As an OB-GYN, expert in Functional Medicine and the founder of RestoraVita Medical Group, Dr. Rosimar Torres-Leon—who is also a mother and wife—knows firsthand how fatigue and other debilitating symptoms can affect women striving to do it all.
“I know for a fact this is something that happens to women that are really active who want to be good at everything as a mom, as a professional, as a human being,” says Dr. Torres-Leon, adding that this mindset is typical for overachievers or women with Type-A personalities.
The good news is that “you are not alone,” Dr. Torres-Leon emphasizes. “Treating these symptoms has healed so many patients in my practice.”
Common topics she deals with relating to menopausal changes involve hot flashes, vaginal dryness, mood changes, mood disorders, low libido, low concentration, skin changes, and the ability to metabolize fat, especially in the stomach area.
“Fatigue and low energy are also common symptoms, even in younger patients,” she says, adding, “what they are feeling is not made up.” In many cases, women are tired and fatigued, which can be “mistaken for depression or even anxiety disorder. Most of the patients that come with these symptoms are on anti-depressants and not getting better…or feeling really bad, struggling doing daily activities at work or at home.”
These symptoms can affect their relationships with their children, “because if they have kids, they are tired and irritable; also, they do not have good relationships with their husbands because they’re tired all the time, and they start having marital problems,” Dr. Torres-Leon says.
With patients suffering from fatigue, which she says correlates with adrenal fatigue, this equates to “tiredness that cannot go away with either sleeping or resting,” she explains. “It is a constant feeling of being tired, especially during the morning when you wake up…in the mid-day, you have another drop in energy, which makes you feel like you want to have a nap. Some even medicate with Coke or coffee or tea to revive.”
As a result, by evening time, women might withdraw from talking to anybody, and sometimes, “they retract from family celebrations and places they used to go because they feel so tired, they don’t want to spend energy. That’s why it’s mistaken for depression.”
At RestoraVita Medical Group, women suffering from these symptoms undergo lab work to rule out certain factors to determine a diagnosis.
“They are well understood by functional medicine physicians…we are trained to diagnose and treat the symptom or syndrome accordingly to every single patient,” Dr. Torres-Leon says. “If they have stressors, we can work with the stressors; if they have nutrient deficiency, we can treat them with oral supplementation or IV vitamins.” This involves “a cocktail of several vitamins…and they have therapy once a month which takes around 15 to 20 minutes in which the nutrients are absorbed into the cells where they’re needed to improve energy.”
If a woman is suffering from a sleep disorder, “we can treat them with natural supplementation to either go to sleep or maintain sleep during the night.” Women’s cortisol levels can also be tested. “It usually takes three to five months in order for us to fix those levels to increase quality of life with each patient. With these symptoms they have such a decreased quality of life—they’re not enjoying what they’ve achieved their whole life.”
Dr. Torres-Leon further reassured that these symptoms “are not in your imagination” and encourages women to seek help.
To schedule an appointment with Dr. Torres-Leon, call 805.480.1810 or learn more at RestoraVita.com. RestoraVita is located at 3311 Old Conejo Road, in Newbury Park.