There are so many things that affect a woman’s overall health and wellness that are not being addressed in today’s world.
Testosterone comes first. Testosterone needs, which are critical for the quality and longevity of a woman’s life, are just starting to be discussed with very few women getting the proper advice. A woman’s body naturally makes estrogen by converting testosterone through a process called aromatization, which is why we start with testosterone in women’s hormone care. When testosterone is where it should be, her body can often make enough of its own estrogen to ease hot flashes, night sweats and vaginal dryness, with less need for added estrogen and less worry about estrogen dominance.
Pregnancy and beyond. Planning for pregnancy is critical to having the safest and healthiest pregnancy and the healthiest child. If the mother’s body is full of metabolic and other chemical waste, this can greatly affect the mother and developing child. If the mother is deficient in nutrients, this can be very bad for the developing child and make the mother feel terrible and result in mood swings, post-partum depression, nausea, sleep issues, weakness and fatigue.
Women have special needs; their bodies are built a certain way and need to be treated as such. Pillars of Wellness understands the unique needs of a woman’s body, how it works and the specific chemical and physical requirements needed for proper wellness and long-term health.
Dr. Chalmers has worked with women on their hormones for 15 years, in Frisco, TX and by telehealth. Choose a topic to learn how we approach it.
Hot flashes, poor sleep, low libido and brain fog. Why we start with testosterone, then balance estrogen and progesterone.
Painful or irregular cycles, stubborn weight and insulin resistance, treated as the metabolic condition it is.
Pain, heavy periods and fertility struggles, with more options between birth control and surgery.
Tired, cold and foggy with “normal” labs? The full thyroid workup and the minerals your thyroid runs on.
Find the hormone, iron, thyroid and insulin issues behind the exhaustion, including chronic fatigue syndrome.
No drive, no joy, life feels gray. The hormone and metabolic side of mood, alongside your care team.
Physiologically, women don’t “make estrogen”; they make testosterone and then aromatize (convert) it into estrogen. So if you want to follow the design of the body, you start with testosterone. Since it then converts into estrogen, you often do not have to give that much estrogen. Doing it this way reduces the dangers of excess estrogen.
Yes, it can completely eliminate them. Do not feel like you need to go through this torture; it can be fixed pretty quickly.
You may have seen that PCOS (polycystic ovary syndrome) has been renamed polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome (PMOS). This means it is now widely acknowledged that the issue is metabolic in origin. Both PCOS and endometriosis are highly tied to insulin resistance and systemic inflammation. We can start to see significant reduction in symptoms in 8 weeks with the Metabolic Reset.
80-250. The old lab ranges were limited because the medical community considers clitoral engorgement a negative side effect for women. However, in the 15 years I have been doing HRT with women, so far they all tell me they really like the change. Stronger, easier-to-achieve, more powerful orgasms are something women consider a positive. Your normal medical labs stop at 60-70 because that’s where clitoral engorgement starts to happen, and it was decided that was a bad thing. So if you want better orgasms, you have to start at 80 and go up from there.
It can be, but it’s an individual decision made with your medical team. If you currently have cancer, hormone therapy is off the table for now. If you’ve had cancer in the past, we review your history, your oncologist’s input and your labs together. Having had cancer doesn’t mean the rest of your life has to be miserable.
Everyone aromatizes testosterone into estrogen in their fat cells. If you lose a lot of fat, it can change your blood levels of estrogen. It can also reduce the inflammation that keeps hormones from working optimally. Checking your hormones the entire time you’re using a GLP-1 for transformation is critical.
The biggest difference is most likely going to be that we pull fasting insulin. Insulin resistance is behind most chronic disease, and it’s a major driver of PCOS/PMOS, so we want to see it early. The next big difference is testosterone. Women make their estrogen out of testosterone, so if it isn’t measured, you’re missing half the picture.
Our base women’s panel includes CBC, CMP, fasting insulin, free and total testosterone, A1C, iron, ferritin, vitamin D3, a lipid panel (cholesterol), estradiol and progesterone. There is a lot we can add to customize it to you.
No. You should get them checked in your 20s. Hormone problems are not tied to age. You can have a problem at any age, and we work with many younger women as well.
Yes, you can. Balancing your hormones is often a great way to support a safe and healthy pregnancy. Think of your hormones as the command center for your body. Making sure the proper commands to heal, regenerate, repair and produce energy are being sent is essential to your health and your baby’s health.
Both. We see patients in person at our Frisco office and via telehealth, and the first consultation is free. Call 214-446-5300 or use the form on this page to schedule.
Tell us what you would like help with, and a member of the Pillars of Wellness team will contact you about scheduling a consultation.
