Women’s Hormone Therapy in West Palm Beach, FL

Literally, menopause means the cessation of the monthly menstrual cycle and signals the end of a woman’s natural childbearing years. Menopause is neither a disease nor an illness; it is a natural and usually gradual change in glandular function, when major hormonal shifts occur as a result of ovaries not producing estrogen and progesterone. On average, this occurs at age 52, but can occur much earlier or later.

As a woman approaches menopause, her hormone production may fluctuate wildly, causing hot flashes, moodiness, depression, loss of libido, sleep problems, and more. Some women experience symptoms early – in some cases 10-15 years before clinical menopause. Fluctuating levels of hormones can cause one or more of the following:

• Hot flashes Fatigue
• Night sweats Irregular Periods
• Insomnia Breast tenderness
• Memory loss Weight Gain
• Mood swings Anxiety
• Low sex drive
• Increased skin wrinkling

The right balance of hormones is important to long-term emotional, mental and bodily health. We recommend a natural hormone replacement therapy (often called BHRT, Bioidentical HRT) that can provide relief from menopause symptoms, and may also help minimize the risks of cardiovascular disease, Alzheimer’s, osteoporosis, and some types of cancer. It also Increases sense of well being by removing underlying hormone deficit and imbalances. We treat and correct symptoms using natural hormones with testing before and after treatment.

For the last 50 or so years, women in this country have been prescribed Premarin and Provera. Premarin is a synthetic form of estrogen and is made from the urine of pregnant mares. Provera is synthetic progesterone and does not have the same functions as natural progesterone. Most women get the same dose of medication and usually do not have their hormone levels checked.

Dr. Zoraida Navarro takes a significantly different approach. She carefully measures your entire hormone panel, not just female hormones such as estrogen, so that we can tailor a replacement program specifically for you. In this way, we bring all of your hormones into balance, allowing you to feel years younger. She uses only bioidentical hormones. Hormones are available from some large pharmaceutical companies in predetermined doses, but they are also available through compounding pharmacies in a more custom hormone dose formulation.

Estrogen’s promote youthful cell growth in organs of the body. The benefits of estrogen include:

• Enhanced skin smoothness, firmness and elasticity
• Enhanced moistness of mucus membranes
• Enhanced muscle tone
• Enhanced sex drive
• Reduced risk of osteoporosis
• Reduced risk of colon cancer
• Improved memory and neurological function
• Greater feeling of well being

The increasingly popular term Estrogen dominant does not mean you have too much estrogen but that you have too little progesterone in relation to your estrogen even if the estrogen level is actually also low. There is an ideal ration between the two (Pg/E2). You can actually have normal or even low levels of estrogen, but when you have diminished levels of progesterone levels, estrogen dominance results. Because estrogen is a proliferative (cell growing) hormone, too much of it without progesterone to balance it will cause problems such as:

• Fibrocystic disease Water Retention
• Heavy/Irregular periods Low Thyroid Symptoms
• Migraines Belly weight gain
• Bone/mineral loss Tearfulness

Many women are also deficient in testosterone. While testosterone is often considered a male hormone, it is a critical hormone in women as well. Replacement therapy with natural testosterone can increase sexual desire and improve feelings of emotional well-being.