Hormonal imbalances can be destructive for your health, especially when they go unchecked for long periods of time. Because they can affect everything from your mood to your cardiovascular system, it’s crucial that they’re properly treated as soon as possible. Here at Your Family Medical Locations in Flower Mound, TX, we offer BioTE hormone replacement therapy to address these types of issues, which can help treat and prevent a wide range of symptoms while there’s still an opportunity to do so.
What Are the Risks of Ignoring a Hormone Imbalance?
Ignoring hormonal issues can sometimes lead to life-altering consequences because an imbalance of important hormones can affect your health and bodily functions, where simple things such as eating, thinking, and breathing can all become difficult. While many hormonal imbalances don’t get to this point, as symptoms can sometimes be mild and can occasionally go away on their own, these issues are largely unpredictable and symptoms can worsen at any time.
It’s also not uncommon for hormone imbalances to go unnoticed over time, but they can eventually cause debilitating symptoms that can affect everything from your mood to your mobility when you should otherwise be in the prime of your life. Although it can be difficult to recognize some of the warning signs of hormonal imbalances, a proper diagnosis with blood testing can usually help to identify an issue.
What Are Some Warning Signs of Hormonal Imbalances?
While hormone imbalances don’t always present with obvious symptoms in every case, here are some common ones that can sometimes hint at a larger problem:
Emotional Changes
When your hormones are dysregulated, you may experience symptoms of sadness, anger, or outright depression, and the mood changes can happen drastically and seemingly out of nowhere. Although a change like this might occur in response to something that would still normally make you angry, your reaction may be much more severe if you’re dealing with a hormone imbalance.
Weight Gain
Weight gain can be affected by a hormonal imbalance and vice versa, as obesity and hormonal changes often go hand in hand. Researchers, however, are not entirely sure why this happens, and there are likely different reasons for this, depending on a person’s genetics, lifestyle habits, or other factors. Regardless, if you find that you’re gaining weight and can’t otherwise explain it, this can be a warning sign that your hormone levels are out of sync.
Brain Fog
One of the more commonly reported symptoms of hormonal imbalances is brain fog, where a person has trouble thinking or concentrating, even in scenarios that are normally low-stress ones that they’ve easily navigated before. Memory can also be affected by this symptom, as well as critical-thinking skills.
Chronic Fatigue
While chronic fatigue can be caused by many different issues, most notably central nervous system disorders, it’s also a classic symptom of those who have hormonal issues. If you find that you feel tired or exhausted every day, even after a long night’s sleep, you may be suffering from this symptom because of hormonal problems.
Loss of Muscle Mass
Muscle mass is influenced by many things, with the hormone testosterone playing a huge role in both muscle size and strength. Many men with low testosterone, as a result of a hormone imbalance, find that they aren’t able to lift as many weights in the gym or run for as long as they could before, and in some cases, the changes may be visible as muscle wasting begins and the muscles become smaller.
What Is Hormone Replacement Therapy?
Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) is a treatment available for both women and men that helps to rebalance hormonal levels by introducing bioidentical hormones into the body through the use of dissolvable BioTE pellets. These pellets are injected beneath the skin, and slowly release the hormones your body needs, whether it’s estrogen, testosterone, or both. We’ll conduct a hormone test to determine which ones you may need, so the treatment is personalized specifically to your needs.
Hormone dysregulation, or a hormonal imbalance, can occur at virtually any age and for many different reasons. The hormones used in this therapy are called bioidentical because they are the same as the hormones found in your body, making it a much safer option than other hormone replacement therapies and with less risk of issues, such as side effects or the body rejecting the hormones as a foreign substance.
What Are Some of the Causes of Hormone Imbalances?
Hormonal imbalances can be caused by all of the following:
- Long-term stress
- Menopause (women)
- Andropause (men)
- Genetic predispositions
- Pregnancy/childbirth
- Environmental causes
- Poor nutrition or diet
- Inflammatory diseases
- Certain medications
- Endocrine disorders
- Cancer and tumors
What Should I Expect During My Appointment?
Consultation
When you arrive for your appointment with us, we’ll want to know why you’re wanting treatment and what symptoms you may be having. We’ll ask you about your medical history, any diseases or conditions that run in your family, and any medications you might be on. We’ll also need to take a sample of your blood to check your hormone levels with diagnostic testing.
Because we need to test your blood, it’s important that you pause any other hormone treatments that you might be taking on the day of your appointment. You can start taking these again afterward, and we’ll provide some instructions to help you transition from your current treatment to this one.
Treatment
To begin your therapy session, we’ll first numb the area to be treated with a local anesthetic, though the treatment process itself is normally painless and takes less than 20 minutes. The pellet is then inserted in the treatment area, which is normally an area near your buttocks that’s immediately bandaged afterward. You’ll be able to return to work or your normal routine immediately afterward, though you’ll need to avoid strenuous activities for the first three days or so.
When After Treatment Will I See Results?
Most patients begin to see the first improvements within the first four weeks, but even after this, more improvements can occur over the next six months. During this time frame, you can come back for a second treatment about three months after your first treatment session, as we normally need to allow some time to see how well your symptoms are responding to the first treatment.
How Many Treatment Sessions Will I Need?
How many treatments you need depends on how long you’d like to continue this therapy. You may only need a few treatment sessions, depending on your condition and whether your symptoms return or not when stopping treatment. Some patients only use this therapy to help them get through difficult times in their life, whether it’s a pregnancy, menopause, andropause, or a period of high stress, while others need to stay on this treatment longer when dealing with longer-lasting issues.
Who Is a Good Candidate for This Therapy?
In addition to having symptoms caused by a hormonal imbalance, you may be a good candidate for this treatment if any of the following scenarios apply:
You’d Like a Natural Alternative
Many patients choose this form of therapy over other hormone replacement options because it’s a more natural and safer solution. BioTE is identical to the hormones your body naturally produces, so it’s unlikely that your body will reject them.
You Prefer a Simpler Solution
While HRT treatments come in many different forms, this one is a simple and effortless therapy that doesn’t require as much work. Oral treatments have to be taken daily, requiring you to remember to take them, while other types can be a hassle to apply, such as creams and gels that are often messy. With BioTE, once the pellet is implanted, there’s nothing left to do, and you won’t even notice it’s there.
You’ve Tried Others Without Success
If you’re a woman who has previously tried estrogen-based hormone replacement therapies or a man who has undergone other HRT treatments to relieve your symptoms without success, BioTE might just be the game-changer you need. With our comprehensive blood tests, we can determine if this treatment is likely to help you, and if so, we can offer this therapy for quite some time until you see improvements.
Regain Your Healthy Life Back Today
Hormone imbalances should be addressed quickly because they can often worsen with time and affect every facet of your life, from your overall health to your relationships with others. To schedule your initial consultation, contact us today at Your Family Medical Locations in Flower Mound, TX. With BioTE therapy and our comprehensive hormone tests, we can help you pinpoint and treat the source of your issues so you can get back to the symptom-free life you deserve.
