Functional Medicine

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At Functional Wellness Rising, restoring balance to your overall health and wellness is our mission. Embark on a personalized journey with us to achieve optimal health and vitality by blending the best of traditional care with holistic approaches. Every step is designed specifically to meet your individual needs.

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Symptoms commonly address:

  • Brain fog

  • Hormonal Imbalance

  • Bloating or Gas

  • Stubborn Weight Gain

  • Persistent Fatigue

  • Constipation / Diarrhea

  • Mood Swings, Stress, or Irritability

  • Food Intolerances or Sensitivities

It's time to feel confident and happy with your health and we can help!

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The H.A.P.P.Y Path™ to Gut Freedom

Hear Your Story

We start by listening to your symptoms, history, lifestyle, and goals to understand your full gut story.

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We use advanced labs to uncover hidden gut issues, food sensitivities, and hormonal imbalances.

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No one-size-fits-all plans. Just personalized care tailored to your body, lifestyle, and health goals for lasting healing.

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This is a hands-on journey. Through 1:1 check-ins, support, and guidance, we stay connected and help you move forward every step of the way.

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Say goodbye to bloating and fatigue, and hello to energy, clarity, and confidence, starting with your gut.

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Symptoms We Address

Areas of Expertise

SIBO

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Hi!

I’m Samuel Louissaint

A board-certified Nurse Practitioner, Medical Examiner, and Functional Medicine Provider. I help women turn gut struggles into lasting, vibrant health.

If you’ve been eating clean, taking supplements, and doing all the “right” things but still feel bloated, constipated, exhausted, or just not yourself, you’re not alone. These symptoms aren’t random. They’re your body’s way of asking for deeper support.

My approach helps uncover the root causes behind those persistent issues so you can stop guessing and finally start healing in a way that lasts.

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We strive to connect natural healing practices with contemporary scientific knowledge, creating a synergy that enhances wellness and supports holistic health

Personalized Care Tailored to You

We recognize that every individual is unique. By delving deep into your health history, lifestyle, and specific concerns, we craft a wellness plan that's exclusively yours. This personalized approach ensures that your journey to health is as unique as you are.​

Advanced Diagnostics for Root Cause Resolution

Utilizing state-of-the-art functional lab testing, we go beyond surface symptoms to uncover the underlying causes of your health challenges. This thorough analysis allows us to address issues at their source, leading to more effective and lasting solutions.​

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We believe in a collaborative approach to wellness. By fostering a supportive partnership, we empower you with the knowledge and tools needed to take charge of your health. Together, we'll navigate the path to optimal well-being, celebrating every milestone along the way.​

Blog

The Overlooked Trio Behind Women's Hair Thinning

The Overlooked Trio Behind Women's Hair Thinning

blog
September 25, 2025•7 min read

You’ve noticed it. Your hairbrush fills faster than it used to. Your ponytail feels thinner. The part in your hair looks just a bit wider than last year. For many women, hair thinning creeps in slowly, and it’s easy to dismiss it as “just stress” or “part of getting older.” But thinning hair can be a sign of deeper issues happening in the body.

Hair growth is influenced by a complex interplay of nutrients, hormones, and metabolic processes. When something disrupts that balance, hair is often one of the first areas to show the impact. Unfortunately, many conventional evaluations for women’s hair loss stop at a quick glance, a suggestion to take a multivitamin, or reassurance that “it’s normal.” What often gets missed are three of the most common—yet under-recognized—root causes: iron deficiency, thyroid dysfunction, and androgen excess.

Hair Thinning Due To Iron Deficiency

Iron is best known for its role in making hemoglobin, the protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen throughout the body. But its importance doesn’t stop there. Hair follicles are among the most metabolically active structures in the body, and they depend on a steady supply of oxygen and nutrients to maintain the hair growth cycle. Without enough iron, that cycle is disrupted.

One key thing to understand is that you can have low iron stores without being anemic. Many women with thinning hair have ferritin levels that are “within the lab’s normal range” but still too low to optimally support hair growth. Ferritin—a measure of stored iron—below 70 ng/mL is suboptimal for healthy hair maintenance.

Iron deficiency hair loss often presents as diffuse thinning across the scalp, rather than distinct bald patches. Women may also notice increased shedding during washing or brushing, a change in hair texture, or slower growth overall. The frustrating part is that these changes can begin months before a doctor would detect anemia on a routine blood panel.

Common reasons women develop low iron stores include heavy menstrual cycles, low dietary intake of iron-rich foods, frequent blood donation, gastrointestinal bleeding, celiac disease, inflammatory bowel conditions, or poor absorption due to low stomach acid. Even intense endurance exercise can contribute to iron loss through sweat and small amounts of gastrointestinal bleeding.

Addressing iron deficiency starts with identifying and correcting the cause, whether that’s dietary, digestive, or blood-loss related, while replenishing iron stores through food and, if needed, supplementation. Hair typically takes three to six months to show visible improvement after levels are restored, so patience is key.

Hair Thinning Due To Thyroid Dysfunction

If iron is the fuel for hair follicles, thyroid hormones are the regulators of the engine. The thyroid gland produces hormones—T4 and T3—that control the rate of metabolism in every cell, including those in the scalp. Healthy hair growth depends on an optimal thyroid hormone balance.

Both hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid) and hyperthyroidism (overactive thyroid) can cause diffuse hair thinning. The shedding is usually most noticeable across the entire scalp rather than in isolated areas, and the hair may become dry, coarse, or brittle. Eyebrow thinning—especially of the outer third—can be another sign of low thyroid function.

Hypothyroidism slows down the rate at which hair follicles regenerate, causing more hairs to enter the shedding phase (telogen) and fewer to stay in the growth phase (anagen). Hyperthyroidism, on the other hand, accelerates the cycle too much, leading to premature shedding before hairs are fully matured.

Thyroid-related hair loss often doesn’t occur in isolation. Women may also experience fatigue, weight changes, mood shifts, constipation or diarrhea, changes in menstrual cycles, and dry skin. But in some cases, hair thinning can be the first or only symptom.

One reason thyroid-related hair loss gets missed is incomplete testing. A basic TSH test (thyroid-stimulating hormone) may not be enough to detect subclinical dysfunction. Including free T4, free T3, reverse T3, and thyroid antibodies will give a fuller picture, especially when hair loss is unexplained.

Hair Thinning Due To Androgen Excess

When most people hear the word “androgens,” they think of testosterone. But in women, these hormones play a vital role in mood, muscle tone, libido, and even bone density. Problems arise when androgens, especially dihydrotestosterone (DHT), a potent derivative of testosterone, are present in excess or when hair follicles become overly sensitive to them.

This is the hormonal driver behind female pattern hair loss (androgenetic alopecia), which typically shows up as a widening part line or thinning on the crown, with the frontal hairline often preserved. Over time, affected follicles shrink (a process called miniaturization), producing finer, shorter hairs until growth stops altogether.

Androgen excess in women can be caused by conditions like polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), congenital adrenal hyperplasia, certain ovarian or adrenal tumors, or it can occur without a clear diagnosis. Other contributing factors include insulin resistance, obesity, and chronic inflammation.

Signs that androgens may be involved in hair thinning include acne, oily skin, excess facial or body hair (hirsutism), irregular periods, and difficulty losing weight. Women with PCOS, in particular, often experience a combination of these symptoms alongside scalp hair thinning.

Why These Causes Of Hair Thinning Are Overlooked

If iron deficiency, thyroid dysfunction, and androgen excess are so common, why do they so often go undiagnosed? There are a few key reasons:

  1. Symptoms are subtle or nonspecific– Fatigue, mood changes, and mild hair shedding are easy to dismiss or attribute to stress, busy schedules, or aging.

  2. Testing is incomplete– Many standard lab panels focus on ruling out obvious disease rather than assessing for optimal function, which can miss early imbalances.

  3. Siloed medical care– Hair loss might be addressed by a dermatologist, energy concerns by a primary care doctor, and menstrual changes by a gynecologist, without anyone connecting the dots.

  4. Time constraints– A brief office visit may not leave room to explore all possible contributing factors, especially if the patient isn’t aware of other subtle symptoms.

Taking a Functional Medicine Approach

From a functional medicine perspective, hair thinning is a symptom, not a diagnosis. That means the goal isn’t just to slow the shedding, it’s to uncover and address the root cause. Here’s how that might look:

●Detailed health history– Reviewing not only hair loss patterns but also menstrual history, energy levels, digestion, diet, stress, and other systemic clues.

●Comprehensive lab testing– Going beyond standard panels to include ferritin, full thyroid panels, and androgen profiles when warranted.

●Root-cause investigation– Asking why a lab result is abnormal. For example, if ferritin is low, is it due to poor intake, absorption issues, or chronic blood loss?

●Targeted nutrition and supplementation– Replenishing deficiencies and supporting hormonal balance with individualized plans.

●Lifestyle and environmental support– Managing stress, improving sleep, reducing toxin exposures, and supporting metabolic health.

Hair thinning in women is rarely just about the hair. More often, it’s a signal that key systems in the body like nutrient stores, thyroid function, and hormonal balance are out of sync.

If you’ve been told your labs are “normal” but your hair tells a different story, it may be time to explore these often-overlooked causes.

References

Carmina, E., Azziz, R., Bergfeld, W., Futterweit, W., Huddleston, H., Lobo, R., ... & Yildiz, B. O. (2019). Female pattern hair loss and androgen excess: A report from the multidisciplinary androgen excess and PCOS committee. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, 104(7), 2875–2883. https://doi.org/10.1210/jc.2019-00221

Ho, C. H., Sood, T., & Zito, P. M. (2024). Androgenetic Alopecia. In StatPearls. StatPearls Publishing. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK430924/

Kantor, J., Kessler, L. J., Brooks, D. G., & Cotsarelis, G. (2003). Decreased serum ferritin is associated with alopecia in women. Journal of Investigative Dermatology, 121(5), 985–988. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1523-1747.2003.12540.x

Sinclair, R. D. (2015). Diffuse hair loss. International Journal of Dermatology, 54(10), 1112–1124.

Bertoli MJ, Sadoughifar R, Schwartz RA, Lotti TM, Janniger CK. Female pattern hair loss: A comprehensive review. Dermatol Ther. 2020 Nov;33(6):e14055. doi: 10.1111/dth.14055. Epub 2020 Aug 31. PMID: 32700775.

Rushton DH. Nutritional factors and hair loss. Clin Exp Dermatol. 2002 Jul;27(5):396-404. doi: 10.1046/j.1365-2230.2002.01076.x. PMID: 12190640.

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FAQs

Frequently Asked Questions

What happens during the 20 Minute Clarity Call?

Very simple. A licensed practitioner will ask you some questions, do a quick health history, and determine if you're a case they can accept. If they think they can help they'll give you the package options available and work to find a personalized health plan to fit your unique needs.

Is Functional Medicine Safe?

ABSOLUTELY! Functional medicine is a safe and natural way of dealing with the root cause of health challenges, focusing on lifestyle changes, stress management, natural remedies and supplementation that is tailored to your personal situation. There are very few conventional practitioners that will do objective functional testing and work towards finding the ROOT CAUSE of the health challenge. Most providers simply give a medicine / chemical cover up.

Is functional medicine evidence-based?

Functional medicine draws on both traditional medical knowledge and emerging research. While it may incorporate alternative therapies, the approach is rooted in scientific evidence. Practitioners stay updated on the latest research to provide the best possible care.

How does functional medicine diagnose health issues?

Functional medicine uses a combination of comprehensive medical history, advanced laboratory testing, and in-depth patient interviews to understand the underlying factors contributing to health problems. This approach helps in creating personalized treatment plans.

How long does it take to see results?

The timeline for results varies depending on the individual and the nature of their health concerns. Some patients may experience improvement relatively quickly, while others may require more time for significant changes. Functional medicine is often considered a long-term, preventative approach.

Where is your clinic located?

Our services are 100% virtual, allowing us to serve clients anywhere in the state of Georgia.

Am I able to use my health insurance coverage?

No. we are a cash- based practice and do not accept insurance. You can however use a Health savings account (HSA) or Flexible spending account (FSA) for your visit or supplements.

It is important to note we spend a great deal of time with our patients to understand the state of their health by gathering information, analyzing symptoms and providing in depth education, giving every patient who comes in the time and attention they fully deserve that is critical to their health needs. Because of this reason, it is impossible to follow the traditional insurance model of care, which typically only allots 15 minutes per patient. We can however provide a superbill upon request, for you to submit to your insurance for possible out of network coverage.

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