BIHRT FAQ's

What are Bioidentical hormones?

Bioidentical hormones are exactly the same hormones, molecule per molecule that your body produces. They originate from plants. Most often made from wild yams and soybeans. They are then slightly modified in a lab to attain the structure identical to the hormones produced by your own body. Use of this type of therapy is preferred by both men and women in dealing with hormonal changes due to aging, menopause and andropause.

Synthetic hormones are also made in a lab, but most importantly are not identical to your body. Bioidentical hormones are superior to types of synthetic hormones commonly prescribed.

What is the best age to consider Bioidentical hormone therapy?

At Amaya, we believe that most people should have their hormones checked by the age of 35 or earlier if they have symptoms of hormonal loss. The way to prevent illness and to optimize one’s health is to take an active role in addressing health care risks before they become a problem.

What are the side effects associated with Bioidentical hormones?

Because Bioidentical hormones are just like the ones made in your body, there are relatively few side effects. Side effects occur mainly when the dosage of hormone is too high for the individual. Amaya - monitors and evaluates each patient consistently to assure balanced dosage.

How long until I see results using Bioidentical hormones?

While it varies with each person, and depends on which hormone therapy you are using, generally you can expect to see results within three to six months.

Do I need to take these hormones forever?

No. If you decide to stop, your body will simply return to where it was before starting hormone therapy.

Why does a woman need hormones during and after menopause?

No matter what your age, if your female hormones (estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone) are unbalanced, you may suffer ill effects such as hot flashes, night sweats, depression, vaginal dryness, fatigue, and weight gain.

Why does a man need testosterone replacement?

As a man gets older, his testosterone declines. Testosterone is the hormone that maintains a man’s mental focus, his energy, his metabolism his muscles, as well as keeps fat off and maintains strong bones. There is often concern that testosterone therapy may cause prostate cancer. The majority of the medical literature does not support this claim and your physician’s close medical supervision takes these risks into account depending on each individual’s personal health history.

Will this treatment interfere with my currently prescribed medications?

Generally not. Some medicines may actually be reduced or no longer needed.

What is personalized prescription?

With traditional synthetic hormone replacement therapy, there are few options for adjustment of strength and dosage. In light of the fact that each woman is unique her prescriptions should also be unique according to her need.

What does Amaya - Antiaging, Kisspeptin Diet, Weight Loss, Wellness Zerona Clinic recommend to HRT (hormone replacement therapy) users?

Amaya - would like to caution everyone about the risks of synthetic HRT. We believe it should be a last resort, not a first choice. In general, we recommend that everyone first try a natural approach such as Personal Program or any other program of your choice which offers natural alternatives. The Weaning off from synthetic HRT should be gradual,
HRT = Synthetic Hormone Replacement Therapy
BioHRT= Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy.

What are the symptoms of perimenopause?

The most common symptoms of perimenopause are hot flashes, insomnia, fatigue, irritability or mood swings, unusual weight gain, irregular periods, anxiety, feelings of depression, fuzzy thinking, bloating or gas, headaches, joint pain or stiffness, vaginal dryness, diminished sexual desire, and leaking of urine.

Can I use any compounding pharmacy?

Our patients’ prescriptions are filled by a compounding pharmacy. A compounding pharmacy custom mixes and makes your prescription as it is ordered. At this time, we use a pharmacy that our doctor trusts. Our doctor knows that this pharmacy only uses fresh, pure and accurate ingredients for your prescriptions. He thinks it’s like making cookie dough…. The quality of the dough is determined by the quality of the ingredients. It doesn’t cost you anymore to use this pharmacy and your prescriptions are delivered to you by overnight mail.

We are better able to manage your hormone levels with precise accuracy if all medications come from the same pharmacy. Bioidentical hormone modulation is very different from prescribing "one-size-fits-all" drugs like Premarin. Every treatment regimen is custom-tailored to the individual based on the results of blood tests, medical history, physical exam, and symptoms presented. With compounded medications, hormone powders are mixed with a cream base or loaded into capsules. There are many variables such as the absorption level of the cream base. By standardizing with one pharmacy (as with one diagnostic lab), we are better able to predict a patient's response to a certain dosage and properly adjust the dosage in response to symptoms. If a patient obtains their hormones or supplements elsewhere, we can never be sure exactly what they are taking.

I recently came to know about NIH study of HRT risks? What shall I do?

Amaya can only recommend you a natural approach to hormonal balance. The hormones used in HRT studies were synthetic estrogen and progestin’s not natural Bioidentical estrogen and progesterone. We believe that synthetic hormones commonly used in hormone replacement therapy should be a last resort, not a first choice. However, this is a matter of personal choice.

What if I’ve had a hysterectomy? Can AMAYA still help me?

Yes, the Amaya program will benefit your general health and your hormonal balance, even if you’ve had a hysterectomy, and whether or not you also had your ovaries removed. (Over half the women who keep their ovaries nevertheless suffer loss of ovarian function.) In fact, the Program is especially relevant to women like you, given the heightened risks from long-term use of synthetic HRT (hormone replacement therapy). Note that we generally recommend that women under 40 who have had a hysterectomy consider natural hormone replacement therapy to mimic the body’s natural progression into perimenopause.

Will my multivitamins and Nutraceutical interfere with AMAYA program?

No, depending upon what you are taking currently. According to the latest observations unsupervised intake of multivitamins and minerals can do more wrong to your health then its benefits. We recommend you stop all your supplements when you start your Program. We will test you if necessary for the nutritional status and then formulate your personal nutritional plan. It is possible that you might end up using your own products if they are sufficient enough to help you.

What to do if I am on a prescription drug? Are there any interactions with AMAYA program?

The simple answer is no. The Personal Program is all-natural, preventative program with no known drug interactions by far. However, we always strongly recommend sharing your participation in the Program with your primary health care provider, who needs to be aware of any supplements you are taking.

Why do the dosages in the Essential Nutrients exceed the Recommended Daily Allowances?

Studies have proved that our true dietary requirements are much higher than the original RDA standards which were set decades ago based on the science of that time. The RDA’s are being reviewed for many years and new standards are expected at some future point.

I have PMS, and I’m in my 20’s. Will the Personal Program help me?

PMS is a form of hormonal imbalance just like the symptoms of perimenopause. (In fact, women who have suffered from PMS are more likely to have a difficult perimenopause.) The program should be effective in helping to mitigate your symptoms.

I'm only 31. Can my symptoms really be perimenopause?

Your symptoms may well be the result of the hormonal imbalances of perimenopause. Many women experience their first such hormonal changes in their 30's.

I've been diagnosed with depression. Is it possible that my problems are hormonal?

We would recommend you to discuss this with your practitioner first. Unfortunately it's common now to prescribe antidepressants for PMS or perimenopause without considering the possibility of hormone imbalance. In our practice we have seen most of patients lowering down the dose of antidepressants as recommended by their physicians because they start feeling better when hormone imbalances are corrected. Please discuss your progress in the program with your practitioner, and whether you can make adjustments in your medication. In no case is the program a substitute for antidepressants for depression. It may be possible that your depression is hormonally based, and some women have reported good results on the Program. Your results may vary.

I am in my late forties and seem to gain weight regardless of how I watch what I eat. Is there a reason for this? Is there anyway to help me lose weight without taking diet pills? Can Bio-Identical Hormones help?

It is a quite frustrating situation seen in most Indians. When look into the figures. More than 50 % of the population above 35 can be considered overweight and more than 75% of those who have crossed 50 years of the lives suffer from this and have difficulty losing this weight so you are not alone dear friend. As we age there is a parallel decline of essential hormones, our bodies’ starts getting soft, loses water and fat starts building up resistant to any maneuvers of weight loss. So it becomes very important to understand the basic human physiology particularly the endocrine system. And how simple correctible hormone efficiencies can put on extra weight on your body resistant to any treatment you undergo to remove the extra pounds. Unfortunately these quick fixes are temporary and weight comes back again.

To enumerate some hormones and their function:

Estrogen
A female hormone which declines with age. This decline is responsible for production of more fat in the body as fat is an alternative source of estrogen when ovaries stop making estrogen fat starts making it and body starts accumulating more fat to make even more estrogen. On the other hand more fat is stored more estrogen gets blocked in the fat cells and vicious cycle starts.

Progesterone

On the other hand is the other female hormone which counteracts the effect of extra estrogen and helps in breakdown of the fat cells, But what is most important in such cases is the ratio between the estrogen and progesterone in the body. With advanced age the estrogen levels fall but progesterone levels fall much lower than the estrogen as a result although there is low estrogen but there is estrogen dominance because of even lower levels of progesterone.

Thyroid Hormone. Hypothyroidism is a hidden pandemic and more and more healthy looking persons are being diagnosed as hypothyroid each and every day especially sub clinical hypothyroidism . Thyroid is the main metabolic hormone of our body responsible for utilizing and burning the available energy stores by increasing the basal metabolic rate and keeps the extra pounds away from the body.

Cortisol

Apart from this another very commonly discussed factor responsible for weight gain but never addressed properly is the tremendous amount of stress in our day to day lives. This stress leads to production of cortisol which is good when in moderation and provides energy and support at the time of need and emergency but chronic stress is lethal. In such states our body tries to store as much energy as possible to be used in future when needed and as fat is the easiest form to be stored and provides maximum energy when burnt as compared to other substrates it is the first choice of our body.

Insulin

Another basic link is between insulin metabolism and body fat. Being in a developed nation and because of busy life styles we are forced to eat the conventional low-fat, high-carbohydrate diet, with lots of processed foods like pasta, white bread, snacks, beer and wine. Constant exposure to this diet creates a condition known as insulin resistance. In this condition your body converts every calorie it can into fat — even if you’re dieting. And it won’t let you burn fat when you exercise. When the insulin is not used properly it gets accumulated to the point where the blood sugar levels start dropping to significantly lower levels leading to lethargy and drowsiness for which we are compelled to have snacks and caffeine to make ourselves feel better. But they actually they only make you more insulin resistant leading to further adrenal exhaustion starts another vicious circle while accumulating body fat. Improper dieting and on –off maneuvers, using artificial sweeteners make things worse. When you diet your body considers it as stress and then tries to store and conserve energy, sweeteners are not sugar but stimulate insulin release and make the situation worse, further they lower blood sugar levels which cause sugar cravings and you look for caffeine to compensate. You can only shed off extra pounds off your body when you are healthy from inside with balanced hormones. If you will heal your body from inside and try to balance your life, you will then find you achieve and maintain your ideal weight.

I want to start Bio-Identical Hormone replacement to improve my health but my doctor wants me to wait until I reach menopause. What is your recommendation? Why?

Menopause is defined as a single day--12 months after your last period. Your physician's suggestion that you wait until you have passed this milestone reflects an antiquated view of a woman's transition from the premenopause to menopause. The majority of women experience their severest symptoms in the months to years leading up to this milestone. To wait for this single day would be to subject women to a year or more of unnecessary hot flushes, night sweats, mental fogginess, and bone loss. Our approach is to start addressing these symptoms as soon as they appear. They often begin a year or two before the final menstrual period, a time called the perimenopause. By so doing, we can avoid all the havoc that fluctuating hormone levels can wreak on a woman. Our approach is to smooth the transition from normal cycling through the menopause rather than to wait for a somewhat arbitrarily defined date.


The dynamic application of the Antiaging therapies such as Bioidentical Hormones, Neurotransmitters, Intravenous Vitamins, Minerals, Micronutrients, Amino-acid, Antioxidant rich IV Drips, Zerona Lipo laser for fat reduction, life style modification education, and Physician monitored medical weight loss programs utilizing the Kisspeptin Diet program is the hallmark of a complete Amaya Natural Anti-aging program.

AMAYA offers antiaging care, brain health, neurotransmitter balance, Intravenous IV Drip of Vitamins, Antioxidants, Minerals, Amino acids, Micronutrient, Natural bioidentical hormone replacement therapy for menopause,andopause, adrenopause, low thyroid function, low testosterone etc. We also focus on personalized & supervised medical weight loss programs, low calorie diet, stress reduction methods, nutritional evaluation and consult, skin care, yoga, personalised exercise plans and wellness medicine for men and women dealing with hormone imbalance.
Contact our Cinco Ranch/Katy/ Houston/ Sugar land, Texas, locations today. Call 713-772-7887