Someone recently wrote this in response to a FB post. I find this to be interesting and knowing what I know about the confusion surrounding HRT, somewhat understandable. I did write a book entitled, “Own Your Journey to Optimal Hormone Balance,” where I encourage all women to take charge of their journey to natural hormone balance for their best health naturally. This means one has to do the research and get educated on this subject, especially since doctors have told me they have had 4 hours of hormone education in medical school.
Let’s talk! HRT stands for Hormone Replacement Therapy. There are 2 types:
Synthetic HRT:
These are DRUGS made to act like hormones. They are NOT hormones:
Premarin (made from pregnant mare’s urine; conjugated estrogens; not made naturally in the human body; dangerous side effects as proven by the WHI study of 2002)
Provera (a progestin; also with dangerous side effects….see above)
Prempro (a combination of Premarin + Provera; in my opinion, one of the worst drugs ever created)
All birth control pills contain synthetic hormones
I don’t find this synthetic strategy anything to do with “hormone replacement” since our bodies don’t naturally make horse urine or synthetic progestins. True replacement is replacing our hormones with hormones created to mimic our body’s hormones. This is what bioidentical hormones do. Read on.
Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy aka BHRT:
BHRT is hormone therapy created to mimic the hormones in our bodies (estrogen, progesterone, testosterone) that we no longer make enough of as we age, typically around age 35, and sometimes younger. Of course, adding radical hysterectomies into the mix with removal of the uterus and ovaries also depletes our hormones.
There are 2 types of BHRT:
-The one size fits most made by pharmaceutical companies:
Estradiol tablets
Estrogen gels and sprays
Progesterone capsules called Prometrium that comes in 2 doses
The doctors who prescribe this type of bhrt do so mainly for the purpose of reducing the symptoms of perimenopause and menopause: hot flashes, brain fog, fatigue, sleep issues, weight gain, low libido, anxiety, irritability etc.
-The customized bhrt created from plant-based powders and made for the individual in a compounding lab, typically after specialized testing.
Welcome to my world and the world of my Happy Hormone Cottage! We are a one-stop-shop that begins with a step one consultation ($25), extensive personalized testing that utilizes dried urine strips sent to a lab in Oregon where it is analyzed and we receive a 15 page report on each client, that also includes her cortisol. From this, our nurse practitioner meets with the client for an hour appointment to go over her test results and to create a customized bhrt strategy for her based on her test results and on her symptoms. Our compounding lab then creates the bhrt therapy for the client personalized just for her. She returns for a 30 minute appt at 3 months to evaluate progress and to make adjustments to therapy as needed. This hormone balance strategy of refilling hormone receptors is a necessary life long strategy to improve quality of life for the long haul.
**Our goal is not to just alleviate symptoms. Our goal is PERSONALIZED MEDICINE where we create bhrt creams from FDA-approved plant based powders in our own compounding lab TO REFILL DEPLETING HORMONE RECEPTORS (again, that deplete with age after age 35) to RESTORE HORMONE BALANCE for our best health naturally. Doing this allows us to not only alleviate the symptoms of a hormone imbalance discussed above BUT ULTIMATELY to PREVENT DISEASE. Which diseases that come with aging? Heart Disease, Dementia, Osteoporosis, Breast Cancer.
It is important to understand that our hormones play very important roles in our body. As we age and we no longer have enough hormones to do these jobs, we are ripe for the diseases mentioned above. Don’t take my word for it. Visit my “Readings & Resources” webpage found on my website at www.invigom98.sg-host.com. Read Dr Jeffrey Dach’s book, “Bioidentical Hormones 101,” or Dr Uzzi Reese’s book, “Natural Hormone Balance” or the plethora of other books and studies on this subject. When I hear someone say that they have “opted out of hormone replacement therapy,” in my mind, they are opting out of protecting their heart, brain and bones. Understanding the very important role that hormones play in our body, knowing they deplete with age, and knowing we need to replace them is key. The analogy of “hormones are to women what water is to plants” sums it up nicely.
For more information, visit www.invigom98.sg-host.com or call us at 513-444-6343 to set up a 60 minute step one consultation ($25).
