Imagine a symphony of hormones, each playing its own unique melody, working together to keep your body in perfect harmony. But what happens when one instrument starts playing too loudly or too softly? This is the reality of hormone imbalances.

Our endocrine system is responsible for regulating essential functions such as digestion and fertility, but even the slightest offset in hormone levels can cause major disruptions in our everyday lives. Poor sleep, stress, infections, and even hormonal birth control can contribute to these imbalances. Take the thyroid gland, for example, it controls our body’s metabolic rate, affecting heart function, muscle growth, and even brain development. But when the thyroid gland produces too much or too little hormone, it throws our body’s natural balance off and can lead to disorders such as hyperthyroidism or hypothyroidism. Without regulation, hormone imbalances can disrupt the symphony of your body. Instead, the right medical supervision and care can help you take control and keep the harmony.

Recognizing Signs of Hormonal Imbalance

Are you always tired?
Does your weight fluctuate?
Do you experience mood swings or lack of motivation?
These are just a few signs of a hormone imbalance. 

Not sure if your symptoms are due to hormone imbalance? 

Both men and women experience hormone imbalance, but with differentiating symptoms. Thyroid disorders are more common in women, and they often occur after pregnancy and with older age. But because the range of symptoms is so wide, without medical guidance, it can be nearly impossible to discover the source of imbalance and cause of unwanted symptoms. It’s possible that your imbalance may be the result of a dysfunctional thyroid. If there is a thyroid level imbalance in your body, you may be more susceptible to things like osteoporosis, heart disease, infertility, and fatigue. 

Causes of Horomonal Imbalance

Hormone imbalances can be triggered by a variety of factors, from genetics to lifestyle choices. In some cases, the cause may be unknown, but the effects of an imbalance can be far-reaching and impact multiple aspects of a person’s life. But there are also many causes for hormone imbalances not linked to specific underlying conditions or lifestyle habits. Finding the root cause to imbalances is the action required to take corrective action. 

We take a customized approach based on gender, age and symptoms and perform a thyroid panel to screen for thyroid disease, hyperthyroidism, and hypothyroidism, to comprehensively examine your body’s production of the thyroid hormones. 

Just as there are several types of hormone imbalances, several hormone imbalance tests can be used to determine which hormone is contributing to your symptoms.

In order to determine if you have a dysfunctional thyroid, we perform an Expanded Thyroid Panel. This can help differentiate whether you may have thyroid disease, hyperthyroidism, or hypothyroidism. 

The Expanded Thyroid Panel includes the following tests:

• Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH)
• Free T3
• Free T4
• Reverse T3

Many people have been told that their levels are normal but still experience a variety of thyroid related symptoms. Conventional medicine focuses on following a wrote restricted and insurance-driven approach to managing thyroid. This leaves many patients with little to no help in feeling as optimal as they should. 

Conventional medicine manages thyroid using laboratory reference ranges only, but since laboratory reference ranges are only based on a statistical average, just being in the normal reference range may not be optimal to control many thyroid symptoms. Determing imanages of your levels are optimal, and managing your thyroid symptoms is a Functional Medicine approach and is different from a conventional medicine approach. Optimizing thyroid function to ensure optimal symptom control is more important than just being in the “normal” reference range. 

Getting the Right Hormone Treatment

There are two types of thyroid disorders:

• Hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid) – symptoms may include fatigue, weight gain, poor concentration or brain fog, constipation, depression, and numbness or cold intolerance.
• Hyperthyroidism  (overactive thyroid)  –  symptoms may include weight loss,  anxiety, diarrhea, increased blood pressure, hair loss or a persistently fast heart rate.

The thyroid gland is a small gland located in the middle of your lower neck. This gland produces hormones responsible for numerous functions, like cell function, hair growth, heart rate and more. It’s also responsible for regulating how your body uses energy and metabolism. We like to say a sluggish thyroid gland can mean sluggish anything, maybe sluggish everything. 

Anyone can experience a variety of symptoms, like dry skin, constipation, weight gain, brittle nails and cold hands and feet that indicate a thyroid imbalance. Feeling sluggish, loss of muscle mass and erectile dysfunction are just some of the symptoms men will experience.

After proper assessment, we can take action to optimize your thyroid function, which in turn optimizes your health! From test results we know how to properly implement treatments such as hormone replacement therapy,  thyroid regulation and even direct a customized medical weight loss plan to help balance your body’s hormones and get rid of your symptoms naturally. Since the thyroid is highly influenced through nutrition, certain nutrients and diet plans can also be part of a comprehensive treatment plan.  

Ready to get started?

Every body is different, and even over time we may experience hormonal imbalance to a greater and lesser degree. Instead of guessing at self-assessment or self-regulation, which can be frustrating at best and futile at works, let our team at Advanced Practice Wellness Clinic bring our passion for natural health care to optimize your health and well-being. 

Want to add weight loss to the goals? Our Healthyweigh program offers a holistic approach to your weight loss and the balancing of your hormones in order to achieve a happy and healthy lifestyle while hitting your weight goals. Contact us today and start your journey to better health.