Hormone Imbalance Remedies NYC - Dr. Alicia Armitstead

Western medicine thinks it is common for a woman going through menopause to have an underactive thyroid. Even though it is common, it shouldn’t happen. There are holistic things to do to help the thyroid  naturally as one gets older. 

-Dr. Alicia Armitstead

Your Natural Remedy for Hormone Imbalances at the Healing Arts NYC Health and Wellness Center in Manhattan NY 10017 and Connecticut

Hormonal imbalances refer to disruptions in the production, release, or functioning of hormones in the body. Hormones are chemical messengers that regulate various physiological processes and maintain balance in the body. When there is an overproduction, underproduction, or improper functioning of hormones, it can lead to hormonal imbalances.

These imbalances can occur due to various factors, such as stress, genetics, certain medical conditions, lifestyle choices, medications, or even natural aging processes. Hormonal imbalances can affect both men and women and may manifest in various ways, depending on which hormones are involved.

Common hormonal imbalance symptoms include weight changes, mood swings, irregular menstrual cycles, acne, fatigue, libido changes, hair loss, and sleep disturbances. Many women come to me for hormonal imbalances. 

• I have helped women suffering through menopause with insomnia and hot flashes. 
• I have helped women who were getting their period too often and others who weren’t getting their period at all. 
• I have helped infertile women get pregnant. 
• I have helped patients with fibroids, severe PMS, and hormonal weight gain feel better. 

When female hormones start changing, it can be upsetting because our bodies become a mystery, and it feels like anything we do to feel better doesn’t work. If you feel this way, I want you to know that we can help.  

When helping women balance their hormones, it’s obvious why we would help support the uterus and ovaries, but we also specifically support the hypothalamus gland, pituitary gland, liver, and thyroid. The ovaries produce testosterone, progesterone, and estrogen. Compared to males, female levels of testosterone are low. For healthy periods and fertility, these three hormones must be balanced. As one goes into menopause, the body produces less of these three hormones, but it is still important that they are balanced. 

Estrogen is not only produced in the ovaries, but the body’s fat also produces it. High estrogen levels can, unfortunately, cause the body to create more fat cells, producing an estrogen-dominant cycle that is hard to break. Estrogen dominance can lead to PCOS, uterine fibroids, irregular menstrual cycles, and thyroid dysfunction. So, if your estrogen levels are high, you want to lower them as soon as possible naturally. When we lose weight, our fat cells shrink and empty out, sending toxins and estrogen to the liver to be detoxed. That’s why we have to make sure the liver is working well and can handle the detox. 

Besides the liver, we will also want to support the uterus. We want to make sure that the uterus isn’t storing any toxins. In fact, the number one reason for any cysts or fibroids to grow in the body is that there is a toxin the body is trying to wall off, so it creates a sac full of fluid, called a cyst or a ball of tissue, called a fibroid, to protect itself from the toxin. 

I have seen fibroids shrink and cysts disappear once the toxin is removed from the body. After detoxing the uterus, we then want to support it with the right nutrition. The uterus loves healthy oils like evening primrose oil or wheat germ oil. Red raspberry leaf is a very good tonic for the uterus. These are the types of vitamins we will muscle test you for to see what the right support is to help your uterus. 

The organ that is in charge of the uterus and ovaries is the hypothalamus gland. The hypothalamus gland is a gland in the brain that secretes hormones to the pituitary gland. The pituitary gland is also in the brain. The pituitary gland then secretes hormones to the uterus, ovaries, adrenals, and thyroid based on what hormones the hypothalamus gland secretes. 

The hypothalamus gland is in charge of the whole hormonal chain. No one is looking at the hypothalamus gland other than doctors who muscle test. There is no blood work for the hypothalamus gland. They do hormone panels, thyroid panels, and a spit test for the adrenal glands, but there is no lab test specifically for the hypothalamus gland. This is the piece I think is missing the most when trying to help a woman with her hormones. The hypothalamus gland is what connects the brain to the hormone system. 

It is important to have the thyroid working optimally when it comes to fertility, too, because low levels of thyroid hormones interfere with ovulation and impair the release of an egg from the ovary. The thyroid affecting the ovaries like this can also affect the period. Too little or too much thyroid hormone can make the period very light, heavy, or irregular. 

Western medicine thinks it is common for a woman going through menopause to have an underactive thyroid. Even though it is common, it shouldn’t happen. There are things to do to help the thyroid as one gets older. Besides getting muscle tested for the right support, eating a packet of seaweed snacks a day can help. The thyroid loves seaweed. 

To keep the liver healthy, one has to be able to detox easily; otherwise, the liver gets backed up with toxins and has to work very hard. If the liver is in a place of working really hard and toxins are backed up, then cholesterol levels increase, and we are at risk for cardiovascular disease. A total cholesterol level of below 250mg/dL is normal. I know medical doctors want it below 200mg/dL, but I have not seen any scientific evidence that pushing your cholesterol below 200mg/dL is actually healthier for you.

Hormone Imbalance Case Study

There was a period of time in my life when I took birth control on and off for two years. My body seemed fine with it at the time until I developed a blood clot in my leg. It was only then that I knew I had to get off of it. 

When I got off of it, my period was never the same, and I would get a period every 45-60 days, which was kind of nice not to have your period as often, so I didn’t really mind. It wasn’t until after having my second child at the age of 37 that I understood what birth control did to me. I am now 42 years old and haven’t had a period since giving birth. Birth control put me into early menopause at 37 years old. 

As my body changed, I dealt with hot flashes and weight gain. At first, I thought it was just long-lasting postpartum issues, but once I realized I was going through medically induced menopause from birth control, I supported my hormones and detoxed my liver. I assumed it would correct itself, and I would get my period back, but it never came. No matter what I did, I couldn’t override what birth control did to me, and I have since embraced early menopause. 

On average, menopause occurs at age 51. The age range of menopause is 45-55 years old. Menopause is divided into three stages: perimenopause, menopause, and postmenopause. Perimenopause starts when the periods start to change. Changes are different for everyone. Sometimes periods become heavier, sometimes lighter. Other times, you get them less often, and yet I have seen women start perimenopause by getting two periods in a month.

Your cycle just starts changing. This can continue for years but, on average, lasts about four years. You can get pregnant during perimenopause. Eventually, your period becomes less and less frequent until it doesn’t happen at all. Once you don’t have a period for 12 months, you are now declared in menopause, and your reproductive years are over. During menopause, you can still have hormonal symptoms such as hot flashes. Once hormonal symptoms are over, you are in postmenopause for the rest of your life. 

Toxins to Avoid 

There are certain toxins that can affect hormone levels. Plastic toxicity is one of them. There is something in plastic called phthalates that acts like estrogen in the body. Phthalates are chemicals that make plastic soft and flexible. So, we want to stay away from plastic whenever possible. 

• No plastic forks, spoons, straws.
• If you love straws, then you can buy stainless steel straws off Amazon.
• No plastic water bottles. I use a glass one called a Flaska that I absolutely love. You can use stainless steel water bottles too. 
• Do your best to avoid ziplock bags, saran wrap, Tupperware. To store leftovers, I use pyrex, glass containers with rubber tops and I just don’t let the food touch the rubber. But if you buy a bag of frozen peas it is what it is, nothing you can do about it. I always suggest to my patients to just do the best they can. They will not be able to get rid of plastic 100%. 

It’s great that the government recognizes BPA as a toxin that not only interferes with women’s hormones and fertility but also causes cancer, among other health issues. But BPA is not the only toxin in plastic, and I don’t know how long it will take for the government to recognize it. 

Another toxin is the estrogen found in the food we eat. Eating food rich in estrogen causes our estrogen levels to increase and throw our hormones out of balance. Chicken, eggs, beef, fish, milk, yogurt, and cheese contain high amounts of estrogen. Dairy has naturally high hormones even if synthetic hormones are not added to livestock feed. Chickens tend to have the highest amount of estrogen in their urine than any other animal raised for meat, indicating chicken has the highest level of estrogen in their meat. 

Pesticides interfere with hormone balance in the body, so eat as organic as possible. Phytoestrogen is a compound in plants that acts like estrogen in the body, and if we eat too much phytoestrogens, then the hormones get out of balance because the body thinks it has too much estrogen. Foods that contain phytoestrogens include soy and soy products, flax seeds, grapes, carrots, lentils, licorice, bourbon, olive oil, and oats. If you are wondering if your meat consumption, soy or other foods are affecting your hormone levels, get muscle tested to see if limiting your meat or going on a plant-based diet is best for you. 

If you have any of these hormonal symptoms, we can help:

• Hot flashes
• Weight gain
• Fatigue
• Waking up too early
• Infertility
• PCOS
• Fibroids
• Getting your period too often
• Not getting your period monthly
• Acne 
• Moodiness
• Vaginal dryness or itching
• Loss of sex drive
• Brain fog

I have had women get blood work for their hormones and be labeled as having ovarian failure or early menopause before the age of 40. They started a nutrition program with me, got their period back, got pregnant, and gave birth to more than one child. I have had 30-year-olds without periods get their period back. 

Mood is not always easy during PMS or menopause. Sometimes, we cry at everything. Other times, we are easily overwhelmed and irritable. We just don’t feel like ourselves, and it’s due to the hormone imbalance. But sometimes, it can be due to emotions being stuck in our bodies that need to be released. Emotion is energy in motion, e-motion. We have to think of emotion as a way for our body to communicate with us, to let us know something is off. We are not our emotions. We should not internalize them as who we are but as an energy that has to move through us. 

When emotions get stuck in the body, it doesn’t feel good. We get overwhelmed easily. We have anxiety or depression. To help, we have a technique called Emotional Release (https://www.healingartsnyc.com/emotional-release-therapy-nyc) that can help move stuck emotions in the body. Using muscle testing, we can identify what emotion is stuck and where. We then use magnets to release the emotion and reset the nervous system. It helps with moods, anxiety, depression, and insomnia. 

Sometimes, it’s not a stuck emotion in the body but a subconscious belief that is in our way. Psych-K is the muscle testing technique we use to identify what subconscious beliefs might be getting in your way, not just with your mood and how you feel but also with your relationships and job. The subconscious is the part of the brain that runs the show. It is a hundred times faster than your conscious brain, and we act on it without even knowing it. Examples of subconscious beliefs that may be getting in the way are:

• I am not worthy.
• Life is hard.
• I am not deserving.
• Life is stressful.

So when it comes to mood, we help you by figuring out if it’s hormonal, stuck emotions, subconscious beliefs, or a combination. 

Additional References

• Thyroid Health Part 1 - Dr. Alicia Armitstead Podcast