BHRT: How to Make Friends With Your Moods

Few topics have been more subject to ridicule and parody as moods. While men suffer from quiet depression and anxiety, it’s the women who are the victim of most jokes. However, if you have ever experienced the wild fluctuations in joy, stress, anxiety, and depression that our hormones create, it’s no joking matter.

One of our patients, we’ll call her Julia burst into tears when I asked her how things were going. Julia is in her 40s and has a successful career as a clothing designer. She lives in a very chic condo overlooking the water and has tons of friends and hectic social life. But as we began to talk, sitting face to face in our Boca Raton clinic, she finally started to open up.

Doctor, she sobbed. I have everything in the world a woman could want. And yet there are days most days, lately when I can’t seem to get out of bed. What is going on?

What’s going on, my dear Julia, is nature exerting her power over you. Hormones give us energy. They infuse us with love and joy. They also cause such high anxiety that life seems unbearable. And they are a fundamental reason for depression undiagnosed in many patients, but ever-present as a downward life influence.

For years, society dismissed women’s moodiness as hysteria, a word that was coined from the word for uterus. In other words, if you had a uterus, you were probably moody. Well, it’s a little more complicated than that. Most males don’t have a uterus, yet an estimated one out of 20 men have a debilitating episode of depression each year. Certain areas and ethnic groups are more prone. The South, for instance, and Puerto Rico have a higher rate of depression. As people grow older, so does their risk of depression. And despite its ubiquity, everyone knows someone who’s depressed, even if they themselves are free from it we haven’t found a cure. Talk therapy, meds, diet, lifestyle changes… all help somewhat but not entirely. Maybe it’s time to look to the root causes of depression.

Hormones Are Mood-Enhancers

They bathe the brain in mood-altering chemicals such as serotonin or testosterone. Here at LifeGAINES Medical and Aesthetics Center, we specialize in bio-identical hormone therapy. We can measure your hormone levels with a small sample of blood and assess which ones are low or high. Then we can adjust those key substances, using bio-identical hormones that are a molecular match for your own body.

Any of the following can be a consequence of hormonal imbalance:

• obesity
• perimenopausal or postmenopausal syndrome
• low testosterone
• hypothyroidism
• acne
• adrenal fatigue
• polycystic ovary disease (POD)
• and other serious medical conditions

You can see why mood may be affected if you consider how the above conditions affect your energy, self-esteem, and appetite for life.

Who Should Seek BHRT – Hormonal Imbalance Therapy?

Among our patients, a fair number have symptoms or signs that could indicate the need for hormone therapy. Women who are entering menopause; men experiencing andropause; young women who are inexplicably sad… these seemingly divergent cases may have a common underlying cause.

In order to determine whether hormonal replacement is needed or advised, we would review your symptoms, medical, and family history. We test saliva, urine, or blood. If hormonal therapy seems advisable, we use a compounding pharmacy to produce the highest quality supplements. We also integrate this treatment with a whole-body approach: nutritional counseling, stress reduction, and fitness programs.

One Patient, One Hormone Replacement Therapy Treatment

The beauty of bio-identical hormone therapy is its unique approach to each individual. This is not a pill you buy off the shelf. It’s personal chemistry, akin to new treatments that take into account your unique DNA. The number and variety of hormones in our body are staggering, and they vary in concentration and composition. This is why we couldn’t simply say to Julia, we have the cure for you. Take this bottle. It worked well for Isabella. The technology and sophistication of our contemporary medical world mean we can finally approach each individual as though they were the only human on the planet. Julia’s chemistry, physiology, and cellular make-up can be analyzed and employed to devise a customized solution for her unique medical condition.

BHRT – Therapy and Treatment at LifeGaines

If you suffer from mood disorders and you have grown disenchanted with off-the-shelf remedies, LifeGaines Med Spa Boca Raton is here to help. Contact us today to make an appointment and to learn more about patient-specific bio-identical hormone replacement.