Posted by Jeanne Schmit on Wed, Mar 24, 2010 @ 01:53 PM
Who's going to help you balance your hormones?
You are! You'll get the best results by putting yourself in the driver's seat and learning as much as you can.
Your hormones affect everything in your body. Your thinking, your energy level, your fat to lean ratio, your sleep and your appetite and much more. Hormones are of the sex hormone type (testosterone, DHEA, estrogen, progesterone, etc) and the insulin type (cortisol, adrenaline, relaxin, insulin, etc).
If you're not getting the results from exercise and diet, sometimes hormones are the trouble. Remember, hormones include insulin, cortisol, adrenaline and thyroid. Don't think you have to be menopausal to have hormone problems.
The best way to learn about hormones is to read. The information is out there and you CAN learn on your own. A book list is included at the bottom.
First, keep in mind that hormone therapy is not necessarily the first step. Work with your diet, supportive supplements and lifestyle before diving into hormones.
However, if you're unable to sleep and/or you're having severe symptoms, starting with hormones can certainly make sense. Just know that it's not wise to use hormone therapy in place of a healthy lifestyle. Not everyone needs hormones.
Once you have a working knowledge of hormones, find a health care practitioner you can work with. This isn't necessarily easy. Not many doctors work with bioidentical hormones. Don't expect your doctor to have all the answers. You must form a successful partnership with your provider and do your part. No one can do it all for you.
When choosing a provider, be sure he/she works with adrenals and thyroid, in addition to the sex hormones.
It's important you first understand how your body works and a good understanding of hormones before you go to your first appointment. You'll learn more as you start your therapy and see how your body responds.
Here is a short list of Twin Cities health care providers who work with bioidentical hormones:
Noelle Radcliffe M.D at Edina Sports Health and Wellness
Rob Bruley, MD, DC at the Bruley Center in Linden Hills
612 455 0444
www.bruleycenter.com
Sandi Greenquist at the Minnesota Menopause Center
Nancy Gossard NP at Park Nicollet 952 993 3282
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Book List:
For men: The Testosterone Syndrome by Eugene Shippen, M.D.
Change Your Brain Change Your Body by Daniel Amen M.D. (also good for men)
Female Brain Gone Insane by Mia Lundin, R.N.C., N.P.
The Schwartzbein Principle II, by Diana Schwartzbein, M.D.
The Miracle of Bioidentical Hormones by Michael Platt, M.D.
Before the Change, Taking Charge of Your Perimenopause, by Ann Louise Gittleman, M.S., C.N.S
Perimenopaue the Natural Way, by Deborah Gordon, M.D.
What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Perimenopause, by John Lee, M.D.
Posted by Jeanne Schmit on Tue, Mar 23, 2010 @ 05:18 PM
Bioidentical hormones are composed of the exact hormone molecule your own body makes. Bioidentical hormones are the ones your body easily recognizes. Sometimes called "natural" hormones, a more accurate term is "bioidentical."
Synthetic hormones (premarin, Provera, etc) are not composed of the hormone molecule your body makes, thus creating unwanted side effects.
The conclusions that hormones cause cancer are from studies using synthetic drugs (Premarin and Provera). No studies have shown that bioidentical hormone replacement causes cancer. Instead, literature supports the claim that bioidentical hormones have distinctly different and often opposite physiological effects to those of their synthetic counterparts.
In terms of breast cancer risk, heart disease, heart attack and stroke, sunstantial scientific and medical evidence shows that bioidentical hormones are safer and more effective than synthetic versions.
The rest of the points refer to bioidentical hormones:
They ARE hormones and can cause problems if taken incorrectly.
Should only be used if you have a deficiency. More is not better.
The right hormone balance keeps you brain focused. Hormones affect neurotransmitters.
Bioidentical hormones are maufactured by traditional pharmaceutical companies and are FDA approved. Upjohn has been manufacturing bioidentical hormones for over 70 years. The product is sent as a powder to compounding pharmacies where they make the hormones into the preparation you need, sublingual, cream, suppository, etc.
Progesterone is the first hormone that declines with age. The decline starts about age 35. It can start earlier. Deficiency shows up as PMS, irritability, belly fat, weight gain, agitation, insomnia, anxiety.
While most women (and men too) produce estrogen their entire lives (from fat cells and elsewhere), progesterone production can get close to zero.
Estrogen is a brain booster, a natural antidepressant and mood stabilizer. Estrogen works closely with serotonin, your "feel good" neurotransmitter.
Progesterone helps estrogen work better by assuring the estrogen receptor sites are able to receive estrogen.
Many people never need to take additional estrogen.
Most people benefit from taking additional progesterone.
Progesterone cream is available over the counter. Other hormones and progesterone in other dosage forms require a prescription.
It's best to measure hormone levels and get help from a health care practitioner if you use hormone therapy. You usually won't get the full benefit from hormone therapy by using over the counter progesterone cream on your own.
Depending on the stage of life you are in, your hormones can be a moving target. Just because the hormone therapy is working today, doesn't mean it will work in 6 months. you need to pay close attentions to your symptoms, keep charts for each month, learn about how the hormones affect you, and make changes along with your care provider.
Why do we need to replace hormones? Our ancestors didn't need that. We now have an excess of estrogen-like substances (xenohormones) in our environment...in plastics, car exhaust, pesticides, solvents and adhesives, industrial waste, estrogenic drugs in the livestock we eat, preservatives and emulsifiers in lotions and cosmetics, nail polish and much more.
Exposure to xenohormones mimicks estrogen (in a bad way) and affects the balance of all other hormones. It's impossible to avoid all xenohormones in our environment.
You CAN limit your exposure by avoiding foods containing hormones (meat, eggs, milk...buy these foods without hormones), using cosmetics without xenohormones, avoiding as much plastic as possible (avoid microwaving food in plastic), avoid food sprayed with pesticides.
Tomorrow you'll get a book list for further hormone education and a short list of Twin Cities health care providers who work with bioidentical hormones.
Posted by Jeanne Schmit on Sat, Mar 20, 2010 @ 06:22 PM
Week 2 starts today.
The second shipment of the book Female Brain Gone Insane should be in tomorrow. You'll have a bit of extra reading this week if you're just now getting the book. It will still be doable. I've heard people tell me they can't put the book down. It's easy to read and understand.
I went to Santa Barbara and met with Mia Lundin, the author of the book, last Wednesday. She was very kind to come in and see me on her day off. My daughter Maddi (19 years old) has an initial appointment with her. She took 2 hours with us that day and we left feeling confident we were headed in the right direction with Maddi's health. I told Mia what we're doing here in the studio and how many of you are involved. She was extremely happy to hear we're putting her book to use. She's a very kind and compassionate person. She told me her mission was to write an easy to understand book people could use to help themselves. Maybe she'll pop in on the blog and leave us some comments or words of wisdom!
Here's a recap of what we've learned up to page 44:
- There IS hope and you're learning you can take charge and move forward.
- Your brain chemistry makes you feel the way you do.
- Hormones and neurotransmitters are chemical messengers relaying vital instructions throughout your body.
- Inhibitory neurotransmitters (serotonin and GABA) calm the mind and body and induce sleep.
- Excitatory neurotransmitters (norepinephrine and dopamine) provide energy, motivation, mental cognition and other activities that require brain/body activity.
- Serotonin imbalance is one of the most common contributors to mood problems.
- Depression can occur because of low serotonin in combination with fluctuating estrogen levels, common during postpartum, premenstrual and menopausal times.
- 95% of serotonin is housed in the gut. Very important if you have digestive issues, food allergies, leaky gut, irritable bowel, etc.
- Estrogen serves as a brain booster, an antidepressant and mood stabilizer. Estrogen affects serotonin functioning. Estrogen drop results in serotonin drop.
- Too much estrogen can cause irritability and anxiety.
- Progesterone has a tranquilizing effect and increases GABA in the brain. Too much progesterone can cause sedation.
Why do We Have Neurotransmitter Imbalance?
- Chronic stress
- Hormone fluctuation and depletion
- Poor dietary habits (lack of amino acids, vitamins and minerals needed to make neurotransmitters).
- Lack of omega 3 fatty acids to stabilize the brain cell membranes. Low fat diets don't provide this.
- Poor digestion. If you're not absorbing your nutrients you can't effectively make neurotransmitters.
- Neurotoxins such as heavy metals, drug and alcohol abuse, pesticides can cause permanent damage to nerve cells that make neurotransmitters.
- Genetics
- Ongoing neurotransmitter support (from amino acids and other supplementation over and above food) will be necessary if the cause is neurotoxins or genetics. If the cause is poor diet and stress, once addressed and corrected, you may not need ongoing supplementation.
This is great news because it gives us a reason for why we feel the way we do. Our task will be to understand how diet, sleep, exercise, supplemental amino acids and hormones, lifestyle and stress affects the way we feel...and link it to our brain chemistry.
We'll need to become experts on ourselves and pay close attention to how we feel so we can make the best decisions on what to eat, what kind of exercise is best for us, when to go to bed and when to get up. We'll need to seriously look at our stress level and determine if we're living in a chronic stress situation and make changes if necessary.
Action Steps for week 2:
1. Use the monthly symptom tracker on page 13,14 to see how your monthly cycle of hormones affects your feelings and moods. You will start to get clues about how your hormone levels affect your neurotransmitters, mood, appetite, and much more.
2. Start on Mia's basic supplement program on page 17. Vitamins and minerals are needed to make neurotransmitters. Vitamins B6, B12 and folic acid are critical in the making of serotonin. Vitamin B12 should be taken sublingually or via injection. It's not absorbed well orally. Try to get the vitamin A in your multivite as beta carotene.
3. Pay close attention to how the food you eat affects how you feel. Do you feel energized, foggy, sad, bloated, tired or anxious after eating or drinking? Notice the content of your food in terms of protein, carbs and fat. Notice how you feel when you don't eat or skip meals. Get to be an expert on knowing how food affects you. This information will help you once you start using amino acids to balance your neurotransmitters. Soon you'll be able to see how food affects you the same way. Notice also how your exercise affects you. Notice if you feel energized or tired after exercise. Notice how different types of exercise make you feel different. This info will be useful when we learn about adrenal function later.
4. Read pages 45-112. You''l learn about bioidentical hormones, you'll identify your hormonal phase and discover your emotional type.