marielle
18th August 2015, 19:46
Although I gave this thread a catchy title, I’m really only going to discuss my experiences over the last 18 months with menopause, doctors, and hormone replacement therapy. My opinions are controversial and I’m not telling anyone what to do—every woman must find her own way through this “change-of-life”.
Summary
After being on trans-dermal bioidentical estradiol (estrogen) and progesterone for about a year, I have personally seen the following conditions completely reversed:
• Hot flashes gone
• Chronic urinary tract infections cured (vaginal atrophy is GONE!)
• Painful intercourse gone (another symptom of vaginal atrophy)
• Hair loss reversed—full head of hair again
• Premature grey hair turned back to brown
• Insomnia gone—sleeping well now
• Sore joints gone
• High cholesterol gone
• Heart palpitations almost gone (I’ve had them all my life, though)
• Extreme angst and temper flare-ups gone
Other conditions that are reversed by estradiol that I have NOT experienced because I wasn’t deficient long enough for these to manifest (thank God):
• Bone loss
• Brain fog (early sign of dementia)
• Mid-section weight gain (muffin top)
• High blood pressure
My Experience
Menopause hit me like a ton of bricks. In the first half of 2014 I went from feeling great to wanting to jump off a bridge. I talked to my primary doctor about hormone replacement therapy but she refused because I would not get a mammogram. Fine. I really wanted to avoid hormones anyway, because, like most women, I believed the narrative that they are “bad” for me. I researched and tried many natural solutions that did absolutely nothing to help me.
Finally, I found some information on bioidentical hormones to treat menopause. Bioidentical hormones are made from plants but are molecularly identical to the human versions. Looking at them under a microscope, a scientist cannot tell the difference between them. I ended up finding an anti-aging doctor who put me on his particular protocol of trans-dermal bioidentical hormones, paleo diet, and supplements. My first blood test, before I started taking the hormones, showed my estradiol level was that of an eighty year old woman! No wonder I was so miserable—my hormone levels literally fell off a cliff.
The protocol I’m on involves “cycling” or taking daily estradiol and 12 consecutive days of progesterone per month to trigger a withdrawal bleed. In other words, 2 days after I stop taking the progesterone, I have a period for 3-4 days, even though I’m no longer ovulating. Most of my friends have balked at that right then and there! In order to reverse all my symptoms (and many more that I hadn’t had the pleasure of experiencing yet) I need to take high doses of estradiol. To minimize the risk to my uterus of endometriosis, I have to “clean it out” every month. To cycle every month is controversial, even among doctors that treat menopause with bioidenticals, but it’s working for me.
I have a long-time boyfriend and, although I need to make sure he does not come into contact with my hormones, he couldn’t be more pleased with the results. Sex is fun again. But, he is really jealous of my brown hair! He couldn’t believe it when the grey started disappearing. Actually, I was pretty shocked, too, because I wasn’t expecting it. I did wonder why my four brothers, close in age to me, had no grey yet I had a full head of it. Well, it turns out that my hair had turned grey prematurely and was falling out due to the loss of estrogen. Once I replaced the estrogen, it started growing in dark and full again.
Breast Cancer?
What about breast cancer? Yes, this is controversial because so many people are screaming about estrogen and breast cancer, but, in my opinion, the evidence that implicates estrogen as causing breast cancer is flawed. I’m not going to argue this at all. Many doctors who specialize in treating menopause have come to the same conclusion. The truth is out there and there is also a lot of bad information. Do your own research and come to your own conclusions.
More information:
http://www.amazon.com/Screaming-Heard-Hormonal-Connections-Suspect/dp/0871319144
http://www.amazon.com/Natural-Hormone-Balance-Women-Exuberance/dp/0743406664
http://www.menopausepower.com/ (I only purchased her book for $27)
I also have about ten other books that I have purchased and studied thoroughly but the ones above are the best and they are all written by medical doctors that specialize in treating menopause.
Follow the Money
Unfortunately, the medical and pharmaceutical industries make a FORTUNE treating all the symptoms of menopause. Examples of these treatments are taking statin (cholesterol lowering) drugs, bisphosphonates for bone loss, antacids, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), sleeping pills, antidepressants, and anti-anxiety medications. My primary doctor wanted me to start taking low-doses of antibiotics full time to address my chronic urinary tract infections. No thanks!
All of this suffering could be avoided entirely by simply treating menopause since many of those conditions are caused by the loss of estrogen. Here is a quote from Menopause Power by Dr. Schwarzbein:
That the loss of E2 [estradiol] & P4 [progesterone] causes and exacerbates metabolic imbalance is the reason to view menopause in a whole new light -to appreciate its inevitable, damaging effect on a woman's health and longevity.
Back when most women died in their fifties and sixties, primarily from infectious disease, they were not living that many years after the onset of menopause. Therefore, the absence of E2 & P4 did not have a substantial impact on their health. They died before the detrimental effects manifested. Today, however, women are living into their seventies, eighties, and beyond, and typically die from degenerative diseases, which, as you now understand, are caused by metabolic imbalance. They are living with the absence of E2 & P4 for decades, and it is becoming more and more evident that the loss of the sex hormones plays a significant role in undermining their health and promoting and accelerating the degenerative diseases of aging. The good news is, women are living longer. The bad news is, we are living long enough for metabolic imbalance to catch up with us and cause us to "fall apart."
Conclusion
This treatment isn’t cheap, unfortunately. I’m spending about $1500 to $2000 a year on compounded creams, doctor visits, and labs every three months. However, since my quality of life would be unacceptable without it, I make it work out. I would prefer to just be able to buy estradiol over the counter, though. Progesterone is already available OTC, but estradiol is the critical hormone I need.
If you feel motivated to look for a doctor that uses bioidentical hormones to treat menopause, please make sure to listen to your own body! It seems like the Wild West out there—every doctor has a different protocol and not many doctors are willing to let you experiment to figure out what works best for you. My body knows best and I’ve had to tweak the protocol from my doctor (I substantially reduced the amount of progesterone I use) and I doubt he would be willing to let me try estradiol pellets inserted in my arm every three months, which I’d like to try because it would just be much easier. I’m still researching and tweaking this and that…and sometimes suffering the consequences. This has not been an easy road at all, but I have no other alternatives. For me, life without estrogen is not worth living.
Good luck :heart:
Addendum 1 : Cheaper Options
If a woman is suffering from a lack of estrogen, then any estrogen is better than nothing. My Mom has been taking Premarin (horse estrogen!) for 30 years and stubbornly refused to switch to anything else. Recently her insurance company stopped paying for it, and, since it’s quite expensive, I was able to get her to ask her doctor for an Estrace prescription. He gave her a prescription for generic Estrace for 3 months and it was filled by the local CVS pharmacy for $30 (90 tablets of .5 mg estradiol) and it was NOT covered by her insurance, either. Taking estrogen orally is not ideal because the liver gets a first pass at the hormones which produces metabolites that must be excreted. Many women who take Estrace have found ways to make the most of their doses by dissolving them in their cheeks, under their tongues, or inserting vaginally. Here is a website that discusses this:
http://surmeno.blogspot.com/2006/04/transbuccal-use-of-estrace-support-for.html
But, even taking Estrace (estradiol) orally is better than nothing.
Summary
After being on trans-dermal bioidentical estradiol (estrogen) and progesterone for about a year, I have personally seen the following conditions completely reversed:
• Hot flashes gone
• Chronic urinary tract infections cured (vaginal atrophy is GONE!)
• Painful intercourse gone (another symptom of vaginal atrophy)
• Hair loss reversed—full head of hair again
• Premature grey hair turned back to brown
• Insomnia gone—sleeping well now
• Sore joints gone
• High cholesterol gone
• Heart palpitations almost gone (I’ve had them all my life, though)
• Extreme angst and temper flare-ups gone
Other conditions that are reversed by estradiol that I have NOT experienced because I wasn’t deficient long enough for these to manifest (thank God):
• Bone loss
• Brain fog (early sign of dementia)
• Mid-section weight gain (muffin top)
• High blood pressure
My Experience
Menopause hit me like a ton of bricks. In the first half of 2014 I went from feeling great to wanting to jump off a bridge. I talked to my primary doctor about hormone replacement therapy but she refused because I would not get a mammogram. Fine. I really wanted to avoid hormones anyway, because, like most women, I believed the narrative that they are “bad” for me. I researched and tried many natural solutions that did absolutely nothing to help me.
Finally, I found some information on bioidentical hormones to treat menopause. Bioidentical hormones are made from plants but are molecularly identical to the human versions. Looking at them under a microscope, a scientist cannot tell the difference between them. I ended up finding an anti-aging doctor who put me on his particular protocol of trans-dermal bioidentical hormones, paleo diet, and supplements. My first blood test, before I started taking the hormones, showed my estradiol level was that of an eighty year old woman! No wonder I was so miserable—my hormone levels literally fell off a cliff.
The protocol I’m on involves “cycling” or taking daily estradiol and 12 consecutive days of progesterone per month to trigger a withdrawal bleed. In other words, 2 days after I stop taking the progesterone, I have a period for 3-4 days, even though I’m no longer ovulating. Most of my friends have balked at that right then and there! In order to reverse all my symptoms (and many more that I hadn’t had the pleasure of experiencing yet) I need to take high doses of estradiol. To minimize the risk to my uterus of endometriosis, I have to “clean it out” every month. To cycle every month is controversial, even among doctors that treat menopause with bioidenticals, but it’s working for me.
I have a long-time boyfriend and, although I need to make sure he does not come into contact with my hormones, he couldn’t be more pleased with the results. Sex is fun again. But, he is really jealous of my brown hair! He couldn’t believe it when the grey started disappearing. Actually, I was pretty shocked, too, because I wasn’t expecting it. I did wonder why my four brothers, close in age to me, had no grey yet I had a full head of it. Well, it turns out that my hair had turned grey prematurely and was falling out due to the loss of estrogen. Once I replaced the estrogen, it started growing in dark and full again.
Breast Cancer?
What about breast cancer? Yes, this is controversial because so many people are screaming about estrogen and breast cancer, but, in my opinion, the evidence that implicates estrogen as causing breast cancer is flawed. I’m not going to argue this at all. Many doctors who specialize in treating menopause have come to the same conclusion. The truth is out there and there is also a lot of bad information. Do your own research and come to your own conclusions.
More information:
http://www.amazon.com/Screaming-Heard-Hormonal-Connections-Suspect/dp/0871319144
http://www.amazon.com/Natural-Hormone-Balance-Women-Exuberance/dp/0743406664
http://www.menopausepower.com/ (I only purchased her book for $27)
I also have about ten other books that I have purchased and studied thoroughly but the ones above are the best and they are all written by medical doctors that specialize in treating menopause.
Follow the Money
Unfortunately, the medical and pharmaceutical industries make a FORTUNE treating all the symptoms of menopause. Examples of these treatments are taking statin (cholesterol lowering) drugs, bisphosphonates for bone loss, antacids, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), sleeping pills, antidepressants, and anti-anxiety medications. My primary doctor wanted me to start taking low-doses of antibiotics full time to address my chronic urinary tract infections. No thanks!
All of this suffering could be avoided entirely by simply treating menopause since many of those conditions are caused by the loss of estrogen. Here is a quote from Menopause Power by Dr. Schwarzbein:
That the loss of E2 [estradiol] & P4 [progesterone] causes and exacerbates metabolic imbalance is the reason to view menopause in a whole new light -to appreciate its inevitable, damaging effect on a woman's health and longevity.
Back when most women died in their fifties and sixties, primarily from infectious disease, they were not living that many years after the onset of menopause. Therefore, the absence of E2 & P4 did not have a substantial impact on their health. They died before the detrimental effects manifested. Today, however, women are living into their seventies, eighties, and beyond, and typically die from degenerative diseases, which, as you now understand, are caused by metabolic imbalance. They are living with the absence of E2 & P4 for decades, and it is becoming more and more evident that the loss of the sex hormones plays a significant role in undermining their health and promoting and accelerating the degenerative diseases of aging. The good news is, women are living longer. The bad news is, we are living long enough for metabolic imbalance to catch up with us and cause us to "fall apart."
Conclusion
This treatment isn’t cheap, unfortunately. I’m spending about $1500 to $2000 a year on compounded creams, doctor visits, and labs every three months. However, since my quality of life would be unacceptable without it, I make it work out. I would prefer to just be able to buy estradiol over the counter, though. Progesterone is already available OTC, but estradiol is the critical hormone I need.
If you feel motivated to look for a doctor that uses bioidentical hormones to treat menopause, please make sure to listen to your own body! It seems like the Wild West out there—every doctor has a different protocol and not many doctors are willing to let you experiment to figure out what works best for you. My body knows best and I’ve had to tweak the protocol from my doctor (I substantially reduced the amount of progesterone I use) and I doubt he would be willing to let me try estradiol pellets inserted in my arm every three months, which I’d like to try because it would just be much easier. I’m still researching and tweaking this and that…and sometimes suffering the consequences. This has not been an easy road at all, but I have no other alternatives. For me, life without estrogen is not worth living.
Good luck :heart:
Addendum 1 : Cheaper Options
If a woman is suffering from a lack of estrogen, then any estrogen is better than nothing. My Mom has been taking Premarin (horse estrogen!) for 30 years and stubbornly refused to switch to anything else. Recently her insurance company stopped paying for it, and, since it’s quite expensive, I was able to get her to ask her doctor for an Estrace prescription. He gave her a prescription for generic Estrace for 3 months and it was filled by the local CVS pharmacy for $30 (90 tablets of .5 mg estradiol) and it was NOT covered by her insurance, either. Taking estrogen orally is not ideal because the liver gets a first pass at the hormones which produces metabolites that must be excreted. Many women who take Estrace have found ways to make the most of their doses by dissolving them in their cheeks, under their tongues, or inserting vaginally. Here is a website that discusses this:
http://surmeno.blogspot.com/2006/04/transbuccal-use-of-estrace-support-for.html
But, even taking Estrace (estradiol) orally is better than nothing.