Functional Medicine
Hormone Balance & HRT
Fatigue, weight gain, brain fog, mood swings, low libido. These aren't just 'part of getting older.' They're signs your hormones are off. We test the full panel, find the imbalance, and build a protocol that brings you back to baseline.
Why Hormone Imbalance Gets Missed for Years
Hormones don't crash overnight. They shift gradually, over months and years. You don't wake up one morning feeling terrible. You slowly forget what feeling good was like. The energy fades. Sleep gets worse. The weight creeps on. Your mood flattens. And at some point, you realize this isn't who you used to be.
Most people in this situation go to their doctor. And most of the time, they get one of three responses: "Your labs look normal." "This is just aging." "Let's try an antidepressant."
The problem is that conventional medicine checks a narrow set of markers against wide population-based reference ranges. Your doctor might run a TSH for your thyroid and call it done. They might check your total testosterone but not your free testosterone, estrogen, cortisol, or DHEA. They're comparing you to averages across millions of people, not to what's actually optimal for your body. So you can be deeply suboptimal and still get a "normal" result on paper.
For women, perimenopause can start as early as 35. Symptoms can build for 10 to 15 years before a doctor looks at the blood work and says, "Oh, you're menopausal." That's a decade of fatigue, brain fog, weight gain, and mood swings with no answers. For men, testosterone drops 1 to 2 percent per year after age 30 to 35. By your mid-40s, you could be at half your baseline and your doctor will still say you're within range.
This isn't a gap in your doctor's ability. It's a gap in the system. Insurance-based medicine wasn't designed to help you feel optimal. It was designed to catch you when you're sick enough to need treatment. That middle ground, where you feel terrible but your labs say "normal," is where millions of people get stuck. Functional medicine fills that gap.
“These glands have a complex relationship with each other. In conventional medicine there's this idea that the thyroid is off on an island, the adrenal glands are off by themselves, and the ovaries are separate. All of these hormones are in the blood together.”
Dr. Rose: The Hormonal Triangle
Provider Insight
“If we are catching hormone decline early, 100% it should be caught early and dealt with early. We see decline in hormones in men in their 30s. We see perimenopausal shift in women in their 30s.”
Colin Renaud, PA-C and Dr. Rose: Catching Hormone Decline Early
Provider Insight
“I was so anxious that I was really looking at getting on an anxiety medication, and then I know now that that was a function of my hormones. I don't feel like that anymore. I feel great.”
Cat: Anxiety Resolved Through Hormone Balance
Patient Story
“My old level was really probably closer to my baseline. And if you take that and cut it in half, even though my half was still in what medical professionals say is an acceptable range, that's not necessarily what's acceptable for my body.”
Ryan: Why 'Normal Range' Wasn't Normal for Him
Patient Story
“I wake up and not feel that, you're like, 'Wow.' My quality of life is completely different.”
Caleb: Quality of Life Completely Changed
Patient Story
Inside Med Matrix
Everything Under One Roof
Advanced testing, personalized protocols, and real results from a team that treats the whole picture.
4.9
from 150+ Google Reviews
How Med Matrix Approaches Hormone Optimization
We treat hormones as a connected system, not a collection of isolated numbers.
Your thyroid, adrenal glands, and sex hormones (ovaries in women, testes in men) form a triangle. They influence each other constantly. Chronic stress raises cortisol, which affects your thyroid and sex hormones. Estrogen and testosterone compete with each other. Thyroid dysfunction changes how your body processes everything else. Conventional medicine treats these as separate silos. We treat them as one system.
What we test on your first visit:
- Full thyroid panel (TSH, free T3, free T4, reverse T3, thyroid antibodies)
- Sex hormones (estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, DHEA, prolactin)
- Adrenal and stress markers (cortisol)
- Metabolic health (fasting insulin, glucose, HbA1c)
- Inflammatory markers (CRP, ESR)
- Nutrient levels (vitamin D, B12, ferritin, magnesium, zinc)
- Body composition via InBody 770 scan
That's roughly 100 biomarkers in one visit. More data than most people get in years of conventional care.
When hormone replacement therapy is appropriate, we use bioidentical hormones. These are chemically identical to the hormones your body makes naturally, sourced from wild yam or soy. The safety profile is better than synthetic hormones, and we can adjust the dose and combination precisely for each patient. For women, that means customizing the exact type and strength of estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone. For men, it means finding the right testosterone dose while monitoring estrogen levels and addressing everything else that affects hormone function.
We also use the Dutch test (dried urine test for hormones) when deeper insight is needed. This measures hormone metabolites, showing what's happening at the tissue and receptor level, not just what's floating in your blood. It's considered the gold standard for managing ongoing HRT.
Beyond hormones, your plan may include peptide therapy, IV nutrient therapy, dietary changes, stress management strategies, or targeted supplements. The goal is to support your body's entire endocrine system, not just replace one hormone and hope for the best.
“These glands have a complex relationship with each other. In conventional medicine there's this idea that the thyroid is off on an island, the adrenal glands are off by themselves, and the ovaries are separate. All of these hormones are in the blood together.”
Dr. Rose: The Hormonal Triangle
Watch at 19:00→
“If we are catching hormone decline early, 100% it should be caught early and dealt with early. We see decline in hormones in men in their 30s. We see perimenopausal shift in women in their 30s.”
Colin Renaud, PA-C and Dr. Rose: Catching Hormone Decline Early
Watch at 59:00→The Med Matrix Process
How It Works
Your path to feeling like yourself again, step by step.
Discovery Call
Free consultation
Biomarker Test
80+ markers
Team Review
Full analysis
Consultation
60 minutes
Ongoing Support
Continuous care
Free Discovery Call
- Talk with our patient coordinator about your goals, symptoms, and concerns
- Understand your options and what to expect
- Get matched with the right provider for your needs
Result: A clear next step personalized to your situation, with no pressure or commitment.
80+ Biomarker Test & Full Body Scan
- Comprehensive panel of 80+ lab markers
- Full body composition scan
- In-depth health questionnaires
Result: A complete picture of your health, so nothing gets missed.
Medical Team Reviews Everything
- Providers review your labs, medical history, and questionnaires
- Cross-reference symptoms with biomarker patterns
- Identify root causes, not just surface symptoms
Result: A personalized treatment plan built from real data, not guesswork.
60-Minute Provider Consultation
- Sit down with your provider for a full hour
- Go over every result in detail
- Build your personalized plan together
Result: You leave with a clear understanding of what is happening and exactly what to do about it.
Ongoing Support & Progress
- Continued monitoring of your labs and markers
- Adjustments to your plan as your body responds
- Direct access to your care team
Result: Real, measurable progress you can feel and see in your numbers.
Real Patients, Real Results
Cat spent three years bouncing between her PCP and OB while menopausal symptoms wrecked her quality of life. They kept increasing her estrogen, which made things worse. Blood testing at Med Matrix revealed she needed progesterone and testosterone, too, plus had significant inflammation. Within six months, her weight stabilized, anxiety resolved (without medication), sleep improved, and her moods evened out. She says she got herself back.
Ryan, 45, noticed his energy, focus, and muscle mass declining for two years. His primary care said his testosterone was still in the acceptable range. At Med Matrix, we found it had dropped to half his personal baseline, plus multiple other deficiencies. Within four weeks of starting his protocol, his afternoon energy crash was gone and his cognitive clarity improved so much that his work performance changed.
Caleb came in with tanked testosterone, chronic pain, and no energy. After three months, his surgeon was so impressed by how fast he recovered from rotator cuff surgery that he filmed Caleb's range of motion at the six-week post-op visit.
Over 3,000 patients have come through Med Matrix. 4.9 stars across 150+ Google reviews. 7 providers working together, not constrained by insurance. If your doctor has told you there's nothing wrong but you know something is off, you're exactly who we built this practice for.
“I was so anxious that I was really looking at getting on an anxiety medication, and then I know now that that was a function of my hormones. I don't feel like that anymore. I feel great.”
Cat: Anxiety Resolved Through Hormone Balance
Watch at 1:45→
“My old level was really probably closer to my baseline. And if you take that and cut it in half, even though my half was still in what medical professionals say is an acceptable range, that's not necessarily what's acceptable for my body.”
Ryan: Why 'Normal Range' Wasn't Normal for Him
Watch at 2:35→
“I wake up and not feel that, you're like, 'Wow.' My quality of life is completely different.”
Caleb: Quality of Life Completely Changed
Watch at 4:10→Free Resource
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Related Content
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FAQ
Hormone Balance & HRT FAQ
We test a full panel including thyroid (TSH, free T3, free T4, reverse T3, antibodies), sex hormones (estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, DHEA, prolactin), cortisol, and related metabolic markers. When needed, we also use the Dutch test, a dried urine panel that measures hormone metabolites at the tissue level. This shows us how your body is processing and using hormones, not just what's circulating in your blood.
Bioidentical hormones are chemically identical to the hormones your body produces. They're sourced from plants (wild yam or soy) and have a better safety profile than synthetic versions. Synthetic hormones are similar but not identical, and they can't be dose-adjusted as precisely. We use bioidentical exclusively because we can customize the type, form, and dose for each patient. Topical or transdermal delivery is preferred over oral for estrogen because it reduces blood clot risk.
Initial onboarding runs about $1,200 to $1,500 all-in, covering labs, body composition scan, provider prep, and your one-hour provider visit. Follow-up visits are $275. Hormone therapy typically costs $70 to $200 per month depending on your protocol. Supplements run $20 to $100 per month. We accept HSA, FSA, CareCredit, and all major cards. New patients receive a $100 voucher toward their first visit.
For most patients, hormone replacement is a long-term commitment. Your body's hormone production naturally declines with age, and supplementing externally reduces your body's own production over time. That said, the goal is to help you feel and function at your best for as long as possible. Many patients find that once they experience the difference, the commitment is easy to maintain. Your provider will walk you through what to expect based on your specific situation.
Bioidentical hormone replacement therapy has a strong safety profile when prescribed and monitored properly. A large 2023 study (the Traverse Trial) showed testosterone replacement did not increase risk of heart attacks or strokes in men. For women, transdermal estrogen delivery is preferred because it reduces blood clot risk compared to oral forms. We monitor labs regularly (at 10 weeks, then quarterly) and adjust dosing based on both your numbers and how you feel. Ongoing monitoring is key.
No. Perimenopause can start as early as 35, and testosterone decline in men begins in the early 30s. You don't need an extreme lab result to benefit from optimization. If you're dealing with fatigue, brain fog, weight changes, low motivation, poor sleep, or mood shifts, your hormones may be suboptimal even if a conventional doctor called them normal. We look at what's optimal for you, not just what falls within a population reference range.
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