Women’s Health

Hot flashes, mood swings, low sex drive, night sweats, vaginal dryness and brain fog are often dismissed as a normal part of aging. But the truth is that while conditions of hormone imbalance, such as menopause, are an inevitable part of aging, living with the ongoing and uncomfortable symptoms that can diminish health, happiness, and quality of life doesn’t have to be.

Women are notorious for putting everybody around them first, but at Preventative Wellness MD, women are put first. Drs. Anita Petruzzelli and Tatiana Fleischman know and understand the changes women go through and make it a priority to help balance and restore hormone levels in women and alleviate the unpleasant side effects that can accompany the aging process.

Symptoms of Hormone Imbalance in Women

• Weight gain
• Mood swings
• Trouble sleeping
• Hot flashes
• Low energy
• Thinning hair
• Night sweats
• Depression
• Anxiety

Sexual Wellness for Women

• As we age, declining hormones, stress, medical conditions, medications, and changing body image can affect libido, orgasm, vaginal dryness, and painful intercourse.
• Low sex drive is reported by more than half of menopausal women as compared to one quarter of premenopausal women.
• Sex drive can be multifactorial in women, so in addition to balancing hormones, other factors will be addressed.
• Restoring hormonal balance can help sex drive, orgasm, and vaginal dryness for women.
• Sex Drive and Testosterone
  • The ovaries and adrenal glands produce about 50% of testosterone.
  • Testosterone production decreases in menopause leading to decreased sex drive.
  • Testosterone and estrogen production is also lower when women have had their ovaries surgically removed leading to both decreased sex drive and vaginal dryness.
  • Testosterone therapy with testosterone pellets or topical testosterone can improve sex drive.
  • In a minor procedure, the area is numbed and the testosterone pellet is placed under the skin, slowly releasing the hormone over time.
  • Testosterone pellets are convenient, effective, and last several months.
  • In addition to improving libido, testosterone pellets have also been shown to improve menopausal symptoms such as hot flashes, night sweats, sleep disturbance, depressed mood, irritability, anxiety, decreased energy, vaginal dryness, and joint pain (Maturitas 68 (2011) 355-361).

• Vaginal dryness
  • In addition to the improvement of vaginal dryness from testosterone, Vaginal DHEA has also been shown to improve vaginal atrophy, vaginal dryness, sensation, orgasm, and lubrication.
  • Vaginal estriol, a lower potency estrogen can also be used topically to improve vaginal dryness with no increase in systemic side effects associated with estradiol such as bleeding or possible increase in uterine cancer. Vaginal estriol is less expensive than prescription vaginal estradiol.

Solutions for Improving Women’s Health

At Preventative Wellness MD, Drs. Anita Petruzzelli and Tatiana Fleischman are specially trained and certified in integrative medicine and offer a variety of therapies including bioidentical hormone replacement therapy to help women gain hormone balance, experience optimal health, and enjoy a higher quality of life.

When you visit Preventative Wellness MD, your practitioner will spend an hour or more consulting with you during your initial visit reviewing symptoms, lab results, medical history, and lifestyle factors. With this information, your practitioner will develop a treatment plan that fits your unique lifestyle and incorporate therapies that promote natural healing, such as balanced nutrition, stress management, and detoxification along with cutting-edge therapies to restore maximal function, like bioidentical hormone replacement therapy. Contact Preventative Wellness MD today to get started!