The Journey Toward Optimal Health with Bioidentical Hormone Optimization

I spent the first 20 years of my career offering traditional healthcare services. I began as a nurse in the intensive care unit. I saw disease at its worst and many of my patients died. Worse than death was the suffering that occurred first.

I then became a nurse practitioner and vowed to help people avoid lingering illness and suffering. At the time, I was in the Army and many of my clients were relatively young men who had retired in their late 30s and then had not gone to the doctor for 10 years. During that time, they experienced weight gain and the onset of symptoms. By the time they came in, many had hypertension, high cholesterol, diabetes and more. I practiced traditional medicine as I had been taught. I wrote the appropriate prescriptions though I found I was writing a lot of prescriptions. As my clients developed side effects to those medications and I would write more prescriptions to combat the side effects. I was doing everything I had been taught to do, but something was wrong.

I then began to focus on the behaviors that led up to these diagnoses with the hope that healthy lifestyle can prevent and reverse disease.

When I left the military, I worked at the local county health department, mostly with children. Due to the obesity epidemic, I diagnosed children with diseases previously though to other affect adults: hypertension, high cholesterol, pre-diabetes and even fatty liver. I began working on preventive health care and the development of community level interventions to focus on wellness and healthy lifestyle.

In 2015, I had the opportunity to open my own clinic. Amethyst Wellness was founded to provide preventive care health and to promote wellness.

As we progressed along our wellness journey, we began offering bioidentical hormone optimization. Many of our clients came to us because they didn’t feel well. They had gone to their traditional doctor perhaps and were told they were “normal”. Nothing was wrong. But they didn’t feel well. They didn’t feel like themselves. They were very frustrated.

Our wellness journey led us to the Biote method of hormone optimization. One of the reasons many people start to feel symptoms is that after the age of 30, most people produce 3-10% less hormones every year. The symptoms of hormone imbalance include fatigue, weight gain, brain fog, irritability, difficulty sleeping, mood changes, joint pain, decreased libido and loss of muscle mass. Many women will also experience symptoms of menopause including hot flashes, night sweats and vaginal dryness.

By using the Biote method for hormone optimization, we’re able to explain the difference between normal and “optimal” levels. Often, a lab value can be in normal range, but a client will have symptoms associated with a deficiency. This is because the lab is not optimal. We can use natural medications and/or supplements to help reach optimal levels and provide symptom relief.

The Biote method is a system of bioidentical hormone replacement by pellet. Hormone pellets, placed under the skin, release bioidentical estrogen (when needed) and testosterone consistently into the bloodstream. Benefits of hormone replacement include increased energy and muscle strength, greater ability to lose weight, increased mental clarity, improvement in mood and greater quality of life.

Bioidentical hormones differ from synthetic methods, which cause numerous side effects. In fact, most of the controversy regarding hormone replacement stems from studies on synthetic hormones. Synthetic hormones have been linked to heart disease and cancer. Bioidentical hormones can actually protect against disease. Bioidentical hormone pellets contain the same chemical structure as your body’s natural hormone: testosterone and estradiol when needed. They are about the size of a grain of rice and are inserted into the subcutaneous (fat) tissue in the hip. The hormones are slowly released as the body needs them, creating a more physiologic response. This method is the best for consistent absorption and avoids peaks and valleys experienced with other methods. Individualized dosing is recommended for each patient based on lab values, medical history and current symptoms.

The pellets last an average of 4 months for women and 5 months for men. Some people have a faster metabolism like athletes and smokers. They tend to need pellets more frequently.

Most people come in for bioidentical hormone replacement due to symptoms. They are just not feeling well. The great thing is that bioidentical hormones also promote health.

Bioidentical testosterone increases bone density by 8 times, more than any pill out there. It also protects the heart, the breasts and the brain. The founders of Biote have compiled a plethora of research to support these findings. More than 1 million clients have received biote pellets over the last 10 years. More than 3,000 providers in the United States are providing hormone replacement using the Biote method.

Ninety percent of our clients feel amazing on bioidentical hormone therapy. They feel it’s life changing and that they are more like their old selves. By using the Biote method, we are able to individualize treatments for the best possible outcomes.

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Here’s to your health:

Dr. Amy

Author