I never knew there were so many issues with menopause. How did women get through this before the medical industry started treating it?
I never thought about it much, but I suppose I should now that I am in my 40s. Is it also possible to get through it without taking anything (provided that the symptoms are not unmanageable of course), or will my health be ruined then?
I echo your interest in getting through it without taking anything. If I have learned anything in my 47 years, it’s that pharmaceutical interventions only cause new problems without ever addressing root causes. And, that if God designed something a certain way, we need to honor that design. There is no pharmaceutical fountain of youth, so attempting to artificially maintain the hormone profile of a young woman in her prime seems foolish and dangerous to me intuitively. The changes in our physiology over a lifetime are there for a reason— we ought to support these changes wisely with real, whole foods, exercise, sunshine, fresh air, and edifying spiritual/social connections. As far as supplements go, I’m willing to grant that there are dietary and herbal supplements that are more fit for improving health and relieving debilitating symptoms than any drug.
I couldn't have said it better myself, regarding God's design, and that's exactly that I seek to get through it without tampering with things, that could be left alone. Thanks.
How can I reach out to you for coaching. I’m 59 and bleeding on and off. I had an ultrasound of my uterus in 2023 and fibroids, cysts and/or polyps. Had surgery to remove and biopsy, path report was fine but still having bleeding. I am on bio-identical hormones. Tomorrow I go in for new pellets. Do you think you could help me? Would be grateful for your insight.
It is absolutely possible to go through this without taking anything pharmaceutical. The peri time is the worst, but actual menopause is calm in comparison. If you do have symptoms, I would first make sure your Vitamin D level is good. Having a proper VIt D level seems to fix so many other things. Then of course pay attention to what you eat (proper diet can really vary from person to person, so I won't recommend anything specific, but mostly carnivore/low-carb works for me.) And lifting weights is very important to keep that muscle mass. (You don't have to become a body builder - try a workout that hits all the major muscles twice a week and go from there.) I've felt better in this stage of my life than I have since being a kid. I think society teaches women to be afraid of menopause, but as others have stated, our bodies are meant to do this at this time. If you take good care of yourself, it's not something to fear at all. (Standard disclaimer: obviously everyone is different and some may have complex medical issues that don't make this time easy at all. I'm not dismissing anyone. Just saying that it is totally possible not to have to take hormones etc if you are feeling good!)
I question whenever a normal physical change is suddenly identified as an issue needing treatment, and give Big Pharma the side eye. I had a handful of hot flashes, but otherwise no issues. I had clotting issues prior to menopause, so taking HRT wasn't an option, but it turned out that was fine. My only caveat is that I minimize carbs (including grains, which are highly inflammatory), avoid processed foods (especially seed oils), go for a walk daily, and prioritize getting a good night's sleep.
I have noticed that if I stray from my normal way of eating (for example, too many carbs/processed foods/inflammatory foods on a vacation), then I will get a few small hot flashes. It's just a reminder to get back on track with healthy eating. Also, I realized that my Mom never had any menopause issues and never took any replacement hormones. She is in her 80s now and her health did not at all fall apart just because of menopause or because she didn't take hormones. As you said, Pharma takes any chance to medicalize/monetize a normal situation. Some people do have very uncomfortable symptoms, but their doctors should check Vit D and lifestyle issues first before writing prescriptions.
Insulin and glucose are the most ancient of hormones and have a huge impact on peri and menopause. I have heard that the incidence of insulin resistance is 10 in 11 people. This in turn, impacts all other hormone systems.
Unfortunately, doctors aren't taught critical thinking skills, which is just as well since many governments now penalize those who question the narrative. Plus they graduate with huge student loans to pay off, so advising their patients that lifestyle choices usually make more of a difference than anything from Big Pharma goes against their financial interests.
I have quit going for standard screening procedures, like mammograms, because they're at best useless and at worst create problems. I manage type 2 diabetes solely through lifestyle changes, which coincidentally is how I have avoided knee replacement surgery as well as problems going through menopause. These days, instead of consulting a doctor, I think about whether this was an issue for my grandparents and, if so, how did they handle it.
I should clarify. I had clotting issues prior to menopause, so taking HRT wasn't an option, but it turned out that was fine. When I say it was fine, I mean that I didn't need to take any sort of medication - the only symptoms I really noticed were the occasional hot flashes and that my hair thinned out a bit (but very noticeable really, except to me). I should also add that it's the same with my friends, none of who have had to take medication to deal with the change; not coincidentally, they also avoid inflammatory foods (sugars, seed oils, grains), exercise, and prioritize sleep.
Very good on the clotting issue. Much of the danger of that comes from Premarin and the synthetic estrogens. Progesterone should be protective. You can also evaluate all your clotting pathway to see what the individual's issue is
Surprised to see no mention of histamine sensitivity in this discussion. A lot of women demonstrate symptoms of histamine sensitivity with increasing age — symptoms that are nearly always misdiagnosed as anxiety, panic attacks, heart-related issues, etc. In my experience, many medical professionals aren’t even aware of it, or even flatly deny it, and will run a patient through a whole gamut of “specialists” trying to figure out what’s happening, only for all the tests to return as “normal” and then just write a prescription for anxiety meds (which won’t work). Look up histamine intolerance and MCAS in menopause.
This is a good point. Dr. Haver doesn't cover it. In the mast cells, when estrogen dominates, histamine is released. Balancing with progesterone turns it off. Once histamine is released progesterone is not so helpful Vitamin C, quercetin, DAO enzymes and even methylation helps
There’s also a lot of symptoms that have not even been addressed in the mainstream medical world… Like sleep apnea and the impact of the thyroid on menopause.
I’ve been managing relatively symptom-free with bio identical progesterone. I also take quite a few supplements because my body needs them at this age, specifically omega-3, CoQ10, multivitamin, Pregnalanone, high dose, vitamin C, selenium, collagen, de ribose to name a few.
However, for many years, I felt cold, bridle nails, hair, falling out, sleep disturbances, and then eventually the muscle pains and aches. Never had the night sweats, never had the hot flashes.
And I discovered two major things that were missing: iodine and salt
Menopausal women need lots of water, but if there isn’t any salt on board, the water won’t go into the cells. So when I increased my salt intake, around 2000 mg of sodium a day, the muscle aches, mental fog, tiredness disappeared.
However, I still had deep muscle pains, which was different from the aches, and then my sleep did not feel very restful. I was diagnosed sleep apnea, about 70% of menopausal women have it, and around 40% of those sleep apnea have an under active thyroid. Which means it can’t be caught by the test.
So then I started taking iodine, I’ve worked my way up to 25 mg per day and I feel , totally different. The deep muscle pains are gone, hair is no longer falling out, I no longer feel cold, and I feel like I am more rested.
So contrary to what many people think as menopause as the estrogen/progesterone issue… I really think that menopause is a thyroid issue.
as we still make progesterone and estrogen… Just not the same volume. It’s the adrenal glands that take over the production. Which means we definitely need more water, less stress, and salt actually helps because it facilitates the work the adrenal glands do.
There’s been a lot of research that the current recommendations from the FDA of 150 µg is not sufficient. It’s only enough to prevent a goiter, not to support optimal thyroid function. Check out Dr. Brownstein’s work on iodine.
Also, the food supplies contaminated with bromide, which hogs the iodine receptors and kicks it off. Plus fluoride and chlorine also blocks thyroid receptors. So between the dangerous halides of fluoride, chloride, bromide occupying the iodine receptors, the overall low amount of iodine in the diet, it’s a recipe for disaster.
Thanks! I will look into Dr. Brownstein. But you wrote about 25 mg. Is that the same as the 150 µg? I have been thinking about upping the game regarding iodine, but I haven't been able to work out how to do it safely.
Dr. Brownstein will use doses in 25 mg to 50 mg doses. I spoke with him a couple days again and he said if he could only have one tool to use in his practice, it would be iodine.
Sorry I got interrupted. So when you start on higher doses, it’s best to start with 2% iodine drops, where one drop equals 2.5 mg. And so you take 2.5 mg a day for a couple of weeks, and then you slowly titrate upwards. 25 mg of iodine is the same as 25,000 µg. Dr. Brownstein says most his patients are on between 25 mg to 50 mg a day… 25 mg seems to be doing fine for me. I’m no longer cold, my hair isn’t falling out, no longer have muscle cramps. But definitely get one of his books because it’s normal to have a detox reaction when the fluoride and especially the bromide is kicked off of the receptor site… You’ll need to drink, a quarter to half a teaspoon of salt mixed with water, possibly a couple of times a day, because the chloride in the salt captures the bromide that’s floating around and gets it out of your system
If you find your detox reaction, you can just go ahead and titrate back down. I think with the 2.5 mg starting point, then slowly working up to five, then 10… Over a couple of months you more than likely would not have any detox reaction. Not a doctor, only play on television, not to be considered medical advice.
So did you get a whole assessment before you started taking it, or did you just start, assuming you were deficient? I am inclined to start and just see how it goes. Because my problem is that I have no clue where to go. I am in Europe and I haven't been able to find a doctor like Dr. Brwonstein. (Thanks for point him out to me)
I just recommend starting iodine. If someone contemplates using thyroid, automatically they should also be adding iodine and the other support minerals are helpful too. There is a lot of discussion on the iodine dosing. I lean toward Dr. Brownstein's research.
I didn’t. I follow Dr Brownsteins recommendation, titrated slowly. Only once a year I get thyroid checked for hyperthyroidism As most under active and hypothyroidism is missed in medical tests.
I am 54 and have just now entered peri menopause. I started having hot flashes and waking up at night . I started taking triple iodine complex supplement and both of those symptoms are gone . I read if your thyroid is low then your hormones may off balanced and iodine helps thyroid . For now , taking iodine seems to be working .
Sure. About 20% of women have no problem because their adrenal gland production of hormones carries them. Unfortuntely we live under such stressful times, this is getting to be a bigger problem than it ever had before.
Going into menopause was like falling off a cliff for me. One day a normal happy person the next I felt bat shit crazy. My husbands laughingly says I lost my unicorn status with menopause. I had menopause late at 55. I am very thankful for HRT. My mom said it was no big deal for her but went on to develop severe osteoporosis n dementia. Do what works for you because everyone’s journey is different.
This Q&A does not expose the lie that Menopause is not a hormonal issue by a metabolic issue. If metabolic dysfunction is not corrected then women can't know they can reverse it with diet and lifestyle and instead they get led down a path of pharma w/HRT and BHT (also pharma made and synthetic despite what we're told). This is a band-aid approach to manage symptoms (shutting off body from making hormones as it should) not a root cause approach. Obviously, women living with such negative menopause symptoms may need the help of pharma to get through it and may be happy enough with that, but if we don't focus on root cause approach a portion of those afflicted with symptoms who would have wanted to heal instead of manage symptoms won't have that opportunity. The root cause approach will improve other areas of their health as well and get women of pharma harm. I had not menopause symptoms in perimenopause and I'm still going through menopause without any identifiable ones. I'm 58.
The Menopausal Revival is excellent on this topic. She's on FB and Substack and maybe elsewhere.
Menopause is a metabolic issue. It's a modern health issue. Japan doesn't have a name for it because women don't get symptoms. I do not know if this holds true today because I don't know if highly processed food has infiltrated their society as it has here. Menopause is a natural physiological shift that should not create symptoms but it does in those whose bodies are out of homeostasis. The symptoms are a red flag to change your diet and lifestyle. I did this 15+ yrs ago and have continued to shift from a largely whole food diet to one centered on animal fats and protein--exactly what we were told decades ago to eliminate from our diet. This is why menopause symptoms are so prevalent because so few women on a national level, know of this diet shift that creates significant health gains.
I didn't have any perimenopause symptoms when I shifted to a largely whole food diet, eliminating most processed food, based on the WAPF diet but w/o veggie ferments. The 2.5 yrs ago I learned of the Carnivore diet and was blown away. HOW had i not heard of this and how it resolved chronic disease we were told were "irreversible," universally often quickly? And got people off what we were told to be "lifelong" needed medications? Anyway, this way of eating (or other less restrictive animal based diets: Keto, paleo, done consistently and properly) can heal and women experience menopause as God intended and designed...without health issues.
Follow The Menopause Revival on FB and she may be on Substack for more info on this. She is the best spoken I have found exposing the Menopause being a hormone issue lie.
You make make good additions and counterpoints, but the tone gets huffy. A sanctimonious need to pooh-pooh ANY "unnatural" treatment starts weighting the commentary toward suspiciously dogmatic, to the point of clear bullshitting at times, as when the book points out that autoimmune disorders can be harder to manage during menopause and you respond, "All of these preexisting condition mentioned should have been remedied long before menopause." Yes, that would be nice, but... you can't entirely remedy diabetes or ulcerative colitis and it would be disingenuous to find fault with warning people about the likelihood of flares related to hormone shifts. And ok, BRCA genes alone don't cause breast cancer, but having them sure increases the odds of an epigenetic trigger! Not all proactive treatment is simple predation by Big Health Care. And reducing the point that there are now more places to get peri and post menopausal care to a new terrible world of trying to profit off menopause is disrespectful to practitioners who see women suffering and want to help them. I urge you to find a more balanced tone.
My period stopped 10 months ago and I have horrible hot flushes and sweats. I have tried a million different herbal supplements, nothing works. So I am considering to try bioidentical progesterone. I see it does not affect endometrium but my question is, it does not have any breast cancer risk, right, any of you can confirm I am interpreting right?
Of course, progesterone affects the endometrium. If you start progesterone for the first time and you have a build up, you will start bleeding when you have enough progesterone activity. This is great. And then just continue on progesterone and this prevents future excessive buildup
I never knew there were so many issues with menopause. How did women get through this before the medical industry started treating it?
I never thought about it much, but I suppose I should now that I am in my 40s. Is it also possible to get through it without taking anything (provided that the symptoms are not unmanageable of course), or will my health be ruined then?
I echo your interest in getting through it without taking anything. If I have learned anything in my 47 years, it’s that pharmaceutical interventions only cause new problems without ever addressing root causes. And, that if God designed something a certain way, we need to honor that design. There is no pharmaceutical fountain of youth, so attempting to artificially maintain the hormone profile of a young woman in her prime seems foolish and dangerous to me intuitively. The changes in our physiology over a lifetime are there for a reason— we ought to support these changes wisely with real, whole foods, exercise, sunshine, fresh air, and edifying spiritual/social connections. As far as supplements go, I’m willing to grant that there are dietary and herbal supplements that are more fit for improving health and relieving debilitating symptoms than any drug.
I couldn't have said it better myself, regarding God's design, and that's exactly that I seek to get through it without tampering with things, that could be left alone. Thanks.
Well said. But I would add bioidentical hormones to that list
Hi Carol,
How can I reach out to you for coaching. I’m 59 and bleeding on and off. I had an ultrasound of my uterus in 2023 and fibroids, cysts and/or polyps. Had surgery to remove and biopsy, path report was fine but still having bleeding. I am on bio-identical hormones. Tomorrow I go in for new pellets. Do you think you could help me? Would be grateful for your insight.
It is absolutely possible to go through this without taking anything pharmaceutical. The peri time is the worst, but actual menopause is calm in comparison. If you do have symptoms, I would first make sure your Vitamin D level is good. Having a proper VIt D level seems to fix so many other things. Then of course pay attention to what you eat (proper diet can really vary from person to person, so I won't recommend anything specific, but mostly carnivore/low-carb works for me.) And lifting weights is very important to keep that muscle mass. (You don't have to become a body builder - try a workout that hits all the major muscles twice a week and go from there.) I've felt better in this stage of my life than I have since being a kid. I think society teaches women to be afraid of menopause, but as others have stated, our bodies are meant to do this at this time. If you take good care of yourself, it's not something to fear at all. (Standard disclaimer: obviously everyone is different and some may have complex medical issues that don't make this time easy at all. I'm not dismissing anyone. Just saying that it is totally possible not to have to take hormones etc if you are feeling good!)
This is an important comment about vitamin D. If it is not adequate, the other hormones don't work as well. It should be foundational
Thank you. This is good to know :)
I question whenever a normal physical change is suddenly identified as an issue needing treatment, and give Big Pharma the side eye. I had a handful of hot flashes, but otherwise no issues. I had clotting issues prior to menopause, so taking HRT wasn't an option, but it turned out that was fine. My only caveat is that I minimize carbs (including grains, which are highly inflammatory), avoid processed foods (especially seed oils), go for a walk daily, and prioritize getting a good night's sleep.
I have noticed that if I stray from my normal way of eating (for example, too many carbs/processed foods/inflammatory foods on a vacation), then I will get a few small hot flashes. It's just a reminder to get back on track with healthy eating. Also, I realized that my Mom never had any menopause issues and never took any replacement hormones. She is in her 80s now and her health did not at all fall apart just because of menopause or because she didn't take hormones. As you said, Pharma takes any chance to medicalize/monetize a normal situation. Some people do have very uncomfortable symptoms, but their doctors should check Vit D and lifestyle issues first before writing prescriptions.
Insulin and glucose are the most ancient of hormones and have a huge impact on peri and menopause. I have heard that the incidence of insulin resistance is 10 in 11 people. This in turn, impacts all other hormone systems.
Unfortunately, doctors aren't taught critical thinking skills, which is just as well since many governments now penalize those who question the narrative. Plus they graduate with huge student loans to pay off, so advising their patients that lifestyle choices usually make more of a difference than anything from Big Pharma goes against their financial interests.
I have quit going for standard screening procedures, like mammograms, because they're at best useless and at worst create problems. I manage type 2 diabetes solely through lifestyle changes, which coincidentally is how I have avoided knee replacement surgery as well as problems going through menopause. These days, instead of consulting a doctor, I think about whether this was an issue for my grandparents and, if so, how did they handle it.
You have to take charge of yourself and research for your solutions. Bravo, for doing it.
Thanks!
I should clarify. I had clotting issues prior to menopause, so taking HRT wasn't an option, but it turned out that was fine. When I say it was fine, I mean that I didn't need to take any sort of medication - the only symptoms I really noticed were the occasional hot flashes and that my hair thinned out a bit (but very noticeable really, except to me). I should also add that it's the same with my friends, none of who have had to take medication to deal with the change; not coincidentally, they also avoid inflammatory foods (sugars, seed oils, grains), exercise, and prioritize sleep.
I wish I could edit my comments! The hair thinning was NOT very noticeable, except to me.
Very good on the clotting issue. Much of the danger of that comes from Premarin and the synthetic estrogens. Progesterone should be protective. You can also evaluate all your clotting pathway to see what the individual's issue is
Yes, keep your adrenals strong and avoice insulin resistance. About 20% of women still have no issues.
Thanks! I was already thinking along those lines, but, now I coincidentally watched this, and I am in doubt again: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cgo2mD4Pc54
I often recommend pine pollen. Bee pollen does the same.
When and how do I harvest pine pollen? It’s Spring currently in Montana. I know spring has high pollen counts. Help?!?
How can I find this pollen and how much to take? maybe It is the one thing I havent tried....
Surprised to see no mention of histamine sensitivity in this discussion. A lot of women demonstrate symptoms of histamine sensitivity with increasing age — symptoms that are nearly always misdiagnosed as anxiety, panic attacks, heart-related issues, etc. In my experience, many medical professionals aren’t even aware of it, or even flatly deny it, and will run a patient through a whole gamut of “specialists” trying to figure out what’s happening, only for all the tests to return as “normal” and then just write a prescription for anxiety meds (which won’t work). Look up histamine intolerance and MCAS in menopause.
This is a good point. Dr. Haver doesn't cover it. In the mast cells, when estrogen dominates, histamine is released. Balancing with progesterone turns it off. Once histamine is released progesterone is not so helpful Vitamin C, quercetin, DAO enzymes and even methylation helps
This happened to me. It was awful.
There’s also a lot of symptoms that have not even been addressed in the mainstream medical world… Like sleep apnea and the impact of the thyroid on menopause.
I’ve been managing relatively symptom-free with bio identical progesterone. I also take quite a few supplements because my body needs them at this age, specifically omega-3, CoQ10, multivitamin, Pregnalanone, high dose, vitamin C, selenium, collagen, de ribose to name a few.
However, for many years, I felt cold, bridle nails, hair, falling out, sleep disturbances, and then eventually the muscle pains and aches. Never had the night sweats, never had the hot flashes.
And I discovered two major things that were missing: iodine and salt
Menopausal women need lots of water, but if there isn’t any salt on board, the water won’t go into the cells. So when I increased my salt intake, around 2000 mg of sodium a day, the muscle aches, mental fog, tiredness disappeared.
However, I still had deep muscle pains, which was different from the aches, and then my sleep did not feel very restful. I was diagnosed sleep apnea, about 70% of menopausal women have it, and around 40% of those sleep apnea have an under active thyroid. Which means it can’t be caught by the test.
So then I started taking iodine, I’ve worked my way up to 25 mg per day and I feel , totally different. The deep muscle pains are gone, hair is no longer falling out, I no longer feel cold, and I feel like I am more rested.
So contrary to what many people think as menopause as the estrogen/progesterone issue… I really think that menopause is a thyroid issue.
as we still make progesterone and estrogen… Just not the same volume. It’s the adrenal glands that take over the production. Which means we definitely need more water, less stress, and salt actually helps because it facilitates the work the adrenal glands do.
Spot on. When you lose the adrenal support your thyroid falters. Nice tips here.
But isn't high doses idione toxic for you?
There’s been a lot of research that the current recommendations from the FDA of 150 µg is not sufficient. It’s only enough to prevent a goiter, not to support optimal thyroid function. Check out Dr. Brownstein’s work on iodine.
Also, the food supplies contaminated with bromide, which hogs the iodine receptors and kicks it off. Plus fluoride and chlorine also blocks thyroid receptors. So between the dangerous halides of fluoride, chloride, bromide occupying the iodine receptors, the overall low amount of iodine in the diet, it’s a recipe for disaster.
Thanks! I will look into Dr. Brownstein. But you wrote about 25 mg. Is that the same as the 150 µg? I have been thinking about upping the game regarding iodine, but I haven't been able to work out how to do it safely.
Dr. Brownstein will use doses in 25 mg to 50 mg doses. I spoke with him a couple days again and he said if he could only have one tool to use in his practice, it would be iodine.
Thank you for this :)
Sorry I got interrupted. So when you start on higher doses, it’s best to start with 2% iodine drops, where one drop equals 2.5 mg. And so you take 2.5 mg a day for a couple of weeks, and then you slowly titrate upwards. 25 mg of iodine is the same as 25,000 µg. Dr. Brownstein says most his patients are on between 25 mg to 50 mg a day… 25 mg seems to be doing fine for me. I’m no longer cold, my hair isn’t falling out, no longer have muscle cramps. But definitely get one of his books because it’s normal to have a detox reaction when the fluoride and especially the bromide is kicked off of the receptor site… You’ll need to drink, a quarter to half a teaspoon of salt mixed with water, possibly a couple of times a day, because the chloride in the salt captures the bromide that’s floating around and gets it out of your system
If you find your detox reaction, you can just go ahead and titrate back down. I think with the 2.5 mg starting point, then slowly working up to five, then 10… Over a couple of months you more than likely would not have any detox reaction. Not a doctor, only play on television, not to be considered medical advice.
So did you get a whole assessment before you started taking it, or did you just start, assuming you were deficient? I am inclined to start and just see how it goes. Because my problem is that I have no clue where to go. I am in Europe and I haven't been able to find a doctor like Dr. Brwonstein. (Thanks for point him out to me)
I just recommend starting iodine. If someone contemplates using thyroid, automatically they should also be adding iodine and the other support minerals are helpful too. There is a lot of discussion on the iodine dosing. I lean toward Dr. Brownstein's research.
I didn’t. I follow Dr Brownsteins recommendation, titrated slowly. Only once a year I get thyroid checked for hyperthyroidism As most under active and hypothyroidism is missed in medical tests.
If you are feeling like there is a detox reaction, add salt and selenium
Exactly this. And need 200mcg selenium each day as it’s needed to convert iodine to thyroxine
Yep, I take 25 mg!
I am 54 and have just now entered peri menopause. I started having hot flashes and waking up at night . I started taking triple iodine complex supplement and both of those symptoms are gone . I read if your thyroid is low then your hormones may off balanced and iodine helps thyroid . For now , taking iodine seems to be working .
and you need thyroid to help make the sex and adrenal hormones and iodine helps make thyroid
Sure. About 20% of women have no problem because their adrenal gland production of hormones carries them. Unfortuntely we live under such stressful times, this is getting to be a bigger problem than it ever had before.
Going into menopause was like falling off a cliff for me. One day a normal happy person the next I felt bat shit crazy. My husbands laughingly says I lost my unicorn status with menopause. I had menopause late at 55. I am very thankful for HRT. My mom said it was no big deal for her but went on to develop severe osteoporosis n dementia. Do what works for you because everyone’s journey is different.
If your mom is still alive, replenishing hormones can still help her
Thank you Carol my mother has since died but she was on it for her last few years.
This Q&A does not expose the lie that Menopause is not a hormonal issue by a metabolic issue. If metabolic dysfunction is not corrected then women can't know they can reverse it with diet and lifestyle and instead they get led down a path of pharma w/HRT and BHT (also pharma made and synthetic despite what we're told). This is a band-aid approach to manage symptoms (shutting off body from making hormones as it should) not a root cause approach. Obviously, women living with such negative menopause symptoms may need the help of pharma to get through it and may be happy enough with that, but if we don't focus on root cause approach a portion of those afflicted with symptoms who would have wanted to heal instead of manage symptoms won't have that opportunity. The root cause approach will improve other areas of their health as well and get women of pharma harm. I had not menopause symptoms in perimenopause and I'm still going through menopause without any identifiable ones. I'm 58.
The Menopausal Revival is excellent on this topic. She's on FB and Substack and maybe elsewhere.
Menopause is a metabolic issue. It's a modern health issue. Japan doesn't have a name for it because women don't get symptoms. I do not know if this holds true today because I don't know if highly processed food has infiltrated their society as it has here. Menopause is a natural physiological shift that should not create symptoms but it does in those whose bodies are out of homeostasis. The symptoms are a red flag to change your diet and lifestyle. I did this 15+ yrs ago and have continued to shift from a largely whole food diet to one centered on animal fats and protein--exactly what we were told decades ago to eliminate from our diet. This is why menopause symptoms are so prevalent because so few women on a national level, know of this diet shift that creates significant health gains.
I didn't have any perimenopause symptoms when I shifted to a largely whole food diet, eliminating most processed food, based on the WAPF diet but w/o veggie ferments. The 2.5 yrs ago I learned of the Carnivore diet and was blown away. HOW had i not heard of this and how it resolved chronic disease we were told were "irreversible," universally often quickly? And got people off what we were told to be "lifelong" needed medications? Anyway, this way of eating (or other less restrictive animal based diets: Keto, paleo, done consistently and properly) can heal and women experience menopause as God intended and designed...without health issues.
Follow The Menopause Revival on FB and she may be on Substack for more info on this. She is the best spoken I have found exposing the Menopause being a hormone issue lie.
You make make good additions and counterpoints, but the tone gets huffy. A sanctimonious need to pooh-pooh ANY "unnatural" treatment starts weighting the commentary toward suspiciously dogmatic, to the point of clear bullshitting at times, as when the book points out that autoimmune disorders can be harder to manage during menopause and you respond, "All of these preexisting condition mentioned should have been remedied long before menopause." Yes, that would be nice, but... you can't entirely remedy diabetes or ulcerative colitis and it would be disingenuous to find fault with warning people about the likelihood of flares related to hormone shifts. And ok, BRCA genes alone don't cause breast cancer, but having them sure increases the odds of an epigenetic trigger! Not all proactive treatment is simple predation by Big Health Care. And reducing the point that there are now more places to get peri and post menopausal care to a new terrible world of trying to profit off menopause is disrespectful to practitioners who see women suffering and want to help them. I urge you to find a more balanced tone.
My website is: Thewellnessbydesignproject.com
My period stopped 10 months ago and I have horrible hot flushes and sweats. I have tried a million different herbal supplements, nothing works. So I am considering to try bioidentical progesterone. I see it does not affect endometrium but my question is, it does not have any breast cancer risk, right, any of you can confirm I am interpreting right?
Of course, progesterone affects the endometrium. If you start progesterone for the first time and you have a build up, you will start bleeding when you have enough progesterone activity. This is great. And then just continue on progesterone and this prevents future excessive buildup
You need estrogen progesterone n testosterone. Find a doc who is trained in HRT. There are a lot of podcasts on the subject. No need to be miserable
and more -here is my priority of hormones
insulin glucose
adrenal hormones
thyroid
sex hormones