As the body ages, it’s natural to lose hormones. Just as hormone surges during adolescence can cause some big changes in the body, hormone loss during middle age and beyond can also have a serious impact. Your mood, energy level, and general health can all be significantly affected by your hormone levels. In fact, hormone depletion can make a person feel both physically and emotionally miserable. The good news is that hormone replacement can help you feel like yourself again. We offer hormone replacement for both men and women who are experiencing a drop in their natural hormone levels.
What Are the Signs of Low Hormone Levels?
There are several different signs of low hormone levels. In women, these signs typically include:
- Chronic exhaustion: This may include drowsiness during the day or the feeling that you’ve just exercised heavily even if you’ve done nothing at all.
- Low general energy levels: Many patients with low hormone levels complain that they just don’t feel up to doing the things they used to do anymore. This may mean that you miss time with family, social activities, and other important things because you just don’t have the energy to face them.
- Hot flashes: Hot flashes can happen at any time, and they can be overwhelming. Hot flashes can cause intense sweating, red face, and even a feeling of faintness due to the intense heat.
- Sleep problems: Sleep problems can include not only inability to fall asleep but also difficulty in staying asleep.
- Night sweats: Night sweats can cause you to wake up during the night with damp bed sheets, drenched in sweat, even if it’s cool inside the home.
- Inability to focus: Focus problems can mean it’s hard to follow through on projects, to focus on conversations, or even to do routine tasks if they take more than a few moments.
- Erratic mood: While depression is more common, some women with low hormone levels may also have moments of giddiness followed by times of feeling miserable.
- Reduction in libido: Libido levels can decrease or even be completely absent with low hormone levels.
- Hair loss: Hair thinning in the crown can occur as hormones deplete.
For men, the signs of low hormone levels typically include:
- Reduction in libido level: Many men with low testosterone notice a reduced libido level, which can be incredibly frustrating.
- Chronic exhaustion: This may include drowsiness during the day or a feeling that you’re just worked out even if you’ve done nothing at all.
- Loss of muscle: Low testosterone in men can make it harder to maintain muscle.
- Increase in body fat: Keeping extra weight off can become more challenging if a man has low testosterone.
- Erectile dysfunction: Erectile dysfunction may not occur in all men with low testosterone, but if libido is low, it is more likely to happen eventually.
- Depressed mood: Depressed mood often occurs with low testosterone.
It’s quite common for patients who suffer from low hormone levels to have several — or more — of these symptoms at one time. While all of these problems can be quite frustrating and uncomfortable, you don’t have to live with them if you have hormone replacement therapy. Hormone replacement therapy helps bring your body back to its normal, healthy hormone balance so you’ll feel more like you used to.
Who Is a Good Candidate for Hormone Replacement Therapy?
Candidacy for hormone replacement therapy very much depends on the individual patient. If you’re suffering from symptoms that indicate hormone issues, your Ageless in Pensacola doctor will begin with a complete blood analysis. This allows us to determine exactly which hormone deficiencies exist so that a customized hormone replacement plan can be found for you. While the majority of hormone replacement therapy patients are in their mid-40s, 50s, 60s, or beyond, this type of treatment can also be beneficial for younger patients who have hormone deficiencies. Hormone replacement therapy is well tolerated by the great majority of patients, and most people are healthy enough to undergo this type of treatment.
How Does Hormone Replacement Therapy Work?
Hormone replacement therapy is done in the office in a series of short visits. The hormone replacements are delivered via injection, topical or oral form, allowing for the fastest and most effective delivery. In most cases, our doctor will schedule your hormone replacement therapy sessions around one time every month.
Most patients start to notice results in only one to five days, but this does vary by individual. If you don’t get sufficient symptom relief quickly, our doctor can change the dose to ensure it’s the right one for you. If you’re ready to learn more about how hormone replacement can help you, call us today or click the button below to schedule an appointment today!
