I’m often asked by friends why I decided to go this route. The natural hormone replacement therapy route. After all, it seems more “natural” to do nothing and to somehow just “tough it out” and let nature take its course. For many women, this route, the doing nothing route, works just fine. But for others, the symptoms from lack of hormones are life changing and for me they were unbearable. I agree with the “natural” comment but not the “tough it out” comment. Life is too short. Plus, I love my husband, sex life and sleep too much to just do nothing.
I’m 51. At 49, it began with night sweats, then I couldn’t sleep the whole night, gained unexplained weight, began losing my hair, my skin was itchy dry and lost my sex drive. It started happening gradually after I had an endometrial ablation. Read more about that here. At first, I thought my thyroid wasn’t working so I went to my doctor and had a blood thyroid panel done. My thyroid was fine. So next I tested by hormone levels and they weren’t fine. My diagnosis? I was in menopause.
After much research, I decided to try bio-identical “natural” hormone pellet therapy vs. the patch. I found an internist (M.D) who specialized in estradiol estrogen and testosterone pellet therapy. As her office, she surgically inserts a very small hormone pellet in my hip every 6 months. She then monitors my hormone levels over the year. I also take a natural, progesterone lozenge, from a compounding pharmacy every night before I go to bed. I think I like this overall route is best (vs. patches or creams) for the dose is most consistent.
Today, I’m GREAT. Actually, almost better than before. No more PMS. No more night sweats. I sleep at night. The weight gain has stopped. Plus, I love my husband and I want to have sex again. Life is good.
I’ve gone over to the other side…the bioidentical hormone side –read more about that here.
For those of you with similar symptoms, I KNOW you’ve thought of the options. Laying there in bed at night—blankets on– blankets off. Hormones or not. Bio-identical or not. Supplements. Sleep aids. Low carb diets. Bla bla bla. All the while, suffering with terrible symptoms that make it feeling like it’s not your body anymore.
I’ve weighed the risks, read the research. My opinion is the benefits outweigh the risks. At this time in my life, the BRHT works for me. But it’s not for everyone. And I may change my mind and try something different next year. But for me, right now, it’s perfect.
Heidi
Deanna R. Jones says
Thanks for the information! I’m a woman in my late fifties, so I’ve been experiencing a number of issues with my hormones over the years. It would be really nice to be able to have my hormones balanced. It’s good to know that there are options out there for women like me who want to have natural hormone replacement therapy who have been experiencing symptoms of hormonal imbalance.
Heidi Diller says
Yes, the key word here is don’t give up! We all need to be our own health advocates in this journey