Hormone Replacement at TruMed

Bioidentical hormones in Edmonton

We have a special focus in hormones

Offering Edmonton BHRT, TRT & Thyroid replacement

Hormone replacement can improve a wide range of symptoms

Enhanced energy, mood & overall wellbeing are often seen 

We work with hormone replacement for both men and women

Thyroid replacement is also offered at our Edmonton clinic

Hormone Replacement in Edmonton

We often begin with Salivary, Urinary or Blood hormone testing

Focusing on both Men's and Women's health

Conditions like PMS and menopause are often seen for Women's Health

Fatigue, depression and low libido are often seen for Men's Health

Bioidentical Hormones 

Naturopathic Doctors in Edmonton and Alberta are not able to prescribe bioidentical hormones.

As such, we have partnered with a Nurse Practitioner to offer HRT & TRT to our Edmonton patients. 

DHEA, Progesterone, Estrogen, and Testosterone can often be intermixed with natural therapies.

Natural Desiccated Thyroid is also something we commonly work with that our NP can prescribe. 

The need for BHRT depends on your initial test results as well as response to gentler natural therapies.

For those looking strictly for BHRT, can book in directly with our Nurse Practitioner.

Practitioners at TruMed

Dr. Muradov, Dr. Sumar, Dr. Tran and Dr. Deol all focus on hormone balancing.

Dr. Muradov & Dr. Tran tend to use primarily herbs & vitamins to balance hormones.

Dr. Deol often uses Acupuncture to modulate hormones especially for Fertility. 

Dr. Sumar often employs homeopathics for hormone balance in her Naturopath practice. 

Olga Muradov, our Nurse Practitioner, offers BHRT options (bioidentical hormones) and TRT

We often review previous testing done before we run private testing. Unfortunately we often see previous hormone testing is grossly insufficient in our Edmonton patients. 

Focusing on hormone health

Key HRT Hormones:

Cortisol - Many patients fear Cortisol, as it has a bad rap as a weight gain promoting stress hormone. 

It's a hormone released from the Adrenal glands and Cortisol is critical for energy production (increases blood levels of all fuel substrates - glucose, fatty & amino acids). Cortisol is involved in the entry of T3 (active Thyroid hormone) into cells and as such Cortisol is needed for proper Thyroid function.

We often see co-existing Adrenal and Thyroid hormone issues in our Edmonton patients.

We can accurately measure Cortisol hormone levels in Saliva or Urine. 

If needed, we may explore the use of HRT with prescription Cortisol - which is considered the strongest available Adrenal support.

DHEA - DHEA is, like Cortisol,  is a hormone secreted by the adrenal glands.

Clinical trials have found that DHEA improves overall vitality, mood, energy level and libido and our we have seen similar results in our Edmonton patients.

DHEA can be prescribed by our Nurse Practitioner as part of your HRT treatment. 

DHEA hormone levels can drop along with Cortisol levels in patients with Adrenal Fatigue and DHEA levels already decline with age.

Testosterone - Low testosterone can cause decreased sex drive, low energy, and depression in both men and women - as such, we consider TRT in both sexes. 

We almost always screen our male patients in Edmonton for low Testosterone.

Testosterone replacement is the most commonly prescribed Hormone Replacement for males at our Edmonton office.

Saliva hormone testing is one way to measure "Free" Testosterone and Urine hormone testing is good for Testosterone and its metabolites especially in male or female acne and hair loss.

Blood Testosterone testing is great for a cheap, fast, total testosterone level and is typically the way we go with patients seeking TRT as it allows us to easily and rapidly assess Testosterone and related hormones. 

Please see our TRT section.

TRT in Edmonton

HRT Hormones continued:

Estradiol - Estrogen replacement is commonly sought after for relief of menopausal symptoms, prevention of memory loss/brain fog, heart health, bone health.

At our office, we only work with natural Estrogens for our Edmonton patients - that is, they have the same chemical structure of Estrogen we make in our bodies. 

Estrone, Estradiol and Estriol are the three Estrogens produced in our bodies, but for Hormone Replacement purposes we work with the latter two.

In particular, for BHRT we only work with topical Estrogens at our office and vaginal Estriol if only local action is needed. 

See our Female Hormone Replacement section.

Progesterone - Some symptoms of low Progesterone include anxiety, irritability, insomnia and hot flashes.

At our office, we only work with natural Progesterone for our Edmonton HRT patients - as synthetic Progestins have many more side effects.

Although commonly prescribed topically, we do consider the use of oral Progesterone for sleep disturbances associated with menopause - as orally it seems to be more impactful.

Bioidentical Progesterone cream is also commonly prescribed for premenstrual syndrome.

Progesterone has a myriad of benefits including enhancement of Thyroid hormone, increased scalp hair growth, less water retention, mood boosting and calming. 

See our Female Hormone Replacement section.

Thyroid - Hypothyroidism is characterized by a failure of the thyroid gland to secrete enough thyroid hormone to meet the body’s needs.

Thyroid hormone has very widespread impact on the body, as such low levels can result in many symptoms.

Symptoms of hypothyroidism may include fatigue, weakness, depression, constipation, weight gain,  memory loss, cold extremities, thinning hair, muscle aches, edema and more.

We commonly start with a more in depth Thyroid panel than what is typically done and determine the degree of dysfunction.

With minor dysfunction, we may begin with herbal therapies, however for severe dysfunction, prescription Thyroid preparations particularly prescribed by our Nurse Practitioner.

At our Edmonton office, we have tremendous experience with Natural Desiccated Thyroid (NDT) - and have seen many patients with insufficient response to Synthroid respond favorably to NDT.

See our Thyroid Hormone Replacement section.

BHRT FAQ

What is bioidentical hormone replacement?

"Bioidentical" refers to sex hormones, such as Estrogen and Progesterone that have the same molecular structure as the hormones produced in your body.

Using bioidentical hormones allows proper attachment to its respective hormonal receptor. 

Synthetic hormones have structural modifications that may give "incomplete signals" to their desired receptors and increase the rate of failure to produce the desired effect.

Why would someone need hormone replacement?

As we age, hormone levels tend to decline with age until their production precipitously drops ( what we call andropause and menopause) which can then result in a range of "low hormone" symptoms.

Common symptoms include fatigue, low libido, brain fog, and weight gain as well as altered memory and mood.

Bioidentical Hormone Replacement allows for restoration of  more "youthful"  hormone levels.

How do I know if I need bioidentical hormones?

We rely primarily on testing in addition to clinical symptoms to determine if hormone replacement therapy is right for you.

Prior to your initial BHRT consultation, you will do a large set of comprehensive hormone testing - this is complementary.

We work with all available hormone testing methodologies (blood, urine & saliva).

Is hormone replacement safe?

There is a lot of misinformation regarding bioidentical hormone replacement and risk of heart disease, stroke and breast cancer.

Most of the "negative" data came from the Women's Health Initiative study looking at oral, synthetic Estrogens and Progesterone.

Also, the Women's Health Initiative demonstrated the adverse effects in older postmenopausal women (over 60) which is not the age group that presents with menopausal symptoms (usually late 40s and early 50s).

Unlike synthetic oral hormones, topical application of bioidentical hormones bypass the liver which avoids certain adverse hormonal, cardiovascular and inflammatory consequences. 

Furthermore, bioidentical preparations do not use Estrone (E1) which is considered the "harmful" Estrogen.

Lastly, synthetic Estrogens and Progesterone (Progestins) frequently have side effects because of receptor "cross talk" that occurs because of alterations to these hormones.

In 2008, the E3N study found combined Estradiol with natural Progesterone, had a relative risk of breast cancer of 1.00, as in, no increased risk.

How safe is TRT?

When using reasonable dosages for physiologic Testosterone replacement (repleting levels to healthier levels for your age), the incidence of adverse effects is low.

Current literature suggests that Testosterone replacement has a neutral, or even beneficial effect on cardiovascular and liver health, as well as cholesterol levels and incidence of prostate cancer.

Changes in PSA and estrogen levels and blood cell counts can but we closely monitor these.

Hormone Testing

Blood Hormone testing is the best way to look at the thyroid and allows us to see a few hormone parameters that are not available through Saliva or Blood (eg. FSH, LH).

Blood testing is usually what our Nurse Practitioner runs for Hormone and Testosterone Replacement Therapy (HRT & TRT).

Our Naturopaths often switch to Blood hormone testing to communicate results to practitioners like your Medical Doctor.

Blood lets us look at Thyroid & Pituitary Hormones with rapidly available results for a reasonable cost.

When you do blood work before your BHRT consultation, it's complimentary.

Blood based testing is the cheapest test method usually around $250

Salivary Hormone Testing is extremely helpful for a clinically relevant look at free hormone (unbound) levels active at the level of the tissues. Hormones in the bloodstream are usually bound to carrier proteins, and in this form the hormones are unable to act at their target tissues.

Saliva testing measures the amount of hormone that's actually available to the target tissues – it's what we call the "the bio-available or free hormones"

Saliva testing is a non-invasive collection method where patients collect their samples with the convenience of at-home collection. Our Naturopaths have seen a lot of clinical applicability between what's seen on saliva hormone testing and what we see happening in our patients.

Although BHRT & TRT monitoring can be done through saliva - our preference is still to use blood (cheaper & faster).

Price-wise saliva is reasonable - comprehensive testing is around $350.

TruMed has led the way in Edmonton for Urinary hormone testing as it provides our Naturopathic doctors a deep understanding your body’s hormone metabolism.

Dried Urinary Hormones "DUTCH" Testing is the best way to measure adrenal and sex hormones (Estrogen, Progesterone and Testosterone) and their by-products.

Once again, urinary testing can be used to monitor HRT & TRT but high costs, lack of customization and slow turnaround make it unappealing.

Urine can give great insight but can be costly - comprehensive testing is around $650.

Pinpoint where you need support

Unfortunately, many patients with 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) fail to be detected through standard screening techniques.

Even in these milder cases, we have seen many patients in Edmonton still have pronounced symptomatology including fatigue, weight gain, hair loss and low mood.

Our Naturopathic Doctors frequently use herbs and nutrients to stimulate and improve Thyroid values but very frequently they are insufficient to completely abolish hypothyroid symptoms.

As such, we work with a number of different Thyroid Hormone Replacement options at our Edmonton office. 

Thyroid Replacement Options

Pure T4, which is relatively inactive and needs to be converted to T3 which is the principally active hormone.

A significant minority of patients have insufficient improvement in their symptoms after treatment with T4 - likely due to ineffective conversion for T4 to T3.

Desiccated Thyroid - Contains approximately 80% T4 and 20% T3, as well as T1 and T2 which are all secreted by the human Thyroid gland so it is a much closer approximation of what we produce. 

This is a medication which is animal derived - usually porcine.

In our experience, many patients respond dramatically better to Desiccated Thyroid compared to T4 which is likely related to the higher T3 level it produces. 

Pure T3, the most biologically active Thyroid hormone which can be added to T4 preparations or given on its own.

Need Hormone Replacement?
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