We recently had a client come to us to get her hormone levels checked because she was struggling with hot flashes, weight gain and sleep issues. Her saliva test results on her existing hormone levels came back from zrt lab and we wrote our recommendation for her hormone balance for her doctor. She actually took her test results to two doctors who both told her she does not have a hormone issue. They convinced her to “pursue another path,” which I can assume, based on past history with conventionally trained doctors, will include an estrogen patch for her hot flashes and a prescriptive sleeping aid for her sleep issues. The most unfortunate piece of this is that this client did NOT have what it takes to stick up for herself to feel better. She allowed herself to believe her doctor…..”But Lyn, he’s the doctor!” so she will NOT get better. Yes, the estrogen product (patch, spray, gel) will take care of her hot flashes at the expense of her weight gain, brain fog and increased risk of breast cancer. And the sleeping aid will probably get her to sleep. But I have to ask this important question- will this actually fix the cause of her issues which IS without a doubt, a hormone imbalance issue. WE have her hormone levels to prove it. The answer is “No, it will not!”. Here is where knowledge of what we do comes into play. The truth is that this client needs progesterone. This is the hormone responsible for sleep (and mood, anxiety, sugar cravings, reducing risk of breast cancer etc.) But this is not validated in conventional medicine. Again, what we do is holistic (deals with the whole body) and more in the Functional Medicine realm. She also may need a little estrogen, based physiologically for HER body, to get rid of the hot flashes; and when we balance her ratio of progesterone to estradiol, this addresses her weight gain. Do you understand the difference in our strategy that FIXES the cause of her symptoms vs her doctor’s approach, which uses drug therapy to get rid of a couple of her symptoms? When this gal went to her doctor, they did not validate her nor listen to her story, nor could they think outside the box to embrace a more natural path. And, because she did not have what it takes when meeting with her doctor, which is: education and knowledge of what we do and the assertive attitude necessary to get her needs met (although we did spend 45 minutes in her free initial consultation arming her with education and knowledge) she is the biggest loser. We have GOT to get past this reverence for our conventionally trained doctors and see them for who they are. Those who refuse to do this will NOT get their needs met. They WILL make some pharmaceutical company very happy…..but at the expense of our healthy hormone balance, anti-aging strategy and the chance to prevent disease. What pharmaceutical company wants this? And this reinforces my thinking that it is really rather difficult sometimes to see the value of many physicians today.
This is where education and knowledge come into play…
