The menace of menopause. Suzanne Somers describes it best in her bestseller “The Sexy Years”: itchy, bitchy, bloaty, sweaty, spacey, and all-dried up. In painstaking detail, she also describes how she beat every one of those symptoms – with bioidentical hormone therapy (BHRT).
Somewhere around your 40th birthday, your body begins to creep into perimenopause, which eventually leads to menopause – when you stop menstruating, and your estrogen, testosterone, progesterone, and DHEA levels drop dramatically. That’s when it may be time for a tweak.
Bioidentical hormone molecules have the identical shape, make-up, and structure of your body’s molecules. That’s why BHRT provides the perfect “keys” to unlock your receptor sites and correct those multi-hormone imbalances that can cause:
Bioidentical means molecularly identical to your body’s natural hormones. Unlike synthetic hormone replacement, Happy Valley Clinic BHRT therapy delivers hormones sourced from natural plants like yams, flax, and soybeans, which match human hormones molecule by molecule.
Why is this important? Molecules that match your body’s help alleviate risks and side effects that make synthetic chemical hormones problematic. Bioidentical hormones are:
Like a band leader prompts a band to march and play at different intervals, our glands must target our every tissue, organ, and body system to control growth, musculature, bone density, metabolism, emotional and sexual response by sending messages through these hormones: Estrogen.
You probably know how the menopausal deficiency of this “female hormone” can cause hot flashes, mood swings, and vaginal dryness – but estrogen can also be too high, and the list of “female hormones” is longer than you think.
Testosterone levels are just as critical for women as they are for men. Why? Because testosterone – like the drummer in a marching band of 50 hormones – keeps the heartbeat, energy, muscle mass, and libido strong and vibrant. Signs of low testosterone are easy to spot, and a deficiency can cause dissonance with all other hormones.
Progesterone, the precursor to estrogen and testosterone, also supports normal thyroid function. It can affect breast, cardiovascular, and nervous system health. Supplementation can ease anxiety, enhance memory, boost brain function, and optimize sexual pleasure. A normal balance of progesterone also acts as a mood stabilizer.
DHEA hormone supports libido like testosterone. It also helps build bone mass, lower cholesterol and triglyceride levels, improve well-being, and increase alertness.
Like sex partners, our sex hormones must perform together, in tune, on pitch, to just the right degree for sex and health to be harmonious.
How can each woman accomplish this harmony? With her own biochemically unique combination, dose, and duration of the following delivery methods:
Hormone pellet therapy is a subcutaneous (injected under the skin) treatment that delivers highly compressed bio-identical hormones via sterile, inert pellets about the size of a grain of rice. We source them from BioTE Medical, which has recently supplied over ¾ million insertions. After your Happy Valley specialist completes your hormone level testing and creates a prescription, they will send it to a compounding pharmacy, where your customized pellets will be crafted by expert hands.
Our highly skilled specialists will gently and strategically insert each pellet beneath the skin and into the fat of your upper buttocks. Dosages vary – from 25 to 200 mg – and will depend on your baseline level, weight, genetics, general health, and exercise routine (the more cardiac output, the more hormones required).
BioTE pellets release a small amount of hormone at a reasonably constant level – much like your glands would if they function correctly.
About 7-10 days after your procedure, the BHRT kicks in, and you can return to your active lifestyle. Depending on how quickly your body metabolizes the hormones, you may not need a re-pellet for 3-6 months. Most of our patients’ pellets last 5-6 months.
When your estrogen, testosterone, thyroid hormones, and cortisol are all out of whack, you may experience hair loss. This immediate and often quickly developing condition may require a fast-acting injection of compounded hormones combined and tweaked precisely for your unique imbalance.
The internet may be full of ads for bottles containing powerful hormone cures – the question is: for which imbalance?
Since every woman’s imbalance, general health, exercise regimen, and genetic predisposition are unique, your levels must be thoroughly tested before our Novus specialists can diagnose and prescribe a specific type and number of micronized supplements you can take orally. Precision and safety are key to successful hormone rebalancing.
Soy and flax contain plant-based estrogens (phytoestrogens) that are adaptogenic – they are easily converted into a form your body can use. To reap the beneficial effects of bioidentical progesterone for our patients, we make sure to prescribe creams, lotions, and gels that have the United States Pharmacopoeia (USP) progesterone – this is the active ingredient added to wild yam-based products as well.
How much of each hormone will you need, and for how long? Every woman’s sex organ functions require a different balance of estrogen, testosterone, progesterone, and DHEA– and that perfect balance may be different for each individual, depending on her age, general health, genetics, diet, lifestyle, and environmental factors.
That’s why balancing testosterone levels and other hormones at Happy Valley Clinic is a highly customized procedure. Before beginning, our hormone experts tune in to your unique, often subtle requirements.
Laboratory testing is the only way to determine whether you need BHRT. To assess your base hormone levels, we will order specific lab panels. During your initial exam, your healthcare provider will discuss your medical history, diet, and lifestyle. Tell your practitioner if you take any medications which may affect your results.
A genital exam may help diagnose or rule out any possible underlying medical conditions that could be causing your symptoms. Then, your provider will decide to do one of the following:
Your Happy Valley hormone specialist will insert a needle into your vein, withdraw a blood sample, and send it to a lab for close analysis.
The blood test, however, is not always reliable in detecting all hormones. Why? Your sex hormones in the bloodstream are 95-99% bound to carrier proteins and, in this form, are unavailable to target tissues. A blood test may not detect them completely.
Saliva testing measures the amount of hormone available in the tissues your hormone is targeting – the bioavailable amount. That’s why saliva testing may better detect levels associated with the specific symptoms of hormone excess or deficiency. Saliva tests also help monitor hormone levels during hormone replacement therapy to help tweak them.
A growing body of evidence suggests that saliva tests can more accurately determine levels of testosterone and DHEA. This noninvasive sampling method requires patients to spit into a plastic tube and allows them to collect saliva at home at specific times to measure hormone levels more accurately.
Your Happy Valley practitioner may administer an FDA-approved urine test called the follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) test. FSH manages the menstrual cycle and menopause.
After reviewing all lab results and determining your baseline hormone levels, your specialist will determine whether you need BHRT. Even if it’s determined that you need it at the moment, lifestyle and environmental factors may alter this need over time, so we recommend routine testing – and that means coming to every scheduled appointment.
Defining a healthy hormone balance will require considering your age, genetics, environmental conditions, other health factors, and tolerance for the intensity of your symptoms.
Hormone results are never static. Your hormone levels fluctuate throughout the week, even during the day. Level testing provides a starting point that helps determine the next steps. We’ll help you interpret and act on your diagnosis using all of these tests to check your progress – today and for the rest of your treatment cycle.
Whether you’re wondering how to balance your hormones to lose weight or how to revive your libido, our discreet, compassionate team at Happy Valley Clinic wants to help you harmonize your hormones and your life. Call Happy Valley Clinic today at 833-336-6386.
