Hi to all! This is my first time on the boards. I'm 48 this month and in bigtime perimenopause. I've read Pete Huesman's(know spelling is wrong!) and Erika Schwartz transcripts as well as her books on bioidentical hormones. Thought this was the way to go until I heard Dr. Holt on chat last nite saying they were potentially as dangerous as conventional HRT! I'm so confused and frustrated! I currently use Revival and an herb blend w/ black cohosh etc. Is anyone else as confused as I am?

Hi florida, Welcome! I was reading your post and I wondered how you felt on Revival and how long you have used it. I was on HRT for a few months, then tapered off while starting Revival every day. That was over a year ago, and I feel better now than I have in years. I don't have any need for the HRT at all. Do you feel that you need more relief than you are getting from the Revival? I don't know much about bioidentical hormones except that Suzanne Sommers wrote a book on them and from what I understand, they are the same as regular HRT except you are tested first and the doctor gives you the exact same dose as you had naturally in your body before meno. To me this would be just as dangerous as the "one size fits all" approach to HRT. You are still taking hormones, whether they are custom-fit or not.

Dear Florida, I am in the same boat as you - although I have been rowing a lot longer - trying to figure this out for about 2.5 years. I was perfectly happy and healthy when all of a sudden: CRASH went the hormones! I have found out that this is the best website in the world for information and support! - so read all you can. I have also found out that different remedies work for different people and then things keep changing so you have to keep trying different things. I am not a medicine taker - so I wish there was a way to deal with this without medication, but sometimes you have no choice. I wouldn't worry too much about the health effects of HRT (natural or synthetic) right now because perimenopause is relatively short term. I think the key is finding what will give you the best quality of life until this is over. Once you reach menopause - then you should think more about long term health effects. Over the 2.5 years - I first tried the no hormone approach - herbs, supplements and diet. Then the Revival Bar - then progesterone cream route - but my body needed more help. I tried the low dose birth control method too. I still have a long way to go before I would say I have found a cure - but natural HRT has helped some and has had the least side effects for me. No HRT at all was really bad! Pete Heusman has been great to work with. Sometimes you might even have to take a little xanax or an antidepressant to keep your life going. My gosh I can't believe I just said that!!! Anyway - that is my two cents worth! Good luck Florida! Boone

are the bioidentical hormones a prescription?and where can i get them?

Quote, yes they are. You get them from a compounding pharmacist. Many of the women here use Pete Hueseman. He's going to be the guest this Thursday night, so if you hav questions, you can ask him then. If your doctor won't prescribe bioidenticals, he can usually give you some names of doctors nearby who can. Ask him at Power Surge's pharmaceutical consultant, Pete Hueseman, R.Ph., PD. You can read more information about bioidenticals here.

Thanks MaryO......

Natural or nothing? Who really knows? Doctors don't, that's for sure. They thought high doses of artificial hormones made us healthier and prevented heart disease up until two years ago. Anymore, I'd just as soon consult a witch doctor as deal with a mainstream one, fixated as they are with prescribing toxic drugs and so rushed they never really figure out what you need in the first place. Some sincere doctors do make a case that natural hormones like the ones produced by the body will not cause as many problems as chemically altered ones, plus the fact that Premarin, Prempro, etc. have hundreds of hormones in them unknown to human beings. EXTRA artificial hormones certainly can't be a good thing. But women (even more than men) are guinea pigs for Big Pharma. Personally, if I did not have migraines, I would not take hormones. I could live with the other symptoms; I cannot live with migraines, at least I cannot function with them. It'll take YEARS before we know if natural is better (I think they'll turn out "better" than synthetic, but they still might not be technically good). One thing in favor of the naturals is that they can be more tailored for your personal needs, rather than the usual pharmaceutical company's one-size-fits-all approach.

I stumbled across an article from June,2003 and found part of it interesting.......

Imagine, if you would, the following scenario. The Ford Explorer has been recalled by the manufacturer due to a rear-wheel defect. This is big news in all the media outlets. You are not concerned because you drive a Chrysler Newport.

But, to your surprise, you receive a call three days later from your family doctor telling you that you should immediately stop driving your car because the problem with the Explorer means that all cars are dangerous to your health and well-being. Sounds ridiculous, but, in fact, it's happening all over America with respect to hormone replacement therapy (HRT) since the publication of the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) study last summer and again over the past month.

What you have heard is that the WHI study, a very large medical study, has demonstrated that HRT not only doesn't help protect postmenopausal women from heart disease, rather it increases their risks of heart disease, stroke, breast cancer, and Alzheimer's Disease, and, furthermore, doesn't do anything for their quality of life. Primary-care healthcare providers have told their patients to "throw away your hormones" regardless of which hormones they were on or who put them on the therapy. The problem with all of this, and the reason for the Explorer analogy, is that the WHI study was not a study of HRT. It was a study of a specific product called Prempro, a product that combines horse-derived estrogen and an extremely potent progestin called MPA in a single pill. A product that is totally different from the 40-plus other presently available HRT products in the US. Those of us who specialize in peri and postmenopausal care have been well aware over the past 10 to 15 years that MPA, the synthetic progestin used in Prempro, is too strong and can act to reduce many of the benefits estrogens may provide. This is the principle reason so many other natural and synthetic progestins have been developed to allow avoidance of MPA use in HRT. These newer and safer progestins have been widely used in Europe, where they use little, if any, MPA, and have been used here in the US by practitioners who understand the differences and how to make most optimum use of these options. It is thoroughly inappropriate to extend the WHI study results to any other kind of HRT.

I found this part of the article interesting because it's true.....it was a study on Prempro and now everyone is afraid to use ANY form of hrt.

Just wanted to ask something.......have there been studies done on other brands/forms of HRT since the WHI study on prempro?

Just bumping this up to get some responses.........

Hi Jadebear,

I have found 2 European studies done on NHRT. One in Sweden concluded that the estrogen was not good for you. However, they gave women double the recommended dosage (I think 2mg per day instead of 1mg). In addition, they did not do a patient history of each participant so no one really knows why the results were negative. Another study determined that there were no ill effects from NHRT.

My regular OB/Gyn gave me a pretty good perspective on this. First, he told me that no one will fund a study on NHRT since there is no patent and any company can make them. The WH study was $30 mill (I think). The other is that any HRT increases your risk by 1%. That is not a lot if you really need the relief. NHRT could be less but probably not more.

I was put on NHRT 3 months ago. My doctor thinks I should be on it for life. I don't think I'd go along with that one but it did get me going until I could educate myself and decide what to do.

Hope that helps!

Here's something else that no one has mentioned yet. When I was first hit with bad symptoms, I discussed various options with my gynecologist, including HRT. She explained to me that it is an option if I choose, but it basically just postpones the inevitable, ie. going through the change. You are putting hormones that your body is no longer producing back into your body, thereby preventing you from going through the process. Your choice then is either to stay on the hormones for life (which many who push NHRT are proposing) or to eventually go through the menopause process. At some point (unless you use hormones for life), your body will need to adjust to the lack of hormones that it used to produce, and that is what causes all our symptoms. I cannot imagine going through this later in life when perhaps i am not as strong and healthy as I am today, which is why I have chosen not to go on any form of HRT and to try and find supplements to manage the symptoms as best as possible while I get through this.

Pixiegirl,

I've heard the same thing, but then I got to thinking . . . there are lots of things that are inevitable with age, but we still try to prevent. I, too, at first didn't think I'd want to take estrogen forever, but then again:

Our bodies can adjust to the lack of practically anything, but that doesn't mean the outcome is good. Should I stop taking calcium, because osteoporosis is a "natural" result of aging? Should my husband stop taking Lipitor because higher cholesterol is another sign of aging bodies? And, etc.? Some people have problems with these and others and some people don't. I guess we don't know why. I suppose lack of estrogen won't kill you, but it definitely improves teeth, bones, digestion, sexual response mechanisms and probably thousands of other biological cells that have estrogen receptors . . . but only in some people. There's the rub, as they say.

I'm not trying to argue or convince, it's just an issue I'm kicking around myself. I NEVER took drugs before, but quite honestly, I'm finding they do help and I don't feel so damn noble about being drug-free anymore when I'm feeling so crappy. And this doesn't relate just to menopause, but to digestive problems, sinus problems, all those lovely things that seem to occur when we age.

I'm just trying to find a balance that is realistic without being stupid, I guess.

Again, I'm kinda thinking out loud here, so please don't think I'm advocating anything for anybody. Just rambling.

Have a good day

kimber

I agree with you 100% kimberccc...........quality of life is important and if it means taking drugs then i am all for it.

Pixiegirl


I so totally relate to where you are coming from....I dont want to have to go thru this again later in life....I use progesterone cream but that is all......I dont think they can keep your hormones in balance all the time anyways and dont want to be having problems on and off for the next 20 or 30 years either...and dont relish the thought of having cycles that long either...it is a personal choice and I respect that, as for medications...I am all for taking whatever helps....this whole experience is horrible and frustrating......hope it ends in the very near future!

very interesting perspective....