Being tired all the time, cold all the time, overheating, horrible sleep and brutal fatigue in the afternoon is NOT normal folks.
Ladies! Having hot flashes in your 20’s and early 30’s is not normal (and NO birth control is not the answer).
Men, you didn’t think I was going to forget you did ya? Can’t get morning wood (or you’re having the dreaded premature ejaculation) – TMI but it needed to be thrown out there…yeah we should probably talk.
Not gaining muscle despite your testosterone looking good? It might not be your testosterone, it could be your adrenals!
How about that emotional rollercoaster? Why do we have PMS, massive clots (during your cycle) when once again it looks like the hormones are “decent” or “OK”?
Agitated all the time but it isn’t really anxiety (or maybe it is because the gut is out of balance, we can test for that).
Adrenals, Adrenals, Adrenals! This is why I look at the whole picture when testing patients.
Stress is one of the biggest issues for dwindling or stealing our hormones (DHEA, cortisol, pregnenolone, vitamin D, sex hormones) all of these are needed for basic function. SInce you asked, our progesterone to estrogen ratio should be 200:1. and our testosterone:estrogen ratio should be 50:1.
Did you know that if you have too little cortisol you can’t heal, if you have too much then it’s eroding the mucosa of the gut causing ulcers (microscopic lacerations on the colon and upper gut/small intestines occasionally as well which causes steroid steal. What does this have to do with overall hormones? Instead of it going to making progesterone (women) or testosterone (men) it goes to healing the gut. It’s all connected.If our gut is not healthy we aren’t balanced or optimized.
Upon stress, the elevated synthesis of cortisol may reduce (“steal”) the pregnenolone available for the synthesis of downstream hormones other than cortisol. This hypothetical scenario provides an explanation for the impaired progesterone production in response to stress
Where am I going with this? Our microbiome (the one in our gut specifically) is the missing link. Our gut is protected from many harmful factors like parasites as long as we have adequate amounts of lactobacillus and bifidobacterium. The problem is that many of us are wandering around with low diversity or an imbalanced gut flora. These bacteria protect and prevent pathogen proliferation. High sugar habits are feeding the pathogens that are bad for those two bacteria, we know stress, lifestyle factors and diet play a role.
One of the reasons I run a full GUT Zoomer panel is to see what pathogens are present, as well as the diversity of bacteria. When we know what we are up against we are able to really hone in on health. It’s one of the most used tools in my toolbox for my patients (read why here)
