Remember how easy it was to enjoy your favorite foods without worrying about gaining weight or how quickly you could lose a few pounds just by cutting back for a week?
For many women, those days are long gone, especially during perimenopause and menopause. These stages of life bring hormonal changes that make it challenging to keep weight off.
Learn how weight loss injections and bioidentical hormone replacement therapy (BHRT) can tackle these hormonal imbalances, providing new ways to manage weight and boost overall health.
Understanding Hormonal Weight Gain in Women
Hormones like estrogen and progesterone are vital for reproductive health and help maintain various bodily functions.
Like conductors in an orchestra, these hormones ensure all bodily functions work harmoniously. They regulate everything from skin health to bone density and play a pivotal role in regulating body weight.
As women approach menopause, hormone levels decline. This shift is gradual, beginning in perimenopause, which can start as early as the mid-thirties or as late as the fifties.
The perimenopause phase can last anywhere from a few months to several years leading up to menopause, medically defined as the point when a woman has not had a menstrual period for 12 months.
Impact of Declining Estrogen and Progesterone on Weight
One noticeable effect of lower estrogen and progesterone levels is weight gain, especially around the stomach area.
Estrogen helps control metabolism and body weight by affecting how the body handles insulin and stores fat.
It helps process starches and sugar, and lower levels can cause insulin resistance, where the body struggles to reduce blood sugar levels.
This process often leads to more fat storage around the waist, making it harder to lose weight.
Low progesterone levels can cause bloating and water retention, which might make it seem like you’ve gained more weight than you actually have.
According to a UChicagoMedicine report, “The decrease in estrogen and progesterone, along with aging in general, triggers metabolic changes in the body. One change is a decrease in muscle mass, resulting in fewer calories being burned. If fewer calories are being burned, fat accumulates.”
The Challenge of Hormonal Imbalance
Hormonal imbalances can make weight management more complicated. Diets that used to work might not work anymore, and any weight gained becomes more challenging to lose.
Also, the physical changes during perimenopause and menopause often affect mood, making it difficult to stay motivated and maintain a healthy lifestyle.
These hormonal shifts and weight management issues demonstrate why traditional weight loss methods may fail during this time.
Understanding these changes and creating more effective health strategies for these life stages is crucial.
Exploring Weight Loss Injections
In an interview, Dr. Ania M. Jastreboff, an Associate Professor of Medicine (Endocrinology) and Pediatrics at Yale School of Medicine, said, “We need to treat patients with obesity the same way we treat patients with diabetes, hypertension or any other chronic disease; we need to provide patients with options and treatment tools that target the biology of obesity while serving as guides on their health journey.”
Weight loss injections are potent tools for reducing stubborn fat, especially when traditional diet and exercise fail.
These injections target different aspects of weight loss.
Semaglutide or The Skinny Shot
Semaglutide, developed initially to manage diabetes, is one of the latest weight-loss advancements, approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Semaglutide mimics a hormone that targets areas of the brain that regulate appetite. This medication decreases hunger and caloric intake. It also slows stomach emptying, helping prolong feelings of fullness after meals.
According to Harvard Health, semaglutide significantly aids weight loss by better regulating blood sugar levels and decreasing appetite, making it a strong choice for those dealing with obesity and other weight-related medical conditions.
Novo Nordisk, the maker of Ozempic, found in a 72-week clinical trial that people taking 7.2 mg of semaglutide lost 21 % of their weight, compared to an 18% loss with a lower dose and only a 2% loss with a placebo.
This endorsement is for ongoing weight management in patients with a body mass index (BMI) of 27 kg/m2 or higher who suffer from at least one weight-related condition or those with a BMI of 30 kg/m2 or above.
Lipotropic Injections
Lipotropic injections contain active ingredients that help the liver process fat faster, enhancing fat breakdown and removal from the body. These ingredients typically include choline, inositol and methionine.
They work together to remove fat from the liver, improve liver function and promote a more efficient fat metabolism.
Comprehensive Benefits of Weight Loss Injections
These prescription medication injections decrease appetite, enhance metabolism and directly influence fat distribution and breakdown.
The result is weight loss and improved overall health, benefitting women experiencing metabolic slowdowns due to age-related hormonal changes.
However, as with any medical treatment, it is crucial to discuss the potential benefits and risks with a healthcare provider from a weight loss clinic in Kansas City.
This consultation ensures that the treatment aligns with your health profiles and goals, providing a safe and effective route to weight management.
Benefits of Weight Loss Injections for Hormonal Balance
Weight loss injections offer a dual benefit. First, they can counteract the effects of hormonal imbalances that influence appetite, weight gain and metabolism.
Weight loss injections also stabilize blood sugar levels. Stable blood sugar levels are essential for reducing sudden hunger spikes and cravings, which occur when glucose metabolism changes with age.
Keeping blood sugar levels consistent helps manage appetite more effectively, which is vital for sustained weight management and overall health.
By directly addressing the metabolic and appetite-related changes that come with perimenopause and menopause, these injections offer a proactive approach to maintaining health and wellness during a phase of life that can often feel uncontrollable.
Consult a doctor at a hormone treatment center in Kansas City to understand weight loss injections’ benefits and potential risks. This will ensure that any treatment chosen aligns with your health needs and medical history, providing a safe and effective path to weight loss and hormonal balance.
The Role of BHRT in Weight Management
What is BHRT?
Bioidentical hormone replacement therapy uses chemically identical hormones to those the body naturally produces. BHRT can be tailored to your specific hormonal needs, which makes it a powerful approach for addressing menopausal symptoms, including weight gain.
How BHRT Supports Metabolism and Fat Loss
BHRT supports metabolism and facilitates fat loss during menopause’s hormonal changes. By stabilizing hormone levels, it elevates the body’s metabolic rate.
This increase in metabolism means that calories are burned more efficiently, which is essential for weight management as it counteracts the metabolic slowdown often experienced during menopause.
According to the International Menopause Society, “Menopausal abdominal fat accumulation is ameliorated by estrogen therapy, with a reduction in overall fat mass, improved insulin sensitivity and a lower rate of development of type 2 diabetes.”
BHRT assists in altering how the body stores fat. During menopause, fat tends to accumulate more prominently in the abdominal area, partly due to hormonal imbalances.
BHRT helps modulate this response, reducing the body’s inclination to store fat centrally and promoting a more even fat distribution. This regulation aids in weight management and reduces the risk associated with cardiovascular disease and insulin resistance.
What should you consider before opting for weight loss injections to lose weight?
Before opting for injectable prescription medicine, consult a healthcare provider to ensure it is safe and appropriate. Understand the potential side effects, costs and commitment required. For long-term weight loss, it is essential to combine injections with a healthy diet, physical activity and lifestyle changes.
Inform also your care team about any dietary supplements, herbal supplements and medicine you take, and if you smoke and drink alcohol, as some of these may interact with the weight loss drug.
The FDA warns, “Do not purchase fat-dissolving products from websites and attempt to inject them yourself. Not only might the product be ineffective, you might experience serious complications such as infections or permanent scars.”
Understanding the Side Effects of Weight Loss Injections
While weight loss injections offer promising results for those struggling with excess weight, be aware of the possible negative side effects that can accompany these treatments. Like all medications, the effects can vary widely from person to person, but being informed can help you manage and mitigate potential issues.
Most Common Side Effects
Some individuals might experience digestive disturbances such as nausea, diarrhea, constipation and vomiting. These symptoms are often temporary and may resolve as the body adjusts to the medication.
Common injection site reactions include redness, swelling, itching or bruising. These are generally mild and tend to dissipate within a few days.
Adverse Side Effects
Rare serious side effects include inflammation of the pancreas (pancreatitis), which can present as upper stomach pain spreading to the back, nausea and persistent vomiting.
Additionally, gallbladder problems, kidney problems and severe allergic reactions can occur. Symptoms of a serious allergic reaction might include swelling of your face, lips, tongue or throat, which could cause difficulty breathing.
There have been reports of effects on mental health, such as sudden changes in mood and thoughts of suicide. It’s crucial to monitor any mental changes and seek medical help, particularly if you have a history of mental health issues.
Discussing these prescription drugs’ possible side effects with your healthcare provider can help you decide whether weight loss injections are right for you. They can provide guidance on how to manage side effects and adjust treatment plans as needed to minimize discomfort and maximize benefits.
The manufacturer advises avoiding Wegovy® if you or any of your family have ever had a type of thyroid cancer called medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) or multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2 (MEN 2)
A study published in The American Journal of Cardiology concluded, “The majority of these events [risk of gastrointestinal adverse events] were transient and mild-to-moderate in severity and did not require treatment discontinuation. In conclusion, semaglutide is efficacious for sustained weight loss in patients with overweight/obesity and without diabetes.’
Remember, while the side effects can be daunting, they are manageable for many, and the benefits of treatment can outweigh the risks for those struggling with obesity-related health issues.
Manage Weight With KC Wellness Center’s Comprehensive Weight Loss Program
Prescription weight loss injections and BHRT offer promising solutions for Kansas City women struggling with hormonal imbalances that contribute to weight gain during menopause.
By addressing these hormonal issues, these therapies can help lose weight and improve overall quality of life.
If you’re experiencing stubborn weight gain during perimenopause and menopause and suspect hormonal imbalances, discuss weight loss injections and BHRT with our team at KC Wellness Center.
See if our tailored treatments could be your key to better health and well-being.
Dr. Rahul Kapur, M.D. is a board-certified family medicine physician with a dedicated passion for integrative medicine and a deep knowledge of functional medicine. He was named intern of the year at Wesley Medical Center in Wichita, KS, and has been practicing as a hospitalist for over a decade. He has successfully helped many patients in Kansas City with his specialized IV bags, ketamine therapy, hormone optimization and weight loss therapy methods.