As medicine began to understand the changes in hormone levels that occur as people age, bioidentical hormone therapy’s popularity surged. Bioidentical HRT works for both men and women and is sometimes seen as a safer and more effective alternative to traditional hormone replacement therapy.

As you age, the levels of hormones your body produces change. In men, testosterone production begins to fall after age 30. In women, estrogen levels start to drop when perimenopause begins and fall to even lower levels during menopause.

The drop in the level of hormones contributes to more than preventing women from conceiving or erectile dysfunction in men. Reduction in hormone levels causes symptoms across all body systems. In women, declines in estrogen can cause the following non-sexual problems:

• Reduction in bone density
• Mood swings
• Hot flashes
• Depression
• Fatigue
• Loss of ability to concentrate
• Headaches
• Weight gain

Reductions in testosterone levels can cause the following non-sexual problems for men:

• Low self-confidence
• Poor sleep
• Decreased muscle mass
• Decreased bone density
• Elevated body fat percentage
• Fatigue

When reductions in hormone levels begin to cause symptoms for men and women, they face a choice. First, they can try standard hormone replacement therapy. Standard HRT fabricates the necessary hormone from non-human sources. In contrast, bioidentical hormone replacement therapy seeks to return hormone levels to the optimal point for your age by using substances identical to those found in your body.

Bioidentical hormones match those in your body, meaning that your body will accept them more readily. Your body can also put them right to work because they are the same ones already circulating, although at suboptimal levels, in your body. Within ten days to two weeks, you should feel an improvement in the symptoms that spurred you to seek HRT.

Bioidentical hormones balance the hormones in your body in a natural manner, meaning that you should see improvements in symptoms such a poor sleep quality. When sleep improves, several other symptoms should improve as well, including fatigue, and trouble concentrating. All of your symptoms may improve independently, although not at the same rate, as a result of the rebalancing of the hormones in your body.

Do I Need A Prescription For Bioidentical Hormones?

The FDA regulates bioidentical hormones. The FDA declared bioidentical hormones made by most pharmaceutical companies safe for HRT. Compounded bioidentical hormones lack the same FDA approval. However, many medical providers consider compounded bioidentical hormones as safe and effective as the hormones made by the pharmaceutical companies.

Therefore, you will need a prescription to obtain bioidentical hormones. Should you find some online or over the counter, you need to consider whether those products resulted from a safe manufacturing process. Those products also may have misleading or false labels, meaning that you receive no guarantee that the product is genuinely a bioidentical hormone.

You need to see a medical provider for bioidentical hormones for reasons other than receipt of a safe product. Your healthcare provider will take a complete history. This will allow the provider to determine whether you need bioidentical HRT or another therapy, which bioidentical hormones to prescribe, and the proper levels for your symptoms.

You will likely see your provider after the first six weeks and then every three to six months after that to determine whether you should remain on the same regimen or whether your hormones or dosages should change. Your provider will occasionally order bloodwork to check the levels of the hormones in your system.

Every patient requires a slightly different form of therapy. No one-size-fits-all HRT program exists. To the extent that you see such a program advertised, you should avoid it. Even if you have the same hormone levels as your friend, your bioidentical HRT may include different hormones or levels. These should be determined only by your medical provider after a consultation and bloodwork. Your medical provider will also need to manage any changes to your prescriptions.

Bioidentical hormone replacement therapy improves the quality of life for people as they age. It forstalls many of the symptoms of aging and allows you to work, exercise, and enjoy a more fulfilling sex life than you can obtain without the bioidentical HRT. We value your privacy. No one will need to know that you take bioidentical hormones.

Start today on your journey to living a more full and complete life with safe bioidentical hormones replacement therapy. We look forward to assisting you with your decision to live a healthier lifestyle. Call us today at (205) 352-9141!