Ageless: The Naked Truth About Bioidentical Hormones (8 page)

Alternatively, estrogen dominance can be due to hormonal imbalance, and a complete evaluation of your levels must be done and a new prescription dispensed to fit your current needs. Some of the symptoms of estrogen dominance include

• bloating and puffiness
  
• heavy bleeding
  
• weight gain in hips
  
• fibrocystic breasts
  
• mood swings
  
• anxiety
  
• irritability
  
• depression
  
• frequent thrush
  
• yeast infections
  
• weepiness
  
• carbohydrate cravings
  
• no sex drive
  
• sore and swollen breasts
  
• scatterbrained (foggy thinking)
  
• fibroids
  
• headaches before periods
  
• migraine
  

EXCESS TESTOSTERONE FOR WOMEN

Women can suffer from too much testosterone. Often, this imbalance can be caused by consuming too much sugar and eating carbohydrates in excess. Having a blood test to evaluate your testosterone levels, then correcting any imbalances through bioidentical hormone replacement therapy, can also bring you back to balance. Some symptoms of testosterone excess in women include

• acne
  
• high blood pressure
  
• excessive hair on face and arms
  
• deepened voice
  
• polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)
  
• unstable blood sugar
  
• pain when ovulating
  
• infertility
  
• ovarian cysts
  

P
ROGESTERONE

WHAT IT IS
:
Progesterone and estrogen are two of the main hormones made in the ovaries. Progesterone is produced primarily in the second half of a woman’s menstrual cycle and is the hormone responsible for the survival of the fetus in pregnancy. Men also produce tiny amounts from the testicles. Progesterone is further produced in small amounts in the adrenal glands in both men and women.

HOW IT WORKS:
When women reach their thirties and forties, it is very common that the balance between estrogen and progesterone shifts heavily toward estrogen. This excess estrogen is commonly known as estrogen dominance and is often to blame for many symptoms experienced by women at this time, such as PMS, night sweats, and depression. Around this time, a small amount of bioidentical progesterone can help rebalance these hormones and relieve these symptoms.

Symptoms of a progesterone deficiency include

• painful, tender, swollen breasts
  
• anxiety and stress
  
• infertility
  
• painful abdomen
  
• aggression
  
• extremely heavy periods
  
• PMS
  
• night sweats
  
• early miscarriage
  
• weepiness
  
• trouble sleeping
  
• headaches associated with your period
  
• low bone density
  
• weight gain
  
• swollen extremities
  
• excessive water retention
  

HOW TO TEST:
You can have your progesterone levels measured by a saliva or blood test. It is best to check hormone levels on days 12 and 21 of the month, if you are cycling rhythmically. If you are static dosing, check levels around days 18 to 21. If you are feeling that you can’t ever achieve balance on your static doses, read about rhythmic cycling in
chapter 5
and give it a try.

USING BIOIDENTICALS
:
Treatment with bioidentical progesterone may protect the breasts against cancer and benefit your bones, brain, and mood. It can help prevent excessive proliferation of both normal and
abnormal cancerous breast cells. Trials conducted by Dr. Helene Leonetti at Bethlehem Obstetrics Clinic in Pennsylvania found that progesterone therapy reduced fibrous (benign) breast lumps.

Other benefits of bioidentical progesterone:

• Restores libido
  
• Protects against fibrocystic breasts
  
• Is a natural diuretic
  
• Protects against endometrial cancer
  
• Is a natural antidepressant
  
• Facilitates thyroid function
  
• Normalizes blood sugar levels
  
• Improves energy, stamina, and endurance
  

Please be warned: If you go to a health food store to get your progesterone, you are not getting progesterone. A wild yam cream
is not progesterone
. It contains phytoestrogens, which may increase the body’s production, but it is not a hormone or a precursor to a hormone. In other words, you are not replacing progesterone by using a wild yam cream. True-grade therapeutic bioidentical progesterone can be supplied only by prescription through a compounding pharmacy.

Do not confuse natural bioidentical progesterone with Provera, and do not confuse natural progesterone with “progestins.” These are synthetic chemical analogues similar to progesterone but different enough to have dramatic side effects. The progesterone molecule in progestins has been chemically altered in order to be patented and owned by the pharmaceutical company. Synthetic progesterone is foreign to the body and has actually been shown to inhibit the biosynthesis of progesterone.

According to Dr. David G. Williams, progestins can cause abnormal menstrual flow or cessation, fluid retention, nausea, insomnia, jaundice, depression, fever, weight fluctuations, allergic reactions, and the development of male characteristics.

Bioidentical progesterone, on the other hand, can relieve menopausal symptoms, reverse osteoporosis, enhance mood, and restore libido, provided you are working with a qualified doctor who
understands how to achieve the correct ratio or balance between estrogen and progesterone.

The correct ratios between estrogen and progesterone are key. These two hormones are meant to work together to maintain hormone balance. Without balance comes mood swings and weight gain, among other symptoms. Even women who have had a hysterectomy need to balance their monthly cycle with progesterone ten days of each month. There has been controversy about this. Many doctors put women on continuous estrogen replacement (meaning estrogen every day of the month) and do not give them progesterone, figuring because they no longer have a uterus that progesterone is not needed. Here is where you need to really understand the template that the brain follows. If you are not ovulating (because without progesterone, ovulation is impossible), then the brain “knows” that you cannot reproduce; therefore, the internal shutdown begins. This woman begins to have all sorts of medical problems as a result. After a hysterectomy you must “trick” the brain into believing that “all is well, you are reproductive.” This is why you continue to replace progesterone just as you did when you still had your uterus. Remember, this book is to empower you so that you can tell your doctor what you want and need. Natural progesterone is very useful to balance excess estrogen—a situation that happens to women in perimenopause (the stage prior to menopause)—and it is also useful to treat estrogen dominance.

SAFETY AND SIDE EFFECTS:
Bioidentical progesterone has few side effects. It does not increase the risk of cancer or cause abnormal menstrual flow, fluid retention, nausea, or depression.

However, women need to be aware of the serious side effects when estrogen is administered alone and their progesterone levels are down: nausea, anorexia, vomiting, headaches, and water retention leading to weight gain. For some women with physical disorders, taking estrogen supplementation only can exacerbate high blood pressure, diabetes, migraines, and epilepsy.

DHEA

WHAT IT IS
:
DHEA is the most plentiful hormone in your body and can be converted into other hormones, including estrogen and testosterone.

HOW IT WORKS:
Considered an antiaging hormone, DHEA has positive effects on the brain, immune system, reproductive organs, muscles, and other organs and tissues. DHEA also helps to maintain collagen levels in the skin, promoting smoother, younger-looking skin. French scientists studied the effects of DHEA replacement therapy in about three hundred men and women between the ages of sixty and eighty over the course of a year. One of the findings to come out of this well-known study (known as the DHEAge study) was that DHEA supplementation greatly improved the color, tone, thickness, and hydration of the subjects’ skin.

DHEA begins to drop off after age thirty and can be almost negligible after the age of sixty. This drop-off parallels the general decline in our health and vitality as we age. Stress accelerates the natural decline of DHEA levels.

HOW TO TEST:
To determine your DHEA levels, you can have your hormone levels checked by saliva or blood test. If you are a female of any age, you would want your levels to be at optimum, which would be between 150 and 350. If you are a male of any age, you would want your optimal levels to be between 250 and 450.

USING DHEA
SUPPLEMENTS:
DHEA is available over the counter as a nutritional supplement, but before you use it, make sure your levels have been tested and your doctor feels you would benefit from taking this supplement.

SAFETY AND SIDE EFFECTS:
Too much DHEA in women can lead to some undesirable side effects (not serious ones) such as increased sweating, oilier skin, acne, or hair growth. These effects are generally
not seen in dosages below 50 mg a day. If these side effects do occur, simply reduce your dosage.

With proper monitoring by your doctor, DHEA replacement therapy is a very safe and extraordinarily effective antiaging therapy for most people. However, those with certain types of cancer are an area of potential concern. This is why any hormones should be monitored by a qualified doctor.

T
HYROID

WHAT IT IS
:
The thyroid is a butterfly-shaped gland located in the lower part of the neck just below the Adam’s apple. The thyroid secretes iodine-containing hormones, triiodothyronine (T3) and thyroxine (T4), which regulate body temperature, heart rate, and metabolism. Thyroid hormones have a profound impact on weight. They control how the body burns up carbohydrates and fats by increasing enzyme levels that produce energy. Thyroid function is very complex and exerts a profound effect on the function of nearly every other organ in the body. If your thyroid isn’t functioning optimally, neither are you.

HOW IT WORKS:
The thyroid takes its orders from the pituitary gland and the hypothalamus, which are constantly monitoring the amount of thyroxine circulating in the blood. When the level of thyroxine gets low, the pituitary gland releases thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), produced in the pituitary gland. As the name suggests, thyroid-stimulating hormone signals the thyroid to produce more thyroxine. As the amount of thyroxine in the blood increases, the production of TSH is suppressed. This in turn slows the production of thyroxine. This feedback loop between the pituitary and thyroid works to keep the level of thyroid hormone relatively constant in the body.

Once in the body, circulating T4 is converted to the active form of T3. As we age, the production of T4 diminishes. In addition, the conversion of T4 to T3 also diminishes, resulting in less stimulation of the cells.

When T4 is not converted to T3, hypothyroidism (low or underactive thyroid) occurs. The most common thyroid disorder, underactive thyroid, typically strikes after age forty but is underdiagnosed and undertreated. Untreated thyroid disease leads to elevated cholesterol levels, heart disease, infertility, fatigue, muscle weakness, poor mental function, depression, weight gain, and an increased risk of cancer. Endocrinologists estimate that one in five women and one in ten men over sixty suffer from underactive thyroid.

Dr. Philip Lee Miller says, “Astonishingly, one study found that 40 percent of patients who were already taking thyroid medication still had abnormally high levels of TSH, an indicator of low thyroid function.” Because even “normal” TSH levels increase heart disease risk, Dr. Miller advises testing for TSH and other blood markers of thyroid function and working with an antiaging doctor to bring these values into the “optimal” range for peak thyroid function.

Some of the factors that cause a “sick” thyroid include:

• Selenium deficiency. Selenium is a mineral necessary for the conversion of T4 to T3. (Incomplete conversion results in high levels of reverse T3, an inactive hormone.)
  
• Estrogen dominance caused by stress and pollution. Estrogen suppresses thyroid function.
  
• Mercury, a toxic metal that can contaminate the thyroid gland.
  
• Stress, which causes decreased adrenal gland function and prevents the thyroid gland from functioning optimally.
  

Hypothyroidism occurs when the thyroid gland does not produce enough “energy-generating” thyroid hormones. Weight gain is a classic symptom of this dysfunction. In such cases, levels of thyroid-stimulating hormone may rise in an attempt to spur more production and secretion of thyroid hormones from the thyroid gland.

Other symptoms include

• chronic constipation
  
• fatigue
  
• feeling cold, even when others are hot
  
• brittle hair, hair loss, or nails that break easily and split
  
• longer, heavier, and more frequent periods
  
• dry, scaly skin
  
• bruising easily
  
• depression
  
• mental confusion
  
• trouble sleeping
  
• low libido
  
• sensitivity to light
  
• recurrent infections
  
• headaches or migraines
  

HOW TO TEST:
Thyroid function tests tell you whether your thyroid is working normally. When TSH is measured, most doctors consider normal to be in the 0.2 to 5.5 range. However, the normal range is no longer considered optimal by antiaging doctors. Optimal is between 1.0 and 2.0. Higher than this, and you can experience premature aging and an increased risk of heart disease. Writing in his book
Life Extension Revolution
, Dr. Miller says, “If your thyroid levels are above 4.0 (still well within the considered ‘normal’ range), you are at increased risk of heart disease.”