Hormones, Mental Health
Managing Depression with Optimized Hormone Levels
Did you know that depression can be helped by optimizing hormones?
When you were younger and healthier, your hormones were at their peak. And as you aged, these hormone levels dropped. In fact, many feel it's the lack of hormones that ages us and not the other way around!
The peak ages of depression are seen in our late teens and early twenties, and then again around the age of 50 or menopause/andropause. During both of these periods of our lives, hormones are fluctuating wildly!
So many patients who optimize their hormones will tell me that they were able to get off of the antidepressant that they had been taking for decades! Wow! That's truly remarkable.
One day when I was getting my annual physical, and my very astute internist was going through his list of questions. He starts going down a path I quickly recognized. After a few questions about my mental health, I say “I am not boo hoo depressed!”
He then says, “We both know ‘depression doesn't have to mean ‘sad', and you've got the symptoms: listless, lack of motivation, lack of libido and function, etc.” He prescribed an antidepressant, which absolutely helped and I took for years.
Then, when sitting in a lecture for my hormone board certification, the topic of depression was addressed. The professor explained that the lack of hormones that occur at middle age was felt to cause this second peak in the problem that we see.
This revelation gave me a second burst of inspiration to find a solution for others who struggle with depression. I got off the antidepressants as I had been on testosterone replacement for about 6 months at the time. A few weeks later I asked my spouse what she felt about my “moods” and she said, “they are great! Why are you asking?”
I replied that I had quit my antidepressant 6 weeks prior and wanted to see what happened.
What happened was that now my hormones were optimized and freed me of having to take this drug every day! True story! So, if you're suffering the same and not optimizing your levels, you may want to give us a shout. Give us a call at (828) 505-2885 or visit Biltmore Restorative today!
