HORMONES

Hormone Conditions We Treat

Hypothyroidism · Adrenal Dysfunction · PCOS · PMDD · Postpartum Depression · Growth Hormone Decline · Menopause & Andropause · How We Test · Our Treatments

Hypothyroidism

Your thyroid controls your metabolism, energy, body temperature, weight, mood, and mental clarity. When it slows down, everything slows down. You gain weight without changing anything. You are cold all the time. Your hair falls out. Your brain feels foggy. You are tired no matter how much you sleep.

Here is what trips most patients up. Their doctor checks TSH — one single number — and says “you are fine.” But TSH alone tells you almost nothing. A specialist who understands thyroid function runs a complete panel: Free T3, Free T4, Reverse T3, and thyroid antibodies. That is how you catch Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, T4-to-T3 conversion problems, and subclinical hypothyroidism that standard testing completely misses.

Patients walk in every week who have been told their thyroid is “normal” when it clearly is not. They feel terrible, and their labs explain exactly why — once you run the right tests. More on our thyroid evaluation →

Adrenal Gland Dysfunction

Your adrenal glands produce cortisol and DHEA — two of the most important substances in your body. Cortisol manages your stress response, blood sugar, inflammation, and sleep-wake cycle. DHEA is the raw material your body converts into testosterone and estrogen. When chronic stress burns your adrenals out, everything downstream falls apart.

Early on, cortisol runs too high. You cannot sleep, you carry weight around your middle, you feel wired but exhausted, and anxiety takes over. As the burnout continues, cortisol crashes. Now you cannot get out of bed. You have zero energy by mid-afternoon. You crave salt and sugar. You get dizzy standing up. Your immune system weakens and you catch everything.

Cortisol patterns almost never get tested in a standard office. A single morning cortisol draw is about as far as it goes. Cortisol testing at multiple points throughout the day using salivary testing to see the full picture — where it peaks, where it drops, and how DHEA is holding up. That pattern tells us exactly what stage of adrenal dysfunction you are in and how to treat it. More on adrenal support →

PCOS (Polycystic Ovary Syndrome)

PCOS is one of the most common conditions we see in women of reproductive age, and one of the most poorly managed by conventional medicine. The typical approach is birth control pills to mask the symptoms. That does nothing to fix the actual problem.

PCOS involves insulin resistance, elevated androgens (male-type hormones), irregular or missing periods, acne, hair growth in unwanted places, hair thinning on your head, and stubborn weight gain — especially around the belly. It also increases your risk for type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and infertility.

Getting real answers for PCOS means looking beyond the surface. The workup includes insulin levels, fasting glucose, testosterone (total and free), DHEA-S, thyroid function, and inflammatory markers. The metabolic picture matters because PCOS is far more than an ovarian problem — it is a whole-body metabolic condition. Treatment involves correcting the insulin resistance, balancing androgens, supporting ovulation, and addressing the inflammation that drives it all. More on PCOS treatment →

PMDD (Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder)

PMDD is not PMS. It is a severe, debilitating condition that takes over your life for one to two weeks every single month. The rage, the depression, the anxiety, the suicidal thoughts — these are not just “bad periods.” PMDD is driven by an abnormal sensitivity to the normal rise and fall of progesterone and estrogen during your cycle.

Most doctors prescribe an SSRI and hope for the best. Some put you on birth control. Neither approach addresses the underlying sensitivity or the specific hormonal patterns that trigger your symptoms. Dr. Ava Bell-Taylor is a holistic hormone doctor with psychiatry training from Emory University. She brings a unique perspective to PMDD. She understands both the hormonal mechanics and the neurological impact — how progesterone metabolites affect GABA receptors in the brain, why certain women react so strongly to normal fluctuations, and how to stabilize those shifts without just numbing you with medication.

Evaluation includes your hormonal cycle, cortisol patterns, and neurotransmitter function. A treatment plan might include targeted bioidentical progesterone, adrenal support, nutritional strategies, and when needed, integrative psychiatry approaches that treat the whole picture — beyond the symptoms on the surface.

Postpartum Depression (PPD)

After delivery, your estrogen and progesterone crash to near zero within hours. Thyroid function often tanks. Cortisol is shot from months of physical stress. Iron and vitamin D are depleted. Your body just did the hardest thing it will ever do, and now your brain chemistry is in free fall.

Postpartum depression is not weakness. It is biology. When your hormones collapse that fast and the resources to recover are not there, depression, anxiety, rage, detachment, and intrusive thoughts are the result. Telling a new mother to “sleep when the baby sleeps” is useless when her progesterone is nonexistent and her thyroid is barely functioning.

The panel covers estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, thyroid (all markers, beyond just TSH), cortisol, DHEA, iron, ferritin, vitamin D, and B12. Once the results come back, the treatment plan targets exactly what crashed and how far. Dr. Bell-Taylor’s psychiatry background means she can also evaluate mood, anxiety, and bonding issues from a clinical standpoint and combine hormonal restoration with therapeutic support when needed.

Growth Hormone Decline

Growth hormone does far more than help kids grow tall. In adults, it drives fat metabolism, muscle maintenance, bone density, skin thickness, immune function, and tissue repair. Your body produces less of it every decade after your 20s. By your 40s or 50s, the decline is noticeable enough to cause visible changes — more body fat (especially around the waist), less muscle tone despite working out, thinner skin, slower healing, and poor sleep quality.

Growth hormone levels in adults almost never get tested in a conventional office. It is simply not on the radar. IGF-1 testing (the main marker for growth hormone activity) tells us whether declining levels are contributing to your symptoms. For patients who are deficient, we offer peptide therapy — compounds like Sermorelin and CJC-1295/Ipamorelin that stimulate natural production rather than replacing it from outside. This is safer and more sustainable than direct injection and supports your pituitary gland’s ability to produce on its own. Details on our longevity services →

Menopause, Perimenopause, and Andropause

These are the conditions people think of first when they look for a hormone specialist. And for good reason — they affect millions of adults and cause some of the most disruptive symptoms imaginable.

For women, perimenopause can start in your late 30s with irregular periods, sleep disruption, mood swings, and creeping weight gain. By the time menopause arrives, estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone have all declined sharply. Hot flashes, night sweats, vaginal dryness, brain fog, and loss of desire are common — and treatable.

For men, andropause is the gradual decline of testosterone starting around age 30. By your 40s or 50s, the effects are hard to ignore — fatigue, belly fat, low sex drive, irritability, loss of motivation, and shrinking muscle mass. Most men just accept it as aging. It does not have to be.

Testing covers the full panel for both men and women, and treatment plans are built using bioidentical hormone replacement, nutritional support, and lifestyle strategies that actually hold long-term.

How a Hormone Doctor Should Test You

This is what separates us from a standard doctor’s visit. There is no checking one or two numbers and calling it a day. Every connected system gets evaluated because when one level is off, it drags others down with it. When one level is off, it drags others down with it.

Salivary testing measures the free, bioavailable levels your cells actually use — not just the total amount floating in your blood. Standard blood tests measure everything, including the portion bound to proteins that your cells cannot access. That is why patients with “normal” blood work still feel terrible. Their usable levels are low even when the total looks fine.

Depending on your symptoms, we evaluate estrogen, progesterone, testosterone (total and free), DHEA, cortisol at multiple time points, thyroid (Free T3, Free T4, TSH, Reverse T3, antibodies), insulin, vitamin D, B12, iron, ferritin, and inflammatory markers. We test before we treat. Always.

Hormone Treatments We Offer

Once we identify the problem, we match the solution to what your body actually needs:

Why Choose a Hormone Doctor in Atlanta Over a Regular Doctor

Your primary care doctor means well. But they are trained to look for disease, not optimize function. They check basic labs, compare to broad ranges, and if nothing screams “emergency,” you get sent home. That approach misses the subtle hormonal shifts that make you feel 20 years older than you are.

A hormone specialist in functional and integrative medicine looks at your labs differently. The question is not “is this within the lab range?” The question is “is this where YOUR body functions best?” There is a massive difference between a testosterone level of 280 (technically normal) and 650 (where most men feel their best). Same goes for thyroid, progesterone, and every other level we check.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I know if I need a hormone doctor?

If you are dealing with persistent fatigue, unexplained weight gain, low sex drive, mood changes, brain fog, hair loss, or sleep problems — and your regular doctor says everything is “normal” — an imbalance is the most likely cause. The only way to know for sure is proper testing.

What age should I start getting tested?

Decline begins earlier than most people think. Women can start experiencing shifts in their late 30s. Men lose about one percent of their testosterone every year after 30. If you have symptoms at any age, it is worth investigating. Our patients range from their 20s through their 70s.

Do you accept insurance?

Taylor Medical Group is a cash-pay practice. This allows us to spend the time needed with each patient and order the advanced testing that insurance-based offices cannot justify. Many patients find that our approach saves them money long-term because we actually find and fix the problem instead of cycling through medications that do not work.

How is this different from a regular endocrinologist?

Endocrinologists focus on diagnosing and managing endocrine diseases like diabetes and thyroid cancer. A hormone specialist in a functional medicine practice focuses on optimizing levels for how you feel and function — catching the imbalances that are not severe enough to be classified as a disease but are absolutely severe enough to ruin your quality of life.

How long before I feel results?

Many patients notice improved energy and sleep within two to four weeks. Sex drive and mood usually follow over the next month or two. Full results develop over three to six months as everything adjusts to optimal levels.

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