Naturopathic PCOS Specialist Brisbane

Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome is the most common women’s health condition we see at Shift Brisbane. Women can present in a number of different ways, however, some of the more common issues associated with the condition are…

• Irregular menstrual cycles – the time between periods getting longer or not coming at the same time each month. Or amenorrhea – the absence of periods altogether.

• Insulin resistance – which causes issues with blood sugar levels. This is precursor to diabetes and women with PCOS are at higher risk of developing diabetes and gestational diabetes.

• Weight gain, difficulty to lose weight.

• High androgen levels or (male hormones) that can lead to acne and hirsutism(excessive body hair growth)

• Irregular female hormones such as high LH or sometimes high oestrogen

• Fatigue

• Reduced fertility

A diagnosis of PCOS technically involves a combination of irregular menstrual cycles and a picture of insulin resistance and androgen excess. From a naturopathic perspective, we want to look at the whole picture and no two women with PCOS have quite the same presentation, because some women will not fit the classic picture.

While it is thought that PCOS involves having multiple cysts on the ovaries – many women do not have polycystic ovaries yet still present with a PCOS picture. An ultrasound of the ovaries showing many follicles is also not diagnostic of PCOS – this can be a very normal presentation in a cycling woman and can lead to misdiagnosis of irregular period or amenorrhea – the absence of periods.

We are always troubled by the amount of women that comes to us with a diagnosis of polycystic ovarian syndrome that have not even had the right blood testing done to diagnose the condition!

What we find in clinical practice is that women with PCOS tend to have concurrent issues happening that are adding to their PCOS and making matters worse. By looking at the landscape of your entire health, and addressing all pieces of the picture – we have a very good chance of putting your PCOS into remission and supporting the natural healing of your polycystic ovary syndrome.

Here are some of the issues/subtypes that we want to look at related to polycystic ovarian syndrome PCOS

1. Insulin Resistance

2. Androgen excess

3. Thyroid dysfunction 

4. Adrenal depletion, stress and emotional health

5. Gut health

Insulin Resistance and PCOS

Insulin resistance happens when your blood sugar is too dysregulated for too long. It is insulins job to get the sugar into your cells and when insulin resistance develops you end up with high blood glucose and many complications from this. 

Symptoms can include weight gain, craving sugar, frequent urination, thirstiness, and fatigue. Your treatment is reducing insulin resistance and includes herbal medicine and nutritional supplements to balance blood sugar and support pancreatic function. This can lead to better outcomes for weight loss too. Lifestyle modification and addressing the exact cause of high insulin levels will help us to turn this issue around.

Androgen dominance and PCOS

High testosterone and androgens cause symptoms like hirsutism (hair growth), acne and irregular cycles. In many women that we their androgens are mildly elevated – enough to cause issues but perhaps not high enough to cause the “classic” symptoms of PCOS such as acne or excessive hair growth. 

Our naturopaths will do extensive hormonal testing to see if androgens need to be addressed and use specific treatments to address this.

Thyroid dysfunction and PCOS

Women with PCOS are much more likely to have thyroid issues like Hashimoto’s thyroiditis. In many cases, PCOS is misdiagnosed and the cause is low thyroid function. Irregular cycles can occur when thyroid function is low, leading to symptoms such as weight gain, foggy headedness, dry skin, anxiety and/or depression and low body temperature. Click here to read more about thyroid issues.

Adrenal depletion and PCOS

Adrenal issues can often be the first thing that sets off Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome. The cortisol and adrenaline secreted during stress can lead to high androgens and insulin resistance. Caused by excessive stress, adrenally depleted patients suffer from fatigue, insomnia and sometimes mood issues.

This is a very important part of treatment if we want to overcome PCOS and get you cycling naturally again. Our naturopaths may use herbal medicines to support your stress pathways, and our emotional wellness team can also help.

Gut health and PCOS

Research shows that women with PCOS have disrupted microbiomes compared to those that do not develop the condition. Addressing gut health is core part of our naturopathic treatment at Shift Brisbane. Good gut health is a foundational healing pillar and without addressing it it can be difficult to fully heal without addressing it. For more on gut health listen to season one of The Shift Podcast here.

PCOS varies widely in presentation, hormonal changes and also symptoms. When our naturopaths are assessing your entire health, they’re looking for what is specifically going on for you. That means there is no one magic pill for the treatment of PCOS, rather the success depends on treating your individual imbalances with specific natural medicines to correct the condition. If insulin resistance is an issue that is a focus. If you have high androgens then our naturopaths will address this. if you have irregular periods we will work on this. If you’re not sleeping this is important to fix too. 

We can confidently say we have helped thousands of women with polycystic ovarian syndrome at Shift Brisbane. Both naturopathy and acupuncture are very effective in addressing the causes and imbalances that are causing your symptoms. At Shift Brisbane we help correct their PCOS permanently by supporting them to live a healthier lifestyle and providing treatments that target the underlying causes. 

Listen to this episode of The Shift podcast to see how we address irregular cycles and PCOS at Shift Brisbane. 

Our naturopaths help PCOS first by looking at your symptoms and pathology results to determine what the individual issues you face are. They then develop a tailored treatment plan which includes herbal medicines, nutritional supplements as well as specific dietary advice. Naturopathy is so effective for PCOS due to herbal medicines ability to regulate hormones, support your adrenal and thyroid health and to reduce insulin resistance. It is very easy to track progress and effectiveness of treatment as your bloods will change over the months, as will your menstrual cycles. 

One of the biggest factors is to make sure PCOS diagnosed by your GP is actually PCOS and what subtype we are dealing with. Having comprehensive testing is the only way to know this – we will help you obtain what you need after your initial consultation with us. We will discover when ovulation occurs, if it does not, why ovulation is not happening and the hormones and driving factors behind your gynaecological issues.

Acupuncture helps to regulate the menstrual cycle and bring the body back into balance over time. It works by stimulating specific acupuncture points on the body to facilitate change. This study found acupuncture to be effective, helping to increase blood flow to the ovaries, reduced ovarian volume, reduced number of cysts, improvements in insulin resistance and reduced cortisol levels.

Many of our patients also choose to do naturopathy and acupuncture concurrently. This is ideal if you need faster results, such as if you are treating your PCOS for fertility reasons and want to conceive as quickly as possible. We offer memberships that are just naturopathy based or ones that include both modalities. Or you can do acupuncture with our fertility specialist Georgie as a standalone treatment.

Unfortunately, the natural treatment of PCOS is not a quick fix. Unlike the oral contraceptive pill, which works immediately (although this does not correct the issue, rather masks it – learn more here), the herbal medicines and/or acupuncture take some time to correct the issue. For most of our clients, we have seen a significant improvement within 6-12 months, however, it can take 12-24 months to really correct the condition. The success, of course, depends on the severity of your condition, other concurrent issues that need to be addressed and what diet and lifestyle changes you’re prepared to make to make it work. Although PCOS is said to have no “cure” – we have observed that in many of our patients has been reversed, with many of our PCOS patients going on to have healthy babies after treatment.

If you’re trying to conceive then your treatment may vary slightly to take this into account. We may prescribe nutrients to support your pregnancy in addition to your regular supplements. As we correct the underlying causes of PCOS your fertility will increase anyway, but there are some other considerations that we make if trying to get pregnant is your goal. Fertility treatments are something that we offer at Shift and we would love to help you with this.

You do not need a referral to see one of our women’s health specialist naturopaths at Shift Brisbane. All three of our naturopaths are specialists in this area.

To make an appointment with one of our Brisbane naturopaths, call us on 07 3367 0337 or use the online booking form here.