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SerenityNP Integrative Health

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United States
Crystal Lake, IL
SerenityNP Integrative Health

Promoting Women’s Health through Functional Medicine.

Carolyn Johnson, WHNP-BC
🌱 Restoring vitality with a holistic, integrative approach! 👩‍⚕️

Services:
Functional Medicine
Bioidentical Hormone Replenishment
Women's Wellness
Preventative/Wellness Care

SerenityNP.com | 815-604-6075 Call or Text Combining traditional and functional medicine to help you experience healing and lasting joy in your health.

02/18/2026

If you were only told perimenopause meant hot flashes and missed periods, you were under-informed.

For many women, it shows up first as sleep problems, anxiety, heart palpitations, blood sugar crashes, migraines that suddenly change, skin and eye issues, gut chaos, libido shifts, and a body that just doesn’t feel familiar anymore.

This stage is driven by hormone fluctuation, not just hormone decline. Estrogen and progesterone stop behaving predictably, cortisol and insulin get louder, and systems that used to self-regulate suddenly struggle.

That’s why the symptoms feel random.
And why so many women are told “everything looks normal.”

Perimenopause isn’t imagined and you’re not broken.
With the right labs, support, and strategies, these patterns can be addressed.

If this list felt a little too familiar, message us!

02/16/2026

The big three, decoded. What they affect, how they feel, and what actually supports them.

GUESS WHAT: Your hormones don’t work alone. They function as a system. When blood sugar is supported, stress is regulated, sleep is protected, and you’re building muscle while eating real food, everything works better together.

SCIENCE: Insulin and cortisol set the foundation. Estrogen depends on healthy liver and gut function to be metabolized and cleared. Progesterone only rises when you ovulate and thrives with adequate nutrients and a calm nervous system. Testosterone is built from minerals, healthy fats, and stable metabolic pathways.

Support the system and every hormone benefits.

A REAL LIFESTYLE TRUTH:
There are no “estrogen habits” or “progesterone habits.” There are foundational habits.

Protein at every meal.
Fiber and micronutrients.
Walking after eating.
Consistent strength training.
Hydration.
Morning light.
Real sleep routines.

These stabilize all three.

COMMON SIGNS YOUR HORMONES NEED SUPPORT:

😵 Low energy or crashes
😣 PMS or cycle changes
😴 Poor or restless sleep
🧠 Anxiety, irritability, brain fog
🧴 Acne or hair shedding
💡 Low libido or motivation
🥐 Sugar cravings
🫄 Bloating or breast tenderness
🎯 Midsection weight gain

You don’t have to guess what your body is asking for.
Message us ❤️

02/13/2026

READ BELOW TO REALIZE YOU’RE NOT MAKING IT UP, IT’S JUST PERIMENOPAUSE

🌀3am Wake-Ups: Tied to cortisol bumps and low progesterone
🌀Heart Palpitations: Estradiol fluctuations affect autonomic tone
🌀Anxiety Surges: Progesterone GABAergic calm drops
🌀Mood Swings / Irritability: Estradiol sensitizes serotonin circuits
🌀Temperature Intolerance: Hot-cold-hot without classic flushing
🌀Brain Fog and Word-Finding Issues: Common in high-flux perimenopause
🌀Migraines That Change: Estrogen withdrawal triggers new patterns
🌀New Allergies / Histamine Issues: Estrogen interfaces with mast cells
🌀Tinnitus or Ear Fullness: Often co-travels with sleep loss
🌀Dizziness / Lightheadedness: Can appear with hot flashes
🌀Frozen Shoulder / Wrist Issues: Collagen turnover changes
🌀Electric Zaps / Crawly Skin: Often nighttime, hormone-linked
🌀Itchy Skin Without Rash: Barrier function shifts
🌀Dry, Gritty Eyes: Change in tear gland hormone receptors
🌀Burning Mouth / Metallic Taste: Oral mucosa is estrogen-responsive
🌀Bloating > The New IBS: Hormones alter gut-brain axis
🌀Blood Sugar Swings: Sleep fragmentation worsens insulin sensitivity
🌀Urinary Urgency / Vaginal Dryness: Genitourinary syndrome starts
🌀Lower Libido: Multifactorial but fixable
🌀Hair / Skin Texture Changes: Collagen turnover shifts

None of this means you’re broken.
Perimenopause is a phase of massive hormone fluctuation - not sudden failure.
And the good news? These patterns are workable!!

Right now, the most powerful things women can do are:
🌀protect sleep like medicine,
🌀stabilize blood sugar with protein and regular meals,
🌀build muscle,
🌀reduce nervous system load,
🌀and stop guessing what’s happening hormonally.

With the right labs and the right support, these symptoms don’t have to be your “new normal.”

You deserve to understand what your body is doing AND you deserve the tools to support it.

02/11/2026

You’re tired after a full night of sleep.
Your digestion feels off no matter what you eat.
Your mood swings harder than your teenage self.
And your libido? She packed up and left without saying goodbye.

This isn’t bad luck! It’s hormone shifts, and what worked for you at 30 won’t cut it now.

You just need smarter strategies. More muscle, more protein, fewer stressors, and better nervous system and mineral support.

This is the stuff most women never get told:
☑️the real reason you’re waking up at 2am wired
☑️why your bloat gets worse after ovulation
☑️how estrogen, gut health, and mood are connected
☑️and what to do when your metabolism stalls even though you’re “doing everything right”

You’re not failing. You’re just in a new season. And you deserve better tools to thrive in it.

02/09/2026

Most people don’t realize that screens don’t just “keep you awake”... they actively interfere with your sleep hormones📱
Phones, TVs, and tablets emit blue light that suppresses melatonin (the hormone that tells your body it’s time to rest.)

Research shows this can delay melatonin release by up to 90 minutes!
At the same time, consuming content keeps the brain stimulated when it should be powering down. The result?
🌙Later bedtimes.
🌙Lighter sleep.
🌙Poor recovery.
🌙Higher cortisol.
🌙More hormone imbalance over time.

Poor sleep quietly drives major issues like fatigue, mood changes, insulin resistance, and hormone dysregulation.
Supporting hormones starts with protecting your sleep!

02/06/2026

You deserve answers, not guesswork!
If you’ve been chasing symptoms, trying every supplement, or bouncing from one quick fix to the next… it might be time to pause. We don’t just treat surface-level issues. We take the time to dig deeper. To uncover the root causes of your fatigue, mood swings, weight changes, hormonal shifts, or gut issues.
🧬 We run real labs.
🩺 We ask the right questions.
🌿 We look at the whole picture! not just your symptoms.
Because true healing doesn’t come from guessing. It comes from understanding.
If you’re ready to slow down, tune in, and finally feel like yourself again - we’re here to help💚
📩 Message us to learn more or book a consult.

02/04/2026

If you have a BRCA mutation, you’ve likely been told your whole life that estrogen is dangerous and hormone therapy is off the table.
But newer, high-quality research is challenging that narrative.

A large matched-pair study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute followed BRCA1/2 carriers who used menopausal hormone therapy and compared them to similar women who didn’t.

What they found surprised many clinicians:
Hormone therapy did not increase breast cancer risk in this population.
Estrogen-only therapy was actually associated with a significantly lower risk.
Estrogen plus progestogen showed no increased risk.
This does NOT mean hormone therapy is right for everyone.
It DOES mean the blanket fear around hormones and BRCA is outdated and overly simplistic.
Hormones don’t work in isolation.
Your genetics, your history, the type of hormones, and how they’re used all matter.
If you are BRCA positive and dealing with surgical menopause, perimenopause, or hormone-related symptoms, there are options that deserve to be discussed with nuance - not fear!

02/02/2026

If you’ve ever been told your heart symptoms are “just anxiety,” you’re not alone.

We see women every week dealing with:
💔racing heart
💔pounding chest
💔breathlessness
💔lightheadedness
💔unexplained fatigue

…and being sent home without answers.

What often gets missed?

💔Hormones.
💔Blood sugar.
💔Cortisol.
💔Inflammation.
💔Perimenopause and PCOS patterns.

Your heart doesn’t function in isolation.
It responds to stress hormones, estrogen levels, insulin, and nutrient status.

We desperately want women to know:
it’s not weak to question vague answers.
and it’s not normal to feel dismissed.

You deserve to have someone investigate the root causes behind heart-related symptoms and build care plans that actually support your whole system.

Message us if you’re tired of guessing, we’re here for you❤️

01/30/2026

Feel like your belly appeared and changed out of nowhere? Even though you’re doing everything right? This could be why, and here are three tips that can help.
If you still feel like nothing is working, it’s probably time to get your hormones checked.

01/28/2026

Once you start supporting your nervous system, your thyroid, and your hormones, your whole body begins to shift out of survival mode.

A few things that can help lower cortisol and support your hormone balance
💊Magnesium for the nervous system
💊Glycine for deeper, restorative sleep
💊Taurine for calming GABA support
💊Enough protein + minerals throughout the day
💊Carbs every meal to keep stress hormones steady

You’ll know your cortisol is improving when…:
✅You fall asleep faster
✅You stay asleep
✅Morning energy feels steadier
✅Your workouts feel better
✅Mood and libido return
✅You feel more like yourself
Your body wants to heal! It just needs the right signals.
If you’re ready to finally understand what’s driving your symptoms and get a hormone plan built around you, message us to schedule a consultation.

01/26/2026

Here’s something most women have never been told:
Before menopause, your body makes THREE TIMES more testosterone than estrogen.
Yet almost every conversation, appointment, and treatment plan focuses only on estrogen and progesterone… while testosterone rarely even gets mentioned.

And here’s why that matters:
Testosterone is a female hormone too.
It supports:
🌸energy
🌸libido
🌸mood stability
🌸motivation
🌸muscle tone
🌸 metabolism
🌸clarity and confidence
🌸overall sense of wellbeing

So when testosterone quietly drops (which often happens years before estrogen changes) women start to say things like:

📉“I don’t feel like myself.”
📉“My drive is gone.”
📉“I’m exhausted no matter what I do.”
📉“I can’t focus.”
📉“My mood is all over the place.”
📉“Nothing feels enjoyable anymore.”

Most are told it’s “normal,” “just stress,” or “getting older.”
But it’s often a hormone that no one is checking.

This isn’t an oversight.
It’s a blind spot in women’s healthcare and MILLIONS of women are paying for it with their quality of life.

This is why we look at the full hormone picture, and not just the ones everyone talks about.

You deserve to feel clear, calm, confident, and connected to yourself again🌸
And sometimes, that starts with finally checking the hormone nobody ever told you mattered.

Message us to book a hormone consult, your wellbeing is worth more than guesswork.

01/23/2026

Ladies!! Don’t let testosterone be labeled in your mind as a “man only” hormone. This little hormone is SO vital to our female bodies! Why? Because it does all this:
✨ Boosts energy and motivation
✨ Supports lean muscle and metabolism
✨ Enhances mood, confidence, and drive
✨ Improves libido and sexual satisfaction
✨ Supports bone density and strength
✨ Helps regulate insulin and blood sugar

If you feel like your fire has dimmed, it might not be in your head. It actually might be your hormones.
Message us to learn more!

Address

102 Minnie Street
Crystal Lake, IL
60014

Opening Hours

Tuesday	9am - 5pm
Wednesday	9am - 5pm
Thursday	9:30am - 5:30pm
Friday	9am - 2pm

Website

https://www.serenitynp.com/

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