All Natural Hormone Replacement with Bioidenticals

Once you start learning about the dangers of synthetic hormones and the most popular prescribed hormone replacement pills such as Premarin (made with the urine of a pregant horse) and Prempro (more horse estrogens mixed with synthetics) – the question arises, “Why the hell are so many millions of women on this crap?”

So here’s your answer…

Because it was sold, pitched to us, as a way to help women with hot flashes as well as keep us youthful. At a time in our lives when estrogen was declining we could regain or hold onto our youth a little longer by supplementing with mare urine. We were told it would help us build stronger bones longer, prevent heart failure, maintain youthful skin and keep cognitive function, longer. All the things that lack of estrogen promised to rob us of!

Sadly the promise was unfounded. Instead we kept all the risks, but added more to our future “what can go wrongs” – like increased chance of breast cancer, blood clots and strokes. Yay.

Now why wasn’t all this tested/documented before it was released and sold to millions of women in the United States alone – not to mention millions across the generations, and in neighbouring countries such as Canada? Mostly because it’s big business, but also because we women were screaming for the ‘magic blue pill’ that would make our hot flashes go away.

Oh, they went away all right. And we started dying off earlier than we needed to.

So what’s new in 2010 regarding research and studies? As far as I can tell – but I’m not finished with my own research – the studies have all but stopped and the same pills are still prescribed by the millions.

Enter bioidentical hormone replacement therapy. Safer. Organic. It may seem – but no major studies have proven it so I’m hard pressed to state it as ‘fact’. However, I can’t see how rubbing wild yam extract on your skin will cause you to contract breast cancer or taking supplements made of proprietary blends of burdock root and sasparilla could cause clotting.

Precisely why, when my doctor advised against synthetic hormone replacement therapy, I took off to a more natural way of achieving hormonal balance.

I’ve spent a lifetime of being corrected, and even sometimes being laughed at by my friends, but as time has passed, time and time again, I’ve been discovered to be correct (sometimes twenty years after the fact) when research studies break out…

Twenty years ago it bothered me. Today, I don’t care as much which is why I’m free enough to speak my mind about what I see wrong with the way the modern world is ‘doing’ ‘things’.

At five years of age…

When I was little, for no reason at all, I wouldn’t eat anything that had been wrapped in, frozen in, or sold in plastic packaging. Why? Because I was stupid enough at the age of 5 to ask my daddy where “plastic came from”. After his explanation I was pretty sure I didn’t want ‘that’ to touch anything I was going to put in my mouth!

It’s no wonder then, that I was a veritable stick right up till the age of 20!

Today…look at all the studies on BPA in plastics. (If you don’t know already, BPA is a synthetic estrogen developed by the pharmaceuticals 30-40 years ago. They re-worked the structure and used it as an agent of some sorts to make plastic when it was dismissed as being viable for estrogen use. Now tell me what you think of this and the last generations’ men and boys – do they seem a little off-kilter to you? Could it have anything to do with being fed synthetic milk in BPA laden milk bottles while they were babies? Laugh if you want to…I’ll see you in another 10 years when the rest of the studies are out.)

Learning About Food in the Grocery Store…

On my 15th birthday we had steak for dinner. It was delicious. Someone at the table commented that the cow must have been fed a lot of corn to give the meat that marbling effect which in turn make it so tender. “Corn? I thought cows ate grass?”

That’s when I began to learn about cows fed a steady diet of corn for the last months of their lives, and how that affects the cow’s health, and the injections they give the cow to make it want to eat more corn (even though the cow knows the corn is actually killing it).

Pretty forward thinking for 20+ years ago, but look at the studies today. Look at the research to support the effects on human health from eating beef from feedlots. Look at the people around you – they’re overweight, even when they’re eating from the recommended food guide.

Do we think this is all some random coincidence?

Entering the Menstral Cycle…

When I was 12 I became a woman. My periods were heavy and uncomfortable. They also never went away! If I can remember back that far, I bled 20 days out of the month. The family doctor put me on a pill as he was worried about me.

I shook. I was cold all the time. My periods were regular, but I was miserable. Here’s something else…I started to grow hair on my chin. I don’t know if that’s a symptom or something else was in play, but when I was told that the ‘pill’ had something in it from a horse’s body I stopped taking them and suffered naturally. Eventually everything worked out.

Peri-Menopausal, Life Today

So here I am, hormones out of whack, visiting the doctor at 46 years of age. He doesn’t want to put me on medications and I say “Amen!” However, I am aware that something is changing about my body and functions and I’m not wild about it! This is why I’ve been learning about bioidenticals.

Although bioidentical hormone therapy has been in use for over 30 years, most people don’t know about it. It’s easier to prescribe a pill, document the effect, change the prescription and worry about the details later. Sadly, the details can be devastating with synthetic hormone use – an increase in blood clots, breast cancer, stroke and heart disease, to name a few.

By the way, I’m not a forerunner in this train of thought and the research isn’t new by any means – it just hasn’t been widely publicized. This has been going on, talked about, studied and researched for at least 10 years.

“Mare piss and synthetic compounds can kill.”

That’s what I’d tell you if you were standing in front of me today. That’s what I’d say if you were a treasured friend.

End of rant.

Bioidentical hormones are used in replacement therapy (and other situations) as an alternative to synthetic hormones. Unique bioidentical compounds are manufactured in a lab, extracted from organic sources and have the same molecular structure as hormones made by your own body.

Synthetic hormones are not organic and have received a lot of controversy over the years – moreso today than ever as the results of repeated usage is finally showing up in the elderly. An example of a recent scandal look no further than BPA found in plastics that had once been certified food safe. BPA is actually a derivative of a synthetic estrogen (a synthetic hormone) and is now being reported as causing major damage in our youth.)

Since drug companies (big business with lots of profit) can’t patent a bioidentical mixture, compound or genetic structure, they’ve invent synthetic hormones that can be patented and sold for massive profit – at our expense, on two counts (out of pocket and overall health).

On the other hand, bioidentical hormones have been around for years. Unfortunately they have been dismissed and disregarded by many physicians and practitioners as part of the hippie, tree-hugging, health kick. Times are changing though, especially given that the synthetics are receiving such bad press. Today you’ll find several branded versions of bioidenticals available for use in hormone replacement therapies.

Although many proport individualized testing and monitoring with a physician, you can begin the process yourself with home test kits and a good book or website on the topic of bioidenticals.

Bioidenticals are available in all hormone ‘categories’ such as estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, and DHEA.

If you can afford to work with a practioner or physician (or for that matter find one who supports this type of therapy) you’ll be tested, prescribed and re-tested every three months or so until your hormones balance out.