Balance Your Hormones & Energy the Natural Way
Let’s work together to find balance in you.
Everyone knows that, at a certain age, women go through a process called menopause, characterized by hot flashes. Other symptoms, which gain less attention, are mood swings, weight gain, decreased energy, reduced muscle mass, and a low sex drive. It’s not unheard of for these symptoms to be seen in men, during a similar process called andropause.
Menopause and andropause are both caused by hormone imbalance. Hormones are chemical messengers in the body which regulate mood, growth, energy levels, and sexual function. Generally, the body is at a state of equilibrium, where hormones are properly balanced and the body has the right amounts to function properly. At certain times, though, hormones become unbalanced. During these times, a person’s mood, physical growth, energy, and sex experience dramatic shifts. The first time this imbalance is experienced is puberty, when these functions are accelerated. During menopause/andropause, though, the imbalance is felt the other direction, and these functions experience a decrease.
This is, understandably, an uncomfortable time in life. These symptoms disrupt your daily routines and satisfaction, and need to be treated. One method is to treat each symptom — mood swings, weight gain, decreased energy/muscle mass, and low sex drive — individually. However, this method is not ideal. Each symptom typically requires its own medication, and you end up swallowing a mouthful of pills to fight off surface-level problems, all the while avoiding the underlying root cause — hormone imbalance.
The better option is to restore balance. But even here, you have options. Traditionally, balance is restored by ingesting synthetic hormones — hormones produced through animal hormones, adapted for human use. These Frankenstein hormones are known to work, but not without risks. Synthetic hormones differ on the molecular level from natural herbs, and at times may be falsely identified by the immune system as dangerous agents, and thus trigger an allergic response. These can result in headaches, bloating, or other negative symptoms. The research says that synthetic hormones may even increase risk of breast cancer.
Our goal is to get your body to a point of balance that it is able to balance its own hormones. Now, this is often not an overnight process, and it may require the use of plant based hormones and other natural herbs and supplements. But it is, in most cases, VERY possible and simple. Some exceptions are patients who have had a hysterectomy. They don’t have all their parts, therefore they may never balance without direct hormone support.
In getting the body to balance itself, we look at the body as a whole. We help facilitate each person through his or her own program of balancing following the five key factors of restoring health.
These five “must do’s” aren’t step-by-step, in fact, many patients in my clinic are doing 3 or 4 of these steps concurrently. To regain your health and vitality quickly and effectively, you might need to take different supplements at a time. These products are designed to work together, and it is nearly impossible to overdo healthy supplementation.
- Restore alkaline pH to the tissues and ensure your body has the basic sources of fuel
- Repair blood sugar and the Endocrine System
- Detoxify the body and Repair the Gut
- Eliminate chronic infection
- Rejuvenate and maintain the body’s systems
The key component to balancing hormones naturally is step 2 -Repair blood sugar and the Endocrine System. This includes looking at natural thyroid support and repairing fatigued adrenal glands. Often times by restoring the feedback loop, the hormones will balance.
The endocrine system and hormone levels are controlled by the HPA axis (hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis). In the endocrine system, each of the below glands send signals to one another. When the signal is clear from top to bottom and loops back up without interference, hormones are in and stay in proper balance. For example, the Pituitary gland sends a signal to the thyroid gland (TSH – thyroid stimulating hormone) stimulating the thyroid then releases it’s hormones – T3 and T4. And they send signals down and then those hormones signal and that keeps happening until the message reached the ovaries or testes to keep the sex hormones in balance.
If one of these glands are not functioning properly and the correct signal is not sent, we have a hormone imbalance. In our office, we like to go upstream and correct the mis-signaling in the endocrine system. Often times we trace it back to the adrenals the adrenals often times are stressful and they will “rob Peter to pay Paul.” Meaning, they will stop their signaling function in the HPA feedback loop because they are too stressed dealing with external stressors. We will then work on balancing or rebuilding the adrenal glands to repair the signal.
We may also find the imbalance is all the way at the top and we have to start with rebuilding the pituitary gland or the thyroid gland. Each person has a different starting point. You may or may not need direct hormone support while doing this. If hormone support is needed we use natural hormonal creams, capsules, and sub-lingual plant based hormones.
Schedule your appointment with Dr. Wards to rebalance your hormones and your life.
Infinity Wellness Center
Austin, Texas 78748
512-291-7702 - fax
info@austinholisticdr.com
Business Hours:
By appointment only. Our Herbal Pharmacy is open for walk-ins (for patients) during these hours.
M - 8:30 AM - 4:30 PM
T - 8:30 AM - 4:30 PM
W - 8:30 AM - 4:30 PM
TH - 8:30 AM - 4:30 PM
F-S - CLOSED