The Stress-Hormone Connection — Reclaiming Balance Through Functional Care

The Stress-Hormone Connection: Reclaiming Balance Through Functional Medicine

Stress is not just mental—it’s biological. When your stress response is constantly activated, it disrupts every major system in your body, from hormones and digestion to sleep and metabolism.

At Meric Wellness, we understand that long-term stress can impair your ability to heal and thrive. That’s why we use advanced testing and targeted interventions to help regulate cortisol, restore adrenal function, and improve stress resilience naturally.

The Physiology of Stress

Your adrenal glands produce cortisol, a hormone critical for managing energy, inflammation, and circadian rhythm. But chronic stress causes the system to malfunction.

Signs of stress hormone imbalance may include:

• Difficulty waking or crashing midday

• Poor sleep despite feeling tired

• Cravings for sugar or caffeine

• Mood swings or anxiety

• Inability to lose weight despite diet and exercise

These symptoms are often overlooked or misattributed, but at Meric Wellness, we test—then treat—what others may miss.

How We Rebuild Resilience

Rather than offering general advice to “manage stress,” we investigate the underlying causes. Our process includes:

• Salivary or urinary cortisol testing

• Nutritional and lifestyle strategies to regulate stress naturally

• Adaptogenic herbs and nutrients to support adrenal recovery

• Sleep hygiene, movement, and mindfulness protocols personalized to you

When stress is addressed at the physiological level, energy returns, sleep improves, and the

body begins to heal more efficiently.

Hormones, Thyroid, and the Adrenal Link

Cortisol doesn’t operate in isolation. It directly influences your:

• Sex hormones (estrogen, progesterone, testosterone), often contributing to mood swings, PMS, and menopausal symptoms

• Thyroid function, by interfering with T4-to-T3 conversion and driving inflammation that affects receptors

• Blood sugar and insulin sensitivity, impacting weight and cravings

Addressing stress is often the missing piece in long-term hormonal balance and thyroid healing.

Care That’s Centered Around You

With over 30 years of experience, Dr. Janel Meric leads a practice built on root-cause medicine, compassion, and expertise. Together with certified health coach Joelle Meese, we deliver care that’s deeply personalized—whether you live in California or are joining us from anywhere in the country.

Our telehealth consultations make expert-level support available from the comfort of

your home.

Ready to Restore Balance?

If you're experiencing burnout, hormone issues, or fatigue that just won’t go away, there’s likely a deeper reason—and it’s one we can help uncover.

Schedule a virtual consultation and learn how restoring your stress response can be the key to sustainable wellness.