Hormones, Health & Faith with Sharon Lemoine

📌 Book a Consultation: gigharbormedicalspa.com/book-now/

You have prayed about it. Journaled about it. Gone to therapy and tried medication. And the anxiety is still there, underneath everything, every single day. Part of you has started to wonder if this is just who you are now. It is not. 

For so many women, the anxiety is not a mental health problem at all. It is something physical that nobody has bothered to look at. And until that piece is found, nothing else fully works.

In this episode, I'm going to walk you through the five warning signs that your anxiety may not be a mental health problem, and exactly what to bring to your next appointment.

⏱️ TIMESTAMPS
0:00 When the anxiety is real but the diagnosis is wrong
0:52 The pattern 28 years in medicine revealed
1:22 Sign 1: Anxiety that appeared without a psychological trigger
3:44 Sign 2: When the anxiety starts in your body, not your mind
6:48 Sign 3: The 3-question pattern test you can answer right now
8:56 Sign 4: Why partial treatment response means the root has not been found
11:00 Sign 5: The hormonal root cause almost nobody checks
12:32 What to write down before your next appointment

❓ QUESTIONS ANSWERED

Q: Can hormonal changes cause anxiety in women over 40?
A: Yes. Progesterone is the body's primary calming hormone. It works on the same receptors in the brain that anti-anxiety medications target. When progesterone drops in your late 30s and 40s, your nervous system loses its ability to settle. This creates a physical anxiety signal that mental health tools alone cannot fully resolve because the root is biological, not psychological.

Q: Why does anxiety medication only partially work for some women?
A: Partial improvement is one of the most telling clinical patterns. It almost always means one layer of the problem was addressed while something else kept running underneath it, untested. When anxiety has a hormonal driver, standard treatments reduce symptoms but cannot eliminate the root cause. A comprehensive hormone panel is the step most providers never take.

Q: What is the difference between anxiety that starts in the mind versus anxiety that starts in the body?
A: Anxiety rooted in the mind has a traceable cause: sustained stress, a trauma, or a longstanding pattern of worry. Anxiety rooted in the body starts as a physical signal. The racing thoughts come after, as the brain tries to explain a nervous system that will not calm down. They look identical but respond to completely different treatments.

📱 RESOURCES
Website: gigharbormedicalspa.com
Book a Consultation: gigharbormedicalspa.com/book-now/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theconciergenp_/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GHMedicalspa
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@SharonLemoine-ARNP

🔔 Subscribe for straight answers about hormones, perimenopause, and women's health from a nurse practitioner with 28 years in medicine and over 100,000 patients treated. New episodes every week.

💬 Which of these 5 signs connected with something you have been carrying for a while? Share your experience in the comments. You are not alone and you deserve real answers.

ABOUT SHARON LEMOINE, ARNP
Sharon Lemoine is a board-certified Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioner (ARNP, FNP-C) with 28 years in medicine and over 100,000 patients treated. She is the founder of Gig Harbor Medical Spa and Concierge Medicine in Washington State, specializing in hormone optimization, perimenopause and menopause care, functional medicine, weight loss, and peptide therapy. As a Type 1 diabetic, thyroid cancer survivor, and woman navigating surgical menopause herself, Sharon brings both clinical expertise and lived experience to every episode. She believes your body is a gift worth honoring, and that you are in control of your health.

#Perimenopause #HormoneHealth #WomensHealthOver40 #MenopauseSymptoms #FunctionalMedicine

📌 Book a Consultation: gigharbormedicalspa.com/book-now/

There is a study from 25 years ago that changed how doctors talk to women about hormones. It scared a generation of women away from getting help. And it was wrong. 

Women are still paying for that mistake with their health, their energy, and their quality of life.

In this episode, I'm going to walk you through what that study actually found, why your doctor may still be operating on outdated information, and what the real science says about hormone therapy today.


⏱️ TIMESTAMPS

0:00 - The Study That Got It Wrong and Why Women Are Still Paying for It
1:37 - What the Women's Health Initiative Actually Measured
2:37 - Why the WHI Results Were Never About Women Like You
4:08 - When Researchers Reanalyzed the Data, Everything Changed
5:12 - Bioidentical vs. Synthetic Hormones: Why the Difference Matters
6:53 - How Hormones Are Delivered Changes Everything
8:19 - The Myth That Hormones Cause Breast Cancer
12:02 - The Risks of NOT Treating Your Hormones
14:13 - Honoring Your Body Is Not Vanity, It Is Stewardship


❓ QUESTIONS ANSWERED

Q: Is hormone replacement therapy actually safe for women in perimenopause?

A: The study most doctors cite used the wrong hormones on the wrong women at the wrong time. When women start bioidentical hormone therapy within ten years of menopause, research shows cardiovascular risk goes down and breast cancer risk does not increase.

Q: Do bioidentical hormones cause breast cancer?

A: The breast cancer risk found in the original WHI study was tied to a specific combination of oral synthetic estrogen and synthetic progestin taken for more than five years. Estrogen-only therapy showed no increased risk. When bioidentical progesterone is used instead of synthetic progestin, the data looks very different.

📱 RESOURCES
Website: gigharbormedicalspa.com
Book a Consultation: gigharbormedicalspa.com/book-now/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theconciergenp_/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GHMedicalspa


🔔 Subscribe for straight answers about hormones, perimenopause, and women's health from a nurse practitioner with 28 years in medicine and over 100,000 patients treated. New videos every week.


ABOUT SHARON LEMOINE, ARNP

Sharon Lemoine is a board-certified Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioner (ARNP, FNP-C) with 28 years in medicine and over 100,000 patients treated. She is the founder of Gig Harbor Medical Spa and Concierge Medicine in Washington State, specializing in hormone optimization, perimenopause and menopause care, functional medicine, weight loss, and peptide therapy. 

As a Type 1 diabetic, thyroid cancer survivor, and woman navigating surgical menopause herself, Sharon brings both clinical expertise and lived experience to every video. She believes your body is a gift worth honoring, and that you are in control of your health.


#Perimenopause #HormoneHealth #WomensHealthOver40 #MenopauseSymptoms #FunctionalMedicine

📌 Book a Consultation: gigharbormedicalspa.com/book-now/

Your doctor looked you in the eye and said your labs were normal. You were told to manage your stress, push through the fatigue, and accept this is just getting older. 

What got dismissed in that room was years of real symptoms with a real cause.

In this episode, I'm going to break down the 5 most important things I wish every woman over 40 knew about her hormones before years of silent suffering passed her by.

⏱️ TIMESTAMPS
0:00 - What Your Doctor Got Wrong About "Normal"
1:11 - #1: Your Hormones Started Declining in Your 30s
3:13 - #2: Why "Normal" Lab Results Are Keeping You Sick
6:07 - #3: Rage, Anxiety, and Brain Fog Are Often Hormone Symptoms
8:33 - #4: "You're Just Getting Older" Is Not a Diagnosis
9:06 - Why Most Providers Aren't Trained in Hormone Optimization
11:09 - #5: You Are in Control of Your Health
13:38 - What to Do Tonight: Write This Down
14:54 - You're Not Broken: Closing Thoughts


❓ QUESTIONS ANSWERED

Q: What are the first signs of perimenopause?

A: Fatigue that sleep won't fix, mood changes, low libido, and brain fog often begin in the mid-30s, well before menopause. Most providers aren't testing for it that early, which is why so many women get dismissed.

Q: Why do my labs come back normal if I feel terrible?

A: Reference ranges reflect population averages, not what is optimal for your body to actually feel well. A hormone level that technically passes the test can still be too low to function at your best.

Q: Can hormone imbalance cause anxiety and depression?

A: Yes. When estrogen drops, serotonin production drops with it, and low progesterone disrupts your nervous system's ability to calm down. These are biochemical causes of mood symptoms, not personal failures.


📱 RESOURCES

Website: gigharbormedicalspa.com
Instagram: www.instagram.com/theconciergenp_/
Facebook: www.facebook.com/GHMedicalspa


🔔 Subscribe for straight answers about hormones, perimenopause, and women's health from a nurse practitioner with 28 years in medicine and over 100,000 patients treated. New videos every week.


ABOUT SHARON LEMOINE, ARNP

Sharon Lemoine is a board-certified Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioner (ARNP, FNP-C) with 28 years in medicine and over 100,000 patients treated. She is the founder of Gig Harbor Medical Spa and Concierge Medicine in Washington State, specializing in hormone optimization, perimenopause and menopause care, functional medicine, weight loss, and peptide therapy. 

As a Type 1 diabetic, thyroid cancer survivor, and woman navigating surgical menopause herself, Sharon brings both clinical expertise and lived experience to every video. She believes your body is a gift worth honoring, and that you are in control of your health.


#Perimenopause #HormoneHealth #WomensHealthOver40 #MenopauseSymptoms #FunctionalMedicine

📌 Book a Consultation: gigharbormedicalspa.com/book-now/

If you cannot remember the last time you woke up actually rested, something is wrong and it is not just your sleep schedule.

In this episode, I am breaking down the five most common reasons women feel exhausted all the time, and why most doctors are missing every single one of them.

TIMESTAMPS

0:00 When did you last wake up feeling rested?
1:19 Reason 1: Hormone depletion (estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone)
2:15 How declining hormones drain your cells of energy
3:39 Reason 2: Vitamin D and what your number should actually be
4:53 Why "normal" is not the same as optimal
6:10 Reason 3: Insulin resistance quietly stealing your energy
7:30 Signs you might be insulin resistant right now
9:55 Reason 4: Your thyroid is probably being tested wrong
11:39 What a full thyroid panel needs to include
13:01 Reason 5: What to do tonight before your next appointment


❓Commonly Asked Questions:

Can my fatigue really be a hormone problem, not a sleep problem?

Yes. As estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone decline, they directly affect how your cells produce energy, how your nervous system regulates, and how motivated you feel day to day. If you also have brain fog, low libido, or disrupted sleep on top of the exhaustion, hormone depletion is likely part of what is going on.

My doctor said my vitamin D is normal. Why does it still matter?

Normal and optimal are not the same number. The standard range starts at 30, but anything under 50 can still drag down your energy, immunity, and brain function. Do not accept "it is normal." Ask for the exact number.

What blood work should I specifically ask for?

Ask for a full thyroid panel including TSH, T4, T3, reverse T3, TPO antibodies, and thyroglobulin. Also request fasting insulin and a full hormone panel with estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone. A TSH result alone does not tell you how your thyroid is actually functioning.


📱 RESOURCES

Website: gigharbormedicalspa.com
Book a Consultation: gigharbormedicalspa.com/book-now/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theconciergenp_/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GHMedicalspa


🔔 Subscribe for straight answers about hormones, perimenopause, and women's health from a nurse practitioner with 28 years in medicine and over 100,000 patients treated. New videos every week.


ABOUT SHARON LEMOINE, ARNP

Sharon Lemoine is a board-certified Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioner (ARNP, FNP-C) with 28 years in medicine and over 100,000 patients treated. She is the founder of Gig Harbor Medical Spa and Concierge Medicine in Washington State, specializing in hormone optimization, perimenopause and menopause care, functional medicine, weight loss, and peptide therapy. 

As a Type 1 diabetic, thyroid cancer survivor, and woman navigating surgical menopause herself, Sharon brings both clinical expertise and lived experience to every video. She believes your body is a gift worth honoring, and that you are in control of your health.



#Perimenopause #HormoneHealth #WomensHealthOver40 #MenopauseSymptoms #FunctionalMedicine