Bio-Identical Hormone Replacement Therapy

Every day, women all over the world are entering menopause or peri-menopause. Peri-menopause is the 8-10 year period of hormonal change for a woman before she is actually considered menopausal. In order for a woman to be considered menopausal, it will have been 12 months since her last menstrual period. After this 12 month period without menstruation, a woman is no longer considered fertile, and is thus considered postmenopausal.

Diminished libido, hot flashes, depression, anxiety, weight gain, and even cardiovascular issues can all be attributed to this “natural” aging process. Women are far too often told that these horrific symptoms are normal, and there is nothing to be done. But what if it doesn’t have to be the norm? What if there is a way for women to return to their normal selves, or better yet, bypass the symptoms of menopause completely.

As it turns out, there is! Every year more and more women turn to hormone replacement for relief of their menopausal symptoms. But is all hormone replacement created equal? The answer is no. In fact, many forms of hormone replacement have been proven to cause side effects such as weight gain, or even certain forms of hormonal cancers, giving all hormone replacement therapy a bad rap. The good news is, however, that there is a form of hormone replacement therapy which if given correctly, under the supervision of an experienced physician, can actually decrease the risk of not only breast and uterine cancer, but also the liver, colon, brain, and bone. All while relieving the signs and symptoms of menopause. In fact, more than 15 major medical organizations now endorse hormone therapy as a safe and effective treatment plan for many adverse health conditions. And, according to a 2015 survey conducted by the North American Menopause Society, more than 60 percent of clinicians prescribe or support the use of bioidentical hormones.

Still however, the number one reason that women refrain from all forms of hormone replacement, including even Bio-Identical hormone replacement, remains the fear of a carcinogenic effect. However, this stigma is simply not true. No, bioidentical hormones do not cause cancer. This false impression began in 1991 when the very controversial Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) was halted due to increased incidence of chronic disease among subjects. This study used the synthetic hormone, Prempro, a synthetic form of progesterone, and subjects of the study were an average age of 63 years old.  Research following this study have shown that most of the subjects had pre-existing conditions that led to the development of disease during the study.

So whether you are suffering from severe PMS, peri-menopause, active menopause, surgical menopause, or even if you are post-menopausal, know your options. Bio-identical hormone replacement under the direct supervision of a trained physician and staff can not only improve your health but also your vitality. It is a proven fact that health declines after the reduction in hormone production for women. Safe hormone replacement, monitored by lab values and tailored individually for each patient can not only slow the aging and health decline, but reverse some of the damage done.

When choosing bio-identical hormone replacement therapy, perhaps the most important thing to consider is which mode of delivery would work best for your lifestyle. Although for many years in BHRT, creams were the method of choice, times have changed in this regard. In anti-aging medicine, we now know that bio-identical hormone pellets are the preferred modality for efficacy and safety for the patient. Bio-identical pellets are implanted by our experienced healthcare professionals under the skin in the adipose tissue, where they will sit for 3-4 months in women, and 4-6 months in men. Over this time frame, the patient’s cardio-metabolic output determines the release rate of the hormones. What this ensures is that the bio-identical pellets are released at a rate specific to the patient’s needs. The pellets are constantly being released which prevents the major fluctuations caused when patients are applying creams or receiving injections. This proves to be much safer and more efficacious for the patient. In fact, estrogen in the pellet form bypasses the liver, which prevents the risk of clots attributed to many other estrogen therapies. For men, this bypass of the liver makes this the safest form of hormone replacement, making side effects such as elevated red blood cells, far less likely with this modality.

Both testosterone for men, and a combination of testosterone and estrogen for women, can be implanted via pellet. The procedure is quick and minimally invasive, and only needs to be performed a few times a year. The pellets themselves are about the size of a grain of rice.  If you are interested in bio-identical hormone replacement therapy, we urge you to contact us at LifeXL to learn more about life changing improvements that can be made with pellet therapy. Pellet therapy can offer relief from symptoms such as vaginal dryness, painful intercourse, fatigue, weight gain, hot flashes, sleep disturbance, erectile dysfunction, muscle atrophy, migraines, brain fog, and many other hormonal issues.

Life XL
Contact us: Lazo Pipovski, MD, Bethany Kulpeksa, CMA

For Scheduling: Call Sue Meyer, Office Manager

CALL 941.266.4469 OR 941.702.5972

IMPORTANT! All information provided in this article is supposed for informational purposes only rather than for the intended purpose of medical advice. Statements made in this article have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. The given information contained herein is not designed to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.