The Health Detectives

 As you will have seen from our website posts recently, we have been fairly busy lately working with couples who wish to start a family and who have perhaps been unsuccessful with IVF.  We have a couple of pregnancies  we are supporting already  and our approach is to really make sure everything is back in balance from a hormonal point of view so that all the stages can be successful, from getting pregnant to staying that way. We find it works best if we can test both partners so the baby has parents who can not only produce it, but look after it – biochemically speaking! After all, if we are basically well, its an easier job.

Getting a hormone MOT and rebalance before embarking on a pregnancy clearly ensures you can enter pregnancy in a relaxed and healthy state. For example, if your adrenal glands are depleted, getting them back in working order means you are less likely to hit the ground like a safe when the baby is born (because you would have been using the baby’s adrenal glands to compensate for your own exhaustion). Going into pregnancy in a depleted state can  leave the new baby with colic and probably crying a lot because its little adrenal glands have been keeping you both going. Then once the baby is born, your little power pack disappears, leaving you exhausted with a ‘difficult’ baby – not a good combination.

Trying to start a family can be emotionally very draining for a couple, and we can help support that side of things too, either with specific remedies to support the neurotransmitters or simply flower remedies. Gitti also offers NLP (Neurolinguistic Programming)  which can make you see a situation in a different light and give your techniques of how to deal with it. 

Generally, men like to know their hormones aren’t part of the problem, which is to some extent why we always recommend testing both partners. Then if the male hormones are struggling we would  aim to improve sperm motility for example, or address any other problems. Both men and women produce the same sex hormones, just in different quantities. 

And our goal…  ? A nice big piece of christening cake of course! … Only joking.

Maybe its because spring is in the air, but we seem to be working with a fair few people interested in starting families!

And because it takes two to make a healthy baby, if you or your friends are thinking of starting a family or adding to one, its really worth checking that your hormones are on your side! Not just the women to make sure that the sex hormones are in balance so that getting pregnant and staying that way are better catered for but the boys also can use this form of testing to check for example on sperm health, and whether or not they need a few swimming lessons! Well, is that a useful analogy for’sperm motility’!? In other words the male hormone balance is also important in making sure the little fellows reach their target  – and as we have worked with a number of couples together, its really nice to see both parties addressing their health at such an exciting point in any relationship! …….. we won’t say no to the odd slice of christening cake!! 

And we can even supply gift vouchers for a hair test or clinic test for anyone wanting to give a pre-pregnancy health and hormone screening as a present to friends trying to get pregnant! Perhaps we should design some vouchers with a stork on!

…Or anything in between…. our hormone or endocrine system plays a key role in a surprising range of our body functions. It includes many hormone producing glands, such as the thyroid, pituitary, pancreas, ovaries and many more. Many patients come to the clinic with symptoms of hormone imbalance - from tiredness to problems getting pregnant, bad periods, sleep disorders, blood sugar issues, hot flushes and outbursts of emotion.

Many people are experiencing ‘hormone hell’!  But take heart! This system has the potential to bring people back into feeling on top of things - and not just to  drag them down into a real battle.

Some diseases, such as the oestrogen dependent cancers, have their roots in the imbalance of just a couple of hormones and these same hormones can mean someone cannot get pregnant, or if they do, cannot stay pregnant. Or if they get as far as giving birth, other glands’ underperformance can mean they can’t feed their baby naturally or they may experience post-natal depression.

So why not take charge of this amazing system within your body and plan for those predictable rites of passage, such as getting pregnant or going gracefully through the menopause with a re-balanced efficient hormone system.

Keeping your body clear of harmful excess oestrogens can protect you from more serious hormone dependent illnesses later on. And how can we finish a post on hormones without acknowledging the numbers of you who come with thyroid worries and are often upset to have been told that once on thyroxine always on thyroxine. Cheer up! Once the hormone system (which includes the thyroid gland) is brought back into proper working order, the thyroid can do its job again, and we would not expect anyone to need to remain on thyroxine unless they have had their thyroid removed! Clearly the sooner you check your endocrine system the better.

You can get your hormone system checked by The Health Detectives at any of our clinics in Pembrokeshire  so make your hormones part of your health MOT and ring us to book a testing session. You can also have your hormones checked by sending us a hair sample – so let your hormone-hounded pals know help is at hand!  Have a good month!