By Caley Breese
Today’s anti-aging arsenal is vast: there are creams, vitamins, pills, and serums all vying for your attention and now there’s a new category on the product spectrum—pellets. Bio-Identical Hormone Replacement Therapy Pellets, also known as BHRT, is a safe, natural way to normalize your hormones because they use the exact same chemical structure that is made by our bodies.
“Our pellets are bio-identical, meaning that they have the exact same structure that is made by your body. Bio-identical pellets can help protect you against heart disease, dementia, east and prostate cancer, and osteoporosis,” Melissa Whitaker, a Family Nurse Practitioner at Effective Integrative Healthcare in Millersville, explains.
Unlike the levels in synthetic hormones (which are not created like the same structure as the human body), the hormone levels in these BHRT pellets can be customized to fit an individual’s hormonal needs to ensure that they’re getting the correct amount that fit his or her needs.
BHRT pellets are designed to help men and women who face hormone irregularities. This type of therapy involves a small rice-sized pellet that that is inserted underneath the skin in either the lower abdomen area or the upper hip area. The pellets will continue to release small doses of hormones that last for three to five months, when they are dissolved by the body. The dosage is based on a patient’s blood work, his or her weight, and the severity of their symptoms. Some of these symptoms include depression, insomnia, joint pain, and low sex drive.
While you may experience a few side effects like uising with BHRT, they are milder compared to those widely reported with the use of synthetic hormones, most notably blood clots and cancer.
So if you are experiencing the symptoms associated with hormone fluctuation and they are interfering with your daily life, a discussion with your physician about developing a customized treatment plan may offer a way to start feeling like yourself again.
Common Hormone Deficiency-Related Symptoms
As we age, both men and women notice a number of symptoms associated with a decrease in hormone levels that leave them feeling not quite like themselves. Symptoms such as feeling chronically tired, trouble sleeping, night-sweats, decreased sex drive, packing on extra weight or feeling as if you’re in a mental fog, are some examples of hormone deficiency-related symptoms.
