Full Version: Soy Phytoestrogens
This topic is for discussions about soy phytoestrogens or natural plant estrogens in various formats.
I have just started taking the soy protein mix "Revival" and after only a week I have seen a big difference. I was having horrible hot flashes, up to 20-25 a day, and now I am having maybe one or two. The intensity is not as bad either, kind of like having a headache and taking aspirin to cover the pain. I can still feel the flash coming on, but it is suppressed and goes away quickly. This has been a miracle for me! I didn't want to go on estrogen, and the soy seems to be so good for you in other ways too. I am hoping it will improve my skin, my energy levels and help me sleep better at night. If the last week is any indication I think it will be a miracle drug for me.
I will keep you informed. Has anyone else tried this?
Hi Mary EllenI just started taking some the last week and I haven't had the same luck as you. I am frustrated with the hotflashes. How much are you taking? I tried 3 tablespoons with juice once a day.
Dear Susan,I talk half a package in the morning (with 8 oz. of water) and the other half in the evening. It has worked really well for me.
I was experiencing horrible hot flashes. I work as a waitress and everytime I would get a little stressed or hot I would break out in a horrible sweat. it was very embarassing for me in front of my customers, and I'd be too busy to wait for them to subside. After taking soy for just over a week I have hardly had any hot flashes at all. You need to try taking a little more. I not only like the effect it has on my hot flashes, but I have noticed more energy and I have lost a few pounds due to wanting to exercise more! I never would have believed I would be one of the people expressing success with any product, but when it works I will sure recommend it to anyone!!
Good luck with it, don't give up and let me know how you are doing!
Hi again, Mary EllenThanks for responding. I feel so alone and frustrated and discouraged right now. I'm not sure what soya protein I am taking. I have been taking Phyto-estrogen for about a month now and it hasn't helped. I have heard soya is good for the hotflashes but am getting tired of taking pills so soya protein was suggested. I have put into a mason jar as it came in a bag and the recommended dosage is 2-3 tablespoons with juice/water a couple times a day. I have only been taking it once a day. I hate taking things, in addition to the evening primrose and phyto-estrogen I am taking calcium, vit e, vit c and digestive enzemyes. I have tried wild yam gel and stopped that but just put some on this morning, god knows why...I just want these flashes to stop. I am so glad I found this site to connect to others going through this. Please give me more information about the soya you are taking and thanks for replying so quickly.
Wildflowr, I've used Revival for almost 3 years now and I wouldn't be without it! Dearest has provided us with a specific Revival board here, too, since it's so popular. I read on the older PS boards that even women who didn't have resulats with regular soy have felt better on the Revival. If you haven't seen the Revival board, click here
Dear Wildflowr,I have used Revival for over 1 year now and I am amazed how well it works for me. I was like you, the whole day was just one big hot flash after another, worse at night. Within a few days of taking Revival, that was practically all gone. If I miss a day, I know it! Recently, on a trip, I packed my Revival in my check-in suitcase and it was stolen... I was miserable after 3 days without it. I bought a soy protein powder to replace it with, it helped some but it did not work like Revival. I hope you continue to find it helpful. Hugs!
Obviously, I couldn't agree with you all more or I wouldn't be using it for nearly three years. There were three occasions in the beginning when I ran out and figured what could happen? I'm sure Mary and others who've been around for a long time will remember I couldn't believe how I started having hot flashes again within a few days, started feeling depressed, tired and a general feeling of malaise. That shake not only gives me an emotional lift every morning, but it's helped so many of my symptoms, I won't go one day without it for the rest of my life and that after trying just about every other soy shake on the market. Remember, too, studies have shown that it's the combination of the protein and large doses of soy isoflavones that produce the best effects, such as lowering cholesterol and eliminating many of the typical perimenopausal symptoms.
There is very little data about soy isoflavone "pills." The majority of the studies have been done using soy powders.
Thanks everyone for replying to my message! I am glad to see that there is so much success in the Revival soy mix. I hope that Susan has read all these posts and will give it a try. It is definitely worth the try! I am like you Dearest, I hope I can take it the rest of my life. The added benefits as far as health are concerned make it even better. Thank you so much for your contribution of this wonderful product and I hope all the wonderful women here will give it a try!Love,
I just started taking revival soy last week. That is where I found out about this site. After hearing what you all have to say about it, I've orderded more and started my sister on it too. Both of our parents died of cancer, so my sister doesn't use any hormones and has terrible hot flashes. I've had such problems with my bladder when I tried to go without them that I am still taking them. Will I really be able to wean myself off without having the same problems ?
I just ordered a trial package of Revival, but until it gets here, all I have are the pills, 40 mg. each, of soy isolates. The bottle says one a day, but is it OK to take more? I figure if I should be getting 160-200 mg a day, I should be taking at least 4-5 pills a day. Would there be any problems with this? I'd take the whole bottle if it would help, but thought I should ask some one first. Darned meno anyway. Oh, and does this stuff upset your stomach? I'm new to the board, and have been reading, but feel really stupid about all this. I'm 49, and have probably been having perimeno for some time, but docs didn't bother to mention this to me.
If it were me, I wouldn't use more of the soy pills in an attempt to create an "equivalent" dose of what you'd be getting with Revival. They're two different modalities of delivering soy. It's said to be the soy protein and isoflavones (as found in Revival) that produce the positive effects on menopausal symptoms, heart health (cholesterol), bone health, et al. There's very little scientific data about the soy pills. By the time they finish processing everything in order to make a pill, who knows what happens to the isoflavones in the process. Do you know if the pills are using genetically modified soybeans? Before I discovered Revival, I, too, used Genistein and Daidzein and I never felt any overt reactions to them, although I had it in my mind that they were doing some good. I've learned a great deal since. Results of studies we've all read about were conducted using soy powders. The FDA approved soy protein/isoflavones as found in soy powders.
Thanks for the reply, Dearest. That's what I decided, so I'm just using whole soy products until the Revival arrives. It's a yucky alternative, but I guess it can't hurt me. Don't think I could ever get to the point where I could say I liked it, though.
Hi everyone, I have a question about soy products. I am currently on the patch and have been incorporating soy products like tofu, soy yogurt, soy beverages, etc.. but I find after I have had any of them I feel a little quizzy..I am not sure how one would feel if you were allergic to soy or not. I don't have any other food allergies, or maybe with the patch and the soy it is too much. I don't know this whole thing is mind boggling. It is constant trial and error. Even the patch, how can you tell if you are getting too much estrogen or not enough. Are the headaches and lightheadness (brain fog) from too much or not enough.I hate to take the patch off and just go with the Revivalif the soy doesn't agree. I have been all over the place starting with pills, then gel and now the patch. I am postmenopausal but what the HELL does that mean, to me I am having more symptoms now then ever before....:sad: Buttercup
I simply cannot stomach soy, in any "natural" form - be it in a cereal, in bread, in a drink, soymilk, etc. :sad: I've tried everything...my gyn has suggested using a supplement like SoyCare, which I've started to use. Note: he did NOT suggest this specific brand, but simply to try a supplement. Has anyone had success with a supplement?
Hi Tamara,
Yes, I have had success with a soy product (small tablet form) called Promensil. It contains 40 mg. of soy made with Red Clover. I buy it at Walmart. Price is $14.97 for 30 tablets. I take one each day. After just three days, my hot flahes were subsiding. I've been on this for 1-1/2 months now and I feel great. Since using this product, I actually feel cold at times which is unusual for me as I've been warm for the past 5 years at least during the peri phase. Of course, I have been using natural progesterone cream also for about the last 6 months so I don't know if it's the combination of the two. The Promensil package states that you may have to take this supplement for at least a month or so before it "kicks in" so to speak. I guess I was lucky that it started working almost immediately. I've also heard some nice things about the Revival but you say that you can't tolerate soy in any form. This soy tablet might be worth a try. I'm not a salesperson trying to promote this product but just reporting how well this product has worked for me. Good Luck
Suzanne, are you sure Promensil contains soy? I've only ever read that it contains four isoflavones derived from red clover.
Anyway, I tried it for months and later started another trial of it, but I could not see where it had any effect at all. I also could not see any results from black cohosh. The only thing that was ever a dramatic improvement for me was natural progesterone cream, which worked completely on hot flashes, and Revival, which gave me back energy. But I'm always on the lookout for something new and, hopefully, miraculous to try!
I'm glad the red clover works well for you.
No, it doesn't contain "soy" -- it contains isoflavones from red clover.
Wordgirl & Dearest
Oops, sorry, I stand to be corrected. You are both correct. This product is made by extracting isoflavones from Red Clover. There is no soy in this product. After checking my supplements, I am also taking a soy supplement amongst other things and just got them "mixed up" a bit. Sorry this product didn't work for you Wordgirl. We're all different. Thank you both for the correction.
Hello Everyone, A few months ago I posted on this site about a problem I was having. I thought I was having a testosterone problem. I was EXTREMELY tired, was having skipped heart beats and had a loss of sexual desire. I knew something was wrong besides perimenopausal symptoms. I was taking a multiple vitamin, (30 mg) Q10 for palpations, along with 1 tablet of Gingko, one tablet, (400 mg) Dong Quai and one tablet of (40 mg) soy isoflavones. I just turned 50 and I was so tired, I could cry and I'm not a weepy person. I had a decrease in sexual response/ desire and I was positive that I was having a testosterone problem because I had most of the symptoms. I had a hormone level check for the first time and to my suprise, my testosterone was normal but when the PA told me that I had a 1200 on my Estrogen level, which is four times the normal level, I about fell out of the chair. The PA pointed out that the lab was suspicious of their findings and repeated the test before sending the results. The first question I asked was "What do we have here, a tumor ?" It scared the heck out of me because I knew I wasn't pregnant. I've always been slightly suspicious, whether or not, over-the-counter herbs for menopause really worked. I'm here to tell you, that they DO and in a big way. I wasn't taking an over-dose of herbs either. I took only one tablet of soy and one tablet of Dong Quai per day, which I purchased from Walmart. Needless to say, I immediately had a complete physical and stopped ALL vitamins and supplements. Two months later, I had another hormone level checked. It was normal. Also my extreme fatigue began to fade within a week. This month, I will begin again taking vitamins, minus the soy and Dong Quai. When my periods stop or I experience other menopausal symptoms, then I will carefully reintroduce soy products at a much lower dosage and I will also moniter my hormones. The one thing that I wanted to bring to this forum was that: OVER-THE-COUNTER soy products and Dong Quai do work, so be careful. I was shocked when I realized how high my estrogen level was and how potentially dangerous it could have been. I am unaware of any research that has studied whether this plant estrogen, from soy products, has the same effects as natural estrogen on a cancerous or fibrotic condition. It is known that estrogen can feed cancer and fibroid tumors. If anyone knows of such a study, I should would appreciate the information From my study and this forum, I discovered that it is estrogen that can decreases the sexual drive, because estrogen competes for the same receptors sites as testosterone and since testosterone is responsible for the sex drive, too much estrogen can cause a decrease in sexual drive. I hope that if any other women are experiencing extreme fatique, are taking soy products or Dong Quai, and haven't had their hormone levels checked, that they do so. Thanks for all the information.
many years ago i took dong quai..when i was having the supersensitivity..vaginal problem..i took it because i read it was supposed to be for womens gyn. health i guess..i too bought it from walmart..when i told the specialist (gyn) i was taking it..he said you're throwing your money away..he didn't believe in it..i had no period problems way back then..so i stopped taking it..also at the time, the same doctor said when you take calcium pills..do not take the "natural" ones..from the ocean..take the synthetic (factory made) because of the pollutants in the ocean..also not the antacids they rec. on tv that has calcium..unless you have a stomach problem..you don't need the stomach stuff (in other words..don't take medicine for something you don't have if you don't have to) to get the calcium..the pharmacist the other day told me calcium is calcium..doesn't matter where its from..so confusing, isn't it?
Hi All,Are there other soy shake products that are as good as revival. For example, I just started using Shaklee and I notice Trader Joes sells one also. I want to use what will work, and revival gets many rave reviews..but it's expensive. Any thoughts?thanks,tinabrul
I've tried some of the others - as a matter of fact, I have some 4 year old canisters I should probably throw away. I'm such a string saver LOL
I haven't found any that taste as good as Revival does, and none have the amount of isoflavones, either. For the MUCH improved way I feel on Revival, I think it's worth almost any price to me. I do lower my costs by getting the automatic shipments and by getting 2 months worth at a time. That saves in both the cost and the shipping charges.
Mary, have you read the reports that soy isoflavones may prevent uterine cancer (new study), especially in estrogen users? I can't remember if I read it in Prevention or Self magazine, but I also read it in one of Dr. Larrian's reports. And Revival has the recommended amount--I don't know if any others do. Anyway, I this is exciting news.
No, I hadn't, but thanks for letting me know - that sounds exciting indeed!
I get Prevention magazine, but I'm behind in my reading - maybe I should skim through it, at least.
AFter reading all the messages about Revival on this site how could I not order Revival! I ordered it yesterday, and have a few questions for you.1. Does the free mixer thing they send with it work well? (I bought a different one for myself yesterday for Christmas ...a gift to me from my husband, after 21 years, that's how we do it...) 2. I also ordered the Stevia sweetner cause I heard somewhere the splenda I have been using is not 100% stevia like I thought (haven't researched that yet), just wondering if it was good.3. I have a tooth that doesn't like cold stuff, can Revival be mixed with hot soy milk and still hold the good stuff?
4. Do you think Revival will help with the tiredness?5. I currently use (for about 2 weeks) Shaklee soy, my rep. didn't kow the isoflavine content which is why I went ahead and ordered Revival...anyone ever use Shaklee, curious about the comparison)thanks in advance.tinabrul
I didn't know that Revival still came with a mixer. I save that for traveling - I prefer to use a regular blender, because I usually add fruit.
I've never tried the stevia...because I add the fruit 
I find that it's sweet enough with a banana added.
The question about cold Revival has come up before and, yes, you can make it hot. If you have the chocolate, you can have a wonderful chocolate milk
Revival has helped with my tiredness - I get more energy from it. When I used to take college classes at night, I'd save my serving until about 6pm, to help me stay awake!
I've never tried Shaklee - sorry!
tina..i just ordered Revival too..and the stevia sweetner..i plan on using it with decaf. coffee (hot) or over ice..i'm not a fruit one..in shakes and stuff..but might give that a try...the only soy i've ever tasted before is soy burgers (which are really good)..and i've only "touched" tofu in the stores...jiggly...
I have to add that Revival was the ONLY thing that helped my fatigue, which has been the worst symptom of peri for me thus far.
Guess what?! The UPS truck pulled up late this afternoon..and my Revival arrived!! Just in time for Christmas, now that is a very nice gift..my husband brought the package in..and he says Soy? I said yep, gonna try it..he says "cool"..he is so against synthetic bc pills..we've been married for 26 yrs..so he's been thru the yrs. of me being sick at the beg. of marriage.(while on bc pills)...he was the one that convinced me to quit them back then..and just recently when i got real sick from bc pills..I was so sick i would have taken anything a dr. gave me..he kept saying are you sure you want to take those?? and again was so relieved when i stoppped..he was the one this last time that reminded me..of how sick i would get from them...so gonna start them tomorrow ...yipee.....
i meant to say start the revival shakes tomorrow...
Fantastic, Wildflowers! You know, lots of men use it to help prevent prostate troubles. Maybe you'd like to share with your husband
MaryO..i was thinking i'd read that about for men..his family does have a history with prostate problems/cancer..i'll have to leave literature around or something..can hardly get him to take a vitamin..and they're right on top of the fridge!..also can't teenagers take the soy shakes too? I'm sure i could convince daughter to try the chocolate ones hehe..
There was a woman on the AOL boards who did this - her son cleared up his acne and her daughter's headaches got better. I think that they started with half a serving and worked up.
MaryO..i didn't start the soy today..but opened the box..by mistake my stevia sweetner wasn't included..So am going to wait for that to arrive before starting it..although with the already sweetned ones (i got the sample kit)..i probably wouldn't have to use any sweetner would I? The soy nuts tho are terrific! Daughter doesn't have any medical problems..once in awhile a heavy period..but was wondering..if to maintain good health a teenager could take the shakes? I should email the company and ask..or its probably in the literature they sent..looks like theres tons of good information included. I ate way too much junk today..so i figured why put something positive in the body (soy) with all that junky stuff..will try the chocolate one sweetened tomorrow..
Wildflowers... you can sweeten the Revival with fruit or fruit juice or another sugar substitute until your stevia arrives. I have the stevia, but often sweeten it with fruit myself.
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