Bioidentical Hormone
Replacement Therapy
What is Hormone Imbalance?
As we age, many things about our bodies change. One of the things that changes, is our hormones. Hormones help to determine how tall you grow and how you handle stress and, of course, they also regulate the functioning of your sex organs.
The normal aging process causes hormone production to decline in everyone, resulting in hormonal imbalances that have both physical and psychological effects. The main hormones that regulate a woman’s body are estrogen, progesterone and testosterone. Any time one or more of these hormones becomes out of balance, a woman starts to experience change.
Hormone Stages
For women, this hormonal change is broken up into different stages:
– Premenopause refers to the time from a woman’s first regular menstrual to her last regular menstrual cycle. This is the period of “normal” reproductive function for a woman.
– Perimenopause is the next stage. This refers to the “transitional” stage, which varies from 2 to about 10 years, prior to complete cessation of menstruation. This is usually experienced by women 35 to 50 years of age. During this stage, a woman can experience major hormone fluctuations which can cause typical symptoms, such as hot flashes.
– Menopause is the third stage and marks the natural end of a woman’s reproductive cycle. It is at this point that the body’s ability to produce estrogen and progesterone naturally decreases substantially. The ovaries stop producing eggs and a woman is no longer able to become pregnant naturally.
– Postmenopause is the period of life after menopause. This phase is generally believed to begin after 12 full months have passed since the last menstrual period.
As a woman passes through each of these four stages, she will go through many physical and psychological changes as her own body’s ability to maintain proper hormonal balance diminishes.
Hormone Imbalance Symptoms
Listen to your body. Is it trying to tell you something? Your body is an amazing thing. When something isn’t right, it will let you know! Hormone imbalance is no exception.
Some of the symptoms a woman may experience when her hormones are out of balance include:
– Hot flashes
– Night sweats
– Fatigue
– Unexplained weight gain
– Mood swings
– Urinary tract infection
– Decreased sex drive
– Difficulty concentrating
– Insomnia
– Vaginal dryness
– Fibrocystic breasts
Long-term complications from being hormonally out of balance are also a concern and can include:
– Osteoporosis
– Increased risk of heart disease
– Depression
– Loss of bone mass
– Decreased muscle tone
– Accelerated aging process
Any woman who has had a hysterectomy or endometriosis is also a very good candidate for natural hormone replacement therapy.
Treatment Benefits
The goal of your treatment plan is to restore the balance of hormones in your body and help you feel good again by alleviating the symptoms mentioned earlier. Once your treatment plan is started, We will follow up on you to see to its success.
Your medication may need to be slightly adjusted from time to time, especially during the first 3–4 months of therapy to make sure you are getting the most out of your treatment. It is very important to stay consistent with taking you hormones and reporting back to our staff or your physician, on your progress.
Treatment Options
Fortunately, hormonal imbalance CAN be treated. By restoring the balance between estrogen, progesterone and testosterone in the body, the above-mentioned symptoms may be alleviated and even eliminated.
Because each woman is different, Once it is determined how much of each hormone you need to replace in your body to restore balance, you will have several options in which to administer the hormones. Your hormones can be easily taken by mouth in the form of a capsule, tablet or sublingual (dissolves under the tongue), or can be applied topically as a cream.
How to Get Started
Bioidentical Hormones require a prescription from a licensed physician. You should ask your physician if Bioidentical Hormone Replacement is right for you.
If you do not have a physician, if your physician is not familiar with the benefits of Bioidentical hormone replacement, or if you simply have more questions, please feel free to Contact Us.