Experience empowerment and relief with the hormone experts

Self-care means a little something different to everyone, but its
overall objective of focusing on improving oneself is universal. It also
has never before in history held such a prominent place on wellness lists.

The COVID-19 pandemic, with its overwhelming uncertainties and side effects like anxiety and depression, has forced us to consider what we can all do better in terms of stress-relief and protecting our health and well-being.

For women, the effects are compounded by aging and hormone health. The imbalance of estrogen, progesterone and testosterone, thyroid and adrenal hormones can result in a slew of unpleasant symptoms that wreak havoc on everyday life, tasks and relationships:

• Fatigue
• Weight gain
• Irritability
• Hot flashes
• Night sweats
• Memory problems
• Insomnia
• Depression
• Bloating
• Constipation
• Dry skin/acne
• Vaginal dryness
• Loss of sex drive
• Headaches

Randi Mann, WHNP-BC, NCMP, APNP (Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner-Board Certified, North American Menopause Society Certified Menopause Practitioner, Advanced Practice Nurse Prescriber) has made it her life’s work to empower and educate women to help alleviate the negative side effects they’re living with.

“By the time women are in their later 30s and 40s life gets really busy and crazy,” Randi says. “A lot of transitions are happening. Things like increased stress change hormone levels. Inflammation is starting to build up in their bodies, they’re starting to have insulin resistance, medical things are starting to change. It’s a very tough time for women.”

And while she recognizes massages, facials and nights out have their place in the realm of self-care, Randi created Wise Woman Wellness in De Pere in 2009 to apply her background in conventional and functional medicine to promote the ultimate form of well-being: taking control of your health and finding answers.

Hormone help is here!

Randi sees a variety of ages at Wise Woman Wellness. Typically, women experience menopause at approximately the same age as their mothers did, but she explains that if a woman has had a pelvic surgery—caesarean section, tubal ligation, bladder lift—she may go through menopause two years earlier per every surgery. Prior to menopause many women’s estrogen levels are higher than their progesterone levels, causing a condition called “estrogen dominance” that can leave women feeling anxious, irritable, having heavy periods and with many other symptoms of hormone imbalance.

In America the average age of a woman’s last period is around 50-51 when levels of hormones decline, which results in the negative side effects associated with menopause. Combining functional medicine testing and treatments with traditional, Randi uncovers specific imbalances, as well as answers the “why?”

“I like to be a detective, I like to find the root causes of why someone is feeling the way they’re feeling,” she says.

Before treatment begins, patients participate in an introductory virtual seminar to ensure a good fit and to develop a base of knowledge. Women are given the opportunity to purchase a kit to test female and adrenal hormone levels prior to their first appointment, a process to ensure during their one-on-one meeting (currently virtual) their hormone and wellness care can be especially tailored to the patient.

“At their first visit we can jump right in and talk about their expectations, their health issues, their test results and treatment plan,” Randi says. “Our first visit is up to 2.5 hours long. We want women to understand what is happening in their bodies, their treatment options, what we’re recommending and why this is important and how it specifically applies to them.”

Part of the meeting involves reviewing levels of estrogen, progesterone and testosterone, as well as levels of adrenal hormones cortisol and dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA). Randi is able to accurately determine the stress the body is experiencing based on these numbers. If symptoms are present, they likely need a boost.

“Your adrenals are like your backup team to your ovaries,” she says. “They’re on guard to help you all the time. If you’re nervous or anxious they’re creating hormones to help you deal with your stress. It’s important to give them a break regularly by doing something relaxing or that you love to do. Taking a few hours a week doing something that fills you back up helps a lot.”

Wise Woman Wellness prescribes bioidentical hormones in customized doses, identical to those that ovaries naturally produce in the female body. Produced at a PCAB Accredited™ compounding pharmacy (Pharmacy Compounding Accreditation Board approved), a personalized combination of progesterone, estrogen and testosterone in the form of a cream, is simply applied to the skin once a day. Some women need just one hormone and others need all three along with standardized dosed thyroid medication.

“It’s not intrusive and it works very nicely,” Randi says. “About three months after starting hormones, they will retest and have a visit. If they’re doing well and we don’t make any changes at that visit, we can do visits once every six months and test once a year.”

Wise Woman Wellness offers options for relief of genitourinary syndrome (GSM, formerly known as vaginal atrophy). Tablets, suppositories or cream can be made for a woman that are inserted inside the vagina, delivering a local hormone to help with vaginal dryness, pain, tightness, difficulty with sex and various forms of incontinence.

Randi sees the positive impact customized hormone care has on women, and also their intimate relationships.

“It’s so important for couples,” she says. “Women who have not been able to be sexual for years all of a sudden can enjoy sex again. Their bladder is working better, everything feels better. It’s a big deal.”

Cutting edge thyroid care

Symptoms such as cold hands and feet, weight gain, missing the outer third of the eyebrow and loss of head hair are among those that signal a thyroid issue, estimated to affect up to 80% of the population. High stress, hormone imbalances, toxins in the environment and a deficiency in soil nutrients play a part.

“The thyroid hormone is the master hormone, we have a receptor for thyroid on every cell in the body,” Randi explains. “The body will conserve any little bit it has and put it in the main part of the body: the brain, the heart, the lungs, the liver, the parts that need it the most. External parts of the body like fingernails, hair, eyelashes, eyebrows, skin and hands and feet commonly may show signs of low levels.

“Most of the patients who come to us have already tried to get help through the conventional system. Their thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) was checked and it was ‘fine.’ It’s now considered by many experts to not be enough to diagnose underactive thyroid problems. It’s a piece of the puzzle, but there’s a lot more to it.”

Exclusive to Wise Woman Wellness is use of “a noninvasive state-of-the-art system to test, diagnose, titrate and manage thyroid conditions. It uses reflexes, resting metabolic rate and symptoms to accurately determine thyroid function and is used worldwide to provide optimal thyroid care.”

What else can you do?

Lifestyle plays a large part in optimal health and has a role in the expert guidance Randi and her team provides. Wise Woman Wellness offers wellness and nutrition advice, gluten-free baking products, detox kits and a variety of supplements—always presented with the knowledge and latest science the team takes pride in uncovering and sharing.

“Supplements are key to people’s success because unfortunately our diets are often very low in many vitamins and minerals today—for example, magnesium. It’s the No. 1 mineral deficiency.” Randi says. “We burn through our B vitamins when we’re stressed. Both of those are important for many processes or chemical reactions in our body, especially for energy production.”

She also urges that it’s vital to note that not all supplements are created equal. High quality professional grade supplements are tested for optimal absorption, contain exactly what is stated on the label and are formulated from the latest research. Piecing together dosing without specialized assistance can be detrimental.

Wise Woman Wellness carries multiple professional-grade supplement lines, all therapeutically and metabolically dosed and vetted to ensure they’re of the highest quality. Evidence-based research to back claims is a must.

“I’m very picky about the partners we work with,” Randi says. “I like to talk to our vendors, our labs and our supplement companies about their quality and their research. When you use the very best you get the best results for your patients. The people we work with are fabulous and have taught me a lot about what we use here.”

It’s the culmination of all Wise Woman Wellness offers—taking the time to listen and educate, state-of-the-art tools and treatment, Randi’s extensive functional medicine training and 30 years plus hormone management experience, along with her caring and compassionate nature and talented team—that creates the warm, inviting environment that continues to evolve and grow to help women.

“It’s fun to learn, fun to apply what I’m learning and fun to watch the wonderful results we get. But I don’t do this for me. I’m doing this because I know how awful it was to feel awful and how wonderful it feels to feel wonderful. I think this is my life’s purpose to help as many women who are suffering as we can.” n

“There are a lot of women who need help, especially now. The more stressed we are, the worse it is for hormones. What we do here is state-of-the-art hormone care. It’s the best of the best.” —Randi Mann, WHNP-BC, NCMP

“Conventional medicine is not set up for women to get the hormone answers they need. Part of it is an education process, which we do well here. Part of it is awareness. And then understanding that there are options.” — Randi Mann, WHNP-BC, NCMP

Join and learn from Randi from the comfort of your home!

End Hormone Havoc—Virtually

Attend the Next Seminar

Discover how proper hormone balance and lifestyle supports optimal health, longevity and helps prevent the decline of physical and cognitive function. Learn about testing and treatment options to feel happy, healthy and sexually alive—
no matter how old you are.

Wednesday, April 21: 5:30-7 p.m.

For FAQs and to register for upcoming April classes
(check back for each month’s schedule!), visit
www.wisewomanwellness.com/events/category/end-hormone-havoc/.

Take their word for it

See what current patients have to say about the state-of-the-art care they are receiving at Wise Woman Wellness:

“I came to WWW with symptoms that I had for many years: fatigue, aches and pain in my legs, knees, feet, hips and back, very low libido and pain with intercourse, incontinence, hair loss and brittle nails… within 10 months, Randi has my thyroid medication and other hormones at the optimal levels. It is amazing after feeling so bad for the past 25-plus years to have energy and get wonderful, restful sleep! My hair, nails and libido are back! I cannot say enough about how much Randi has changed my life.”

“If I were to say what was helped the most, I would say my mood swings, my hot flashes and night sweats and my vaginal dryness were vastly improved and what a welcome relief that was. I do find the staff so empathetic and eager to help… whatever your hormonal concerns or problems, there’s a myriad of solutions and they have them at their fingertips to improve the quality of your life.”

“My program has me feeling better than I ever believed I could. I have more healing to do and continue to improve each day. Life feels much easier. I am able to enjoy life once again! Randi has gotten to the bottom of things that even other ‘specialists’ have not. Her experience is worth the investment. I am grateful that my health is coming back.”

“I have been very pleased with the benefits of the hormonal creams. I am also being treated for thyroid issues. I have noticed I am less moody, crabby, tearful (I always cried at the drop of a hat), I am noticing more energy and sleeping better. As women, we all deserve to feel better and put ourselves first for once.”

Wise Woman Wellness
920-339-5252

wisewomanwellness.com
1480 Swan Road, De Pere