist before he was an organic farmer
His PhD is in chemistry and his first career was in pharma and biotech, which is where the caution comes from.
Around 95% of conventional fruit and veg has had some treatment
Post-harvest waxes on citrus contain toxic and in some cases carcinogenic chemicals, and some produce carries up to fifteen applications.
You're allowed twice as much glyphosate in porridge as in bread
The EU limit is 10mg per kilogram of wheat and 20mg per kilogram of oats. Kenneth and Darina Allen asked the Department of Agriculture why, and were told people eat less porridge than they do toast.
The safety data usually comes from the manufacturers
Unlike medicines, pesticide safety data is largely supplied by the companies selling the chemicals, and permitted limits have risen since the 1990s as application increased.
80% of the world's insect biomass is gone
A test anyone can run from memory: a windscreen after a night drive used to be covered in insects, and now there's virtually nothing on it.
Ireland has gone from 600 vegetable growers to about 60
The sector has hollowed out in twenty years, we import 85% of our fresh fruit and veg, and vegetables are the one thing that hasn't risen in price — which is why a 39c bag of carrots is a problem, not a bargain.
Nature comes back faster than you'd think
His farm is full of insects and birds, with nine native Irish honeybee hives that out-produce every other apiary his beekeeper runs.
📚 ResourcesKenneth's organic farm and nationwide home delivery service in Co Galway
Rachel Carson's book on the effects of blanket pesticide use, discussed in the episode
IARC (World Health Organization)
The classification of glyphosate as probably carcinogenic to humans
⏱️ Timestamps01:26 — Twenty years of Green Earth Organics
02:35 — From a PhD in chemistry to organic farming
03:57 — Around 95% of conventional fruit and veg has had some treatment
06:34 — Glyphosate, the most applied chemical in history
06:59 — Twice as much allowed in your porridge as in your toast
07:17 — What the Department of Agriculture said when they asked why
10:39 — Silent Spring, and the year the birdsong stopped
12:25 — 80% of the world's insect biomass is gone
22:15 — From 600 vegetable growers to about 60
50:06 — Five summers of farm work, three sheep, and the leap
Thanks for listening! You can watch the full episode on YouTube here. Don’t forget to follow The Laura Dowling Experience podcast on Instagram @lauradowlingexperience for updates and more information. You can also follow our host, Laura Dowling, @fabulouspharmacist for more insights and tips. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a review—it really helps us out! Stay tuned for more great conversations.
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Bitesize Moment: "It Makes My Heart Happy." — Prof Robert Kelly on Real Work-Life Balance
In this bitesize moment pulled from the Laura Dowling Experience back catalogue, Prof Robert Kelly admits he lost his own balance after a TED Talk and book launch, then shares the pillars-of-life exercise and a …
Notes de l’épisode
In this bitesize moment pulled from the Laura Dowling Experience back catalogue, Prof Robert Kelly admits he lost his own balance after a TED Talk and book launch, then shares the pillars-of-life exercise and a patient's story that helped him refocus on family and friends.
What happens when a cardiologist looks at his own heart health and realises the answer isn't his diet, it's his diary?
🔑Key Points
• A busy run of a TED Talk, a book launch and Christmas left him with no space in his day for three months
• Taking one full week off showed him just how stretched he had become
• He learned a pillars-of-life exercise from another doctor's podcast: financial health, family, friends, own health and work
• Looking at his own pillars, he realised work was crowding out everything else, especially his own health
🎧 Listen to the full episode here.
Thanks for listening! You can watch the full episode on YouTube here. Don’t forget to follow The Laura Dowling Experience podcast on Instagram @lauradowlingexperience for updates and more information. You can also follow our host, Laura Dowling, @fabulouspharmacist for more insights and tips. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a review—it really helps us out! Stay tuned for more great conversations.
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Bitesize Moment: "Self Care Is Now Care of Self." — Siobhan Murray on Beating Burnout
In this bitesize moment pulled from the Laura Dowling Experience back catalogue, Siobhan Murray, psychotherapist and burnout strategist explains why she has banned the phrase self care, and shares the small …
Notes de l’épisode
In this bitesize moment pulled from the Laura Dowling Experience back catalogue, Siobhan Murray, psychotherapist and burnout strategist explains why she has banned the phrase self care, and shares the small daily habits, walks, box breathing and a mindfulness trick called the purple alien, that she uses instead to avoid burnout.
What if self care isn't a retreat or a spa day at all, but something you can do in the two minutes it takes to boil the kettle?
🔑Key Points
• Siobhan bans the phrase self care and replaces it with care of self, something practised daily, not as an occasional treat
• A one-off pilates class, a retreat or getting your nails done is maintenance, not care of self
• She does four ten-minute walks every day without fail, even in the rain, simply to change her physical state
• She practises box breathing, in for four, hold for four, out for four, hold for four, while making a cup of tea
🎧 Listen to the full episode here.
Thanks for listening! You can watch the full episode on YouTube here. Don’t forget to follow The Laura Dowling Experience podcast on Instagram @lauradowlingexperience for updates and more information. You can also follow our host, Laura Dowling, @fabulouspharmacist for more insights and tips. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a review—it really helps us out! Stay tuned for more great conversations.
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Most People Don't Need Surgery for Haemorrhoids with Dr Cillian Keogh #188
Laura is joined by Dr Cillian Keogh, a GP and co-founder of Dublin City Clinic, for a frank and surprisingly funny conversation about haemorrhoids — what they actually are, who gets them, and why almost nobody …
Notes de l’épisode
Laura is joined by Dr Cillian Keogh, a GP and co-founder of Dublin City Clinic, for a frank and surprisingly funny conversation about haemorrhoids — what they actually are, who gets them, and why almost nobody wants to say the word out loud.
Cillian explains that haemorrhoids are anal cushions that swell under increased pelvic pressure, and goes through who is most at risk: pregnancy, obesity, chronic coughs, straining, long hours sitting and heavy lifting in the gym. He also describes a newer group he sees far more of now, people staying on the toilet much longer than they need to because their phone is in their hand.
From there, he walks the treatment ladder. Creams like Anusol and Preparation H settle a flare-up but, in his words, only paper over it. At the far end sits the haemorrhoidectomy, a hospital operation with weeks of recovery — the thing he says, with his GP hat on, you want to avoid. In between is the electrotherapy his clinic offers, where a small current constricts the blood vessel feeding the haemorrhoid so it shrinks, with no real downtime.
Underneath it all is why the episode matters. Haemorrhoids are, as Cillian puts it, the last taboo of healthcare, and people live with them for years rather than mention them. He also makes the case, carefully, that bleeding is worth having looked at rather than assumed.
🔑 Key PointsHaemorrhoids are not a growth, they are cushions under pressure
Cillian describes them as anal cushions that become engorged and swollen when pelvic pressure rises, which is where the bleeding comes from.
Almost everything that causes them works the same way
Pregnancy, obesity, chronic coughs, straining, long hours driving and heavy lifting in the gym all raise pelvic pressure.
Phones on the toilet are a genuinely new risk factor
Cillian sees a group he did not see ten years ago, people sitting far longer than they need to because they are still reading the headlines or scrolling.
They can sit there silently for years
Internal haemorrhoids often go unnoticed until a flare-up, while thrombosed ones stay permanently outside, lose their blood flow and come close to a medical emergency.
Creams and suppositories only paper over the problem
Anusol, Preparation H and the prescription versions settle a flare-up without treating the cause, and once you have had them the threshold for getting them again drops.
The operation is the thing worth avoiding
A haemorrhoidectomy means a general anaesthetic, a hospital stay and weeks lying on your front, which is exactly why Cillian would rather catch it earlier.
Electrotherapy sits in the gap between creams and surgery
A small electric current constricts the blood vessel feeding the haemorrhoid so the tissue shrinks over a few weeks, and you go back to work the same day.
The real barrier is embarrassment, not treatment
Cillian calls it the last taboo of healthcare, because people cannot imagine raising it without being met with an eye roll.
📚 ResourcesDr Cillian Keogh's clinic in Dublin 2, where the electrotherapy is carried out
The non-surgical electrotherapy treatment discussed throughout the episode
Ireland's national bowel screening programme
⏱️ Timestamps04:19 — What a haemorrhoid actually is
04:58 — Who is most at risk
05:12 — The newest risk group: phones on the toilet
08:33 — Anusol, Preparation H and the limits of creams
09:19 — Where electrotherapy sits on the treatment ladder
10:05 — The haemorrhoidectomy, and why you want to avoid it
11:40 — “The last taboo of healthcare”
17:54 — What applying an electric current actually does
24:06 — Bleeding, bowel cancer and when to get checked
29:01 — The privilege of being let into people's lives
Thanks for listening! You can watch the full episode on YouTube here. Don’t forget to follow The Laura Dowling Experience podcast on Instagram @lauradowlingexperience for updates and more information. You can also follow our host, Laura Dowling, @fabulouspharmacist for more insights and tips. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a review—it really helps us out! Stay tuned for more great conversations.
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From Moving One Toe to 6 Million Steps with Fergus Farrell #187
In this episode, former Connacht rugby player Fergus Farrell tells Laura what happened after he lifted a metal bench in his own yard in October 2018 — and severed his spinal cord by ninety per cent.He was …
Notes de l’épisode
In this episode, former Connacht rugby player Fergus Farrell tells Laura what happened after he lifted a metal bench in his own yard in October 2018 — and severed his spinal cord by ninety per cent.
He was paralysed from the ribcage down and told he had a five per cent chance of walking again, on the condition he moved within seventy-two hours. He didn’t move. Instead he lay in a bed for twenty-one days and built a picture in his head: a circuit board for his brain, a light switch for his big right toe, and a wire he had to run between them. At half two in the morning on day twenty-one, the toe flickered. When the doctor came round, he watched it move three times before he’d call it anything other than a spasm.
Fergus is candid about what recovery costs — pain around the clock, no balance, no feeling from his feet to his waist, and the hidden disability nobody sees in a big man walking down the street. He talks about the businesses he lost, the family who carried it, the guilt of being one who got back on his feet, and why he now calls the accident the best thing that happened to him.
In August he set out from Brooklyn Bridge to walk 4,500 kilometres to Santa Monica Pier for Spinal Injuries Ireland — six million steps, and each one as important as the next.
🔑 Key PointsThe injury came from lifting, not impact
He carried a 60–80kg bench about fifteen metres, dropped it, took a breath and lifted it again. The second lift ruptured a disc into his spinal column and severed the cord by 90%.
The five per cent came with a condition
A 5% chance of walking again if he moved within 72 hours. He didn’t. The toe moved on day twenty-one.
Visualisation was a tool he already had
He’d used it to win selection and to build his business. In hospital he made it concrete: a circuit board as his brain, a switch as his toe, and the work of wiring them together.
The doctor called it a spasm — twice
Dr Cullen made him move it three times before saying “that’s most unexpected, Fergus.”
Not every disability is visible
He walks, so people assume he’s fine. Zero balance, no feeling from his feet to his waist, constant pain on 3,000mg of gabapentin a day.
The people around an injury carry it too
His then-wife finished the house, worked and raised three young children. “The person that’s left behind injured affects so many different people.”
He never visualised himself walking
He started with the smallest thing he could actually see: one toe, with the blanket off. Setting the finish line at walking would only have set him up to fail.
The walk is the same method at scale
Brooklyn Bridge to Santa Monica Pier, 4,500km, six million steps, 75 days as a target rather than a deadline.
📚 ResourcesFergus’s walk across America for Spinal Injuries Ireland
The only Irish organisation dedicated solely to supporting people living with a spinal cord injury and their families
Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation
Supporting the American leg of the walk
National Rehabilitation Hospital, Dún Laoghaire
Where Fergus did his spinal rehabilitation
Following the walk day by day
⏱️ Timestamps00:00 — Intro
02:10 — Lifting a metal bench in his own yard
05:35 — The disability nobody can see
06:44 — Pain 24/7, and refusing it attention
08:46 — A five per cent chance, and the seventy-two hours
10:00 — The circuit board, the switch and the wire
12:04 — Day twenty-one, half two in the morning
13:11 — Dr Cullen: “these could be involuntary spasms”
17:50 — The guilt of getting back on his feet
19:42 — What it did to his family
21:53 — Losing the businesses
25:09 — Walking across America
30:56 — “Every day is a new day to improve”
32:42 — Advice for young people, and the meaning of life
Thanks for listening! You can watch the full episode on YouTube here. Don’t forget to follow The Laura Dowling Experience podcast on Instagram @lauradowlingexperience for updates and more information. You can also follow our host, Laura Dowling, @fabulouspharmacist for more insights and tips. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a review—it really helps us out! Stay tuned for more great conversations.
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World Bodhrán Champion on Music, Belonging and Motherhood with Aimée Farrell-Courtney #186
Aimée Farrell-Courtney was six years old when she saw three girls playing the bodhrán in her school yard, the sun behind them and the sound going round the walls. She went home and announced she wanted to …
Notes de l’épisode
Aimée Farrell-Courtney was six years old when she saw three girls playing the bodhrán in her school yard, the sun behind them and the sound going round the walls. She went home and announced she wanted to learn. Her mother's reply - "Oh my God, smelly pub" - is the first clue that this instrument arrived with a reputation attached, and with assumptions about who gets to hold one.
She learned anyway, was helping to teach by the age of twelve, and in 2010 won the World Bodhrán Championship. What she has spent the years since doing is quieter and, in its way, harder: asking why so many women take up the drum and so few are ever seen playing it.
She and Laura go from goat skin and tuning systems to the survey Aimée ran into women's experiences of trad sessions - the player left standing at the bar while everyone else is asked what they're drinking.
She talks about being told she only got a Royal Albert Hall booking because she could wear a dress, about designing a drum that fits the body holding it, and about the two communities she has built for people who want music without the judgement.
🔑 Key PointsShe was six, and three girls in a schoolyard decided it
Aimée watched them rehearsing with the sun behind them and thought they looked like superwomen - with no idea yet that the bodhrán was a male-dominated instrument.
"My youngest student is four, my eldest student is 94"
The bodhrán is unusually easy to start, which Aimée sees as its gift and also the reason some people dismiss it without ever learning it properly.
A survey put evidence behind what women already knew
Working with a UK researcher, Aimée surveyed bodhrán players worldwide and found most women reported poor experiences bringing their drum to sessions.
"You only got that because you could wear a dress"
After a 2014 gig at the Royal Albert Hall, a peer told her the booking had nothing to do with how she played.
Male players are described by technique, women by appearance
Read how the two are written about online, Aimée says, and the difference is immediate.
The instrument was never designed around the body playing it
Smaller drums with deeper frames chase a sound, not a posture, so Aimée has been designing a bodhrán that works with the body rather than against it.
Music can be used, not only performed
Trained as a sound therapist, she works with frame drum, gong and singing bowls — and says three minutes of a slow, steady rhythm is enough to settle yourself at home.
Trad Drum and Drummy Mummy exist to take the judgement out of it
Trad Drum grew out of lockdown check-ins with her students; Drummy Mummy, launching shortly, is a drumming space for mothers — no children, no competition, nobody marking you.
📚 ResourcesBodhrán lessons, workshops and Traddrum Productions.
Campaigning for gender balance in Irish traditional and folk music.
The Australian drumming programme for social and emotional development Aimée is certified in.
The Irish scheme behind the conversation about supporting artists.
⏱️ Timestamps02:30 — Three girls in a schoolyard
03:24 — "Oh my God, smelly pub"
08:02 — "It's just a frame drum, essentially"
10:32 — Designing a drum that fits the body
15:23 — Winning the world championship in 2010
17:32 — The survey into women and the bodhrán
18:50 — "My youngest student is four, my eldest is 94"
24:39 — "You only got that because you could wear a dress"
27:04 — Sound therapy, and what entrainment does
41:08 — Trad Drum, and the new Drummy Mummy
51:00 — The woman nobody spoke to at the session
01:01:44 — Trust yourself
Thanks for listening! You can watch the full episode on YouTube here. Don’t forget to follow The Laura Dowling Experience podcast on Instagram @lauradowlingexperience for updates and more information. You can also follow our host, Laura Dowling, @fabulouspharmacist for more insights and tips. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a review—it really helps us out! Stay tuned for more great conversations.
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Bitesize Moment: "It Comes From a Place of Love." — Dr Anne Doherty on a kinder way to see people
In this bitesize moment pulled from the Laura Dowling Experience back catalogue, consultant anaesthetist Dr Anne Doherty offers two simple, evergreen pieces of wisdom from the close of her conversation with …
Notes de l’épisode
In this bitesize moment pulled from the Laura Dowling Experience back catalogue, consultant anaesthetist Dr Anne Doherty offers two simple, evergreen pieces of wisdom from the close of her conversation with Laura.
Nothing is as permanent as you think — the good times and the bad both pass — and almost every hard choice people make, even the ones you disagree with, comes from a place of love.
🔑Key Points
• Why the good times and the bad times both pass
• The freedom in not needing an answer for everything right now
• How love sits underneath even the choices we disagree with
• A gentler, more compassionate way to see people
🎧 Listen to the full episode here.
Thanks for listening! You can watch the full episode on YouTube here. Don’t forget to follow The Laura Dowling Experience podcast on Instagram @lauradowlingexperience for updates and more information. You can also follow our host, Laura Dowling, @fabulouspharmacist for more insights and tips. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a review—it really helps us out! Stay tuned for more great conversations.
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ADHD, Marriage & Growth with Daniel Buckley #185
Daniel Buckley was thirty-two before he had a name for what was going on in his head. For as long as he could remember he had been restless, discontented, unable to sit still or hold his focus on anything that …
Notes de l’épisode
Daniel Buckley was thirty-two before he had a name for what was going on in his head. For as long as he could remember he had been restless, discontented, unable to sit still or hold his focus on anything that didn’t grip him - and he had simply assumed that was him. That was the way he was, and the way life was.
His wife Simone saw it long before he did. For more than a decade she told him something wasn’t right, that he couldn’t rest, that he had no structure. He wasn’t ready to hear it. The day before she died, after years of illness, she went through his symptoms one by one and asked him to get help for his ADHD.
Daniel tells Laura what happened next - the newspaper article that felt like a tap on the shoulder, the Irish clinics that never rang him back, the trip to England to be assessed at all. He is open about drinking to escape thoughts he had no other way of managing, about the day he stopped, and about the ordinary moment months later when he heard his son laughing outside an open window and realised he had never felt peace before. It’s also the story of what he built out of it: a service designed, in his words, to get people to a clinician in weeks rather than years.
🔑 Key PointsHe spent thirty-two years assuming that was just who he was
Restless, discontented, unable to focus — Daniel had no framework for any of it until he was assessed at thirty-two.
Simone saw it more than a decade before he accepted it
He only heard it the day before she died, when she went through his symptoms and asked him to get help.
Undiagnosed ADHD and alcohol are closely linked
Daniel describes drinking to escape feelings he couldn’t regulate. He stopped in August 2022, so he could be the father his son deserved.
There was no route to a diagnosis in Ireland
Public waiting lists ran to years, and not one of the private clinics he rang or emailed came back to him. He was assessed in England instead.
He chose therapy and coaching over medication
Having stopped drinking, he worked weekly on emotional regulation, learning to recognise emotions he’d never had names for.
Peace arrived as an ordinary moment
Months after his diagnosis he heard his son laughing with friends through an open window and felt, for the first time, that he was all right.
A diagnosis is a turning point, not an end point
The piece of paper changes nothing on its own. What matters is the understanding and the support that come after it.
He built the service he couldn’t find
ADHD Now offers access to a clinician within seven days and has grown to over a hundred clinicians across ADHD and autism care.
📚 ResourcesDaniel’s online ADHD assessment and support service
The autism and AuDHD assessment service built alongside it
The national charity, with support groups and information
Free, confidential support, any time, on 116 123
⏱️ Timestamps02:54 — Diagnosed at thirty-two, and the bottlenecks he hit
03:38 — “That’s the way I am, that’s the way life is”
04:24 — Illness, Joey’s arrival, and Simone going on dialysis
07:33 — Drinking to escape, and the day he stopped
09:38 — A decade of Simone telling him something was wrong
10:05 — The day before she died: “please get help for your ADHD”
11:45 — The newspaper article that felt like a tap on the shoulder
12:23 — No one called back, so he went to England
16:55 — “A diagnosis is not the end point. That’s the turning point.”
19:35 — Hearing his son laugh, and feeling peace for the first time
21:12 — The stranger outside the hospital who became his business partner
40:00 — Advice for young people, and what he thinks life means
Thanks for listening! You can watch the full episode on YouTube here. Don’t forget to follow The Laura Dowling Experience podcast on Instagram @lauradowlingexperience for updates and more information. You can also follow our host, Laura Dowling, @fabulouspharmacist for more insights and tips. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a review—it really helps us out! Stay tuned for more great conversations.
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Bitesize Moment: "Laughter in the Darkest Room." — Dympna Little on carrying grief with humour
In this bitesize moment pulled from the Laura Dowling Experience back catalogue, comedian and content creator Dympna Little shares how humour helped her family carry her mother's terminal illness and final …
Notes de l’épisode
In this bitesize moment pulled from the Laura Dowling Experience back catalogue, comedian and content creator Dympna Little shares how humour helped her family carry her mother's terminal illness and final days.
She describes laughing together even in the palliative care room, the moment her mother noticed and said "it's lovely," and the voice message her mother recorded that became her legacy. Tender, warm and bittersweet.
🔑Key Points
• How humour can hold a family together through the hardest time
• Why laughter and grief are not opposites
• The moment her mother noticed them laughing and said "it's lovely"
• The voice message her mother left, and what legacy can look like
💛 If you're grieving, be gentle with yourself. There's no right way to do it.
🎧 Listen to the full episode here.
Thanks for listening! You can watch the full episode on YouTube here. Don’t forget to follow The Laura Dowling Experience podcast on Instagram @lauradowlingexperience for updates and more information. You can also follow our host, Laura Dowling, @fabulouspharmacist for more insights and tips. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a review—it really helps us out! Stay tuned for more great conversations.
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How Non-Speakers Are Finally Being Heard with Anna Lechleiter #184
Anna Lechleiter works with people who have never been able to speak, and who have spent their lives being treated as though they had nothing to say. She is a Spelling to Communicate practitioner, and her job is …
Notes de l’épisode
Anna Lechleiter works with people who have never been able to speak, and who have spent their lives being treated as though they had nothing to say. She is a Spelling to Communicate practitioner, and her job is to give non-speakers a way to tell the world what has been going on in their heads all along.
She explains why speech is a motor problem rather than a thinking one: the words are there, but the brain cannot reliably drive the body that produces them. That distinction changes how non-speaking people are assessed, educated and spoken to, because almost every standard autism assessment measures motor control and reports the result as intelligence.
Anna talks Laura through what happens in a session, from stencil boards to a keyboard, and tells the story that changed her mind completely: a young man called Caoimh, a letter board, and a freezing afternoon when he spelled out that he hoped it would snow. The last stretch belongs to the spellers themselves, as Anna reads the words of Max, Caoimh and Megha in their own language.
🔑 Key PointsNon-speaking is a motor problem, not a thinking one
The words are there. The difficulty is the brain reliably getting the body to produce them, which Anna describes as a brain-body disconnect rather than an absence of understanding.
Spelling to Communicate moves communication out of the fine motor
Speech, writing, texting and sign language all depend on fine motor control, so S2C uses the gross motor instead: a pointing motion towards letters on a board.
Assessments measure motor control and report it as intelligence
Because the tests need reliable motor responses, people who cannot produce them are recorded as profoundly intellectually disabled, and that label follows them for life.
Most non-speakers can already read
Text is everywhere, on signs, subtitles and packaging, and spellers have usually absorbed far more than anyone assumed. That is why sessions start with age-appropriate material rather than the basics.
Progress is built like any other motor skill
New neural pathways are created and then myelinated through repetition, so lessons change every session and words are never spelled twice, keeping the focus on the motor rather than the answer.
The spellers make the argument better than anyone
Max, Caoimh and Megha describe apraxia, sensory overwhelm and their own ambitions. Keith's line, that his mind works perfectly but the messages get mixed up on the way to his body, sums up the conversation.
📚 ResourcesPALZ (Play and Language Zone) — Anna's hub in Naas, Co. Kildare
Spelling to Communicate at PALZ — how the method is taught in Ireland
I-ASC — the International Association for Spelling as Communication
Elizabeth Vosseller — the speech-language pathologist who developed S2C
AsIAm — Ireland's national autism charity, information and support line
⏱️ Timestamps00:00 — Max's message to the world
02:18 — The colleague's brother who suddenly had a voice
03:05 — What Spelling to Communicate actually is
07:24 — How assessments measure motor and report intelligence
09:37 — How many non-speakers there are in Ireland
10:10 — Inside a first session at the hub
17:21 — Neuroplasticity and building a brand-new motor skill
24:50 — Stencils, letter boards and moving to a keyboard
36:23 — Anna's ABA background, and why she moved away from it
44:01 — Keith, the letter board and "I hope it snows"
48:55 — Max, Keith and Megha, in their own words
53:54 — Art, an exhibition and the meaning of life
Thanks for listening! You can watch the full episode on YouTube here. Don’t forget to follow The Laura Dowling Experience podcast on Instagram @lauradowlingexperience for updates and more information. You can also follow our host, Laura Dowling, @fabulouspharmacist for more insights and tips. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a review—it really helps us out! Stay tuned for more great conversations.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Bitesize Moment: "I'd Climbed the Wrong Mountain." — Dr Paddy Barrett on what health really means
In this bitesize moment pulled from the Laura Dowling Experience back catalogue, preventive cardiologist Dr Paddy Barrett argues that most people chase health without ever defining it — like a blindfolded …
Notes de l’épisode
In this bitesize moment pulled from the Laura Dowling Experience back catalogue, preventive cardiologist Dr Paddy Barrett argues that most people chase health without ever defining it — like a blindfolded archer aiming at a target they can't see.
He lays out three things actually worth optimising, and tells the story of walking away from the peak of his career when he realised he'd climbed the wrong mountain.
🔑Key Points
• Why "I want to be healthy" means nothing without a target
• The blindfolded archer, and aiming at something you can actually see
• Three things worth optimising: how long you live, the quality of those years, and how you spend your time
• Why it's never too late to climb back down and start again
🎧 Listen to the full episode here.
Thanks for listening! You can watch the full episode on YouTube here. Don’t forget to follow The Laura Dowling Experience podcast on Instagram @lauradowlingexperience for updates and more information. You can also follow our host, Laura Dowling, @fabulouspharmacist for more insights and tips. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a review—it really helps us out! Stay tuned for more great conversations.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Agony Aunt Confessions, PMDD and Life Off the Timeline with Vicki Notaro #183
Vicki Notaro is back! Her new novel, Anywhere but Here, follows three friends all hovering around 40 and living completely different lives. As Vicki puts it, you can be 40 and you can be a granny, or trying to …
Notes de l’épisode
Vicki Notaro is back! Her new novel, Anywhere but Here, follows three friends all hovering around 40 and living completely different lives. As Vicki puts it, you can be 40 and you can be a granny, or trying to conceive, or single, or divorced. She and Laura talk about the pressure women feel to have everything sorted by a certain age, and why marriage or a mortgage was never meant to be a finish line.
Vicki also gives an honest update on her women's health journey: years of very painful periods, a suspected endometriosis that turned out to be ovarian cysts, a PMDD diagnosis and cyclical depression alongside lifelong anxiety, a coil, surgery, a recurrence, and the oral progesterone that cleared her brain fog within two days.
From there the conversation turns to what young people lost when magazines disappeared. Vicki spent four years at Kiss from the age of 22, acting as a "big sis" to teenage readers, and she makes a warm case for edited, expert-checked advice over the "wild wild west of TikTok" — before Laura hands her a pile of anonymous listener confessions to answer.
🔑 Key PointsWomen the same age are living completely different lives
"You can be 40 and you can be a granny" — Vicki's novel follows three friends around 40 at entirely different stages, something she sees as new in Irish life.
Milestones are a beginning, not a finish line
Vicki talks about the pressure to have the house, the relationship and possibly a baby sorted by a certain age, and why she has never seen those moments as the end of the story.
Writing about being child-free by choice once brought hate mail
She first wrote about not wanting children at 22, when it was still taboo, and was told again and again that she just hadn't met the right man.
Years of pain, and a diagnosis that came later
Suspected endometriosis turned out to be ovarian cysts, and a PMDD diagnosis explained the low, cyclical days sitting on top of lifelong anxiety.
Hormones can lift brain fog within days
After a cyst returned, her consultant added oral progesterone alongside the coil she already had, and Vicki describes her brain fog clearing within two days.
Magazines did a job nothing has replaced.
At Kiss, Vicki answered readers' questions about periods, spots and first kisses as their "big sis" — advice that was edited, curated and expert-checked.
Confessions, answered without judgement
Laura hands Vicki anonymous confessions from the Love Your Vulva live show — desire, hygiene, being left out for not having children, Botox and breast reduction — and the answers stay kind throughout.
📚 ResourcesVicki Notaro's fourth novel, published by Penguin
the condition first suspected behind Vicki's years of period pain
HSE guidance on severe premenstrual symptoms
Laura's live show, where the anonymous confessions were gathered
⏱️ Timestamps00:00 — Vicki takes over as host for the summer
06:23 — Anywhere but Here: three women, three different lives at 40
09:29 — The pressure to have it all sorted by a certain age
10:34 — Writing about being child-free at 22
13:30 — Kiss magazine and being everyone's "big sis"
21:51 — Writer's block in her mother-in-law's spare room
24:50 — Painful periods, suspected endometriosis and ovarian cysts
25:50 — A PMDD diagnosis and cyclical depression
26:39 — Oral progesterone and brain fog lifting in two days
28:27 — Listener confessions, answered honestly
35:40 — Botox honesty, and why Laura stopped
Thanks for listening! You can watch the full episode on YouTube here. Don’t forget to follow The Laura Dowling Experience podcast on Instagram @lauradowlingexperience for updates and more information. You can also follow our host, Laura Dowling, @fabulouspharmacist for more insights and tips. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a review—it really helps us out! Stay tuned for more great conversations.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Bitesize Moment: "You're Not a Tree." — Brian Keane on getting unstuck and changing your life
In this bitesize moment pulled from the Laura Dowling Experience back catalogue, fitness coach, author and speaker Brian Keane tells the story of hating his first career as a teacher — and the line from his mum …
Notes de l’épisode
In this bitesize moment pulled from the Laura Dowling Experience back catalogue, fitness coach, author and speaker Brian Keane tells the story of hating his first career as a teacher — and the line from his mum that changed everything.
He's honest that reinvention isn't instant (he went broke twice before it worked) and lands on a reframe anyone can use: it's not being stuck that traps you, it's the feeling of being stuck.
🔑Key Points
• The day Brian knew his first career was the wrong fit
• His mum's question: "what would you do for free?"
• Why it's the feeling of being stuck, not the situation, that holds you back
• How reinvention can take time, including failing along the way
🎧 Listen to the full episode here.
Thanks for listening! You can watch the full episode on YouTube here. Don’t forget to follow The Laura Dowling Experience podcast on Instagram @lauradowlingexperience for updates and more information. You can also follow our host, Laura Dowling, @fabulouspharmacist for more insights and tips. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a review—it really helps us out! Stay tuned for more great conversations.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
How to Get Unstuck in Any Area of Your Life with Mark Fennell #182
What do you do when you feel stuck - in a job you hate, a relationship that has gone flat, or a version of yourself you no longer recognise? Life and business coach Mark Fennell joins Laura for a warm …
Notes de l’épisode
What do you do when you feel stuck - in a job you hate, a relationship that has gone flat, or a version of yourself you no longer recognise? Life and business coach Mark Fennell joins Laura for a warm, practical conversation about how people actually get moving again - starting not with a grand plan, but with a single next step.
A qualified electrician who began as a youth volunteer worker, Mark shares how coaching became his life's work, and why identity - how you see yourself - sits underneath almost everything. He speaks with real tenderness about the loss he and his wife carried when they were told they couldn't have children, and how they slowly built a genuinely contented life by asking one question: what can we still do that brings us in that direction?
From the medical student who became a millionaire painter-decorator to the young carer who believed he would never laugh again, Mark's stories keep returning to the same truths: make the decision, take the action, and be careful what you define yourself as. Along the way, he and Laura take a more realistic look at manifestation, the fluff in the wellness world, and why, in relationships especially, action communicates far more than words.
🔑 Key PointsYou don't have to figure out your whole life — just the next step
When a young medical student admitted he only knew what he didn't want, Mark's question — when were you last fully content? — led him to painting, and eventually to running a hugely successful painting and decorating business.
Identity is the most important vision board
How you see yourself matters more than any board on the wall — even a Fortune 500 CFO Mark worked with was gripped by imposter syndrome until she saw that her experience, not her credentials, had earned her the role.
Contentment can be rebuilt after loss
When Mark and his wife were told they couldn't have children, they refused to let it ruin their lives — and by taking small steps towards contentment, without putting a time on it, they reached a place with no void.
Take manifestation with a pinch of salt
What you focus on shapes what you notice, but thinking without action is dead — and the most important thing to manifest isn't the bigger house or the best job, it's a content life.
Burnout ends where honesty begins
Mark collapsed in the gym and was rushed to hospital with a suspected heart attack — what followed was health anxiety, and a recovery built on balance, movement and refusing to say "I am an anxious person".
Action communicates far more than words
A couple Mark worked with rediscovered each other not through big emotional talks but through a date night — a reminder that relationships, like gardens, need tending before you decide they're done.
Be careful what you define yourself as
Mark learned from his granny, who refused to see herself as a cancer victim, that the labels we accept shape how we live — and, as he reminds young people, nobody is confident all of the time.
📚 ResourcesBreakthrough — Mark Fennell's book on moving from stuck to unstoppable, published by Gill
Mark's practical guide to getting unstuck.
Mark Fennell — coaching, courses and speaking
Also on Instagram and TikTok.
⏱️ Timestamps00:00 — Introduction
02:36 — From electrician and youth worker to coach
05:47 — Identity: the most important vision board
07:32 — Fertility loss and choosing contentment
10:00 — The med student who became a painter-decorator
13:07 — Manifestation with a pinch of salt
16:46 — How the book Breakthrough came about
19:15 — Is contentment actually realistic?
20:35 — The fluff in the wellness world
23:29 — The young carer who thought he'd never laugh again
30:13 — Burnout, the gym collapse and health anxiety
39:27 — The date-night story
57:32 — Advice for young people and the meaning of life
Thanks for listening! You can watch the full episode on YouTube here. Don’t forget to follow The Laura Dowling Experience podcast on Instagram @lauradowlingexperience for updates and more information. You can also follow our host, Laura Dowling, @fabulouspharmacist for more insights and tips. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a review—it really helps us out! Stay tuned for more great conversations.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Bitesize Moment: "It's a Slow Erosion." — Nikki Dwyer on reclaiming yourself after control
In this bitesize moment pulled from the Laura Dowling Experience back catalogue, former lawyer turned businesswoman Nikki Dwyer explains why coercive, narcissistic abuse rarely looks the way people expect — …
Notes de l’épisode
In this bitesize moment pulled from the Laura Dowling Experience back catalogue, former lawyer turned businesswoman Nikki Dwyer explains why coercive, narcissistic abuse rarely looks the way people expect — it's a slow erosion of confidence through criticism, gaslighting and isolation.
She speaks candidly about how losing nearly everything became the moment she could stop drifting and consciously choose who she wanted to be. It's honest, raw and ultimately hopeful.
🔑Key Points
• Why abusive relationships rarely look the way people expect from the outside
• How criticism, gaslighting and isolation slowly wear down confidence
• Why being capable or strong doesn't make you immune
• Turning the loss of everything into a chance to choose who you want to be
💛 If anything here feels close to home, it's not your fault. In Ireland, Women's Aid (womensaid.ie) offers free, confidential support.
🎧 Listen to the full episode here.
Thanks for listening! You can watch the full episode on YouTube here. Don’t forget to follow The Laura Dowling Experience podcast on Instagram @lauradowlingexperience for updates and more information. You can also follow our host, Laura Dowling, @fabulouspharmacist for more insights and tips. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a review—it really helps us out! Stay tuned for more great conversations.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
A Bariatric Surgeon Explains Weight-Loss Surgery with Dr John Loy #181
This week Laura sits down with Dr John Loy, one of the busiest weight-loss surgeons working between Ireland and the UK. He grew up behind the bar of a family pub in County Down, which he says was the best …
Notes de l’épisode
This week Laura sits down with Dr John Loy, one of the busiest weight-loss surgeons working between Ireland and the UK. He grew up behind the bar of a family pub in County Down, which he says was the best training in medicine he ever had, before a chance meeting in New York changed how he thinks about the whole job.
It's a warm, funny and genuinely eye-opening conversation about obesity as a disease rather than a choice, and about the person on the other side of the desk. John explains why more than half of his patients cry at their first appointment, why he never asks how much weight they've lost, and why the goals that matter are seeing your own child's First Communion from behind the camera — not the number on the scales.
He also gives one of the clearest explanations you'll hear of how weight-loss surgery actually works - the gastric balloon, the sleeve and the bypass - why a bypass is like "a free GLP-1 injection every day for life", and why, despite the rise of the weight-loss injections, demand for surgery is climbing rather than falling.
🔑 Key PointsObesity is a disease, not a choice
John argues it should be treated in stages, like cancer, and that denying people care on a BMI cut-off is simply wrong.
A gastric bypass is like "a free GLP-1 injection for life"
The surgery isn't just about a smaller stomach; it changes the gut hormones that tell your brain you're full.
The weight-loss injections haven't ended surgery — the opposite
Many patients try the injections first, stall or can't afford them, and find a sleeve pays for itself within a few years.
Three procedures, three different jobs
The swallowable balloon, the sleeve and the bypass each suit a different stage — John explains who each one is for.
Blood sugar settles before the weight comes off
Diabetes can resolve within days of surgery, long before any weight is lost — proof of how closely the gut and brain talk.
The best consultation starts with "why are you here?"
Rather than judging, John asks patients their story — and finds the roots often reach right back to childhood.
Non-scale victories are what matter
He never asks how much weight a patient has lost; he asks whether they can finally take their kids to Disney World.
A childhood in the pub was the best training he ever had
Learning to talk to people across a bar counter, he says, taught him more about medicine than any exam.
📚 ResourcesDr John Loy's clinic in Dublin, offering gastric sleeve, bypass and balloon procedures
⏱️ Timestamps00:00 — Introduction
00:50 — The cruise-ship patient who thought it was his last trip
04:23 — Why half his patients cry at the first appointment
05:20 — Obesity: the last acceptable prejudice
06:52 — From a County Tyrone pub to the operating theatre
09:29 — The gut-brain link: why blood sugar settles first
10:20 — Sleeve, bypass and "a free GLP-1 for life"
10:48 — Are the injections ending surgery? The opposite
13:47 — The balloon, the sleeve and the bypass explained
19:42 — New York and the philosophy of surgery
22:52 — Non-scale victories and the surgical-cat tattoo
34:34 — Ikigai, travel and the meaning of life
Thanks for listening! You can watch the full episode on YouTube here. Don’t forget to follow The Laura Dowling Experience podcast on Instagram @lauradowlingexperience for updates and more information. You can also follow our host, Laura Dowling, @fabulouspharmacist for more insights and tips. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a review—it really helps us out! Stay tuned for more great conversations.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Bitesize Moment: "I Thought I Was Just a Bad Friend." — Keith Walsh on a late ADHD diagnosis
In this bitesize moment pulled from the Laura Dowling Experience back catalogue, broadcaster and mental health advocate Keith Walsh shares what it was like to be diagnosed with ADHD in his late forties — and …
Notes de l’épisode
In this bitesize moment pulled from the Laura Dowling Experience back catalogue, broadcaster and mental health advocate Keith Walsh shares what it was like to be diagnosed with ADHD in his late forties — and how going through his son's assessment led to his own.
He's honest and funny about what undiagnosed ADHD looked like day to day, the small systems he built to cope, and why a diagnosis can feel like relief rather than a label.
🔑Key Points
• How going through his son's assessment led to his own diagnosis
• The everyday reality of undiagnosed adult ADHD
• Why a diagnosis can feel like relief rather than a label
• The small systems that helped him cope
🎧 Listen to the full episode here.
Thanks for listening! You can watch the full episode on YouTube here. Don’t forget to follow The Laura Dowling Experience podcast on Instagram @lauradowlingexperience for updates and more information. You can also follow our host, Laura Dowling, @fabulouspharmacist for more insights and tips. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a review—it really helps us out! Stay tuned for more great conversations.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
National Sisters Day | Sisters, Slagging and One Live Revelation #180
Ahead of National Sisters Day on Sunday 2 August, Laura hands the mic to the one guest who has known her longest - her younger sister Rachel, making her podcast debut. What follows is less an interview than a …
Notes de l’épisode
Ahead of National Sisters Day on Sunday 2 August, Laura hands the mic to the one guest who has known her longest - her younger sister Rachel, making her podcast debut. What follows is less an interview than a lifetime of shared history: the smear tests they were both booked in for that morning, Laura's abandoned marathon training, the running mishap Rachel has never been allowed to live down, and the commentary only a sister can give.
Then, halfway through, Laura mentions something she assumed Rachel already knew - that their dad wasn't there when she was born. He was at home with the other two. Rachel had no idea. What happens next is the reason this one is worth listening to: Laura calls their mother into the studio, live, to confirm it.
From there it's the full archive — the crooked teeth and the orthodontist bill that nearly cost their parents the house, the green gabardine Laura convinced her was school uniform, growing up around a mother working night shifts as a midwife, and the football trials Rachel was told she'd have been sent to if she'd been a boy. Underneath the slagging is the thing sisters rarely say out loud, and by the end they both say it.
If you have a sister, this is one to send her before Sunday.
🔑Key PointsSome family history only surfaces by accident
Rachel had never been told her father missed her birth — it came out mid-conversation, not through any big reveal.
Ask the person who was actually there
Rather than leave it hanging, Laura brought their mother into the room to confirm the story first-hand.
Sisters keep the receipts
Years on, the teeth, the gabardine and the running stories are all still admissible evidence.
Childhood teasing lands differently in hindsight
The stories that were mortifying at the time are the ones they now tell most fondly.
Growing up in an older sister's shadow shapes you
Hand-me-downs, comparisons and a very particular sense of humour come with the territory.
Girls were quietly steered away from sport
Rachel was told that if she'd been a boy she'd have been sent for trials — a throwaway line that stayed with her.
A parent's shift work sets the tone of a house
Their mother working nights as a midwife shaped how the siblings behaved, argued and looked after each other.
Slagging can be its own love language
As they put it themselves, it was mostly slagging — sprinkled with a lot of love.
📚ResourcesIreland's free cervical screening programme
Support and information on adult ADHD
⏱️Timestamps01:00 Why this one — National Sisters Day, and Rachel's debut
02:10 Both booked in for smear tests on the same morning
04:05 Laura's abandoned marathon training — and Rachel's running mishap
11:23 "Dad wasn't even there for your birth" — Rachel finds out
12:02 Laura calls their mother into the studio to confirm it
15:14 A female version of Rod Stewart: the crooked-teeth years
16:49 The gabardine that wasn't school uniform
19:45 Mark's first day at school — and Laura stepping in
24:40 "If you'd been a boy, you'd have been sent to trials"
27:00 What having a sister teaches you about conflict
34:13 Slagging, sprinkled with a lot of love
Thanks for listening! You can watch the full episode on YouTube here. Don’t forget to follow The Laura Dowling Experience podcast on Instagram @lauradowlingexperience for updates and more information. You can also follow our host, Laura Dowling, @fabulouspharmacist for more insights and tips. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a review—it really helps us out! Stay tuned for more great conversations.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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