Every woman and their hormones are so unique, your healthcare plan can be too. Work with one of our naturopathic doctors to address your root cause of symptoms. We can help you get your women's health issues in Calgary under control.
Women's Health IN Calgary
We treat all kinds of concerns women may have about their health. In many cases, everyday issues women take for granted, such as PMS, aren’t normal. Sometimes your hormone levels are not optimal, which can cause all kinds of symptoms and concerns. We can help relieve the symptoms you’re experiencing by figuring out the source of the problem, then working to restore balance and well-being in your body.
What Is Whole Body Medicine?
Whole body medicine addresses all of your concerns, not just one symptom at a time. Often, symptoms inter-relate and understanding your whole health picture is an important aspect of personalized medicine and naturopathic care. We want to understand all of your concerns, your lifestyle and your current health habits to piece together the full picture of your health before we create your personalized health plan together.
Women's Issues We Can Treat
At Action Health, we work with pre-and postnatal patients, menopausal patients, and patients struggling with fertility, thyroid and adrenal concerns. Our treatments can integrate with other care you’re receiving and help address lingering concerns when anxiety, low mood, or chronic stress bother you.
- Stress & burnout
- Adrenal dysfunction
- PMS
- Heavy, light or missed periods
- Post-contraceptive syndrome
- Fatigue, low energy
- Weight gain or difficulty losing weight
- Hypothyroidism & Hyperthyroidism
- Hormonal imbalance
- Menopause & Perimenopause
- Pre- & Postnatal care
- Fertility support
- Endometriosis
- PCOS
- General health optimization, graceful aging & preventative medicine
Adrenal Fatigue
Adrenal fatigue is a newer, modern day diagnosis that is caused by overworking the body mentally, physically or emotionally. This results in experiencing chronically high stress levels that cause a group of symptoms commonly referred to as adrenal fatigue, adrenal insufficiency, chronic stress, burnout and many other medical descriptor terms.
The characteristic symptom is low energy and fatigue, this can be felt mentally, physically and emotionally, additionally you may experience cynicism, low mood and not enjoying things you use to enjoy, lack of motivation, procrastination, difficulty getting out of bed, mid-day energy crash and lack of interest in work are all commonly experienced. On a physical level, adrenal fatigue is characterized by weight changes, appetite changes, increased cravings, sleep disturbances, difficulty concentrating, brain fog, frequent infections, and others.
Physiologically, adrenal fatigue is characterized by 3 phases:
Adrenal fatigue - What can we do for you?
- The initial intake and physical exams can help determine if you are experience adrenal fatigue and what stage you are experiencing.
- We also offer testing to assess your adrenal gland function and associated hormone levels, this may be necessary to determine if you have adrenal dysfunction and to what extent. This helps us identify what phase of adrenal dysfunction you are in, which plays a major role in guiding the treatment plan.
- Together we will create a personalized plan that addresses your root cause. This may include lifestyle modification, stress management, therapeutic diet, movement modification, botanical, nutraceuticals and glandulars (adrenal cortex) to support the organs affected.
PMS
Irritability, cramps, cravings, anxiety, depression, bloating. Because premenstrual syndrome is so common, these symptoms are often thought to be normal. However, experiencing PMS is actually a sign of underlying hormonal dysregulation or disease state that is being exacerbated by the hormonal changes of the pre-menstrual period. There are also conditions that may worsen during the premenstrual period; including migraines, changes in mood, pain, IBS and atopic conditions. Hormonal changes during the pre-menstrual period may also help us identify that other underlying conditions may need closer management!
- Your symptoms are a helpful clue into what hormones may be elevated and what hormones may be lacking. An in-depth initial intake and physical exam can help us identify the cause of your symptoms.
- We also offer comprehensive hormone testing to get a clear understanding of your hormone levels and function. This may be an important part of your treatment to guide a personalized plan that will work for you.
- Together we will create a personalized plan that addresses your root cause. This can include lifestyle modification, stress management, therapeutic diet, movement modification, botanical and nutraceuticals to support the organs affected.
Resistant weight loss
Following all the right lifestyle habits but still cannot seem to lose weight? Here some hormonal changes that can make weight loss an uphill battle:
Elevated cortisol:
Due to unmanaged stress response, leading to chronic state of ‘fight or flight’, insulin is increased to move blood sugar into the muscles to prepare to fight or run away, when we don’t use those muscle to fight or run away that sugar is stored and causes weight gain. It also decreases the sugar in our blood making us crave sugary foods and this can become a vicious cycle.
Insulin resistance:
Similar to the pathway described above, increased insulin causes weight gain as it stores sugar as fat when our muscles don’t burn this sugar as energy. Insulin resistance is caused by elevated body fat, diet too high in carbohydrates, sedentary lifestyle/lack of exercise and chronic stress.
Elevated Leptin:
Leptin plays a role in hunger and food intake. When we chronically overproduce leptin, we cause resistance to its activity (similar to insulin resistance). This causes weight loss resistance or weight gain as we are not properly triggered to stop eating when we are full.
‘Estrogen dominance’:
Decreasing progesterone or increasing estrogen relative to each other. This hormonal change influences fat deposits, thyroid hormone function, insulin levels and leptin function, all contributing to weight gain/ resistant weight loss.
Hypothyroidism:
Low levels of thyroid hormones T3 and T4 slows everything down, including your metabolism which contributes to weight gain. It also causes salt and fluid retention furthering this weight gain.
Our naturopathic doctors offer comprehensive hormone testing to better understand the metabolic processes that are so important for weight loss and maintenance. Together we will create a personalized plan to address your resistant weight loss and get you feeling your best.
Thyroid Health - what are the symptoms
| Hyperthyroidism | Difficulty Sleeping > Fatigue |
| Low Mood | Anxiety |
| Cold Extremities | Feels Hot |
| Constipation | Loose Stools |
| Weight Gain | Weight Loss |
| Menstrual Irregularities | Menstrual Irregularities |