Wellness
Women and Low Libido
Women need testosterone too! Testosterone levels can decrease by half in menopausal women or women who have undergone a hysterectomy. These low levels can cause low libido or lack of sex drive. Menopausal symptoms like night sweats, insomnia, and vaginal dryness can also affect libido. Your doctor or practitioner can check your hormone levels for imbalance or deficiency. Other reasons for a low sex drive include hypothyroidism, depression, medication side effects, and stress. Proper hormone balancing, including testosterone, can help women reclaim their passion and zest for life.
Symptoms of hormone imbalance include:
- sleeping difficulties
- lack of energy
- focus and memory problems; “brain fog”
- moodiness
- muscle or joint pain
- low libido
- weight gain
Estrogen
Obtaining your optimal estrogen level can:
- Protect against heart disease and stroke
- Reduce the risk of osteoporosis
- Reduce risk of Alzheimer’s disease
- Protect against vaginal atrophy (vaginal dryness)
- Help with urinary incontinence
- Reduce hot flashes
- Decrease skin wrinkles
Estrogens also help with fatigue, depression, mood swings and decreased libido. Estrogen dominance/overload can lead to many symptoms including breast tenderness, uterine bleeding, weight gain and irritability.
Testosterone
Studies have shown, testosterone hormone therapy can provide a woman with:
- mental clarity
- increased libido
- increased muscle tone and mass
When this hormone is at low levels, women often complain of mental confusion, weight gain and poor muscle tone, even with regular exercise.
The effect of hormone deficiency on the brain, muscle, bone, heart and metabolism can be significant without hormone replacement therapy for women, and it can be dangerous to long-term health. The brain needs normal amounts of testosterone in balance with estrogen to produce serotonin, which supports emotional balance. When lacking in these hormones, a woman will experience emotional instability that often results in increased anxiety, irritability, sleep disturbances, anger, sadness and depression.
The musculoskeletal system is also adversely affected by the loss of testosterone. By not having bio-identical hormone therapy, the deficiency or imbalance of testosterone can lead to muscle atrophy, osteopenia, osteoporosis, and pain in the muscles and joints.
BHRT for Women
Hormone Replacement Therapy and Compounding:
If indicated by your physician or practitioner, hormones can be compounded to meet your individual needs. The term “Bio-Identical” means that the hormone has the same molecular structure as the hormone made by your body (ovaries or adrenal gland), and is chemically and functionally the same. Pharmacists prepare the compounded prescriptions from scratch using plant-derived natural ingredients from FDA approved sources. Testosterone for women is only available through compounding pharmacies. Hormones can be combined together for your convenience, in your unique dose, in tablets or cream for treatment of menopause or hormone imbalance.
Symptoms of menopause include:
- Hot flashes
- Night sweats
- Insomnia
- Decreased memory
- Headaches
- Low libido
- Anxiety
- Weight gain
- Mood swings
- Vaginal dryness
- Depression
- Fatigue / Loss of energy