Hormones - The Balancing Act

We all think of women or PMS when someone mentions hormones, right? Well, surprise, they can also affect men as well! Stay with me, I'll have more on that later....... Did you know that hormones play a major role in our overall well being? Has your doctor prescribed estrogen or progestin (Provera, contraceptives, etc.) pills or patches to treat your GYN problems?

If you are anything like me, I have suffered for years with the typical symptoms of PMS, weight fluctuations, irritability, sleep disturbances, allergies and the list goes on... Well the good news is after several doctors later, tons of reading as well as an all new generational awareness of our "female issues" by baby-boomers like Suzanne Summers, bringing these issues to forefront and giving them some relevance. I like Suzanne have found true relief from Bio-Identical Hormones. Yes, estrogen dominance may be the true culprit with symptoms of weight gain (despite great diet and exercise), irritability, irregular periods, thyroid dysfunction, fibroid tumors, PMS, fatigue, loss of sexual desire, migraine headaches, cold hand & feet and in some cases infertility and or the ability to maintain pregnancy.

Why do these symptoms occur?

Most physicians typically prescribe pharmaceutical synthetic estrogens to treat many of these conditions, which may make the situation worse. It is quite possible that your body already has more estrogen that it needs and what you really need is another hormone called progesterone (not to be confused with pharmaceutical progestins which can  make symptoms such as abnormal bleeding worse). Natural progesterone (is available over the counter in the form of creams or by prescription at compounding pharmacies) can effectively reduce the symptoms of hormonal imbalances and the conditions that it causes by restoring the body's natural hormone balance.

If natural progesterone is so great, then why don't more physicians routinely recommend it to their patients?

Progesterone is a natural substance and natural substances cannot be patented for sale at profit, which makes pharmaceutical companies uninterested in marketing and promoting natural products such as progesterone. And if pharmaceutical reps don't market a product to physicians, many will simply be unaware of it's existence.  Most prescription estrogens such as Premarin, are chemically altered so they can be patented and sold as a drug. While we should not discount the use of estrogen replacement, we stress that caution should be used when using estrogen urging that only estrogens that chemically equal to the estrogen produced naturally by the body be used in the smallest effective dose. Even women who have had hysterectomies, who experience surgical menopause, need to use progesterone to balance the estrogen on their body. Natural estrogens are available as pills, creams and patches.

Now, as for the subject of men and hormones. Men can typically go through a sort of "menopause" we have all come to know as the cliche mid-life-crisis as well as some hormonal side effects like low libido, erection problems and stamina, which could well be the result of very low Testosterone. 

Testosterone is a natural hormone the body makes that contributes to libido, muscle tone, energy stores and an overall feeling of well-being. When this hormone is low in men (or women too), it can have some real effects on how we feel and perform daily. Testosterone can also be obtained by prescription from a reliable hormone specialist (ask the Nutrition Chick for more details on this) and a compounding pharmacist can prepare it in a cream form that is simply rubbed on the forearm or inner thigh.

For more information on finding a hormonal specialist, contact the Nutrition Chick at healthycleanbeauty@gmail.com.