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I talk to women all day, every day, and have come to the conclusion that most women over the age of 35 pretty much want the same 3 things:
-to sleep
-to lose weight
-to have libido
So guess what we focus on at our Happy Hormone Cottage? You got it: getting our women to sleep, lose weight and regain libido, among other hormone imbalance issues. So what's the big deal?? I've said it before and I'll say it again, "If women felt better with the tools of their conventional health care practitioners, they wouldn't be coming to see me!" But women aren't better! Here's the thing: our conventionally trained doctors have gone to conventional medical school, that is at least 50 years behind the science and research. The system of medicine practiced by most physicians today is oriented toward acute care, where they apply specific, prescribed treatments such as drugs or surgery that aim to treat the immediate problem or symptom. Most physicians are not adequately trained to assess the underlying causes of complex issues or chronic disease and to apply strategies such as nutrition, supplementation and exercise to treat and prevent these illnesses in their patients. And with the focus of medical school being on drug therapy that treats symptoms without ever
fixing the cause, the mind set that might embrace more natural treatments, like customized hormone replacement therapy is not endorsed. In fact, what I have found to be true is reflected in my bumper sticker, "Condemnation Without Investigation in the Height of Arrogance!" So what to do? Our Happy Hormone Cottage philosophy embraces Functional Medicine. What is functional medicine? It is an evolution in the practice of medicine that better addresses the healthcare needs of the 21st century. By shifting the traditional disease-centered focus of medical practice to a more patient-centered approach, functional medicine addresses the whole person, not just an isolated set of symptoms. Functional medicine practitioners spend time with their patients, listening to their histories and looking at the interactions among genetics, environmental, and lifestyle factors that can influence long-term health and complex, chronic disease. In this way, functional medicine supports the unique expression of health and vitality for each individual. In summary, functional medicine is a patient-centered, science-based healthcare approach, that integrates traditional Western medical practices with alternative or "integrative" medicine that focuses on prevention through nutrition, supplementation, exercise, detoxification programs, stress-management techniques along with lab testing and a combination of drugs and/or botanical medicines. In Functional Medicine, prevention is paramount and the patient becomes an active partner who is encouraged to be in charge of improving his/her own health to change the outcome of disease. Sign me up! What I find to be true in our country is a very limited mind set with very limited tools in our practitioners' tool box, so when women visit them with hormone imbalance issues (sleep, libido, weight gain, fatigue, brain fog, hair loss, hot flashes, etc) the standard of care simply doesn't address the issues. It band-aids the symptoms with estrogen products, anti-depressants and sleeping aids. On top of this, very few doctors are checking existing hormone levels, and when they do, they are using blood serum hormone levels, where they have been depleted by the heart, and the ranges are so large, one would have to be dead to be out of range. So every woman who is symptomatic with a hormone imbalance issue is not validated because her hormone levels are "within normal range." So why not use saliva testing, where the hormones are checked at the tissue level of cells and the ranges are very specific? Well, most doctors aren't familiar with saliva testing.....or customized hormone therapy that replaces physiologically exactly what hormones have depleted with age. And again, what is that bumper sticker? "Condemnation Without Investigation is the Height of Arrogance." I find this to be extremely sad for women everywhere. This explains why we are so busy at our Happy Hormone Cottage offices and why we have opened offices in Kettering, Mason and Crestview Hills, Kentucky in less than 3 years. Women are better and women talk......and it's about time we can feel better WITHOUT a prescription for a drug that will simply mask the symptoms.
What we know to be true is that the first line of defense for a hormone imbalance, that begins around age 35 for most women, is progesterone. This is the hormone responsible for sleep (anxiety, mood, sugar cravings, aches & pains, and balancing estrogen to help prevent breast cancer). Once we get our women sleeping again AND we heal their exhausted adrenal glands to address their adrenal fatigue, libido comes back. It does take time! I get a kick out of women who email me a few weeks into their natural hormone therapy journey and want to know when their libido will return. I always ask them, "Well, how long has your libido been missing? Three years?? Well, we need about 8 months to positively impact your health so libido can return."
Progesterone also balances estrogen to get rid of estrogen dominance. When our progesterone levels begin to deplete at that magic age of 35, we become estrogen dominant. This is that 25-30 pounds around our middle that we just can't get rid of. Estrogen dominance is also responsible for brain fog and an elevated risk for breast cancer. So it always fascinates me when our doctors prescribe an estrogen product! Why is this, when we know that it is progesterone that we need first. I guess this is one reason why women aren't better! By balancing our estrogen dominance with progesterone, we CAN lose weight. Prescribing estrogen for women who don't need it (again, we always check hormone levels first!!) promotes weight gain and an elevated risk for breast cancer. And it certainly does nothing for sleep, anxiety, mood or brain fog. So no wonder women aren't better!
You're in luck because our passion at our cottage is YOUR best health naturally. Still need a reason to visit us besides the fact that you may be sick and tired of feeling sick and tired? How about this truth: IF you do nothing for your existing hormone imbalance issues, TODAY is the BEST day you will have! You will never feel better than today! This truth alone is the motivational force for many of our clients. How about you? If this resonates with you, give us a call at 513-444-6343 (Dayton and Cincinnati) or 859-360-6696 (northern Kentucky) for your free consultation. We look forward to serving you!
Warmly,
Lyn |
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