If you’re like the average woman, one third of your life will take place after you reach menopause, which occurs 12 months after your last period. Whether you’re currently in those postmenopausal years, or whether you’re in the stage of “change” known as perimenopause, your hormones have downshifted drastically since your adolescence and youth.
At Mian OB/GYN & Associates in Silver Spring, Maryland, our team is dedicated to helping women feel strong, healthy, and symptom-free before, during, and after menopause. That’s why our founder, Rafiq Mian, MD, offers easy, simple bioidentical hormone replacement therapy (BHRT) pellets for the women in our care.
Whether you currently suffer from the symptoms of menopause or not, losing essential hormones -- such as estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone -- affects every aspect of your health and well-being. Is BHRT for you? The following questions may help you decide.
The hormone estrogen keeps your bones strong and dense, reducing your risk of fracture when you’re young. However, as you ease into menopause, your body stops producing enough estrogen to maintain bone mineral density (BMD).
When estrogen production slows, your body can’t replace old bone cells with new ones at a fast enough rate. Within just a few years after menopause, about 50% of women may lose 10-20% of their BMD. The state of some BMD loss is called osteopenia, but without treatment it progresses to osteoporosis.
The BHRT pellet that Dr. Mian inserts in your upper arm or buttocks supplies all the hormones your body needs to produce new bone cells. If you currently have osteopenia, BHRT may prevent you from developing osteoporosis. Some studies suggest that BHRT may even stop or reverse osteoporosis itself.
Some of the first signs that you’re entering perimenopause are changes to your hair and skin. You notice more strands in your hairbrush. Or on the floor.
Your skin starts to sag and wrinkle. It feels and looks drier and more fragile than it did when you were younger.
Though some skin aging is caused by sun damage, your hormones play a role, too. With BHRT, your skin has the ingredients it needs to produce more collagen, which makes your skin look and feel smoother, tighter, and thicker. Your hair is lusher and fuller, too, as it was when you were younger.
If you’ve been in a long-term partnership, you may think that your lack of interest in sex is due to familiarity or even boredom. While emotional factors always play a role in intimacy, hormones do, too.
One of the hallmarks of hormone depletion in both women and men is a loss of libido. You lose interest in sex, and your loss of interest in sex affects your intimate relationship with others. And with yourself.
You may have noticed that your vulva looks smaller than it used to. Your vagina doesn’t lubricate sufficiently for comfortable sex. Sex may even be painful. It may be more difficult, or impossible, to orgasm anymore.
When you restore your hormones with BHRT, however, your sex drive ramps up. Just as your facial skin renews itself with new collagen and elastin, your vagina does, too. Soon, you have the lubrication you need to feel sexy and to have pleasurable, pain-free intercourse again.
All kinds of stress interfere with the quality of your sleep. However, sleep issues are extremely common in perimenopause, menopause, and postmenopause. You may find that you:
Lack of sleep leads to a whole slew of other symptoms, including brain fog. Lack of sleep also puts you at risk for all of the major diseases, such Alzheimer’s disease and cardiovascular disease. Get relief — and better sleep — with BHRT.
Hot flashes. Night sweats. Too much fat around your middle. Loss of muscle tone. Lack of energy. Lack of focus. No interest in sex. The list goes on and on.
If you’re sick of feeling tired, and want to look and feel like the vibrant, accomplished woman you are, BHRT could be your solution. Though menopause is a natural stage of life, that doesn’t mean you have to suffer through symptoms or loss of function and health.
Before you turn to endless changes to your diet and routine, or invest in supplements that don’t provide the relief you need, find out more about BHRT. Book a consultation at Mian OB/GYN & Associates today by phone or through our online booking form.
