What every woman should know about Hormone Replacement Therapy HRT and natural hormones.
(Published in Atlanta's Oracle20-20- August 2001)
In eight years I became “hot natured,” gained 20 pounds, began to search for words and for the most part walked around in a fog. Chores I once accomplished with ease required great effort and I became impatient when I could not find things. Even more disabling—my occasional headaches increased to up to thirteen a month and became migraines. Strangely, I didn’t get the migraines and seemed to have plenty of energy when I was canoe camping or backpacking. I wondered if my problems were psychological. Since I couldn’t live in a tent permanently I had to seek help. I tried traditional medicine.
My Neurologist gave me pills to stop the migraine and daily pills to reduce the frequency. Nothing worked! I tried alternative medicine: homeopathic remedies, herbs, magnets, hypnosis, meditation and changes in my diet. Again—nothing worked! Since I’d just turned 51 someone suggested it might be hormones. Although I still have a regular menstrual cycle and my blood work is normal my gynecologist suggested Hormone Replacement Therapy HRT. Since HRT is controversial I asked if she could prescribe a natural remedy. She said no. I reluctantly agreed to the HRT. But I changed my mind when a friend recommended I get a hormone saliva test. While I was waiting for the test results another friend gave me some progesterone cream.
The results were almost immediate. The frequency and intensity of the migraines decreased, my mental fog lifted, I felt more relaxed and I had more energy. In short—I was my old self again. My hormone saliva test confirmed my suspicions—my estrogen and testosterone levels were normal but my progesterone level was near zero. That’s when I found a number of books and literature on menopausal politics and natural progesterone. (Authors such as John Lee, Christiane Northrope, Sandra Coney, Carol Ann Rinzler and Gillian Ford)
I was shocked to learn that most menopausal women of western industrial countries have estrogen dominance (they’ve become deficient in progesterone) because they’ve been exposed to more estrogen substances in their meat, detergents, pesticides, herbicides, auto pollution and plastic household utensils. The combination of environmental pollutants, lack of exercise, cultural attitude and a diet rich in animal fat, sugar, refined starches and processed food has lead to higher levels of estrogen in Western women. Menopausal women in the Far East and in third-world-countries are usually symptom free. To correct the progesterone deficiency practitioners of alternative healthcare recommend natural progesterone made from plants such as the Mexican wild yam that can easily be used and eliminated by the body and has no known side effects. I discovered that synthetic hormones like progestin are not the equivalent to natural hormones and put women at risk of endometrial and breast cancer, autoimmune disorders, osteoporosis and other serious symptoms.
It was a surprise to learn that since the 1800s natural substances such as progesterone cannot be patented. Since man-made hormones are more profitable for the pharmaceutical companies (who delineate the protocols for research) they have a huge impact on science. Because of advertising many people, including physicians, think that progestin, a synthetic product, is actually progesterone. For example, estrogen alone is credited for a decrease in heart attacks and an increase of bone mass in post menopausal women but the confounding effect of progestins has never been studied.
Physicians who also practiced alternative medicine and proscribed natural hormones for their patients discovered, to their surprise, reversals of osteoporosis without the use of estrogen supplements. Since I suffer from migraines I read with great interest that natural progesterone cream may reduce or prevent migraines as it counteracts blood vessel dilation, restores normal vascular tone, and helps with blood sugar control. The frequency and intensity of my migraines has improved but I’ve only been on the progesterone cream for just over a month and it is too early to tell. Since I started the natural progesterone I’ve heard many “miracle” stories about the cream from others. I’m hoping it will do the same for me.
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