“Wellness” is a subjective experience and has many definitions. For a lot of people, not feeling like yourself without knowing why can negatively impact your physical and mental health.
At Amy Brenner, MD & Associates, our providers take a step further than general practitioners to address those unexplained symptoms—treating them at the source. As providers, it is always our goal to take a whole-patient approach when it comes to any of our services. We love helping patients address concerns that are impacting their well being, and this is why we offer many tests and treatments as a wellness center in Cincinnati.
One of our primary areas of focus is adrenals and cortisol levels. Learn about these conditions, therapies, other wellness services, and our process below.
What defines wellness?
Wellness is a term that’s taken over the general discourse the last few years. In our view, wellness is a holistic, whole-picture approach to your health. It encompasses both physical and mental health and how those two pieces impact your well being.
There are underlying factors to wellness that can be medical. However, your primary care provider may not actively be monitoring certain lab values, like those of your endocrine system.
Your endocrine system controls and regulates many of your body’s functions, like sleep, metabolism, mood, and emotions. This system is made up of glands that release hormones, and one of the primary hormonal glands that can affect your wellness is the adrenal glands.
What are adrenal glands and why are they important for wellness?
Your adrenal glands release several hormones that are essential, including cortisol and adrenaline.
What is cortisol?
Cortisol helps dictate how your body uses nutrients like protein, regulates inflammation and blood pressure, and even helps control your sleep cycle.
During stress, your adrenals will release cortisol to help regulate your body and boost energy.
If your cortisol levels are out of the norm, it can put your body in a consistent state of ultra-high “fight or flight” energy or ultra-low energy and may affect many aspects of your health.
Elevated cortisol symptoms:
- Immune suppression
- Fatigue (“wired-tired”)
- Obesity
- Insomnia
- Irritability and anxiety
- Night sweats
- Elevated blood pressure
- Elevated cholesterol
- Insulin resistance and sugar cravings
- Decreased thyroid hormone function
- Accelerated aging
- Hormone imbalance
- Increases osteoporosis risk
Decreased cortisol symptoms:
- Fatigue
- Low blood pressure
- Insomnia
- Digestive problems
- Emotional imbalances/lack of motivation
- Hypoglycemia
- Loss of libido (sex drive)
- Decreased immunity
- Unresponsive hypothyroidism (does not respond to treatment)
- Allergies
- Feeling of being “overwhelmed”
The 3 stages of adrenal dysfunction
Many patients who visit us are experiencing one or more of the symptoms above and fall into one of the 3 stages of adrenal dysfunction below. Being in any of these states for an extended period of time can negatively affect your health and well being.
1. No sleep/fight or flight
You may be experiencing insomnia or getting away with very little sleep while still feeling energized. Your sympathetic nervous system is constantly in fight or flight mode, leaving you feeling anxious, “wired tired,” and other forms of distress.
2. High highs and low lows
This stage of adrenal dysfunction is more of an ebb and flow, where you feel very energized one day and very low energy the next. Your other symptoms may also change depending on if you’re in a peak or valley state.
3. Always tired no matter the amount of sleep
If you’re feeling extreme fatigue or exhaustion when you’re getting more than enough sleep, it could be a sign of adrenal dysfunction. These glands may not be doing their job at all, creating a very unbalanced sleep cycle and leading to other symptoms.
Related: “How Do I Fix My Adrenals?”
Treatment options at our wellness center in Cincinnati
Visiting a wellness center specialized in testing various aspects of your endocrine system can be extremely enlightening. If you’re experiencing a wide range of unexplained symptoms, an in-depth consultation with a wellness specialist can get you started on the path to results.
Adrenals and cortisol testing
We offer adrenals and cortisol testing in Cincinnati to get a full understanding of your current baseline. This includes an Adrenocortex Stress Profile, which is an at-home saliva test that is done at 5 separate times of the day to also assess your circadian rhythm.
- Measures key stress hormones, cortisol, and DHEA
- Finds abnormal patterns of cortisol release over a 24-hour period
- At-home testing method is low-stress and easy to work into your routine
Thyroid testing
Another service we offer at our wellness center in Cincinnati is thyroid testing and treatment. After your consultation, we will facilitate a thyroid panel. This is a blood test that measures:
- TSH
- Free T4
- Free T3
- Reverse T3
- Thyroid peroxidase (TPO)
- Anti-thyroglobulin antibodies
Upon review, we will recommend a customized treatment plan appropriate for your needs.
Insulin resistance testing
Insulin resistance is when your body is not responding properly to insulin, the hormone that helps your body use glucose for energy. This process begins with a consultation, then we complete a glucose tolerance test using food to measure both your fasting glucose and insulin levels.
Upon review of your results, we may recommend treatment for insulin resistance to address your symptoms.
Wellness coaching
Wellness coaching is a comprehensive service we offer virtually to patients with a wide variety of goals and needs. Our wellness coach customizes each program to the individual, setting goals, providing resources, and being a mentor for you.
Hormone therapy
Hormone imbalance is a very common root cause for those experiencing a variety of unexplained symptoms. We offer bio-identical hormone therapy for women and testosterone optimization for men. These HRT programs are customized to the individual’s medical history, lab work, and symptoms.
Peptide therapy
Many patients receive peptide therapy in combination with another wellness treatment to further their results. This treatment addresses symptoms associated with decreased amino acid production. Our wellness center offers a variety of peptides that align with different goals, such as sleep improvement, cognition improvement, fat loss and more.
NAD+ therapy
NAD+ is a coenzyme that is found in living cells; as you age your NAD+ levels may diminish and affect your wellness. NAD+ therapy helps optimize and rebalance this coenzyme via IV NAD drip therapy or intramuscular injection therapy.
Wellness treatment process at Amy Brenner, MD & Associates
Consultation
The most important step before any wellness treatment is a comprehensive consultation with one of our providers. We take the time to listen to you, discussing your symptoms, frustrations, and goals for wellness.
Our doctors and providers will also learn about your medical history, current medications, other treatments you’ve tried in the past, and any other relevant information during this process. Based on this discussion, we may recommend one or more types of testing so we can make recommendations based on your individual lab work.
Treatments
After your consultation and any testing we require, we will review your results and determine the best treatment or combination of treatments for your needs. For some patients, this may only be one therapy, while others may require a combination of treatments for optimal results.
Your treatment plan is customized; there is no one-size-fits-all treatment for wellness!
Regular check ins
Our team is your team throughout the entire wellness treatment process. How often we check in with you varies depending on your specific treatment plan. Our philosophy is always to assess the patient’s results and optimize the treatment based on their response and needs as necessary.
Frequently asked questions
How do I know if I need lab work?
Your doctor or provider will determine if you need lab work based on your consultation. This process is integral so we can learn about your symptoms and any other context needed. Based on your consultation, we may require lab work to measure exactly what’s needed before we make a treatment recommendation.
Which wellness treatment is right for me?
Which wellness treatment you need is best answered with a consultation. Most often, we make our wellness treatment recommendations after lab work and/or testing. This data gives us the necessary tools and information so we can create the best treatment plan for your specific needs.
Visit our wellness center in Cincinnati at Amy Brenner, MD & Associates!
We offer a range of wellness services to meet the needs of our patients coming from all over the Cincinnati metropolitan area.
As a medspa and medical practice in Mason, Ohio, we have the unique ability to not only boost your overall health, but also help you enhance your outer beauty with aesthetic treatments, too.
We offer a warm, friendly environment while providing the highest quality aesthetic treatments and wellness plans to help you look great and feel great.
Get started today by using our virtual consultation tool or scheduling an appointment online.
AB VIP members save on wellness treatments and more!
Our monthly memberships offer savings on aesthetics, hormone therapy, wellness treatments, and monthly specials! With 3 tiers to choose from, our AB VIP members get a wide range of perks while saving on their favorite services.