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Hormone imbalance can affect almost everything about how you feel day to day, from energy and sleep to mood, libido, weight, and focus. Hormone replacement therapy brings your levels back into a healthy range so you feel like yourself again, whether you are a woman moving through perimenopause and menopause, a woman whose testosterone has dropped, or a man dealing with low testosterone.
The ReCenter provides hormone replacement therapy for both women and men in Coralville and the greater Iowa City area. Our providers build each plan around your lab results, your symptoms, and your goals, which means the hormone you need and the way it is delivered will look different from patient to patient. Along with pellet therapy through the Biote® Method, we prescribe injectable hormones, topical creams and gels, and other delivery forms, so your plan can be matched to your labs and your routine rather than to a single method.
What is Hormone Replacement?
Your endocrine system produces chemical messengers called hormones that keep a long list of processes running correctly, affecting everything from metabolism and sexual function to sleep and mood. A hormone imbalance happens when the levels in your bloodstream run too high or too low.
These shifts come with aging and with other conditions that change hormone production. For most women, menopause occurs between ages 45 and 55, with an average age of 51. In men, testosterone production begins a gradual decline after roughly age 30, and some men experience a drop significant enough to cause symptoms, a condition often called low testosterone, low T, or andropause. Even a slight imbalance can affect your mind, body, and daily life, leading to insomnia, low libido, brain fog, painful intercourse, weight gain, and other symptoms.
Hormone imbalances occur when the hormone levels in your bloodstream are too high or too low. These imbalances can occur with aging and other issues that cause an increase or decrease in hormone production. Unfortunately, even slight hormone imbalances can significantly affect your mind and body and lead to insomnia, low libido, brain fog, painful intercourse, and weight gain.
Hormone replacement therapy, or HRT, is a medical treatment that replaces hormones your body is no longer producing in adequate amounts. It is commonly used for people in the Iowa City area dealing with menopause symptoms, low testosterone, hot flashes, night sweats, vaginal dryness, and mood changes tied to shifting hormone levels. Menopause symptoms can continue for years after periods stop. By restoring hormone levels, HRT can help relieve those symptoms, improve overall well being, support healthy aging, and may reduce the risk of osteoporosis in women.
Testosterone replacement therapy, or TRT, works on the same principle, and it is not a men’s only treatment. Testosterone matters for women as well as men, and both can be treated for it. Women produce testosterone in smaller amounts, and when those levels fall the result can be low libido, fatigue, low mood, and difficulty maintaining lean muscle. In men, low testosterone shows up as those same symptoms along with loss of muscle mass and strength, increased body fat, and erectile difficulties. When lab testing confirms your levels are low, restoring them can help address those symptoms, whether you are a woman or a man. The difference is the dose, not whether the treatment applies to you.
The ReCenter is a certified provider of the Biote® Method of hormone optimization, which uses bioidentical hormones, including estrogen and testosterone, that are designed to be chemically identical to the hormones your body makes on its own. Biote® is one of the methods we offer rather than the only one. Bioidentical hormones are also available as injections, creams, and gels, and our providers prescribe those forms as well.
Who is a Candidate for Hormone Replacement?
A person may be a good candidate for hormone replacement therapy (HRT) if they have certain symptoms of menopause and are generally healthy, though candidacy is decided by lab work and a provider evaluation, not by symptoms alone. Your provider will review your symptoms, your health history, and your bloodwork before recommending treatment.
You may benefit from Biote hormone replacement therapy if you are experiencing early menopause, struggling with menopausal symptoms like hot flashes, night sweats, vaginal dryness, or sleep issues, needing to address a hormonal imbalance, struggling with libido issues, or looking to prevent bone loss or fractures.
Hormones are not divided by gender. Women and men both produce estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone, just in different amounts, and either may need any of the three replaced. Testosterone is the one most often assumed to be a men’s treatment. Women produce testosterone too; women’s levels decline with age, and low testosterone in women is a common and treatable cause of low libido, fatigue, and difficulty holding onto lean muscle. What shapes your treatment plan is your lab work and your symptoms, not your sex.
Hormone Replacement Therapy Options
Hormones can be delivered several different ways, and the right delivery method depends on which hormone you need, how your body responds, how often you want to think about treatment, and cost.
At The ReCenter we prescribe hormones in multiple delivery forms, including pellets, injections, and topical creams and gels, and your provider will recommend the one that fits your labs, your goals, and how much day to day maintenance you want.
Hormone Pellets
Pellets are one of the delivery methods we offer, and for many patients they are the most convenient. Pellets are inserted beneath the skin during a 15 minute in office procedure using local anesthetic, typically in the hips, buttocks, or thighs. After the area is numbed, a small incision is made and the pellet is placed. Pellets release hormones steadily over a period of months rather than producing the peaks and dips that can come with shorter acting methods, and they remove the need for a daily or weekly routine. Your dose is set by your lab results, symptoms, body composition, and treatment goals.
Injectable Hormones
Injectable testosterone is one of the most common forms of TRT for both women and men, at very different doses. It is given as an intramuscular or subcutaneous injection on a regular schedule, and many patients are trained to administer injections at home between office visits. Injections make dose adjustments straightforward, which is useful early in treatment while your provider is dialing in the right level.
Topical Creams and Gels
Topical hormones are applied to the skin daily and absorbed through it, which keeps levels relatively steady and makes dose changes easy. Estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone are all available in topical form. Creams and gels do require daily consistency, and care is needed to avoid transferring testosterone to a partner or child through skin contact until the application site is dry and covered.
Patches
Hormone patches are worn on the skin and changed on a set schedule, releasing hormone continuously without a daily application step. Some patients experience skin irritation at the patch site.
Oral Medications
Oral hormones are taken as a daily pill. Oral progesterone is frequently used alongside estrogen for women who still have a uterus. Oral forms are convenient and familiar, and your provider will review whether an oral option fits your health history.
Hormone Replacement Recovery and Results
Once you begin treatment, follow-up labs confirm that your levels are landing where they should. You may experience relief from certain symptoms of your hormone imbalance in as little as hours. However, most patients start to notice results in four weeks, with full results experienced after six months. Ongoing monitoring is part of hormone therapy no matter which delivery method you choose. For pellet patients, optimal results are generally reached after the second insertion.
Most hormone replacement treatment patients have two to four pellets inserted per year. The frequency of your pellet insertion will depend on your medical needs and goals.
Schedule a Consultation
Whether you are exploring estrogen therapy for menopause symptoms or testosterone replacement therapy as a woman or a man, a consultation with our licensed providers is the place to start. We will review your symptoms, run the lab work, and walk through the treatment and delivery options that fit your situation. Call our Coralville, IA office at (319) 281-0157 or message us using our online contact form.
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