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Perimenopause and Menopause 

Hormonal balance is an essential component to health, as well as healthy aging. Some women can start experiencing perimenopause as young as 35, with symptoms like heavy menstrual flow, breast pain and weight gain. Poor nutrition, excess stress and unhealthy lifestyle choices intensify these symptoms. 

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Menopausal symptoms include hot flashes, night sweats, insomnia, brain fog, vaginal dryness, sexual dysfunction and weight gain. These symptoms are due to declining estrogen and progesterone levels. 

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They key to reducing symptoms for both these conditions as an individualized treatment plan. Which may include diet, lifestyle, nutritional supplements, stress management, herbal treatments and bio-identical hormone replacement therapy. 

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After a comprehensive hormone assessment, and considering your unique risk profile, lifestyle and body, I use a combination of therapies, to restore optimal health and wellness, and aim to improve quality of life, and aging. 

Andropause & Erectile Dysfunction

Starting at around 30, men start to have a natural decline in their testosterone, at approximately one percent per year.  This can have a profound effect on a man's health, physique, sex drive as well as general well-being. 

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Physically, this contributes to declining muscle tone, increase in abdominal weight, lack of energy, and decline in cognitive function, as well as a decrease in libido or sex drive, and sexual function, with difficulty in having and maintaining an erection. 

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Psychologically, men who suffer from a hormonal imbalance can struggle with mental fatigue, lack of motivation, irritability, sleep disturbances, anxiety, and depression. 

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Declining hormone levels has also been linked to prostate, and heart disease, elevated cholesterol as well as insulin resistance, and increased risk for Diabetes. 

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THE GOOD NEWS is that a lifestyle plan, involving a balanced diet, exercise, adequate sleep, natural supplements along a medically prescribed program of bio-identical hormones can safely boost testosterone levels and reverse the aging process and increase sex drive.

Adrenal and Thyroid Dysfunction

In order to obtain optimal health and wellness, we need to look at the entirety of hormone balance. The adrenals are an important part of the endocrine system, and produce hormones that impact our major metabolic processes, very much like the thyroid gland. 

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Stress is the major cause of adrenal dysfunction, where external stressors drive our bodies to produce stress hormones including cortisol,  DHEA and adrenaline. The overproduction of stress hormones for prolonged periods of time deregulates the axis between the brain and the adrenal glands. Prolonged exposure to stress, will lower the body's production of stress hormones. Which leads to HPA Axis dysfunction or as previously referred to adrenal fatigue. This can present with symptoms like weight gain, fatigue, insomnia, sex hormone dysfunction and immune dysregulation. 

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Conventional medicine commonly accepts deficiencies in thyroid gland function. The TSH test is mainly used as a marker for thyroid overproduction or underproduction. But our bodies are more complex, and other hormones can directly affect our TSH, so truly understanding the thyroid requires evaluation beyond the TSH test. 

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The thyroid gland, is a master regulator of energy production at the cellular level in virtually every body system, and is extremely sensitive, so even a mild reduction in thyroid function can produce symptoms. Symptoms can include constipation, hair loss, weight gain, low energy, depression or anxiety, brittle nails, and many more. 

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The thyroid can be impacted by many conditions, and therefore correcting nutritional deficiencies and hormone imbalances, can often regulate thyroid function without the need for thyroid medications. If you do need medications, there are multiple options available, including conventional thyroid hormones, dessicated hormones and more. 

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Both these hormones play an extremely important role in how we feel, and if dysregulated can significantly impact our quality of life. 

PCOS and PMS

Hormonal imbalances can occur at any age, and lead to conditions like polycystic ovarian syndrome, premenstrual syndrome, fibrocystic breasts and ovarian cysts, 

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PCOS is the most common reproductive and endocrine disorder affecting reproductive age women. The exact cause is complex and multifactorial and involves genetics, developmental exposures, environmental exposures, lifestyle choices, emotional and hormonal factors. 

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Symptoms of PCOS include:

  • Irregular or missed periods 

  • Acne

  • Weight gain, or difficulty losing weight

  • Insulin resistance

  • Excessive body and facial hair growth (hirsitusm)

  • Male pattern baldness or thinning hair

  • Ovarian cysts - pelvic pain.

  • Mood changes - Anxiety or Depression

  • Fatigue

  • Recurrent miscarriage or Infertility

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PMS is a clinical disorder defined as recurrent cycle of physical and psycho-emotional symptoms that occurs 7 to 14 days before the menstrual cycle and is troublesome enough to interfere with aspects of a woman's life. 

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Over 150 symptoms have been linked to PMS, but most common symptoms include:

  • Bloating

  • Feeling of increase in weight

  • Breast pain

  • Skin conditions including Acne

  • Headache

  • Pelvic pain

  • Changes in bowel habits

  • Anxiety

  • Depression

  • Lethargy

  • Insomnia

  • Lack of concentration or focus

  • And many many more....

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Both these conditions can be significantly improved by restoring the hormonal balance, through an individualized treatment plan focusing on diet correction, establishing an exercise and stress management routine, nutritional supplements, and occasionally conventional medications or bio-identical hormone therapy. 

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