Why You Should be Worried About Estrogen Depletion

Estrogen is an important sex hormone that, when properly balanced, is essential to maintaining optimal health throughout a woman’s life. In females, from the onset of puberty, estrogen is the key to regulating many of the body’s systems. The inevitable changes in your hormones and natural decline of estrogen levels during menopause can significantly affect your health for years to come.

At any time in a woman’s life – not only during menopause – women can experience hormonal imbalances that lead to estrogen level fluctuation, such as during pregnancy. Our ovaries are the source of estrogen and progesterone, and as we age the ovaries release fewer hormones.

Symptoms of low estrogen

Estrogen depletion can bring on a combination of hormonal and biochemical fluctuations that can lead to changes in your body, mind and wellbeing. When hormone levels decline too low to meet the body’s basic functional needs, symptoms are inevitable.

Some common symptoms of female hormone imbalance include:

• Loss of energy, feelings of dizziness and fatigue
• Difficulty concentrating or remembering things
• Moodiness, irritation, sadness, or depression
• Difficulty sleeping, night sweats, and hot flashes

The symptoms of a hormonal imbalance can have a serious effect on a woman’s quality of life. Over time without treatment, symptoms can grow worse and even lead to chronic diseases. Depletion of estrogen can increase the risk of cardiovascular issues, such as heart attacks, strokes, or other heart-related problems. Other issues can interfere with organ function, skin, urinary, bone and reproductive organs, and may cause serious problems if left untreated.

Bioidentical hormone therapy for replenishing estrogen

It’s true that specific lifestyle changes can have some effect on hormone levels, but after a certain age the body cannot be “reset” to optimal hormonal concentrations without outside help. When your estrogen level is too low, medical treatment is recommended. It is especially important that a woman get her levels tested pre-menopause and post-menopause to ensure all hormones in the body are properly and optimally balanced. I always recommend getting tested by a Functional Medicine expert in addition to your normal doctor. This way, you get the benefit of advanced testing and often, a more up-to-date and progressive analysis of your results.

If your estrogen level is suboptimal, bioidentical hormone replacement therapy (BHRT) is the ideal solution for women seeking balance. Hormone replacement therapy augments your body’s natural hormones with an extra supply. At the biostation we use only bioidentical hormones, which are derived from plants and the exact same molecular structure as the hormones found in your own body, as opposed to synthetic hormones.

Estrogen therapy treatment solutions

There are several different bioidentical treatment options for estrogen therapy. Estrogen replacement cream is a convenient and effective solution that many women choose because they can apply the cream in the comfort of their own home, and it is generally the least expensive treatment option. The treatment that the majority of my patients now prefer is hormone pellet therapy. Your doctor will insert a pellet or pellets that include the exact amount of hormones your body needs for the next 4 months. This pellet is about the size of a grain of rice, and will be absorbed into your body after the treatment period. With this treatment you don’t have to worry about remembering to apply creams and you can be confident that your body will always have the optimal amount of estrogen.

Optimize your health and prevent disease with HRT

Hormone replacement therapy can help women of all ages optimize their health, prevent age related diseases, and improve their quality of life. This includes before, during and after menopause, and at any other time when hormone imbalances may appear. HRT is safe, convenient, and effective. Whether you choose hormone replacement cream, or hormone pellet therapy, you can improve your health and get back to feeling like you again with bioidentical hormone therapy.