Hormone Replacement Therapy
Can BHRT Help You with Anxiety and Depression?
What is the difference between anxiety and depression? Why do people with depression feel anxious and why do people with anxiety feel depressed? One way to understand this dichotomy is to learn about the neurotransmitters controlling these feelings and the hormones responsible for producing mood-regulating neurotransmitters.
In addition, depression and anxiety are so closely related simply because one feeds off the other. When you are depressed, anxiety naturally follows–anxiety over what to do about your depression, anxiety over how it is affecting others and anxiety over your ability to fulfill work and home responsibilities. Alternately, feeling anxious all the time inevitably darkens your mood, drains your energy and prevents you from objectively seeing things as they really are.
Neurotransmitters, Anxiety, and Depression
Three neurotransmitters—serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine are mainly responsible for relaying chemical messages throughout your central nervous system. When you suffer from depression and anxiety, a significant imbalance in neurotransmitter levels exists that negatively influences your emotions and attitude. Studies investigating the onset of depression and anxiety have found that just a minimal reduction in neurotransmitter levels may cause depression and anxiety symptoms. Deregulation of serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine also affects your sleep, appetite, libido, and ability to cope with stress productively.1
What Do Hormones Have to do with Anxiety and Depression?
Research into why more women are diagnosed with depression and anxiety than men point directly to hormone fluctuations occurring at pivotal times in a woman’s life, such as pregnancy, perimenopause and menopause.2 Depression and anxiety correlate with abnormal neurotransmitter levels and reduced estrogen and progesterone levels in a woman’s body. Further, being depressed and anxious makes the brain and body feel like they are always under attack (both internally and externally), which forces the endocrine system to release large amounts of two stress hormones called adrenaline and cortisol.
When combined with reduced estrogen and progesterone and neurotransmitter levels, cortisol and adrenaline can cause serious health issues such as: 3
- Cognitive impairments (especially memory and concentration)
- Hypertension/high blood pressure/heart disease
- High cholesterol
- Recurring illnesses due to insufficient immune system responses
Estrogen, progesterone and even testosterone are necessary for making neurotransmitters. Production of serotonin, dopamine, norepinephrine and other neurotransmitters require specific amino acids and “co-factors” (a type of nutrient). In turn, these amino acids and nutrients need sufficient amounts of hormones for their development. This is one of the primary reasons why women (and men) over 50+ often experience depression and anxiety as the testes and ovaries diminish the output of hormones vital to their overall health and well-being.
Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy Helps Relieve Depression and Anxiety
Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy, or BHRT, safely and effectively restores hormone levels to promote production and release of serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine without causing serious health issues associated with laboratory-made hormones. In addition, depressed and anxious men and women experiencing perimenopause, menopause or andropause may find relief from other symptoms like headaches/migraines, insomnia, hot flashes/night sweats, fatigue and lack of stamina.
Unlike synthetic hormones that are not compatible with cell receptors, bioidentical hormones are especially made to be readily accepted by cells structured to recognize molecular and chemical compositions of hormones manufactured by your endocrine system.4 Medically-oriented substances entering the bloodstream that are not compatible with target cells naturally produce adverse reactions in response to this incompatibility. That’s why lab-made hormones carry a risk of cancer and heart disease when taken for extended times.
If you have been taking prescription hormones for depression, anxiety and other signs of andropause and menopause, you will be glad to know that switching to bioidentical hormones can reverse the detrimental effects of synthetic hormones. Call Renew Health & Wellness today to learn more about how BHRT can help relieve anxiety and depression associated with reduced hormone levels.
References
- https://www.health.harvard.edu/mind-and-mood/what-causes-depression
- https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/depression/in-depth/depression/art-20047725
- https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-athletes-way/201301/cortisol-why-the-stress-hormone-is-public-enemy-no-1
- https://www.newsmax.com/health/dr-brownstein/hormones-synthetic-xenoestrogens-fertility/2018/06/08/id/865091/
What is the difference between anxiety and depression? Why do people with depression feel anxious and why do people with anxiety feel depressed? One way to understand this dichotomy is to learn about the neurotransmitters controlling these feelings and the hormones responsible for producing mood-regulating neurotransmitters.
In addition, depression and anxiety are so closely related simply because one feeds off the other. When you are depressed, anxiety naturally follows–anxiety over what to do about your depression, anxiety over how it is affecting others and anxiety over your ability to fulfill work and home responsibilities. Alternately, feeling anxious all the time inevitably darkens your mood, drains your energy and prevents you from objectively seeing things as they really are.
Neurotransmitters, Anxiety, and Depression
Three neurotransmitters—serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine—are mainly responsible for relaying chemical messages throughout your central nervous system. When you suffer from depression and anxiety, a significant imbalance in neurotransmitter levels exists that negatively influences your emotions and attitude. Studies investigating the onset of depression and anxiety have found that just a minimal reduction in neurotransmitter levels may cause depression and anxiety symptoms. Deregulation of serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine also affects your sleep, appetite, libido, and ability to cope with stress productively.1
What Do Hormones Have to do with Anxiety and Depression?
Research into why more women are diagnosed with depression and anxiety than men point directly to hormone fluctuations occurring at pivotal times in a woman’s life, such as pregnancy, perimenopause and menopause.2 Depression and anxiety correlate with abnormal neurotransmitter levels and reduced estrogen and progesterone levels in a woman’s body. Further, being depressed and anxious makes the brain and body feel like they are always under attack (both internally and externally), which forces the endocrine system to release large amounts of two stress hormones called adrenaline and cortisol.
When combined with reduced estrogen and progesterone and neurotransmitter levels, cortisol and adrenaline can cause serious health issues such as: 3
- Cognitive impairments (especially memory and concentration)
- Hypertension/high blood pressure/heart disease
- High cholesterol
- Recurring illnesses due to insufficient immune system responses
Estrogen, progesterone and even testosterone are necessary for making neurotransmitters. Production of serotonin, dopamine, norepinephrine and other neurotransmitters require specific amino acids and “co-factors” (a type of nutrient). In turn, these amino acids and nutrients need sufficient amounts of hormones for their development. This is one of the primary reasons why women (and men) over 50+ often experience depression and anxiety as the testes and ovaries diminish the output of hormones vital to their overall health and well-being.
Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy Helps Relieve Depression and Anxiety
Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy, or BHRT, safely and effectively restores hormone levels to promote production and release of serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine without causing serious health issues associated with laboratory-made hormones. In addition, depressed and anxious men and women experiencing perimenopause, menopause or andropause may find relief from other symptoms like headaches/migraines, insomnia, hot flashes/night sweats, fatigue and lack of stamina.
Unlike synthetic hormones that are not compatible with cell receptors, bioidentical hormones are especially made to be readily accepted by cells structured to recognize molecular and chemical compositions of hormones manufactured by your endocrine system.4 Medically-oriented substances entering the bloodstream that are not compatible with target cells naturally produce adverse reactions in response to this incompatibility. That’s why lab-made hormones carry a risk of cancer and heart disease when taken for extended times.
If you have been taking prescription hormones for depression, anxiety and other signs of andropause and menopause, you will be glad to know that switching to bioidentical hormones can reverse the detrimental effects of synthetic hormones. Call Renew Health & Wellness today to learn more about how BHRT can help relieve anxiety and depression associated with reduced hormone levels.
References
- https://www.health.harvard.edu/mind-and-mood/what-causes-depression
- https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/depression/in-depth/depression/art-20047725
- https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-athletes-way/201301/cortisol-why-the-stress-hormone-is-public-enemy-no-1
- https://www.newsmax.com/health/dr-brownstein/hormones-synthetic-xenoestrogens-fertility/2018/06/08/id/865091/
