Are You Going Through Menopause And Your Estrogen Levels Are Low? 2 Treatment Options To Help

Posted on: 18 April 2022

Estrogen levels generally drop drastically when you go through menopause. This can cause many problems, such as hot flashes, vaginal dryness, problems with mood, brain fog, and tiredness. Fortunately, there are treatment options so you can feel like your old self again. Keep reading to learn about two of these treatments. 

Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy

The hormones found in bioidentical hormones are chemicals that are identical to the hormones produced in your body. This works much like traditional hormone therapy methods prescribed by a gynecologist. These hormones are made in a lab and come from plant estrogens. You can get this hormone in different ways. You can take a pill to get this hormone into your body. You can also wear a patch that slowly gives you the hormone throughout the day. There are also creams and gels that you can use on different areas of your body. You can get bioidentical hormones from your gynecologist. There are also online websites that sell these hormones. There are side effects that you may experience when you first start these hormones, but they generally go away over time. Some of these side effects include weight gain, fatigue, acne, and headaches. Bioidentical hormone therapy is a natural way to increase your estrogen levels. 

Hormone Replacement Therapy

Another option is hormone replacement therapy, which is taking synthetic estrogen instead of bioidentical hormones. There are two types of hormone replacement therapy. One is taking estrogen alone and the other is taking both estrogen and progestin. There is estrogen therapy that increases this hormone in your entire body. You will get this hormone in pills, or you can use a patch. If you have vaginal atrophy that causes painful sex but do not have other low estrogen symptoms, the gynecologist can prescribe vaginal estrogen. With this, a cream is inserted into your vagina. A pill can also be used in the same way or there are vaginal rings that are inserted and left for a certain amount of time. The ring releases a small amount of estrogen throughout the day. If you have vaginal dryness along with hot flashes and other low estrogen symptoms, the body-wide estrogen may take care of all these problems. If not, the doctor may suggest you take body-wide estrogen along with vaginal estrogen. 

Talk with your gynecologist to learn much more about bioidentical hormone therapy and hormone replacement therapy. They can help you decide what would work best for you.

For more information, contact a medical office that does hormone replacement therapy, such as Southern Integrative & Environmental Medical.

Share