Hormone Imbalances
There are many roads that natural medicine can take to restore hormonal balance. A customized hormonal program will be put together for you.
This treatment program is based on laboratory testing, your symptoms, your nutritional status, and your individual needs.
Testing
Most of the time women suspect that they have a hormonal imbalance but are unable to receive a definitive answer from conventional laboratory testing. At our clinic we rely on your symptoms and alternative laboratory testing via:
- saliva
- urine
- body temperatures
- bodily secretions
- blood
This tests allow us to ascertain a complete picture of what is happening. We then put together a specific program for you. Many women benefit from our Bio-identical Hormone Replacement Therapies (BHRT), which is the safest way to replenish hormone levels and get a woman feeling better quickly.
What is Bio-Identical Hormone Replacement Therapy (BHRT)?
At our clinic this is the only form of hormone replacement therapy that we use. It is the safest way to replenish hormone levels and get a man or woman feeling better quickly. Bioidentical hormones are identical to the hormones that are made in our body and can be very useful for a woman who is having many peri-menopausal symptoms. Bioidentical hormone therapy is specifically customized by a compounding pharmacy for your individual needs. Bioidentical hormones are used together with other herbal, homeopathic, and nutritional therapies to increase health and vitality.
An Integrated Approach
Bioidentical hormones are used together with other herbal, homeopathic, and nutritional therapies to increase health and vitality. Your doctor will also discuss the importance of good nutrition, fitness and lifestyle in your journey to better health. These are equally important aspects of Hormone Replacement Therapy. If your hormones are out of balance, your body will not respond optimally to improved nutrition and exercise. As your hormones, nutrition, fitness and lifestyle improve – you will find the results you have been working for.
Who Needs Hormone Replacement Therapy?
Women looking to put an end to hot flashes, night sweats, memory loss, mood swings, weight gain and low libido. Our specialized doctors design individualized programs for each woman suffering from menopause, perimenopause and severe PMS.
Men who want to get a grip on weight gain, lost libido, fatigue, stress, energy, muscle mass and body fat are also finding solutions through Bio-identical hormone replacement therapy. For men, andropause (the male menopause) happens gradually and when diagnosed, its symptoms can be successfully treated.
To properly administer bioidentical hormones, your doctor will take select saliva and/or blood lab tests. They will meet with you personally to discuss your symptoms, review your results and discuss the appropriate treatment to meet your individualized needs.
Pre-menopause is best described as the fertile years. These are the years that a woman regularly menstruates. If a hormone imbalance occurs in pre-menopause common symptoms are: Migraines, PMS symptoms, fatigue, mood swings, depression, anxiety, acne, unwanted hair growth, bloating, breast tenderness, painful cycles, menstrual cramps, miscarriages, difficulty conceiving, and chronic yeast infections. Often the main problem is a hormone imbalance, or improper ratios of the hormones as they fluctuate during the month.
Natural treatments for Pre-menopause include:
- Salivary hormone testing to determine the actual hormone levels
- Fasting blood work to assess nutrient levels and thyroid function
- Hormone balancing with customized herbal formulas specific to your condition
- Medical nutrition assessment
- Homeopathic medicine
- Vitamin injections delivered intravenously
- Natural hormone replacement if necessary
In this category the place of BHRT often arrives if PMS symptoms are severe, and there is a dominance of estrogen in relation to progesterone. In addition progesterone can be extremely helpful in assisting at the beginning stages of pregnancy and preventing miscarriage.
Peri-Menopause is the time when some of the symptoms of menopause begin and your cycles start to become irregular. It is not uncommon for a woman to say that she had regular cycles for 4 months, skip a month, have her cycle return for 2 months, and then disappear for 3 months. Because hormone levels are decreasing during peri-menopause, the ovaries are fluctuating with hormonal output. Hormonal output will sometimes be enough to induce a period and sometimes it won’t.
Women who enter peri-menopause depleted, from a lifetime of stress will typically feel these hormonal shifts more and they will experience more symptoms. Women who have a long history of birth control pills will enter peri-menopause faster and earlier then other women. These women can enter peri-menopause as early as 35 years old. The average age that women enter peri-menopause is 45 years old.
Symptoms of Peri-menopause include:
- Heat waves/Hot flashes
- Insomnia
- 3am waking
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Short term memory loss
- Heart palpitations
- Fatigue
- Heavy menstruation
- Shorter/longer cycles
- Strong perspiration odor
- Decreased sex drive
- Weight gain
- Hair loss
- and many others
The main problem in peri-menopause is that hormones are decreasing. As the ovaries decrease production of our sex hormones, our adrenal glands begin to produce lower levels of those very same sex hormones. If our adrenal glands are depleted they are not in a position to assist the ovaries and the symptoms manifest.
Treatments for peri-menopause include:
- Hormone testing, including adrenal and thyroid
- fatigue assessment
- medical nutrition recommendations
- herbal
- homeopathic
- and hormonal recommendations as needed
The role of BHRT in this stage can be extremely helpful in offsetting the side effects of hormonal fluctuations and enhancing quality of life during this transition.
A woman is officially in menopause when she has not had a period for 1 year. Usually in menopause the decreasing hormone levels have subsided and hormones are consistently low. A woman may or may not have severe menopausal symptoms.
Common symptoms of menopause include:
- hot flashes
- vaginal dryness
- low/no sex drive
- lowered energy
- fatigue
- insomnia
- warmer body temperature
- osteoperosis/osteopenia
- and heart disease
A hormonal assessment is conducted to evaluate symptoms and restore a healthier quality of life. Additional testing will be performed to access bone and cardiovascular health. Women can be very depleted in this stage and may need BHRT to assist them in restoring their vitality as other natural therapies are employed to re-build their stamina.