Hormonal Imbalance Naturopath in Melbourne
Women’s health naturopathy for PMS, perimenopause, PCOS and hormonal imbalances that normal blood tests have not explained.
25+
Clinical Experience
ATMS
member
Telehealth
Australia-wide
Free 20 minute
discovery call
No referral required. Free 20-minute discovery call available.
Why Hormone Symptoms So Often Go Unexplained
Hormones are not fixed numbers. They rise and fall across your cycle, shift after the pill, pregnancy or breastfeeding, and change again through perimenopause. A blood test taken on one day captures a single moment, which is why PMS, heavy periods, poor sleep, low mood or stubborn weight gain can be very real and still come back “normal”.
Hormone care needs a wider view than one result, and that is how we work at Vital Health and Natural Medicine. We look at how your cycle, thyroid, stress response and gut influence each other, and we do it alongside your GP or gynaecologist, not in place of them.
Hormonal symptoms rarely come from one cause. Ongoing stress can affect progesterone, gut imbalances can change how oestrogen is cleared, and thyroid conversion can slow with either. Those pieces need untangling before treatment starts, otherwise you end up chasing symptoms one at a time.
Hormone Concerns at Every Stage of Life
Hormone symptoms look different from one stage to the next. Find the one that sounds like you, and expect some overlap between them.
PMS and Cycle Problems
- PMS that disrupts your week every month
- Heavy, painful or irregular periods
- Breast tenderness, bloating and mood swings before your period
- Short cycles or missing periods
Post Pill Hormone Disruption
- Irregular or absent periods after stopping hormonal contraception
- Acne, hair loss or low libido
- Mood changes and emotional flatness
- Symptoms the pill may have been covering
PCOS
- Irregular or absent periods
- Acne along the jaw, excess facial hair or thinning hair
- Weight that does not respond to diet and exercise
- Difficulty conceiving
Perimenopause and Menopause
- Irregular cycles, hot flushes and night sweats
- Broken sleep, brain fog and mood changes
- Joint aches and low libido
- Tests that look normal even though you feel different
Thyroid and Energy
- Fatigue, weight changes and feeling cold
- Hair loss, dry skin and heavier periods
- Low mood and slow thinking
- Symptoms that continue despite a normal TSH
Stress, Sleep and Mood
- Feeling wired but tired
- Waking between 2 and 4am
- Anxiety or overwhelm out of proportion to what is happening
- PMS that is worse in stressful months
Hormone Testing That Fits Your Cycle
Standard blood panels are designed to detect disease, and hormone levels can look fine on any single day. Functional testing looks at the wider picture, including stress hormones across the day, thyroid conversion, nutrient status and gut function.
| Test | What it shows | How it is collected |
|---|---|---|
| AdrenoCortex salivary panel | Cortisol rhythm across the day, plus DHEA | At home, saliva collected at four points |
| Thyroid panel | TSH, free T4, free T3, reverse T3 and thyroid antibodies (TPO and TgAb) | Blood test |
| Nutrient and hormone blood panel | Ferritin, B12, folate, vitamin D, zinc, magnesium, fasting insulin, androgens, FSH, LH, oestradiol and progesterone | Blood test |
| GI Microbiome Map | Gut bacteria balance, beta glucuronidase, inflammation and gut barrier markers | At home, stool sample |
You will not need every test. Based on your symptoms and history, we choose from our hormone testing options and, where gut health is involved, the GI Microbiome Map . Some tests are timed to your cycle, so we plan that with you before you collect anything.
How We Build Your Hormone Plan
Hormone care works best in order. Your gut, stress response and thyroid tend to affect each other, so we map them first and treat in stages. The ROOT Method is the framework behind that.
R — Review Your Full History
We go through your cycle history, pill use, pregnancies, stress levels and how symptoms change across the month, not just how you feel today.
O — Order Targeted Testing
We choose tests that suit your symptoms and stage of life, and plan the timing around your cycle where it matters.
O — Observe the Clinical Findings
We look at how hormone, thyroid, stress and gut results connect, and which one is likely sitting upstream of the others.
Treat the Cause
Your protocol is built from what your results showed, delivered in stages, with retesting to check what has shifted.
Your Initial Consultation and Pricing
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Free health discovery call. We ring you for 20 minutes, free and without obligation. It is a chance to explain your symptoms and any results you already have, and to hear whether functional testing would add anything. Telehealth is available.
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Initial consultation, $97. A 60 to 90 minute session, in clinic or by video, where we go through your cycle, symptom and medical history in detail and decide which tests suit you.
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Testing. Priced separately, based on the tests you need. For example, our thyroid and adrenal panel is $450. Testing costs are confirmed with you before anything is ordered.
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Results and plan. Your results are reviewed in a follow up consultation, and you leave with a written protocol covering herbal medicine, nutrition and supplements.
What Women Say About Working With Us
Ash C.
MelbourneLia L.
Melbourne
Meet Domenic Pisanelli
For more than 25 years, Domenic Pisanelli has worked as a naturopath and functional medicine practitioner, and he is an ATMS member. His training includes medical herbalism and nutritional medicine, and hormone, thyroid and gut testing are a core part of how he works. Women often come to him after being told their results are normal, and he starts by listening to the full story before choosing a single test.
He does not promise overnight fixes. Your plan is personalised, built from your results and explained step by step.
Serving Melbourne’s Western and Northern Suburbs
Primary Suburbs
We also see patients from Richmond, Fitzroy, Brunswick, Frankston, Dandenong, and surrounding Melbourne suburbs — and telehealth patients from across Australia.
Not on the list? We still see you. Get in touch.
Frequently Asked Questions
Naturopathy can support hormone health by addressing drivers such as nutrient status, stress, gut function and thyroid conversion. It does not replace medical care for conditions like endometriosis, thyroid disease or early menopause, and we work alongside your doctor.
See your GP promptly for very heavy bleeding, bleeding between periods or after menopause, severe pelvic pain, a breast lump, a missed period when you could be pregnant, or low mood that is affecting your daily life.
PCOS looks different from woman to woman, so we look at what is driving it in your case, such as blood sugar, stress or inflammation. Support usually combines nutrition, herbal medicine and lifestyle changes alongside your doctor’s care.
It often begins in the mid to late 40s with irregular periods, hot flushes, broken sleep, mood changes and brain fog. Tests can look normal because hormone levels fluctuate, so it is recognised mainly from your symptoms and age. We support sleep, mood and hot flushes with nutrition, herbal medicine and lifestyle changes, and you can discuss hormone therapy with your doctor.
Gut bacteria help process oestrogen so it can be removed from the body. When that balance is off, oestrogen can be reabsorbed instead of cleared, and gut inflammation can also affect thyroid conversion and stress hormones. That is why gut testing is part of many hormone cases.
Timing depends on which pattern is involved and how long it has been present. Some women notice sleep and mood shifting within the first weeks, while cycle changes usually take a few months. We retest after about three months to see what has moved, and PCOS or long running imbalances can take longer.
Some tests are timed to a particular point in your cycle, and we plan that with you at your consultation. If your cycles are irregular or you no longer have periods, we will advise on the best timing.
No referral is needed. Do not stop or change the pill, HRT or any prescribed medication without speaking to your doctor. Tell us what you take, as some herbs and supplements can interact with hormonal medicines.
Talk Through Your Symptoms With Us
The free health discovery call is a 20 minute phone conversation with no obligation. Bring your cycle history, your symptoms and any results you already have, and we will talk through whether testing is worth doing. Available by telehealth across Australia.