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This Fascinates Me! February 5, 2012

Posted by Lyn in : Hot BHRT Topics , add a comment

I’m always fascinated when I hear women who have “gone through the change of life” say, “I’ve gone through menopause so I don’t have to worry about hormones anymore.”. This happens especially when these women know I am going to be the featured speaker for a group they belong to. Their response is often, “I guess this doesn’t pertain to me.” This fascinates me on several levels. First of all, I never intended my Happy Hormone Cottage to be about menopause. I don’t even use that word because it has such a negative connotation. My Happy Hormone Cottage is about women’s health and hormone imbalance issues. Our demographic is actually women (and yes, men!!) who are typically ages 35 and older, but we have women on our therapy who are in their 20′s.  So to try to put us into such a narrow niche like “menopause”-aged women is doing us a huge disservice. We are all about finding the cause of hormone imbalance issues for ALL ages of women in 3 major areas:  sex hormones, adrenal glands and thyroid. By finding the CAUSE of the hormone imbalance, we can FIX the hormone imbalance and accompanying health issue,  and do this WITHOUT the use of drugs that conventional medicine is so fond of: antidepressants, sleeping aids & synthetic drugs that mask as hormones. Secondly, our goal is to repair and replenish depleted hormone levels in all 3 areas as an anti-aging strategy, but most importantly, as a disease prevention strategy. Let me give you an example. After we go through the change of life, so we are no longer having monthly cycles, our estrogen levels are severely depleted and because we are older, our bodies just can’t make the supply of estrogen we need. Here’s a fun fact:  did you know that estrogen performs 300 jobs in our bodies? You read that correctly- 300 jobs! Its biggest job deals with protecting our heart, brain and bones from disease. So if we don’t have the estrogen we need because we are older, and our body needs this estrogen to have a healthy heart, brain and bones…..then what do we do? The answer is interesting! If you are one of the many women who are taking charge of your journey to your best life naturally, then your answer is probably natural hormone therapy. This is what our Happy Hormone Cottage is all about. We check depleted hormone levels that are causing the hormone imbalance, and thus the health issues, and we replenish these with customized bhrt (bio identical hormone replacement therapy). But if you are one of the women who think you are past your prime so, “Thank goodness I’m done with hormones!” then I worry about you! You are the ones who are at the greatest risk for heart disease- the #1 killer of women in our 50′s & 60′s, dementia and osteoporosis.  Knowing what I just told you about estrogen and the 300 jobs it performs in our bodies, this should make sense! And if you are one of these women who just doesn’t get the importance of replenishing depleted hormone levels with natural hormone therapy, then chances are great that you either are, or will be at some point soon, be on drugs (and probably many) for these significant health issues that are caused by lack of hormones.  See, here’s the thing–my truth is that as women in our society today, we have been sold a bill of goods. We have been led to believe that drug therapy is the answer to our health issues. We go to the doctor for prescriptions, and we are bombarded with commercials and ads constantly by pharmaceutical companies advertising their multitude of drugs and it is accepted that we just take drug after drug to deal with these health issues. (Deal with but never heal. Interesting, huh?) But we need to start asking the big questions, “Yes, but isn’t there a better way? What if I don’t want to die with a fistful of drugs that never fixed the cause of my disease? Don’t I deserve better than this?” As I’ve said before, “If we know better, we do better!” So the next time the opportunity arises to hear me speak at your next group meeting, my wish for you, is that you will open your mind and be open to the possibilities of considering maybe a different path to pursue for YOUR best health naturally. After all, what do you have to lose?

I Can Only Do So Much….. January 29, 2012

Posted by Lyn in : Case Studies In Natural Compounded Hormone Therapy, Hot BHRT Topics, Uncategorized, Uneducated doctors , 4comments

And so it goes. We meet with women constantly, listen to their stories, gather information, educated them in the area of natural hormone balance, determine they do indeed have a hormone imbalance (as do most women over the age of about 35), give them a strategy for getting their hormone levels tested,  write the recommendation for their hormone balance for their doctor or health care practitioner, which is then faxed to them for their visit with our client, and then the rest is out of our hands. Once we fax our recommendation for our client’s natural hormone balance to the client’s doctor, it is up to that doctor and our client what the outcome will be. Luckily, most of the time, the outcome is favorable. Our clients go to either one of the doctors we work with who are familiar with us and whose patients have experieced success OR they work with their own doctor who is open-minded enough to give our strategy a try. These are the women who are doing well, feeling better and reclaiming their lives from the awful exhaustion, sleeplessness, weight gain, brain fog, hot flashes or joy of life that have overtaken their lives. But this last week we had a couple of women who weren’t so lucky. They went to their own doctors and both women left with no prescription in their hand for our natural hormone balance. One of the women told us her doctor ordered more blood work and they will meet again for further discussion. The other client’s doctor doesn’t “do” natural hormone balance so will send her somewhere else. I’m not sure what this means. Will he send her to a doctor who specializes in hormone therapy? Will he send her to a clinic that implants pellets? (be still my heart!) The good news is that these 2 women were maybe luckier than a former client who went to her doctor to work with us on natural hormone balance and she left instead with a prescription for an anti-depressant. She did email me last week saying, “My anti-depressant isn’t working for my hormone imbalance issues (do tell!) so please refax my doctor your recommendation for my hormone balance.”  My response was, “Absolutely! But do you want to consider going to a different doctor? One we know who does understand and agree with the benefits of bhrt?”  She replied with, “No. Please fax them to this same doctor.”  Of course we honored her request and that was the last we heard. I am not optimistic about the outcome. Here is where the rubber meets the road. Here is where YOUR education is critical in this area and where YOUR voice needs to be heard. I understand many of us have doctors we have been with over time; have established a good relationship with andhave a rapport with; and we ultimately put a lot of trust in. But when we have been struggling with the same issues for years and the “strategies” we have tried haven’t worked (doing nothing “you’re just getting older,” using sleeping aids and anti-depressants, using synthetic drugs masking as hormones, putting on an estrogen patch) I think we need to move on and find someone to work with us who listens to our body’s needs and works with us to meet us right where we are, and if the desire is to work with us at our cottage and pursue a more natural path, then I think that path needs to be considred and honored. What do we have to lose? The choice is pretty clear to me. We can either continue on the same path and feel no better OR we can find a different health care practitioner to work with us who is willing to give what we do at our Happy Hormone Cottage a shot. The bottom line is that our women ARE better. They have reclaimed their lives. Many are losing weight, sleeping great and regaining libido. Isn’t that the point?  Our truth is that the only way to replace depleted hormone receptors that cause a hormone imbalance is with bioidentical hormones. Supplementation alone won’t do this; eating right and exercising won’t do this. One has to replace progesterone, for example, with progesterone. The fact that we check existing hormone levels before writing the recommendation for natural hormone balance and that we only dose physiologically that which our bodies need on a daily basis is also key. And so it goes…..we will continue to serve women, and educate them in this area of women’s health, but the bottom line is that each woman has to become empowered to make sure HER voice is heard when it really matters…..which is in that critical meeting with her doctor, for permission to pursue this path. And when her doctor is bombarded daily with misinformation about bioidentical hormones, so the waters are muddy and myths are perpetuated, education and assertiveness are critical. Our doctors need your help and information we provide you with, to learn more about hormone balance that isn’t determined by a pharmaceutical company. The books, studies and research IS out there. My website even has a special Practitioner’s Resources section that contains a wealth of information on bioidentical hormone balance. It just takes time and the desire to learn that about which their clients are demanding, that makes the difference.

I get asked this question a lot! January 8, 2012

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I think it’s time we talked about “pellets” as a hormone replacement strategy and be done with it. I gave a presentation at an event in early January that over 200 women attended and this was one of their questions as well. So here goes! Pellets have been around for the past several years and are one option women have to impact the way they feel. Pellets are typically a high dose of testosterone that is put into a tablet shaped like a cylinder. This testosterone tablet is implanted underneath the skin of the hip, where it then slowly dissolves over 3 months into the blood stream. I actually like this testosterone pellet option for men, but not so much for women because we see a LOT of issues with women coming to us who have this pellet implant and have developed some pretty significant health issues because of it. It seems like some women do ok with their first testosterone pellet implant or so. Their energy is better almost immediately, and their libido is typically positively impacted as well. So what’s the problem? The problem is when they continue to re-implant these pellets every 3 months after they wear off. Women’s bodies were never meant to metabolize (deal with) such high doses of testosterone coursing through our veins. One big problem I see with these pellet implantations for women is that testosterone can convert to estrone (E1)-which is the estrogen that is the breast cancer cell proliferator. This alone scares me away from pellets. Women over 35 are typically estrogen dominant anyway, which means they have a heightened risk of breast cancer. Why would I want to add another risk factor to our women’s bodies?? The obvious answer is that I wouldn’t! Another big reason I am extremely uncomfortable with pellets is that these high doses of testosterone also can cause secondary issues that we see a lot of in the women who are coming to us:  significant hair loss, male pattern baldness, acne, increased growth of facial hair to the point that these women are shaving, a resuming of periods years after women have gone through menopause, and a whole host of other issues. I had a memorable consultation with a 63 year old woman in July who had pellet implants every 3 months for a year and came to me with a chest full of hair (I so wish I was kidding but sadly I’m not!), a deeper voice and regular periods that had resumed after 8 years! Another big reason we don’t recommend pellets is that we know our first line of defense in hormone balance is restoring progesterone levels. Progesterone is a BIG deal. Progesterone can’t be put into a pellet, so where’s the progesterone?
What we do at our Happy Hormone Cottage and Piqua Medicine Shoppe that sets us apart is that we dose physiologically for our bodies. This means that we check your hormone levels first and then we customize therapy for each individual with all 3 hormones: estradial, progesterone and testosterone as needed. It is all about dosing physiologically each day AND balance. When we give each woman exactly what dose her body needs daily (in a topical cream form) and we adjust this dose slightly over time based on the biofeedback from HER body, and we recheck these levels every year to maintain this proper hormone balance, we have happy women who are issue-free. And isn’t this the point of hormone replacement therapy?? To restore hormone balance as an anti-aging strategy and to prevent disease. And how long do we recommend we use this natural hormone replacement therapy? My response is frank- “until we are dead!”  Why wouldn’t we do this? As we age and our bodies lose the ability to make our own hormones so issues develop, and we have found a way to restore this balance….why in heaven’s name would we ever stop??

Go Forth and Be Drugged OR Go Forth and Be Well…the Choice is Yours! December 17, 2011

Posted by Lyn in : Hot BHRT Topics, Menopause, Uneducated doctors , 1 comment so far

I think you’ve probably heard the word on the street that our reason for being, our passion, is educating and empowering women to live their best life naturally. Such a great cause and one that is desperately needed in our society today. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: if women were better and felt well, as they aged, then we wouldn’t be so busy! If, when issues developed,   doctors were treating the root cause of the issue, instead of just band aiding these issues to get rid of the symptoms, women would be better. But women aren’t better! I see it every day as they stagger into our offices with obvious hormone imbalance issues of fatigue, weight gain, low libido, hair loss, sleeplessness, brain fog, adrenal fatigue, thyroid issues and no joy of life. And the worst part is that the traditional approach to dealing with these issues is just NOT working. Hormone levels are rarely, if ever, checked. Women are told every day by their doctors, “Oh you are too young to be in menopause. Or you are too old to need hormones. Or, having a hot flash? Well, here’s an estrogen patch. Or, not sleeping? Here’s a sleeping aid. Or, what thyroid issue? Or, my favorite-feeling depressed or anxious? Here’s a prescription for an antidepressant.” What we know to be true; what has been done for 25-30 years in Europe (where, by the way, the women are remarkably healthy and happy!); what we DO have clinical studies on are bio-identical hormones. We know that replenishing depleted hormone levels with these bio-identical hormones, AFTER checking a woman’s existing hormone levels and then customizing bhrt for that woman DOES work. Our women ARE better! That using natural hormone replacement as we age, considering the entire health of the woman holistically, and working at the PREVENTION end of the spectrum is a relevant anti-aging strategy! And women WANT natural! Women also really want to go to their trusted health care practitioner and be heard. They want to tell their story and be validated. So what’s the problem? The problem is that the traditional approach to medicine focuses on drug therapy with a one-size-fits-most, big pharma-driven, very limiting belief system where thinking outside the box isn’t valued. Whereas OUR approach to women’s health deals more in the world of FUNCTIONAL medicine. What is this? Functional medicine is a personalized approach to medicine that deals with primary prevention and underlying CAUSES instead of symptoms, for serious chronic issues. This is a science-based field of health care that is grounded in several principles:
-patient centered
-dynamic balance of internal and external factors
-interconnections of body systems
-health as a positive vitality
Functional medicine uses the patient’s story as the key tool for diagnosis and is focused on patient care rather than disease care. And it is anchored by an examination of core clinical imbalances that underlie various conditions. So I think it is clear what our goal for 2012 needs to be. We need to push our traditional doctors to begin to open their minds to a more patient-driven, functional approach to medicine. There are classes , seminars and workshops offered in functional medicine. If our doctors are motivated enough, they CAN get informed outside the realm of traditional medicine and feel comfortable   thinking outside the box of current standard of care. Obviously what is going on in traditional health care today in this area of women’s health isn’t working. So frankly, isn’t it time? Isn’t it past time where you can go to your doctor and partner with him to discuss options for keeping you healthy? The choice is yours-go forth and be drugged or go forth and do what it takes to feel better? I think the choice is clear! Oh, and by the way, when you do nothing at all to replenish your depleted hormone levels that deplete with age, (maybe because you currently aren’t having any issues)  you are setting yourself up for failure. For example, when your estrogen levels deplete, and we know that estrogen does 300 jobs in the body (!), how are those jobs going to get done if we don’t replace those levels? When you go to your doctor with a disease that could have been prevented, it’s already too late. Education is key to eradicating misconceptions and wrong assumptions.
I urge you to strongly encourage your doctor to work with you to explore more natural options for your healthcare!

Tim Tebow and Me December 6, 2011

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What’s not to love about Denver Broncos starting quarterback, Tim Tebow? In case you’ve been out of the country for the past 6 years, Tim is the stuff legends are made of. He is only 24 years old, yet has managed to prove himself time and again as a special young man! He played quality baseball and football growing up in the south and led several youth division teams to national play offs, including his high school teams. He was recruited to play football by several division 1 college football teams and chose the University of Florida as the college of his choice. He led the Florida Gators to several national championships and won the coveted Heisman Trophy in his sophomore year. Upon graduating with honors, in spite of being diagnosed with dyslexia, from the University of Florida, he was drafted by the Denver Broncos. He spent much of his first season last year learning the plays and strategies of the NFL. This year, he became the starting quarterback for the Broncos and has led his team to 6 victories in a row. Tim is a quality person on and off the field! He is a leader, has a heart for service, gives credit for his talent to his “Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,” is a team player and works incredibly hard. He is willing to learn and do whatever it takes to win! His hard work ethic inspires his teammates to also give 110% , and his determination and drive to win makes him a tremendous competitor. So what’s the problem?? The problem is the football analysts and commentators. I have yet to hear one of them give credit to Tim for his role in leading the Broncos to their winning record today.  Time and time again, week in and week out, Tim does whatever it takes to get his team to win and he does it! It may not be pretty and it is apparently unconventional, but winning they are! His teammates have confidence in him and more importantly perhaps, he has given them the confidence to believe in themselves. Yet not one football analyst will commit to the Broncos or Tim Tebow being able to go the distance to maybe, just maybe, win their division. Why? Because the way Tim quarterbacks his team is different. They aren’t used to seeing football played that way. I see tremendous parallels between the “experts” opinion of Tim, and doctors views on natural hormone therapy.” Let’s not think outside the box! Let’s not validate or give credibility to something out there that might also work, but because it is different it can’t be right.” What’s my favorite saying? “Condemnation Without Investigation is the Height of Arrogance!” This applies to other areas  as well. Whenever I look at the football games wins and losses on Sunday evenings, and listen to the sports announcers’ analysis and opinions of the games and players that day, they inevitably argue about Tim Tebow and his ability to lead this football team to victory. Yet week in and week out he manages to do just that. Why can’t we just give credit where credit is due and recognize a quality player, and winner, when we see one? Why does he have to fit the same mold as everyone else? If he is doing what it takes to win, and the team is winning, can we maybe open our minds to embrace something a little different?
When the women who come to us to get tested and treated and then they get better; and we see this again and again, can we begin to think outside the box of traditional drug therapy, and consider that maybe something beside drug therapy can work in women’s health today? Can our health care practitioners open their minds enough to begin to listen, hear and validate what their patients are saying about natural hormone therapy? Can they stand up to their peers with limited tools in their toolbox and begin to explore other more natural options that women are choosing to make them feel better for the first time maybe ever? I don’t know about you, but I am not going to bet against Tim Tebow and the Denver Broncos. I’ve seen exactly what happens when we open our minds to embrace the possibilities. Intentions create their own opportunities. Tim Tebow and I intend to continue to embrace the possibilities because when we know better, we do better!

Bioidentical Estrogens are Safe, Right? November 14, 2011

Posted by admin in : Case Studies In Natural Compounded Hormone Therapy, Hot BHRT Topics , add a comment

A client of ours, and one who is on our bioidentical hormone replacement therapy, sent me this article. I don’t have the name of the doctor who wrote it, but, it is actually better than most, although it tends to be rather simplistic in its arguments, but nonetheless, worth the read.
I’ve attached this article below and then I weigh in at the end.

“Let’s cut to the chase-bioidentical estrogens are safe, right?? It depends. Most of my menopause patients ask about bioidentical estrogens. Women
everywhere are talking about them. Oprah did a show on them. Suzanne Somers wrote books about them. And women in book clubs and boardrooms
are hearing bioidentical estrogens have all the benefits of pharmaceutical estrogen with none of the associated risks.

But is that really true? Read on.

What is Bioidentcal Estrogen?
Like every hormone in the body, estrogen has a specific chemical structure. It looks like chicken wire made from 18 carbon atoms with one, two
or three “OH” groups hanging off some of these carbon atoms. If it has one “OH” group, it is called estrone or E1. If it has two “OH” groups it is
called estradiol or E2. If it has three “OH” groups hanging off it, it is called estriol or E3. These are the three main biological estrogen molecules that
a woman’s body normally makes. Estradiol is the most potent one and before menopause, is the most abundant.

When people talk about bioidentical estrogens, which estrogens are they talking about?
While there are other bioidenticl hormones such as testosterone and progesterone, there are only three bioidentical estrogens:  estrone, estradiol, and
estriol. These three hormones can be found in chain drug stores and in compounding pharmacies.

How are bioidentical estrogens different from other estrogen products?
Most of the estrogen molecules that are purchased in a drug store have a similar chemical structure to E1, E2 and E3, but they are not identical to
them. Your body thinks non-bioidentical estrogens are close enough to bioidentical ones to respond to them. But they aren’t exactly the same; they
might be a little stronger, a little weaker, or just different.
Bioidentical estrogens are EXACTLY the same chemical structure as the biological ones the body normally makes. They may come from plants,
but they are not made in plants. You can’t squeeze a plant and get bioidentical estrogen out of it. The only plant they are made in is a chemical plant.
So they are not natural. That is why the term used to describe them is bioidentical. The body cannot turn plant estrogens into human estrogens. It
doesnt’ haves the necessary enzymes to do that.

Bioidentical estrogen is safer than non-bioidentical estrogen, Right?
Which weighs more: a pound of feathers or a pound of bricks? They both weigh a pound and are the same. In other words, bioidentical estrogens
might be weaker than some pharmaceutical estrogens, but if they are given in equivalent dosages so a person receives an equivalent amount, the
benefits and the risks should be the same.
The problem is that while there are many studies with non-bioidentical estrogen medications sold in traditional drugstores, there are very few
safety studies on bioidentical hormones. Most doctors believe that if it is given in the equivalent amount, the risk of estrogen is the same whether
it is bioidentical or a different molecule.

Is there any real advantage to bioidentical hormones?
For me, the major advantage of bioidentical hormones is that they can be measured in laboratory tests and you can know exactly how much is
in your bloodstream. Other estrogens cannot be measured as precisely.
Another benefit of bioidentical estrogens is that the dose can be mixed just for you. So if your needs happen to fall between the available dosages
of standard pharmaceutical estrogens, a special dosage or combination can be compounded just for you.
Finally, bioidentical estrogens can be compounded together with bioidentical progesterone and/or testosterone or other hormones and all can be
applied in one application rather than having to take more than one medication.

Bottom Line.
If you think estrogen is for you and your doctor or health care provider believes the benefits are greater than the risks for you, consider any
estrogen as a possible choice.
Many patients don’t realize that there are bioidentical estrogens available in traditional drugstores both as pills and patches and through other
forms. Those formulations must all pass national standards for manufacturing. Most bioidentical estrogens are mixed in the specific drugstore
you purchase them in and are not regulated as closely. Most do a great job. But there is a large difference in how closely they are regulated.”

MY RESPONSE:
This article is better and more open-minded than most articles out there. But there are several points where we differ:
1) There are many, many studies on bioidentical hormones. Don’t forget, BHRT has been done in Europe for over 25-30 years.
2)Most of the blood work for commercially-made hormones was done with blood serum testing, so the doses are too strong. So even though I hear doctors
say all the time, “estrogen is estrogen is estrogen”……..it’s the dosing and strength that is important.
3) The delivery system we like the best is the topical cream that goes directly into the bloodstream. There are known risks of blood clots and strokes
with oral estrogens.
4) Compounding labs are strictly regulated by their state Boards of Pharmacy. We, at our Piqua Medicine Shoppe and Compounding Pharmacy,
test our products constantly for potency.5) Doctors who use the traditional commercially-made estrogen products: the patches, etc. typically do NOT check existing hormone levels of their
clients. If one does not know how much of a given hormone one needs, then how can a doctor prescribe the appropriate amount for his client?
6) For us, it is ALL about balance of the hormones and dosing physiologically. It’s tough to balance hormones of women who are just on estrogen.
Our first line of defense for replenishing hormones is progesterone. We use progesterone for it protective benefits of the heart and brain. Then we look
at estrogen and testosterone.
7) Drug companies are looking for symptom management. WE are looking at replenishment of hormone levels and balance. This goes way beyond
symptom control to encompass anti-aging and disease prevention.

Really? And You Believed Him?? October 25, 2011

Posted by Lyn in : Hot BHRT Topics, Menopause, Uneducated doctors , add a comment

I really hate it when I get all worked up! But gosh darn it, I can’t help it when we get a 40 year old woman’s lab results back
that clearly show she has significant hormonal issues. So we write up a recommendation for her doctor and when she sees him, all he
can say is, “The only thing that is really out of whack is your progesterone level but with me giving you that last shot in July for birth
control, that is why it could be off….so let me give you a prescription for wellbutrin and if it doesn’t help, we can go a different route.”
Wow! Really? I don’t even know where to start! Let me finish banging my head against the wall and report MY findings from her
labwork. Here is a 40 year old woman with an unusually high estrogen level. It is 4.2 (range is 1.3-3.3) so I know that she is estrogen
dominant. What does this mean?  This means she is storing a lot of fat (estrogen is a fat storer), has brain fog and a high risk for developing
breast cancer. At the same time, her progesterone level, which we measure from 75-270 is a 40. So I know that she isn’t sleeping well,
has some depression and anxiety, irritable, moody, probably has sugar cravings as well as probably aches & pains. Her ratio of her progesterone level to her estradial level, which we like to see between 100-500 is only a 10! (yes, a 10!) So I know she can NOT feel well. Compound that with crippling
adrenal fatigue, which plays out in exhaustion, and we have one TIRED woman. As if this isn’t enough, she also has a very low functioning
thyroid. We actually measure free t4 and free t3 through zrt labs (most doctors don’t check these….which is why over half the women who
crawl in to see us on their hands and knees are all on synthroid for their t4 because no one has ever checked their free t3. When they complain
to their doctor that they have no energy, dry skin and they are losing their hair….the response is “double your dose of synthroid!” This is like trying
to fix a broken leg by putting a cast on your arm!!) Her free t4 is .7 with the range being .7-2.5. Her free t3 is 1.9, with the range being
2.5-6.5! So she is extremely exhausted, has no energy, isn’t sleeping, has hair loss and couldn’t lose a pound if I paid her A LOT of money to do it. Women with these high estrogen levels, low progesterone levels, adrenal fatigue and low functioning thyroid do NOT feel well. So how do they function?
How do they feel good about themselves? How do they go to work and be expected to do their job? How do they care for their family? How can they be expected to have a libido? Libido? News flash! Tired women have no libido! And here’s the “good” news:  THIS IS THE BEST SHE WILL EVER FEEL if she believes her doctor and goes on wellbutrin. I mean, is she wellbutrin deficient? This drug will not fix any of her issues. The sad part is that for some
reason, this 40 year old woman has lost her voice. She has lost her ability to stand up for herself and fight for HER body. When did we give that power
away?? My hope and dream is that ALL women will take charge of their body and have the confidence to dialogue with their doctor about their choices, and not give up. If one doctor refuses to listen and learn, then go to a different one. Call us! We have lots of doctors who believe in what we are doing and endorse this natural path. We no longer have to settle for feeling bad for the rest of our lives. We do have a voice and we CAN take our power back.

What’s a few HOT FLASHES among friends??? October 23, 2011

Posted by Lyn in : Case Studies In Natural Compounded Hormone Therapy, Menopause , add a comment

Let’s talk hot flashes! Hot flashes have been the butt of many a joke for ages! Most women OF A CERTAIN AGE get them and they are synonymous with menopause—the other word that causes snickers among the masses in our culture. But for aging women, they are no laughing matter!  So what are they and what can we do about them?? (beside stab our husbands and coworkers in the neck when we feel one coming on…..)
Hot flashes can signify a hormone imbalance between estradial and progesterone. We begin to lose our progesterone around age 35 when our ovaries begin to age. Progesterone is responsible for uninterrupted sleep, keeping depression and anxiety away, elevating our mood, preventing sugar cravings, as well as aches and pains and, most importantly-balancing estrogen levels to help prevent breast cancer.  When our estrogen levels also begin to deplete, but at a SLOWER rate than our progesterone, women become estrogen dominant. This means we have way more estrogen than progesterone. This hormone imbalance can result in hot flashes. But take these hot flashes seriously. Not only are they annoying and plenty uncomfortable, they also inform us that our hormones are no longer balanced, and that we DO have an excess of estrogen in our bodies. So what does this mean? Well, did you know that estrogen is a FAT STORER? Show me a menopausal woman who doesn’t have the extra 25-30 pounds around their middle and I’d like to meet her! Estrogen dominance puts weight ON because estrogen is a fat storer. Estrogen dominance can also cause brain fog. But most importantly, unopposed estrogen can increase the risk of breast cancer. So if women become estrogen dominant as they age, and these hot flashes become a way of life because of this dominance, what do we do?
Traditionally, women with hot flash issues go to their traditional-thinking doctors for help and guess what these well-meaning doctors do?? They do NOT check hormones (in God’s name….WHY NOT??)!! They, instead, prescribe an estrogen patch or even worse, oral estrogen! But wait! Didn’t I just say that women have hot flashes because they already have too much estrogen?? That’s right! So WHY do doctors slap more estrogen on us?? Because that is all they know how to do for hot flashes! I must say this is a step up from the horse pee we used to get prescribed to us (and many times, still do today!) But it is not good enough! Our first line of defense for hot flashes is progesterone! Why don’t doctors prescribe it? It can’t be patented, so drug companies can’t make money on it. So drug reps aren’t  pushing it. Guess what they ARE selling? Yep-the estrogen patches and oral estrogens! (By the way, literature suggests there is a strong link between oral estrogen and the increased risk of blood clots.) Nice, huh?
We also recommend a little estrogen topical cream to replenish depleted levels as we age (they just don’t deplete at the same rate as progesterone) and this restoration of our hormone balance is what eliminates our hot flashes!
So when I see a woman fanning herself as she is having a hot flash, I see a woman who is storing 25-30 lbs of excess fat, probably has brain fog, has an increased risk of breast cancer and because she is low in progesterone, she is probably also NOT sleeping, so she is exhausted. Do you know what fatigue indicates? Lack of libido! Tired women do NOT WANT SEX!
Do you see why I want to educate women and empower them to learn a different, healthier way to attack their hot flashes?? It is NOT the estrogen patch! It is replenishing their depleted hormone levels with bioidentical hormones that are compounded specifically for them (yes, they are a prescription from a doctor) and dosed physiologically. This isn’t rocket science! This just makes sense! Visit my website at www.happyhormonecottage.com to learn more.

The Things My Clients Tell Me! September 27, 2011

Posted by Lyn in : Hot BHRT Topics, Uneducated doctors , add a comment

Working with women all day, every day and listening to their stories, I never know what kind of things I’m going to hear about their hormonal journeys to better health….but the funniest comments I hear are said to them by their doctors. Darlene told me that when she went to her doctor a couple years ago, at the age of 42, with issues of irritability, exhaustion, sleep issues, anxiety and low libido, she told her female ob gyn that she thought she had a hormone imbalance, had been doing some reading and thought she wanted to try the natural hormone therapy. Her doctor looked at her as if she had grown 2 heads and said, “I want you to stop watching Oprah and STAY OFF THE INTERNET!!” Darlene said she just sat there and looked at her doctor in disbelief and pity. She walked away, visited us and went to one of the doctors on or website who DO listen to and validate their hormone imbalanced women. Darlene began our therapy and began to feel better in one week! She is now balanced and beautiful! By the way, she still watches old Oprah shows and is most definitely ON the internet!!
Another client told me that HER ob gyn threw a book on the desk in front of her when SHE mentioned she wanted to do the compounded hormone replacement therapy. This doctor, also a female, said, “Oh, you know that compounding is BS! I don’t know why you would even consider doing that when I can give you something that is FDA approved!”. Sharon walked away and came to us! So glad she did! Her energy and fatigue are gone, her sugar cravings have gone away, and her mood is better. What I know is that everything we make at our compounding lab IS FDA-approved. But because we customize it for the individual….we are regulated by the Ohio State Board of Pharmacy. What I also know is that ob gyns joins a group called ACOG. ACOG stands for “American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology.”. Guess which pharmaceutical company funds ACOG? Guess which group has the greatest peer pressure about stepping outside the box and thinking more openly and holistically?? Guess which group of doctors are now losing clients at an alarmingly high rate because their former patients are now going to more open-minded doctors on my website?? Oh, and the comment about “compounding is BS,”….well, let’s discuss that with family members whose loved ones are in Hospice, and whose pain level is being managed by transdermal therapy made at our compounding lab because they can no longer swallow their pain meds. OR discuss this with the vet who just saved a beloved pet, due to a specific, individual medication that was made in a compounding lab. Compounding goes back years and years BEFORE big pharmaceutical companies became prevalent. Just sayin’.
So the next time YOU visit YOUR ob gyn and want to have a discussion about a more natural strategy for YOUR hormone imbalance issues, be prepared to meet with resistance and even ridicule. Why? MY bumper sticker says,
“CONDEMNATION WITHOUT INVESTIGATION IS THE HEIGHT OF ARROGANCE.”. You WILL have to be assertive and educated into the path YOU want to take AND empowered to walk away from your traditional-minded ob gyn and toward a more open-minded doctor. They ARE out there. The first step is to NOT assume that just because your doctor likes you, she or he will work with you on a path they aren’t familiar OR comfortable with. I hear this all the time: “MY doctor loves me and will do whatever I ask.”. In a word-”NOT!”. I see this time and time again. And then my clients are stunned when their request for a more natural strategy toward hormone balance (customized BHRT) is dismissed and they are steered toward a more traditional “strategy” that involves synthetic drugs masking as hormones, an estrogen patch (given without checking hormone levels first), or an
antidepressant. My husband asks our clients who are offered an antidepressant for their hormone imbalance issues, “Are you prozac deficient??”. Doubtful!! They are most likely progesterone deficient. So why not just prescribe progesterone?? Because progesterone can not be patented, so drug companies can’t make a profit, so you will not be offered progesterone by your traditional doctor.  Buyer beware! Your journey is up to you. You do have the power to direct your own path. You probably won’t be guided by your doctor in this area and that’s ok!! We understand and we are prepared to help educate and guide you. You just need a little faith and the ability to think for yourself. I spoke to a group of women last night at a Happy Hormone Hour and one of the ladies there said, “Well, I’ll go discuss this with my doctor and then come see you.”. I asked her who her doctor was. Guess who it is?? It is the doctor who told my client to “stop watching Oprah and stay OFF the internet!”. Do you think her conversation with this doctor will go anywhere near the area of natural hormone balance?? Good luck with that! She reconsidered, is coming to see us first and we can direct her toward a list of health care practitioners in our area who WILL listen to her AND work with us!

The Real Cost of Health Care September 12, 2011

Posted by Lyn in : Hot BHRT Topics, Natural Hormone Compounding Doctors , add a comment

My husband, Jeff, our compounding pharmacist meets with new clients-both men and women-as well as existing clients almost on a daily basis. He offers his services to evaluate BHRT therapy, adjust dosing for those who are ON our therapy, and discuss health issues with the people who come to him.  He came home yesterday, exhausted, after meeting with 6 women and 1 man and said, “You know…the people who come to see me typically have very complicated health issues. And people are insulated from the real cost of health care, because most people have an insurance copay that covers their visits and medications. The issue is, when you call a plumber for example, to fix your leaking toilet, you pay him fair market value. You would never consider paying him just your copay and billing someone else for the rest. So when you think about it, people almost expect health care to be free, where the physician has to rely on billing insurance to get adequate reimbursement. The goal of insurance companies is NOT to pay money. And therein lies the dilemma. What IS your doctor’s time spent with you worth to you? Because of the difficulties getting reimbursed, patients get a 5-10 minute visit because that is all the doctor can afford to give you. How fair is it to the doctor AND how thorough can he be, to diagnose clinical issues? The end result is that you never figure out the root of the problem. Instead, you are left managing the symptoms with prescription medications. Getting to the root cause of health issues is often time-consuming and challenging because we aren’t simple creatures. Everything is interconnected. So when our clients schedule time to come in and see me, and we spend 45 minutes talking about their health issues and concerns, they are often surprised and confused by the information. They ask, “Why haven’t I heard this before? “Why hasn’t my doctor mentioned this before?” And the answer is, because our health care system isn’t set up to do so. There are a few physicians who do elaborate testing, dig into the biochemistry and try to get at the root of the problem. These are functional medicine physicians and typically they can’t afford to bill insurance. So the choice is yours-do you continue to go through standard of care medical treatment that treats only symptoms OR do you want to pay a fair price to the health care practitioner to actually delve to find the cause of your issue and solve your problem? Obviously, I think we need to change our mind set about health care in our country today. A real paradigm shift is called for, so we can actually go to our doctors, pay them fair market value and have them give us the time and attention required to really solve what is going on in our bodies. Invariably you will change the mind of the physician when he gets adequately reimbursed and he may be more open to alternative health care solutions. This would be a win-win for all.”