Hormones are vital as they help regulate various bodily activities. In your body, these essential hormones are created by the endocrine glands. They carry signals regarding metabolism, growth, overall development, and others throughout the body.
Hormones essentially instruct the organs on how your body should work and how much energy is needed to perform a function. Even the awareness of essential functions like going to sleep, waking up, eating, etc., are controlled by hormones. Hormones also determine the amount of hair a person has on their body.
However, multiple reasons like advancing age, environmental factors, and medical conditions could cause hormone imbalance in the body resulting in the body losing control of itself. A hormonal imbalance could cause hair loss, unhealthy weight gain or loss, or even your mood on a daily basis.
So, hormone levels in the body must remain steady.
What Is Bioidentical Hormone Therapy?
Since hormones are vital for all body functions, any imbalances in their production or work need to be checked as soon as possible.
The more common symptoms of a hormonal imbalance in the body are weight fluctuations, fatigue, changes in mood, memory loss, hot flashes, night sweats, lethargy, and also a lack of will to get up and do things. Hormone imbalance can also affect sex functions in both men and women.
If a doctor suspects hormone imbalance is causing the symptoms, he or she might suggest blood tests to get to the root cause. If the test reveals that there is a hormone imbalance, doctors may suggest hormone therapy to normalize the hormone levels.
Bioidentical hormone therapy refers to the process of introducing manufactured hormones into your body to stabilize the occurrence of hormone imbalances.
There are many artificial hormones available in the market that have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). However, bioidentical hormones are artificial hormones that closely resemble the natural hormones produced in the human body. Since bioidentical hormones are so similar to natural hormones, the body accepts them more quickly than other types of chemical hormones.
Most hormone replacements in the market are approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and are available in pharmacies and hospitals. These hormones are plant-based, having the base oil extracted from cactus, wild yam, and soybeans.
How Does Bioidentical Hormone Therapy Work?
If you have been diagnosed with hormonal imbalances through various tests, a doctor may prescribe bioidentical hormone therapy to correct the imbalance. This can be done in many ways – with gels, shots, patches, implants, or even pills.
You can work with your doctor to identify the method that works best.
Once the doctor commences the treatment, they monitor the hormone levels with regular tests to reduce or increase the doses as a requirement. The ultimate aim of bioidentical hormone therapy is to reduce the artificial hormone doses to a minimum amount.
What Are Compounded Bioidentical Hormones?
Sometimes, a patient’s ailment or hormone requirement may need additional input from doctors. For example, a doctor may suggest compounded bioidentical hormones rather than the standard hormone therapy medicines available.
Compounded hormones are a specific mix of hormones that are uniquely created as an answer to a patient’s actual needs.
To reach a wider network of patients, manufacturers of supplementary hormones may add certain ingredients that make them unique and stand out from others in the market.
However, compounded bioidentical hormones are riskier to use than standards ones.
If a patient undergoes any adverse effects from using the compounded hormones, it could be difficult to analyze which particular ingredient caused the reaction. With standardized hormone supplements, the risk of side effects is considerably low as the doctors may prescribe them only after taking their patients’ medical history.
How Fast Does Bioidentical Hormone Therapy Work?
No matter how identical they may be to natural hormones, artificial hormones need to be assimilated into the body. As each person is unique, the time taken for hormone therapy to work varies from person to person.
Ideally, it may take at least a couple of weeks of regular hormone therapy sessions to get your hormone imbalance back to normal levels. For some, it might even take a month before you can see any changes in your body from taking the hormone replacements.
Since doctors would monitor hormone levels regularly, they will adjust the hormone supplements depending on the changes seen in patients.
Benefits of Bioidentical Hormone Therapy
The most common use of hormone therapy is usually seen in women undergoing menopause when hormones cause a lot of disruptions in the female body. However, irrespective of gender, hormone therapy can help anyone going through hormonal changes.
In addition, hormone therapy can help bring down the effects of hormone imbalance.
Here are the key benefits of Bioidentical Hormone Therapy:
- Better sleeping patterns
- Reduced fatigue and increased energy
- Proper Appetite
- Improved sex drive
- Reduced weight fluctuations
- Better mental health
Physical activities geared towards making you healthy are always encouraged by doctors and other medical professionals. For example, a walking routine or any other exercise routine can help bring the healthy version of your body back.
Even in the case of hormone replacement therapy, the effects of the bioidentical hormones can be helped by adding fitness activities to your daily routine.
Bioidentical hormone therapy is a natural hormone replacement option to resolve the hormonal imbalances in your body. The actual effects of bioidentical therapy are obvious when a healthy diet and lifestyle, good sleep, and effective fitness routines are also followed.
Understanding the actual causes of your hormone imbalance can empower you as a patient to take charge of your health. Additionally, you can improve your physical health naturally with bioidentical hormone therapy.
If you have concerns and questions regarding this, find an expert by visiting the online community at AgeEnvy. The idea is to give clients control over their health by connecting them with licensed providers and verified experts focused on bioidentical hormone therapy treatments. These experts will treat you after thoroughly studying all symptoms and causes.