I will often have women who will see me with the goal of being “more hormonally balanced” or to “balance my hormones”. I must investigate further to ask what their main symptoms are. Sometimes I hear hot flashes, night sweats, and vaginal dryness. Or anxiety, depression, irritability, and insomnia. Or hair loss, dry skin, fatigue, foggy thinking, and weight gain. Or low libido, loss of muscle tone, bone loss, and memory loss. All these symptoms could come from different hormone systems like estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, adrenals, and thyroid. Unfortunately, they can all affect each other so it can get complicated. My role as a Certified Menopause Practitioner is to figure out the root cause of the symptoms.
Some patients come in asking me to recommend products to help with their main symptoms. I’ll let them know that I can try and make my best guess, but it will be a trial-and-error process. Some of my favorite products for hot flashes and night sweats are products containing rhaphontic rhubarb (Estrovera), giant angelica, cordyceps (Menopause Relief), and black cohosh, sage, Estro-G100 (MenoEase). If the patient responds well then great, but if not, then one would have to look further for the root cause including unwanted inflammation, stress, toxins, and blood sugar dysregulation.
For stress and adrenal support, I will often recommend products containing adaptogens like ashwagandha, L-theanine (Adrenal Chill), withania, chaga (Vitality), and rhodiola, shisandra, ginseng (Adrenal-Matrix). I also will recommend Magnesium Glycinate and Stress B Complex by Thorne. Stress and managing cortisol levels can be complicated and may require in-depth testing to see if cortisol production is the problem or if the body is holding on to the cortisol longer than it should.
For hypothyroid symptoms like weight gain, hair loss, brittle nails, dryer skin, low energy, and constipation, my favorite product is Thyroid-Matrix. This can be very helpful for borderline cases of hypothyroidism and patients that are lacking cofactors that allow for maximum thyroid functioning. Some patients respond well with this, but some patients will need a full thyroid assessment and comprehensive testing. They may need thyroid hormones even though the standard tests are “normal” or look at the root cause which can be related to gut health.
To truly understand the root cause of the hormone imbalance one needs to take a look at everything that can affect the hormone system including stress, gut problems, toxins, inflammation, and blood sugar dysregulation. For more information, I would suggest coming to my upcoming Hormone Balancing Seminar held every few months (next seminar is Mar 28, 2023 – attendees will get a free Estrovera sample). Or ask for a copy of my 10-page questionnaire and consider booking a private one-on-one consultation.
Sign up for the seminar HERE.
For a preview of Pharmacist Lyle’s seminar click HERE.
Lyle Sunada is a compounding pharmacist and NAMS Certified Menopause Practitioner specializing in hormone balancing and alternative medicine at Cloverdale Pharmasave. He also specializes in veterinary medicine for animals. Everything mentioned in the article is available In-Store.
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