Hormone Testing and Balance for Women in Houston
Your hormones affect your energy, mood, sleep, weight, skin, and cycle. When they're out of balance, you feel it everywhere, even if a basic lab panel says you're fine. At Minnow Wellness, a women's functional medicine clinic in Houston, Texas, we test beyond the basics, look for what's driving the imbalance, and build a plan to bring your body back into rhythm.
What are the signs of a hormone imbalance in women?
Hormone imbalances often show up as a cluster of symptoms that seem unrelated. Common signs include:
Irregular, heavy, or painful periods
PMS that disrupts your week, including mood swings, bloating, or breast tenderness
Fatigue that sleep doesn't fix, or feeling tired but wired at night
Weight gain, especially around the middle, or weight that won't move
Low libido
Acne, hair thinning, or unwanted hair growth
Anxiety, irritability, or low mood
Feeling cold, foggy, or sluggish
What hormone conditions do you treat?
We care for women at every stage, from their 20s through menopause. Common reasons women come to us include:
PCOS, which we approach as a metabolic condition, not just an ovarian one. Read our PCOS guide.
Estrogen dominance and low progesterone, which often drive heavy periods, PMS, and poor sleep
Thyroid imbalance, including Hashimoto's, which can hide behind a "normal" TSH
Cortisol and stress hormone patterns that leave you exhausted or wired
Perimenopause and menopause. See our perimenopause and menopause care.
What hormone tests do you offer?
We start with a comprehensive blood panel and add specialty testing when it will change your plan.
Comprehensive blood panel. Sex hormones, a full thyroid panel, blood sugar and insulin, iron, vitamin D, and other markers that can mimic or worsen hormone symptoms. When it matters, we time your draw to your cycle.
DUTCH Plus. A dried urine and saliva test that maps your sex and stress hormones across a full day, including how your body breaks estrogen down and how your cortisol responds when you wake up.
Hormone Zoomer. A urine test that measures your hormones and their metabolites, plus markers for bone turnover and environmental hormone disruptors.
Why do my labs look normal when I feel terrible?
Standard labs often check one or two hormones at a single moment and compare them to a wide reference range. That can miss patterns like low progesterone after ovulation, poor estrogen clearance, or a flattened cortisol rhythm. Looking at the full picture, and at your symptoms alongside the numbers, is often what finally explains how you feel. Read more on why normal labs can miss the story.
How do you treat hormone imbalance?
Your plan depends on what your results show. It's built around Minnow's 8 Pillars of Health and may include:
Nutrition changes to support blood sugar, gut health, and estrogen clearance
Targeted supplements chosen for your labs, not a generic stack
Sleep, stress, and nervous system support
Movement that supports your hormones instead of draining them
Bioidentical hormone therapy when appropriate, filled at your local pharmacy or through our compounding partner
We retest to make sure your plan is working and adjust it as your body changes.
The Hormonal Balance Bundle
For a complete starting point, our Hormonal Balance Bundle brings everything together:
New Patient Consultation
Comprehensive blood panel and hormone assessment
Functional nutrition consultation
DEXA body composition scan, including bone density
Resting metabolic rate test
Tailored supplement regimen
qEEG brain scan
FAQs
-
Minnow Wellness, a women's functional medicine clinic in Houston, Texas, offers comprehensive hormone blood panels plus DUTCH Plus and Hormone Zoomer testing, with a provider review of every result.
-
It depends on your symptoms. Most women start with a comprehensive blood panel, and we add a DUTCH Plus or Hormone Zoomer when we need to see hormone metabolites or your daily cortisol pattern.
-
Some hormones are best checked at a specific point in your cycle, often in the second half for progesterone. Your provider will tell you exactly when to test so your results are accurate.
-
Yes. Insulin, cortisol, thyroid, and estrogen all affect where and how your body stores fat, which is why weight that won't move is often a hormone and metabolic question, not a willpower one.
-
No. Many women rebalance with nutrition, supplements, sleep, and stress support. Hormone therapy is one option your provider may recommend when it's a good fit.