23 May Why do I feel rubbish on HRT?
I often see clients who have been to see specialist menopause doctors in private practice, usually at great expense.
Most of the time they have been recommended the body identical progesterone and oestrogen and sometimes even given testosterone. Now, all of that is FABULOUS (check out some of my other posts where I’ve talked about how horrendous the synthetic progesterone is for women’s bodies), but they are still feeling rubbish.
Here’s why…
In a nutshell, these expensive doctors are just offering what your GP can offer you (except for the testosterone), it’s just that they have done specific training in menopause and are charging accordingly but, they are still looking at the body myopically. The problem comes down a couple of different things.
- For many women the natural progesterone that is offered isn’t suitable because it contains soy and peanut oil which some women are intolerant to (amendment: peanut oil has been removed as of 2023). So, they feel great for a few days then start feeling rubbish again. Often, they are just told to take more oestrogen which won’t help the situation because finding a progesterone that our body likes is the BEDROCK of good hormonal support!
- The answer is always “increase your oestrogen”, now this is an issue because women’s bodies are often overwhelmed with chemicals mimicking oestrogen called “xeno-oestrogens”. These chemicals come from skincare, toiletries, pesticides, hormonal contraceptives, and stress. They mimic oestrogen but aren’t oestrogen and so our gut cannot clear out the excess fake oestrogen through the “oestrobolome” in our gut and our body is saturated with it. Whilst we still need real oestrogen, as soon as we try using some, our body goes into overload and we start to display symptoms of oestrogen dominance such as weight gain, being wired but exhausted, insomnia and hot flushes. We must clear out the xeno oestrogens FIRST before we can get oestrogen to be metabolised effectively.
- This is the biggie… a doctor is only looking at your hormones and what HRT they can give you. They are not looking at the effect your diet is having on your metabolism, gut or stress. When we eat foods, we are intolerant to, we create stress hormones. When our blood sugars drop because we haven’t eaten enough, we create stress hormone. When we are eating too many carbs and not enough protein, we create stress hormone. Unless we are looking at diet AS WELL as hormones, we will not be able to get our symptoms under control or heal that gut to help it clear out the xeno oestrogens……
The only way to get through menopause is to look at ALL of it.
Use your money on a practitioner who works with all of these aspects and doesn’t just give you what your GP can give you!