Your hormones do a lot for you. They control a wide range of your body’s functions from metabolism to reproduction to mood regulation. Because of this, even a slight irregularity in hormone levels can wreak havoc on your health and wellness.
Many women going through menopause and perimenopause can experience extreme fluctuations in hormone levels, leading to unpleasant symptoms such as weight gain, mood swings, insomnia, and changes in libido.
Hormone therapy has become a welcome treatment to address irregular hormone levels and the symptoms that come with it. At the Center for Women’s Health Richmond in Sugar Land and Richmond, Texas, our team of women’s health experts offers BioTe® bioidentical hormone therapy which we believe is a superior method for regulating hormone levels.
In this blog, we explore more about bioidentical hormone therapy including how it differs from traditional hormone therapy.
Bioidentical hormones are synthetic hormones that are made from plants. They have the same chemical makeup as your existing hormones, so they very closely mimic the function of your natural hormones, making it easy for your body to absorb them.
Because bioidentical hormone therapy is such a close match for your body’s hormones, your hormones should even out in a natural way that doesn’t leave you with a roller coaster of side effects.
Traditional hormone therapy, on the other hand, consists of processed hormones made of animal products and can sometimes increase body-wide inflammation.
Bioidentical hormone therapy works very well for women experiencing perimenopause (the stage before menopause) or full-on menopause. Menopause and perimenopause happen when your estrogen and progesterone levels start to drop, causing symptoms such as night sweats, breast tenderness, sleep disturbances, and vaginal dryness.
Women struggling with hormone imbalances due to perimenopause or menopause benefit most from receiving a boost of both estrogen and progesterone via bioidentical hormone therapy.
There are a few different delivery methods available for bioidentical hormone therapy including creams and pills. However, BioTe is a rice grain-sized pellet inserted under your skin near your hip area. It dissolves into your bloodstream to deliver you a steady stream of hormones. To maintain optimal hormone levels, you receive a new pellet about 2-4 times a year.
It’s important to note that bioidentical hormone therapy isn’t something you can use for the rest of your life. We recommend a maximum of five years. Once you don’t need the BioTe anymore, we start tapering it off until you no longer have the synthetic hormones in your body.
To learn more about how BioTe can help you better manage perimenopause and menopause, contact our team by calling your nearest office location or by scheduling an appointment online.
