Maybe you feel bogged down with PMS, heavy periods, cramps, mood swings, bloating, migraines, depression or anxiety leaving you dreading “that time of the month.” Perhaps you are in your 30’s or 40’s and find yourself changing from a vibrant woman full of energy to a sleep-deprived zombie who’s gaining weight, snapping at loved ones, and struggling with hot flashes and irregular periods. Or, maybe you’re dealing with painful conditions such as endometriosis or PCOS, or having difficulty conceiving.
All of this can cause you to feel like your life’s spiraling out of control, your body’s abandoned you and leave you screaming: “WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON?”
The answer may be two simple words: hormone imbalance.
Hormone imbalance is actually very common among women, yet many doctors just offer ineffective lab tests and treatments that do nothing more than cover up the problem instead of fixing the cause. First, there are problems with standard lab tests. Your female hormones (estrogen and progesterone) are more like a roller coaster, with ups and downs, than a merry-go-round. And, standard lab tests only capture what’s going on hormonally at the moment. They tell us nothing about what your hormone levels were yesterday or what they’ll be tomorrow. They also typically fail to measure some very important things (more on that later).
Then, there are the treatments. Two of the most common ways doctors treat hormonal issues is to prescribe birth control pills or hormone replacement therapy. The issue is these methods do not treat the CAUSES of hormone imbalance, they only COVER UP THE PROBLEM, and, in some cases, actually make things WORSE. Take birth control pills, for example. Chances are you’ve either taken them or know women who have. But did you know these often prescribed pills can sometimes actually cause the body to no longer produce its own progesterone and/or estrogen? When a patient stops taking the pill, the body can “forget” how to work properly, creating a host of issues.
We see this all the time in women who are experiencing infertility, heavy cycles, cramping, migraines and other problems when coming off the pill. Hormone replacement therapy, even if it’s bio-identical, is also a bandage solution, adding more hormones to an already imbalanced body instead of addressing the ROOT CAUSES of the problem. We are seeing an increasing number of hysterectomies, endometriosis, female cancers, ablations and infertility than perhaps ever in history, and again, a lot of this is due to solutions that don’t address the real problem. And, that’s where we come in.
You see, your hormones are like a fire alarm – and that alarm is only going to sound if something is wrong. At Integrative Wellness Centers, we test for and treat the issues that are making the “fire alarm” go off in the first place – and standard lab tests won’t pick these issues up. In fact, they often aren’t even testing the real culprits causing your hormonal imbalance.
Your body is a complex network of organs and glands that communicate with one another using hormones. These hormones are intended to influence specific functions such as digestion, metabolism, appetite, sleep, activation of the immune system, and reproduction and tissue repair. For various reasons your organs and glands may become weak or damaged and overtime, and as that specific organ and hormone system spiral out of balance, your symptoms can worsen. This is why some people, regardless of their diet and exercise habits, feel lousy, while others do nothing at all and feel great.
Without addressing the root cause of these problems and merely treating the symptoms, your overall health will continue to decline and can lead to more and more medications. Our clinic specializes in ending this general decline by detecting which organs and glands are not functioning properly and “why”the organs and glands may not be functioning correctly, leading to your symptoms.
With Functional Medicine, we seek to identify the root cause of your imbalance and loss of normal system function. In other words, we discover the “why” of your suffering. We help end the out of control spiral of your health condition.
When we address your unique reason of “why” your glands or organs are not working properly, your hormones become balanced and your body starts to heal itself!
The adrenal glands are little glands that sit on top of your kidneys that are responsible for the “fight or flight” response. When the adrenal glands are over stimulated they tend to get out of balance and affect your sleep-wake cycle. It often feels as if it is hard to ‘turn off’ your thoughts. You may find it difficult to fall asleep and stay asleep despite the fact during the day you feel exhausted and want to sleep.
The adrenal glands are responsible for the release of the stress hormone cortisol. Research has shown that when the levels of this hormone are elevated it can cause weight gain in the midsection, leading to the dreaded “belly roll” of fat.
Swelling and rounding of the face, puffy eyes, and a double chin can develop because of adrenal dysfunction. An orange hue (almost appearing tan) of the face and very dark circles may also develop. When the adrenals are suspect it can also result in facial hair and swelling of the ankles.
It is common if you suffer from adrenal issues you will have anxiety and feelings of severe exhaustion. You may also be the type to rely on caffeine and sweets to get through the day, especially in the afternoon. Once the adrenals become exhausted, you will have difficulty waking up, concentrating, or even remembering simple tasks. To learn more about Adrenal Fatigue click here.
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Is it your thyroid, adrenals or sex hormones? It’s important to get
your personalized results so that you can get the help you need!
The thyroid gland makes hormones that regulate your rate of metabolism. If you have troubles with your thyroid, you may notice that you mysteriously gain weight… even though nothing has changed in your life. When the thyroid begins to dysfunction you may experience hair loss, especially the outer third of the eyebrows.
When the thyroid is at fault, your energy levels drop and your legs and arms can start to feel heavy. Many times, if you suffer from thyroid problems, you are more prone to suffer from depression. In an effort to improve your mood and increase your energy you will crave carbohydrates like breads, pastas, crackers, juice, and so on. Unfortunately, eating these foods can make the problem worse.
When the thyroid isn’t functioning well, your body starts to feel cold, especially the hands and feet. In an effort to stay warm you are always wearing extra clothes and even socks to bed. To learn more about thyroid dysfunction click here.
For various reasons the hormones testosterone, estrogen and progesterone will become imbalanced and when they do you can suffer from a hole host of problems.
For example, patients with elevated sex hormones, especially estrogen, will gain weight easily in their hips and thighs, have heavier menses, be more emotional before their menses, and can have fibroids or cysts.
Lowered libido can also result if your testosterone levels are lower than they should be — and this includes women because they make it too — and without enough of testosterone your sex drive can plummet.
For women in perimenopause, lower progesterone levels also contribute to a loss of desire, while low estrogen during menopause causes vaginal dryness. Research has also made a connection between muscle and joint pain with lower estrogen levels. Estrogen protects against inflammation, so when levels lessen, as in perimenopause and menopause, many women report muscle pain and joint inflammation. Even younger women experiencing premenstrual hormonal changes complain of pain.
Persistent sleep problems are also commonly associated with hormones. If you have insomnia or don’t sleep well night after night, the cause could be hormonal. Again, these problems pop up during perimenopause and menopause, because estrogen and progesterone are usually in flux before and during menopause. Low estrogen can cause night sweats and all-around fatigue.
This problem is difficult because not only do hormonal imbalances cause sleep problems, sleep problems cause hormonal fluctuations. Can’t-get-comfortable with the temperatures. Estrogen heavily influences your body temperature. If you’re making more of it, you might feel uncomfortably chilly; when you have lower levels, you’re plagued with hot flashes and night sweats.
Hormonal fluctuations also contribute to feeling more anxious or irritable. And research has shown hormone fluctuations can be responsible for feelings of “spaciness” and memory problems.
When the liver malfunctions it can actual contribute to all the previous hormone culprits, the adrenals, thyroid and sex hormones. Therefore, when the liver is at fault you can end up with an array of symptoms like bloating, gas, high blood sugar (like diabetes or insulin resistance), estrogen dominance, and elevated cholesterol levels. Because the liver is essential for digestive functions, you may feel the sensation of fullness after eating, burping after fatty meals or have multiple nutritional deficiencies.
You may also gain weight in your midsection, have a "beer" belly, and or have fluid retention in your abdomen or lower legs. You may also begin to suffer from an accumulation of toxins that can seep into your joint capsules causing painful joints (arthritis). As these toxins accumulate they can also cause you to suffer from allergies, skin problems and bad body odor. Toxic accumulation can also lead to poor memory, headaches or migraines, and you will often wake up in the middle of the night and not be able to fall back to sleep.
When the liver is impaired it can result in faulty elimination, regulation and formation of several of the hormones. For example, the liver has been found to be responsible for the majority of conversion of the inactive thyroid hormone thyroxine (T4) to the active thyroid hormone triiodothyronine (T3). If the conversion of T4 to T3 isn't happening adequately it can result in low thyroid symptoms, like hair loss, slow metabolism, low energy, and many other thyroid symptoms.
The liver is also responsible for deactivating cortisol, the major stress hormone of the body. So when the liver isn't working properly, even minor stress can lead to more intense feelings of stress and for longer periods of time. When the liver isn't detoxifying adequately, it can result in hormones levels getting too high, resulting in hormone dominance. The most common hormone dominance we find is estrogen dominance. And when estrogen is too high compared to progesterone, it can result in heavy cycles, acne, mood changes, and even cancer.
As you can see the liver is quite the workhorse of the body and when not working properly you're not working properly.
As you can see, no two hormonal culprits are are alike. Most people report they suffer from a few different hormonal culprits. So, regardless if you fit into one specific category or fit into all of them, we are here to help.
There are thousands of things you could do to try and improve your health but wouldn’t it be great to discover exactly what your body needs? There is more to getting well than eating less, exercising more and following the standard medical modus operandi. We have a clinically proven step by step process for helping our patients achieve health. (See Testimonials Below)
Unlock the path to life-changing care by requesting a free consultation with our caring, expert team today (a $250 value)! Here's what you'll receive during your free visit:
- In-Depth Systems Analysis: An in-depth examination of the vital systems of your body, utilizing a comprehensive questionnaire to guide you through your past and present health issues that could be contributing to your current condition.
- 30-Minute Consultation: Sit down with one of our expert natural health doctors via Zoom or in person. They will delve into your in-depth systems analysis and questionnaire responses with you. Working together, we will piece together clues from your questionnaires, symptoms, and personal history to identify what factors are causing your health issues.
- Action plan: After your thorough consultation, our goal is to provide you with a personalized roadmap. We recognize that each individual's situation is unique, and you can trust that our advice isn't generic. Through our exclusive offer, you'll receive a fully customized plan tailored precisely to your needs.
Your Path to Wellness
Consider the countless medical appointments, tests that didn’t offer any help or answers, and treatments you've undergone that haven’t been helpful. Consider how much time and money you’ve invested in the wrong answers. Consider how your chronic health challenges are affecting all areas of your life – from your vitality and emotional well-being to your financial stability, relationships with loved ones, physical appearance, intimacy, and self-confidence. Now imagine if the answers you’ve been seeking for years or even decades were available to you by simply taking advantage of this exclusive opportunity. You’ve come this far, don’t let this opportunity slip away.
How “Leaky Gut” can contribute to Hormonal Issues
The likely reason you still suffer despite normal lab tests
Why so many people are misdiagnosed or not diagnosed at all as having a hormone problem
What testing is essential to getting to the "root cause" of the issue
Why even for those who adhere to strict diets, exercise regularly, and rely on various supplements, medications, or hormone therapy, relief remains elusive
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