Sure, you and your patients know the common menopausal symptoms but in reality, hormone imbalance extends much further. Patients are well read and quite savvy. They understand that stress hormones can go awry, and thyroid function can be compromised. Still yet, I believe what they really want is to come their trusted provider to help them make sense of what they read.
Since we cannot limit our understanding of hormone imbalance to menopause or perimenopausal symptoms, the first step is to acknowledge hormone imbalance can include excess or deficient levels of sex hormones (estrogen, progesterone, testosterone), adrenal hormones (DHEA and Cortisol), thyroid hormone function, as well as poor glucose metabolism and insulin resistance. In fact, patients can have issues stemming from all of these endocrine glands at the same time!
With this in mind it should be clear that your patients could be experiencing a wide array of symptoms. Comprehensive functional hormone testing can confirm your suspicions. However, these 7 symptoms are tale-tale signs that should get your attention. Feel free to print or copy this text in this mini quiz to share with your patients
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