Brain fog can be a sign that your hormones are out of balance.

A 54-year-old woman began to notice difficulty thinking shortly after beginning menopause.  When she was first seen in my office, she stated that she was not hopeful because she was told by other doctors that there was little that could be done.  She had recently lost her job as administrator of a realty office due to her inability to focus.  Two years prior, she had been evaluated by a neurologist, who made a diagnosis of mild cognitive decline and depression and placed her on an antidepressant.  Her symptoms worsened.  An MRI showed no brain atrophy, but her cerebrospinal fluid revealed abnormalities compatible with early Alzheimer’s disease.  She was subsequently placed on Alzheimer’s meds, which also had little effect.  She continued to decline.

“Frustrated, scared.  The inside of my head feels like its on fire.  I can’t sleep.  I’m losing it.  Can anything be done?”  She asked.

“Fortunately, yes,” I told her.  “There are breakthrough programs used in Integrative Medicine that have been proven to enhance cognition and reverse the decline of Alzheimer’s.”

Many patients, like her, who come to my office have been told by well-meaning doctors that there is nothing that can be done—that symptoms will progress.  The fear of what is to become of them is overwhelming. -Losing their memories, becoming a burden to their family, the financial drain, loss of driver’s license-the list goes on.

“Finding the root cause, of which there are multiple contributions, becomes the solution.  Then, to remove toxic and inflammatory burdens which cause the problem and rebuild the brain by correcting nutritional, hormonal and metabolic deficiencies becomes the key,”  says neurologist, Dr. Dale Bredesen, director of the Buck Institute, UCLA and author of The New York Times best seller The End of Alzheimer’s.

“Carefully timed and judicious use of Bio-Identical Hormone replacement therapy can positively impact cognition.” Dr. Bredesen states in his best seller.  “Careful analysis of multiple studies reveals that Bio-identical Hormone Therapy exerts a positive effect on cognition.  Indeed, women who undergo removal of their ovaries prior to menopause are at greatly increased risk of cognitive decline, without hormone replacement.  Equally important is to correct the hormones transdermally, not orally, using only Bio-Identical Hormones, not synthetic, chemical types.”

Women who go through scenarios such as this describe feeling out of sorts.  Not knowing about hormone imbalance issues can make it difficult to understand the connection between the brain fog and hormones as the problem. Some common symptoms of brain fog associated with a hormone imbalance include – agitation, feeling too tired to engage in normal activities, unexplained anger or other emotions, difficulty thinking things through, inability to recall names or certain events, headaches and insomnia.

Her lab work revealed that her hormone levels where dismally low.  The issue was corrected with Bio-identical Hormones and within two weeks she was sleeping much better.  Within two months she was feeling more energetic, and her sexual libido had returned.  By three months, she felt normal again.  Her cognition, she said, “Is the best it’s been in years.”

If you or someone you love is experiencing brain fog, forgetfulness, tiredness, insomnia, or any other symptoms that are getting in the way of living a fulfilled and optimal life, we encourage you to contact us.

Bio-identical Hormone Balancing requires individualized therapy and ongoing dosing changes based not only on a patient’s diagnostic lab values, but also their symptoms. Due to the sensitive nature of hormone balancing, it is imperative that you work in partnership with an experienced provider and program.