Hormone Replacement Therapy for Fatigue, Depression, and Anxiety
If you’re one of the women looking for hormone therapy for women in Tampa, FL, this article is right for you. Women often come to our Tampa Functional Medicine clinic experiencing a trifecta of symptoms — fatigue, depression, and anxiety.
As women age, their hormone levels begin to fluctuate and then decline. Between the ages of 40 and 50, women can transition from perimenopause to full-blown menopause — the stage at which symptoms often begin or worsen.
The simple solution would be to restore hormone levels to a more youthful status using hormone replacement therapy (HRT).
For some women, the solution is that simple. A small dose of progesterone, estrogen, or testosterone can make a huge difference in a woman’s moods, libido, body composition, and energy. And as hormones rise safely to more youthful levels, cognitive function and memory improve.
Unfortunately, the simple solution is not the best solution for all women.
Accounting for Differences Among Women
As with most health issues, the solutions for hormonal imbalance and decline are more complex and must be tailored to the individual. Each woman is different with respect to genetics, dietary patterns, lifestyle choices, stress levels, and medical history.
All these factors must be considered to develop a personalized treatment plan, regardless of whether that plan includes hormone replacement therapy.
For example, women with a higher risk of breast, ovarian, or uterine cancers may want to omit estrogen from their hormone replacement therapy regimen. Some studies have linked estrogen to an increased risk of these cancers in women.
However, successful therapy is possible without the addition of estrogen. Effective treatment requires an integrative and personalized approach.
Hormone Therapy for Women: A Case Study
Maria, a 53-year-old yoga instructor, visited our medical clinic complaining of fatigue, anxiety, hot flashes, and lack of motivation. She was accustomed to a very active lifestyle, but lately, she wasn’t feeling herself.
When she woke in the morning, she felt lethargic and had a hard time getting started. She was upset that her workouts were harder to recover from and therefore reduced her exercise, which resulted in about ten pounds of weight gain even though she was eating healthy and practicing intermittent fasting.
As part of her family medical history, she reported that her mother had a stroke and her grandmother on her mom’s side had heart disease and uterine cancer.
Maria’s labs showed that her estrogen levels were low and her cortisol levels were high. The low estrogen and high cortisol could both be contributing to the hot flashes she’d been experiencing.
The elevated cortisol was also the likely cause of her weight gain and the reason why she was waking up not feeling rested. Skipping meals was causing her to become hypoglycemic, aggravating her moods and anxiety.
Maria had a history of uterine fibroids and ovarian cysts, so even though her estrogen levels were low, we decided to treat her without estrogen. We provided progesterone, testosterone, and adrenal support to balance her cortisol levels.
Using testosterone, Maria felt better with her workouts. We also came up with a dietary plan to include breakfast, which helped improve her moods and ease her anxiety.
Due to her family history of heart disease and stroke, we opted to run additional testing beyond the lab tests for hormones and cortisol levels. We added a Cardio IQ test from the Cleveland Clinic Heart Labs.
The results of this test help us identify early warning signs of inflammation and conduct a thorough assessment of cholesterol and genetic risk factors. This is above and beyond what is typically on a lipid panel during a standard annual check-up.
Thankfully, due to her healthy diet and exercise (her lifestyle choices), Maria checked out fine. Even her genetic markers were normal. It really makes you wonder when doctors and patients claim that a certain condition “runs in the family.”
In this case, the culprit for the serious health issues that Maria’s mom and grandmother experienced was more likely lifestyle than genetics. Thankfully, Maria had chosen a different path, taking a more proactive approach to her health.
Feeling Tired All the Time Is Not Normal
It’s not normal to feel tired all the time or wake up after a full night’s sleep feeling unrested.
Many patients complain of restless sleep or waking up at 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning for no apparent reason.
These can be signs of imbalances or deficiencies of the sex hormones — estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone.
Anxiety, irritability, depression, and fatigue can also be attributed to imbalances in cortisol, adrenaline, or pregnenolone, which are often associated with adrenal fatigue.
For more about adrenal fatigue, read our previous post, “HPA Axis Dysfunction, Adrenal Fatigue, Or Something Else?.”
We Can Help
Whether your symptoms are related to diet, lifestyle, menopause, stress, genetics, or something else, we can analyze your family and medical history and order targeted tests to determine exactly why you’re not feeling your energetic self.
Based on our findings and your health and fitness goals and preferences, BioDesign Wellness Center can develop a personalized plan that includes everything necessary to get you back to feeling your best.
Your treatment may include a combination of HRT, nutritional therapies, and lifestyle advice. We also use peptides, including Ipamorelin CJC, to help activate growth hormones which can stimulate weight loss by advancing muscle growth and supporting sleep.
Peptides are small protein molecules that naturally occur in the body, where they serve as important chemical messengers. Ipamorelin signals the brain to secrete growth hormone from the pituitary gland.
For more about Ipamorelin, read our previous post, “Restoring Health Through the Use of Therapeutic Peptides”
Don’t let a hormone imbalance or other condition slow you down, impact your intimacy, or otherwise keep you from enjoying everything you love about life! Call our Tampa-based hormone specialists today to take the first step on your journey to restoring your health, fitness, and quality of life.
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Disclaimer: The information in this blog post about hormone replacement therapy and its connection to fatigue, depression, and anxiety is provided for general informational purposes only and may not reflect current medical thinking or practices. No information contained in this post should be construed as medical advice from the medical staff at BioDesign Wellness Center, Inc., nor is this post intended to be a substitute for medical counsel on any subject matter. No reader of this post should act or refrain from acting on the basis of any information included in, or accessible through, this post without seeking the appropriate medical advice on the particular facts and circumstances at issue from a licensed medical professional in the recipient’s state, country or other appropriate licensing jurisdiction.