I'm Too Young for This!: The Natural Hormone Solution to Enjoy Perimenopause (20 page)

When electricity came, it was declared a miracle, but it also changed our rhythms. Now we could stay up as late as we wanted. Without the proper amount of sleep, the work of all the healing hormones that normally happened from getting enough sleep each night was disrupted. So we slept less. Stress became a part of our lives and blunted our hormone production. We stopped cycling to the lunar calendar, we had fewer children, we breast-fed less, and in general we became weaker as a species.

Rhythmic cycling exactly mimics our healthiest prime, which would be us when we were our reproductive selves, when our hormones would rise and fall in peaks … a rhythm. Without a rhythm, the body perceives things as “not exactly right for reproduction,” and it is in this imbalanced state that disease cells can begin to go wonky. Mimicking nature is the best way we can protect ourselves to avoid cell proliferation (cancer) and in turn keep organs intact as long as the rest of our diet and lifestyle habits are healthy.

Rhythmic cycling is worth looking into. It resonates. It makes sense. We do ebb and flow as human beings with the moon and the tides. It would make sense that our cycles would do the same.

Now that I am sixty-six, I do not make any sex hormones on my own anymore. None. So in order to create the right rhythm, I feel best at this time in my life taking my hormones in this way. I can’t imagine how I’d feel or look had I not been replacing hormones all these years. I look at contemporaries who are afraid from lack of knowledge or who have a doctor who does not have the knowledge and they are not enjoying the kind of quality of life I have. Hormones make you happy. If you eat right and work out to some degree while replacing hormones, life and aging is a breeze. I enjoy every day.

There is another way that doctors are prescribing BHRT: continuous combined hormone therapy. This means that you get a continuous combination of estrogen and progesterone, the same amount of both every day of the month.

Personally, I am not a proponent of this therapy. But I am not a doctor. Recent research out of Norway, analyzing data from 133,744 women, showed that these regimens confer a 43 percent greater risk of breast cancer (
see
Bakken
).

Many women choose this protocol so they do not have to bother having a period. Talk to your doctor about the wisdom of mimicking pregnancy, and then make your own decision. Women on continuous combined do feel somewhat better because they are taking bioidentical hormones, and their symptoms are alleviated somewhat. But nature didn’t ever give a women estrogen every day and progesterone every day unless she was pregnant. This would not be my personal choice. I don’t believe a woman was meant to be pregnant or mimic pregnancy for the rest of her life.

Originally, I started on static dosing, but a few years ago I switched to rhythmic. It’s whatever appeals to you.

It sounds complicated, but it really is as simple as looking at the calendar that accompanies your prescription. You look at the date of the month, and it shows you what amount to take that day. That’s all it is. The thinking has been done for you.

Some women love how they feel on rhythmic and other women feel it is too much work and stop the protocol and go back to static dosing. It’s all about feeling well, not having symptoms, what works for you, and what makes you the healthiest.

Women often ask me the same general questions about the basics of taking hormones. The rest of this chapter focuses on answering those questions. In addition, my trusted experts answer very specific questions on BHRT from women just like you in
chapter 10
, “Ask the Doctors—Real Questions, Real Answers.”

When your doctor prescribes BHRT, your compounding pharmacist will prepare for you exactly what
you
need. Hormones are usually taken through the skin, or transdermally, as a patch, gel, spray, or cream. This duplicates the way sex hormones are delivered in the body. Our endocrine hormones are absorbed directly into the bloodstream rather than through the digestive tract and the liver. This is another reason why taking bioidenticals orally (by mouth) is not optimal. Hormones taken orally must be processed
by the liver, which can result in an increased incidence of blood clots and other related risks. Our livers are already so overloaded trying to eliminate environmental toxins. By taking them transdermally they not only don’t cause clotting, but they are more effective.

This is one of the top questions I hear: How much does it cost? The monthly cost of BHRT is not where the expense lies. The lab work to determine your deficiencies and needs, and the initial office visit to your qualified doctor, is the most expensive part. Insurance companies often won’t cover expenses associated with women buying natural hormones (though some do). Not to sound like a broken record, if you go to
ForeverHealth.com
you will find a qualified doctor with an affordable office visit rate. After that initial visit and lab work, the price can range, but it’s not outrageous. For instance, in my case where I am putting back all, my hormones run between $65 and $85 a month.

Until medicine shifts and insurance companies get more on board, only you can decide what you are willing to do, or even do without, to have the life quality and good health that these hormones provide.

Your qualified doctor will know how much progesterone to start you with and will increase the amount according to labs and your symptoms. Don’t be afraid to dig deep and be specific on what’s bothering you, so you can share it with your physician. Telling your doctor about every perimenopausal symptom is not being a hypochondriac. It’s valuable information he or she can use to know how much or how little hormone treatment you need.

BHRT is only available by prescription, prepared just for you at a compounding pharmacy. These pharmacies use only pure grades of estrogen. The strength and combinations of estrogens can be established by working closely with your doctor. Remember always: you know your body better than anyone. Some women require large doses to feel good. I am one of them. My body does not “sing” with low doses. Once you are on replacement, it is important to pay acute attention to how you are feeling and whether you are still experiencing symptoms. If you are still symptomatic, then you need to have your dosage evaluated. Talk to your doctor about it. A symptom might be as simple as mine: “my leg itches” (which can be a sign of low estrogen). Either way, replacing lost or declining estrogen with bioidentical estrogen will restore your body to your healthy prime.

I’ve said it often in past books, and it always bears repeating: hormones are the “juice of youth.” BHRT is real, natural, safe, and available. We are lucky to be alive at this time. Our daughters will certainly have an easier time of it because we’ve lighted the path. By the time they are grown up, I am convinced that BHRT will be the accepted way of dealing with perimenopause, menopause, and other symptoms of aging. We are the pioneers, and we are blazing the way for the next generation.

If you are now on BHRT and still finding it hard to normalize, it could be food allergies and sensitivities, as well as other environmental factors. None of us can escape the environmental assault, so it’s important to know how you might be affected and how it will hamper your efforts at health and hormonal balance. Read this section knowing that with knowledge you can survive the assault and find your ultimate sweet spot.

An estimated thirty million Americans experience adverse reactions to foods such as dairy products, eggs, nuts, soybeans, wheat, and corn. Even when we don’t think we are eating many of these foods, we may be consuming them in some form due to our overreliance on packaged and processed goods. For example, corn appears in many foods in the form of corn syrup and cornstarch. Casein, a milk protein, is used in breads, sauces, and baked goods.

Think of all the foods that fill our supermarket shelves and restaurants; how many of them have additives that did not come from nature? How many of these foods are genetically modified (GMO) or made up in chemical labs? Have you ever looked at the ingredients list for American cheese? It’s not cheese at all, but a chemical look-alike concoction.

What are we thinking? No wonder our bodies are reacting violently. No wonder so many of us don’t feel good. We have gotten so far away from the hunter-gatherer diets of early humans. Their diet was succulent roots and shoots, berries, leafy foliage, wild game, and foods that rotated with the seasons.

Unfortunately, today, it appears our bodies have not adapted to the monotonous, pesticide-riddled, chemically injected, non-nutritious foods of modern civilization. The air we breathe, the water we drink, and the food we eat determines our health and our quality of life.

Do you have headaches, sinusitis, nasal stuffiness, heartburn, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), muscle aches and stiffness, joint pain, anxiety, depression, difficulty sleeping, fatigue, skin itching,
inability to focus, palpitations, or mental confusion? You could have food allergies. As many as 60 percent of people suffer from undetected food allergies with varied symptoms like the preceding.

There are two main food allergies: IgE (immunoglobulin E) and IgG (immunoglobulin G). People with IgE have reactions to things like peanuts or bee stings. The reaction can be immediate or occur a few hours after exposure. Reactions include hives, swelling around the mouth, asthma, diarrhea, vomiting, and even life-threatening anaphylaxis, a severe adverse reaction involving the major body systems. IgG (immunoglobulin G) is associated with delayed food reactions. The most common food offenders are milk, eggs, soy, and wheat. I happen to be allergic to eggs, cashews, and oftentimes dairy. If I eat these foods, I am wiped out, dog tired, and bloated, and my face puffs up like a balloon. Eating foods to which you are allergic or sensitive causes your immune system to attack you, just like it would a bacteria or virus; it’s trying to protect you from the offending food. For people with sensitivities (depending on the degree) the smallest bit of the offending food can cause a reaction like say, a minispoonful of poison. Who would feel well taking any amount of poison?

Many people have food sensitivities and have no idea this is their problem. Something you ate four days ago may be causing today’s migraine. So many suffer for years with chronic illness and symptoms never realizing that these conditions may be caused by something they are eating to which they are allergic or intolerant. When eating foods to which we are intolerant, inflammation takes hold in our bodies. That inflammation keeps us from being able to properly absorb the nutrients from our food. Being able to absorb your food is also critical in how well you age. Even if you are replacing hormones with bioidenticals, if your GI tract is inflamed, you will not be able to achieve balance. To have a balanced body, great health, and balanced hormones you have
to look to your gut. If your gut is inflamed and unhealthy, nothing is going to work correctly.

I keep trying to test my body to be sure that it doesn’t want eggs or dairy or cashews. It was very clear to me the other day when I had my once-a-year “date milkshake” that my body didn’t like it. It tasted
so
good. Yet before I even finished, my stomach bloated up with gas and was uncomfortable for two days. I think my date-shake days are over! At least my body was clear with me; it did not want that milkshake.

Other foods you may be sensitive to may cause a delayed reaction, and therefore it can be difficult to associate the food with the symptoms it creates. Two things you can try immediately, if this is you: eliminate gluten and dairy for a couple of weeks to see how your body reacts. These are two of the most common intolerances, and well worth trying if you are suffering.

My husband, Alan, took years to realize his malaise, bloating, and fatigue was associated with gluten intolerance. As a result his testosterone levels plummeted, and even with replacement it wasn’t doing the job until he made the connection—it was gluten. He had been eating organic food, was replacing his hormones, took supplements, did everything right, but still didn’t feel “right.” His stomach bloated every afternoon around three o’clock and he would have to take a nap from exhaustion. He would sleep eight to nine hours and wake up exhausted. Finally one of his tests came back and there it was: serious gluten intolerance.