#169: Are Hormone Pellets the Right Answer?

Hey beautiful, it's Dr. Tabatha.

I want to share something with you that I believe God is doing right now in women's health.

We're in the middle of a massive movement and most people don't even know it. Every single day, 6,000 women in the U.S. enter menopause. That's over 2 million women a year, and by 2030, that's more than 1.2 billion women worldwide. So here's the thing, most of these women feel exhausted, bloated, anxious, disconnected from themselves, and the medical system is Doctors are handing out prescriptions and quick fixes, and no one is helping women heal from the root cause of their issues. That's where Fast to Faith coaches come in. As a certified coach, you'll be equipped to help midlife women balance their hormones, heal their gut, regain their energy, and reconnect their faith, the foundation that so many of us have been missing. And from a business standpoint, woo, this is one of the most lucrative untapped opportunities in the entire health coaching world. The global health coaching industry is expected to reach over $33 billion by 2023, and midlife women are the fastest-growing, highest-spending demographic in that space. Most importantly, these women stay with their coaches. They invest deeply because they are desperate for lasting transformation—

body, mind, and spirit.

So if you've been feeling that pull and that whisper that you're meant to do more, This is it. Now is the time to rise, to serve, and build a purpose-driven business that not only changes other women's lives but transforms your own in the process.

Because when you help one woman heal, you help her family, her marriage, her faith, and her future.

That's the ripple effect that we're creating with Fast to Faith. So join me, click the link to come watch this webinar. It might be the one thing that really moves the needle for you in this Next season. I can't wait to see you in there.

Hi, I'm Dr. Tabatha, the Gutsy Gynecologist. I'm a triple board-certified OB-GYN and functional medicine physician. I've embraced the world of functional medicine and wellness through my own personal health journey, and I'm super excited to share my wisdom and unique perspective as it pertains to women's health. After caring for thousands of women, I've come to realize that your gut health determines your gyn health and your overall And it's a super gutsy thing for me to go against conventional gynecology practice to bring you the truth. No more Band-Aid medicine, ladies. We're talking root cause resolution on this show. So if you're struggling with hormone imbalance, weight gain, period issues, anxiety, insomnia, you name it, then you've come to the right place. And I want to be your gutsy gynecologist. So welcome.

Okay.

I keep seeing women go on pellets for their hormones. Do I need to do this? Is this the best thing for me? That is a question from Patty in Arkansas. That's a great question. Okay. Hormone pellets. They are very popular. There is a whole movement from a company. I'm not going to name names. That really pushes pellet therapy as the only way to do bioidentical hormone replacement. But there's a couple issues with hormones as pellets. Let me be completely transparent and say that I do offer hormone pellets in my office locally, but I don't do very much of them. I think they are a good option for some women. They are not a good option for all women, and here's why. So hormone pellets are a pretty hefty dose. You often get a supraphysiologic response, meaning your levels are going to be higher than any normal range that you would shoot For in a normal situation, because the pellet gets put in and it goes to this high level and it gets slowly released every single day until it wears off 3 to 4 months later and the levels drop down really low again. And so some women tolerate it well and they feel amazing, like they get their pellet and 2 weeks later they're On top of the world. They're super productive. They're doing all the things. They're like, life is awesome. This is fabulous. And then 3 months later, they're in the toilet and they don't want to function. And so it can be that dramatic. For some women, it's a little— it's not as obvious. It's like, oh yeah, I'm feeling good. And then the 3 or 4 month mark, depending on how quickly their body is utilizing it and going through it, metabolizing it. They're like, oh, I think I'm ready for my next hormone pellet. But the hormone pellets, they look like a little piece of rice. They are a device that you have to have inserted under the skin. So you have to have a procedure. Mind you, it's in the office. It's not a big deal. We lay you on your side, we clean off the skin, inject a little lidocaine under the skin, make a tiny little cut. Use a device to shove the pellet in a few inches away from that incision, and then put some Steri-Strips on there and close you up, and it heals up in like 48 hours. But it's a procedure. There's a risk of damaging some blood vessels, having a little bleeding, getting bruised. There's a tiny risk of infection. Knock on wood, I've never seen that happen. But you are entering the skin. You're going into the subcutaneous fat layer. You're putting that pellet in there for it to slowly release every day into the subcutaneous fat. That procedure costs money, right? It's the doctor taking— or the provider taking their time to do that procedure. But the biggest point is that once the pellet's in, it's in. You cannot go and take the pellet out. Like I said, it's as small as a grain of rice. So I would do a ton of damage if I tried to go in and retrieve that pellet and to find it in your fat layer. It would just never happen. So you want to be sure that you are going to feel good on this hormone that you're receiving. So what I recommend is if you are interested in pellets, that you get that hormone in a different form And see how your body tolerates it. See what kind of level of dosage you need before you make that commitment to getting something put in your body for 3 or 4 months that cannot be removed. That's the biggest point. So only estrogen and testosterone come in pellet form. Progesterone does not. So you still want to take a progesterone capsule at bedtime if you're getting an estrogen pellet or a testosterone pellet. So you're not going to bypass other means completely altogether. I would say start with an estrogen patch or estrogen cream, testosterone cream, something to see how you tolerate these hormones and what kind of dose do you need at this time. And then we can try a pellet and see how you do. I've had many women who have used testosterone cream, and for whatever reason, their body doesn't absorb it to any physiologic level that makes them feel better. We repeat their labs and their labs are still low. Or there are a few women you have to be careful who don't glucuronidate their testosterone well, meaning they don't metabolize it appropriately. Someone with Gilbert's syndrome, they don't glucuronidate things. They don't put this garbage tag on there to remove it from their body. And so you might not tolerate testosterone therapy at all if you have Gilbert's syndrome. You might take a little bit of testosterone cream and it will build up in your system very quickly. And you'll get very high levels. And so you absolutely wouldn't want a testosterone pellet. You would probably end up with some acne and chin hair, or maybe even hair loss on your head. Those are common symptoms of too much testosterone. So this kind of stuff is important to know if you are going to a hormone therapist, a hormone specialist, the hormone doctor, whatever they want to call themselves. I want you to go to someone who does more than just pellets, because if they only do pellets, then they have a very closed-minded view of how all of this works. That means they did a weekend training course and that is all they know. And so you might get stuck in a situation that you don't feel good in. After the fact, after you get the pellets. So just be wary. I want you to be educated. You are a consumer. You are buying a product. You're buying a procedure. You are a consumer, and you need to go into this because they might not be giving you the full picture or all of the options. So preferably, you should go to someone who prescribes hormones in different modalities. Not just creams, not just pellets, not just synthetics from the conventional gynecologist. Go to someone who understands all of this. Go to someone who can give you the different modalities and figure out what works best for you, because we're all individuals and we all respond to medications and hormones completely differently depending on our genetics. How we metabolize things, how well our liver is functioning, our lifestyle, all of it. So I hope that answers the question. I am for pellets in some women who are a good candidate. Not everybody's a good candidate. So I hope that helps. All right, take care.