Your hormones are responsible for controlling almost every aspect of your mind and body. When you hit puberty, a surge of “female” hormones, including estrogen and progesterone, trigger profound changes, such as growing breasts and beginning your menstrual cycle.
Most women then attain a stable level of hormones that lasts until their 40s, when hormones start to decline. During this time — known as perimenopause — your levels of estrogen and progesterone may drop precipitously, resulting in a range of uncomfortable symptoms.
The symptoms may continue even after you hit menopause — which occurs 12 months after your last menstrual period. Even if you don’t have the classic symptoms of menopause, such as hot flashes and night sweats, your hormones may still be unbalanced.
At The Women's Center at Life Point Medical in Clayton, Georgia, caring and compassionate family nurse practitioner Monique Petteys, FNP-C, wants you to feel your best, no matter what stage of life you’re in.
Following are five common signs of hormonal imbalance, and what you can do to remedy it.
Hot flashes and night sweats may wake you up as you try to sleep, leaving you feeling fatigued and unrested during the day. But even if you don’t have night sweats, unbalanced hormones may interfere with your sleep.
Any type of insomnia could be a sign of hormonal imbalance. This includes:
Insomnia affects you during the daytime, too. If you don’t get the restorative rest you need at night, your mood, focus, and energy levels are all compromised.
Brain fog is a classic symptom of perimenopause and menopause. Whether or not you’ve slept well the night before, you may have trouble thinking and focusing, resulting in issues such as:
You may also feel depressed, anxious, or worried.
If you’ve noticed more hair in your brush in the mornings, your hormones could be responsible. As estrogen drops, you’re more likely to notice symptoms associated with aging such as:
Replenishing your hormones also replenishes your skin and hair.
One of the first symptoms of perimenopause is a change in your menstrual cycle. You may skip a period or two even though you’re not pregnant. You may bleed for more than a week. In some cases, you may need oral progesterone to stop your period so that you don’t become anemic.
You may have noticed that you don’t think about — or even want — sex as much as you did when you were younger. When you do have sex, you might experience discomfort, such as:
Your lack of interest in sex, or avoiding sex because of pain and dryness, may even affect your relationship. If you feel like you’re drifting away from your mate, unbalanced hormones could be the reason.
Bioidentical hormone replacement therapy (BHRT) rebalances your hormones to help you regain your health and optimal function.
BHRT is made of synthetic hormones that mimic the structure of your own natural hormones, so that your body recognizes and uses them as if you’d produced them yourself.
At The Women's Center at Life Point Medical, we use BioTE® pellets to restore your hormonal balance and eliminate the symptoms of perimenopause, menopause, and other types of hormonal imbalances.
We insert a custom-compounded pellet that’s about the size of a grain of rice in your upper buttocks, just under your skin. Each pellet’s hormones are customized to your needs and tested for efficacy.
The pellets gradually release hormones to help your body restabilize. You may feel an improvement in your symptoms in as little as four weeks. However, it could take up to six months for your hormones to stabilize.
Unlike other forms of pellet-based BHRT, BioTE lasts twice as long, about six months. When your pellet is no longer effective, we insert a new one for continuous relief and hormonal stability.
BHRT not only makes you feel and look better, it may also protect your bones from osteoporosis.
To find out if you’re a candidate for BHRT with BioTE, contact us today by phone, email, or online form.
