Functional Medicine Approach to Hormone Health & Replacement
Welcome to Hormone Health!
I bet if you are here reading this section, then you most likely are one of the millions of people suffering with a hormonal imbalance.
Women: From irregular periods or painful cycles to hot flashes, night sweats, and weight gain......we can help!
Men: From hair loss or muscle mass loss to low libido...we have you covered!
Teens: From mood swings, irregular periods, acne and more...we hear you!
We will partner with you to identify any potential hormone imbalance. We have a variety of testing options that we offer.
Since we do practice within the Functional Medicine framework, we strive to correct, balance, and resolve any symptoms you may have as naturally as possible, when possible. We also offer traditional HRT or BHRT treatments and medications. We also can combine natural treatments used in conjunction with HRT or BHRT treatments. These options are always discussed with you, as are the risks and benefits. We make a mutually agreed upon decision on what is right and best for you, together.
We treat much more than the lab numbers and the symptoms. We treat YOU. We listen to YOU.
HORMONES ARE A BALANCING ACT
Even small changes in your hormones can cause symptoms like fatigue, weight changes, acne, insomnia, depression/anxiety, hot flashes, night sweats, and much more! We are here to help you find the balance you have been looking for. You are NOT crazy and your symptoms are NOT in your head.
Hormonal imbalances are often misdiagnosed or not diagnosed at all.
Let us help you make sense of your symptoms to treat your imbalance. We can:
- Get the diagnosis you've been looking for. We will analyze your health history and your symptoms to identify what is going on with your hormone health.
- We will order Advanced Hormone Screenings. Based on your unique needs, we will recommend advanced testing that other doctors don't....then we will help you understand your results.
- Develop a treatment plan with you. We will create a personalized plan that involves nutrition, supplement recommendation, herbal remedies, referrals to specialists, and prescription medicine, if indicated.
Types of hormone optimization we offer:
- Nutraceuticals consisting of Supplements or Herbal Medicine that will naturally support your body, alleviate symptoms, provide relief, and promote your own natural balance of hormone production.
- Natural Protocols consisting of plant based components or natural ingredients of estradiol, progesterone, or testosterone.
- Bio-Identical Hormone Therapy compounded prescription of estradiol, progesterone, testosterone which is customized to your needs.
- Traditional Hormone Therapy prescriptions of estradiol, progesterone, testosterone.
- Common methods of application vary from gels, creams, patches, pills, troches, injections, and inserts.
WE TREAT MEN AND WOMEN OF ALL AGES
Whether you are a teenage young lady, a young adult, adult, or young at heart suffering from any type of hormone symptoms or unexplained symptoms, we can help.
For teenagers or young adults, the changes that the onset of menstrual cycles bring can be quite overwhelming. Irregular, heavy or painful cycles, skin changes/acne, weight changes, mood swings, headaches, and fatigue are the most common reported symptoms.
For the next stage of life (early adulthood), the most common symptoms (aside from the above), are infertility, frequent miscarriages, hair changes, continued skin changes, brain fog, and more.
Middle adulthood is when we start to see the decline of our essential hormones. Symptoms such as hot flashes, night sweats, low libido, vaginal irritation, migraines, stomach upset, anxiety/depression, and worsened irregular cycles start to surface. For men, we start to see the initial decline in testosterone around this time. Typically, this is when we will notice hair loss, fatigue, muscle weakness, and even decreased libido.
Late adulthood is when we see all these symptoms and more....including bone loss, cardiovascular changes, joint pain, chronic pain and hair loss/graying,
No matter your age, we are able to help you!
COMMON SYMPTOMS
Keeping in mind that our hormones play a huge role in physiological responses of our bodies and that the systems of our bodies respond, it makes sense that symptoms manifest in certain ways. The most common symptoms are:
- Fatigue
- Anxiety/Depression
- Acne
- PMS
- PMDD
- Temperature intolerance
- Insomnia
- Hair loss
- Brain fog or memory loss
- Weight changes
- Low libido
- Irregular cycles
- Painful or heavy cycles (clotting)
- Extreme thirst or hunger & cravings
- Joint pain
- Chronic pain
- Bloating
- Facial hair
- Fibroids
- Mood swings
- Headaches and migraines
- Vaginal dryness or pain
- Frequent infections
- IBS or GI changes
- Fluctuating blood pressure
- Dizziness & vertigo symptoms
- Ringing in the ears
- Vision changes
- Palpitations
- Decreased bone loss or muscle strength
- Erectile dysfunction
EXAMPLES OF CONDITIONS WE SPECIALIZE IN
- PCOS
- Estrogen Dominance
- Thyroid dysfunction
- Hashimoto's thyroiditis
- Adrenal dysfunction
- Insulin resistance
- Infertility
- Pre-menopause
- Peri-menopause
- Post-menopause
- Andropause
- PMS/PMDD
- Low Libido
- Erectile Dysfunction
TYPES OF HORMONES & LOOKING BEYOND ESTROGEN
Most people are familiar with and understand the importance of the main hormones: estrogen, progesterone and testosterone. Did you know that there are several precursor hormones that are also responsible for hormone symptoms; whether deficient or excess. In fact, precursor hormones are important support mechanisms for the main hormones. Our bodies rely heavily on the endocrine glands (pituitary, pineal, thymus, thyroid, adrenal, hypothalamus, and pancreas) to make hormones; such as sex hormones, cortisol, FSH, LH, oxytocin, ADH, estrogens, testosterone, progesterone, pregnenolone, and DHEA (to name a few).
When there is a hormone imbalance (at any age), many unpleasant symptoms can arise and even cause other health conditions. Since our body works together as an integrated whole, when there is a deficiency in one hormone, there could be a domino effect in other hormone deficiencies OR even excess!!
When determining an appropriate hormone treatment plan, we will analyze all your hormones; essentially taking a snap shot picture of your body at one time. We will correlate your symptoms to your hormone testing and will create a treatment plan for therapy which will include supplements, herbal remedies, lifestyle changes, and medications, as appropriate.
Thyroid Health
Thyroid health can be tricky. Most medical providers have been taught that the only thyroid test that matters is the TSH. It's true that the TSH is crucial to understanding thyroid health, but there are other hormones associated with thyroid dysfunction. Quite often when the TSH level is normal on blood work, doctors will rule out any type of thyroid disorder. The problem is, a very small percentage of patients are appropriately diagnosed with a TSH level only; leaving many more to be misdiagnosed. Our office likes to have a clear picture of the downward hormonal cascade, which involves ALL thyroid hormones; giving us valuable insight to our patient's symptoms. When we order thyroid testing, we order a complete thyroid panel; not only looking at TSH, but all the T3 and T4 hormones, as well as antibodies. We then analyze the results using a Functional Medicine approach; whereas we look for optimal ranges and correlate with patient symptoms. This means, that we are able to determine when a person has a thyroid dysfunction that lab work has previously or traditionally missed.
Hypothyroidism is known as an underactive thyroid and hyperthyroidism is known as an overactive thyroid. Hashimoto's is an autoimmune hypothyroidism that occurs when a dysregulated immune response impairs the production of the thyroid hormones. Graves' disease is an autoimmune hyperthyroidism that occurs when autoantibodies activate the thyroid-stimulating hormone receptor, inducing excessive thyroid hormone secretion. It is important to note that many people with autoimmune thyroid disease may actually have normal basic thyroid labs, which is why it's so important you receive a thorough functional medicine work up.
Common symptoms associated with Thyroid Disorders:
Increased sensitivity to heat and cold
Depression or irritability
Anxiety
Joint or muscle pain
High blood pressure
Palpitations
Muscle weakness
Digestive issues
Weight gain or weight loss
Dry skin
Thinning hair or brittle nails
Fatigue
Insomnia
Irregular menses
Nodules or enlarged thyroid gland
Let's back up! What exactly is a thyroid? The thyroid gland is an essential gland that supports the body's metabolism. This gland produces two different hormones: T3 and T4; both are important in energy production for your body. If the thyroid starts producing too much or too few of these hormones, it can cause serious issues that can significantly affect your quality of life.
Once diagnosed, typically medication is used to regulate your thyroid and manage your symptoms. Keep in mind that just like any other hormone in your body, the thyroid can also fluctuate; making your current medication dosing ineffective. Many patients come to us on too high or too low of a dose of their thyroid medication; which causes even more symptoms. Maybe they are not on the right medication-perhaps they are only on Synthroid (levothyroxine), which is a T4 medication, when they should actually also be on a T3 medication, like Cytomel (liothyrionine)...or maybe a combination, like Nature Throid or a compounded formula specifically for them. Thyroid management can be tough; so you want to make sure you have a knowledgeable practitioner on your side that listens to you and looks at optimal lab levels.
Also, consider that sometimes an adrenal dysfunction can actually look like a thyroid condition and a thyroid condition can also look like an adrenal dysfunction; they might even go together. That is why it's important you have a functional medicine evaluation.
It is also important to understand that many symptoms and inability to regulate your thyroid may actually develop due to specific triggers. If those triggers or underlying causes are not identified and addressed, you will continue to not feel well and not be managed correctly. We typically look at different factors; the main ones being: lifestyle, inflammation, GI issues, food sensitivities or allergies, blood sugar instability/insulin resistance, and nutritional deficiencies.
Dawson Integrative Medical Center, LLC treats thyroid disorders in a variety of ways. Whether you need medication management, regulating or adjusting current medication dosing, or developing a new protocol for you, we can help. We offer a variety of treatment options, or a combination thereof; including: traditional thyroid medication, natural or alternative thyroid treatments, and treatments for any underlying root causes or triggers mentioned above.
Adrenal Health
Adrenal Fatigue/Insufficiency: Our bodies are connected! When looking into causes of undesirable symptoms, we HAVE to look at the body as an integrated whole. The most common and basic hormones are usually the go-to for most doctors in analyzing hormone health. However, as we've already discussed, we need to look beyond estrogen, progesterone, testosterone and even thyroid hormones. We also should be looking at the adrenal glands for cortisol levels. The adrenal glands are located above the kidneys and produce three major hormones: cortisol (regulates energy, blood pressure, blood sugar, regulates stress responses and helps us recover from a sudden illness), aldosterone (governs the amount of salt and water in our body) and androgen hormones.
Common symptoms associated with Adrenal Fatigue are:
Fatigue in the morning and evening
Insomnia
Inability to cope with stress
GI or digestive changes
Stress or anxiety
Sugar or salt cravings
Low blood sugar
Low blood pressure
Muscle aches/joint pains
Chemical sensitivity
Weak immune system
Chronic infections
Hives
Reactions to bug bites
Allergies
Asthma
Eczema
Brain fog or impaired memory
...and so much more
Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia: is an inherited disorder of the adrenal glands that can affect both males and females. People with CAH cannot properly make cortisol and in some cases, cannot produce aldosterone. They also produce too much of certain hormones, like testosterone and progesterone. These hormone imbalances can lead to serious illness, atypical genitalia, early puberty, growth concerns and other problems. This is a very rare condition; less than 50,000 people in the US has been diagnosed.
Symptom -Imbalance Self Quiz
Having symptoms that fluctuate? Feeling off? Take this quiz to help identify what hormones might be to blame:
Cortisol (Adrenal Fatigue-Early Stage)
Wired/tired sensation
Anxiety/nervousness
Sugar cravings
Increased abdominal circumference
High blood pressure
High blood sugar
Indigestion or heartburn
Difficulty recovering from exercise/injury
Irregular menstrual cycles
Decreased fertility
Weight gain with exercise
Cortisol (Adrenal Fatigue-Late Stage/Burnout)
Fatigue or loss of stamina
Brain fog
Decreased stress tolerance
Insomnia or difficulty staying asleep
Excessive sleepiness
Dizzy
Salt cravings
Low Progesterone
PMS
Irregular cycles
Cyclical headaches
Bloating before periods
Heavy or painful periods
Ovarian cysts
Disrupted sleep
Infertility or miscarriage
Excess Estrogen
Heavy bleeding
Bloating or water retention
Weight gain (hips and thighs)
Fibroids
Breast tenderness
Endometriosis
Anxiety
Migraines or other headaches
Gallbladder issues
History of abnormal PAP
Low Estrogen
Night sweats
Hot flashes
Leaky or overactive bladder
Loss of interest in exercise
Bone loss
Painful intercourse
Low libido
High Androgens (Testosterone for Women)
Excess hair on face, arms, or chest
Acne
Greasy skin and skin tags
Reactivity or irritability
Long menstrual cycles
Infertility
PCOS or ovarian cysts
Low Testosterone (Men)
Low libido or erectile dysfunction
Decreased sense of well-being
Concentration issues
Depression or anxiety
Irritability or moody
Loss of muscular strength or bone mass
Increased body fat
Hair loss
Fatigue
Low Testosterone (Women)
Fatigue
Muscle weakness
Low libido or decreased sexual satisfaction
Weight gain
Slow metabolism
Brittle hair, nails and bones
Anxiety and depression
Hypothyroid
Hair loss, eyebrow thinning
Dry skin and hair
Brittle nails
Cold intolerance
Weight gain
Irregular menses
Muscle aches and inflammation
Fatigue
Anxiety and depression
Puffy face
