What symptoms indicate hormone imbalance?

The symptoms of low estrogen include…

• hot flashes
• night sweats
• vaginal dryness
• urinary frequency
• depressed feeling
• sleeping difficulty
• no interest in sex
• no periods

The symptoms of low testosterone include…

• fatigue
• lack of drive
• lack of initiative
• less assertive
• decline in sense of well being
• general depressed moods
• irritable
• lack of self-confidence
• difficulty in setting goals
• decline in mental sharpness
• no stamina/endurance
• loss of muscle mass, strength, or tone
• increased body fat around waist
• elevated cholesterol
• decreased libido
• decreased sexual ability
• sleep apnea

The symptoms of low thyroid include…

• general fatigue or afternoon fatigue
• elevated cholesterol
• difficulty losing weight
• cold hands and feet
• sensitivity to cold
• difficulty thinking clearly
• difficulty concentrating
• poor short term memory
• depressed moods
• hair loss
• constipation
• dry, itchy skin
• fluid retention
• recurrent headaches
• restless sleep
• tingling or numbness in hands and feet
• decreased sweating
• infertility or recurrent miscarriages
• recurrent infections
• muscles aches
• joint pain
• thinning of eyebrows and eyelashes
• enlargement of tongue and teeth indentations
• decreased body hair
• hoarse voice
• slow heart rate
• low blood pressure
• low body temperature
• sleep apnea

The symptoms of high estrogen/low progesterone include…

• premenstrual breast tenderness
• premenstrual mood swings
• premenstrual fluid retention and/or weight gain
• migraine headaches
• severe menstrual cramps
• heavy periods with clotting
• irregular menstrual cycles
• uterine fibroids
• fibrocystic breasts
• endometriosis
• history of infertility
• history of miscarriages
• joint pain
• muscle pain
• decreased libido
• anxiety and/or panic attacks

The advantages of saliva testing

From the patient’s perspective, saliva testing is painless and costs less than conventional blood tests. It can also be collected at home.

From the doctor’s perspective, saliva testing is easier because samples remain stable at room temperature up to 3 weeks. Most important though, saliva testing evaluates the active hormone levels in your body.

After you have collected your saliva samples and mailed them off, DiagnosTechs laboratory will e-mail the results to our office in 5-7 business days.

In a follow-up appointment, we will go over the results with you and discuss a treatment plan unique to your individual needs. Most patients begin implementing this plan at the end of the follow-up appointment.

Further testing will be based on symptoms unique to each individual. Sometimes it is necessary to do additional testing of your thyroid, insulin levels, glucose levels, and cortisol levels.

You can learn more about salivary testing at www.salivatest.com.

Did you say saliva testing?

We use saliva testing to measure hormone levels at our Seasons offices. Naturally, the phrase “saliva testing” raises a few questions.

How do we collect your saliva? We don’t. You do it at home with saliva collecting kits. It isn’t a difficult process, but you do need to follow the directions carefully:

1. 30 minutes before collection, please do no eat or drink anything except water.
2. Rinse mouth thouroughly with cold water 3-4 minutes prior to saliva collection.
3. Following the collection schedule below, collect saliva in each of the 4 blue cap tubes to fill three quarters or more, excluding any foam. Take your time. Recap tubes and place into the zip lock bag.

Morning/Fasting 7 – 8 AM
Noon 11 – 1 PM
Afternoon 4 – 5 PM
Midnight 11 – 12 PM

Each saliva collection kit includes some “pour off tubes.” Here’s how they work.

Pour off enough saliva from the noon and/or afternoon tubes to fill 1/4 of the tubes labeled FL and FT3. Cap tubes tightly. Follow the mailing instructions. If you pour more, do not pour saliva back into the blue cap tubes.

Finally, on the day you are collecting saliva, there are a few things you want to avoid.

• Do Not Eat chocolate, onions, garlic, cabbage, cauliflower/broccoli.
• Do Not Drink coffee, tea, or caffeinated drinks (like coke, guarana, etc.)
• Do Not Use sublingual hormones or troches as of the night before collection.
• Avoid antacids, bismuth medications or mouth washes.
• Stop your current hormone therapy 72 hours prior to the saliva collection.

What hormones will I need and how do I take them?

Bio-identical hormones are available in creams, ointments, sub-lingual drops, vaginal suppositories, pills, and injections. So you have a lot of options on how you can take them.

As to what hormones you will need, this will depend on the individual. Your hormone needs are as unique as your fingerprints. A one size fits all approach is not appropriate in hormone therapy. Therapy will be specifiic to your hormone deficiency.

We use salivary testing from DiagnosTechs Laboratory to determine what hormones you need. Over 300 studies have been published validating the accuracy of hormone salivary testing.

Once we’ve determined what hormones you need, bio-identical hormone therapy draws upon 6 type of hormones:

• Estrogens
• Progesterone
• Testosterone
• DHEA
• Cortisol
• Thyroid

You can read more about the different types of hormones in my post “Menopause and Hormones 101.”

What are bioidentical hormones?

One of the most frequent questions we here is: “Hey! What is the difference between bioidentical hormones and synthetic hormones like premarin, prempro, premphase, and provera?”

I’m glad you asked! Synthetic hormones include conjugated equine (that’s horse in English) estrogens and progestins. (My wife is not a horse, and I’m pretty sure you aren’t either!)

The key difference between bioidentical and synthetic hormones is molecular structure. In an effort to fully replicate the function of the hormones produced by your body and to minimize the side effects, the molecular structure of the hormones must be identical to those produced in your body.

Synthetic hormones are similar but not identical. These structural differences lead to metabolism by-products that increase the frequency and intensity of unwanted side effects.

Bioidentical hormones are structurally and chemically identical to the hormones your body produces.

[kaltura-widget wid="fo9ib87pok" width="360" height="327" addpermission="3" editpermission="3" /]

You may have heard that there are not many studies about bioidentical hormones. Certainly, there have not been as many studies of bioidentical hormones as synthetic hormones. But, here’s why.

Pharmaceutical companies fund research for synthetic hormones through profitable patents and mass production. Bioidentical hormones cannot be patented, and thus there are limited funds for research. There are some European studies of bioidentical hormones, but they are small in number and limited in scope.

Related articles by Zemanta and Seasons

• Bioidentical hormones: What does the scientific evidence say?
• The Bioidentical Hormone Debate (www.postgradmed.com)
• Abstract: Are Bioidentical Hormones (Estradiol, Estriol, and Progesterone) Safer or More Efficacious than Commonly Used Synthetic Versions in Hormone Replacement Therapy? (holtorfmed.com)
• Study: Hormone therapy caused breast cancer for thousands (cnn.com)

What risks are associated with hormone replacement?

After reading many of our posts on Bioidentical Hormones, you may be thinking bioidentical hormones are risk free.

Unfortunately, they aren’t. The same risks associated with the synthetic hormones can be extrapolated to bioidentical hormones. However, limited studies already suggest that bioidentical hormones cause fewer side effects and risks than synthetics.

You may have heard that hormone therapy causes breast cancer. It doesn’t

Hormone therapy may accelerate the growth of pre-existing breast cancer, but patients taking hormone therapy are actually diagnosed at an earlier stage of disease when compared to those not taking hormone therapy.

If you want to know the exact risks for both synthetic and bioidentical hormones, here they are:

Cardiac Event: 7 new cases/10,000 women (26% increase)
Breast Cancer: 8 new cases/10,000 women (23% increase)
Stroke: 8 new cases/10,000 women (41% increase)
Pulmonary Embolus: 8 new cases/10,000 (200% increase)
Blood Clot: 18 new cases/10,000 (213% increase)
Alzheimer’s Dementia: (200% increase)

« Previous Page