Bioidentical hormone replacement therapy (BHRT) involves using hormones that are molecularly identical to those naturally produced in the human body to supplement declining hormone levels. As we age, hormone production can decrease, leading to unpleasant symptoms.
Replacing these hormones can provide significant benefits in areas like energy, sleep, sexual function, bone health, muscle mass, weight management, skin quality, mental sharpness, and emotional wellbeing. BHRT is customized based on each patient's unique hormone balance and medical history.
The goal is to restore optimal hormone levels to reduce deficiency symptoms. This is achieved through prescription bioidentical hormones sourced from plants that are biologically equivalent to human hormones.
Bioidentical hormones used may include estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, DHEA, and others. Pellet implants, topical creams or gels, oral capsules, and injectable formulas can effectively deliver these hormones into the body.
Bioidentical hormones match naturally occurring human hormones almost exactly. Many studies suggest bioidentical hormones may be safer and more effective than traditional synthetic hormone replacement drugs.
Synthetic hormones are not structurally identical to human hormones. This can lead to unpleasant side effects and fail to fully relieve deficiency symptoms in some people.
Our bodies recognize bioidentical hormones and utilize them efficiently. This enhances therapeutic benefits while potentially minimizing risks.
For those experiencing menopause or andropause associated changes, BHRT offers a more natural way to restore wellbeing than synthetic hormones.
Our experienced practitioners focus specifically on bioidentical hormone balance using cutting edge testing and personalized treatment plans. We find BHRT offers the best solution for most hormone-related concerns.
After an initial evaluation, we run advanced hormone panel blood tests to accurately assess your current levels. Hormone ranges are complex - what’s “normal” for one person may be deficient or excessive for another.
Based on a comprehensive analysis of symptoms and lab results, our practitioners tailor a bioidentical hormone regimen to fit your unique needs. This precision is what makes BHRT so effective when correctly implemented.
We carefully monitor progress and make dosage adjustments as necessary to help you feel your best while minimizing risks. Patient education, open communication, and attention to detail give us an excellent track record of safety and satisfaction.
There are a variety of vital hormones that can be effectively balanced with bioidentical therapy. Depending on individual patient symptoms and diagnostic results, we may focus on optimizing one or several key hormones.
Estrogen levels naturally decline in perimenopause and menopause. Reduced estrogen contributes to hot flashes, night sweats, vaginal dryness, irregular periods, weight gain, mood changes, sleep disruption, and loss of collagen in skin/connective tissues. Low estrogen also speeds bone loss, increasing osteoporosis risk.
Bioidentical estrogen (estradiol) supplementation can reverse these issues. Balancing estrogen alleviates uncomfortable symptoms while protecting long term health. We offer estradiol in convenient oral capsules, topical creams, and sustained-release pellet implants.
Estrogen therapy is most effective when combined with natural progesterone to avoid an estrogen-dominant state linked to heightened health risks. Our practitioners optimize the estrogen-progesterone ratio for maximal benefits.
Progesterone works synergistically with estrogen throughout the menstrual cycle and during pregnancy. It plays vital roles regulating periods, building the uterine lining, maintaining pregnancies, developing female characteristics during puberty, and more.
Declining progesterone levels lead to changes like infertility, irregular/heavy periods, PMS, uterine fibroids, and breast tenderness/cysts. Low progesterone strongly predisposes women to estrogen excess.
Bioidentical progesterone derived from plants like soy or wild yams effectively treats these issues. We offer convenient oral capsules, topical creams, and long-lasting pellet implants.
Progesterone therapy is key for establishing hormonal balance in estrogen-dominant states. Healthy estrogen-progesterone ratios are essential for women's wellbeing.
Testosterone deficiency becomes increasingly common for both sexes from the 30s-40s onward. Declining testosterone contributes to low libido, erectile dysfunction, reduced muscle mass/strength, weight gain, low energy, and emotional changes like depression or irritability.
Balancing testosterone levels with bioidentical testosterone therapy can reverse these symptoms. Testosterone pellets, injections, oral capsules, or topical gels/creams can effectively elevate levels. We tailor treatment to your needs/preferences.
Restoring testosterone improves sexual desire and performance, boosts lean muscle mass, sparks energy, lifts mood, sharpens mental focus, and helps manage body composition. It offers renewed vibrancy for both men and women.
DHEA is a protective steroid hormone produced by the adrenal glands. DHEA guards against stress, inflammation, immune dysfunction, heart disease, mood disorders, metabolic syndrome, and mortality. DHEA levels peak in our 20s then steadily decline.
Low DHEA leaves us increasingly vulnerable to inflammation-related diseases. Supplementing bioidentical DHEA offers widespread protective, rejuvenating benefits by supporting healthy immune function.
Balancing DHEA enhances physical and mental energy, sexual vitality, cardiovascular health, mood stability, skin quality, muscle tone, healing capacity, cognition, and more. Optimizing DHEA levels boosts overall wellness.
We offer bioidentical DHEA in convenient oral capsules which is excellent for both women and men seeking enhanced health, immunity, vitality and resilience.
There are some key factors we consider when developing your custom BHRT regimen. Tailoring treatment to your unique needs and circumstances helps maximize benefits while avoiding complications.
Hormone testing provides objective data assessing current levels. While symptoms offer insight, they do not give the full picture. We run advanced blood panels measuring estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, DHEA-S, cortisol, thyroid, and other hormones.
These lab tests establish your baseline to judge the effectiveness of subsequent therapy. Follow-up testing also guides dosage adjustments to keep hormones balanced within optimal ranges.
Diagnostic hormone blood work is covered by most insurers with doctor’s orders. Out-of-pocket costs are generally reasonable if uninsured. This data is invaluable for implementing effective treatment.
Your health background offers important context for developing an appropriate hormone regimen. Factors like age, genetics, lifestyle habits, current/past diseases, surgeries, existing medications, supplements, allergies, pregnancy status, and family histories of cancer or cardiovascular disease guide our protocol decisions.
We carefully evaluate your medical history alongside symptoms and lab results to minimize risks when restoring your optimal hormonal environment. Ongoing communication ensures we can adjust therapy appropriately if health changes occur.
Proper lifestyle, nutrition and stress management provide the foundation for successful bioidentical hormone therapy. We offer detailed practical guidance to help patients implement positive changes that optimize treatment response.
Recommendations typically include regular exercise, nutritious anti-inflammatory diets high in produce and omega-3s, prioritizing high quality sleep, massage/stretching, mindfulness practices to counteract excessive stress, targeted nutritional supplements, and avoiding environmental endocrine disruptors from plastics, body care products, cleaners, etc.
Embodying this wholistic approach greatly magnifies the benefits of BHRT. We help patients enhance diet, activity levels, sleep quality, stress resilience, toxin avoidance, and micronutrient status simultaneously with balancing hormone treatment.
Sustained-release hormone pellets offer an extremely convenient approach lasting ~4-6 months once inserted under the skin during an office visit. This avoids frequent application. Local anesthetic minimizes discomfort.
Some patients prefer daily topical creams allowing precise dosage adjustments. This also enables placing hormones right where they’re needed most (i.e. testosterone cream applied to genitals for libido/erectile enhancement).
Oral bioidentical hormone capsules taken once or twice daily offer similar precision and convenience without skin application. This route is excellent for balancing hormones like DHEA.
We guide patients towards the method best aligning with their treatment goals, preferences, symptoms and budget. Pellet, topical and oral bioidentical hormones all effectively restore balance.
Some patients and healthcare providers harbor lingering concerns about the safety of any kind of hormone replacement therapy. However, an abundance of scientific data affirms bioidentical hormones offer an excellent safety profile when properly implemented.
Many fears trace back to the Women’s Health Initiative study which found synthetic hormone replacement drugs (Premarin/Prempro) heightened breast cancer and heart attack risks. These non-bioidentical hormones behave differently than native human estrogens/progesterones, increasing dangers.
However, this study explicitly states bioidentical hormones were NOT evaluated and are expected to carry less risks. Their results do not apply to structurally identical bio-estrogens and progesterone.
Multiple studies suggest bioidentical hormones carry fewer side effects and less long-term dangers compared to non-bioidentical versions. Our bodies innately recognize them as natural.
When properly dosed/monitored, research indicates bioidentical hormones offer a favorable safety profile for most patients. We minimize risks by thoroughly assessing health histories, choosing appropriate hormones/routes of administration, completing needed lab testing, adjusting dosages based on follow up labs/symptoms, and monitoring for potential complications.
With advanced training in anti-aging medicine, decades of collective experience, and a patient-centered approach focused on open communication plus meticulous fine-tuning of treatment protocols, our practitioners have an excellent track record of safety and efficacy optimizing hormone balance.
Dr. Smith has specialized in individualized bioidentical hormone restoration for over 15 years with thousands of patients treated. Her functional medicine perspective emphasizes specialized lab testing, precision balancing of hormones, and detailed patient education.
We monitor hormone levels and symptoms to make dosage adjustments meeting your unique needs without overprescribing. This reduces risks while providing optimal relief.
Dr. Smith’s expertise identifies often overlooked factors like stress hormone cortisol imbalance, thyroid dysfunction, inflammation and micronutrient status which can undermine hormone therapy success if left unchecked. Her holistic protocols address the root causes of imbalance.
Our practitioners blend cutting edge bioidentical hormone protocols with lifestyle, nutritional and botanical therapies directed at the foundational drivers of hormonal dysfunction and aging.
We help patients implement positive lifestyle upgrades improving diet, activity levels, sleep quality and stress resilience while working synergistically with hormone balancing treatment.
You receive science-backed natural supplements like DHEA, melatonin, magnesium, omega-3s, curcumin, saw palmetto etc. guided by advanced testing like micronutrient profiles. Stress hormones, inflammation, thyroid function, and sex hormone metabolism pathways are all addressed in our comprehensive plans.
This precision targeting of root causes awakens renewed vibrancy and health. Balancing hormones while simultaneously upgrading lifestyle, nutrition and metabolism provides anti-aging benefits unachievable through BHRT alone.
We structure treatment plans for convenience using pellet implants lasting 4-6 months, topped up with oral/topical hormones only as needed to fine tune balance. This avoids hassles of daily applications. Flexible extended hours plus virtual tele-health options provide accessibility.
Our small clinic offers unusually caring, respectful support. You are seen promptly with ample face time from our staff focused on your concerns. We welcome calls/emails between visits and promptly handle prescription refills/lab requisitions/medical records. Continuity of care with the same practitioner manages your case long-term. Our boutique approach prioritizes service with satisfaction.
Bioidentical hormones are not necessarily safer or more effective than synthetic hormones for menopausal symptoms. However, some women report preferring them because they more closely mimic the body's natural hormones. More research is still needed to fully understand the risks and benefits compared to traditional hormone therapy.
Balancing health-promoting lifestyle factors magnifies the benefits of bioidentical hormones. We offer detailed practical guidance to help patients implement positive changes that optimize treatment response. Here are some key areas we emphasize.
Following an anti-inflammatory, whole food diet high in vegetables, omega-3s, herbs/spices, fiber and plant phytonutrients provides the raw materials needed for hormone synthesis while reducing inflammatory blockade.
We recommend minimizing sugar, refined grains, processed foods and factory-farmed animals. Emphasizing pasture-raised meat/dairy, wild-caught seafood, healthy fats, sprouted ancient grains, fruit, beans/legumes, nuts/seeds, fermented foods and greens promotes optimal hormone metabolism.
Anti-inflammatory, nutrient-dense foods balance blood sugar, curb cravings and provide antioxidants. This reduces oxidative damage driving hormone dysfunction and accelerated aging.
Prioritizing high quality sleep allows key fat burning and repair hormones like growth hormone and testosterone to rise while stress hormones like cortisol decline as intended overnight. Melatonin capsules can help normalize sleep wake cycles.
Regular exercise stimulates beneficial hormonal cascades improving body composition and metabolic factors while reducing inflammation and oxidative stress. Activity outdoors exposes us to melatonin-boosting sunlight.
Activities like yoga, tai chi, massage and sauna relax the nervous system signaling the brain to turn down excess “fight or flight” stress hormones which disrupt endocrine function. These lifestyle rhythms optimize hormone balance.
Many common chemicals have endocrine disrupting properties interfering with optimal hormone signaling. Top sources include plastics, conventional body care products, building materials, household cleaners and home furnishings.
Reducing exposure to these hormone-disrupting substances through prudent avoidance along with enhanced detoxification capacity can reduce obesogens, xenobiotics and inflammatory compounds sabotaging hormone balance.
Excessive perceived stress triggers release of cortisol and other hormones which can exhaust endocrine reserves over time, accelerate aging and inflammation, reduce anabolic repair hormones, and worsen nearly all health conditions.
Cultivating present moment awareness through meditation, yoga, time in nature or other calming activities trains more constructive responses to life’s inevitable stressors. This minimizes excessive catecholamine and glucocorticoid production which derail hormone function.
Mastering healthy stress coping protects hormone pathways essential for vitality.
Sacramento offers excellent facilities, activities and natural spaces which can enhance quality of life and support positive lifestyle changes during hormone restoration. Here are some of our favorites:
- Any Lab Test Now offers convenient direct-access lab testing without doctor's orders. They have packages testing thyroid, testosterone, cortisol and hundreds of other biomarkers. Located downtown.
- The American River Bike Trail offers 32 miles of walking/riding with beautiful nature views through Sacramento County. Accessible from Old Sacramento.
- Ella Dining Room prepares artfully plated seasonal New American cuisine focused on responsibly raised meats, sustainable seafood, and local organic produce. Excellent healthy fine dining.
- The nonprofit Bikram Yoga Capitol has an excellent hot yoga program in Midtown, open 364 days per year. Heat, stretching and mindfulness aids detox.
In summary, properly administered bioidentical hormone therapy can provide life-changing relief to those suffering from suboptimal hormone levels. Our bodies are designed to function optimally when key hormones are balanced. Declining hormones contribute to many unwanted signs of aging.
However, the future looks bright for those seeking enhanced quality of life, vitality and healthspan through precision hormone optimization. Convenient, effective bioidentical estrogens, progesterone, testosterone, DHEA and other hormone supplements offer safe, widely available options for restoring balance.
Combined with nutraceuticals, lifestyle upgrades, stress resilience practices and targeted anti-aging therapies, properly implemented BHRT helps patients defy normal aging to reach new peaks of wellness. With expertise in this emerging science and unhurried attentive care catered to your unique needs, Butterfly Hormone Center stands ready to guide your journey towards revitalized hormone health and happiness. Experience the benefits of ageless vitality - contact us today to learn more!
