Normal Is Not Optimal in Hormones

Many times patients will go to their primary care provider believing they have a hormone imbalance only to hear that everything is “normal”.  Normal is not optimal, and when looking at normal reference ranges of hormones, you will see that the normal range is wide.  A good example is when a menopausal woman does blood work and has an estrogen level of < 30 pmol/L.  While it certainly is normal for a menopausal woman to have no estrogen, it does not help with the symptoms experienced such as low mood, brain fog, irritability, low motivation, fatigue, low libido, hot flashes, night sweats, sore muscles, aching joints, and weight gain to name a few of the symptoms. Not to mention the fact that as estrogen depletes chronic diseases including type II diabetes, high cholesterol, and hypertension start to manifest.

This is the same for men, who begin to lose 20 % of their testosterone per decade.  For men in middle adulthood, having lower testosterone levels around 200-300 nmol/L is normal, but it does not help with the way they feel.  They too begin to experience the same symptoms as perimenopausal/menopausal women, and begin to develop chronic disease with the lack of testosterone production.

In perimenopause it typically is not an estrogen issue, but rather the lack of progesterone production.

If you have been told your hormone levels are normal, and you are not convinced, it may be that they are not optimal. 

After having blood work, and reviewing your symptoms and health history, we can determine together, a treatment plan that is best for you.  For some people, it can simply be a vitamin deficiency, or vitamins on the lower end of normal.  However, it is typically a multitude of factors, especially low hormone levels or an imbalance of  thyroid (TSH, T3, T4), DHEA, testosterone, estrogen, and/or progesterone.

For an assessment, or if you have further questions, please call 780-512-9329, or contact the clinic via the website.

Michelle Koch MN:NP