HORMONE REPLACEMENT FAQS: HOW DOES BIOTE WORK?

If you are spending your days wrestling with weight gain, fatigue, and diminished sex drive, a hormone imbalance could be to blame. The professionals at Quench Wellness in Chicago, IL may be able to help with treatments such as BioTE hormone replacement.

Your hormones help ensure your body is functioning and communicating properly, allowing cells and organs to make appropriate changes. When hormones become imbalanced, side effects can plague your body with unwanted health issues and affect your day-to-day life. Is it time to look into BioTE therapy to reverse the negative signs of hormone imbalance?

What Is a Hormone?

Humans are conceived as a single cell. As the cell divides and new cells do the same, we are formed in individual ways. While our genes determine a lot of the traits we carry, hormones are chemicals equally important in making us unique. Hormones are a family of chemicals in the body.

Our bodies have tissues that secrete hormones into our blood and other bodily fluids. When the hormones reach cells, the cells interpret the chemicals as instructions. The hormone might instruct the cell to grow faster or to stop growing. They might instruct the cell to communicate hunger to the brain.

Another hormone can then tell the cell that your body is full and desires no more food. Other hormones can instruct your body to burn nutrients as fuel. Particular hormones, such as estrogen made by the female ovaries, instruct the female body to function differently than a male body.

Estrogen is just one of many hormones that have multiple roles. Estrogen affects a woman’s shape, milk production, bone strength, sexual characteristics, and more.

What Are Bioidentical Hormones?

Bioidentical hormones are hormones with the same molecular structure as the hormones naturally created in the female body. While bioidentical hormones are not found in a woman’s body, they are synthesized from natural sources such as yams or soy. Common bioidentical estrogen hormones include 17 beta-estradiol, estrone, and estriol.

Estradiol is the type of estrogen commonly lost during menopause. Bioidentical hormone replacement is an effective treatment because the bioidentical hormones act identically to the hormones your body is losing. The human body does not distinguish bioidentical hormones from hormones produced by the ovaries.

What Is a Hormone Imbalance?

When there is too much or not enough of a hormone in your bloodstream, you suffer from a hormone imbalance. It takes only a small imbalance to result in noticeable symptoms. Symptoms of hormone imbalance often include a number of direct and indirect difficulties.

Lack of Sleep

Hormonal imbalance can affect your sleeping patterns. Progesterone, released from the ovaries, helps you sleep. Imbalances can make it more difficult to fall asleep or maintain uninterrupted sleep. A decrease in estrogen levels can also affect sleeping due to night sweats and hot flashes.

Acne

It is not uncommon for women to experience breakouts correlating to their monthly menstrual cycles. Others suffer from more consistent acne concerns that are sometimes the result of a hormone imbalance.

When women have imbalanced levels of androgens, oil production can become excessive. Commonly considered a male hormone, both men and women have androgens, so the imbalance in females can be especially frustrating.

Clogged skin pores can lead to acne, and while the androgen hormones continue to engage excess oil production, the acne can be an ongoing issue. High androgen levels in women can also be related to other medical issues, so consulting a doctor is always wise.

Memory Difficulties

Ever walk into a room and forget why you went in there? It happens to us all, but it can be especially common among those with hormonal imbalances. Declining estrogen levels can play a role in memory difficulties, hand-in-hand with other symptoms. For instance, if hormonal imbalances are causing you to sleep less than your body needs, memory difficulties, a natural consequence of sleep deprivation, will be exacerbated.

Upset Stomach

Hormone receptor cells are active in the gastrointestinal lining, including receptors for estrogen and progesterone. The gastrointestinal system is naturally affected by the female menstrual cycle, leading to the stereotypical menstrual symptoms of bloating, constipation, and sometimes nausea.

Such hormonal fluctuations can become more exaggerated and unpredictable when hormonal imbalances come into play.

Cravings and Weight Gain

Low estrogen levels can lead to food cravings in women. The temporary relief of the craving through foods high in fat, sugar, and processed ingredients can lead to weight gain and later feelings of depression.

Leptin is a hormone that combats hunger, and our leptin levels are affected when estrogen is lacking. Not feeling full combined with unhealthy cravings can lead to a cycle of short-term relief and long-term weight gain.

Headaches

Estrogen levels often correlate to headaches. While there are many triggers that bring on headaches, declining estrogen is often one cause. For some, headaches are a debilitating symptom that can hinder work and relationships.

Vaginal Dryness

Low estrogen levels commonly lead to vaginal dryness. The wall of the vagina can become thinner, and sex can become painful. Not only is this difficult on the self-esteem of many women, but it can also affect relationships with spouses who do not understand the cause for a perceived lack of intimacy.

Lost Sex Drive

Sometimes, sex is avoided by women who suffer hormonal imbalances because it is painful. Other times, imbalances cause a noticeable reduction in sex drive. This can be difficult on marriages and relationships.

Even though testosterone is associated with men, both men and women produce testosterone, and it bears a direct impact on the sex drive of both genders. Testosterone can affect sex drive as well as sexual satisfaction, however, unwanted effects of testosterone in women require the careful oversight of a trained medical professional.

Changes in Breast Appearance

Hormone imbalance can also affect breast tissue. Depending on the severity of the imbalance, breasts may appear lumpy or asymmetrical. Sometimes cysts can even develop. Breast appearance can be an important part of our self-perception and confidence level, and imbalanced hormones can jeopardize both.

Fatigue

When imbalanced hormones result in sleeping difficulties, fatigue can be a natural consequence of a body with too little rest. On the other hand, imbalances such as too much progesterone can cause your body to tire regardless of how much sleep you get. Good sleep is always important to the human body, and a hormonal imbalance that affects it in any way should be addressed.

Sleep Apnea

Sleep apnea is a greater danger for women during and after menopause. Those who suffer from sleep apnea may stop breathing during sleep.

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a result of throat muscles relaxing as the body sleeps and preventing air from passing as you rest. Lower estrogen levels correlate to the rate of OSA cases. OSA presents particular dangers that should be addressed with the help of a medical professional.

Osteoporosis

Estrogen is an important ingredient in healthy bones. When women suffer from low estrogen levels, especially after menopause, bone loss and bone weakness can become a concern.

More than half of all women over 50 suffer injuries due to osteoporosis, but regaining estrogen balance can help patients retain bone health. Concerns over thinning bones should be discussed with a doctor.

Mood Swings

Hormone levels have a direct effect on our mood and irritability. As such, these symptoms are commonly associated with premenstrual syndrome (PMS). Estrogen levels affect dopamine, serotonin, and norepinephrine neurotransmitters. While these symptoms can be a natural effect of the menstrual cycle, they can be even more severe when ongoing imbalances are at play.

What Is Hormone Replacement Therapy?

Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) is a treatment that helps relieve symptoms related to female menopause and other hormonal imbalances. From vaginal dryness to bone loss to sexual dysfunction, HRT helps combat symptoms related to the diminished levels of hormones, especially during menopause, through medications containing female hormones to replace those the female body no longer makes.

HRT is also known as menopausal hormone therapy (MHT) or postmenopausal hormone therapy (PHT, PMHT). It is most effective when tailored to a patient’s unique needs and re-evaluated for safety and effectiveness.

Some systematic replacement options include pills, creams, sprays, or patches that can relieve symptoms such as hot flashes, vaginal dryness, or discomfort during intercourse. Other times, low-dose vaginal products in cream or ring forms can treat vaginal symptoms directly without addressing other symptoms such as hot flashes or osteoporosis.

The premier method of HRT is pellet therapy. Women who have not had their uterus removed will often be addressed differently than those who have. Because of the role hormones play in the growth of the uterus lining, medications will vary depending on whether the patient has undergone a hysterectomy.

How Does BioTE Work?

Bioidentical hormone replacement therapy (BHRT) is one particular form of hormone replacement therapy that identifies imbalanced hormones in the female body. When a lacking hormone is identified, replacement bioidentical hormones are added to achieved balanced hormone levels.

The best BHRT treatments allow for easy integration into the body where cells can receive instructions from the bioidentical hormones for optimal function and the patient’s overall well being.

The BioTE Difference

Bioidentical hormone replacement therapy can be tailored more specifically to each patient through BioTE pellet therapy. Every patient has a particular hormone dosage requirement based on specific hormone loss. By identifying the hormones that are imbalanced and supplementing them with the proper replacement dosage, alternative health concerns can also be eliminated or identified for further consideration.

What Does Pellet Therapy Entail?

The most effective BHRT with BioTE therapy is accomplished with pellets. This therapy is delivered by placing a pellet under the skin for a fast and safe method of replacement hormone delivery. Unlike other delivery methods, pellet therapy ensures users receive a consistent dosage throughout the day, unlike creams or other methods that can easily result in inconsistent amounts being applied.

Pellet therapy is highly advanced for safety and efficiency while offering comfort and overall health benefits. The small, consistent doses of hormones released into the body provide optimum therapy.

Some patients using oral or cream therapies experience fluctuating hormone levels that result in varying energy levels and wide mood swings. BioTE pellet therapy, on the other hand, uses compound hormones compliant with strict federal guidelines to create a pellet smaller than one grain of rice. The pellet is easily implanted through an in-office visit, and the difficulties of other therapy methods are avoided.

Pellet therapy can compound estrogen as well as testosterone and can be used in the health of both men and women, although female therapy is more common.

Is Hormone Replacement Therapy for You?

If you suffer from symptoms you fear may be related to a hormone imbalance, there is no time like the present to seek a consultation from the professionals at Quench Wellness in Chicago, IL. Quench partners with BioTE medical for innovative pellet therapy that may be just what you need to get back on track. Give them a call today.