Case 1:
A 45 year old female came to the office with intense pain in both arms and legs with electric like shocks from her shoulders down to her hands and through her knees and feet. She had a history of being on an IUD with hormones in it for the last 4 years. Before that, she had a history of being on a birth control pill for approximately 15 years. She complained of breast tenderness, uterine cramping, mood swings, extremely heavy bleeding, extreme fatigue/exhaustion, 30 pounds overweight, very high blood pressure, and she had extreme sugar and carbohydrate cravings. She also had high cholesterol. Her medical doctor diagnosed her with fibromyalgia and designed a program of hormonal regulation via the IUD, high blood pressure medications and cholesterol medications. They suggested she change her diet, start exercising, and come back for additional tests every 3 months. We felt that her long history of taking the birth control pill and the hormones that she got from the IUD had dysregulated the whole symphony of her hormones including adrenal, hypothalamus, pituitary, thyroid, and ovarian function. We suggested that she work with her doctor to discuss the removal of the IUD. She chose to have it removed, allowing us to measure, via full cycle salivary hormone tests, the real status of her hormonal system. It became evident to us that she had severe estrogen dominance - a very common imbalance amongst American women. We designed a program consisting entirely of herbs, vitamins, and minerals. She returned within 3 weeks with absolutely no pain. We then proceeded to put her on a detoxification program to continue to clear the excess hormones that have been stored in her tissue. She is currently doing this program along with the herbal supplementation and we will retest her in 3 cycles.
Case 2:
A 36 year old woman came to the office saying that she had been trying to get pregnant for 3 years. She and her husband had run all of the regular fertility tests and the doctors couldn't figure out why they were having so much trouble. The only alternative left to them was to try hormone therapy in the form of fertility treatments. Upon examination, it became clear that the liver-intestinal axis was having trouble maintaining the proper balance of her hormones. Because hormones are broken down in the liver and can be put back together in the gut, it is important that these systems are functioning properly. In this woman, we found that there was an imbalance of the organisms in her gut that were "re-conjugating", or putting back together, hormones inappropriately. Once the flora of the gut was balanced, she conceived naturally and today they have a beautiful, healthy daughter.