Women's Health: Functional Medicine for Women's Health
Root-cause care for hormones, cycles, PCOS, endometriosis and perimenopause
Jarrod Cooper - ND
Naturopathic Doctor · Author, The Healing Hierarchy
On this page
Women are too often told their symptoms are normal, stress related, or simply part of being a woman. Irregular or painful periods, PCOS, endometriosis, the changes of perimenopause and menopause, unexplained weight gain, fatigue, mood changes and fertility struggles are real, and they almost always have identifiable, treatable drivers underneath them. At Advanced Functional Medicine we work with women across Australia by telehealth to find those drivers and address them, rather than managing symptoms in isolation or being told to wait them out.
The women we help most have usually been dismissed more than once, handed the pill or an antidepressant without anyone looking deeper, and want to actually understand what is happening in their body.
How Women's Health is Connected
Hormonal symptoms are rarely about a single hormone. They sit within a connected system, and the real pattern usually involves several threads at once.
The hormonal picture itself. Oestrogen, progesterone, testosterone and how they balance across your cycle and across life stages. We assess this properly, including with comprehensive hormone testing where it is warranted, rather than assuming from symptoms alone.
The thyroid and adrenals. Thyroid dysfunction and chronic stress have a profound effect on the menstrual cycle, fertility, energy and mood, and they are frequently missed or brushed off as normal. A lot of what looks like a hormone problem starts here.
The gut and detoxification. How your body clears and metabolises hormones depends heavily on gut and liver function. When clearance is poor, oestrogen-related symptoms build up.
Blood sugar and metabolism. Insulin and blood sugar patterns are central to PCOS, and to the weight and energy changes many women notice through perimenopause. This is one of the most treatable pieces once it is identified.
Nutrients and methylation. Iron, B12, folate and methylation status all affect cycles, mood, fertility and energy, and deficiencies here are common and easily overlooked.
Conditions We Work With
PCOS, endometriosis and adenomyosis, perimenopause and menopause, PMS and menstrual migraines, irregular, absent or painful periods, uterine fibroids, low progesterone and hormone imbalance, fertility and preconception support, and the fatigue, mood and weight changes that so often come with hormonal shifts.
How We Investigate
We test rather than guess. Depending on your situation this can include comprehensive hormone testing, an extended blood panel of over eighty markers read against optimal ranges, thyroid and iron studies, advanced stool testing where the gut is involved in hormone clearance, and organic acids testing. Those results let us see the full pattern behind your symptoms. From there we build a sequenced plan tailored to you and your life stage.
FAQ
Frequently
asked questions
The questions patients ask most often when they first come in. If yours isn't here, bring it to your appointment.
I have been told my hormones are normal but I still feel awful. What now?
This is one of the most common things we hear. Standard testing is often limited and read against broad ranges, so genuine imbalances get missed. We use comprehensive hormone testing read against optimal ranges, and we look at the connected drivers, thyroid, adrenals, gut, blood sugar and nutrients, that standard testing usually does not join up.
Can functional medicine help with PCOS?
Yes. PCOS is strongly linked to insulin and blood sugar, and it responds well to a root-cause approach that addresses metabolic health, hormones and the drivers behind them, rather than only managing symptoms. We look at the whole picture rather than treating PCOS as a single label.
Do you help with perimenopause and menopause?
Yes. The perimenopausal transition affects hormones, metabolism, mood, sleep and energy all at once, and a lot of women are told there is nothing to be done. There usually is. We map what is happening and support you through it with a plan based on testing.
Can you support fertility and preconception?
Yes. Preconception is one of the highest-value times for functional medicine, because addressing nutrients, thyroid, gut and hormonal health before conception matters for both mother and baby. We work alongside your medical and fertility care.
Do I need to travel to see you?
No. We consult across Australia by telehealth, with the same care and testing as an in-person visit. Pathology is collected locally and everything runs through your patient portal.
How telehealth works
Telehealth: the same care, wherever you are
Most of the patients I treat never set foot in the Perth clinic, and that is by design, not compromise. Telehealth patients get exactly the same care and access as someone who walks in the door in person. Not a reduced version: the same practitioner, the same functional testing, the same treatment sequence, the same follow-up. Plenty of my Perth patients choose telehealth anyway, simply because it is more convenient than travelling in.
Here is what that looks like in practice. Consultations run through a secure medical video link, joinable from your phone or computer with nothing to download. Your testing is arranged through our electronic links with the major Australian pathology labs, so you collect locally and the results come straight back to me. Any specialised kits that are not collected at a standard centre are simply posted to your door. Every patient also has access to a secure online patient portal, where your results are stored, you can message me and the team directly between appointments, and order your supplements. Being interstate or overseas changes nothing about the standard of care you receive.
Where to start
Two paths forward,
depending on where you are.
If you are dealing with hormonal symptoms that have not responded to the standard approach, there are two paths forward.
Start with the foundations on your own. Stabilise blood sugar, since insulin resistance is central to PCOS and to hormonal imbalance more broadly. Remove the major inflammatory triggers: gluten, dairy, processed sugar, alcohol, and seed oils. Support hormone clearance with fibre, cruciferous vegetables, and adequate hydration. Prioritise sleep and manage stress, since both directly disrupt the menstrual cycle and thyroid function. These changes alone can produce meaningful improvement and they cost nothing.
When you are ready for the clinical layer, comprehensive hormone testing combined with a functional blood panel will give you the data needed to identify exactly what is driving your symptoms and address it in sequence. At Advanced Functional Medicine, we offer both in-person consultations from our Perth clinic and telehealth consultations for patients across Australia and worldwide.
Ready to understand what is actually driving your symptoms?
WRITTEN BY
Jarrod Cooper - ND
Naturopathic Doctor and founder of Advanced Functional Medicine. Consults from Perth, Western Australia and via telehealth nationally and internationally. Author of The Healing Hierarchy: Restore Function. Rebuild Your Body.
More from the Health Library