Awareness is growing around the menopause and the time leading up to this stage in a woman’s life which is known as the perimenopause. There are a range of symptoms that women can face when they are premenopausal, with some online articles making reference to their being up to 34 symptoms of perimenopause.
Thankfully, not all women will experience all of these symptoms, and some will breeze through this stage of life without getting as much as a hot sweat, but unfortunately that is not the case for all.
Common symptoms that may experienced on the journey to the menopause include weight gain, hot flashes, night sweats, brain fog, lack of energy, decreased libido, anxiety and mood changes; but there are also many less common symptoms such as digestive symptoms, hair loss and skin changes to name just a few.
What causes the symptoms of perimenopause?
Perimenopause symptoms are caused by hormone fluctuations. Oestrogen and Progesterone are two of our hormones that reduce during perimenopause, and oestrogen will remain low in our bodies even after menopause.
Hormones like oestrogen and progesterone are our body’s chemical messengers. They regulate our physiological systems, including our metabolism, sleep, energy levels, mood, wellbeing and sexual function as well as many other body processes.
HRT (Hormone Replacement Therapy)
To counteract these changes in hormones many women will be prescribed HRT. This treatment aims to help reduce menopause symptoms by replacing fluctuating levels of oestrogen and progesterone.
Because every patient is an individual it can take some time to find the right combination of HRT that is able to alleviate a woman’s specific concerns.
Bioidentical Hormone Therapy (BHRT)
Bioidentical Hormone Therapy utilises hormones that are extracted from natural sources and are identical in chemical and molecular structure as the hormones that occur in our bodies.
Bio Identical Hormone Therapy can alleviate symptoms of menopause and perimenopause, while also having further reaching effects in terms of prevention of other diseases that are associated with female ageing, including cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis and cognitive decline.
Can BHRT help with hormonal weight gain?
Bioidentical Hormone Therapy can help with all the symptoms of perimenopause and menopause that patients may experience, including weight gain. We can also prescribe other treatments alongside BHRT to help patients who are putting on weight due to hormonal changes, such as Coolsculpting.
BHRT at The Lovely Clinic
Dr Kishan Raichura is one of our distinguished doctors at The Lovely Clinic. He takes a 360 degree approach to wellbeing and integrative health. He leads on using cutting edge genetic and biomarker testing to create custom built, holistic treatment plans for our patients, which includes the use of Bioidentical Hormone Therapy
What to expect when you have Bioidentical Hormone Therapy in our London Clinic?
We take a patient centric approach to prescribing BHRT at our clinic based in Central London in Knightsbridge. The process consists of a thorough consultation to find out your specific concerns, before we begin the testing process.
We then analyse your blood, urine and saliva samples using the DUTCH test to identify markers of which hormones are out of balance. When we have the results back we can make recommendations and a personalised prescription for your unique combination of BHRT.
Tailor made treatment plans
Our recommendations are highly individualised and tailor made to improve your symptoms and we also include lifestyle, exercise and nutrition advice and where necessary we prescribe supplements, so we can make sure patients get the full benefit of this treatment.
We offer ongoing monitoring of your unique treatment plan over a six month course of BHRT treatment and can provide further testing to ensure the efficacy of your plan.
How do I take BHRT?
The medicine will normally be prescribed as a gel, a cream, or in pill or patch form, which have been designed to be administered from the comfort of your own home. Very occasionally the treatment will come in the form of an injectable.
Who can benefit from Bioidentical Hormone Therapy?
As well as women experiencing perimenopause and menopause, BHRT can also be great for other patients who are experiencing concerns brought on by hormone fluctuation. This may include women who suffer from PMT or PMDD, men who are lacking in energy and think this could be due to a lack of testosterone, or patients who are suffering from hormonal acne or hormonal hair loss.
