Mood Swings
Root-cause functional medicine care — not just symptom management. Lia Laterza, LAc works with you to find what's actually driving your mood swings.
In-person & virtual consultations available
Mood swings are not a character flaw — they are a physiological signal. When your mood shifts dramatically and unpredictably, something in your body is dysregulated. Conventional medicine reaches for antidepressants or tells you it is stress. At Muskego Acupuncture & Wellness, we look at what is actually driving your emotional instability: blood sugar crashes, estrogen and progesterone imbalance, cortisol dysregulation, thyroid dysfunction, nutrient deficiencies, or gut-brain axis disruption. When we stabilize the physiology, the mood follows.
Who It's For
This may be right for you if…
- You experience sudden shifts in mood — from fine to irritable, anxious, or tearful — without clear cause
- Your mood is significantly worse in the week before your period
- You feel emotionally reactive in ways that feel out of proportion to the situation
- You notice your mood crashes after meals or when you go too long without eating
- You are in perimenopause and your emotional stability has changed significantly
- You have tried therapy or lifestyle changes with limited improvement
- You want to understand the physiological reason your mood is unpredictable
Our Approach
How We Support Mood Swings Through Functional Medicine
We combine modern lab-based diagnostics with Traditional Chinese Medicine and personalized protocols to address the root cause — not just the symptoms.
Why Conventional Medicine Falls Short
Conventional medicine isn't designed to find the root cause.
Do any of these sound familiar?
- Your lab results are "normal", but you struggle daily with symptoms that affect your quality of life
- You've seen multiple doctors and are no closer to getting answers or relief
- Your physical and mental health keeps you from living life the way you want to
- Your doctor has told you "you'll just have to live with it"
- You're looking for an option besides prescription medications or invasive surgery
- You're beginning to wonder if you'll ever feel like yourself again
You're not alone. Most care models focus on symptoms — not systems — and they often miss the full picture, relying on generalized protocols that don't work for everyone.
Schedule a ConsultationWe Do Things Different Here
Most care treats the symptom. We find what's driving it.
Most practices choose one lens to look through. We use two — because your body doesn't separate its systems, and neither should your care.
Functional Medicine
We look beyond symptoms to find their root cause — testing hormones, gut health, and metabolic markers to understand what's really happening in your body. Instead of managing symptoms indefinitely, we build a personalized plan aimed at resolving the underlying imbalance.
Traditional Chinese Medicine
Thousands of years of clinical observation inform how we read the body's patterns — energy, circulation, and organ systems working together. Acupuncture, herbs, and lifestyle practices help restore balance and support your body's own healing response.
At Muskego Acupuncture & Wellness, we combine both — modern lab-based diagnostics with time-tested Eastern medicine — because using them together consistently produces more complete, more lasting results than either approach alone.
What You Can Expect
About Muskego Acupuncture
Muskego Acupuncture is a functional medicine and acupuncture practice led by Lia Laterza, LAc. Lia combines the science of functional medicine — lab testing, root-cause analysis, and personalized protocols — with the wisdom of Traditional Chinese Medicine to help patients understand what is happening in their bodies and finally feel like themselves again.
Whether you are navigating hormonal chaos, chronic fatigue, digestive issues, or a constellation of symptoms that no one has been able to explain — Lia takes the time to listen, test, and build a plan that is specific to you. No guessing. No dismissing. Just real answers and real support.
Common questions
Are my mood swings hormonal or psychological?
Often both — but the physiological piece is almost always present and addressable. Blood sugar crashes, estrogen-progesterone imbalance, cortisol dysregulation, and thyroid dysfunction can all produce mood shifts that feel entirely emotional. We test for these drivers first.
Why are my mood swings worse before my period?
Progesterone drops sharply in the late luteal phase, and with it, GABA activity — the brain's primary calming neurotransmitter. Estrogen dominance amplifies this effect. The result is the irritability, anxiety, and emotional reactivity that characterizes PMS and PMDD.
Can nutrition really affect mood?
Significantly. Blood sugar instability is one of the most direct causes of mood swings — the irritability and tearfulness that comes with a blood sugar crash is physiological, not emotional. Magnesium, B6, and omega-3 deficiencies also directly impair mood regulation.
Milwaukee & Greater Milwaukee Area
Are you local to the Milwaukee area?
We offer acupuncture and in-person integrative therapies too!
If you're based in or near Milwaukee, we offer a full range of in-person services — fire cupping, gua sha, SAAT allergy treatments, muscle testing, and more. These therapies can be layered into your functional medicine plan or booked on their own for support with pain, stress, hormone balance, and skin health.
Your body has been trying to tell you something.
You deserve care that helps you feel at home in your body again. Together we'll stop guessing and start uncovering real answers — with a personalized approach that looks at the full picture of who you are and how you feel.
Book an Appointment