I speak to many women every day who have their hormones replaced by doctors in the most random ways. Most traditional doctors treat menopause and hormone replacement based only on symptoms, and with no consideration of what is happening in women’s bodies physiologically. I’ve seen some pretty frightening things in my time.
One of the worst is when a woman starts having menopausal symptoms and the doctor never checks her hormone levels. Women tell me quite often that they’ve reported having irregular periods to their gynecologists. This usually occurs with women who are close to 50-years-old. Gynecologists are supposed to be experts in women’s health and especially with issues like menopause. I have even seen a few women in this situation being put on birth control pills to regulate their periods.
The most common scenario for replacing women’s hormones is to put them on a static dose of hormones. The only time in a woman’s life that she would have hormones continuously would be during pregnancy. And this is when women gain a lot of weight, develop high blood pressure, and insulin resistance.
Many times, menopause symptoms are treated with anti-depressants, anti-anxiety drugs and sleeping pills. All of these treatments could and should be eliminated. Simply restoring a hormone balance would resolve all the problems associated with menopause—and without the use of any toxic, prescription drugs. The only hormone replacement approach that makes sense to me is to administer hormones in a dosage as close as possible to the pattern existing in a patient before menopause. This pattern should be rhythmic and suited to the individual.
I also don’t believe that women with hysterectomies should be treated with a different hormone schedule. Many doctors feel that if a woman doesn’t have a uterus, then she doesn’t need progesterone. The question to ask then is: “What about the rest of her body?”
Progesterone doesn’t just go to the uterus. It travels throughout the body where it plays an important function in balancing women’s hormones. Ultimately, I believe that putting women’s hormones back as close to the way they were before menopause has the greatest benefit for maintaining health. It can also prevent disease as well as age-related declines in health. It is vital to support normal body function as long as possible for optimal healthy aging in both women and men. Have you had any experiences like the ones I’ve described in this post? I’d like to know.
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Yes I have had the exact experience you are talking about. I refused to go on anti-depressants and would not go back on the pill. I have been working with a nutritional Doctor and she put me on Armour Thyroid. I am not feeling well at all. I am physicaly exhausted and mentally excited I literally can not sleep since I have been on the Armour. I have tried prometrium 100mg progesterone and get my period in 12 days after and the she put on 50mg progesterone and again the same thing. I am feeling it may not be the thyroid but maybe the adrenals that need to be treated. But in the meantime I am completely exhausted.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for your comment and sharing your experience with us.
ReplyDeleteI've been trying to get on the right track for over a year. After reading Suzanne Somers' new book, "Breakthrough," I found a physician who is local in the Resource section that I believe is on target specializing in anti-aging & hypertension, however not as knowledeable in bio-identicals as I would hope.
ReplyDeleteLong story short, I am premenopausal, and I have a "reverse" thyroid situation going on. I've been on Synthroid for the past year, feeling horrible. My new physician worked with me for six weeks, realized I'm not responding to Synthroid, and finally determined because of high thyroid antibodies & a high reverse T3 outcome, that I'm not converting anything to T3, so I just started a new RX of Armour today. We'll see....my other concern is the bio-identicals I've been put on. The cream I received from the compounding pharmacy is a compilation of estradiol (150 mg), progesterone (6 gm), and testosterone (100mg) in one vial. I am to use this every day of the month except for when I am bleeding. Though I am thankful for having found my new physician, who listens to me and is willing to address these issues in a way that is current; I'm worried about the delivery of the estrogen & progesterone together. I've read alot about cycling the delivery of progesterone, which makes the most sense to me. However, when I brought this up at my last visit, his RN (who is handling the bio-identicals) insisted this is the new way of thinking and to give it a try. I still don't understand how it is different than birth control (not in the formulation but in that my periods will stop) measures so I'm concerned and do not know what to do. In Nashville, there are not alot of physician resources knowledgeable in bio-identical hormones. Help!! If anyone has anything to add..