Navigating Women’s Health & the Rollercoaster Journey to Wellness
with Ally Schott
Part Two of a Three Part Series by Isabella DeChard for Fat Nugs Magazine
Even in today’s advanced medical field, many individuals struggle to identify or pinpoint relief from medical ailments. Many gender disparities and inequities within health care are rampant, with an unfortunate impact on certain patient groups.
In the healthcare setting, even today, women battle perceptions that they are “too emotional”, as evidenced by longer ER wait times than men to receive pain medications. More specifically, women comprise 70% of chronic pain patients, yet 80% of pain studies are conducted on men and male mice.
Ally Schott is one of the many women out there who have endured this frustrating journey in healthcare. Her experience was the inspiration for her platform for empowering women’s health and wellness.
“When I was diagnosed with endometriosis at 12 and late-stage Lyme disease at 19, my daily life was a constant battlefield. There was medical gaslighting, excruciating daily pain, multiple surgeries, and a plethora of diets and treatments explored.” For Ally, IV antibiotics, acupuncture, and even medication-induced menopause at an early age could not provide more than an ounce of fleeting relief.
It wasn’t until her early adult-life career with an edibles brand that she not only discovered cannabis but how its effects were directly improving her symptoms and quality of life. From there, she fervently threw herself into understanding the underpinnings of cannabis – exploring terpenes, the endocannabinoid system, plant allies, consumption methods, and how to dose the plant based on one’s unique health and wellness needs.
“The nuances of my cannabis wellness journey took me years to nail down,” Scott reflects, “But when I did, I began sleeping through the night for the first time in 20 years. Any pelvic or joint pain I experienced suddenly felt manageable, allowing me to exercise, function in daily activities, and even enjoy sex for the first time. Cannabis transformed my body’s rebellion into cooperation.”
How the Eir Club is Advocating to Elevate Women’s Health
While navigating her journey to better wellness with cannabis, Ally was inspired to create a more inclusive and empowering space that advocates for women taking control of their pain and symptoms – but without the 20 years of trial and error she experienced herself.
That’s when she founded the Eir club, an AI-powered plant medicine telehealth platform for women grounded in plant medicines' evidence-based efficacy and versatility. Eir Club uniquely combines top-tier medical expertise, technological innovations, and clinical tools to connect the biochemical effects of cannabis with patient symptoms to achieve better outcomes.
The Eir Club is a digital clinic that focuses on utilizing cannabis and plant medicine for endometriosis and its 22 comorbidities. It’s a platform bespoke to women’s bodies, conditions, experiences, and overall health and wellness needs. Members of the Eir Club receive comprehensive, individualized telehealth coaching sessions with clinicians specializing in cannabinoid therapeutics – combining compassionate care with innovative science, tailored care plans, product recommendations, educational courses, and answers to the most common questions and concerns from women patients.
“Eir was born out of a desire to empower and support women facing chronic conditions, for those exhausted from being on the receiving end of medical gaslighting, having limited, ineffective treatment options, waiting for a diagnosis, and feeling an overall lack of agency in their medical journey.”
When used properly and responsibly, cannabis can be a powerful tool for women who are tackling the overlapping complications women’s health presents. With that being said, there’s still a sizable gap of misinformation and incomplete knowledge out there about the plant, particularly regarding the impact of cannabis on women.
“I would love to see an uptick in research focused on women, endometriosis, cannabis, and the interplay between these elements,” Schott reflects on her hopes for the continuous emergence of the wellness and cannabis industries, “Cannabis can help you embrace resilience, adapt to change, and find strength in your unique journey.”
