Optimize Hormones:
Adrenal,
Thyroid
& Sex Hormones

Hormones are tiny molecules that have a huge impact on the way your body works. Regardless of how clean a person strives to live, we are all exposed to vast amounts of toxins and stressors which have major negative impacts on hormone balance. Even young people in their 20's may experience hormones (and overall health) way below a normal range.

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Your body relies on hormones for new tissue growth, healing, energy, mood, sexual function, digestion, sleep, brain functions, pain management and more. Anyone who suffers from symptoms of hormone imbalance can find relief from trusted bioidentical hormones, natural supplements, diet and lifestyle modifications, peptides and more. 

 

Our goal is to improve your quality of life using natural methods and careful monitoring of your blood work and symptom response. We aim to optimize your master hormones, including adrenal hormones (cortisol and DHEA-S), thyroid hormones (Free T4, Free T3), pancreatic hormones (insulin),  and sex hormones (testosterone, estrogen, progesterone). It's particularly common for hormones to go haywire after a very stressful event, during and after pregnancy, and of course during perimenopause and menopause for women and andropause for men. The longer you wait to correct the imbalance, the worse it can get. Using menopause as an example, studies show that the closer to menopause that women start bioidentical hormone replacement therapy, the more they reduce their risk of dementia, cancer, cardiovascular disease, stroke, depression, anxiety, and osteoporosis. It is never too late to start certain types of HRT, but we see the best results when it is started earlier as it prevents the onset of these chronic diseases. At Tenacity Health, we also will address any sexual dysfunction challenges you are facing such as erectile dysfunction, low sex drive, difficulty with orgasm, pelvic floor dysfunction, and urinary incontinence. Some of these sexual dysfunction issues can be improved with our advanced physiotherapy device, the EmSella chair, which you can learn more about on this web page by clicking on  the tab above named "Procedures."  

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An effective hormone treatment strategy considers the "Hormone Hierarchy." If adrenal hormones are off-balance, this must be treated in order for thyroid, sex hormones, and insulin to normalize, and so on. Our NP looks not only at lab values but also your symptoms to determine where the imbalances may be, then works closely with you over time to bring your body back to homeostasis. 

 

Treatment is individualized - we do not believe in applying a canned protocol to every patient. Here are some examples, however, of what we may use to right-size your hormone imbalance: 

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Adrenal imbalance:  Lifestyle changes are immensely important to heal your adrenal glands. Also, adaptogenic herbs and dessicated adrenal gland can play a role. 

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Thyroid imbalance:  We treat thyroid lab values to optimal levels, as opposed to treating you to "normal" range, which is what is focused on in conventional medicine. Thyroid is your metabolism - every cell in your body has a thyroid hormone receptor and without optimal thyroid hormone levels, you will feel terrible and suffer with fatigue, brain fog, depression, weight gain and sometimes constipation, dry skin and hair loss. Many of those diagnosed with hypothyroidism have never had an expansive work-up to determine why their thyroid function is sluggish. Finding and addressing root causes can make all the difference. Also, many of those with thyroid disease are put on the medication levothyroxine (Synthroid), but they receive minimal lab monitoring and are undertreated - leaving them with ongoing 'low thyroid' symptoms but "normal"  TSH lab value. Our thyroid lab panel includes 6 different thyroid markers. We carefully monitor symptoms and optimize thyroid function. Optimal is much different than "normal" in terms of symptom relief and quality of life. Our strategies to thyroid optimization include diet and lifestyle changes, supplements, compounded sustained release thyroid medications, natural desiccated thyroid (NDT), low dose naltrexone (LDN) and more. 

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Insulin Resistance:  Insulin resistance is at epidemic levels in the USA and is decimating our health. Insulin resistance=metabolic dysfunction=prediabetes which leads to diabetes, which leads to cardiovascular disease, cancer and Alzheimer's dementia. At Tenacity, METABOLIC HEALTH is core to your treatment plan. We get a broad understanding of your metabolic health with fasting insulin levels, fasting blood sugar levels, hemoglobin A1C, biometric measurements, symptoms and more. Continuous Glucose Monitoring can also be a powerful tool to understand how you as an individual metabolize different foods. We use supplements, dietary changes, exercise and peptides to restore insulin sensitivity. Peptide strategies include semaglutide (Ozempic, Wegovy), tirzepatide (Mounjaro, Zepbound), Leucine, Apigenin, Growth Hormone Releasing Hormone such as Sermorelin and Tesamorelin, 5 Amino 1 MQ, Tesofensine and more. 

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Sex Hormones: Both men and women need adequate amounts of bioavailable testosterone, estrogen and progesterone to feel and perform their best. We carefully track your symptoms as well as serum lab values to identify imbalances. Treatment may include supplements, diet and exercise changes, and bioidentical hormone replacement therapy (BHRT). When it comes to delivery methods for hormone replacement, we offer subcutaneous hormone pellets (EvexiPel by Evexias), injections, topical creams, troches, lymphatic absorption oral capsules, patches, and intravaginal delivery methods. 

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DO I HAVE A HORMONE IMBALANCE?​

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Typical symptoms of imbalanced hormones:

• Fatigue or lack of energy 

• Brain Fog

• Mood changes or irritability

• Depression or anxiety that is new or worse

• Insomnia or never feeling "rested"

• Chronic pain or new or worsening joint or connective tissue pain

• Loss of confidence or assertiveness

• Brain fog or loss of mental sharpness

• Hair loss throughout the head, face, and body 

• Weight gain (especially in the waist area) and/or difficulty losing weight 

• Lower sex drive / low libido

• Erectile Dysfunction (ED)

• Vaginal atrophy, dryness, or painful sex

• Hot flashes

• Night sweats

• Loss of muscle mass or difficulty putting on muscle

• Low stamina

• Headaches or migraine

• Energy crashes in the afternoon

• Reliance on caffeine

• Feeling "tired but wired" in the evening

• Waking in the middle of the night

• Lightheadedness

• Frequent colds or infections

• Episodes of low blood sugar

• Craving carbs or salty foods

• Darkening or swelling around the eyes

 

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