Hormonal imbalance and irregular periods

Testimonials

Nancy was 41 and when she came to us, her FSH was 30.2 (too high), LH was 13.5 (too high) and AMH was 0.7 (low). After 3 months of treatment, her results were FSH of 8.4, LH of 6.1 and AMH of 5.1 (good for her age).

“I am pleased with the result. I would like to carry onto achieve pregnancy naturally.”

Nasha, 44, had a miscarriage. Her periods became a bit irregular, though she hadn’t missed any. Tests prior to treatment found her prolactin was high at 556, and AMH at 0.7. Her retest after 3 months of treatment found prolactin at 439 (normal range) and AMH had gone up to 2.1. She subsequently fell pregnant naturally, but had a miscarriage. 

“I just wanted to say a huge thank you to both yourself and Prof Li for your help and advice over the past few months. Both Simon and I are absolutely thrilled with the results and feel very positive about falling pregnant naturally. I’ll be sure to recommend your services to anybody experiencing issues with fertility.”

Emma came to us after a long treatment by conventional and alternative medicine. She had irregular periods and PCOS. She was prescribed contraceptive pills to regulate her periods. Emma also wanted children so the solution was far from ideal. Nonetheless, she had to take the pills, and opted for IVF, but failed the first cycle.

Emma’s husband also came, who had low sperm count. We treated her husband first to improve sperm count and other parameters. We then treated her by regulating her periods and improving her general and reproductive health.

She went for another cycle of IVF with the consultant we work with, but it had to be aborted since she started bleeding before egg collection. Another cycle followed, and she was pregnant. She gave birth later.

Hormonal imbalance is a major issue in gynaecology. It is a major cause for key conditions that impact on fertility such as polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), where the sex hormones oestrogen and progesterone are out of balance. Women with PCOS also tend to have irregular periods and high anti-Mullerian hormone (AMH) as a result. An AMH test is thus a quick and inexpensive way to check if you may have PCOS.

Conventional medicine tends to treat irregular periods by using contraceptive pills. While pills may restore the balance of hormones, it clearly presents problems in cases where women want to have children. This treatment mode is also less about dealing with the underlying causes of hormonal imbalance and more about dealing with the symptoms: As soon as you stop taking the pills, the problems are likely to return.

A hormonal imbalance is also a major determinant for poor egg quality. Regular and healthy periods are indicative of good egg quality; the converse is also true (ie irregular and unhealthy periods are indicative of poor egg quality). Although healthy and regular periods are of paramount importance, curiously, it can be a factor that tends to be ignored by doctors at times. When your menstrual cycle is not going well, it is highly unlikely you are making healthy, high-quality eggs — healthy eggs come from healthy follicles, which are only produced by healthy menstrual cycles. 

Premature ovarian failure or premature menopause (loss of menstrual cycle before 40) can also result, in the extreme case, from hormonal imbalance.

We offer tests for all major hormones that impact fertility (see Female Fertility Profile test and ovulation test for the following hormones):

Read more on our blog page.

How do we help? 

Even though our diagnoses and prescriptions are based on traditional Chinese medicine theory and practice, given the high success rate of hormonal balance achieved, it seems highly likely our herbal remedies act on the endocrine system by improving the functioning of the glands that produce hormones. Once the glands function properly, hormonal balance and regular periods are the result.

Patients bring us their test results and medical record. We do a first consultation lasting 30 to 40 minutes, in which we do non-invasive and pain-free Chinese medical diagnostic procedures, in order to understand your particular condition and circumstances thoroughly.

Our specialist prescribes a unique herbal formula, usually consisting of around 20 kinds of herbs, from which you will make drinks and consume twice a day for 18 days in a month.

A month after the first consultation, you will be done with the first round of herbal remedy. We do a second consultation, lasting 30 minutes, doing another diagnostic procedure to see how well you’ve responded to the treatment. Another prescription will be written.

This monthly cycle will repeat 3 or 4 times before you are asked to have another AMH test carried out. Most patients see significant improvements. They also report their periods are now much more regular. They then pursue a number of options, including working with us for longer to achieve natural pregnancy, or combining our treatment with IVF — we work some of the best IVF clinicians, who can offer the best of both worlds to our patients.

What are our fees?

The fees come to about £480 to £530 a month on average. Given our success rate, the fees of our treatment programme compares very favourably with IVF — all 3 courses (9 months) of our treatment comes out to be around £4,500 whereas the minimum all-inclusive fee for one IVF cycle stands at £6,000.

How often do I need to come? 

Once a month. Most patients come from 3 to 9 months. Some combine our treatment with further IVF cycles.

What to expect during a consultation

A traditional Chinese medical consultation involves the following steps.

Observation

The practitioner may scrutinise your complexion, eyes, tongue, and movements to gain insight into how your organs are functioning. The tongue is a particularly important source of information, and its colour, body, coating, and moisture will all be taken into account.

Assessment

The practitioner assesses the patient’s energy and general condition by taking into account your body heat, odour, skin sensitivity, and uses other senses to gain an insight into the your condition.

Taking a history

To gain a full picture, the practitioner will ask detailed questions about your complaint and your medical history. They will want to find out whether your problems vary at all according to the time of year and your diet, feelings or emotions.

Pulse diagnosis

This can provide a highly sensitive and detailed picture of your general health. The practitioner will take a number of different ‘pulses’ using three fingers put on the wrist of each hand of the patient. This enables him to gain further information about the quality and functioning of the five major organs. The practitioner will take account of your general health and strength, as well as all of your symptoms, whether they seem to you to be connected or not. This will be the basis for deciding on the best treatment.

Follow-up

Monthly consultations are required to gauge your progress. The prescriptions will be devised accordingly — for treating a changing condition, a fixed single herb or formula is unlikely to be effective over time.

Patients want to know how long they need to see us for. We say after 3 months of treatment, we will review progress, retesting hormones and check subjective experience, such as period cycle regularity and sexual interest. If they are at normal levels, we discharge the patients.

If they are better but still need further improvement, patients may need second course of treatment at the same or less intensity.

Typically, women see us for 3 courses of treatment, ie 9 months total.

The point is that the way we treat patients means they should not rely on our treatment for too long. Their improved health and function should stay with them if they look after their health.

A second opinion service

We have just launched a second opinion service where you can send us your hormone test results, sperm test results and other results. Consultations will be done on the phone and it will not be a face-to-face medical consultation.

Since we work with IUI, IVF, ICSI, egg and sperm freezing specialists, we can explore a full range of options with you prior to your committing to a course of actions that may be best for you. There is no charge for this service.

We offer this service in good faith based on our clinical experience and our work with partner agencies such as IVF specialists. We do not accept any liability and we will urge you to triangulate opinions given with your own doctors before you decide what may be best for your circumstance.

Book an appointment!

Call us any time on 0207 096 0283 or fill out our enquiry form.

We would like to see the following test results (less than 2 months old):

If you have not done them yet, we can arrange them for you. Results come out in 1–3 days.

A booking fee of £100 (refunded when you attend) will be processed at booking. 

Late cancellation fee £50
We appreciate that you might not be well or have urgent matters to attend. As a result you may have to postpone the appointment. We would like to have at least 24 hours' advance notice. A late cancellation fee of £50 is payable if advance notice is not given.

Are there patients we cannot help?

Yes. No medical system is foolproof and medical practitioners, however good, are not omnipotent. As great as our success rates are, they are not 100%. There are times patients do not respond to our treatments despite our best efforts.

Delayed improvements are possible when patients rest a little. However, even with rest, patients may still not respond well. Fortunately, these cases are in the minority. We minimise the number of these cases by trying to understand our patients’ conditions as much as possible before taking them on. We minimise time and financial commitments from patients by insisting they have hormone or sperm test results prior to treatment, and to get retested after 3 months — following our evidence-based approach.

At TCM Healthcare, we will always have your best interests in mind and we will do our best.