Hormone Pellet therapy

Hormone pellets are small cylindrical capsules the size of a grain of rice containing the bioidentical hormones estradiol and/or testosterone.

Natural bioidentical hormones, derived from wild yams, have an identical molecular structure to the hormones that your body produces, unlike synthetic hormone replacement.

The pellets are a fast, effective and extremely convenient hormone replacement system. A licensed compounding pharmacist makes the pellets at the specific doses directed by the doctor and delivers them in sterile containers. Dr. Liebowitz places them under the skin during a quick office procedure.

Once he numbs the area with a local anesthetic, Dr. Liebowitz inserts the pellets under the skin in your upper buttocks through a tiny incision. The pellets eventually dissolve and need to be replaced within 4-6 months. The pellets completely dissolve so they do not need to be removed. Once the tiny incision heals (generally within a few days) they are undetectable under the skin in the fat layer.

Men usually require between 6 and 10 testosterone pellets implanted under the skin; only two small pellets (one of estradiol and one of testosterone) are needed for use in women.

If Dr. Liebowitz uses estradiol hormones for women’s therapy, you take cyclical progesterone for two weeks each month by oral capsules or vaginal suppository at bedtime.

Many women and men receive hormone replacement therapy through creams, pills, or injections. These methods work, but cause the hormone levels in your blood to fluctuate, producing inconsistent results.

Hormone fluctuation produces symptoms and side effects that can negate the benefit of the hormone replacement therapy. They can also be messy, inconvenient and occasionally missed by mistake. Topical creams may be inadvertently transferred to other people or pets.

On the other hand, pellets deliver a consistent level of hormones, providing optimal relief from irritating and debilitating menopause symptoms such as hot flashes and insomnia. As with other hormone replacement therapy, the pellets help you recover lost sexual function by eliminating vaginal dryness and increasing your libido and sexual response.

Patients who have had trouble with other types of hormone therapy find that pellets provide dramatic improvement in well-being and energy due to the consistent blood levels of hormone sustained. Plus, they are convenient — you avoid messy creams and don’t have to remember to take shots.

Dr. Liebowitz uses natural bioidentical hormone replacement therapy in the pellets. They don’t include the chemical progestins that were shown to increase the risk of breast cancer in the Women’s Health Initiative study.

You may have temporary breast tenderness, which resolves on its own. The good news for both men and women is your body firms up, muscles and bone density increase, and fat tissue decreases.