77: Hormone Audit | Micaiah, 21

In this week’s episode, I’m walking through a real-life hormone audit for Micah—a 21-year-old mom struggling with irregular cycles, hair growth, stubborn weight, and poor sleep since ending her breastfeeding journey.

We break down her symptoms, lifestyle habits, and possible underlying hormone imbalances—including signs that point toward PCOS and cortisol dysregulation. You’ll hear how I evaluate cases like this, what patterns I look for, and which next steps (like HTMA or DUTCH testing) can bring clarity and relief.

If you’ve ever wondered whether your fatigue, irregular cycles, or PMS are “just normal postpartum,” this episode will help you understand what your body might be trying to tell you—and what to do next.

🎧 Tune in to learn how small, strategic changes (and the right testing) can make a big difference in your hormone health.

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Transcript

Hey hey, welcome back to the podcast!

Today, we’re doing another Hormone Audit episode. If you missed the first one, go back to the September episode — that’s where I explain what these audits are and why they’re so helpful.

I offer these as part of my business, and once a month, I share one here on the podcast because they’re so educational. You’ll get to hear how I assess symptoms, connect the dots, and recommend next steps.

Today’s audit is for Micah, a 21-year-old mom.

Micah’s biggest concerns are irregular cycles, stubborn weight gain, and facial hair growth — specifically dark hair on her chin and upper lip. She said her period has been inconsistent for as long as she can remember, but it became much worse after having her baby in December 2023 and stopping breastfeeding in January 2025.

She also mentioned that she’s been gaining fat easily even though she maintains muscle mass and works out. Her goal is to feel confident, healthy, and feminine again — because these symptoms have been affecting her mood, confidence, and relationships.

Sleep & Stress

She’s getting about seven to eight hours of sleep but struggles to fall and stay asleep, which makes me think of cortisol imbalance and possible blood sugar issues.

She doesn’t feel rested in the mornings and doesn’t use a sleep aid. She also described her stress levels as high and hard to manage, though she uses several great coping tools — journaling, reading, time outside, walks, even using the trampoline, which I love!

I think her body’s stress response needs more support — not just mindset work, but physiological support for her adrenals and minerals so her stress capacity improves.

Movement & Eating

She does short weight-lifting sessions at home, about 10 minutes each, one to five times per week, and occasionally adds walks or HIIT. She doesn’t feel sore or overly fatigued from exercise, which is great.

She’s not following a specific diet but recently started fasting based on Fast Like a Girl. Sometimes she fasts for 13–15 hours, other times 24–36 hours, syncing it loosely with her cycle or moon phases.

I want to pause here — for someone struggling with hormone imbalance, I don’t recommend extended fasting. Anything over 12 hours can put extra stress on the body and worsen hormone imbalance, especially for women with irregular cycles. Ten hours overnight is plenty.

She also mentioned emotional eating and stress eating, which is very common when hormones are dysregulated.

Cycle Details

Her cycles are very irregular — around 84 days apart on average, with the longest being 125 days. She rates her cramps 7 out of 10 and experiences PMS symptoms like bloating, mood swings, headaches, low energy, depression, and carb cravings.

She’s not on birth control and hasn’t been diagnosed with PCOS, though she suspects it — and I agree that it’s possible.

Supplements

Right now, she’s taking a 10,000 IU Vitamin D and a women’s multivitamin — but the multivitamin is formulated for ages 50+, and that dosage of Vitamin D is too high unless there’s a documented deficiency.

Vitamin D acts like a hormone in the body, so we don’t want to over-supplement, especially when hormones are already imbalanced. I recommended she have her Vitamin D levels checked before continuing at that dose.

Postpartum Hormone Recovery

Micah stopped breastfeeding in January, and it’s now October — about 10 months later. Normally, I tell clients to give their body at least three months post-weaning for hormones to regulate.

Since it’s been longer than that, and her cycle still hasn’t normalized, it’s time for testing.

I recommended starting with HTMA testing to see how her minerals are affecting hormone function, and then following up with a DUTCH test if needed. DUTCH is a bit trickier since it needs to be timed with her cycle, but it would give us a full picture of her cortisol, estrogen, progesterone, and androgen levels.

Lifestyle & Next Steps

We also talked about improving sleep and stress resilience with more morning sunlight exposure — at least 5–15 minutes outside before 10 AM, with no sunglasses or screens.

Her short 10-minute workouts are great, but I suggested finding a structured strength program that includes progressive overload so she can continue building muscle and supporting her metabolism.

I also advised against 24–36 hour fasts — those are far too long for women with hormone imbalance. Instead, she should focus on eating balanced meals throughout the day to stabilize blood sugar.

Because she’s experiencing facial hair growth and difficulty losing fat, I suspect some androgen excess or PCOS-type patterning, and we’d be able to confirm that through testing.

Supplement Support

My foundational supplement recommendations for her were:

• A high-quality multivitamin (not the typical drugstore kind)
• Magnesium at bedtime to support sleep and muscle relaxation
• A stress-support supplement to help balance cortisol
• Berberine, if blood sugar markers come back imbalanced

Final Thoughts

If you’re listening and thinking, “That sounds like me!”, a Hormone Audit is a great first step. It gives you clarity, direction, and confidence that you’re investing in the right next steps — whether that’s testing, supplements, or lifestyle shifts.

You can purchase a Hormone Audit through my website, wellnesswithvanda.com
. My typical turnaround time is about a week, and it’s a perfect starting point to stop guessing and start healing your hormones.