I just want to feel like I used to!!
This is a common refrain we hear daily at the Women’s Clinic of Johnson County. Whether your symptoms are fatigue, hot flashes, irritability, difficulty sleeping, difficulty thinking, finding words, concentrating, sexual problems, weight gain or difficulty losing weight.
The reasons for these symptoms can be multifactorial and the solution can be multi-pronged, including improving diet, exercise, meditation, allowing for adequate sleep. Sometimes you can do all of these things and still not feel your best.
Hormonal changes
Changing hormone levels may be part of the problem. Women reach their peak testosterone level in their late teens to early twenties. It decreases steadily from there. By age 40 most women have lost about ½ of their testosterone production.
For many women this is when they may note a decline in energy, sleep quality, mental clarity, ability to lose weight, and decreased sex drive. Then menopause hits an additional estrogen dependent symptoms may occur including hot flashes, vaginal dryness, brain fog, bone loss.
Drawing hormone labs doesn’t tell the whole story. What is categorized as normal is what is expected at a given age and does not determine presence or absence of symptoms. Optimization of hormones can help to alleviate symptoms and may reduce the risk for certain diseases such as Alzheimers, osteoporosis and possibly a decrease in risk for breast cancer.
Testosterone and estrogen can be administered by several routes: orally, transdermally, via injection or pellets.
Please schedule an appointment to discuss your symptoms and whether you are a candidate for optimization therapy. Contact our office at 913-491-4020.