Wanna hear a funny joke? I’m going to assume you said yes because I don’t know anyone who doesn’t wanna hear a funny joke. My mom’s doctor told her this which makes it even funnier.

Q: How do you make a hormone?

A: Don’t pay her…

Badumbum

Ok, so in case you haven’t caught on today’s post is about hormones!  

As women we have the joy of dealing with hormones our whole lives with all of their ups and downs.  From preteen years when it all starts through menopause and the after effects, our hormones are really one of the keys to our overall health.

It’s really amazing to me how little some women know about their cycles and how little they know about all the different ways that out of whack hormones can affect you.

We’re kind of led to believe that it’s just one of those things we have to suck it up and deal with and that couldn’t be further from the truth! Did you know that PMS is not normal, and perimenopause and menopause is not supposed to be a terrible time in your life.

As an acupuncture physician and functional medicine practitioner I see mostly women in my private practice and with the majority of them we’re working on hormonal imbalances in some form.

Western Medicine really doesn’t have great options for women who are looking to balance their hormones unless you’re ok with taking pills that can have some pretty terrible side effects.  Typically your doctor will recommend going on birth control to try to even them out but this is usually a horrible idea for most women and can cause a lot of problems down the road as well.

Luckily, there are all kinds of natural ways to balance your hormones!  Depending on where you are in your life there can be a variety of reasons you’re dealing with hormonal issues.  

In functional medicine we’re more focused on finding the underlying cause of any imbalances- it can be diet, stress, exposure to chemicals known to disrupt the endocrine system or any number of things.  We work with our patients on figuring out what their root cause(s) may be.

In the past most women were only offered blood tests to look at hormone levels but this isn't the best way to get a picture of what’s happening.  We’re so lucky to live in a time where advancements are being made and a few years ago a new test came on the scene called the DUTCH test. DUTCH stands for Dried Urine Test for Comprehensive Hormones and what’s even more magical is it can be done in the comfort of your own home!

As you can likely deduce from the name it looks at dried urine samples and gives an amazing amount of info on your stress hormones as well as sex hormones.  Not only that but it can tell us how your body is metabolizing or breaking down the different hormones.

So how do you know if this test is for you?

How’s your energy? Are you able to wake up easily, get going and maintain that throughout the day?  On the flip side, can you wind down in the evening and get to sleep quickly without tossing and turning? If not, looking at your adrenal and cortisol numbers on the DUTCH test can tell us why and how to fix it.

Are you dealing with anxiety, irritability, feeling tired but wired? If yes, your DUTCH test results can tell us why!

Struggling with PMS, mood swings, breast tenderness or fibrocystic breasts, PCOS, hair loss or thinning, infertility, low libido, weight gain, or feel like you’re aging quicker than you should? Your test results can show us if you’re experiencing estrogen dominance so we can address it!

Wanna know if your body is metabolizing your estrogen properly so you can make sure you aren’t dealing with the “bad” estrogens that increase your risk for cancer?  You guessed it, the DUTCH test can show us so we can make changes if it’s not the healthy pathway!

They also recently added a few Organic Acid markers to the test for no additional charge.  These Organic Acids will provide more information about neurotransmitter metabolites of dopamine, serotonin, and norepinephrine as well as status of B6, B12, and glutathione.

Basically, if you’re dealing with fatigue, anxiety, depression, mood issues, insomnia, stress, or low libido you need this test!

The DUTCH test results allow us to create a customized supplement and lifestyle program to help get you back on track and eliminate the symptoms you’re experiencing by fixing the root cause instead of just covering up symptoms!

Note: This test is not for you if you are taking birth control as that just suppresses your hormones so we won’t get accurate readings.  You need to be off birth control for 3 cycles before a DUTCH test is recommended. You can however just do the DUTCH adrenal test that looks at the stress hormones only.

Our Happy Hormone Blueprint was specifically designed for women dealing with hormonal imbalances who are looking for natural approach to get back on track.  

It seems like every woman I meet whether it's a patient or not is dealing with some symptom(s) that's making it almost impossible to be the person that want to be.  Moms especially tend to take better care of their kids than they do themselves and it’s time to change that.

Being a mom is hard work and there's a lot of stress, worry, anxiety, and lack of sleep that tends to go along with it.  Being able to get a clear picture of what’s going on with your hormones is the place to start if you are ready to live a healthy happy life. We gotta take care of ourselves in order to take care of everyone else!

Click here to read more about the program and everything that it includes.

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