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Advice on using HRT please: What are the pros & cons?

Women's Health | Last Active: Nov 29, 2023 | Replies (34)
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@jenniferhunter

@colt1234 I take bio-identical hormone replacement that was prescribed by an environmental medicine doctor. He also tested me to see how well my body breaks down estrogen and it's byproducts. He said that is where the trouble lies because if your body doesn't break it down, that can increase the cancer risk. There are supplements he prescribed that help in detoxing called Methyl Cpq from Orthomolecular. It aids in the methylation detox pathway. He also told me, bioidentical hormone replacement lowers the risk of colon cancer.

This is something to be discussed with your doctor, and doctors may have differing opinions too. Some people are genetically more prone to get cancer, and cancer can be related to estrogen even if a person never does hormone replacement therapy. My doctor said estrogen needs to be balanced against progesterone and some testosterone, and the estrogen is given at the lowest dose that doesn't produce hot flashes which is lower than it was when my body was producing it.

Bioidentical hormones are made by a compounding pharmacy by prescription. Pharmaceutic companies use the urine from pregnant horses to collect hormones for their products. Here is a link that explains:
https://www.avma.org/javma-news/2002-04-15/veterinary-equine-community-dispel-accusations-against-pregnant-mare-urine

Have you discussed this with your doctor?

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Replies to "@colt1234 I take bio-identical hormone replacement that was prescribed by an environmental medicine doctor. He also..."
Jennifer, Volunteer Mentor | @jenniferhunter | Feb 21, 2023

@ellie1937
Ellie, I see an environmental medicine ( functional medicine or integrative medicine) doctor for the bioidentical hormone replacement. He says it lowers the risk of all types of cancers and slows down the aging process. I have been searching for literature on this and there still seems to be a controversy about it. 2 of my doctors have told me it reduces cancer risks when taking bio identical hormone replacement, and they are doctors outside of conventional medicine. Progesterone has a protective effect, so it is used with estradiol. From what I have been told by my doctors, estrogen alone (without progesterone may increase cancer risks). The other factor is how well does the body break down the estrogen after it is used, because that can cause trouble if the compounds are not broken down and cleared from the body. There are some blood tests to test for breakdown products, and I had been prescribed a supplement to assist the body in doing this that had a lot of B vitamins in it.

I get the progesterone from a mainstream pharmacy that comes as a capsule in peanut oil. The estradiol is compounded by a compounding pharmacy. If you need to find a doctor who would do this, calling a compounding pharmacy may get you a list of doctors hopefully near you. It is mail order, so they could be anywhere. This is the pharmacy that does mine.

https://rvcrx.com/

This can be very controversial and may not be well understood in the medical community. My doctors prescribe the lowest dose that prevents hot flashes which is a lot lower than hormone levels of a young woman in her twenties. I do know I have more aches and pains and fatigue if I am not in the hormones, and my memory isn't as good. Per my physician, the female brain has receptors for estrogen that help it function which is different from the male brain.

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