Naturopathic Medicine for Menopause

Naturopathic medicine today is a science-based, holistic, natural approach to discovering the best health possible for you.

When considering Naturopathic medicine for Menopause specifically, it's important to assess the whole woman and not just her hormones as many other systems in the body play up at this time and can produce the same or similar patterns of symptoms as menopause. Remember that all women will stop menstruating but not all women will suffer. If it truly was just a hormonal issue, all women would suffer and they don't. It's time to dig deeper and find out what YOUR individual underlying cause or causes are.

Here are just a few areas that need to be thoroughly invested at this time.

• ADRENAL health. One of the biggest differences between women who have symptoms and those that don't can be directly related to the amount of long-term stress they have experienced over their lifetime. This is a major concern as who hasn't experienced stress? Adrenal dysfunction produces very similar symptoms to menopause eg night sweats, fatigue, muscular aches, headaches, brain fog, mood swings, and low mood in general.
• LIVER function. During the menopausal transition, we often see raised liver enzymes, which can occur for many different reasons, and lower estrogen levels are just one of them. Symptoms your liver isn't coping well include headaches, itchy skin, pain in your upper right quadrant (lower part of your ribs), fatigue, weakness, nausea, easy bruising, swollen ankles, brain fog, skin pigmentation, insomnia, weight gain, and constipation.
• DIGESTIVE health. Did you know your digestive microbiome is responsible for synthesising and secreting hormones, regulating the expression of hormones, inhibiting some hormones, and enhancing the production of others? There is a specific subpart of the microbiome called the estrobiome and it focuses specifically on estrogen metabolism. So if your digestive system is working well you have a better chance at good hormonal health but if it's not what it used to be, it could be the cause of your hormonal hell?
• THYROID health. Thyroid function is definitely worth thoroughly investigating as the number of women who struggle with thyroid dysfunction doubles during the menopausal transition. Signs of hypothyroidism (sluggish thyroid function) include fatigue, brain fog, weight gain, hair loss, constipation, mood swings, and depression. 

Naturopathy is an umbrella term for multiple natural therapies. Personally, I'm trained in Nutritional Medicine, Western Herbal Medicine, Functional Medicine, Counselling, and Meditation. But this varies from practitioner to practitioner.

My initial consultation includes: 

1. What is YOUR goal for your health?
2. List out, grade, and discuss all your current signs and symptoms.
3. Timeline of your health. Your personal history holds so many clues to your current health levels. Family history if known is also taken into account.
4. Discuss your lifestyle - what does a typical day look like for you? Do you sleep well, exercise, are you stressed?
5. Environmental health - do you live in a mouldy home, are you exposed to toxic substances or excessive radiation?
6. Nutrition - what does your current diet look like? Do you have any nutritional deficiencies?
7. Testing - what have you previously completed and what is missing?
8. Are you on any medication or supplements? Consider potential interactions or increased nutrient needs due to medication.
9. Putting together a treatment plan, that is 100% unique to the women in front of me. Consider if any referrals are needed. I often refer to pelvic physiotherapists and chiropractors.  

This takes about 60 minutes, as there are multiple causes of most symptoms. To get the desired results you need to uncover the true underlying cause/s. Simply taking hormone replacement doesn't address other possible issues. I'm not knocking hormone replacement, it does have a time and a place but it's often prescribed without thoroughly investigating other issues.

If you would like to discuss your health concerns with me directly I offer a complimentary discovery call, click the link below to see if I can help you get back on track with your health.  Click to reserve your appointment now. (Please note you may need to change the timezone to see the available times in your local timezone).