Are you experiencing fatigue, hot flashes, decreased sex drive, weight gain, mood changes, and irritability? These are just some of the symptoms of hormonal imbalances. If this relates to you, hormone replacement therapy for women, also known as HRT for Women, can help.
Vitality, energy, optimism, and a strong sex drive are all characteristics of youthfulness. Of course, these are directly related to optimal female hormone levels.
Unfortunately, as women age, hormones begin to decline. Once a woman hits a certain age, usually within a few years of 51 years old, she goes through menopause. At this time, the production of sex hormones such as estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone stops, which leads to several negative symptoms, which include:
- Hot flashes
- Insomnia
- Vaginal Dryness
- Decreased Sex Drive
- Depression / Anxiety
- Brain Fog
- Facial Hair
- Hair Loss
- Osteoporosis
- Increased Body Fat
- Night Sweats
- Irritability
- Mood Swings
- Painful Intercourse
- Fatigue
- Frequent Urinary Tract Infections
- Joint Aches
- Thinning Skin
- Migraines
Likewise, pre-menopausal women, women who are still menstruating and have not yet gone through menopause, can begin to exhibit symptoms of hormone imbalance as they age. These can be very similar, though usually not as severe as menopausal symptoms. The signs and symptoms of hormonal imbalance include:
- Fatigue
- Insomnia
- Brain Fog
- Severe PMS
- Migraines
- Decreased Sex Drive
- Anxiety / Depression
- Irritability
- Increased Body Fat
- Thinning Skin
The good news is that it doesn’t have to be this way! Though many patients and physicians often accept these conditions as “normal,” we can treat all of these symptoms safely and effectively using HRT for Women.
What are “Normal” Hormone Levels?
Your body produces numerous hormones interacting with each other and providing feedback loops. Thus, a lower level of one hormone will affect the levels of other hormones. For example, low testosterone may increase cortisol, a stress hormone. Ideally, we do not want elevated cortisol levels.
Medicine has thus established “normal” levels for the various hormones in your body to measure your health. Unfortunately, what many physicians deem “normal” levels are not the same as what anti-aging physicians consider optimal. Optimal hormone levels provide an ideal environment for your cells and body to function fully.
To compare, if a 50-year-old woman sees an eye doctor for worsening eyesight, the doctor doesn’t tell her this is “normal” for her age. Instead, the doctor prescribes glasses! Why wouldn’t we do the same for a woman with low hormone levels?
At Mygenics, safety is paramount, and our goal is to optimize your levels with hormone replacement therapy for women. Hence, you feel youthful and remain healthy.
Benefits of HRT for Women
HRT for Women will help optimize your hormone levels and restore youthfulness. Women can expect that hormone replacement therapy will help with their:
- Sexual Dysfunction: Alleviate symptoms such as vaginal dryness, pain, discomfort during intercourse, and vaginal atrophy (thinning of lining), while also increasing sex drive.
- Weight Loss: Decrease weight gain and increase weight loss.
- Mood: Prevent mood swings and decrease depression and anxiety.
- Bladder: Reduce the frequency of urinary tract infections and minimize incontinence.
- Sleep: Decrease night sweats and insomnia.
- Brain: Improve focus and concentration.
- Muscle: Maintain and build muscle mass and strength while decreasing aches and pains.
- Bone: Prevent bone loss that stems from aging and menopause.
- Wellness: Promote energy, vitality, and long-term disease prevention.
- Anti-aging: Increase skin collagen for better thickness, elasticity, and moisture levels.
- Hot Flashes: Reduce the frequency and intensity of hot flashes.
What to Expect with Hormone Replacement Therapy?
At Mygenics, HRT for Women begins with a simple in-office blood draw. Once we analyze your hormone levels, we provide a unique bioidentical hormone replacement therapy program. These bioidentical hormones come from natural plant sources and are chemically identical to the hormones produced by the female body.
Our hormone therapy for women can be with creams, capsules, injections, pellets, or a combination of the above, depending on patient preference. Some hormones we analyze and treat include testosterone, progesterone, estrogen, and DHEA.
Testosterone
Testosterone production, like estrogen and progesterone, occurs primarily in the ovaries, with residual amounts produced by the adrenal glands. Also, like estrogen and progesterone, testosterone levels decrease as women age and decline drastically after menopause.
Testosterone is almost exclusively thought of as a male hormone, just as most consider estrogen exclusively a female hormone. With that said, it surprises many women to learn that testosterone occurs naturally in women, just at lower levels than in men.
Testosterone plays the same role in women as it does in men, and benefits include:
- Increased Sex Drive
- Improved Cognitive Function
- Improved Mood
- Improved Energy
- Maintenance of Muscle Mass
- Decreased Fat Mass
At Mygenics, our women’s hormone clinic recognizes the importance of optimal testosterone levels in women for optimal health and quality of life. Many women, once started on testosterone replacement therapy, find that they enjoy an improved quality of life and sexual health!
We provide testosterone for women as a cream, pellet, or injection.
Progesterone
Progesterone production, like estrogen, occurs primarily in the ovaries, with residual amounts produced by the adrenal glands. Like estrogen, progesterone is absent mainly after menopause.
Progesterone’s primary physiologic roles are to counter-balance estrogen, help regulate the menstrual cycle in pre-menopausal menstruating women, and maintain the uterine lining during pregnancy.
Progesterone is also a natural sedative and anxiolytic (anxiety reducer) and helps facilitate sleep. Additionally, progesterone has a secondary role in relieving the vasomotor symptoms (hot flashes and night sweats) of menopause.
Signs and symptoms of sub-optimal progesterone levels may include:
- Insomnia
- Anxiety
- Night Sweats
- Heavy Menstrual Bleeding
- Irritability
- Hot Flashes
- Irregular Menstrual Periods
- Severe PMS
Due to progesterone’s primary role of counter-balancing estrogen, any woman with an intact uterus who is on estrogen MUST be on progesterone also due to the increased risk of uterine cancer in women on estrogen replacement therapy only.
Estrogen
Estrogen is the primary sex steroid in women and controls over 400 functions in the female body. It is essential for a woman’s health.
There are three different estrogens: E1, E2, and E3. E2 is the estrogen primarily responsible for estrogenic effects in the female body.
In addition to regulating the menstrual cycle, estrogen is essential for:
- Reproductive Health
- Maintaining Vaginal Tissues and Lubrication
- Cardiovascular Health
- Bone Health
- Healthy Skin and Hair
- Brain Function
- Urinary Tract Health
The ovaries are primarily responsible for estrogen production, with residual amounts produced by the adrenal glands and in fat cells.
Decreased or absent estrogen is primarily responsible for the signs and symptoms of menopause. At Mygenics, our female hormone specialists replace estrogen to optimal levels for optimal health and quality of life.
DHEA
DHEA, or dehydroepiandrosterone, is a hormone produced in the adrenal glands that lie just above and adjacent to the kidneys. DHEA is a precursor hormone, meaning the body uses it to make other sex hormones, such as estrogen and testosterone.
As with other hormones, DHEA levels peak in your 20s and slowly decline as you age. Studies show DHEA associates with:
- Longevity
- Improved Muscle Mass
- Improved Sex Drive
- Improved Immune System Function
- Improved Cognitive Function
- Improved Depressive Symptoms
- Maintaining Bone Density
At Mygenics, our female hormone specialists test DHEA during our initial evaluation with a simple blood test. We then provide DHEA as an oral capsule or in cream form combined with other hormones.
HRT for Menopause Treatments
HRT for Women is a widely used menopause treatment that alleviates the symptoms of menopause. Menopause, a natural phase in a woman’s life, typically occurs between the ages of 45 and 55 and is marked by the end of menstrual cycles. The various symptoms of menopause are due to the decline in estrogen and progesterone production by the ovaries.
Hormone Replacement Therapy primarily works by replenishing the body’s estrogen levels, which drop significantly during menopause. Correcting hormone levels can help relieve some of the most common and uncomfortable symptoms of menopause, such as hot flashes, night sweats, mood swings, vaginal dryness, and discomfort during intercourse. With estrogen replacement therapy, HRT for Women can also help in reducing the risk of osteoporosis, a condition where bones become weak and brittle, which is more prevalent post-menopause due to lower estrogen levels.
Is HRT for Women Right for Me?
At Mygenics, our women’s hormone clinic is happy to diagnose and treat any problems you may have. If you suffer from any of the symptoms above, then the Mygenics HRT for Women Program could be the right decision for you. Hormone replacement therapy now ensures women that it is no longer necessary to suffer the consequences of hormonal imbalances.
Many women were afraid that they would get old and be miserable and that there was nothing to do but “deal with it.” Not true! At Mygenics, our female hormone specialists can help!
For more information on Women’s Sexual Health, see our O-Shot treatments.
To schedule an appointment, please fill out our contact form or give our office a call today.