Bio identical hormones

[terry brown]

Hello Raw Friends,
I am over two weeks raw and really enjoying it.
I am 5o and have taken bio identical progesterone for years and estrogen for a year. I have really enjoyed the benefits.
Now throught muscle testing I am told my liver does not respond well to the progesterone.
I would love to hear from anyone that has balanced their hormones and feel great over 50.
Terry

[Veganforlife]

Hey there! Congrads on your time Raw.

My hormones have balanced themselves by going totally Raw. I don't get the hot flashes like I was pre-Raw. I SLEEP wonderfully now and my mental clarity soars...

It (Raw) works!

[Dimond]

Raw alone or with maca seems to work for most.

[DebB]

Now how did I miss this thread! ;)

I'm 54 and have been on BHRT for almost 5 years now. I cannot say I feel fantastic because even after all these years, it's still a work in progress. Always in flux.

If your liver doesn't care for progesterone, you may want to look into the cream form. It's applied topically and therefor bypasses the liver. Same can be said for sublingual.

I've had 4 prescribing MDs and they all say topical cream is the way to go. My current (holistic) MD highly recommends ordering through Women's International Pharmacy (in AZ and WI) because of their proprietary cream base. The absorption rate (according to my doctor) is the best around.

I've used 5 different pharmacies for my BHRT over the years and I have to say, for me - I agree with my doctor. I like WIP's cream base the best.

I take 3 separate compounds - estradiol, progesterone and testosterone. *Ü*

*Back to add - what type of estrogen are you taking? Does your Rx say estrogen ~ or estrone, estradiol, estriol... just curious. I'm also curious how your bios are compounded - pills, troches..?

[Marin Mom]

I'm 52 now, raw 2.5 years, no symptoms anymore. Had slight hot flashes and some other mild annoying symptoms that the herb motherwort took care of. Never took hormones.

[Revvell]

Heck, I don't even know what "bio identical progesterone" is/are. I'm heading onto 61 and take nothing. Had a miserable time with menstrual, had some personal summers for awhile ~ now, smooooth sailing!

Drugs will affect the liver because the liver doesn't recognize them, accumulates because it doesn't know what else to do with them. I don't do them. Learned the hard way after 13 years on "the pill" and my liver hemorrhaged. No drugs, no doctors for ummm, hmm, 29 years now.

[DebB]

While BHRT can be recommended (and perhaps best known) for peri- & menopausal symptoms, there's more to the protocol. It's also about balancing and raising our current hormone levels (which decrease as we age) to those levels when we were younger (ideally). There are books just on BHRT - quite a large subject.

"Bioidentical" refers to biologically identical to what our own bodies make vs. synthetic. *Ü*

[RawTruth]

It's still synthetic. If one were to do this, I'd only suggest using the cream that is dispensed from a compounding pharmacy; they make it to your doctor's prescription based on your own hormone levels. You need to have a doctor who does total and complete hormone testing -- this involves spitting into little bottles throughout the day and mailing the spit off. Ummmm .yummm.

Oh! Try, just try to get an answer from the manufacturing company to the question of exactly what do they extract the hormones from? They swear it's plants. Okay, then, what plants? Hmmmm ... answer? Answer? Lots of scientific verbage. Guess what, I can read it all and understand it and it gives no specific information. Emails have gone unanswered, phone calls unreturned. The doctor, though, keeps smiling forcefully and saying that they're all safe and from "natural" sources. (This was from my experience in West Palm Beach, Florida in August after a presentation by a Dr. on bio-identicals. After a week, I gave up.)

Anyway, Revvell's pretty much said it all. I did bio-identical for a while -- maybe 6 months -- then stopped years ago. This was maybe 7 yrs ago. Went all-raw almost 6 yrs ago and everything balanced out.

[terry brown]

Hi Deb and everyone
Thanks for the relpies.
I like my bio identical's and they have served me well for the past few years.
I am taking the creams for Testosterone and Estrogen.
I take sublingual progesterone.
My chiropractor through muscle testing found Estrogen to be good the others my liver did not like.
My bio identical doctor says you can not take the Estrogen w/o the Progesterone.
Actually no progesterone supplements tested well for me with the chiropractor.
This is all an interesting journey.
For now I am going to stick with the hormones and who knows where I will go this year. I do listen to my body and follow my intuition. That is for sure!
Still in the perimenopausal stage...
Terry

[DebB]

Hi Terry ~ Are yours compounded with a prescription? (Just curious).

I don't understand though about the liver-progesterone connection. If we take bios topically or sublingually, then they bypass the liver. Which is why these methods are preferred over say, pills.

Yes - I agree that we do not want to take estrogen alone. It's called taking estrogen unopposed. It has to be balanced out with the progesterone.

I too am still perimenopausal. And like you, my bios have served me well. I heart my bios! (wink) *Ü*

[cara4art]

No hormones of any sort for me - my mother died of breast cancer in her late 50s, plus I had a bad reaction to birth control pills(caught a blood clot in legs just in time by quitting)in my 20s. Now 62 here. If you want safe balancing of one's system in the menopausal transition, definitely raw helps, as well as traditional Chinese medicine which has an excellent track record for womens' health at all stages of life including pregnancy and menopause. Chinese medicine takes a different view overall from Western as far as menopause. First of all, they don't treat it like a disease(thereby either scaring one or just making one feeling bad about oneself)but rather as a natural transition that can be eased. Main Chinese protocol includes herbs that balance the connection between liver and adrenals, and improving general health. I can't recommend it highly enough if one needs some extra help above a sound raw food diet. That acupuncturist might tell you "not to eat raw produce" but that's the traditional approach. Some more contemporary and eclectic practitioners will acknowledge the benefit of a raw diet along with any herbs. Hope this helps!

[terry brown]

Deb, mine are compounded by a pharmacy here in So Cal with a prescription.
I guess I will wait. My chiropractor was not really concerned and my over all health is very good right now. Think I will re evaluate in a few months.

It is promising to read from you all that you are balanced with the raw diet.
I am about 6 weeks in and I have to tell you raw friends I FEEL GREAT.
My lord, why didn't I do this raw thing years ago??????? :)

[DebB]

Hi Terry ~ I was curious if yours were a compounded prescription or over the counter, thanks for answering.

I sure hear you about going raw years ago - ha! *Ü*

[Bethanie]

I'm not taking the bio identical hormones and don't know much about them.
How does maca make you feel?
I'm a little concerned about using something unnatural.