Support for bioidentical hormones

nancy324

nancy324

Cathlete
I am posting an email I got from Dr. Christiane Northrup asking that we support an important effort. I thought I would share it in case anyone here wants to support this effort.
-Nancy


"Dear friend,

Recently, Dr. Erika Schwartz, author of several books including "The 30-Day Natural Hormone Plan" sent an important message to her e-mail community entitled "Your Right to Choose Bioidentical Hormones Is Under Attack!" Currently, the FDA is reviewing a proposal submitted by Wyeth, a pharmaceutical company trying to ban the production of bioidentical hormones. This is ridiculous! Unlike synthetic hormones such as Premarin or Prempro (both manufactured by Wyeth) which have been proven to be unsafe, bioidentical hormones are far safer in individualized doses. In addition, numerous studies have shown that they are effective at relieving menopausal symptoms and providing the estrogen that many women need to feel their best in the second half of life. (Note: not all women need hormones. But for those who do, bioidentical hormones are the best way to go—and I have recommended them for many years with great results.)

Dr. Erika has made it easy for your voice to be heard. Simply go to http://drerikav2.metacanvas.com/EN/resource/wyeth_bioidentical_controversy.html and complete a brief, electronic form. Please take two minutes to support this important effort, so you can and others can get the benefit of bioidentical hormones for years to come.

Warmly,

Christiane Northrup, M.D."
 
Hrmm...Sticking my large foot in my larger mouth here: I actually don't think that there has been a huge study of the effect of bioidentical hormones on breast cancer risk and heart disease risk, like there was for Premarin (the Women's Health Initiative Study). Not that the results of the Women's Health Initiative study are so great--there's a lot of controversy over whether the women in the study were too old to be using hormones, anyhow. But at least as far as I know, there haven't been any really good studies that look at bioidentical hormones--or other 'man-made' forms of hormones other than Premarin. So yeah, there might be studies that show that bioidentical hormones relieve menopause symptoms, but that still doesn't tell you whether or not taking hormones after menopause is going to increase your risk of heart disease or breast cancer. Just because something is natural or bioidentical doesn't necessarily mean that your body is meant to get that substance after menopause or that it doesn't cause other really serious effects.

Also, have they really done head to head comparisons of bioidentical hormones versus Premarin? Dr. Northrup can certainly have the opinion that bioidentical hormones are better and safer on an individualized basis--but I don't remember any studies that prove that is anything other than her personal opinion based on...her gut feeling? Personally, before I took ANY estrogen--bioidentical or not--I would want to see the cold hard facts.

Sorry, I did a lot of work on estrogen products for many years, so I know the medical studies on it fairly well...or at least did up until last year.

Taking foot out of mouth now. :)
 
Interesting post, Bunbun. I don't think that either your foot or your mouth is particularly large.
-Nancy
 
Oh dare I . .

I had a hysterectomy 4 years ago. All of it taken. I had THE worst hot flash's the day after. I was put on a bio-identical hormone as I requested. Things were fine until I realized my sex drive was totally in the toilet. Since then it has been a tweek here and a tweek there and some testosterone at the end of it and do I feel so much better. All due to a compounding pharmacy and a gyno that is up to date and has feelings. A man I might add.

I will be one of the first to sign on to protect bio identical hormones. This is all about money!

My mother died of breast cancer 14 years ago.

Read Suzanne Sommers books. She has educated herself. And me!

Dawn
 
>I will be one of the first to sign on to protect bio identical
>hormones. This is all about money!
>
>My mother died of breast cancer 14 years ago.
>
>Read Suzanne Sommers books. She has educated herself. And
>me!
>
>Dawn


Hi Dawn,

I truly have no axe to grind and I believe that each individual woman needs to do her homework and find the option that best suits her needs. I would like to point out though, that there is plenty of money to be made with bioidentical HRT. So if you, or anyone, is concerned that greed is a factor in traditional HRT, you should be equally as concerned about that with bioidenticals. I would base my decision on other factors like, which form of HRT best relieves my symptoms. There is no definitive study at this point to suggest that any form of HRT does anything more than relieve the symptoms associated with menopause. As for the benefits vs the risks--there's not an abundance of good information available at this time on bioidenticals. I'm hoping for some good studies on all forms of HRT so we can make an informed decision!

Michele
 
Agreed, Michele. You did a better job of saying what I was trying to say. Serves me right fro trying to post when I was half asleep.
 
Very Interesting topic...

I would love to hear more of everyones thoughts. This is not something I have done any research on (I guess because I don't need or use any HRTs).....but please fill me in on the good, bad and the ugly of bioidentical hormones. I haven't heard too much about them and I do know their use is very controversial.

Robin:)
 
I'm with Robin. I know very little. But I find Dr. Northrup to be brilliant, so I usually follow her recommendations. I signed up and supported this effort so that if I ever need hormones, I'll have options. I think this effort is all about options, and I want as many as I can get. I also know that one of my doctors recommended reading Suzanne Somers book "The Sexy Years" and that Suzanne Somers was much helped by bioidentical hormones.
-Nancy
 
To whom it may concern,

I have been on bio-identical hormones for 10 years. I've recently was able to get off them. I felt so much safer with plant based (the symptoms were gone) then the horse urine. Just a word of caution though, when you want to get off the hormones, make sure you do it a little at a time. I stopped cold turkey with side effects.

It's true, there is not enough data out there to tell if they are safe or not, but it just sounded better to me, and they did work out my awful symptoms. I suppose if there were any side effects or awful things to come, they would have done so by now. So far so good.

Janie
 
"I think this effort is all about options, and I want as many as I can get."

EXACTLY, Nancy!! To even suggest that my choices could be taken away really rubs me the wrong way!
 
>"I think this effort is all about options, and I want as many
>as I can get."
>
>EXACTLY, Nancy!! To even suggest that my choices could be
>taken away really rubs me the wrong way!
>
>


Has someone suggested removing your choices? Really, I carefully reviewed my post and I clearly stated that I hope for there to be more good info so that we can make INFORMED choices. I did caution, however, that if you're suspicious of traditional hormones based on the earnings of drug companies, that you need to be just as concerned about bioidenticals. We live in a capitalist society--it's ALL about the money and whoever markets the bioidenticals stands to gain a fortune. As for choices, take whatever you feel works for you--that's what I did.

ETA - Robin, I was so hoping you would have all the latest poop on HRT. I always look to you for wisdom on such matters;)

Michele:)
 
Michele,

I think I can speak for Elaine when I say that Elaine and I are not responding to the posters here, but rather to the efforts of Wyeth's Citizen Petition filed with the FDA against the production of bioidentical hormones. I am supporting keeping both options open. Of course, if the FDA has information that proves that this substance should not be on the market, I definitely want the FDA to do its job. I just don't trust Wyeth to be the force of change in this regard because it's motives are suspicious to me.

Hope I explained that right.

ETA: I see Elaine was posting at the same time I was, and obviously we are in agreement. :)
-Nancy
 
Thanks Nancy and Elaine. I think I may have misread your comments. I appreciate the clarification. Now I'll just crawl into my corner and see if I can get MY big foot out of my mouth:eek: ;(

Michele:)
 
Michele,
LOL! I think too many heated threads around here have made us all a little prickly. Fortunately, I don't think this is one of those threads. :D

In any event, I would still love you no matter what you said. Don't forget, you are forever my hero. ;-)

-Nancy
 
Thanks for clarifying Nancy! And Michele, I don't blame you for assuming I was directing my comments your way!! I'm a little gun shy around here lately too. Your input is actually appreciated!
 
I think a love fest is in order--LOL! Hey, I know! We can blame it on our hormones, or lack thereof:D

Michele:)
 
>ETA - Robin, I was so hoping you would have all the latest
>poop on HRT. I always look to you for wisdom on such
>matters;)
>

LOL...Michele. Honestly, it is "off the beaten track questionable therapy" and certainly not mainstream HRT. (These are not even compounded by mainstream pharmacies....only specialty pharmacies.) This is probably going to sound awfully selfish....but here it goes...I've never felt my peri-menopausal symptoms were severe enough to resort to HRTs so I never took the time to research the other more alternative questionable therapies. I have ordered the Suzanne Somer's book to get a better idea of what this is about. I will say one thing...I will not base my opinion on one book and I will not give it the same credibility as the New England Journal of Medicine (you do realize this last comment is tongue in cheek;-) ) but I will check it out and some other sources. Although, I am not getting warm fuzzies about it, I will try to keep an open mind. We also have to remember, in the medical profession up to 35% of why a drug works is because "we believe it will work" (aka the placebo effect). I would really hate to see a bunch of people taking snake oil but, then again, if the snake oil is working to cure what ails you.......I guess that would be another ethical topic.


Just my thoughts,
Robin
 
Robin, I completely understand your point! I decided to go on HRT after a couple of years of trying to overcome my symptoms with diet, etc. I reached a point where the quality of my life was affected and I needed to do something. I tried a few things and settled on the lowest doses of menest and prometrium. This has worked like a charm for me and I feel so much better.

Menest is a natural form of estrogen. I have had NO untoward effects from this combination of drugs. The first thing I tried (I can't even remember what it was now) caused vaginal bleeding, a problem that can arise with traditional HRT because of their effects on the uterine lining, which may be a factor in the increased rates of uterine cancer reported with their use. Menest and prometrium, used in the lowest effective doses, have not been shown to increase your chances of uterine cancer because they do not cause proliferation of the uterine wall. Does this make any sense at all? Man, I've been out of nursing for a long time.

Michele:)
 
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