When you lead a busy life, you need your body and mind to keep up. Sudden struggles like irritability, fatigue after a day’s work, and poor sleep might be easy to brush off as natural aging or stress.
At the Institute for Hormonal Balance, our team helps patients uncover the root cause of these disruptions, which often can be attributed to hormonal deficiencies. With hormone replacement therapy (HRT) near Frisco, we can achieve optimal hormone levels to help you feel like yourself again.
In this post, we explore:
- Causes of Hormonal Imbalances
- Signs and Symptoms of Hormonal Imbalances
- Our Process for Hormone Optimization
What Is HRT?
Hormone replacement therapy essentially fills in the missing pieces to balance your hormone levels. We replace what your body has lost through aging and bodily changes to reduce the debilitating symptoms of hormonal imbalances.
At the Institute for Hormonal Balance, we strongly recommend bioidentical HRT. These hormones are identical to what’s naturally produced by the body’s glands, allowing your body to absorb them more easily without unwanted side effects.
Causes of Hormonal Imbalances
As we age, we go through natural changes that affect our hormone levels. Low circulating hormone levels can affect physical and mental health, making daily tasks more difficult.
Here are a few of the leading causes why our patients seek out HRT near Frisco.
Menopause
As one of the most identifiable stages of life in women, menopause indicates having gone 12 consecutive months without a menstrual cycle.
During this time, the ovaries produce less estrogen and progesterone, the primary female reproductive hormones. Low hormones occur during menopause because the body stops releasing eggs.
There’s also a period before menopause, called perimenopause, that indicates the body’s transitional period where estrogen and progesterone production begin slowing down. During perimenopause, many women feel irritable, anxious, or gain weight as the body leads them to the end of their reproductive years.
Andropause
Sometimes called the “male menopause,” andropause describes a decline in testosterone, the primary male reproductive hormone.
Unlike menopause, which results in complete reproductive failure, andropause leads to a consistent decrease in testosterone levels at about 1% a year.
This shift happens with age and is a slow, steady decline. Andropause is not as drastic as menopause, but it can still leave men with undesirable side effects such as fatigue, decreased stamina, erectile dysfunction, and more.
Thyroid Irregularities
The thyroid, a gland in your endocrine system, creates and releases specific hormones that convert into active hormones to have the desired effects within the body.
Many people experience an underactive thyroid (hypothyroidism), meaning the gland does not produce or release hormones as it should.
This can slow down your metabolism, cause weight gain, and affect energy levels, among many other symptoms. An underactive thyroid can happen to anyone, but it is common in women after menopause.
If any of these situations affect you, you could be a candidate for HRT near Frisco. Let’s look at some of the symptoms that HRT can treat.
Signs of Hormonal Imbalance
Whether you’re going through menopause or andropause, or you just don’t feel like yourself lately, your hormones could be contributing to how you feel.
If your hormones cannot properly send messages to your body, or there’s not enough of them to do so, you might feel like your body is working against you.
Low levels of hormones can leave patients suffering from physical, emotional, and sexual concerns. Thankfully, our team can address these symptoms with a plan tailored to your needs.
Physical Symptoms
Hormonal shifts often cause physical symptoms in patients, leaving them with unexplained changes to how they look and feel.
If you have imbalanced hormones, you might notice:
- Unexplained weight gain, specifically around the midsection. Often, this weight doesn’t respond to diet or exercise.
- Hair and skin changes. Hormonal changes can lead to hair loss or thinning, dry skin, and blemishes.
- Hot flashes and temperature dysregulation. Sudden bursts of heat and night sweats can affect all people.
Cognitive Changes
Not only can hormone levels impact how you look, but they can also impact your mental health and clarity. When you feel like you need an extra cup of coffee or like you’re operating on a short fuse, it could be a sign of hormonal imbalance.
Hormonal imbalance can lead to:
- Brain fog. You might feel like it’s difficult to concentrate, or you lose your thoughts frequently.
- Mood changes that leave you feeling like you’re on a constant roller coaster. Many people experience irritability, increased anxiety, and depression.
- Sleep disturbances and having a hard time getting a full night’s rest. This can be exacerbated by night sweats, leaving individuals with unsatisfactory sleep patterns.
Sexual Barriers
Especially before and during menopause or andropause, individuals notice changes to their sexual function and desires. As the reproductive hormone levels decline, men and women can face challenges around intimacy.
With decreased hormone production, you might have:
- Low libido, meaning you don’t have a desire for intimacy or a lack of “sex drive.”
- Vaginal discomfort that can manifest in dryness, thinning tissues, or pain during intercourse.
- Erectile dysfunction. This looks like difficulty maintaining or getting an erection. Erectile dysfunction can also cause issues with climax.
While many of these symptoms are normal, you don’t have to live with them. Our expert team uses HRT near Frisco to help our patients live their lives more comfortably.
If any of these concerns sound familiar, take our HRT quiz to learn how your hormones may be impacting your well-being.
Keep reading to learn about our process for HRT and how our team optimizes your levels to help you feel like yourself again.
Our Comprehensive Process for HRT
When you choose the Institute for Hormonal Balance as your destination for HRT, you work closely with providers dedicated to expertise and leading patient care.
Our hormone experts have a longstanding history of helping patients explore more vibrant lives with HRT. Using the foundation set by our founder, Dr. Gary Donovitz, a nationally recognized hormone expert, we are a world-class resource for hormonal health.
Here’s what you can expect with HRT at our practice.
Initial Consultation
For your first appointment, we want to get to know you and your struggles. We explore your symptoms and review an extensive panel of labs to get an idea of your hormone baseline.
Utilizing the information from your labs and consultation, we provide you with an individualized treatment plan. The lab results help us identify additional concerns such as vitamin deficiencies, thyroid irregularities, and more, which are imperative to address to make sure you feel your very best.
HRT Process
We create a personalized treatment plan that aligns with your goals, budget, symptoms, and lab results.
Each patient is unique, so your HRT near Frisco will consist of what’s best for you and your body.
We have hormones available in:
- Pellet Therapy: We place custom-made, rice-sized pellets into your thigh or buttocks right under your skin. For the next 3 to 6 months, your bloodstream gradually absorbs them, giving you a constant release of hormones.
- Injections: We can use hormone injections, estrogen & testosterone, that you administer yourself. Depending on your unique needs, you can expect an injection once a week or biweekly.
- Topical Creams: Our team can provide topical creams with the proper dosage of hormones you need. These get applied to your skin, typically twice daily.
- Oral: Some hormones can be taken orally, especially progesterone, which can be extremely beneficial for menopause as well as perimenopausal symptoms.
Depending on your goals, we recommend the most appropriate form of HRT and instruct you on how to apply or administer it if necessary.
Maintenance & Outlook
You often can see improvements within 7 to 10 days of starting your treatment. We outline a care plan that establishes optimal hormone levels, not lab “normals,” since what makes some patients feel their best is outside of what’s considered “normal” lab values.
Our team works closely with you to confirm that HRT is working as intended. We can alter your course of treatment as necessary to reach optimal levels for you and relieve your symptoms. Communication with your provider is imperative in this process.
We schedule follow-up appointments to monitor your symptoms, order periodic lab testing, and explore how HRT near Frisco is improving your well-being.
Once we reach the adequate levels for you, we have you return for an annual lab appointment. This helps us determine that your needs are still being met and that your overall health is on track.
Explore Expert Hormone Care to Feel Unstoppable
With the team at the Institute for Hormonal Balance, you become the best version of yourself through tailored HRT.
Near Frisco, we help patients balance their hormonal levels with comprehensive and compassionate care. If you have concerns about your hormone levels, schedule an appointment to meet with a member of our team.
Want to learn more about our services? Head over to our blog where we discuss men’s balding treatments, hair loss treatments, and more!
