BIOIDENTICAL HORMONE PELLET THERAPY

TAB’S BLOG:  BIOIDENTICAL HORMONE PELLET THERAPY

Some of you may know that we have started providing Bioidentical hormone replacement therapy (BHRT) through pellets.  But you may not know the details of why so I thought I’d share my thoughts in this week’s blog.

I’ve been investigating providing BHRT in pellet form for years.  It always seemed to make common sense to me that this type of therapy might be easier on the patient (don’t have to remember to do as much each day) and more consistent in results (24 hour release with no ups and downs).  Bioidentical Estradiol (for women only) and Testosterone (for women AND men) are placed in a tiny pellet that is then inserted by a medical provider into the fat of the buttock cheek.  The hormone is slowly released over a 3-5 month time period based on cardiac output – if active more released, if less active less released.

I had talked to many patients who had used this therapy and the majority of them loved it.  Their only problems were finding a provider who offered it and getting consistent results.  Most reported that each time they went to get the pellets something had changed – the labs recommended, the ranges recommended, the dosing recommended, and the quality of the pellets.  Because the system seemed to keep changing so did their symptom relief.  One time they’d feel great and the next time they’d get minimal relief if any.  However, they all said when the pellets worked they felt the best they had in a long time and that the therapy was well worth it.

I also had looked into several companies that provided the BHRT pellet service.  Each company seemed to have inconsistent strategies, systems and pellet quality.  I chose not to go with any of them because I didn’t think I would get consistent results for my patients.

I then discovered BioTE Medical.  What impressed me from the beginning was the system and controls that they had in place.  I immediately felt I could trust the quality of the pellets but also the system for providing and dosing the pellets.  After talking with other BioTE providers, I decided to go with that company.

Our passion at our office is to coach people to make better permanent health choices in order to prevent premature death and aging.  We have always focused on hormone balance, weight loss, stress reduction, exercise education and gastrointestinal healing.  Many call this anti-aging medicine.  The BioTE company put it a different way:  healthy aging. 

I like that phrase “healthy aging” better.  We want to partner with you to help you obtain your optimal level of health and personal peak performance level.  We want you to be functional and healthy with your brain working right up until the day you die.  I truly believe we can help you take another step up to your personal level of optimal health and peak performance with the BioTE hormone pellet therapy.

We’ve worked with hormone balancing for years; however, I truly had no idea of the extra health benefits BHRT pellets could offer to my patients (or myself!) until my mind was blown at my certification training.  I have been providing BHRT to my patients and using it myself since 2005.  I have been to multiple training conferences and had never seen some of the research presented at this training.  The research on and benefits of testosterone in particular blew me away!

Some of the benefits of pellet therapy are:

1   1. Consistency of dosing – you don’t have to remember to use it!

2   2. Relief of hot flashes and night sweats

3   3. Improved sleep

4   4. Better brain function

5   5. Better energy

6   6. Better mood

7   7. Prevention of Alzheimer’s disease, heart disease and cancer

8   8. And the list goes on….

I have never seen the same benefits they proved with research that testosterone in pellet form can provide with using testosterone creams, patches, gels or injections in either men or women.  The research, the providers who use it, and the patients all say that it can help improve memory (you won’t forget why you walked in a room anymore!), improve mood (many get off anti-depressant/ anti-anxiety meds!), improve stamina and muscle, improve weight loss and especially decreased belly fat (!), improve sex drive, etc.  

If you have been feeling like you are working really hard on your health but not seeing enough results (effort level ≠ results obtained), then the testosterone pellets may be the answer.  Getting more bang for my efforts on my health and improved memory are the 2 main reasons I had the testosterone pellets inserted while I was at the conference.

The actual procedure was not bad at all.  I felt a little sting for a few seconds when the numbing medicine was given then nothing but the tug of the buttock skin being moved.  Afterward, it was a little sore for about 2 days (I’m a pain wimp so I took some ibuprofen!) then just felt like a bruise for not quite a week.  You are supposed to start feeling different about day 7.  I started noticing some increase in memory (when I walked in a room, I still couldn’t remember why but remembered quickly before leaving the room! J) and in energy about that time.

I actually chose to get the maximum dose of testosterone I qualified for based on my age, weight, symptoms and lab results.  I could have reported that I had a history of acne and received a lower dose, but I always experiment on myself (and sometimes my staff!) with the therapies we recommend.  I wanted all of the benefits of testosterone in pellet form as quick as I could get them!  Yes, I was running the risk of developing acne but thought the benefits would be worth it.  Starting about day 7, I did develop a slight increase in acne but not enough to make me regret the decision.

My patients definitely receive health benefit from the BHRT creams, gels, patches and injections.  Maybe not as much as with the pellets but still improved.  These days the alternatives to BHRT that traditional medicine offers (now that we live for 30 or 40 post-menopause and post-andropause) are not that great. 

Your mood goes down; they give you and anti-depressant.  Your blood pressure goes up; they give you a hypertension drug.  Your bones thin out; they give you a bone-building drug.  Your cholesterol goes up; they give you a statin drug.  You start not sleeping; they give you a narcotic drug to induce sleep.  Your memory starts declining; they give you an Alzheimer’s drug.  By the time you are done with menopause or andropause, you are on 5-10 synthetic prescription medications!  And how do you think they make you feel with their side effects and interactions?

My personal goal is to never be on any synthetic prescription drug as I age.  I plan to exercise, eat right, learn new things, sleep, drink water, stress reduce, AND use BHRT until the day I die.  I absolutely refuse to go down the traditional medical path as long as I can do natural things to keep me healthy.  I was already using progesterone cream, and I have now added testosterone in pellet form to my arsenal of health promotion and disease prevention strategies. 

I encourage each of you to evaluate your health right now.  What are your long-term health goals?  How do you want to feel as you age?  What strategies do you want to use to reap the benefit of healthy aging?  How can we help you reach them?  Can changing to or starting BHRT in pellet form augment and optimize your healthy aging plans?

Modern medicine has presented us with a Faustian bargain: Our aging bodies can bankrupt our children and grandchildren. We have run into the 'law of diminishing returns' in health care, where we are often doing more and more, with higher and higher technology, at more and more cost, for less and less benefit.

--Richard Lamm

What helps with aging is serious cognition - thinking and understanding. You have to truly grasp that everybody ages. Everybody dies. There is no turning back the clock. So the question in life becomes: What are you going to do while you're here?

--Goldie Hawn

Sincerely,

Tabetha L. Smith, FNP-C

Fellow Seeker on the Journey of Health Aging