FOR WOMEN
Hormone Replacement Therapy

Bioidentical hormones mirror the chemical and molecular structure of your body’s naturally occurring hormones. Unlike their artificial counterpart, bioidentical hormones metabolize as easily as natural hormones, without producing troublesome side effects. There is no “one-size-fits-all” dose when it comes to HRT. Each and every individual is different.

Fit MD will create a customized plan by performing a complete evaluation of your body’s specific needs to develop a hormone replacement therapy program that will set you on a course to vitality, better sleep, an enhanced immune system, enhanced libido, improved cognitive function, improved skin tone, and facial appearance.

Symptoms of Fatigue

If you constantly feel exhausted, you may be fatigued. This common symptom of perimenopause and menopause differs from normal sleepiness. Fatigue includes a constant lack of energy, mood changes and inability to perform daily tasks as usual.

Fatigue can many times affect both physical and mental states. While your body may suffer from drowsiness and muscle fatigue, you may at the same time begin to feel uninterested in important matters, suffer from forgetfulness, or have difficulty concentrating.

Menopausal symptoms such as sleeping disorders and hot flashes can make it difficult for you to function every day or to complete even the simplest tasks. Fatigue only intensifies these issues. Fatigue is more than just an occasional desire to nap. It is a weariness that doesn’t seem to go away.

Hormonal Imbalance & Fatigue

Low energy levels limit both the quantity and quality of things you do in a day. Waning estrogen (produced by the adrenal glands and the ovaries) found in menopause, often results in insomnia and night sweats. Diminished estrogen also causes irritability and mood swings, which furthers exhaustion. Decreased progesterone (produced by the ovaries) can also contribute to fatigue.

Managing Fatigue With HRT

Fit MD’s bioidentical hormone therapy program can help increase energy and relieve debilitating fatigue in a very short period of time. Your Fit MD hormone specialist for women in Westminster & Wheat Ridge will perform a hormone level evaluation to determine if your body is experiencing low levels of estrogen or progesterone. Your physician will immediately prescribe a customized plan to balance your hormones, which will provide relief from fatigue, as well as other symptoms experienced due to perimenopause and menopause.

The Menopause & Weight Gain Connection

Maintaining a healthy weight can be challenging for people of all ages. However, studies show that 90% of women age 35 to 55 experience weight gain during perimenopause and menopause. While nutrition, exercise and lifestyle are critical elements to weight loss, hormones and weight gain are closely related. If your hormones are not balanced, you can gain weight – especially if your body is producing too much cortisol or too little progesterone, testosterone or estrogen. Bioidentical hormone therapy under the supervision of our Westminster & Wheat Ridge hormone specialist for women may tip the scales in your favor.

The average weight gain is usually gradual – about 10 to 15 pounds starting in perimenopause and averaging about a pound a year. However, women who experience early menopause as a result of a hysterectomy tend to gain the weight at an even more accelerated pace. Menopause weight gain, thanks to the androgen hormone, tends to be located on your abdomen as opposed to your hips, thighs, or buttocks.

What Causes Menopause Weight Gain?

The hormone fluctuations in perimenopause and menopause directly impact your appetite, fat storage, and metabolism.  Hormones and weight gain go hand in hand. So, menopause weight gain is actually hormonal weight gain.

Estrogen: It is common for estrogen levels to diminish during menopause causing cessation of ovulation. The decreased production of estrogen by the ovaries causes a woman’s body to search for other sources of estrogen. Another source of estrogen is fat cells, so your body learns to convert more calories into fat, in order to increase estrogen production. This means weight gain.

Progesterone: It is also common for progesterone levels to decrease during menopause. Progesterone’s role in weight gain is more deceiving; low levels of the hormone do not actually cause you to gain weight, but instead, cause water retention or bloating. This annoying side effect makes you feel heavier and makes your clothes fit tighter.

Testosterone: Testosterone in women works to build and maintain muscle mass among other things. These muscle cells work to burn calories in your body and cause a higher metabolism. Levels of this hormone decrease during menopause causing the loss of muscle mass and hence result in lower metabolism. This also results in weight gain.

Other Causes: Insulin resistance and stress are also responsible for a woman’s difficulty or inability to experience weight loss during menopause. Insulin resistance occurs when a woman’s body incorrectly converts every calorie into fat; this is an extreme case of estrogen correction. Over time, your body resists the insulin produced in your bloodstream and you, therefore, experience weight gain.

Stress is also a contributing factor to menopause weight gain. High stress puts your body into panic (fight or flight) mode, preventing weight loss. Basically, your body begins to store food since stress hormones, namely high levels of cortisol, are telling your body that you will not be eating again for a long time. These stored calories result in weight gain. Stress hormones and weight gain are a common problem among women.

HRT & Weight Gain

Women who use hormone replacement therapy (HRT) typically experience fewer problems with weight gain and redistribution of body fat. Estrogen enables leptin – a protein hormone that helps control the way that the body stores fat. Leptin helps by making you feel full so you eat less and increase the rate at which you burn calories. In addition to estrogen, testosterone helps maintain lean muscle mass and can also boost energy levels. Many women who supplement the hormones estrogen and testosterone with HRT are less likely to experience weight gain and metabolic issues.

The Solution

Bioidentical hormones and weight loss are closely related. To combat menopause weight gain and begin weight loss, Fit MD helps regain hormonal balance by replacing lost hormones with natural, bioidentical ones.

Our Westminster & Wheat Ridge hormone specialists for women then initiate customized programs to help patients eat right, exercise and maintain a healthy lifestyle. We can also help initiate faster weight loss with prescription weight loss medication, and/or pharmaceutical grade lipotropics when appropriate.

Unbalanced hormones and weight gain do not have to be a part of your life. By combining fitness, nutrition and bioidentical hormone replacement therapy you can experience success in controlling weight gain. Employ a proper nutrition and fitness plan and correct hormone imbalance with bioidentical hormones and weight loss will come naturally.

The Insomnia & Menopause Link

Are you a not-so-sleeping beauty? Insomnia and hormone imbalance can be both a cause and an effect. In other words, hormone imbalance resulting from perimenopause, menopause, or adrenal can cause sleeplessness, which then worsens the hormone imbalance.

During the course of perimenopause through menopause, a woman’s ovaries gradually decrease production of estrogen and progesterone, a sleep-promoting hormone. This hormonal shift can be an unsettling process and can contribute to problems falling asleep. Additionally, lower levels of estrogen may make you more susceptible to environmental and other factors that disrupt sleep.

Insomnia Is Harmful To Your Health

Insomnia is one of the most debilitating symptoms of menopause for many women. Insomnia in women causes hormone imbalance and worsens the symptoms of menopause because the body needs sleep for the body’s hormones to do their job properly. Good sleep is essential for repair and rejuvenation. Not only does chronic insomnia make other menopausal, and perimenopausal symptoms unbearable, it can have dangerous health implications, including hypertension, heart disease, depression, impaired immune function, and even an increased risk for alcoholism.

Managing Your Insomnia

Balanced hormones, achieved through bioidentical hormone therapy, provide relief from sleeplessness, as well as other symptoms. Once a Fit MD hormone specialist for women has tested your hormone levels, a customized hormone program will be designed specifically for you. If your estrogen or testosterone levels are low, this natural hormone therapy will bring your levels back within a normal range.

In addition to hot flashes, many menopausal women experience night sweats. You wake up in the middle of the night cold and clammy, sheets drenched in sweat. It’s hard to calm down and get comfortable again to a good night’s sleep. So why do women in menopause have night sweats, and, more importantly, is there anything that can be done about them?

Night sweats, known by the medical community as sleep hyperhidrosis, is the occurrence of profuse sweating due to an increase in body temperature, not related to the external environment. This condition is classified as a sleep disorder driven by an impairment of the body’s sympathetic nervous system and its temporary failure to effectively regulate internal temperatures. The sleep cycle becomes greatly disturbed due to the discomfort. Night sweats may be related to a number of adverse health conditions such as hormone imbalances, certain medications, chronic illness, or age-related conditions, such as andropause and menopause.

What Causes Night Sweats?

Night sweats in women are another one of the most recognizable symptoms of menopause and hormone imbalance.

Hot flashes and night sweats are caused by a complex interaction that involves fluctuating estrogen levels, the hypothalamus, norepinephrine and the body’s blood vessels and sweat glands. The hypothalamus is the part of the brain that controls appetite, body temperature, sleep, and sex hormones. Reduced natural estrogen levels fool the hypothalamus into believing that the body is too hot. Subsequently, a night sweat occurs in an effort to purge the body of this fictional excess heat. This results in waking up drenched and chilly with an anxious feeling and a racing heart.

There is Help!

There is a fast and easy resolution to unpleasant and irritating night sweats. Natural hormone therapy is an ideal solution that takes care of the problem at its root cause, rather than just masking the symptoms. Fit MD bioidentical hormone therapy begins by measuring the existing levels of your hormones using a comprehensive blood test. After receiving the test results, you are prescribed with individualized solutions to get your body back in balance and maintaining ideal hormone levels. Once your hormones are balanced and back to normal and the causes of night sweats are removed, most if not all of your perimenopause and menopause symptoms will stop.

Contact our hormone replacement and weight loss clinic to schedule an appointment and learn about how therapy can eliminate night sweats.

Are You Experiencing Hot Flashes?

Most of us have either experienced them or at least witnessed them.

Hot flashes, or hot flushes,  are characterized by a sudden and intense feeling of heat on your face and upper body. Hot flashes can last from a few seconds to an hour and are often associated with sweating, increased heart rate, nausea, headache, anxiety, dizziness, and weakness. It is a suffocating feeling that often leaves your face red and sometimes finishes with an equally sudden chill.

Hot Flashes and Hormones: What Causes Hot Flashes?

Hot flashes are one of the most recognizable symptoms of menopause. Like other menopausal symptoms, they are caused by a hormone imbalance in the body. Environmental, medical and nutritional aspects may also contribute to their frequency and strength.

The specific cause of hot flashes is often low estrogen and the resulting effects on the hypothalamus. The hypothalamus is the part of the brain that controls appetite, sex hormones, sleep, and body temperature. Low estrogen levels trick the hypothalamus into believing that the body is too hot. It then triggers a hot flash in an attempt to rid the body of this nonexistent excess heat.

The Solution

Hot flashes and hormones are directly related.  You don’t have to just deal with the inconvenience and uncomfortable feeling of hot flashes. Natural hormone therapy is an ideal solution that takes care of the problem at its root cause, rather than just masking the symptoms. The bioidentical hormone therapy programs offered by Fit MD start by measuring the current levels of your hormones. You are then prescribed with customized solutions to get your body back in balance and maintaining ideal hormone levels. Once your hormones are balanced and back to normal, you should experience relief from the perimenopause and menopausal symptoms and an end to hot flashes.

Contact a Fit MD hormone specialist for women in Wheat Ridge & Westminster to schedule an appointment and learn more about how hormone therapy can take advantage of the connection between hot flashes and hormones to provide you with relief.

Brain Fog defined

If you’ve ever forgotten where your keys were, or maybe put them in the refrigerator, you may be experiencing “brain fog”. That said, brain fog is not an official diagnosis but rather a grouping of symptoms that mean that a person’s cognitive abilities are dulled in such a way as to hinder their normal…or Optimal…level of performance. Basically, brain fog is a decline in memory, focus, or an inability to “think clearly”, and an overall feeling like you’re not yourself.

Common Causes of Brain Fog

There can be many causes of brain fog, including deficiencies in specific vitamins, blood pressure changes, toxins, and medications you may be taking. Among the most common reasons for brain fog in women is an imbalance of some key hormones in the body, specifically estrogen, thyroid hormones, and even testosterone. The brain fog effect can increase as a woman ages because the reduced or imbalanced hormone levels can affect the hippocampus and other parts of the brain that control memory and cognitive function.

Clearing the Mind

By looking at all the factors that can create brain fog (nutritional, lifestyle, and biochemical) we can create the ideal plan to help you restore the sense of “normalcy” you are so desperately seeking. Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy (BHRT), nutritional counseling, and stress management support are all part of the plan to get you back on the path to clarity and Living Optimized.

It’s Not Just a Man-Thing

The popular media would have you believe that a feeling of, “I just don’t have the desire or ability.” is much more of a male issue than it is for women. The truth is…a low libido can be part of any human’s life, regardless of gender.

“What’s Wrong With Me?”

If you are not experiencing the desire for sex that you once were there can be several reasons, many of which are within your control to change. Physically, if sex is painful or you don’t achieve orgasm, you could have a reduced desire. If your emotional state of mind and, belief system, or lifestyle habits are not supporting a healthy and active sex life, you will certainly be less inclined to be intimate. Biologically, if hormone levels drop over time, sex can become less comfortable physically, and less desired emotionally.

A Reason for Excitement

At FitMD, we take a comprehensive look at why your libido is lower than you’d like. After a comprehensive consultation and examination, our Westminster & Wheat Ridge hormone specialists for women come up with the best plan to incorporate lifestyle change, Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy (BHRT), and perhaps medication to get your engine revving again, and renew that youthful experience of intimacy.

It’s More Than a Feeling

We all get sad and feel down from time to time…that’s part of the human experience. When the episodes of being overwhelmed with emotions like sadness, anger, frustration, loss of interest in fun and pleasurable activities, sleep issues, etc. negatively impact our work, put strain on our relationships, lead to an increased usage of drugs or alcohol, and/or lead to suicidal tendencies, we have crossed the psychological line into what can be diagnosed as Depressive State.

Why Am I Feeling This Way?

There are many causes of depression, from genetic (having the feelings since early in childhood and no trauma was experienced) to situational (a difficult time dealing with major life changes such as the loss of a job, death of a loved one, divorce, etc.) and biochemical/hormonal (the substances within the brain that lead to how we feel…good or bad).

There Is Hope

At Fit MD, our experienced women’s hormone specialists will look at all the factors that can be causing you to feel depressed to determine those that can be treated naturally, and with lifestyle changes. Exercise, personal support and Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy (BHRT) can all be significant contributors in helping you find relief and a sense of joy that you so much deserve.