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Mid-Year Check In: Are Your Hormones Working for You or Against You?

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It’s hard to believe we’re already halfway through 2025. As June winds down, this is a natural moment to pause, reflect, and ask: How are you really feeling?

For many, this time of year brings a noticeable dip in energy. Maybe you’re feeling worn out, stuck in a rut, or just not quite yourself. It’s worth asking—are your hormones helping you feel your best, or quietly working against you?

The Hormone–Health Connection

At Exceed, we like to say: when your hormones aren’t right, then you’re not right. As we’ve discussed in previous posts, your hormones are responsible for regulating essential health functions, including energy levels, weight, libido, and emotional well-being. While it’s normal to feel a little worn out mid-year, a deeper, more persistent burnout could signal something more.

Looking Back to Move Forward

To understand your current hormone health, start by reflecting on the first half of the year. Have you experienced any major physical or emotional stressors? Even positive lifestyle changes—like increasing workouts or adjusting your diet—can affect your hormones if not properly supported.

If you’re over 35, age-related shifts such as perimenopause, menopause, low testosterone, or thyroid fluctuations might also be influencing how you feel. These changes affect both men and women and often begin subtly before becoming more noticeable. Recognizing early signs can help you prevent larger problems down the road.

Checking In With Yourself

Hormonal imbalances can be easy to overlook. Ask yourself:

  • Has your energy dropped?
  • Are you struggling with focus or mood swings?
  • Is your sleep less restful?
  • Do you just feel “off,” even if your labs are technically normal?

If something feels wrong, trust that instinct. You don’t have to wait for symptoms to get worse to take action.

Real Support, Real Results

Exceed offers personalized care for both women and men navigating hormone-related issues. Our physicians bring deep clinical expertise—and more importantly, real attention to your story, symptoms, and goals.

This isn’t one-size-fits-all care. We take time to understand your full picture, then build a tailored treatment plan that helps you regain balance, energy, and confidence.

Get Back in Sync

The second half of the year is a chance for a fresh start—and by taking charge of your hormone health now, you’ll set yourself up to finish 2025 feeling stronger, more balanced, and full of energy. Take the first step—book your consultation at Exceed.

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For That Important Man In Your Life

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There’s a reason that women make 75% of the health care decisions for their families. Reaching and maintaining optimal health involves prior planning and a proactive stance. Women are accustomed to recommended exams for themselves and necessary checkups for their children. Men, however, tend to see health as a given – requiring no effort or attention unless something feels wrong. Men are reactive to health issues and subscribe to the pain theory of illness: if it doesn’t hurt, nothing is wrong.

There are generally only three things that cause men to seek medical care:

• Severe pain that can’t be cured with over-the-counter meds or by “walking it off”
• Bleeding – bright red and lots of it
• Problems with their sex life – and then only after trying everything at the health food store and online. It’s also important to them to keep this a secret from their significant other and their friends.

If men were cars, they would ignore the oil changes, bald tires, cracked windshield, and smoking exhaust. But if the radio won’t play loudly and the transmission starts slipping, something’s got to be done!

Women know when their hormones have changed. Perimenopause and menopause lead to big changes in mood, energy, and outlook – there’s no denying hot flashes, night sweats, and dryness. Women, in effect, “fall off a cliff” at menopause and it hurts when they land!

Men, on the other hand, just slide down the hill very slowly. Starting at age thirty, testosterone drops by 1% every year, and by age 45, nearly 40% percent of men have low hormone levels. So, while the women in their lives are struggling with unwanted weight gain, loss of energy, irritability and poor self image, men are blissfully ignoring their own physical changes caused by low testosterone:

• fatigue and loss of energy
• weight gain
• flab and weakness from loss of skeletal muscle
• loss of motivation and drive

What finally gets their attention is when they “can’t get it up!” This is hitting rock bottom for men. Most men have been in trouble with low testosterone for years before it gets to this point.

Here’s the question for women: that man in your life – who falls asleep in the chair, doesn’t want to go anywhere, has lost interest and drive at work and at home – could the problem be not enough testosterone?

Here’s the solution: do it for him because he likely won’t do it for himself.  Encourage him, support him and have him come see us at Exceed Hormone Specialists. His problem will not get better by itself, and we offer a free 15-minute consultation. He can discuss his issues in complete privacy and learn about solutions.

He will be glad, and so will you!

Richard Pearson MD, FACS

Everyday Items Leading Women Into Early Menopause

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Testosterone and estrogen are words you often see in the headlines. Sometimes it’s difficult to sort out the facts and identify the fiction. Even if you can figure out what is truth, it’s hard to know what to do with that information. Exceed Hormone Specialists is here to help you figure out what specifically applies (and doesn’t apply) to you.

A recent study reported a notable link between everyday chemicals and early menopause. Women who had higher levels of certain chemicals in their blood went through menopause two to four years earlier than women with lower levels. What does this mean for you and your family? Try eating local, organic fruits and vegetables. You can decrease the use of plastics in your home and keep them out of the microwave. Read more labels on cleaning products, cosmetics, and scented toiletries and keep a watchful eye in order to avoid phthalates. A friendly and informative resource is the Environmental Working Group website at ewg.org.

It’s important for you to evaluate where you are hormonally. Do you feel as good as you want to? Does your energy level sustain the demands of your daily life? First, look to the things you can change more easily to help your hormones. Give yourself enough hours to achieve restful sleep. Try to exercise more regularly than you have been. Decrease your daytime carbohydrate intake to even out your insulin/glucose balance. These modifications can make a real difference.

Maybe you have done all the things you know to do to achieve hormone balance. Perhaps you still don’t feel like the best version of yourself. No matter where you are in the spectrum of hormone imbalance (30 years old with no libido, 40 years old with no energy, 50 years old with hot flashes, 60 years old with clouded thinking, or 70 years old without stamina to exercise), we may be able to help you. Consider coming in to see us at Exceed Hormone Specialists. You can talk with me or Dr. Richard Pearson. We will do our best to work with you to come up with an individualized treatment plan – we want you to feel your absolute best.

Heather Pearson Chauhan, MD

A Free Consultation from Exceed

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We’re all busy and can feel overwhelmed. Some of us even have the added stress of a life with hormonal issues. If this is you, we’d love to help.

Exceed Hormone Specialists offers free, 15-minute, one-on-one consultations at our Germantown office. We will review any lab work that is pertinent and you will have the opportunity to see if our practice is the kind of place you’re looking for.

We love introducing people to a new approach in hormone management that provides a real product with real, sustained benefits. So come and check out our office, visit with me or Dr. Richard Pearson, and see if Exceed is the right fit for you.

Call 901.312.7899 to schedule your free consultation.

Thank you,

Dr. Heather Chauhan

Greetings From Exceed – We’re Here & Ready

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I could not be more excited to share with you the news that Exceed Hormone Specialists is now open for business!

Exceed is staffed by full time specialists in gynecology and urology. We care for women and men with gynecology and urology concerns with a strong focus on hormone imbalance, bio-identical hormone therapy, sexual issues and the related loss of vitality.

On a personal note, my father and I are embarking on this adventure together because we truly believe in the power of a doctor-patient relationship built on trust and understanding. We know the best way to build those relationships is by spending face-to-face time with our patients, getting to know them and working with them to determine the best course of treatment for their hormone-related conditions.

While we are officially opening our doors in the coming weeks, we are already hard at work and available for questions, seminars and appointment scheduling.

Our site is filled with information about all of the hormone therapy services we offer, as well as resources for those wanting to know more about hormone-related conditions and treatments.

Our office at 7512 Second Street in Germantown is ready to take your calls! You can reach us five days a week at 901-312-7899 and you can email us anytime at info@ExceedHS.com.

We will be offering informational seminars about Bioidentical Hormone Therapy throughout the rest of the year, but the next available dates are:

Monday 11/3/14 at 10am;
Thursday 11/6/14 at 5:30pm; and
Monday 11/10/14 at both 10am and 5:30pm

These small-group seminars are intended to provide an overview of hormone imbalance and how bioidentical hormone therapy is used to treat it. Our board-certified physicians will provide insight from their years of training and experience, as well as answer any questions you might have. Contact the office to reserve a spot and find out the location.

We have so much more to share with you, but for now we wanted to say hello and encourage you to reach out to us. We’d love to meet you and find out what Exceed can do for you!

Heather Pearson Chauhan MD, FACOG