Is Hormone Replacement Therapy Right for You?
Your fertility is a personal matter. Your PMS is a personal matter. Your PCOS, perimenopause, and menopause are personal matters. That’s why bioidentical hormone replacement therapy (HRT) should be personalized for your body and your needs.
Women often carry the weight of the world – at work, in the home, as care providers for the young and the old. But hormone imbalances can lead to a whole mess of side effects that may make managing these responsibilities extremely difficult tasks. Hormone imbalances are diagnosed by a doctor through various blood tests. Although, many women may be able to detect whether or not their hormones are imbalanced based on some typical side effects. Imbalanced hormones often cause (but are not limited to) the following side effects in women:
- Mood swings
- Heavy, painful, or irregular periods
- Low libido
- Insomnia
- Weight gain
- Acne
- Problems with fertility
- Headaches
- Bone loss
- Vaginal dryness
One hormone or a few hormones may be imbalanced. Estrogen and progesterone, the female sex hormones, and testosterone are predominantly the hormones that, when out of balance, can negatively affect a woman’s health.
What Causes Hormone Imbalances?
Perimenopause and menopause cause many changes throughout a woman’s body and especially alter her hormones. During perimenopause, estrogen levels rise and fall inconsistently which can cause changes in periods, a decrease in fertility, changing cholesterol levels, and other side effects. Menopause has very similar symptoms up until a woman’s period stops completely.
Additionally, many women suffer from Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS). A common hormonal disorder in women of reproductive age, PCOS may cause women to have infrequent or prolonged menstrual periods. Oftentimes, women with PCOS have too much testosterone. Also, the ovaries may develop multiple cysts that cause the failure of regularly releasing eggs causing infertility.
The important thing to note here is that women going through these hormonal imbalances are not alone. There are many treatments for a hormone imbalance and our expert pharmacists at Cherokee Custom Rx are here to help.
What is Hormone Replacement Therapy?
Hormone replacement therapy consists of medication that contains female hormones. During menopause, the body stops producing estrogen. HRT medication replaces the estrogen in your body and helps treat menopausal symptoms like hot flashes and even bone loss.
Everybody and every “body” is different. Your hormone replacement therapy should be personal and customized to meet your needs and your lifestyle. Always work with a doctor and expert pharmacist to ensure you are getting the proper treatment and dosage. HRT can be given to patients in capsules, topical and vaginal creams, gels, suppositories, vaginal inserts, sublingual troches, or lozenges.
Who Can Benefit from Hormone Replacement Therapy?
Women experiencing severe perimenopause and menopause symptoms like night sweats, bone density loss, and vaginal dryness, burning, itching, or discomfort will greatly benefit from HRT. In some cases, women with PCOS, PMDD, and PMS can also benefit from HRT. The added estrogen calms your symptoms and can make you feel like you again!
With the help of your doctor and our knowledgeable pharmacists, you can achieve balance once more. Call us to get started. We will talk about your symptoms, current medications, stress load and help you get started toward better health. Set up a consult with Dr. Laura Coker Greene at 770-704-6161.
