When you enter menopause, you may welcome the freedom from monthly periods and cramps, but mourn the loss of your childbearing years. Although some women have mixed feelings about this natural transition, most agree that the physical symptoms of menopause are equal to or worse than their old menstrual woes.
It all comes down to hormones, the chemical messengers that control your bodily functions. These communication commandos regulate everything from how you digest food and where hair grows on your body to marshalling your immune system and arousing you for sex, so anytime your hormones are even slightly imbalanced, something gives.
And since menopause is a milestone that’s characterized by a dramatic hormonal change, you can expect to experience a variety of symptoms.
When those symptoms begin to disrupt your life, we can help reduce their severity and frequency with BioTE® hormone replacement therapy. Dr. Timothy Scott Beck, our board-certified internal medicine specialist here at Life Point Medical, LLC, in Clayton, Georgia, helps you ease into and through menopause with as little discomfort as possible so you can enjoy this new stage of life to its fullest. Here’s how BioTE can help.
Menopause isn’t a medical condition; it’s a natural transition in the life of every woman when she exits her childbearing years. But the drop in hormones that triggers this transition prompts some uncomfortable symptoms.
Although it’s different for everyone, it typically occurs between ages 40-50, but it doesn’t happen all at once. In fact, there are three distinct stages of menopause.
Preliminary signs of menopause, called perimenopause, may begin for some as early as age 30. Your ovaries slowly decrease their production of estrogen and progesterone, the two main hormones responsible for reproduction and sexual function.
The decrease is so gradual that you may not notice symptoms at first, but as you get closer to menopause, your hormonal drop becomes more pronounced. Perimenopasue may last a few months or up to 10 years.
Once you've stopped having a menstrual period for a full 12 months, you’ve officially entered menopause. Your ovaries no longer release eggs, so you can no longer get pregnant.
All the years from the point of menopause onward are considered your postmenopasual years. Although many women get relief from their menopausal symptoms once they hit postmenopause, many still suffer for several years.
During all stages of menopause, your hormones are out of whack and can wreak havoc on your body as it struggles to adjust to a new normal. The classic menopausal symptoms include:
While it’s true that menopause isn’t a medical condition, it sure can feel like one. That’s why we offer BioTE hormone replacement therapy to get your hormones back in balance and your life back to normal.
All hormone replacement therapies have the same goal: to adjust and balance the hormone levels in your body. However, the way they are manufactured and how they function differ greatly.
Traditional hormone replacement therapy uses the urine of pregnant horses as a basis for estrogen replacement. Because these hormones aren’t exact replicas of the hormones your body once produced, your reactions to them may not be optimal. In fact, it may take a while to find the right dose, strength, and formula, and you may experience unpleasant side effects during that time.
Bioidentical hormones are derived from plants — soy and yams, to be specific. The hormones in BioTE are an identical match to the molecular structure of your own hormones, so your response is more predictable and stable.
While both types of replacements are natural, BioTE is identical to a woman’s own hormones, and those derived from animal sources aren’t.
By restoring your hormonal balance, the symptoms associated with the drop in estrogen subside. Another benefit of BioTE is that we can customize the dose and potency to address your precise needs.
And unlike the rollercoaster of symptoms that many women experience when they begin taking hormone replacement therapy, BioTE releases a steady, predetermined dose from a tiny pellet that’s implanted in your hip, so you won’t experience spikes and plummets in your hormone levels.
BioTE implanted pellets also eliminate the need to remember daily oral medications, so you avoid the factor of human error in your day-to-day management of menopause symptoms.
To find out if BioTE hormone replacement therapy is right for you, contact us by phone at 706-534-6566 or online to request an appointment. You could be sailing through menopause in no time.
