Hormone Therapy for Men & Women for West Orange, NJ

Starting is one decision; staying is another

Most of what is written about hormone replacement therapy is about the start: the symptoms, the blood test, the first prescription. Less is said about what follows. At Montville MedSpa & Pain Center, HRT is offered to men with low testosterone and to women through perimenopause, menopause and beyond, and a plan is treated as something reviewed and reshaped over time rather than set once and left alone.

Who it is for

• Men whose testosterone is confirmed low by lab work, often after years of putting fatigue, lost muscle, a lower sex drive, irritability or foggy thinking down to work and age.
• Women whose changing estrogen and progesterone bring hot flashes, night sweats, broken sleep, mood shifts, a fading libido or a change in weight.

For both, the order never varies: an in-person consultation and a full health history, lab work, then a dose chosen from your own numbers read beside your symptoms.

The settling-in weeks

Your body needs time to adjust to restored hormone levels, and a few temporary effects can turn up early on. Knowing them in advance makes them easier to report than to worry about:

• bloating, breast tenderness or swings in mood, mostly in women while estrogen settles;
• a breakout or a change in skin texture, which usually eases once the dose is fine-tuned;
• holding some fluid, or mild swelling;
• a reaction where an injection went in, for those using injections rather than a cream or gel.

Mention any of these at your follow-up. Adjusting the protocol is what the follow-up visits are for. Energy, mood and sleep often begin to improve within two to four weeks; libido, body composition and clearer thinking tend to take two to three months.

A phase, or for the long term?

Nobody is signed up for life. Some women use hormone therapy to get through a particular stretch, such as menopause, and later taper off. Other patients carry on for years because they value how they feel. Either way, repeat labs and regular reviews keep the plan honest, and the choice to continue is yours, made with your results on the table. If therapy turns out not to suit you, you will be told so.

Some people are not candidates at all: a personal or family history of hormone-sensitive cancer, blood clots or certain heart and circulation conditions can rule it out, which is why the history is taken in the room.

Who oversees it

Dr. Donna D’Alessio, MD, board certified in Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, guides every hormone plan in the practice. Nurse practitioner Tanya Santoro, NP-C, whose background includes cardiology and primary care, works on hormone and testosterone care alongside her.

From West Orange

I-280 west, the New Road exit, then Changebridge Road up to Route 202: roughly 25 minutes and 15 miles without traffic, which keeps review visits easy to fit in.

West Orange patients ask

Is this done over video? No. It is an in-office program in Towaco, and you meet the clinicians responsible for your plan. Here is how it works.

Does HRT make you gain weight? Not directly. Early water retention can happen and is usually short-lived.

Will insurance cover it? That depends on your plan. Some cover lab work and certain prescriptions; compounded preparations often are not. Your insurer can confirm.

Read the full HRT page or our West Orange page.

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