Hormone Testing & Balancing at TruMedBioidentical Hormone Replacement TherapyTrumed proudly offers Edmonton a wide range of hormone optimization strategies. Our Practitioners usually begin with Salivary, Urinary or Blood hormone testing. Often times, we start with gentle natural hormone balancing options including vitamins and herbs. However, when stronger options are needed, our Nurse Practitioner can prescribe bioidentical hormones.
Our NP can also provide Testosterone Replacement Therapy (also known as TRT). Testing Salivary hormone testing is a cost effective test method that lets our practitioners understand your free hormones at the level of the tissues. Saliva allows for precisely timed Cortisol testing as well as an easy, needle free, at-home option. Dr. Muradov & Dr. Deol have used salivary hormones for many years and can attest to their clinical validity. Blood hormone testing is the lowest cost methodology with rapid turnaround in the Edmonton area. Blood allows us to understand pituitary signals such as FSH & LH and how they affect both women's and men's health concerns.
For patients considering HRT, we usually work with blood based hormone testing and monitoring.
Urinary hormone testing ("DUTCH" Testing) lets us understand both male and female hormones and their metabolites.
Urinary testing also looks at various nutritional metabolites that are not available in blood testing.
DUTCH testing can provide amazing insight but can be quite costly especially for HRT & TRT monitoring. |
|||||
Hormone Health in Edmonton
|
|||||
Most commonly we treat fatigue, weight gain, PMS, menopause and low libido at our Edmonton office. |
|||||
TreatmentsHormonal treatments vary depending on your test results.
Treatments used: Vitamins, Minerals, Herbs, Nutraceuticals & Hormone Replacement Therapy.
Vitamins - water soluble B6, B5 and B12 as well as fat soluble vitamins A, D & K
Minerals - magnesium, manganese, boron, zinc, selenium, copper and iron.
Nutraceuticals - glucarate, indole-3-carbinol, DIM, chrysin, creatine and carnitine.
Herbs - Rosemary, Black Currant, Milk Thistle, Green Tea, Fadogia, and Tongkat Ali.
If needed, bioidentical Progesterone is used to offset Estrogen dominance. Androgen deficiency is commonly found and often completely overlooked by previous practitioners.
Low Testosterone and/or DHEA has been seen many times by our Naturopaths in our Edmonton patients and can contribute to low mood, energy, libido, muscle mass and can play a role in female weight gain. Our office works with bioidentical Testosterone and DHEA replacement as it is challenging to seriously impact androgen values with natural therapies.
Our basic hormone screens always include: Estradiol, Progesterone, DHEA, Testosterone and Cortisol as well as Thyroid Testing (TSH, Free T3 & T4).
Normalizing Thyroid function can often improve many cycle irregularities. |
|||||
If needed, our Naturopathic Doctors may suggest stronger hormonal treatments such as bio-identical hormones and desiccated thyroid through referrals to collaborative Health Professionals in Edmonton. Thyroid testing is absolutely crucial in many Women's health issues. A trial of desiccated thyroid can be helpful in normalization of menstrual cycle abnormalities when the case has evidence of hypothyroidism (fatigue, cold temperature, weight gain, dry skin etc...). Oral or Topical progesterone can be extremely helpful for severe PMS, insomnia, heavy cycles and even peri-menopause and hot flushes. Occasionally, IV therapy is used for female concerns such as fatigue or low mood. Our Naturopaths usually suggest IV Therapy if hormonal augmentation is not completely successful in normalizing mood and energy. IV Vitamins can be used for cases of extreme PMS or cramping and can work quite well in our experience using them in our Edmonton patients. Sometimes our Naturopaths will suggest accessory food sensitivity testing if there are simultaneous digestive issues alongside the female health concerns which is common in our Edmonton patients - this can improve hormonal excretion. Successful treatment of female health concerns usually begins with effective testing. If we are able to run comprehensive female hormone testing it allows our Naturopathic doctors to make extremely specific recommendations to address female health concerns. It all starts with hormone testing.
BHRT FAQWhy would I need Hormone Replacement Therapy?Hormone levels tend of change and decline with age until their production sharply drops (andropause and menopause) which can then result in a range of "low hormone" symptoms including fatigue, loss of libido, hot flashes, weight gain as well as altered memory and mood. Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy allows for restoration of hormones to their more "youthful levels." Why do I know if I need Hormone Replacement Therapy?Our clinic in Edmonton relies primarily on testing in addition to clinical symptoms to determine if HRT is right for you - the exact testing will be determined in your initial consultation. We work with all available hormone testing methodologies (blood, urine & saliva). Is Hormone Replacement Therapy safe?Data on HRT increasing risk of heart disease, stroke and breast cancer came from the Women's Health Initiative study looking at oral, synthetic Estrogens and Progesterone. Unlike either synthetic oral hormones, bioidentical hormones are primarily applied topically bypassing the liver which avoids certain adverse hormonal, cardiovascular and inflammatory consequences. Furthermore, preparations do not use E1 (Estrone) which is considered the "harmful" Estrogen. Lastly, synthetic Estrogens and Progesterone (Progestins) have many common side effects because of receptor "cross talk" that occurs because of the ways they have been altered. E3N study was published in 2008 and found combined Estradiol with natural Progesterone, the relative risk of breast cancer was 1.00, as in, no increased risk.
Thyroid Hormone ReplacementAt our Edmonton clinic, our practitioners often detect milder cases of Hypothyroidism, where serum levels of free T4 and free T3 are often in the normal range (though typically in the low-normal range). Even in these milder cases, they often have pronounced symptoms including fatigue, weight gain, low mood and menstrual irregularity. Although herbs and nutrients can stimulate and improve Thyroid values - clinically, they often fall flat in terms symptom management. At our Edmonton office, we work with numerous Thyroid Hormone Replacement options.
Women's Health Concerns?Get in touch
|