Posted by Fuscia on July 21, 2002, at 18:28:44
In reply to estrogen, posted by katekite on July 15, 2002, at 9:55:08
Hi,
I would suggest any woman considering taking oral contraceptives to improve mood or for early premonopause time read the book, What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Premenopause, by John R. Lee M.D. You can read plenty of excerpt pages from it at amazon.com.
Actually, oral contraceptives contain a much higher dose of the xeno-estrogens and the xeno-hormone progestin.
If one must take hormone replacement therapy, it would be a good idea to get a hormone saliva test for estrogen and progesterone. Normally it is progesterone levels that drop drastically in the years prior to menopause. Estrogen is produced, albiet in smaller amounts, in the body even after menopause, as it can be found in fatty tissues of the body. The more overweight you are, the more estrogen you have.
Avoid Premarin, Prempro and other equine-extracted estrogens, as these contain not only the three major estrogens: estrodial, estrone, and estriol, but also contain steroids that are unecessary and harmful.
Birth control pills can work wonders when you first start taking them, but after a while they can make premenstrual symdrome symptoms worse.
Synthetic hormones have a similar structure to, but not exactly the same as, a hormone produced by your body, which can produce varying, if not negative results. Whereas natural hormones have a chemical structure that is identical to the hormone produced by the body.
I use Fem Gest brand by Home Health for my progesterone needs. There are other brands available from iherb.com and vitaminshoppe.com
Make sure the product contains progesterone, and not wild yam extract. Wild yam extract does not convert into progesterone in the body. Another good brand is Progesta-Care by Life-Flo.To increase estrogen, the herb sage is an excellent source. I've had hot flashes that began about 3 + years ago, (one of the signs of low estrogen, besides vaginal dryness) prior to starting any antidepressant. The sage tea works great for this, as well as vitamin E, dong quai, black cohosh, red clover, kudzu, and sarsasparilla herbal supplements.
To your health,
Fuscia
I suggest taking natural progesterone creme to see if this helps. I could add lots more, but the following link has loads of information about it:
Hormone Heresy
http://www.all-natural.com/estrog-1.html
poster:Fuscia
thread:111749
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020718/msgs/113187.html