Hormone therapy involves using medications to supplement hormones that your body may be lacking. It can provide relief from bothersome menopausal symptoms and address health issues related to hormone deficiency.
At Vital Hormone Clinic in Ramsey, Minnesota, we provide customized hormone therapy treatments to help you feel your best. Keep reading to learn more about the basics of hormone therapy and why it's so important for your health and wellbeing.
Hormone therapy is the use of hormones to supplement lower levels as we age. It can take the form of estrogen therapy, testosterone therapy, or progesterone therapy.
As both men and women age, their hormone levels naturally decline. For women, this decline often begins perimenopause as estrogen levels start to vary. By menopause, estrogen levels are much lower, causing symptoms like hot flashes, trouble sleeping, vaginal dryness, and mood changes for many women.
For men, testosterone levels begin decreasing after age 30 by about 1% per year. Lower testosterone can cause fatigue, low sex drive, loss of muscle mass, and erectile dysfunction.
Hormone therapy replaces hormones that your body no longer makes at adequate levels. It can provide immense relief by restoring hormone balance.
If you're experiencing unpleasant menopause symptoms or low testosterone effects, hormone therapy may help. Here are some signs that hormone therapy could benefit you:
- Hot flashes and night sweats disrupting sleep - Vaginal dryness causing irritation - Loss of libido - Mood swings and irritability - Difficulty concentrating and memory lapses - Hair thinning and skin changes
- Fatigue and low energy levels - Increased body fat and loss of muscle mass - Difficulty getting or maintaining erections - Reduced sex drive and lack of motivation - Loss of focus and diminished performance - Depressive moods
Keep in mind that the wide variety of hormones in our bodies work together in complex ways. Imbalances in one area can create a domino effect of issues in other parts of the endocrine system.
A blood test from your doctor can identify specific hormone deficiencies. From there, we can create a tailored hormone therapy plan to get your levels back on track.
Restoring optimal hormone levels provides transformative benefits that truly help you feel like yourself again. Here are some of the top benefits of hormone therapy:
Hormone therapy produces real, measurable improvements in quality of life. Balancing your hormones alleviates discomfort and allows you to feel healthy, energized and renewed.
The first step is diagnostic testing to identify where your hormone levels stand today. This generally involves a blood draw to measure levels of key hormones like estrogen, testosterone, thyroid hormones, DHEA, and more.
These test results allow us to pinpoint deficiencies and customize a hormone therapy protocol designed to restore optimal balance for your unique needs.
Here is an overview of what beginning hormone replacement therapy typically involves:
The initial adjustment period helps us dial in your optimal hormonal balance for maximum benefits. Monitoring and fine tuning over time ensures consistent relief of deficiencies.
Hormone deficiencies often develop slowly over months and years. Symptoms can be dismissed as normal effects of aging. But allowing hormone imbalance to linger untreated puts your health at serious risk.
Prompt hormone therapy provides immense benefits:
In contrast, prolonged hormone imbalance causes cumulative damage:
Don't allow the effects of hormone imbalance to gradually undermine your health. Vital Hormone Clinic offers state of the art testing and custom treatments to restore optimal hormone balance quickly and effectively.
When it comes to your hormone health, you deserve the best care and expertise. At Vital Hormone Clinic in Ramsey, Minnesota, we are driven by our commitment to transforming lives by optimizing hormone balance. Here are key reasons to choose us for your hormone therapy:
We look forward to helping you optimize wellness on all levels through expert hormone therapy tailored to your needs.
The most common hormone therapies are:- Estrogen - For women to treat menopausal symptoms- Testosterone - For men and women to treat low testosterone- Thyroid hormone - To correct hypothyroidism or hyperthyroidism- Progesterone - For women to balance the effects of estrogen- DHEA - To supplement declining levels of this key sex steroid hormone
There are multiple effective options for hormone delivery:- Oral tablets - Estrogens, progesterone, testosterone and DHEA- Topical gels - Testosterone, DHEA- Creams - Estrogen, testosterone, progesterone- Vaginal creams - Localized estrogen for urogenital tissue- Injections - Testosterone cypionate or enanthate, estradiol valerate- Pellet implants - Testosterone, estradiolTogether we'll choose your optimal delivery methods.
When properly dosed, hormone therapy is very safe with minimal risks. Side effects may include:- Breast tenderness from estrogen therapy- Moodiness as hormones fluctuate before stabilizing- Increased growth of prostate cancer cells from testosterone- Increased risk of blood clots from oral estrogen- Skin reaction from topical treatmentsWe'll closely monitor your therapy to minimize potential side effects.
Most patients report significant improvements in energy, mood, sexual function, and menopause symptoms within 1-2 months. Finalizing optimal dosing can take 4-6 months. With continued therapy, benefits persist long term.
Yes, diagnosing deficiencies requires blood tests of estrogen, testosterone, thyroid hormone, and more. Follow up testing ensures proper levels are achieved and maintained.Monitoring your hormone balance is essential for designing the most effective treatment plan. Our onsite lab makes testing fast and convenient.
