There is a difference between being tired and feeling fatigued.
If we stay up too late at a party, perform hard physical labor, or have a fitful night’s sleep, we expect to be a little tired the next day.
Fatigue is a lack of energy that persists, no matter how much sleep you get.
When fatigue disrupts your daily activities or seems to happen out of nowhere, most people reach for the coffee or energy drinks and try to get back to work. In reality, the reason you are tired all the time is much deeper than a poor night’s sleep.
Hormones & Fatigue
It’s no secret that your hormone levels change as you age.
With the onset of puberty, huge rushes of hormones cause skin changes, physical changes, changes to mood or sleep patterns, and changes to appetite.
What we don’t often realize is that these hormone levels continue to change over time.
After briefly leveling off on in our 20s and 30s, our hormone levels begin to shift once again in our mid- to late-30s and early 40s.
For men, this means an up to 1 percent loss of testosterone per year after the age of 30.
For women, estrogen begins to decline after age 30 with a large drop after 35. Progesterone, the complimentary hormone to estrogen in reproduction, also begins to fluctuate.
In both men and women, these changes in hormone levels cause a mirror image of puberty, complete with skin changes, body changes, changes to mood and appetite, weight gain, and (you guessed it) fatigue.
The Problem with Popular Treatments
While most men experience a gradual decline in testosterone and thereby a gradual onset of symptoms, many women report feeling “fine one day and terrible the next”.
Many physicians prescribe low-dose birth control pills in an effort to offer relief from hot flashes, night sweats, insomnia, fatigue, and mood changes.
The typical treatments for men (ignoring hormonal imbalance until it’s a problem) and women (prescribing hormones without evaluating current levels) do not take into account one important factor — that we are all individuals. Our bodies operate differently from one another based on our medical histories, environmental exposures, diets, exercise routines, and stress levels. One-size-fits-all protocols do not take these factors into account, often resulting in poor outcomes.
Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy
For symptoms of hormonal imbalance, including fatigue, there is no treatment as effective as bioidentical hormone replacement therapy (BHRT).
Made from plant-based ingredients that most closely mirror the body’s natural hormone production, BHRT is fully customizable to meet the needs of every person, in every circumstance.
Best of all, they require a full hormone workup before prescribing to ensure the right combination of hormones, at the right dosages, are compounded.
Most people experiencing hormone imbalance-related fatigue experience relief after a single dose, with results improving over time.
If you are ready to kick fatigue to the curb, call our office or schedule online to find out if BHRT is right for you.