Bioidentical Hormone Therapy in Denver

Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy (BHRT)

For optimum health, the body’s hormones need to stay in balance. These chemical messengers are important when it comes to balancing everything from sleep to bodyweight to sexual desire. As we age, the delicate balance of hormone levels can get out of sync.

Most people are familiar with menopause and the need for hormone replacement therapy among postmenopausal women. However, men experience hormonal changes, too. As they age, they tend to produce less testosterone. This andropause means that hormone replacement therapy for men can help to improve their hormonal balance, too.

What is hormone replacement?

As we age, we produce fewer hormones than we did when we were in our prime. This can cause all sorts of problems, such as unwanted and unexplained weight gain, insomnia, mood swings, anxiety, decrease sexual performance, depression, osteoporosis, heart disease, diabetes, inability to maintain muscle mass, lack of focus, and more. Hormone replacement therapy simply gives the body these hormones back.

Many traditional hormone replacement therapies use synthetically created hormones or derive them from other animals (Premarin famously comes from horses, for instance). These tend to be “one size fits all” solutions. While they work for some people, they don’t seem to work for everyone.

Bioidentical hormone replacement therapy aims to give the body the exact hormones it is missing, in a natural form. Some people seem to respond to bioidentical hormones faster than they do to synthetic hormones. In addition, quantities can be made specifically for your body. Heralded as a natural hormone replacement therapy, practitioners will look at exactly which hormones you are missing and in what quantities. Then, trained pharmacists will recreate those bioidentical hormones for you, putting them into a small pellet.

What are the benefits of bioidentical hormone therapy?

In addition to quite possibly working better than synthetic hormones and being tailored to your body’s needs, bioidentical hormone replacement therapy can give you your life back. If slowing hormones have made you feel sluggish, overweight, tired, and uninterested in sex, replacing these hormones the natural way using bioidentical hormones can reverse all of that.

The benefits of natural hormone replacement pellet therapy include:

• More mental clarity
• Less depression and anxiety
• More energy
• Less body fat
• More desire for sexual contact
• A greater sense of overall wellbeing

If you are getting older and you feel like you are suffering because of it, bio-identical hormone replacement could help you feel like yourself again.

How does bioidentical hormone replacement therapy work?

If you’re interested in natural hormone replacement therapy, your first step is to see a medical provider who can provide bioidentical treatment. At Denver Physical Medicine, we can help you through the process. We will help you determine what hormones you are lacking and how much you might be missing.

We’ll order blood tests, interpret them, and obtain your hormones from an experienced pharmacist. That person will press your hormones into a small pellet. This bioidentical hormone replacement therapy pellet will be placed under your skin, in the fat layer. Your provider will simply make a small incision underneath your buttock or at the bottom of your abdomen to place the pellet. The process only takes a few minutes and is nearly painless.

Once the BHRT pellet is placed, it will release hormones, such as estrogen or testosterone, steadily for 3-6 months, depending on your gender and how fast you metabolize the hormones. It will release them at a steady rate, so you will have balanced hormone levels 24/7.

How long after receiving a bioidentical hormone replacement therapy pellet before I notice a difference?

After insertion, women receiving estrogen may begin to feel better within 24-36 hours. Men receiving testosterone may need to wait 10-14 days before they begin to notice a difference. If you do not notice a difference, it is important to check in with your provider and make sure you have received the correct dosage.

What are the side effects of taking bio-identical hormone replacement therapy?

There is a very low rate of negative side effects from bioidentical hormone replacement therapy. The insertion itself can cause slight bruising, infection of the insertion site, and minor bleeding. Occasionally the pellet will come out and will need to be reinserted. It is important to avoid vigorous exercise for a few days after insertion, to give your incision a chance to heal.

If you receive implanted estrogen, you may experience breast tenderness and water weight gain, though both of these will resolve themselves with time.

It’s important to note that there is no increased incidence of breast cancer among women who receive bio-identical implanted estrogen. This is because bioidentical therapy avoids the high doses of estrogen that can come with oral pills. In addition, receiving bioidentical testosterone can lower the risk of breast cancer.

Are you ready?

If you would like to see if bio-identical hormone replacement therapy is right for you, give us a call. We will assess your symptoms and order some bloodwork. Once we have the results, we will order your hormones and schedule their insertion. We are one of the leading providers of hormone therapy in Denver.

We’ll oversee the process from start to finish, so you can know that your natural hormone therapy is in good hands. Our expert providers will answer all of your questions and give you all of the information you need to make wise choices about what is best for you long-term. Call us today to see a Denver hormone therapist.