Click here to book your complimentary introductory phone call today!
Menopause is one of the most significant shifts in a woman’s life, marking the end of her childbearing years and the beginning of a time that many women find liberating.
However, a host of accompanying symptoms can affect a woman’s well-being, from her sleep quality and emotional state to sudden, unpleasant body temperature changes (hot flashes and night sweats), vaginal dryness, and incontinence issues.
The major physical change that contributes to the emergence of these symptoms is a drop in the production of both estrogen and progestin, but it’s the plummeting estrogen that’s responsible for the majority of symptoms. In other words, menopause is a lot more than just the end of your period.
The team at The Well for Health understands how finely coordinated our endocrine systems are, and when our hormones fluctuate significantly — even as a result of natural causes — our physical and emotional equilibrium can be upended. We are dedicated to providing advanced care to patients by working within a functional medicine framework.
Rather than addressing isolated sets of symptoms, this approach considers how everything from your genetic makeup and lifestyle to the environment that surrounds you impacts your health. The Well for Health is committed to finding the root cause of your health challenge, rather than merely scraping the surface.
Your thyroid gland does critical work — its primary job is to regulate your metabolism and manage how your body uses the energy you get from its fuel, food. Tucked under the front of your neck, it’s shaped like a butterfly, and even though that sounds delicate, this gland works day in and day out.
In addition to overseeing how your metabolism functions, your thyroid also plays a role in regulating your heartbeat, digestion, breathing, and fertility, to name a few.
Since your thyroid is responsible for so much, it’s easy to understand that if it gets out of whack and stops producing and secreting the right amounts of hormones, varied problems can develop, including weight fluctuations, heart function issues, and fatigue.
Here’s the short answer. The American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE) has stated that millions of women experiencing symptoms of menopause could be living with undiagnosed thyroid disease.
We do know that menopausal women are at higher risk for developing thyroid disease and that menopause and the thyroid are connected.
But let’s dig a little deeper — what does this look like? After menopause, you may be diagnosed with hypothyroidism — when your thyroid isn’t as active as it should be — or hyperthyroidism, when it’s overactive.
For example, hyperthyroidism can lead to excess energy, weight loss, sleep problems, digestive issues like diarrhea, getting overheated, and anxiety. Hypothyroidism does the opposite — you’re likely to feel cold all the time, sluggish and tired, and constipated. Your weight might also inch up.
When you meet with our team to focus on hormone imbalance related to menopause, we have an in-depth conversation with you about your symptoms, how long you’ve been experiencing them, how your menopause journey has unfolded so far, and more. We may also recommend that you have a complete wellness evaluation, an innovative screening The Well for Health offers that looks at key drivers of health like:
After we gather and assess the vital information that the wellness evaluation reveals and if we find that your hormones are dysregulated during or after menopause, we might recommend dietary changes and improvements (and losing weight, if needed), an increase in physical activity or pursuing different activities than what your used to, and cellular detoxification treatment.
Learning to manage your stress more effectively — think yoga classes, meditation, and connecting with others — can also serve to ease your menopausal thyroid symptoms.
Our team also prioritizes looking at how and where you live and work, how these environments may contribute to your symptoms, and what changes you can make to create a healthier environment — and a healthier you!
If our team finds that your hormones are dysregulated and that you’re suffering from menopause symptoms because of it, we may also suggest hormone replacement therapy, where you take artificial injectable, oral, or topical hormones to regulate your hormone levels. This can ease menopause symptoms considerably, and help your thyroid function better.
When you approach your health holistically, you leave no stone uncovered and know you’re doing all you can to remedy your health challenges.
Call our Mooresville, North Carolina, office at 704-459-5296 to schedule an appointment with us so you can feel and function well again.
