Charlotte Perimenopause Specialists at Integrity Wellness MD offer bioidentical hormone therapy for perimenopause and menopause transitioning women in search of relief from their symptoms in Charlotte NC.

Almost every woman is familiar with the eventual stage in her life where she is infertile: menopause. The dreaded hot flashes and mood swings come to mind as we picture a woman in her 50s dancing in front of the refrigerator, but it doesn’t just happen overnight. Many people don’t consider the changes that occur in the years leading up to it: Perimenopause is the time in which a woman’s body begins to transition from fertility to infertility. It is a period during which the ovaries begin to tire, creating less estrogen and progesterone and, ultimately, prepare for the day they’re out of eggs.

Slow depletion of natural sex hormones can cause many of the frustrating symptoms we associate with menopause. These symptoms can and often do appear and continue for years before a woman becomes officially menopausal. Doctors well studied in conventional medicine will alleviate these symptoms by offering medications ranging from over-the-counter anti-inflammatories to anti-depressants. However, this ignores the core problem: hormones. The women’s health experts at Integrity Wellness MD provide Charlotte women an answer to the root cause, not only delivering relief from the symptoms, but also giving clients a fighting chance at a sustainable and healthy balance, stabilizing their hormones, and bringing them natural, long-lasting peace.

Discover how Charlotte Women’s Hormone Experts at Integrity Wellness MD and Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy can help you find your peace. Call Integrity Wellness MD at (980) 701-9228 today and schedule your consultation.

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Experience the comprehensive benefits of functional medicine at Integrity Wellness MD, where our focus is on personalized treatment strategies tailored to your unique health needs. Our approach combines advanced hormone testing, bioidentical hormone therapy, targeted supplementation, and lifestyle modifications to help you achieve optimal health and vitality. Take advantage of our extensive resources, including a free health quiz, detailed guides, engaging webinars, and schedule a personal call with Dr. Gretchen Reis. Discover how our precise, targeted approaches can enhance your overall health and vitality, even in cases where conventional tests may fail to reveal the full picture. Begin your journey to lasting wellness with us today!

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Most Common Symptoms of Perimenopause

If you’ve noticed more feelings of instability, irritability and uncontrollable surges of emotion, then you may be experiencing the common, yet often neglected, mood swings that are caused by dropping hormone levels.

Irregular periods can be concerning whether you spot for hours or gush for days. Cycles may also vary, and women may get periods sporadically, every few weeks, or every few months. Women going through perimenopause eventually stop their periods altogether when they enter menopause, but if you’re not there yet, having relief and a cycle you can trust can be important.

Hot flashes aren’t just for fully menopausal women, the dropping estrogen and progesterone levels can leave perimenopausal women suddenly needing to stand in front of your freezer because your body is radiating with the heat of a thousand burning suns. If you’ve experienced the quick and unexpected onslaught of symptoms such as sweat, blotchy skin, rapid heartbeats, and anxiety (to name a few), then you know how mortifying an unanticipated hot flash can be.

The fluctuating hormonal levels of Perimenopause can cause extreme distress to a sleep cycle, often causing insomnia or fatigue from unrestful sleep. Other symptoms such as stress incontinence and hot flashes may also lead to frequently and urgently waking up at inconvenient times, adding to the frustration. If you are stressed about sleep, it may be time for a closer look.

We never think it’s going to happen to us: and then it does. Our drive for intimacy fades, we experience vaginal dryness, and it stresses our relationship with our partner, who may be understanding, but it can still cause insecurity. Studies suggest that around 50% of women struggle with maintaining their libido due to dropping estrogen and testosterone levels.

Decreasing hormone levels are often responsible for causing a loss of bone density in perimenopausal women. Along with improvements in diet and exercise habits, undergoing Hormone Replacement Therapy can help to keep your bone density strong. This is important to prevent osteoporosis, a disorder that makes you much more likely to break bones in a fall. Stabilizing these hormones is a great step towards supporting your skeletal structure.

The reduction of estrogen comes with a hefty health toll in the form of cholesterol regulation. Due to its effects on the metabolism, lower estrogen levels can cause LDL (bad cholesterol) to spike while HDL (good cholesterol) wanes. This causes plaque buildup in our arteries, tampering with blood flow and leading to increased risk of heart disease or blood clotting.

Estrogen helps maintain the integrity of the muscles and organs in your pelvic area, keeping them strong and healthy. As estrogen levels decrease, those supporting structures weaken, forcing your bladder and urethra to do more work on their own and causing them to become lax and tired. This is why many women experience urinary stress during their perimenopausal years.

A major environmental change such as moving, or remodeling is considered one of the top ten stressors in a person’s life. Unlike changing apartments, you don’t get to decide when or how your body is going to start shifting hormones, and there’s no escape from that change: so, it stands to reason that perimenopause is considered a major impediment to your peace and comfort.

What is Perimenopause

Every woman is born carrying eggs, and these will last her entire period of fertility, released monthly until her stores are depleted. When her eggs are gone, her body will begin to discontinue its monthly cycle and she will be considered menopausal.

Perimenopause is the time during which her body is beginning its hormonal decline, preparing itself for the last stretch of egg releases. This transition period can last from a few months to a few years, the average length being around a four-year timespan.

During this period a woman is still fertile, however, as her body recognizes the release of fewer eggs each month, her body creates less female sex hormones (progesterone and estrogen), which results in a skewed level of testosterone. This disharmony can lead to many frustrating symptoms and potential health risks.

Health Risks of Perimenopause

As female hormones begin to decline in the years leading up to menopause, new concerns begin to rise. Women in perimenopause see a spike in stress, irregular sleeping patterns, and cholesterol levels. Combined with decreasing bone density and onslaught of urinary difficulties, the results can be a range of hazardous health issues such as:

  • heart diseases
  • osteoporosis
  • stroke
  • weight gain
  • fatigue
  • depression
  • anxiety
  • urinary tract infections

While it is important to address the uncomfortable symptoms of perimenopause, curing the root cause by rebalancing your hormones can help alleviate your discomfort and sets you up for avoiding more severe diseases.

Perimenopause Risk Factors

Simply put, every woman will eventually become infertile and will reach a perimenopausal state. Some may transition to menopause quickly; others may take longer. Ultimately, genetics (or a family history of early or late perimenopause), diet, lifestyle, and previous health conditions will all have an impact on when this phase may start.

Smoking, eating and exercising poorly, undergoing cancer treatment, or have had a hysterectomy may all affect the timing of a woman’s perimenopausal state.

Am I Perimenopausal?

Many women begin to track perimenopausal symptoms in their 40s, however every woman is different: some may even notice symptoms in their early thirties or won’t begin the process until their fifties! If you feel like you are exhibiting symptoms of perimenopause, it is important to see your doctor and have them run a range of tests.

The female hormone experts at Integrity Wellness MD at Charlotte can run blood panels and hormone tests do discover whether you are perimenopausal or not.

Perimenopause and Menopause are often considered synonymous; however, they are two different stages in the same life transition.

Perimenopause is a transitional period in which the female body produces less estrogen and progesterone, gearing up for its final child-bearing years.

Menopause is the time in a woman’s life when her body has ceased the production of hormones that cause her menstruation. It is marked by her first 12-month period without a menstrual cycle.

Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Treatment Protocols

Oral Hormone Supplements:

Hormone therapy can help restore normal hormone function and health and restoring those primary functions can be as easy as taking a couple of extra supplements in your day. Oral Hormone Supplements can be in the form of pills, soft gel capsules, powders, and liquids and can be a wonderful and simple addition to your health and upkeep routines.

Transdermal Hormone Patches and Creams:

Skin is the largest organ of the human body and can absorb all manner of things it encounters, from cosmetics to the plastics from the bottles those cosmetics are stored in. Hormones can also be absorbed this way and, by placing them directly on the skin as a cream or on a worn patch, it allows those hormones to be absorbed directly into the systemic circulation system (the system that carries blood through your arteries, veins, and capillaries), which means less work for your liver. From there, it’s simply a matter of the hormones working through the system to give that healthy, natural boost and amplify your wellbeing!

Hormone Injections:

Receiving much needed hormone therapy can be as easy as a quick injection. These injections are most often administered to the upper thigh or buttocks at consistent increments, usually about once or twice a week.  Because of their quick metabolic absorption rate and frequency, they are most quickly and easily adjusted to make sure they are fitting the needs and balances of the individual.

Implanted Hormone Pellet Therapy:

The procedure for implanting hormone pellets is actually quite quick and very simple. After a local anesthesia is applied to the upper buttocks area, a small incision is made and a pellet the size of a grain of rice is inserted, then is covered with a small bandage. This procedure takes about 15 minutes and lasts for 3 to 4 months. While they are in your system, implanted pellets slowly release those helpful hormones in response to your natural stressors, keeping you steady and level for longer periods.

Charlotte Perimenopause Treatment Women

Call (980) 701-9228 to speak with local Charlotte Perimenopause Specialists at Integrity Wellness MD and schedule your Bioidentical Hormone Therapy Consultation Today!