Hormone Balance
You do not have to be approaching menopause for your hormones to be off balance.
There is a lot of confusion about hormones, especially with all of the reports about breast and cervical cancer, osteoporosis, and Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT). Most of those reports were done with hormones foreign to a woman's body, such as Premarin, Progestin, and birth control pills. Natural hormones are not foreign to a woman's body and are made of substances closer to what a woman needs, rather than patented hormones. I was just as confused as the other women out there, so I decided to do something about it.
I did some research of my own. First, I read a book by Uzzi Reiss, M.D./O.B.-GYN. Entitled Natural Hormone Balance for Women: Look Younger, Feel Stronger, and Live Life with Exuberance by Uzzi Reiss, Martin Zucker. Dr Reiss has a practice in Beverley Hills where he has many clients whom he has helped tremendously with his program for natural hormone replacement.
As I was reading, I found myself paying close attention to the things bothering me, so I could determine what strategy to take. Seeing a list of different symptoms besides hot flashes and a dry vagina was very helpful. I thought I got hot flashes, but I would welcome anything that made me feel warmer, as I am cold often. My vagina was not dry either, so how could I know for sure if my HRT was helping me?
My Experience
I had symptoms such as depression, difficulty falling asleep and staying asleep, reduced stamina, all-day-long fatigue, headaches almost every day, a decreased sense of my sexuality, mental fogginess, rapid heartbeat, and my breasts seemed to be getting closer to my waistline. Oh no! Am I actually getting the “O” word? Well, I was beginning to wonder for the first time in my life.
I did not realize that all of these symptoms were hormone related. According to Dr. Reiss, all my symptoms were related to estrogen deficiency. As I was taking the lowest dose of estrogen possible, I started to take it at night and again in the morning instead of at night. I wasn’t sure what was happening to me, but I needed to fix it fast.
Then I started noticing that my rings were difficult to remove. They did not slide off my fingers quite as easily as before. Water retention along with pelvic cramps and uterine bleeding, are some of the signs of estrogen dominance. My headaches got worse, and I was beginning to get confused. How could I be estrogen deficient and estrogen dominant at the same time? So I continued reading.
After reading about conventional estrogen replacement therapy (Premarin), a type of estrogen made from pregnant horse urine, I decided that I did not want to subject my body to 22 different equine hormones that did not belong in my body. I am not a horse, I do not eat hay, and I honestly do not know why the pharmaceutical companies think I might benefit from the hormones in pregnant horse urine. There is only one compound in horse’s urine that is the same as my own body’s estrogen, so what will my body do with the rest of it?
I thought I would try some natural estrogen cream to replace the Premarin. I asked my doctor to write me a prescription for tri-est, a natural estrogen cream recommended in Dr. Reiss’s book. I took it to a compounding pharmacy where the pharmacist specialized in women’s hormones. When I gave her my prescription, she took one look at it, and told me that I did not even need it. She said that my body produced enough estrogen at my age and would still be producing it 30 years from now. It was the natural progesterone cream that I needed.
Still Confused
I must have looked confused because she gave me some information and told me to read a book called What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Menopause: The Breakthrough Book on Natural Progesterone by John R. Lee, Virginia Hopkins. Hmmmm. The title of that book sounded very familiar to me for some reason. So I went home and looked on my bookshelf, and there it was. I had started reading it a few years ago, but because of the explanatory language, did not finish it. I knew there was a reason why I previously had it in my head that I did not want to take estrogen, and as I started to read, I began to understand why.
When I read about estrogen and why my body did not need it, I immediately stopped taking my Premarin. I could not believe all of the information that was in that book. I wish I had taken the time to finish reading the book years ago. (I may have saved my body from all those extra horse hormones it didn’t need.) For those of you who can tread through the quagmire of terms and explanations, I certainly advise you to read this book. For the rest of you, I will offer my understanding of hormone balance (such as it is) and try to point out some of the book's main points in the hopes that you will understand it enough to do something about it.
Causes of Hormone Imbalance
Most people do not realize the major role that balancing hormones plays in our lives. Many of our everyday life situations that we find ourselves exposed to can be the cause of imbalanced hormones. Stress, toxins, diet, environment, age, and heredity are some factors that influence our hormones.
You do not have to be close to menopause for your hormones to become unbalanced. Birth control pills alone do a good job of putting our bodies off balance, not to mention the synthetic hormones we ingest. Just going through a monthly cycle throws your hormones off balance with their up and down cycles, along with a good case of PMS to go with it. If you have ever suffered from PMS, then you probably feel that more than your hormones are off balance.
Is Menopause Natural?
Many women in third-world countries and other cultures do not experience menopause like in Western society. Why is that? Why does menopause seem to be a natural process for these women, but there are over twenty symptoms of estrogen dominance and just as many symptoms of estrogen deficiency, many of them the same, that women in Western societies suffer from? There must be something that causes these differences in the ways that our bodies work.
Western women are subjected to many more causes of hormone reduction and excess than the average woman. Women in Western societies are exposed to many more pressures, environmental toxins, and different lifestyles and diets than other women. We are constantly exposed to petrochemicals such as plastics, clothing, chemicals, medicine, food, soap, pesticides and perhaps thousands more products that have improved our quality of life, but at whose expense?
Menopause is a natural way for Mother Nature to ease our bodies into our next life stage gently. Women in third-world countries who have not been able to use birth control pills and have not been exposed to environmental pollution have the benefit of allowing their bodies to cease making the hormones necessary to procreate gradually. Their bodies have been kept in hormonal balance because they have most likely given birth several times. This is Mother Nature’s way of keeping our hormones balanced and also making menopause a glorious and natural time in our life. We begin to rediscover our womanhood and sexuality as our body naturally discovers how to take care of itself for a change.
Menopause may be natural for women whose hormones have been in balance for most of their lives. Still, for Western women who have been exposed to environmental hazards, patented drugs, stress, toxins, and animal fat-based diets, menopause can be difficult to understand and cope with.
What is Estrogen?
There are many types of estrogen in the body, and each type of estrogen has a different function. Estrogens, estrone, estradiol, and estriol are the most important in the body. Each has its specific function and is responsible for puberty and the development of the female organs to prepare a woman’s womb for pregnancy. These estrogens are also responsible for the curves in our breasts, hips, and other bodies. Estrogen is produced during the first two weeks of the menstrual cycle. It is responsible for building up the uterine lining in anticipation of the fertilization of the egg in the womb.
What are Xenoestrogens?
Petroleum products produce xenoestrogens, as in environmental compounds, which are considered very toxic. These petrochemicals produce estrogen-like activity in our bodies and thus affect our hormones. Instead of our bodies using our hormones, these foreign hormones replace our natural hormones, and our hormonal balance is disturbed. These differences have brought on the symptoms of PMS, estrogen dominance, and progesterone deficiency.
Dr Lee states in his groundbreaking book, What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Menopause, that “There is mounting evidence that exposure to xenoestrogens may be a significant causal factor in breast cancer, the decline in male sperm production, testicular cancer, and prostrate cancer.” So not only are women's hormones affected, but men are affected as well.
The major source of xenoestrogens is the consumption of animal fats such as red meat and dairy products. Xenoestrogens are also found in plastics, and some plastics shed them when heated. So if you are concerned about your hormones, do not drink hot beverages from plastic cups or microwave your food in a plastic container.
Some phytoestrogens are located outside the body, some of which have been used successfully to decrease symptoms of estrogen excess. These are made from plants such as soy and wild yam.
Then there are synthetic estrogens made by pharmaceutical companies that have had their molecular structures changed so that they can be patented. As with the xenoestrogens, these estrogens tend to be stronger and consequently more toxic than the body’s estrogens.
What Is Estrogen Dominance?
Estrogen dominance, when not balanced by progesterone, produces side effects that can be eliminated with the proper balance of added progesterone. Estrogen dominance is also responsible for uterine cancer because estrogen is the hormone that builds up the lining of the uterus in the expectation of nurturing a fertilized ovum every month. This is why women who still have a uterus should never take estrogen without including progesterone.
Symptoms of Estrogen Dominance (from DR. Lee's book)
| "Acceleration of the aging process | Allergies |
| Breast tenderness | Decreased sex drive |
| Depression | Fatigue |
| Fibrocystic breasts | Foggy thinking |
| Headaches | Hypoglycemia |
| Increased blood clotting | Infertility |
| Irritability | Memory loss |
| Miscarriage | Osteoporosis |
| Premenopausal bone loss | PMS |
| Thyroid dysfunction | Uterine cancer |
| Uterine fibroids | Water retention (bloating) |
| Autoimmune disorders such as lupus | Gallbladder disease |
| Fat gain (especially around the abdomen, hips, and thighs" | |
Do any of these symptoms sound familiar?
Diet and Estrogen
Dr Lee brings up some very interesting information from an endocrinologist at Harvard University, Dr Peter Ellison, who believes there is a direct link between energy balance and your levels of hormones. A woman who gets plenty of exercise. Works a lot, and does not have enough to eat, will have low hormone levels. A woman with plenty to eat, more than she needs, and not much exercise will have higher hormone levels. "Dr. Ellison conjectures that the high hormone levels found in Western cultures reflect overeating and underexercising common in these populations." If Dr. Ellison is correct, we can assume that proper eating habits and more exercise may alleviate the prevention of menopausal symptoms.
When women eat more food than is necessary to maintain a healthy body, their estrogen levels increase significantly compared to what their body needs for hormone balance. Dr. Lee states that "In the United States and most industrialized countries, diets are rich in animal fats, sugar, refined starches, and processed foods, providing calories in excess of need and leading to estrogen levels in women twice as high as those women in the more agrarian third-world countries."
Excess Hormones
Another source of excess estrogens comes from the hormones injected into cattle to fatten them up before market. These hormones are transferred to the meat eaten in steaks and hamburgers in as many as three meals a day. The hormones accumulate in our bodies and can cause estrogen dominance.
There are also xenoestrogens produced from the pesticides that are sprayed on our food and the food that the animals eat, and these wind up in our bodies as well. Dairy cows are also fed hormones to increase their milk production, and these hormones also get passed to us through dairy products consumed daily.
The build-up of higher-than-normal levels of estrogen that occur before puberty could very well be why girls today are maturing much faster than our mothers did. The more estrogen in the body, the sooner a young girl will start her menses and the longer her body will be exposed to estrogen dominance symptoms.
With all of this in mind, it is easy to see why Western women's hormone levels are much higher than is natural. Estrogen dominance leads to many symptoms that make menopause a dreaded time in a woman's life. But it doesn't have to be this way.
What is Natural Progesterone?
Progesterone is a hormone produced by the ovaries responsible for the development and survival of the embryo and fetus. It is the major female reproductive hormone during the last two weeks of the menstrual cycle.
The levels of progesterone rise and fall dramatically in a woman’s body during her menstrual cycle. If the fertilization of the egg does not occur, the level of progesterone falls and the sharp decline of this hormone signals the start of the next menstruation cycle, where the lining of the uterus is shed.
Progesterone is also the hormone responsible for the source of the sex drive. In other words, the hormone makes you horny right about the time you are ovulating (producing an egg). Mother Nature sure did know what she was doing.
Sometime before menopause starts, progesterone levels start to fall dramatically compared to estrogen levels. According to Jerilyn Prior, M.D., progesterone levels fall 12 times greater than estrogen levels.
Progesterone is very important because many other sex hormones are made from it. Some of the functions of progesterone as Dr. Lee states in his book are:
- "is a precursor of other sex hormones, including estrogen and testosterone
- maintains secretory endometrium (uterine lining)
- is necessary for the survival of the embryo and the fetus
- protects against fibrocystic breasts
- is a natural diuretic
- helps use fat for energy
- functions as a natural antidepressant
- helps thyroid hormone action
- normalizes blood clotting
- restores sex drive
- helps normalize blood sugar levels
- normalizes zinc and copper levels
- has a thermogenic (temperature rising) effect
- protects against endometrial cancer
- helps protect against breast cancer
- builds bone and is protective against osteoporosis."
When used in small doses, Progesterone can also restore normal sleep patterns by promoting a sense of calm. With all of these benefits, it is easy to see why a progesterone deficiency can harm our bodies.
The Case for Natural Hormones
Our bodies know how to use our natural substances to repair our bodies, get the energy we need to function, and then excrete whatever is unnecessary. Why aren’t natural hormones, which are better for our bodies, used instead of the synthetic ones made by pharmaceutical companies? The answer is simple enough to understand.
Pharmaceutical companies cannot patent natural hormones, but if they change just one molecule, they can patent it, charge whatever price they want (to recoup their research expenses), and make lots of money. The result is a foreign substance that our body does not know how to process sufficiently, produces side effects and is not excreted as efficiently as natural substances. Do they care that those patented hormones do more harm than good? Not.
Just a Few Atoms
Many synthetic drugs are patented by changing a few atoms in their molecular structure. A few atoms may not seem like such a big deal but can make a big difference in its effects on the body.
For example, progesterone maintains the lining of the uterus throughout pregnancy, and any drop in the progesterone level will cause the uterus to shed its lining and cause an abortion or miscarriage. As the embryo develops, the progesterone level rises from about 20 to 30 milligrams per day to around 300 to 400 milligrams per day. After the baby's birth, the level of progesterone decreases suddenly and is the cause of many postpartum blues that new mothers face after giving birth.
Is There A Difference?
Most doctors think progestins are the same as progesterone, so they are widely prescribed to replace natural progesterone. Progesterone keeps a pregnant woman pregnant and is responsible for the development of the fetus. If the progesterone level in a pregnant woman’s body does not reach a certain level in time, then the pregnancy is aborted.
Provera (progestin) is used in birth control pills, and if used early in pregnancy can cause an early abortion or birth defects. Now, remember that the only difference between natural progesterone and manmade progestins is a matter of a few atoms here and there. But in this case, those few atoms can be the difference between life and death.
If natural progesterone and progestins are used in the same manner and appear to be the same, then why would using progestins during early pregnancy possibly cause an early abortion? Progesterone is responsible for the development of the fetus, NOT its miscarriage.
This example is only one of the many warnings, contraindications, precautions, and adverse reactions in the Physician's Desk Reference for progestins. The only difference between progesterone and progestin are a few atoms. So imagine the only difference between a woman keeping her fetus and it being aborted are a few atoms.
It certainly has changed the way I look at my HRT. Instead of worrying if someday hormones will cause me to have breast cancer, I now feel that they will help my body to deal with the signs of aging that seem to creep up on us unaware. Natural hormones provide many benefits, and I have taken a short list of them from the previously mentioned book.
Benefits of Natural Hormones
"More energy and stamina
Less confusion and a "foggy mind."
Better memory
PMS symptoms are reduced or eliminated
Menopause symptoms are reduced or eliminated
Healthier and more youthful skin
Balanced moods and fewer mood swings
Normalization of weight
Less depression
Less anxiety
Better muscle definition
Better sleep
Enhanced sexuality"
In a nutshell, this book is saying that:
Pharmaceutical companies have made up HRT to convince women that they need to replace estrogen to prevent breast cancer, osteoporosis, and heart disease to sell more drugs.
It is NOT estrogen that the body needs more of; it is progesterone, which has been shown to alleviate most menopausal symptoms.
As we age and grow older, especially as women, our bodies do not maintain as high a level of hormones as it did when we were younger. Our hormones can also get out of balance, causing various problems. If you suspect that your hormones may be out of balance or approaching menopause, here are some questions to answer about yourself that might help you decide if your hormones might be off balance.
After you answer the questions, you may better understand why you feel the way you do. If you want to test your hormones, saliva tests are available that give you a more thorough report on your hormone levels and provide information to assist in balancing your hormones. While this website does not prescribe any medications, it is a great place to learn more about balancing your hormones and possibly put you on the right track to better health.
Alternative Medicine Network is Your One-Stop Source for Doctor-Recommended Natural Progesterone Cream for more information on natural progesterone cream. Offering help through progesterone cream and related products for symptoms common to PMS, hot flashes, hormone imbalance, perimenopause, menopause, low libido, and more.