What Are the Benefits of Hormone Replacement Therapy?

Do you feel like you’re not yourself anymore? If so, your hormone levels may be imbalanced. Fortunately, there is a highly effective solution that is extremely simple and accessible. At Medical Transformation Center in Louisville, KY, we proudly offer hormone replacement therapy, sometimes referred to as HRT, so you can bring your hormone levels back into balance and live your best possible life.

What Are the Benefits of Hormone Replacement Therapy?

There are many benefits you can get from hormone replacement therapy. Shortly after your therapy starts, you will notice numerous benefits that are physical, mental, and emotional in nature. Every frustrating change you have noticed in your life, be it hot flashes, a quicker temper, or reduced cognitive function, will disappear if it has stemmed from imbalanced sex hormones.

You will feel energetic when you once felt fatigued. You will feel a fog lifted off of your brain. You will find yourself calmer in the face of stressful situations that would once have pushed your anxiety over the edge.

Emotional Benefits

Have you noticed lately that you feel like you’re on an emotional roller coaster? If so, imbalanced sex hormones may be the cause of your unwanted roller coaster ride. Although many people first associate hormonal imbalances with women, men, too, are affected when their sex hormones become imbalanced. Shortly after your therapy starts, your hormones will become balanced once more and your emotional well-being will improve significantly.

No more will you feel the constant emotional ups and downs. This emotional stabilization will improve your relationships in addition to your overall outlook on life. You will once more be able to respond appropriately in stressful situations, benefiting both you and those in your personal and professional life.

Physical Benefits

Many people think that a lack of energy is just a part of getting older. While the aging process is often the cause of hormonal imbalance, a lack of energy isn’t something you have to live with for the rest of your life. Shortly after your hormone replacement therapy begins, you will have the stamina and energy to truly enjoy your favorite pastimes.

You also may find that you lose excess fat and put on lean muscle mass once your HRT has started. Two of the most common symptoms of imbalanced sex hormones are lean muscle mass loss and unintended fat gain. By restoring balance to your sex hormone levels, you won’t just give your body the energy it needs to be active and stay healthy. You will also boost its fat-burning and muscle-building systems.

Mental Benefits

Living with a mental fog can be scary, and it often makes people feel older than they are. If you have noticed recently that you can’t remember things you know you should know, you may not be suffering from a degenerative condition, like Alzheimer’s disease. Rather, you may have imbalanced sex hormones shrouding your brain in a fog causing forgetfulness. HRT can reverse these side effects of imbalanced sex hormones so you can be sharp as a tack.

What Should I Expect Throughout the Treatment Process?

The first step in the HRT process is coming in for an initial evaluation. During this initial evaluation, we will discuss all of the problems you have been having lately, including their severity. If they sound like the symptoms of sex hormone imbalance, we will draw a little blood to determine if your sex hormones really are imbalanced. We will also discuss your preferred bioidentical hormone replacement therapy method during your initial consultation.

We take a blood test to determine whether your sex hormone levels are imbalanced because it is the most accurate diagnostic testing method by far. Once we have identified the sex hormones that are insufficient in your blood and know how deficient you are, we will tailor a treatment plan that fits your needs. The dosage you receive is determined by your bloodwork, and the delivery system is determined by your personal preferences and lifestyle.

How Quickly Can I See the Results of My Treatment?

You will start to feel the results of your HRT within a few short weeks of treatment. However, it can take a few months to feel the full effects of the therapy. The delivery system you choose plays a role in how quickly your results will become apparent, and your lifestyle will also affect how quickly you can enjoy all of the benefits this therapy has to offer you. Here are some of the best things to do to get the most out of your treatment.

Manage Your Stress

The better you manage your stress, the more you will get out of your therapy. When you are mentally stressed, your body responds by producing cortisol, also known as the stress hormone. This hormone affects your body in many ways, including increasing your appetite, encouraging your body to store visceral fat and subcutaneous fat in the abdominal region, and impeding your body’s ability to produce sex hormones.

There are several great stress management techniques. If you don’t already have a technique or two up your sleeve, take some time to experiment and discover something that works for you. Military breathing is an incredibly effective way to stop a panic attack in its tracks or recover from one quickly. It is also great for overall stress reduction. Breathe in for four seconds, hold your breath for four seconds, exhale for four seconds, and hold for four seconds.

Exercise

Exercise is great for many reasons. It is a great way to boost your neurotransmitters and relieve stress. It is also a great way to improve the strength of your musculoskeletal system, cardiovascular system, and pulmonary system. Getting at least 30 minutes of moderate exercise daily five times per week will help you get the most out of your HRT.

HRT increases your fat metabolism, and working out will help you burn calories and lose excess fat faster. HRT also improves your body’s ability to maintain lean mass and build more muscle. However, you need to eat plenty of protein, drink plenty of water, and push your muscles to exhaustion for muscle growth to occur.

Who Is a Good Candidate for HRT?

As stated above, both men and women alike are affected by sex hormone imbalances. Therefore, sex does not determine who qualifies for this life-changing treatment. Rather, qualification is determined by serum sex hormone levels. Here’s a closer look.

Men Over 45

Men over 45 tend to make excellent candidates for HRT because men start to produce testosterone at a significantly reduced rate approximately when they reach the age of 31. By the time they are in their mid-40s, the effects of the reduced testosterone production are very noticeable. Common signs that men are experiencing hormonal imbalance include reduced libido, mental fog, lack of energy, fat gain, and strength and muscle loss.

If you’re experiencing any of the aforementioned symptoms, or you can’t quite put your finger on why you no longer feel like your old self, HRT can help. We will test your serum testosterone levels to ensure your hormones are really insufficient. Then, we will get you on a delivery system that works with your lifestyle and reverses your symptoms.

Menopausal Women

Like men, women produce sex hormones at an ever-reducing rate as they age. Eventually, the hormonal imbalance gets to the point that they no longer have enough estrogen to ovulate. This leads up to menopause, the time in a woman’s life when it has been 12 months since the start of her last menstrual cycle and she will never menstruate again.

Signs that women can benefit from HRT include hot flashes, night sweats, excessive nighttime urination, reduced libido, vaginal dryness, and pain during sex. If you think you are approaching menopause, a serum hormone test will determine whether your hormone levels truly are imbalanced. Whether you’re perimenopausal, menopausal, or just deficient in estrogen or progesterone, your symptoms can disappear with HRT.

Book an Appointment Today

There is no need to spend another day suffering from the nasty side effects of a hormonal imbalance. If you’re ready to see for yourself how great HRT is, we’re here for you. Book an appointment at Medical Transformation Center in Louisville, KY today to get started. We welcome the opportunity to help you balance your hormones and help you feel like your old self again so you can thrive once more.