Have you been experiencing moodiness, loss of libido, or unusual amounts of fatigue? If you have experienced any of these symptoms, and especially if you have recently gone through menopause or are in middle age, you may be experiencing a hormone imbalance. Fortunately, when these problems occur as a result of hormone imbalance, they can often be solved by the caring medical professionals at Knox Wellness Experience in Knoxville, TN with an effective treatment called “bioidentical hormone therapy”.
Candidates for bioidentical hormone therapy are usually experiencing at least one major symptom of hormone imbalance or hormone deficiency. Candidates are often in middle age (but not always) and are looking for a way to correct their hormone imbalance with a reliable, proven treatment.
Hormone imbalance can often go unnoticed because many of its symptoms are common. People often don’t realize there could be a deeper medical reason underlying their issues. However, when hormone imbalance becomes serious, these symptoms are exacerbated and may seriously affect a patient’s well-being and quality of life.
There are many different forms of depression. Some are clinical, resulting from the way a particular person’s neurotransmitters work, and these instances may require medication. Other depressions have psychological roots and may require therapy.
In the case of hormone imbalance, a lack of testosterone can sometimes be the culprit. Low testosterone (or low T) may trigger depressive feelings. Studies have shown that increasing testosterone can actually boost the production of serotonin, which is one of the chemicals our brain needs in order to feel happy. When our testosterone is abnormally low, we produce less. If you think low testosterone levels may be causing depression, then you may find that hormone therapy can be the answer for you. It can bring the testosterone levels back into balance, and the depression may be alleviated as a result.
We all have days where we exhaust ourselves, either because we’ve worked hard, played hard, exercised, or have just had a lot on our schedules. But fatigue is more than just “feeling tired” at the end of a long day. It’s a feeling that almost never goes away. This is one of the most common and most troublesome signs of hormone imbalance. If you are waking up in the morning already feeling “spent” then it’s very possible your hormonal balance may be disrupted.
Progesterone is a hormone that helps regulate sleep habits. If you have too much of it in your system, you may feel abnormally tired, even when you’ve had a full night of sleep.
Too much progesterone might make you tired all the time. But too little will have the opposite effect, leaving you feeling wired or just incapable of falling asleep. This can be a huge detriment to your overall health, because sleep is when the body accomplishes many of its repair functions that keep us healthy and happy. If our progesterone levels get too low, our brains might not get the signals they need in order to switch off at night, and that’s a problem.
Low testosterone levels are often responsible for a decline in sex drive and the evaporation of a person’s libido. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a man or a woman: everyone has testosterone, and when there isn’t enough of it, the result can be a total loss of interest in sex. In addition, women who have too much estrogen may experience something called estrogen dominance, which can have a similar effect. Testosterone therapy can restore your natural levels and give you your libido back.
Although brain fog isn’t exactly a medical term, it’s a helpful description of what many people feel when they have difficulty focusing on tasks that they normally can accomplish. In women, this might be caused by a decline in estrogen levels, particularly around menopause. Other issues may include memory loss and a general feeling of sluggishness when it comes to cognitive functions.
There are many common potential causes of brain fog, ranging from dietary issues to sleep patterns. But if your hormones are out of balance, this could be one of the most noticeable things you experience. Bioidentical hormone therapy may be able to give you a clear and sharp mind again.
Mood swings are often noticeable in people who have too much or too little of a major hormone. Hormones are key elements in producing neurotransmitters, including the big three: serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine. If your brain doesn’t produce enough of these neurotransmitters, your mood can be seriously affected, and the underlying cause may be in your hormones.
After menopause, many women find that the places where they carry body weight changes. This can potentially become a health risk, but hormone therapy can help to lessen weight gain in the midsection (abs and sides) in postmenopausal women.
If you are experiencing any of these symptoms, you might be a candidate for bioidentical hormone replacement therapy.
Frequently referred to as BHRT or “bioidentical hormone replacement therapy,” this treatment works by introducing hormones into your system in order to rebalance your proper levels. If you have too little of one hormone, you may need to add more of it. If you have too much of one hormone, you may need to dampen its effects or add other hormones that will counter it (thus “rebalancing” your hormones so you feel normal). There are many ways this therapy achieves its goals, but the aim is always to get your hormone levels to be where they need to be in order to make you healthy.
Bioidentical hormones are created in a lab from plant material. They are designed to be precise replicas of the hormones that occur in the body, which is why they are called “bioidentical.” Using this technique, scientists are able to copy estrogen, testosterone, progesterone, and many others. These hormones can then be slowly reintroduced into a patient who is suffering the imbalance.
In order to rebalance a patient’s hormones, it’s necessary to add the bioidentical copies at a controlled rate. Too fast a change can cause further problems, so the treatment will actually take a few months. By bringing the hormones back into balance slowly, we can effectively counter the symptoms.
In order to release the hormones back into the human body at a steady rate, we use a special technique known as “pellet therapy.” With this method, we determine which hormones you need. Then, we create a pellet that is comprised of the hormones that you need in order to rebalance your system. All pellets are made from plant-based sources.
The first stage of treatment will be an in-person consultation with our staff. There may also be a medical questionnaire so we can get some idea of what symptoms you are currently experiencing.
When you meet with our staff at our facility, we will go over your medical history and make sure that we understand your background, your issues, and what reasons you suspect you may have a hormone imbalance. We will also answer any questions you might have about treatment and discuss any medications you might be taking. This will help us come up with a treatment plan that will not interfere with any of your current medications or conditions.
After your consultation, we’ll need to do a test to see if you are deficient in any hormones or if you are experiencing too much of anything. Depending on what your symptoms are, we will usually do a urine test, a blood test, or a saliva test. Once we have the results of the test back, we can tell if you definitely have a hormone imbalance.
Once we know what hormone or hormones you need, we find a pellet that is made up of the required material. The pellet is inserted under the patient’s skin, usually around the upper area of the buttocks, where it sits comfortably and unnoticed. Your body will then absorb the pellet over a period of several months. By doing this, we make sure that you get the very hormones that your endocrine system isn’t producing. We typically will schedule follow-up treatments once every three or four months in order to monitor your changes and make sure that the dosage is correct.
How long does this process take? Every patient is different. In some cases, the hormone deficiency may be a temporary issue. In others, pellet therapy may be useful as a long-term solution, with multiple pellets being used over a period of several months or years. Your specific imbalance will determine what is needed. In addition to the pellets, we may also recommend certain changes to your diet, supplements that might help your success rate or changes to your sleep and stress management techniques. These strategies can all help the treatment work more effectively.
Low or fluctuating sex drive are some of the biggest reasons people seek out bioidentical hormone therapy. The loss or decline in sex hormones can affect both men and women and lead to confusion and frustration purely as a result of changes in the endocrine system. When we lack sufficient testosterone, estrogen, or progesterone, we may lose our interest in sex, and this can cause intense stress in relationships. Fortunately, our testing methods have gotten very good at identifying which hormones need to be replaced in order to find the cause and get things back to normal.
If you feel that you may have a hormone imbalance, the best thing to do is to schedule a consultation and a test as soon as possible. The issues don’t always go away by themselves and can often linger for months, years or even indefinitely. Because of the profound impact that hormones have on our lives, moods and behaviors, it’s necessary to have the right mix in order to enjoy life and live to the fullest.
After rebalancing, patients are often astonished at the results. Because symptoms often start small and gradually become worse, many people may not even realize they’ve been suffering until they experience the difference that treatment makes. If you’ve been noticing the loss of libido, hair loss, brain fog, moodiness or sleep issues, don’t wait any longer.
Hormone imbalance can be a minor annoyance or a major disruption to a person’s life and happiness. But with bioidentical hormone therapy, you don’t have to settle for any of these. You can reclaim your natural balance today. Contact the medical experts at Knox Wellness Experience in Knoxville, TN. Don’t wait another minute to get your life back!
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