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The Hormone Clarity Guide
Fatigue, stubborn weight, hormones that feel off, brain fog, digestion that never settles. You’ve probably been given a separate explanation for each. I look for what connects them, starting with the microbiome most standard panels never check.
Every new patient starts with an interest form. My office will follow up to schedule your root-cause assessment.
Many of my patients come to me after months or years of that. Sound familiar?
These usually get treated as separate problems. In my experience they’re often connected, and the connection tends to run through the gut.
The microbiome doesn’t stay in the gut. It shapes systems throughout the body, which is why one imbalance can show up as several different symptoms.
The estrogen link
A group of gut bacteria called the estrobolome helps regulate how estrogen is metabolized and cleared. When it’s out of balance, PMS, cycle changes, and perimenopause symptoms often follow.
Inflammation’s home base
A large share of your immune system sits in the gut wall. Ongoing dysbiosis (an imbalanced microbiome) keeps it activated, which can show up as flares, allergies, and aches.
Energy and blood sugar
The microbiome influences blood sugar, appetite signaling, and how you store energy. It’s often the missing piece behind fatigue and weight that won’t shift.
This work takes time and participation. Here’s an honest picture of who it suits.
Not sure which side you’re on? Fill out the interest form and my office will follow up.
This work isn’t one-size-fits-all, and I won’t pretend the gut explains everything. But it’s the first place I look because it so often explains more than one thing at once.
Step 1: Fill out the new patient interest form. Tell us about your symptoms and goals. Every new patient starts here.
Step 2: Root-cause assessment. My office will contact you to schedule it. This is where we look closely at your history and symptoms and decide what to investigate first.
Step 3: Monthly Care. We investigate with targeted testing, then build your protocol (food, herbs, supplements, and lifestyle) and adjust it as results come in. Monthly Care is ongoing, with a three-month minimum.
My own interest in this work started in my early 30s, when I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. I’ve been in remission for more than 25 years, and that experience shapes how I approach every patient.
I’m board-licensed in acupuncture, hold multiple functional medicine certifications including microbiome analysis, and have more than 20 years of clinical experience with complex gut, hormone, metabolic, and autoimmune cases.
In practice, that means advanced testing like shotgun microbiome sequencing and comprehensive hormone panels, combined with targeted nutrition, botanicals, and acupuncture where it helps.
Not ready to book? Start here
A clinician’s guide to saving what’s left and bringing back what we can
This guide explains:
My office reviews your form and contacts you to schedule a root-cause assessment. That appointment is where we go through your history and symptoms in depth and decide which testing makes sense. From there, care continues through Monthly Care.
No. I see patients in person in Capitola and work with patients anywhere in the United States by telehealth. Most functional lab testing, including microbiome and hormone panels, is done with at-home kits.
New functional medicine patients start with a root-cause assessment and continue into Monthly Care, which is ongoing with a three-month minimum. Complex gut, hormone, and autoimmune patterns take time to investigate, address, and then maintain, and a single appointment can’t do that well. See services and fees.
Tiny Health uses shotgun DNA sequencing to map the whole gut ecosystem, including beneficial keystone bacteria and highly inflammatory microbes. It’s my preferred microbiome test because it shows what’s missing as well as what’s overgrown, which is often what explains stubborn bloating, IBS, or SIBO-type symptoms.
Usually not. Well-researched probiotic strains can do useful work as they pass through the GI tract, but they don’t take up permanent residence. If you’re low in key bacteria like Bifidobacterium, Faecalibacterium, or Akkermansia, you need to feed the populations you have, which is the job of prebiotics and food.
Your symptoms are real, but in my experience IBS is often a placeholder label. It means nothing visible was found, not that nothing is wrong. We look further: SIBO, food triggers, motility problems, and microbiome imbalances are common drivers.
SIBO (small intestinal bacterial overgrowth) means bacteria have overgrown in the small intestine, causing gas, bloating, and irregular stools. Leaky gut (increased intestinal permeability) means the intestinal lining has become too porous, letting food particles and bacterial byproducts reach the bloodstream. They’re different problems, but they often show up together.
Often, yes, with the right steps and enough time. First we test for increased intestinal permeability. If it’s present, we typically use a six-month protocol to support the gut lining. It’s especially relevant if you’re dealing with autoimmunity, food reactions, skin issues, brain fog, or ongoing inflammation.
824 Bay Ave, Ste 20, Capitola, CA, 95010
Email: office@parishealingarts.com
Call/text: 831.655.9611
Fax: 831.886.1629
Local to:
Capitola | Santa Cruz | Soquel | Aptos | Scotts Valley | Watsonville
