by Melanie Remy | Jun 19, 2020 | Hormone Replacement Therapy, Wellness
When you notice changes in your period, a hormone doctor may be able to help. Short, irregular periods may indicate hormone imbalances, like low progesterone. A simple blood test can help your hormone doctor determine if you have low progesterone levels. If this is the case, they may recommend a personalized treatment option to help you get back on track and reduce your risk for more serious complications.
Your hormone doctor listens to your concerns about short or irregular periods and helps you find personalized solutions.
What Can My Hormone Doctor Do About Irregular Cycles?
Your hormones help control your periods, which is why visiting your hormone doctor may help if you notice changes in your menstrual cycle. Progesterone plays a pretty significant role in your cycles. After ovulation, when your body releases an egg for fertilization, your body begins to produce progesterone. This helps thicken the lining of your uterus to prepare for pregnancy. However, if you don’t become pregnant, then your body decreases your progesterone levels and your period begins. This part of your cycle, between ovulation and your period is called the luteal phase. This phase typically lasts between 12 and 16 days. By contrast, anything less than 11 days is considered abnormal and could be due to low progesterone levels.
However, progesterone isn’t just for pregnancy. Research shows that progesterone helps with bone health and may help you sleep better. Also, progesterone can help keep your estrogen levels in check to prevent health complications from too much estrogen. Therefore, if you notice that your periods are shorter than normal or starting to become irregular, your hormone doctor can help determine if your hormones are the cause.
If you also notice these other symptoms, you should also mention them to your hormone doctor:
- Spotting between periods
- Fatigue
- Irritability
- Low libido
- Mood changes
- Headaches
- Frequent urinary tract infections
- Frequent vaginal infections
These can all be signs of low progesterone, which can contribute to short or irregular periods.
The Role of Progesterone Replacement Therapy
If you do have low progesterone levels, your doctor may recommend progesterone replacement therapy. This treatment can help get your periods back in check, reduce symptoms, and help you feel better overall. Also, if your periods become irregular during the transition to menopause, your doctor may recommend bioidentical progesterone and estrogen to help reduce symptoms like hot flashes and mood changes to help you stay comfortable and feel great.
At HerKare, we provide advanced, personalized healthcare for women at every stage of life. We are a woman owned and managed clinic where women can feel heard and empowered to improve their health. Our physicians work with you to find treatment solutions based on your needs and lifestyle, whether you need help with diabetes management or testosterone replacement therapy. Schedule an appointment online today to address your symptoms and start an individualized treatment plan.
by Melanie Remy | Jun 5, 2020 | Hormone Replacement Therapy, Menopause
Low estrogen during menopause can cause many undesirable symptoms. For example, many women notice that sex becomes painful after menopause due to low estrogen levels. Between 17-45% of postmenopausal women say that sex is painful for them. If you’ve noticed this change in your own life, you are not alone and there are treatments available to help you feel better and enjoy intimacy again.
Low estrogen during menopause can affect your life in many ways, but treatments can help you feel your best.
How Low Estrogen Can Make Sex Painful
Low estrogen during menopause can cause many physical symptoms that can affect your sex life. For example, decreased estrogen levels can cause your vaginal tissues to become dry and thin. This may make you feel a sense of dryness, “tightness” or even unbearable pain during sex. You may also notice soreness or a burning sensation in your vagina or vulva after sex. Vaginal dryness due to low estrogen can even lead to tearing, bleeding, or inflammation.
However, painful sex during menopause isn’t all physical. Once you notice that sex can hurt, you may notice other symptoms that make it even worse. For example, fear of pain during sex can make it difficult to become aroused and create anxiety around intimacy. This can lead to even more vaginal dryness. Also, the anticipation of uncomfortable sex can sometimes make you involuntarily tighten your vaginal muscles. This is called vaginismus and can make sex hurt even more. Therefore, painful sex during menopause can become a cycle that is hard to break. However, our doctors are here to help you treat these symptoms so you can get back to feeling like yourself again. One option is hormone replacement therapy.
Hormone Replacement Therapy May Be Able to Help
If sex is painful due to low estrogen levels, hormone replacement therapy may help with your symptoms. Estrogen injections may help with vaginal dryness and help prevent thinning vaginal walls. Painful sex can affect your health in many ways. For example, you may feel generally anxious or depressed, experience low self-esteem, and you may even notice it affects your relationships. However, seeking help can help you avoid these negative consequences and help you take pleasure in your sex life again.
Hormone imbalance treatment during and after menopause can help improve your vaginal health and combat vaginal dryness, irritation, and painful sex. Hormone replacement during menopause may even increase your libido and fight off other symptoms that affect your quality of life like mood changes and anxiety. These benefits can all lead to more enjoyable sexual experiences. Therefore, if you’ve noticed that intimacy is painful, talk to your doctor about treatment plans that may be able to help.
At HerKare, we provide personalized health care for women. We understand that your sex life, physical health, and mood are all important to your wellbeing. Our providers listen to you, help you identify underlying causes of your symptoms, and then collaborate with you to find a treatment plan that fits your lifestyle. Schedule your appointment online today to take the first step toward feeling better. We are here for you.
by Melanie Remy | May 20, 2020 | Hormone Replacement Therapy, Menopause
While a lot of discussions about menopause focus on estrogen levels, you should also talk to your hormone doctor about your progesterone levels. Estrogen and progesterone work together to perform some vital functions in your body and help keep you healthy. While progesterone is typically associated with pregnancy, your hormone doctor should also monitor your progesterone levels as you age and during menopause.
Progesterone and estrogen work as a team to help you feel good. Talk to your hormone doctor about your progesterone levels and how they could be affecting your wellbeing.
What is Progesterone?
Progesterone is a hormone that your body produces in the ovaries and the adrenal glands. It helps regulate your menstrual cycle, your libido, and the lining of your uterus. During perimenopause, low progesterone levels can cause irregular or heavy periods and PMS symptoms. Therefore, if you notice these symptoms during perimenopause, your hormone doctor may recommend hormone replacement to help reduce your symptoms.
Some symptoms of low progesterone include:
- Sore breasts
- Spotting between periods
- Vaginal dryness
- Mood changes
- Low libido
- Low blood sugar
- Headaches/migraines
Progesterone also plays a crucial role in menopausal hormone replacement therapy. For women who haven’t had a hysterectomy and still have a uterus, your hormone doctor will likely recommend both estrogen and progesterone replacement therapy to help protect your uterine lining. The lining of your uterus, the endometrium, can become too thick if your progesterone levels are low. This can lead to an increased risk for uterine cancer. Therefore, progesterone plays an important role in menopause treatment for many women.
Talking to Your Hormone Doctor About Low Progesterone
In addition to protecting your uterus, progesterone hormone replacement can help reduce many of the symptoms of menopause. Your hormone doctor may recommend estrogen and progesterone therapy for common symptoms that women experience during perimenopause and menopause. For example, they often help with hot flashes, “brain fog,” vaginal dryness, and mood swings.
Your hormone doctor may prescribe bioidentical progesterone and estrogen to help reduce your symptoms. Bioidentical hormones are natural hormones created from plant products. For many women, bioidentical hormone injections are more convenient and effective than pills, creams, and suppositories. Additionally, they offer your hormone doctor the ability to adjust your dosage in a way that hormone replacement pellets don’t allow. Therefore, if you’re feeling worn down by menopause symptoms, consider bioidentical hormone therapy to help you feel better again.
At HerKare, we take a holistic approach to your health and wellness. This means that we don’t just diagnose you and develop a treatment plan, we take your lifestyle and who you are as a person into account. Our team is here to help you improve your quality of life, and we believe the best way to do that is to tailor your treatment plan to you. At HerKare, we collaborate with you to help you improve your wellness. Schedule an appointment online today so we can help you feel great again. We are here for you.
by Melanie Remy | May 5, 2020 | Hormone Replacement Therapy, Menopause, Uncategorized
Estrogen replacement therapy can redistribute fat and help you feel well enough to exercise regularly.
Estrogen replacement therapy helps reduce many symptoms of menopause, including hot flashes and vaginal dryness. However, it may offer another benefit. During menopause, you may notice that you seem to accumulate more fat in your abdominal area. Studies show that estrogen replacement therapy may help you avoid this issue. Learn more about how hormone therapy can help you reduce your belly fat during menopause.
Menopause and Abdominal Fat
The hormonal changes we experience during menopause can affect how our bodies store fat. While age-related weight gain happens for both men and women, menopausal women specifically may start to notice more fat in their abdominal area. Estrogen levels help control how your body distributes fat. Declining estrogen levels during menopause can lead to accumulating fat in your belly. This not only affects many women’s self-esteem but is also a risk factor for serious health complications such as diabetes and heart disease.
Your hormone doctor may recommend estrogen replacement therapy to help reduce your symptoms of menopause, such as hot flashes, mood changes, and difficulty sleeping. In addition to helping with these disruptive symptoms, it may also help with belly fat during menopause.
How Estrogen Replacement Therapy Can Help with Belly Fat During Menopause
Recent studies show that menopausal women on hormone therapy tend to have less body fat, especially visceral belly fat. Because estrogen affects how your body distributes fat, low estrogen levels can contribute to gaining fat in your belly area. However, estrogen replacement therapy can help your body redistribute this fat to different areas on your body, rather than your abdominal area. This is a key benefit of estrogen therapy, as belly fat specifically increases your risk for many negative health consequences.
In addition to fat redistribution, estrogen replacement therapy may help add to a healthy exercise regimen. Researchers have found that menopausal hormone replacement therapy may help the effects of exercise on body fat. Additionally, estrogen replacement therapy can help you feel well enough to exercise regularly. Therefore, if you have symptoms of menopause that interfere with your life and also notice you’re gaining more belly fat than you used to, talk to your hormone doctor about your options. In many cases, hormone replacement therapy can help you feel better and improve your overall health.
At HerKare, we provide personalized healthcare for women. Our clinic is owned and operated by women for women, and we understand the unique concerns that you may have. We want to help you feel great and help you discover the source of your symptoms. Book an appointment online with one of our warm and welcoming women’s health clinics today to start your path toward better wellness. We are here to listen and to help you feel better again.
by Melanie Remy | Apr 20, 2020 | Hormone Replacement Therapy, Menopause
Low estrogen during menopause can cause many changes in your life. It may even affect the appearance of your breasts.
Hot flashes, mood swings, vaginal dryness – low estrogen during menopause can cause a lot of uncomfortable changes. Most of us know about these common symptoms of menopause. However, low estrogen may also cause our breasts to change as well. Learn about some common breast changes during menopause and how your hormone doctor may be able to help.
How Low Estrogen Can Change Your Breasts
Low estrogen levels can decrease the amount of fat and tissue in your breasts, leaving them smaller and less full than they used to be. Additionally, mammary gland tissue typically shrinks during menopause, which also may leave your breasts looking different. Your breasts may also begin to sag as your estrogen levels plummet, as the connective tissues in your breasts start to become dehydrated and lose elasticity.
In addition, low estrogen may cause changes in your nipples and areolae. During menopause, you may notice that your nipples start to turn slightly inward. Your nipples and areolae may also start to shrink. However, some studies suggest that hormone replacement treatment may help prevent these changes.
The Role of Hormone Replacement Treatment In Breast Appearance
In 2012, a group of researchers set out to find how some environmental factors can influence breast aging, including hormone therapy. To do so, they studied 161 pairs of identical twins and assessed several different metrics of their breast appearance. The study found that the women who received hormone therapy after menopause had higher scores in many different elements of breast appearance. Some areas where these women scored higher included:
- Breast shape
- Breast size
- Areola shape
- Areola size
- Breast projection
- Fullness in the upper part of the breast
- Patches of discoloration on breast skin
The results of this study suggest that hormone therapy for menopausal women may play a role in how your breasts change. While low estrogen levels can cause many unwanted symptoms during menopause, your hormone doctor helps bring your hormones back into balance. This may help reduce breast changes during menopause. However, as Johns Hopkins notes, estrogen replacement treatment won’t improve breast ptosis if they were saggy before menopause.
At HerKare, we take time to understand who you are as an individual to help develop a personalized treatment plan for your symptoms. We understand how menopause can make you feel. Therefore, we offer advanced treatments to reduce your symptoms and help you feel better. Our women’s health clinic is owned and operated by women for women, as our goal is to provide healthcare that helps women address their symptoms and feel better. Schedule an appointment at one of our clinics online to start feeling well again. At HerKare, we listen, we understand, and we help you feel like yourself again.
by Melanie Remy | Apr 3, 2020 | Hormone Replacement Therapy, Menopause
Menopause may increase your risk for recurring UTIs, which are uncomfortable and sometimes painful. Women’s hormone care may help reduce negative symptoms of menopause.
Many women notice that they start to get recurring urinary tract infections during menopause. Declining estrogen levels during menopause may cause changes in your bladder that make you more susceptible to urinary tract infections. However, women’s hormone care may help with recurring UTIs during menopause. Women’s hormone care helps reduce symptoms caused by hormonal imbalances that many women experience during menopause, and there may be a link between estrogen and bladder changes as we age.
Menopause Increases Your Risk for Urinary Tract Infections
During menopause, your bladder’s volume and elasticity decline. This makes your bladder less able to hold the urine in your bladder. Therefore, you may notice that you need to use the restroom more frequently after menopause. Paired with thinning vaginal walls and a thinning urethra, this may increase the likelihood for UTIs. In fact, your risk for urinary tract infections increases within four to five years after your final period. However, women’s hormone care works to help reduce the symptoms of menopause and may also help keep your urinary tract bacteria-free.
How Women’s Hormone Care May Help
Decreasing estrogen levels during menopause may contribute to recurring UTIs. Your bladder contains many estrogen receptors, which may be affected during menopause. Researchers conducted a study to determine how estrogen replacement therapy affects urinary tract infections during menopause and found some positive results. The group who received women’s hormone care for menopause symptoms also reduced the number of urinary tract infections they experienced. The researchers also compared the estrogen replacement therapy group to a group who took low dose preventative antibiotics that are often prescribed for recurring UTIs. Therefore, hormone therapy may help with frequent UTIs during menopause.
Women’s Hormone Care May Help Improve Your Vaginal Microbiome
One theory proposes that women’s hormone care helps prevent UTIs because it improves the vaginal microbiome. Your vagina has its own ecosystem of bacteria that may help protect your urethra from harmful bacteria such as E. coli. A common type of bacteria found in the vagina, Lactobacillus, produce lactic acid and hydrogen peroxide which can help prevent pathogens from traveling toward the urethra. However, declining estrogen levels during menopause may also decrease the amount of Lactobacillus in your vagina, leaving your urinary tract more vulnerable during menopause. However, hormone therapy may help restore your vaginal microbiome and help fight off bacteria that could cause UTIs.
At HerKare, we provide comprehensive healthcare for women. Our providers help you find the women’s hormone care options that work for you and help you feel better. If menopause has you feeling poorly, our goal is to help you feel like yourself again. We take your individual needs into account when developing a treatment plan to help address your symptoms. Our team is with you every step of the way, even after you’ve started your treatment plan. We stay up to date with your progress and help you adjust your treatment plan as needed. At HerKare, there is no one-size-fits-all care. Schedule your appointment online today to learn how we can help you feel better. We are here to help.
